For the next two weeks, I spent a lot of time at the hospital with Jake. Blake often joined us as well, and we spent a lot of time just sitting around and talking. Jake’s memory still wasn’t really any better, so we talked about the same things quite a bit. It was frustrating, but I eventually got used to it.

            When Blake and I weren’t at the hospital together, we were practicing for the talent show. We had both taken a couple of days off from school after Jake woke up, but we went back at the end of the week.

            It was now the day before the talent show, and I was sitting in Jake’s hospital room with him. “So are you going to be able to come to the show?” I asked.

            “Yeah, but I’ll have to be in a wheelchair because I’m not really that steady on my feet yet,” he replied with a grimace.

            “I know how you feel. Being in a wheelchair sucks, no matter how long it’s for,” I told him. “But at least you’ll be there, so that’s good.”

            “It is. I just wish I could be on my own two feet for it, that’s all.”

            “You’ll get better with time, so it’s not like you’ll be in a wheelchair forever. That’s something to be grateful for.”

            “I am grateful for that. I got really lucky, because it doesn’t seem like there will be any permanent physical damage.”

            I fidgeted in my chair a little, trying to get more comfortable. My back was a little sore today and I was praying that it wouldn’t act up too much tomorrow. “Has the doctor told you when you’ll be released permanently yet?”

            “He said I might be able to go home next week, but only because Jared will be there as well. Speaking of Jared, have you met this new girlfriend of his yet?”

            “Cindy? Yeah, she’s really nice. Was Jared here visiting with you earlier?”

            Jake frowned a little. “No, not yet. Why?”

            “How did you remember that Jared had a new girlfriend then?”

            His eyes widened. “Holy crap, he told me that yesterday! I actually remembered something that happened more then twelve hours ago!”

            “That’s awesome! Maybe your memory is starting to come back now,” I said happily. Then I gave him an evil smirk. “Soon you won’t be able to just forget about the images of Blake and I being alone together.”

            Jake made a face. “Gross, that is not something I need to be thinking about. I really hope I can still forget that.”

            I laughed. “This is just payback for all the times I caught you and Amanda making out. How are things going with her, anyways?”

            “I don’t really know,” Jake replied. “She hasn’t been here today, so I don’t know what we’ve talked about for the past couple of weeks. I know I’m looking forward to seeing her though, so hopefully that’s a good sign.”

            “Will you ask her to marry you eventually?”

            “Yeah, I think I will. I’ve learned that life is too short to hold back when you love someone.”

            “I agree. And you and Amanda are so perfect for each other.”

            “I know. Hopefully she’ll say yes when I do ask her. But I want to make sure I have my memory back first. I don’t want to ask her and then forget about it the next day.”

            “Good idea. Are you going to finish your schooling to become a doctor?”

            “Definitely. I think I’ll be able to relate to patients more because of everything I’ve been through.”

            “You’re probably right.” I glanced down at my watch and then stood up. “I need to get going. Blake and I want to rehearse a few more times tonight, so he’s meeting me in about an hour. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

            He nodded. “If I don’t see you before the show, good luck. I know you’ll kick some serious butt.”

            I kissed his cheek. “I always do. Have a good night, big brother.”

            “You too, little sister.”

            I left the hospital and drove home, thinking about the talent show the next day. When I got home, I went directly to the music room and started playing on the piano. Blake found me there half an hour later and joined me on the bench. After kissing me hello, he dove right into the song.

            By the time we finished practicing, it was pretty late, so I invited him to stay the night. He was more then happy to agree, and I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.

            The next day, I woke up and was relieved when my back didn’t hurt too badly. It was a little sore, but nothing unbearable. I woke Blake up and he grudgingly got out of bed and joined me for breakfast.

            The talent show wasn’t until after school, so I was fidgeting around the whole day. When the final bell finally rang, I hurried to find Blake and Sophie. Sophie was the only other student in the school who knew about us performing, so she was coming to my place with us and then to the show afterwards.

