Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Three weeks.
That was how long it had been since you were put in a coma.
You thought for a moment. Wherever you were, it was dark. Unnaturally so. You couldn't see a damn thing. Like your eyes weren't working.
That was probably because they weren't open.
Right.
The first thing you noticed upon regaining your senses was the strong smell of antiseptic in the air. You could also smell faint traces of chlorine, artificial floral fragnence, and blood.
Hospital, your mind supplied.
Your entire body felt heavy even though weren't trying to move it. And achy. In fact, it was more than achy. You were sore everywhere, pain lying over you like a blanket, simultaneously keeping you hot and cold in an infuriatingly painful mix of sensation. While most of your body was engulfed in a dull throbbing ache, your chest was experiencing an odd mix of burning and being stabbed all at once.
Your eyelids twitched before you tried to lift them with a groan, but they felt as if they were made out of lead, and when you finally did manage to open them, you snapped them shut straight away because the surrounding light just about blinded you.
How did you get here?
You slowly smudged your eyes open again, squinting and trying to blink away the blur from them.
When they started to come into focus and you allowed your eyes to wander, your eyebrows dipped slightly when all you saw was bright white and all you heard was that damn beeping.
You scrunched your face up, confused and still dazed. The bluriness of your vision didn't distort enough to not see the monitors next to the bed you were in and the wires snaking around every corner.
Once your sight sharpened enough, you peeked down to see the white sheets covered over you.
The next thing that caught your eye was a mess of golden brown, laid on the bed on top of arms that were folded underneath a sleeping face.
Why was Stu here?
Your puddles of (E/C) searched over Stu sat in the chair and slumped over the bed before you realized he was holding your hand.
"Stuey..." You croaked, your voice hoarse from just waking up as you gave his hand a squeeze to try and rouse him.
He jolted awake like he was in a panic, his head snapping up. Your heart broke at how tired he looked but it nearly flew out of your body when his red, puffy eyes took hols on yours.
"(Y/N)?" He rasped, like he didn't understand what he was seeing and his voice was raw, like he's had the flu.
"What's going o–"
Your question was stopped short by Stu almost jumping on you as he wrapped his long arms around your shoulders and buried his face against your neck.
"You're awake! You're fucking awake!" He cheered, nearly shaking you as he pulled you tighter against him, sounding utterly relieved. "Wait 'til Billy hears. Ya had us damn worried, silly girl!"
Speaking of Billy, you scanned the room for him, but was nowhere around. You were still confused as to why he was acting like you had just woken up out of a coma.
Little did you know, that's exactly what happened.
"I'm awake," you parroted, wrapping your own smaller arms around him. The familiar scent of maple hit your nostrils. "Where is Billy?"
"Uh..." Stu hesitated, rubbing the last of his sleep away. "Honestly I couldn't tell you. I dunno."
Breathing became more difficult and a sharp pain seared through your body as Stu clings into you tightly. "Stuey... You're hurting me..."
The entire area right under your left breast was covered with bandages under which a bullet hole layed, and your fingers briefly touched a patch on your forehead.
"Sorry baby," he gace you an apologetic smile, carefully pulling away. It faltered again when he saw your face falling into a troubled frown. "Tell good ol' Stu what's bothering that cute mind of yours."
There was this sinking feeling building up in your stomach that made you internally panic. "How did I get here?"
"Uh, what?" He blinked, a hint of shock present in his voice as he cocked a speculating eyebrow at you. "You mean you don't remember?"
"No," you shook your head, not knowing what to say or what to make of it. "No... I don't."
"Well, what's the last thing you remember?" Stu pressed, threading his fingers through his hair as his soft and gentle eyes grazed over your concerned features. You couldn't help but admire his attractive eyes.
"I..." You rolled your lips into your mouth, averting your gaze as you felt your throat tighten up. "I fell off a roof."
"A roof?" Stu repeates dumbly, proceeding to question you further. "What roof?"
There were only bits and pieces of images flashing in your brain. The holes in your memory made your stomach twist.
It took you a few drawn out seconds of thinking to look for an answer. "Of your house. I'm pretty sure. But I don't know what I did up there."
The look that crossed his face was almost funny if the circumstances had been different. Stu almost choked on his spit when he realized you were suffering severe memory loss.
So that meant...
Oh fuck.
He pressed his lips together into a flat line with a blank expression, ceasing the movement of playing with your earlobe.
"Jeez... So you don't know who shot you?" He checked, sounding curious and oddly soft spoken at the same time.
You felt tears blocking your vision as you started to sniff with your mind reeling, reaching out for the glass of water that stood beside you.
Taking a sip from it, the liquid instantly eased your sore throat before you placed it back on the metal tray.
You didn't know which question to ask first, and you let your voice crack instead of forcing your composure. "N-No... Do you?"
"Hey, hey, hey... It's all good now," Stu cooed, seeing how upset you were getting.
An idea formed in his mind. Who was he to pass out on this opportunity?
Stu put up a façade of seriousness and could very well be an actor with how convincing he looked and sounded. "But yeah... It was that loser, Meeks. He was sooo obsessed with you he wanted you all to himself. The police took him out, though. Crazy, right?"
Was it sad that he was taking advantage of your miserable situation? Absolutely.
Did he give a shit? Not really. What he was doing could only turn out in their favour. He needed to talk to Billy, ASAP.
