Song For This Chapter -
A Great Big World - Rockstar
"There's a boy thinking of her playin' his guitar
Searching for the answer buried in his heart"
*Summer's POV*
"You ready?" Caspar asked.
His hand had the mouse hovered over the upload button, his chin resting on my shoulder as I sat on his lap. The warmth of his arm wrapped around my waist was comforting, the nerves of what we were just about to do settling in.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I smiled, putting my hand over his.
"On three." he whispered, pressing a kiss to my neck. "One."
"Two."
"Three."
Together, we clicked the button, the video beginning to upload. This was it. In about, 1 and a half hours, all of our viewers and the rest of YouTube would know about our relationship. Over 3 million people will be ready to judge us and have their say.
Simultaneously, we released a nervous breath, his arm retracting from the mouse and joining it's other round my waist.
"Whatever happens, whether they like it or not, I'm staying with you. You're mine." Caspar spoke, his head buried into my neck. "I don't care what they think. I love you."
I brought my hand up to his face, turning my body so I was facing him. My legs straddled his waist on the chair as I pressed my lips forcefully to his. His surprise was evident as it took him a while to respond, but when he did, my insides burned. He threw in as much passion as he could. I could feel every single one of his feelings being emitted into the kiss.
His lips turned up into a smile, softly biting my bottom lip, a small moan escaping my throat.
"I love you too." I mumbled into his mouth.
"It's 10pm...how about we forget about this for tonight and go to bed." he smiled, pressing his lips to mine quickly.
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A sleepy groan fell from Caspar's lips as I shuffled in his hold.
"Sorry." I whispered. "Go back to sleep."
I don't know whether he had heard me or not, but the room was soon filled with his snores once again. I checked one last time that he was asleep, before climbing out of bed and checking my phone. It had been going off for the past hour or so, someone desperate to get hold of me.
*28 missed calls*
Dad
My thoughts immediately ran to the worst case scenario. What if something had happened to Olivia? I choked back a sob as I redialled my Dad's number, walking out of Caspar's bedroom so I did not wake him.
My heart beat was fast, each ring of the phone sending shivers down my spin.
"Summer! Oh my God Summer there you are!" He answered, out of breath.
"Sorry I was asleep." I looked at the clock - 4:56am. "Is everything okay?!" I asked, biting at my nails, a habit I was desperate to kick.
"You need to get down the hospital now!" he yelled down the phone.
"Dad what's going on? I'm scared! What's happening?!" I squeaked down the phone, fresh tears making their way down my cheeks.
"Sorry baby, I've got to go. Just come as soon as possible!"
And with that he hung up on me. I huffed in frustration, my hands shaking as I picked up my bag of clothes from the sofa, slipping a pair of leggings on under one of Caspar's old shirts. My leather jacket was thrown over my arms, the cold winter air biting against my toes.
"Shit, shoes." I grit my teeth, running back in to grab a pair of Tom's.
"Come on, come on, COME ON!" I yelled at the traffic lights.
The red light was sat shining, mocking me as I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. It was past 5am now and there were no cars anywhere on the road.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS." I yelled, my knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel. "THANK YOU!" I breathed as the light flashed green, my car shooting forward and round the corner into the hospital car park.
I parked badly, not caring at the moment. My Tom's pounded on the ground, become more and more scuffed with each step. My phone began ringing as I arrived at the entrance, Caspar's name flashing up in the screen. I slowed my pace and pressed answer.
"Hey." I spoke breathlessly.
"Where the hell are you? You left in the middle of the night not evening telling me where you were going. Is everything okay?" He said loudly. His voice was angry and concerned.
Shit, I'd forgotten to leave a note or text him.
"Shit sorry Caspar. My Dad rang and they wanted me to come down to the hospital." I answered, my voice shaking.
"God dammit Summer do you know how worried I was?!" I winced at his tone.
"I'm sorry." I spoke quietly. I heard him sigh on the other side of the line.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, his voice softer now.
"I hope so, I'm just about to go in." I answered, my hands shaking along with my voice.
"Do you need me to come down there with you?" He yawned the last few words.
"No, you're fine, just go back to sleep babe." I laughed down the line.
"Alright, but next time, tell me where you're going okay?"
"I promise." I replied.
"I love you."
"I love you. Bye." and with that, I hung up.
My pace immediately quickened, running in the direction I had memorized over the past few months arriving at the room of Olivia. Voices and laughter could be heard through the door, my mind fuzzing in confusion.