            The three of us went directly to my room when we got to the house. Blake had brought his clothes for the show over the night before, so he went into the bathroom to change. I grabbed my clothes and peeled my shirt off to change it.

            Sophie’s gasp caught my attention however, and I looked over my shoulder to see her looking at my back. I silently cursed myself as I tugged my fresh shirt over my head before turning to face her.

            “I knew that you’d had a few surgeries done on your back, but I never realized how much damage there really was,” she said.

            “Yeah, it’s not that pretty to look at,” I replied.

            “That’s not what I meant. You obviously went through a lot of pain because of your back, but you never let it show.”

            I sat on the edge of my bed. “That’s because on the days where it’s noticeable, I tend to hide from people. I know that if a lot of people knew about what had happened to me, I’d get a lot of false sympathy from everyone, and I just couldn’t handle that.” Sophie knew what had happened to me because I’d explained it to her after Jake woke up.

            Blake came out of the bathroom, dressed in clean jeans and a black dress shirt. “You ready?” he asked me.

            “Almost. Sophie just saw the scars on my back for the first time, so I got a little sidetracked.”

            “Oh. Well hurry up, we need to get back to the school soon.”

            I rolled my eyes and stood up so I could change into my black jeans. I was wearing a purple short-sleeved blouse over a white tank top, so it went well with the jeans. I had debated on getting all dressed up for this, but then decided that going semi- casual would be more comfortable.

            Once we were all ready, I hunted down my uncle and Jared. I found them both in the living room, watching TV. “We’re heading out now. We’ll see you after the show, okay?” There was going to be a kind of Christmas party after the show in the school gym, and family and friends of students were invited as well.

            They both glanced up at me. “Sure thing, good luck,” Jared said.

            “We’ll be the ones cheering like idiots and embarrassing you,” Liam added cheekily.

            I just shook my head and walked away, joining Blake and Sophie by the front door. We bundled into our jackets and got back into my car to drive to the school. Once there, Sophie veered off to find a seat, while Blake and I made our way backstage, finding a corner to sit in.

            The show ran fairly smoothly, and before I knew it, it was time for us to go on. I took in a shaky breath and grabbed Blake’s hand, clutching it tightly as we walked onto the stage.

             I led Blake to the bench, and he sat down facing away from the piano, settling his guitar on his lap. I adjusted the microphones so that they were sitting properly and then took my place beside him, but facing the piano.

            I moved my own microphone a little, and then blew out a breath before speaking into it. “Hey everyone, I’m Hailey, and this is Blake, though most of you probably know that already. We’re going to perform a song for you and we hope you like it.”

            Blake scoffed a little. “I don’t care if they like it, I’m just doing this because you want me to,” he stated.

            That caused a few people to laugh and I rolled my eyes. “Please excuse him, he has no manners.” I inhaled a deep breath and then started playing.

            Blake joined in with his guitar and a moment later, he started singing.

I run from hate, I run from prejudice
I run from pessimists, but I run too late

It was my turn to sing, and I prayed that my voice would stay steady for it.

I run my life or is it running me, run from my past
I run too fast or too slow it seems

            Blake’s voice joined mine for the next part, and we sang the rest of the song in unison.

When lies become the truth
That's when I run to you

This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby
When it all starts coming undone
Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you

We run on fumes, your life and mine
Like the sands of time slippin' right on through
And our love's the only truth
That's why I run to you

This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby
When it all starts coming undone
Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you

Whoa, oh, I run to you

This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby
When it all starts coming undone
Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you, I run to you, yeah

Whoa, oh, I run to you
I run to you girl, whoa

            As the final notes died away, Blake leaned over to kiss me softly. There was a moment of silence in the audience and then applause and cheers thundered out. I looked over and blinked a couple of times at the sight that greeted me. “They’re giving us a standing ovation,” I murmured to him.

            “It’s because we’re awesome,” Blake said with a grin.

