Always (Boyxboy)

Chapter Seventeen- Pierce

"Thank you," Pierce said sincerely, feeling weird for having to say it more than once that night, but he loved his brother and he deserved every bit of his gratitude.

"No problem," Garett assured, patting Pierce on the back before jogging across the parking lot. Pierce watched him run for half a second, incredibly thankful that Garett had been there to take care of all the extra things so PIerce could simply focus on Tyler. Then, the strain in his arms became too much, and he ducked low to slide into the backseat of the car, making sure not to bump either of their heads.

***

"Kalen, just give me his fucking number," Pierce groaned into the phone, staring ahead at the closed door of Tyler's hospital room. He hadn't been allowed in the room, given the fact that he wasn't family and visiting hours were long since over, but he didn't want to leave until Tyler's mother showed up. The only problem with that was that he didn't have the woman's number and he was struggling to get Kalen to give him James's number so he could get it.

"For what?" Kalen demanded for not the first time and Pierce grit his teeth.

"Excuse me, sir?" a female nurse said, getting his attention. "Have you been able to contact his parents? We'll be taking him in to get a CT scan in a matter of minutes".

"Who was that? Who's getting a CT scan. Is James okay?" Kalen asked in his ear, having heard the woman's voice.

"I'm still working on it," Pierce told the woman, who frowned but nodded. "Kalen, James is fine. He just has the phone number of someone that I need to reach so please give me his phone number".

Kalen was silent for a moment and then grumbled. "Fine. I'll text it to you".

"Thank you-"

"I will find out what this is about though. I'll just get James to tell me".

"Yeah, good luck with that," Pierce grumbled. Tyler had told him many times that they didn't need to worry about Kalen finding out through James. While his friend knew their secret, he understood that it was theirs to tell and wouldn't dare spill it to Kalen. "Just send me the number immediately please". He hung up on Kalen and then waited impatiently for the three minutes it took for Kalen's text to reach him.

When it did, he clicked on the number and held the phone to his head, desperately hoping that James's cell phone ringer was on. If the boy didn't answer his call, Pierce feared they would have to drive to Tyler's house and talk to Mrs. Amore in person, which was something he desperately didn't want to do. He could only imagine his brother's face if he went out to the car, where Garett was getting some rest, and told him they had to go wake up a woman who very obviously hated him.

Thankfully, James picked up, saying "hello?" into the phone with a tired voice. "Who is this?"

"Pierce," he answered. "I need Tyler's mother's phone number. Could you text it to this number"

"Uhh... yeah," James groaned, clearing his throat. "Is everything alright? Why do you need to call her at three in the morning on a friday. You realize she's asleep, right?"

Pierce rolled his eyes and then sighed. He should tell James. He was Tyler's best friend after all. "Tyler came to my apartment at two. He was so tired he wasn't even making sense so I went to get him a glass of water to... I guess I don't really know why I thought that would help, but I did, and while I was getting it he passed out and hit his head on my dining room table and hasn't woken up since. He's in the hospital right now, and they're taking to get him a CT scan soon".

"Shit," James hissed. "I'll be there in-"

"Don't bother," Pierce grumbled. "The wont let anyone who isn't family in the room-"