Slowly, the door clicked open, my hand gripping the handle tight. Looking around the room, my mother was stood next to the bed, my father sat on a chair next to her and Dylan was laying on the bed next to Olivia. Bright smiles on all their faces. Wait...Olivia. Her smile was the brightest as her eyes landed on mine.
"Liv..." I whispered. "OLIVIA" I squealed, running over and tackling my sister into a hug.
"Hey Summer." she smiled, her arms holding me tightly to her.
"I've missed you so much." I sobbed into her shoulder. My heart felt physically warm as the warmth of my sister was back around me.
"I've missed you too." she smiled, pulling away. "In fact, I've missed everybody. Catch me up on what's going on will you!"
She took my hand in hers, my mother pulled up a chair and sat it behind me.
"Thanks." I spoke softly, sitting down on the chair. I held on to Olivia's hand as Dylan spoke, catching her up on everything that's happened.
I watched as her eyes lit up, her mouth curving into a smile every now and again, her brightness filling the room once more. She was back. The sister I had missed, the sister that meant everything to me was back. The fresh, warm tears that escaped my eyes could not be stopped, my heart pounding as I watched her talk about what a coma was like.
"Oh shit, ouch." She suddenly spat, her hand flying out of my grip at to her head.
"Are-are you okay?" I asked, my eyes becoming wide.
"Yeah, just, oh God, just a headache." She said, rubbing her head, attempting to rub the pain away.
"So tell me, what's going on in my baby sister's life right now?" Olivia's smiled turned to me, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. I could tell she was in pain but, I didn't want to push her to hard.
"Urm, well, I've got a boyfriend." I smiled, thinking of the blonde South African I'd left in bed this morning. Olivia gasped, her eyes excited.
"Is it..." she asked. I nodded. I knew she was talking about Caspar, since that's all I spoke about when I had time alone in the hospital with her.
I'd seen in movies that people talk to their loved ones when their in a coma and sometimes they can hear them. I never knew if that was true or not, but I'm assuming it was. Olivia squealed, her hands gripping mine again.
"Where is he?" She smiled, looking round the room.
"He's, er, he's still in bed." I laughed, noting that the time was only quarter past five in the morning.
"Damn, I wanted to wish him luck." she sighed.
"Wish him luck? Why?" I asked, my eyebrow raising in confusion.
"Because he has to spend time with you, that's why." Olivia winked, shoving my arm lightly.
"Heeeey!" I whined, shoving her back.
"Just kidding. Hey, Sum, would you mind going to get me some water, I want to talk to Mum and Dad for a bit." She asked.
"Sure." I smiled, scraping my chair along the ground as I stood up.
My thoughts were all over the place as I walked out the room. A smile was plastered on my face, unable to remove itself. She'd survived. I finally had her back. Mentally, I thanked Caspar for not letting me give up on hope.
As I walked through the hospital, down to the cafeteria, I heard a soft singing voice, singing along to a guitar. It sounded beautiful and oddly regonisable. I shuffled down to the room it was coming from poking my head up to see through the little window on the top of the door.
I gasped as I recognised who it was. They must of heard my intake of breath as their head flicked up immediately. He jumped up, placing his guitar down and opening the door.
"Oh my God. Summer Butler." He smiled. His once curly hair, now styled up in a sandy brown quiff.
"Liam Dawson." I smirked, his chocolate brown eyes lighting up.
"God I've missed you!" He laughed, wrapping his arms around me and picking me up in a hug. We spun around a little, memories of when Jack had done this to me came flooding back.
"I've missed you too!" I laughed with him, my feet touching the ground once again.
"How long has it been? One, maybe two years?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, something like that." I smiled at my old friend.
"Hey." He said, looking around. "Do you want to go get some coffee?"
"What? That shitty stuff from downstairs that's like one coffee bean floating in water?" I scoffed, my smile still glued to my face.
"Naah. Let's go get some real coffee. There's a Costa just down the road I think. Shall we?" He held his arm out to me.
Gratefully, I took it, looping my arm through his.
"We shall." I giggled, walking back through the hospital with him and out into the cold winter air.
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"I've thought about you a lot these past few years." Liam admitted, his cheeks flushed pink with cold.
"Really?" I asked, my hand tucked around a warm cup of coffee.
Our steps were in sync as we walked through the street. People were beginning to rise from their slumber, lights beginning to turn on everywhere as it turned to 6:30am on a Friday.
"Yeah, I really have missed you Summer. You were the only person that I could really trust." He spoke.
Liam's eyes were cast downwards, his lips turned down in a small frown.
"I'm-I'm sorry I distanced myself, Liam. I just - I needed space to think."