Stu did feel bad to see your heart break inside those pretty (E/C) irises of yours. He really didn't like seeing you sad, but if you didn't remember that they were killers, it would only make you happier in the long run and maybe it was for the best.
He told himself that he was doing this to protect you.
Randy did this...?
You could barely believe your ears, but why would Stu lie about it? Could jealousy really be that destructive?
Surprised and uncertain, you stumbled for a reply as Stu lifted himself up. "Can't... Can't you stay?"
He really wanted to, but instead shook his head and bowed down, taking it upon himself to initiate a lingering and consoling kiss.
Your slightly chapped lips molded with an expert, beautiful pair, to which blood suddenly rose up to your cheeks.
It was innocent, and it was romantic.
When he pulled away, Stu eyed you, his features flooded with a million feelings all at once that burned your ears into pink.
Your eyes trailed behind his retreating form just seconds after he booped your nose. "Don't worry. I'll be back, just gotta find Billy. You get some rest."
"Wait!" You called out, pushing out your next words before you lost the courage as you fidgeted nervously with your fingers. "S–Stu... What are we?"
His orbs expanded a little bit at the question, but it was soon replaced by a wink before he gave you an answer that almost flatlined your brain. "You're our girlfriend, duh. Gotta run. Later, sweetheart!"
Stunned, you kept your stare fixated on the now empty doorframe, before your face suddenly heated up in a pleasurable way and you couldn't surpress your lips tugging upwards.
It was the weirdest sight, because you were unable to contain the tears that were silently gliding down your cheeks.
The chirping of birds outside pulled you out of your thoughts for a bit. It was a beautiful day outside, not a cloud in sight.
But who were you to enjoy it?
You dropped your head into the pillow, feeling defeated. The bright day did nothing to lighten your mood.
Truth be told, memory loss was never fun. And judging from Stu's unusual reaction, it couldn't just be a week you'd forgotten about.
Your arteries twisted in an unromantic way when you came to the conclusion it had to be much longer than that.
-
"She asked about you, Billy."
Hours later, the two boys were sitting outside of the medical facility. Billy had his legs lazily thrown over one of the garden tables, blowing smoke out of his nose as he peered over his shoulder at his old friend.
With the sun glazing that vanilla skin and blue eyes, Stu he looked strangely angelic, especially with the way he was beaming now that you were finally awake.
Billy's face remained emotionless, yet his eyebrows narrowed down. "Did she?"
"Yeah," Stu nodded, moving restlessly in his chair. "Aren't you gonna visit her?"
Billy stared at him blankly. As much as he wanted to, he was hesitant. Day in and day out, Billy had been blaming himself for not protecting and nearly losing you to a twit like Roman no less.
He'd never openly admit it to anyone, of course. But Stu wasn't dumb and probably already knew about his inner turmoil.
The latter pushed himself up to his feet, figuring Billy wasn't the one to have pity parties and as he passed him, placed a hand on his shoulder that for once, Billy didn't shrug off. "Go see her."
The conversation they had earlier lingered in in his mind as his head bowed against the gusting wind, before he pushed open the doors to the hospital to search for your room.
At first, Billy thought Stu had been lying when he said you couldn't recall anything that happened after Woodsboro.
When it turned out Stu wasn't fucking around, Billy didn't know what to think or feel for that matter, but he had to give Stu credit for the plan he'd come up with on the spot.
It was smart.
Creaking the door shut behind him, his dark eyes immediately settled on you.
There you were, resting on the bed with tubes attached to your arms.
Just when Billy considered coming back on a later time, he halted his steps when he heard his name slip out of your mouth in a hushed, sleepy voice.
You sounded so vulnerable, it stirred something in his chest.
You were staring at Billy, distracted by the unfamiliar colour on his cheekbones that seemed almost out of place for someone as tough as he was. "Are you blushing?"
Billy shook his head, surprised that that was the first thing you'd decided to say to him.
"I'm fucking not," he mumbled, avoiding the topic by slowly walking over to the side of the bed to lean on it. "How are you feeling?"
Good question.
"Tired," was all you could think of. Maybe it was because of the drugs, but Billy had never looked as handsome as he did now.
His face was soft but his chestnut eyes hard as flint. Still, they held a hint of concern in them.
Maybe it was a trick of the light but he was smiling. You didn't see a malicious or menacing grin, no. It was a real, charming smile that had your heart race until it broke your knees.
"Are you blushing?" Billy mocked what you said just seconds ago, using the same exaggerated tone of voice.
You huffed, wanting to scowl at him but you only felt yourself soften. Your blood was pumping just by the mere sight of his smile and his presence.
"I came here to warn you," he simply stated.
You found yourself holding your breath. "Warn... Me? For what?"
There was a silence following both of you, until Billy planted his hand on his face, dragging it down as he looked mildly uncomfortable. "Stu wants to bake for you."
You blinked a few times before bursting into laughter that ended up into a forceful and painful coughing fit.
Billy gently pushed you back down on the bed, but your facial expression made him snort as well. "I know. Fucking told him he didn't need to give you another reason to stay in the hospital."
Oh my God, Stu really was the sweetest thing, wasn't he?
You looked back at him, on the verge of saying something with your face all red, but your nervousness got the better of you.
This didn't go unnoticed by Billy who took your hand in his and brushed it with his thumb, giving you a painfully attractive lopsided smile. "We love you too."