A soft beeping noise jars me awake, my mind still fuzzy as to what happened. I open my eyes with a groan and I move to cover them, only to be halted by a cord attached to my arm. What the . . . ?

"Sarah! You're awake, oh thank god." Gina's voice draws my attention towards the other side of the room, the sight of my disheveled best friend like a shock to my heart. My eyes widen and I try to sit up quickly, wincing slightly at the sharp pain shooting through my head. What the heck happened? I think for a moment, then choke back a gasp when it all rushes back to me. The party, Keagen, Samantha, the blood, then passing out.

Gina rushes to my side and gently stops me from moving anymore, a slight scowl on her face. "Quit tryin' to move, you hit your head pretty bad. The doctor needs to come check on you now," She looks around and sighs in relief when she spots the help button. I groan again, squeezing my eyes shut tightly.

"Where's Zander?"

I open my eyes again to watch her closely. She turns back to me and bites her lip nervously, obviously reluctant to tell me what she knows. I squint at her suspiciously, watching as she fidgets under my hard stare.

"He called and told me you were here, but when I arrived he was no where to be found." She whispers timidly, her fingers fiddling with the bed sheets I'm currently laying on, her eyes downcast and not meeting mine. I frown even more, my heart lurching in worry.

"What aren't you telling me, Gina?"

She looks up at me with wide eyes, "How'd you -"

I send her a flat look, "I know you, dude," I smile slightly when she looks away with a blush. I shake my head slightly, dropping back into my serious mode, "Now what aren't you telling me?"

She sighs in defeat, her shoulders slumping forward as she takes a seat beside me. She keeps her eyes down while she speaks, "I had asked one of the nurses if they had seen him, and the nurse said she saw someone matching his description storming out of here with bloodied knuckles. She watched him tear out of the parking lot in a red jeep, then that was the last of him."

I look down at the blankets as I absorb what she said, my mind struggling to wrap around it. Why would he leave? I look back up and meet her worried stare, giving a small smile of reassurance.

"Where're my parents?"

"I tried calling them but they never answered. I went over to your house earlier to see why and found," She reaches over to her bag and digs around inside, then pulls out a small post-it note, "This on the fridge." I gently take the note from her outstretched hand, my heart dropping sadly when I read it.

Left for another business trip, sorry for such the short notice. Will be back soon. Lots of love - Mom and Dad.

The doctor chooses now to burst into a room, a gigantic smile plastered across his face. "Glad to see you awake, Sarah! Now, let's check those bandages."

~•~

"Thanks for bringing me home, G."

She smiles softly and nods, "Of course, are you sure you don't need me inside with you?" She looks over at me worriedly, her hand hovering over the ignition key in her car.

I smile back and pat her shoulder reassuringly before jumping out of the car and shutting the door, leaning down to talk to her through the open window, "Nah, I'll be alright. You heard the Doc, as long as I don't do anything strenuous or too loud, I'll be better soon enough. Besides, you gotta get back to your mom."

"Okay, if you say so," She places her hand back on the wheel, only to turn towards me quickly and point an accusing finger at me. "Don't you dare do anything to hurt yourself, and call me as soon as you need something, you hear?!"

I laugh loudly and nod, "Yes, mom, I understand."

She grins happily then settles back into her seat, "Okay, good. Love you, loser."

I take a step away from her car, "Love you too." She waves at me quickly then takes off down the road, heading right back to the hospital. I sigh heavily and walk up to my house, my nerves eating me away ever since I woke up. Why would he just leave like that? I open the locked door and throw my stuff onto the couch, taking out my phone to dial up that certain someone's number. C'mon, c'mon, pick up.

~•~

Zander's P.O.V.

I wake up with a start, my body instantly screaming in pain when I move to sit up. A rock digs into my thigh, reminding me of where I am. Shit, what time is it? I groan in pain and push myself up against a tree, sniffling softly while wiping at my face. I dig around in my pocket and grab my phone, surprised to find that it's buzzing around loudly. Squinting at the screen, I press the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Zander! Where the hell are you, I've been calling for like an hour now!"

My eyes widen in shock and I draw the phone away from my face to look at the time. 10:35 a.m. I slept for that long??

"Zander??"

I shiver slightly and curl into myself some more, "Yeah, Yeah I'm here. I'm alright."

She sighs softly, her breathing the only thing I can hear for a few minutes. I really fucked this up, I fucked up so badly.

"Zander, where are you?" She questions softly, her voice sounding extremely tired. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing back the fresh set of tears as the night replays in my head.

"I'm in the woods -"

She cuts me off with a sharp gasp of surprise, "Oh my fudge, Zander did you sleep out there?!"

I open my eyes and look around, my fingers tightening around my jacket to push out the cold wind. I can't help but to smile sheepishly, "Maybe . . . ?" I reply back, my smile quickly fading as a shiver rakes through my body. Damn, it's cold out here.

" - Hurry up!"

I frown in confusion and lightly rub my hand over my forehead, "What was that?"

"I said: Get your butt back in that Jeep before you get even more sick, come to my house, and hurry up!" She sighs softly, "I'd much rather talk to you in person than over the phone, please."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

I hang up and lean my head back against the tree behind me, my mind spinning as the different possibilities of what's to come play in my head. She probably hates me. I get up and quickly make my way back to the Jeep, blasting the heat up to calm my shivering nerves. The drive to her house didn't take long, yet it felt like an eternity as I thought of the different ways to apologize, thought of the different ways to get her to stay. I pull into her driveway and shut off the Jeep, jumping out and practically running to the door. I raise my fist to knock, only to take a startled step back when Sarah rips it open. I open my mouth to start my list of apologies, but they quickly die on my tongue when her eyes start tearing up.

