Eleven Eleven

Dream On

"Well, I'll have you know, babe, I take pride in being a nice guy. If we mess around I can show you how ba-"

I shot him a dark look, shutting him up. "Okay, I'm done with the pickup lines. You're off limits, I get it."

"Thank you."

With a quick salute, he halted to a stop outside a room, blocking the glass and my view of Xander in the hospital bed inside.

"Before you are presented with the awful sight of him, it's important you know what to say and what not to say. He doesn't remember the band and thinks we're all friends of yours and your brothers. He doesn't remember ever being in a band, and the doctor's are suggesting we reveal it to him slowly so he doesn't get overwhelmed. He doesn't remember his parents accident entirely and he has no clue that he was involved in a hit and run." he said it all in one long breath, shaking his head as he spoke.

I touched Ryan's shoulder and gently pushed him out of the way so I could see into the room. The little I'd eaten this morning came up at the sight of him. He was a lump buried beneath blankets, his black hair matted against his forehead under a white bandage, all color in his cheeks gone, lips chapped. His right leg was elevated, clearly broken, and the way his arm was wrapped led me to believe it was as well.

"He's okay." Ryan assured.

I tore my eyes away from the mess that was left in the place of my best friend. "He doesn't look okay."

"Okay, he's alive." he smiled weakly, "That's what matters, right?"

As much as I wanted to nod and agree with the boy beside me, I couldn't force myself to. Being alive isn't important; anyone in the world can simply be alive. Anyone can breathe and have blood flowing through their veins. Not everyone understands what it's like to live, to take advantage of the blood rushing through their veins and take each breath as if it's their last. As my fingertips grazed the cold glass, I was sure that Xander had lost all will to live.

"Let's go in." Ryan's voice was a hushed whisper, right hand clenching my shoulder blade comfortingly.

I shook his hand off, all too aware of the air we shared as I broke free and stepped into the room. At first glance, Xander appeared to be out. His eyes were shut, his lips slightly parted as he struggled to force each breath out. It wasn't until I tripped over a plastic cup that had been discarded on the floor and nearly fell face first into the disinfected tile that he stirred and pried his eyes open.

I wasn't sure who's intake of breath broke through the room first. He started to push himself upright, hands gripping the sheets as his head fell back a fraction and he cried out in pain. Ryan rushed to his side immediately, gently pushing him back against the bed. I started to stumble back toward the door, but the shakiness of my legs weren't any support and I collapsed against the chair.

The thoughts I'd spent the last five years pushing down and into the back of my mind rushed to the surface, screaming all at once as memories clouded my vision.

I saw the worn look on Xander's face when I had looked back at him after climbing into the taxi that night. I saw us on my bed on my eleventh birthday, Xander's arms around me as he set my fingers along the right chords ad frets while he taught me to play one of his father's old guitars. I could feel the warmth of his breath against my cheek as he hummed along to the song I was strumming softly.

I could see the distant look on his face as he fell back against the kitchen wall of his old house, eyes looking passed the officer facing us and somewhere else entirely. Even the feelings of his tears soaking my shoulder and neck as his body ravaged with sobs for days on end after that night forced it's way back up.

"Willow?" Ryan's gruff voice broke my spell and forced me back into reality.

"Yeah?"

His eyes roamed my hunched figure. "You okay?"

I averted my eyes from the older boy, greeted by my best friend's icy blues, dull and glistening in the bright florescent lights of the hospital room.

"Stevie?" he croaked. I recoiled into myself, hugging my stomach in hopes it would prevent anything from coming up. I hadn't heard the nickname in years, I had refused to even acknowledge the name anytime Blake used it.

The sounds of footsteps shook Xander from his momentary daze and his eyes refocused on the door.

"You guys have seriously got to try this pudding." a loud voice cut through the heavy tension in the room. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to find Ashton and Haiden standing in the doorway, faces smeared with chocolate pudding.

The first time I had met the brothers, I had thought they were twins. They both had the same sharp jawline, high cheekbones, beautiful and knowing hazel eyes, but the smile that would occasionally break out across Haiden's face was so boyish it was hard to imagine he was closing in on eighteen this year.

Alert of the tension in the room, Ashton cleared his throat and cracked a weak smile in his best attempt to break it.

"Hey, Willow."

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

The next chapter will be more eventful, I promise! 

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24