How To Play the Player (COMPLETED)

Ask Again Later

I smiled weakly, nodding toward Liam in the uncomfortable chair beside his baby sister, clutching her small hand between both of his own. "I'm here with a friend."

"Oh, Mr. Scott is here so frequently we like to joke he's one of us." The nurse, Reyna her nametag read, touched her hand to the glass. "He's here every morning before school and every night before visiting hours are up. Every night and every Sunday at church I pray that the little angel wakes up, for his sake. But her little brain shows no activity, the machines are unfortunately the only thing keeping her alive at this point."

I couldn't get a coherent answer out before she veered around me in her path and pushed the door open. Liam rose, a hopefulness in his eyes as he spoke to her, then his expression crumbled just as quickly. He nodded and turned his back to the nurse before exiting the room and starting down the hall at lightning speed.

"Liam!" I gasped, taking off after him. I nearly collapsed once I reached him, slapping my hands against my knees. "Not all of us run laps for fun, you know."

He blinked himself back into reality and stared down at my guilty, "I spaced you were with me, I'm sorry."

I nodded, unable to get a word out as I tried to catch my breath. I really did need to start running laps for fun, because I had barely run down a hallway and felt like I was going to die. I made a mental note to start jogging around the field at school as soon as tomorrow as I pulled my phone from my back pocket and winced.

Bry: where the hell are you, Reese? I've been trying to call for the last two hours

Queen Bri: re, pls answer. We're worried. If ur w liam just let us know

Jayjay: hey, Reese, babe, bryan called asking where you were. Are u ok? Call me asap

All three texts were followed by multiple missed calls and a couple voicemails from Bryan I knew wouldn't be very nice. After my breakdown at Homecoming, Bryan had been hyper focused on me, worry evident in every glance he casted in my direction.

"Shit, I'll drop you off at your friend's." Liam caught sight of the notifications over my shoulder, gritting his teeth.

I thought about what he said for a minute before shaking my head. "Do you think you can drop me off at Jay's?"

There was no way in hell I wanted to face Bryan's fury right now. Not after spending the afternoon watching Liam Scott sit at his comatoast little sister's bedside.

Liam made a noise of distaste as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"He's my boyfriend, Liam."

"Is he?"

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Are you just going to answer everything with a contradiction?"

"Hanging out at a guy's house, especially when they're your boyfriend isn't like chilling with Bryan or hanging with me." He tried as subtly as possible to get the hint across and I slowly deflated.

He was looking out for me and I couldn't hate him for that.

"Fine, fine. Just drop me off at home then."

**

I sat on the couch with my laptop after calling my friends and Jay and assuring them I was fine. I had told Bryan where I actually was but found myself lying to Jay and saying I was helping my mother out at the hospital. A partial lie was better than a full lie, wasn't it?