We stopped in front of the hospital, sitting ourselves down on a bench.
"I know." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I guess, I just thought you forgot about me, that's all."
"No. No, not at all. I could never forget you Liam." I laughed softly, nudging him with my arm.
His lips turned up into a small laugh, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Good...I, er, I really should be getting back to my niece." Liam looked towards the entrance of the hospital, his posture stiffening a little as he stood.
"Sure, sure. I need to get back to my sister so, hopefully I'll see you around?" I asked, taking his hand as he pulled me up from the bench.
"Yeah, we should do this again some time. It was fun." He smiled, pulling me into another hug.
"We should." I smiled, scribbling my number on a piece of paper and handing it to him.
"Thanks...See you soon Sum." He ran, waving behind him as he did so.
"Bye." I called out to him, laughing at his attempt to run in army style boots.
I sighed, sitting myself back down on the edge of the pavement, the cold air nipping at my skin. It was such a surprise to bump into Liam back in the hospital, especially with what happened a few years ago.
Our cheeks were flooded with happy tears as we laughed, running down the hill. The sun was beating down on us, Liam's shirtless torso gleaming with sweat.
"Slow down." I panted, my dress getting caught between my legs as I ran.
"Come on slow poke, you're getting old." he laughed, pointing to the badge that was pinned on my dress. 16 today - it read.
It was August 7th. Today was my sixteenth birthday and I was spending it with my best friend. The kids in the parked looked at us strangely, as my body collided with Liam's in a victory hug.
"You made it!" he laughed, picking me up and spinning me round, just as he always did.
"Shut up, you cheated." I whined, swatting his chest.
"Mmm, nope. You just suck." he winked, walking towards me. I smirked as, for every step he took forward, I took one back.
"Oh, we're playing this game are we?" he smirked, his pace quickening. I laughed as mine did too, my summer dress flowing softly in the small breeze that blew.
Suddenly, my back hit a tree, Liam running so he was now directly in front of me.
"There's nowhere to run now, Butler." he winked, my lips turning up in a smirk.
"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrow. Darting out from the side, I made my way round the other side of the tree, laughing at the surprised look on Liam's face.
"Nope! No, that's not what was supposed to happen." He laughed, sprinting up to me.
He caught up almost immediately, his arms scooping my waist up and landing me softly on the floor, his body on top of mine. Our laughs slowed down, both of our chests rising and falling. We were both out of breath and hot. Liam's eyes flickered to my lips as he lowered his head down, until his lips were touching mine. My eyelids fluttered closed at the contact, my lips responding automatically.
But soon, it dawned on me what was happening. I was kissing Liam. Liam was kissing me. We were best friends and we were kissing. That's not supposed to happen. I quickly pulled myself out from under him, standing up and brushing my dress down.
"Sorry, er, I can't. I've got to go." I spoke awkwardly, turning and running away.
"Summer, don't go...I'm sorry!" Liam called after me, but my feet had already carried me far away.
"Hey." A familiar voice spoke, breaking me out of my trance. Looking up, I saw a tired Caspar making his way towards me.
"Hey." I smiled weakly, not bothering to stand up.
Caspar clearly didn't mind though, as he immediately sat down beside me.
"Who was that?" he asked, taking my coffee from my hands and taking a sip. I growled lowly, snatching my coffee back from him.
"Who was what?"
"That guy you were with." he asked, his eyes fuelled with curiosity.
"Oh Liam? Just an old...friend." The word tasted bitter in my mouth, unsure of what terms Liam and I were on.
"Oh okay. How's Olivia?" He asked, his arm looping around my shoulders.
"Great! She's awake!" I smiled brightly, remembering that my sister was back.
"Really?! Summer that's awesome news!" Caspar smiled, his lips pressing to my temple. I nodded, my head resting on Caspar's shoulder.
A sense of tiredness took over me, the cold air causing my body to shiver.
"Hey, look." Caspar nudged my head on his shoulder. "It's snowing."
I turned my gaze towards the sky and, to my surprise, Caspar was right. Tiny white flakes of snow were falling down, covering the ground and our bodies in light snow.
"It's beautiful." I smiled, the bright white flakes contrasting with the early morning darkness.
"Yeah...it is." Caspar spoke lowly. For some reason, I could tell he was not looking at the snow. I turned my head to see his eyes staring straight at me.
"Come on." He spoke, standing up and stretching his hand out for me to take. "Let's go inside at get warm.
"I got a feelin' that's what life's all about
I'm learning anything is possible now"
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- Jazz - x
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