            I laughed at that. “We really are,” I agreed. I got to my feet and he stood up as well, taking my hand as I came around the bench to stand beside him.

The cheers increased when he bent his head to brush his lips over my cheek. “I think my cockiness is rubbing off on you,” he said teasingly.

I shrugged a little. “I just know that we nailed that song, that’s all,” I replied. I scanned the crowd and spotted Rachel and David, both of them staring at us with open mouths. I smiled at them and that seemed to shake them out of their stupor and they started cheering as well. Then I found the group containing my family and I had to bite back a laugh when I saw that Liam was holding up a sign that said Hailey and Blake Rock. I gave them a quick wave and then Blake and I left the stage.

Once we were backstage, Blake pulled me into his arms and lowered his head to give me a long kiss. “Thanks for suggesting that we do this,” he said after he pulled back a little. “It felt really good being out there.”

“It did, didn’t it? Even though there were close to two thousand people watching us, it still felt like it was just you and me when we were singing.”

“Yeah it did. Are you ready to go face the masses now?”

I shrugged. “I’d rather just stay here where it’s quiet with you. But I know that everyone will want to talk to us, so we probably should go out there.”

He nodded and took a step back, taking my hand in his. “Lead the way then. Try not to run me into anything back here.”

“I should run you into something, just for saying that.”

“Nah, you love me too much to do something like that,” he responded.

We started walking towards the exit door and I was careful to avoid all the cables running across the ground. “I guess that’s true,” I said. “And you love me enough to give me a massage later, right?”

“Always. Is your back bothering you?”

“A little, but nothing too serious. It’s more of an annoyance then anything and I think it only hurts because I was nervous about the show tonight. It made me a little tenser then usual, that’s all.” We exited the backstage area and headed towards the gym, where I could a lot of voices.

“I’ll give you a good massage tonight then, so that you can get a good nights sleep. Sound good?”

“Yeah it sounds really good,” I replied as we walked into the gym. My family spotted us immediately and they came over to us with Amanda pushing Jake in his wheelchair. Jared had brought Cindy with him as well, so there was a group of five coming towards us.

“You did a good job,” Jake said when they reached us.

I bent down a little so I could give him a hug. “Thanks. It was a lot of fun.”

“You both have amazing voices,” Amanda stated. “I think a lot of people were moved by the song.”

“We thought it kind of suited us,” Blake said.

“It does,” Jared agreed. “I’ve heard you two rehearsing for the past few weeks, but it was nothing compared to tonight. You had everyone captivated, which is no easy feat when it comes to a bunch of teenagers.”

“I didn’t know you could sing like that, Hailey,” Cindy said. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her hazel eyes were sparkling happily.

I grinned at her. “Yeah, not many people know about that. I’ve never performed in front of anyone before.”

I heard someone calling our names, so I turned my head and spotted Sophie coming towards us. She gave me a quick hug and then did the same to Blake, much to his dismay. “You guys were awesome!” she exclaimed. “Who knew my cousin could actually sing like that?”

Blake scowled at her. “You’ve heard me sing plenty of times.”

“Yeah, but this was different. You actually showed some emotion this time, which you don’t normally do.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Whatever,” he mumbled.

I nudged him lightly. “Are you embarrassed?” I asked.

“No.”

I smiled a little. “Yes you are. Don’t worry, I think it’s kind of cute.”

He tilted his head in my direction. “Men aren’t cute, Hailey. They’re hot, or sexy, or even handsome. But not cute.”

I reached up and patted his cheek. “Sorry. But it’s still kind of cute,” I replied with a cheeky grin.

He rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms to put one around my waist. “You’re such a brat sometimes.”

“I know. But you still love me.”

“True, but sometimes I don’t know why.”

I elbowed him in the side. “Jerk,” I muttered.

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “Yeah, but you still love me,” he taunted.

I decided to just ignore him and tuned back into the conversations everyone else had been having while Blake and I were talking. We stood with them for another five minutes before Rachel and David found us. Rachel was almost bouncing with excitement when she pulled me into a hug. “You didn’t tell us you two were performing!” she said.

