I'm not the only one in my reflection.

Part two

The redhead sighed heavily and began to get out of bed, deciding that «stop remembering the past and feeling sorry for yourself, it's time to finally get to Tara». Amber carefully intertwined their elbows, allowing her girlfriend to lean on herself if necessary, if fatigue decides to unexpectedly manifest itself.

Freeman took her phone out of her pocket and put it on the nightstand, pointing to Katherine's item. — Here, I brought it to you. Tara's phone was taken as one of the clues in connection with, well, the attack on you, but I was able to get your phone from Sheriff Hicks. At least the friendship with her son was useful somewhere. — The brunette giggled, which spurred the redhead to follow her example and laugh lightly.

— Thanks, honey. — Murphy kissed her beloved on the cheek, and stopped in front of the door to the room where Tara lay, injured much more than her. — At least I'm lucky that I've already graduated.

Amber opened the door for the girl and they both saw Chad, Mindy and Wes, each sitting on a chair, turn their heads to them, wanting to know who had come to visit Tara.

— Hey. — Katherine greeted everyone quietly and sat down on the chair next to the younger Carpenter's bed, which Freeman kindly gave her. The brunette stopped behind the back of the chair, leaning on it with her hands. — I see you're fine.

Tara grinned, having already seen herself in the mirror. Her pale face, all those wires, ivs, and so on. But she appreciated her friend's attempt at a joke.

— And how are you? — Carpenter reached for Murphy's forehead, which was still wrapped in several layers of bandages. — I saw you lose consciousness after you were hit with your head on the countertop, although everything was pretty blurry.

Katherine lowered her head in shame and embarrassment, feeling a lump of bile in her throat. She was older than Tara and was considered by their friends to be the unofficial older sister who looks after the younger Carpenter, and then she faints so quickly and lets some bastard torment her non-blood younger sister.

The redhead believed that she had not even been able to properly protect Tara, as older sisters should do. She failed to fulfill her sisterly duty. Protect your younger siblings. Shame on her.

— Hey, it's not your fault. — Carpenter reached up to Murphy's face and lightly ran the pad of her thumb over her cheek, because there was a treated but still reddish abrasion on the other cheek.

Katherine nodded at her best friend's words, but still didn't believe them. Amber put her hand on her girlfriend's forearm, squeezing it lightly for support, trying to avoid the injured shoulder.

— I would hug you, but I'm afraid I'll only make it worse. — Chad said, intervening in the exchange of glances between the three girls, and turned his head to the two remaining friends who, having heard about the attack, came here.

Murphy nodded with a small smile, in greeting, to each of the trio of friends who came.

— We planned to visit you after Tara, but then we thought that you and Amber would definitely come here on your own, so we decided not to wander around the hospital, but to wait for Amber to bring you. — Wes added, got up from his chair, put his hand in his jeans pocket and took out two small blue and green objects. — Here, these are... tasers. I know that unlike these dudes,— The Sheriff's son pointed to Chad, who just smiled innocently, then pointed to Mindy, who grinned and waved teasingly, and finally to Amber, who just blinked at Wes and ignored him. — thinking that they are the main characters and therefore will not die, I know that you will accept these items of self-defense. Consider it a gift from me for your second birthday. — The dyed blond man walked up to Katherine and carefully placed a taser on her outstretched palm. He looked at Tara's bandaged, obviously wounded arm and put the self-defense item on the bedside table next to her.

— Thanks, Wes. It's very sweet, I appreciate it. — Murphy was smiling sincerely now, while Freeman frowned behind her and tightened her grip on her girlfriend's forearm.

The younger Carpenter also quietly thanked Wes, who immediately blushed and sat down in his seat, saying that he had done nothing serious, just a little help to friends.

The door opened, distracting the teenagers from talking to each other. There was silence as Samantha Carpenter awkwardly entered the room, dragging some embarrassed guy with her, whose face showed that he was not very comfortable being here.

Or like he's constipated, who knows.

Amber's grip on Katherine's forearm became even stronger when she saw her girlfriend's former love interest.

Murphy's eyes were fixed on Sam, who awkwardly shuffled at the entrance and walked to the bed, where Tara, lying down, began to shine, seeing her sister for the first time in several years.

The elder Carpenter's brown eyes darted toward the redhead's face for a second. She froze for a moment before kneeling down in front of Tara's bed, giving her younger sister all her time.

A guy with an embarrassed expression stopped by the wall with his hands in his pants pockets, waiting for Sam away from everyone.

Tara was looking at her older sister, well, Samantha, while continuing to hold her and Katherine's fingers intertwined.

It was obvious how glad the younger Carpenter really was to see her biological older sister.

Murphy, feeling the tension behind her, where Amber continued to stand, finally tore her drugged gaze away from Sam and leaned back in her chair, clearing her throat. She froze in a similar way, with her eyes glued to the face opposite and the air abruptly disappeared from her lungs, as if someone had punched her in the gut, just out of surprise to see her former best friend/love interest again, yes, just because of this.

There are no more reasons.

When Samantha started hugging the students in the hospital room one by one, the redhead thought about what she should do.

Katherine seemed to want to be in the elder Carpenter's arms again, just as a friend, nothing more, but on the other hand, she still felt Freeman's tension, as well as her strong, possessive grip on her forearm.

The decision has been made. She just needs to smile at Sam, sit Amber down on the armrest and take her hand, allowing Freeman to satisfy her jealous nature by showing who Murphy belongs to now.

That's exactly what happened.

Amber, seeing the offered seat and the elder Carpenter walking in their direction, immediately sat down on the armrest and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders, pressing against her side. She buried her nose in her red hair.

Samantha froze in her seat, the hand she had been holding out to Katherine for a hug dropped down dejectedly. She returned Murphy's greeting with a smile and looked awkwardly at Amber, who, still nuzzling her red hair, opened her eyelids and looked defiantly straight into Carpenter's brown eyes.

Tara, like everyone else, just decided to ignore the tense glances of Amber and Sam, their insincere greetings to each other. The redhead, left to her fate by her friends, caught between two fires, did the same.

Mindy even had the audacity to sprawl in a chair and, in a loud whisper, so that everyone in the hospital room could hear, ask Chad where she could get popcorn at the hospital. Her twin brother laughed, said that popcorn would be more appropriate now than ever, the younger Carpenter verbally agreed with them.

Only Wes had the decency to remain silent and, without interfering in the teasing conversation of friends, tried to pull Katherine out of her difficult situation, where she was stuck between a former love interest and a real love interest.