B.R.O.N.X. (Justin Bieber Fanfiction)

"I've seen how easily you can lose everything you have."

Justin

Two weeks had passed since the last time I saw Brooklyn. Every time the door of my hospital room opened, I hoped against all hope that it'd be her. And every time I wound up disappointed. Everyone was treading carefully around me, not bringing her up, trying to distract me by talking about anything else, as if I was a fragile little thing.

The truth was I hardly needed distracting. I was asleep most of the time, if not for the meds, out of pure boredom. The only positive outcome of those two weeks was that my wounds were closing and I could use the bathroom by myself again, stand up and do normal-grown-up-human-being stuff. I was allowed to go on little walks up and down the hallway just outside my room, which were not only depressing but tiring as hell at first. I had lost weight and muscle at a frightening rate despite eating almost normally again. Mom brought comfortable clothes for me every day after work so I no longer had to wear the ludicrous hospital gown. Jazmyn came over every afternoon after school, sometimes bringing Jaxon along. They would do homework while I watched TV or we just chatted. Tyson and Sam dropped by in the mornings, Sam looking so pregnant I thought she was going to give birth in the middle of my room. The baby wasn't due till August, though.

As much as they tried to cheer me up and made my days more entertaining, I found myself snapping at them or being moody and sulky until they rolled their eyes and walked away. Then I'd apologize and they'd give me that pitiful look you give people when you know why they're upset about but you don't want to mention it in front of them in case they'll burst out in tears. Not that I would do that.

That was why I was so taken aback when I woke up in the middle of the night on a Saturday to find a girl hunched over the edge of my bed in an awkward position, fast asleep. I'd heard breathing noises so I'd woken up, careful not to open my eyes in case it was that nurse in the night shift that gave me flirty eyes and patted my arms and abdomen when I was pretty sure it wasn't necessary. After a while, the breathing hadn't faded away, but I hadn't felt any inappropriate touches either. I pried one eye open gingerly. The room was bathed in moonlight, the door closed. A blond head was propped on crossed arms next to my hip, facing away from me.

I rubbed my eyes with my fingers, then pinched my arm to make sure I wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. I carefully reached an arm and shook Brooklyn's shoulder lightly. She must've been uncomfortable sitting like that. She barely stirred, so I called her name softly.

"Brooklyn."

Finally, she lifted her head up to look in my direction. I could tell she flushed when she saw me staring at her. Even when the room was so dim, I could see her cheeks were red. Sleepiness seemed to leave her in a rush as she bolted upright, smoothing the hair that was falling out of some complicated twist in the back. It looked a silvery color in the pale light coming from the window.

Sensing she wasn't going to say anything, I took the initiative. "What are you doing here at"—I checked the embarrassingly childish blue wristwatch Jaxon had given me since my own had broken apart in the accident—"midnight? And why are you wearing that dress?" There was fluffy fabric floating all around her.

"Prom," she said hoarsely, her voice still a little thick with sleep. She cleared her throat. "Prom was tonight."

"Oh, right. I had forgotten." I shifted my eyes away from her. She looked distractingly sexy with her hair wild and one of the straps of her dress sliding down her shoulder, her face heated.

Brooklyn stood up and straightened her dress down ineffectively. The skirt was all wrinkled. "I," she started, looking wide-eyed and confused. "I don't know why I came."

My heart twisted. I had stupidly thought she might be here to forgive me and give me another chance. But why would she do that after not coming in two weeks?