Seven Twenty-Eight

42 (Mary and Sam).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - August 3, 2019

"Baby, go home," Sam grumbled, wincing as he laid back on his bed.

"No," She punched back at him, pulling his blankets up over his legs, "My parents think it's best that I stay with you. They know this is really important to me-"

"You haven't seen your parents in almost a year, Mary— And you barely even saw them last summer because you didn't want to leave Oliver," He retorted, using his healthy arm to pull the blanket closer to his chest.

Mary frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I was going to stay here anyway," She pouted, "Why do you want me to leave so bad?"

"It just dawned on me that you haven't seen them," He shrugged his shoulder, "Don't you miss them?"

"Of course I do," She scoffed, brushing her fingers through his hair, "But you need me more than they do right now."

He huffed, turning his head away from her in annoyance.

"Sammy," She pouted, sitting down at the edge of his bed, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," He muttered, "It just hurts."

She furrowed her eyebrows together, hesitantly reaching forward to touch his tender left shoulder. "Do you want me to get you your medicine?" She asked, gently brushing her fingers over the bandages.

"No," He snapped.

She frowned, retracting her hand from the touch sadly. "I'm sorry," She mumbled, turning her back to him.

Sam sighed, leaning his head back against the pillow guiltily, "No, I'm sorry," He corrected her, "I just— I feel so helpless."

"You aren't helpless," She pouted, turning to face him again, "It's okay, Sam."

He frowned at her, reaching his hand out. "I love you," He sighed, "I'm sorry I'm grumpy."

She smiled weakly, fixing his hair in her fingers, smoothing out the wild curls. "I love you too," She giggled, "I get it, you're going through it right now."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I definitely didn't expect to go into my senior year with one arm."

"Hopefully you'll be better in no time," She sighed. She took a deep breath, awkwardly scooting up to her feet. "I'm going to grab a drink, do you want me to bring you something?"

He smiled softly, shaking his head. "I'm okay— I think I want to take a nap," He told her, "Come back and cuddle with me after?"

"Of course," She smiled, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Mary paced out of his room calmly, softly shutting the door behind her. She took a few steps away from the door behind halting in place, staring down the hall blankly.

She took a deep, shaking breath, tilting her head forward to look at her feet just as a tear slipped out. She groaned in frustration, covering her eyes with her palms as she began to cry.

Her chest had tightened as she sniffled, moving her hands away to hug her arms around herself. She watched miserably as her tears splattered onto the wooden floor, trembling slightly.

"Mary?"

She jumped slightly, snapping her head up to find Jacob standing at the top of the stairs, watching her with a sorrowful frown on his face. "H-hey— Sorry, I just-" She paused, wiping her cheeks casually, "Sorry."

"Mary," He pouted, slowly walking toward her.

"I'm good," She insisted, taking a step back.

He rolled his eyes, holding his hand out to her. "Come on," He sighed, "We both know that isn't true."

Her eyebrows furrowed together when she considered it, staring down at his hand hesitantly. Finally, she accepted it, allowing herself to be pulled into a close hug.

She sniffled to herself, curling her head into his chest when she began to cry again. "God, you're so tall," She whimpered.

He refrained from chuckling at her when she sobbed out the question, brushing his hands through her hair casually.

"You're taller than Jason now, aren't you?," She cried, "You passed Sam and Oliver last year."

He smiled softly, "Yeah, he was pissed when he saw me."

She let out a quiet laugh, engulfed by the sound of her cries. "He probably hates it," She told him, gently nudging him away.

"Yeah," He smiled, wiping her cheeks gently. "What's wrong, Mars?" He frowned.

She huffed, puffing her cheeks out dramatically as she did so. She looked down at her feet sadly, wrapping her arms around herself, and spoke in a quiet tone, hushing away the conversation from anyone that could be near, "I'm so scared, Jake. I thought I was going to lose him."

"He's okay, Mary," Jacob frowned, smoothing out her frazzled blonde locks, "Sure, he's going to need some therapy but he's okay. He just needs to rest and be surrounded by the people he loves."

"He keeps pushing me away," She sniffled, "H-he's hurting so bad and I can't do anything for him— I feel so useless."

He sighed, holding onto her shoulders, causing her to look up at him, "I'm sure he's scared too."

"I know," She groaned, dropping her head down again, "I'm so selfish-"

"Mary, you found him in a pool of his own blood. You're allowed to be scared," He told her sternly, "You and Sam complete each other— You can be scared to lose him, you know?"

Mary sighed, leaning into another hug. She hugged him for another moment before pushing him away to wipe her face one last time. She looked up at him with wide eyes, pasting a smile onto her lips.

"How do I look?"

"Like a million bucks," He teased her, pushing her hair behind her shoulders.

She chuckled in response, playfully punching his shoulder, "Thank you, Jakey."

"Of course, Mars," He grinned, "Now go take care of your man."

She smiled weakly, turning away from him. She slowly sulked back to the room, and poked her head in quietly, unsure if Sam was asleep or not.

She shut the door behind her as she entered and refrained from sniffling as she tiptoed closer. She couldn't help but brush her fingers through his hair before crawling into the bed beside him, cradling him in her arms.

Sam groaned, rolling toward her as best he could. "That was fast," He grumbled, curling his head into her chest.

"Yeah," She whispered, "I just grabbed a quick drink."

He nodded his head, relaxing his body the best he could when he tangled their legs together. "Thank you, baby," He muttered.

"For what?"

"Being here with me," He said simply, "I love you so much."

Mary smiled softly, leaning her head back against the headboard. "I love you so much more."