"Zander, oh my fudge, you had me worried sick!" Sarah pulls me into her arms quickly, stunning me into silence as she holds me tightly.

"I-I'm so sorry, Sarah." I squeeze my eyes shut and wrap my arms around her tightly, burying my face in the crook of her neck. She gently rubs her fingers through my hair, sighing softly as she presses a quick kiss against my cheek.

"C'mon, let's get you inside." She sniffles slightly and pulls away, awkwardly wiping her tears off on her shoulder as she pulls us inside. I follow her to the couch obediently, sitting down and quickly wrapping my arms around her waist so she's forced to sit beside me. Her hands move up to my face and push away the stray hairs, her bottom lip lightly jutted out and wobbling.

"I'm so sorry -" We both speak at the same time, our eyes locking together as we stare at each other shocked.

"What the hell do you have to be sorry for?!" I cringe back at my own words, quickly realizing how harsh they sound. "I mean, you didn't even do anything wrong, I was the one who hurt you. This is all my fault . . ." I look away as tears start pooling in my eyes again, my heart constricting painfully in my chest. This is it, this is where my happiness dies isn't it?

"You're an idiot."

I look back up at her with wide eyes, my mouth slightly agape. She shifts so that she's now on my lap, her hands gripping my face so I can't look away from her piercing stare.

"You're an idiot. A total idiot, you hear me?!"

I open my mouth to respond but she quickly silences me with a glare. I watch her with wide eyes, my heart pounding wildly. What is she going on about?!

"You saved me, Zander, sure I hit my head pretty bad but that could have been avoided too had I not even followed that asshat into the room. You saved me. You are my hero," She stops to take a deep breath, her eyes closing as she composes herself. Her tears slide down her cheeks and drop onto my shirt. She opens her eyes again and stares at me with something I can't decipher, a small smile forming across her lips that makes me even more confused than before. "You're my hero, Zander, but I don't understand why you still feel like the bad guy here."

I look down and close my eyes, "I hurt you, whether or not it was to help, I still hurt you." I whisper brokenly, the tears from before now quickly spilling down my cheeks. I look back up at her and choke back a sob, "How am I any better than him? I'm just the same,"

Her eyes widen in realization and she quickly pulls me into her, her arms wrapping around me comfortingly. "You are nothing like him, Zander, you're better than him!" She pushes me back so I can face her again, her eyes red with tears as I'm sure mine are as well. "You are such a sweet, gentle, loving, and caring man. You didn't hurt me intentionally, don't you ever think that you did, you hear?" She gently shakes me with her last words, her voice coming out strong but trembling. I sniffle and nod slightly, my eyes staring up at her with adoration and something else, something I haven't felt in years. It takes everything in me to stop myself from jumping up and screaming it at the top of my lungs.

I love this girl. I love her so damn much.

"I don't deserve you," I whisper softly up at her with wonder, my heart doing backflips. She shakes her head in disagreement, her lips tilting up into a small smile. The small smile that I know ruined me for anyone else.

"You deserve the world, fruit loop, you just gotta let me give it to you."

I choke back a laugh at the nickname, her sweet words instantly melting me. I move my hands up to her face, gently pulling her down to meet her lips in a soft kiss. She kisses back slowly, her hands moving to wrap around the back of my neck. I close my eyes and revel in the feeling, my chest swelling with love for the small redheaded beauty in my arms.

She pulls away from the kiss with a small giggle, "You're gonna make me sick too."

I open my eyes and grin up at her happily, "It'll be twice the fun," I lean up and plant a sloppy kiss on her lips, laughing loudly when she pulls away with a squeal. I hold onto her tightly so she doesn't fall, my laughter dying down into a small happy smile. She too calms down and leans down to rest her head against my chest, a small sigh passing her lips.

"Are we good?" She whispers softly, her arms wrapping around my waist tightly so I can't move away.

I pull her closer to my chest and plant a soft kiss on the top of her head, "Yeah, we're more than good, Cupcake." I rest my head on top of hers, my eyes closing on their own accord. I can't help but chuckle when a new thought occurs to me.

"I'm still going to beat the shit out of Keagen, though."

~•~

I had something planned to put right here but I totally forgot what it was....oops 😂😂 Chapter 38 is heeeerrreee and the end is getting even nearrrreeerrrr
I suck at rhyming 😂 There's only a few chapters left, I'm not ready 😭 I'm even putting some more filler chapters in cause why not? 😭😂

Awwwweee, they made up! (Finally, although they never really fought in the first place...) And OMG ZANDER!!! HE'S GOT THE FEELS!! 😭😭❤️❤️  Also, he's so ready to put the smack down on Keagen....again 😂😂 Y'all are just waiting to join in, aren't you? C'mon, don't lie, I know you are! 😂😂

I made three pies today: Chocolate, Butterscotch, and an Apple pie (*smirks* Where's my dean bean at?) I'm so ready to stuff my face full.

How cold is it where you're at? I'm quite warm but my mom swears she's freezing to death 😂😂😂

OH MY GOSH WE HIT 50K TODAY. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH (Misha looks so adorable in this gif, and Jensens little smile melts mah heart 😭❤️)

https://68.media.tumblr.com/2a0962126a4f8856b2842c863cc3011f/tumblr_mguoermMZZ1rm5sbno1_500.gif

*runs around screaming* I'm so happy about this OH MY GOSH!!! Honestly, I never thought I'd get this far 😭❤️ Thank you everyone!!! Eeeeeep, I love y'all so much!! PIE FOR YOU, PIE FOR YOU, PIE FOR EVERYONE!! ❤️❤️❤️

Sorry for the long wait, I swear I'm not trying to drag this out...I just get distracted easily😂😂

Don't forget to Vote, Comment, Share, and of course Follow me! 😏😉

Stay celebrating! 🎉🎊
~Molly