“We wanted it to be a surprise. Sophie was the only student in the school who knew about it. Mr. Avery helped us keep it quiet by letting us rehearse when no one else was around.”

“Well, you sounded absolutely amazing. I never knew either of you could sing like that,” she stated.

“I knew Blake could sing, though it’s been a few years since I’ve head him,” David added.

Blake shifted a little, obviously uncomfortable. “Yeah, I haven’t exactly let anyone hear me sing or play the guitar in the past couple of years.”

“Well, you’ve gotten even better over the years, that’s for sure,” David complimented him.

I knew Blake didn’t really like all the attention, so I changed the subject. “Hey guys, let me introduce you to everyone. This is my brother Jake and his girlfriend Amanda. You already know Jared, and that’s his girlfriend Cindy. And this is my uncle Liam, though he hates it when I call him my uncle.”

Liam made a face. “It makes me feel old,” he said.

I could see the curiosity on Rachel’s face, obviously wondering why I’d never mentioned my brother before, but luckily she didn’t say anything about it yet. I had a feeling she would be asking me a lot of questions later though. “It’s nice to meet you all,” she said warmly.

We all hung out together for another half hour, before Jake glanced at his watch and groaned. “I have to get back to the hospital now. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay Hales?”

I nodded and kissed his cheek. “I’m really glad you could come,” I told him.

“Me too. It was nice meeting you,” he said to Rachel and David. Amanda grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and said goodbye before the two of them left the gym.

“Well, I should be getting back home as well,” Liam said. “I have a conference call early in the morning, so I need my beauty rest beforehand.”

I chuckled as I gave him a hug. “No amount of beauty rest will ever make you pretty,” I told him teasingly.

“Smart ass,” he muttered and then walked away without another word.

“Since everyone else is leaving, we’ll head out as well,” Jared said.

When I realized that meant we’d be alone with Rachel and David, I quickly turned to Blake. “You ready to go too? I’m kind of tired.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” he agreed. “Sophie, do you need Hailey to drive you home?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you aren’t coming home tonight?”

“Duh,” he replied.

I blushed a little when Rachel gave me a knowing look. “Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered.

Blake started to chuckle. “You’re blushing right now, aren’t you?”

“No,” I lied.

“Yes you are,” Rachel said tauntingly.

“Tattletale,” I accused her.

She just laughed. “Don’t worry about Sophie, we can give her a ride home. That way you’ll get some more alone time,” she said with a wink.

“Uh guys, I’m still here,” Jared said.

“So?” I replied.

He sighed and shook his head. “I am so out of here if you’re going to start talking about that,” he muttered, grabbing Cindy’s hand and pulling her with him.

I grabbed Blake’s hand as well. “We’re leaving, so we’ll see you guys later. I’m sure we’ll see you over the break, but I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas now in case I don’t speak to you before.”

“Merry Christmas,” Rachel said. “Have fun tonight.”

I blushed again and then pulled Blake out of the gym. “Why do our friends have to enjoy embarrassing me?”

“You’re cute when you get embarrassed,” Blake said mockingly, quoting me from earlier.

“Shut it, or you’ll be sleeping in the guest room tonight.”

He sighed. “Yes dear,” he muttered sarcastically.

“Much better.”

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Sorry about the indentation mistakes. Wattpad is being weird for some reason. Anyways, because of the absolutely amazing response to my request in the last chapter, I decided to write this one quickly and get it up for you. You guys seriously rock and I read every single testimonial that you wrote.

Dedication goes to RhiRhi1423 for being the first to guess the song. It is Run To You by Lady Antebellum. They're an amazing band and I had trouble choosing just one of their songs. I'm going to attempt to attach a link to the song, but no promises that I can actually figure out how to do it lol.

Not sure when the next upload will be, it'll depend on what my hubby's work schedule is. As always, comment to let me know what you thought of the chapter!!