{Liz POV}
My music flow hadn't stopped since my dad got put in hospital. For some reason, all this worry that was eating at me was feeding me constant inspiration. I was actually managing to compose a few of my own guitar and piano pieces, which I shyly showed to my band mates for advice. Their general praise made me a little happier, but the dead weight in my heart never left.
Dad was no longer in critical condition...but it had been ten days and he still wasn't awake. A lot of the time I found myself panicking, wondering what would happen if he died. Would I be sent away? Away from Alex, Lily, everyone who kept me sane?
The thought wrenched at my heart almost constantly. I didn't want to be alone again. I had no doubt they'd visit me, and vice versa, but would it be enough? Would I make friends? And how could I cope losing both my parents?
Alex, bless him, was almost constantly at my side, trying to make me smile and feel better. It did work most of the time because he usually knew what to say, and if he didn't, Landon would, because he had a knack of cheering people up. He was the funny one.
Still, though. As I sat in my attic, now that the forensics team had finally finished searching the house for clues about who might have attacked him, I couldn't bring myself to pick up my guitar. I was curled up on the sofa, staring at the faded rug, tears swimming in my eyes.
Why would someone do this? Who could have done it? I was pretty sure no one hated my dad. After all, no one had really known him. A tear fell down my cheek. Who would try and take his life away? More tears fell. Despite everything, I loved my dad. I know he only did it because he loved my mum so much, which in a way made it easier.
I sat sobbing in the attic for a while, just thinking of life without him. I had grown accustomed to having him around, being a good, loving father. What would I do without him? Images, memories flashed before my eyes; the pool of blood around my father as he lay on the floor...
Letting out a desperate sob, I curled up tighter on the sofa, just wishing he would wake up. I missed him, badly. Just seeing him every day, lying on his hospital bed, pale, thin, gaunt...it scared me. It scared me to know he was so weak, so vulnerable, so susceptible to death.
And I don't think I could have gone through the pain of losing another parent.
Slowly, I uncurled myself, still crying as I went down the ladder. Alex had pleaded with me to only stay for at most two hours, because he was desperately worried that the guy would come back. He would have come with me but I wanted to go alone to be with my music.
I slipped into the kitchen, another cry escaping my lips as I carefully avoided the patch where I had found him. I didn't even know why, it was like it was taboo standing there, almost like standing on a grave. But he isn't dead, I reassured myself stubbornly as I went to get myself a drink.
There was a knock on the door and I sighed, wondering who it could be. I had only been an hour and a bit, surely Alex knew me well enough not to check up on me. And if it was him, he would have just entered after knocking, but he didn't.
I went to open the door, and was a little surprised to see James standing on my doorstep, looking very slightly awkward. I gave him a half smile, obviously faked as he could see I had been crying. I opened the door to let him in and he gave me a hug, pulling me close to his warm body.
Yeah, I loved his hugs.
"He'll be okay, Liz," he whispered softly in my ear. "He'll be okay."
After a minute of standing next to my front door buried in his arms, I finally pulled away and asked him if he wanted a drink. He smiled and nodded and I led him into the kitchen, once again skirting round when I had found my dad.
I was surprised when James followed my footsteps. Maybe he guessed why I was avoiding that particular part of the kitchen. I got the orange juice out of the fridge and poured him some, giving it to him as I stared at the floor in front of me, my mind far away.
"Liz," James' gentle voice broke me out of my depressing thoughts. "How about we go and play some music?"
I may have wanted to be alone, but the thought of playing music made me feel a little better and I needed someone there to keep me on track, so I agreed. I led him upstairs - uncharted territory, for him - and then up into the attic. He looked around curiously.
"I think it's pretty cool that I have a basement and you have an attic," he mused, going to sit on the sofa where I had left my guitar. He picked it up. "May I?"
I nodded, sitting next to him, and for the next twenty minutes I just listened to him play song after song after song. His voice was soothing and relaxing and made me forget temporarily about my worries as I focused on the soft, flowing rhythm of his voice and the guitar.
"Don't stop," I blurted as he paused for longer than a minute. He smiled.
"Does it help?"
Shyly, I nodded and he thought for a moment before playing another song. I recognized this one and smiled, even though it was a sad song.
My ship went down
In a sea of sound
When I woke up alone, I had everything
A handful of moments
I wish I could change
And a tongue like a nightmare
That cut like a blade
In a city of fools
I was careful and cool
But they tore me apart like a hurricane
A handful of moments
I wish I could change
But I was carried away
Give me therapy
I'm a walking travesty
But I'm smiling at everything
Therapy, you were never a friend to me
You can keep all your misery.
Unconsciously, I started singing along and together we finished the beautiful, if sad song.
"Can you teach me that?" I asked, as I realised I did want to play it. He nodded and started to demonstrate slowly, and I copied after getting the other guitar.
We were there for over an hour and I heard a knock on the door. I realised it must be Alex as I had been over two hours, and I hurriedly went to answer it, still holding my guitar.
"Sorry," I said breathlessly as Alex grabbed me in a hug. "James came to play some music and I got carried away,"
"I know, I told him you were here," his eyes met his cousin's as he walked down the stairs, holding my old guitar awkwardly. I, of course, was playing my mother's old one.
I took that guitar and my own, excusing myself for a minute as I went to pack up then ran back downstairs, ready to go. The three of us left and I anxiously asked Alex if there was any more news on the police investigation, as I had asked them to call the Collins' household. He shook his head and I sighed.
I wondered - not for the first time - if dad's attack and my own were linked. I was pretty sure they were. They happened on the same day, and considering both my father and I had been attacked...it was a strange coincidence if it was.
Alex wrapped one arm around my shoulder, as if guessing what I was thinking about, and I sighed. I guess it was kind of obvious I had been thinking about it, what with the prolonged silence and probably depressed expression.
We reached the Collins' household and entered. Alex's sister and mum weren't home. The three of us settled in the living room on the sofa, me staring into space, my thoughts wandering back to my father.
A sudden, horrible yet hilarious feeling came to my ribs and I squealed involuntarily, jumping away. My eyes met Alex's, who was regarding me with amusement. I frowned and then realised a second later that he had been tickling me.
He lunged again but I was insanely ticklish so I leaped off the sofa to get away from him. James somehow appeared from nowhere and pinned my arms behind my back while Alex tickled me and I started to laugh. It was annoying and yet exhilarating, although I wanted to stop.
"Alex! Stop! Leave me...leave me alone!" I said between laughter, sinking to the floor as I went weak from the tickling.
Finally he stopped and I lay on the floor at their feet, trying to stop the giggles and regain my breath. Alex was grinning wickedly.
"I never knew you were that ticklish," he said and I groaned, realising he would definitely use this to his advantage again.
"Yeah, yeah, pick on the ticklish short kid," I grumbled as he helped me up with a laugh. He kissed me gently and pulled me into a hug and to my surprise, James joined in.
"Threesome!" Alex randomly cried and it was so unexpected and ridiculous that I started laughing again.
It was at times like this when I was glad I had such amazing friends.
~*~*~
"Kids in Glass Houses,"
"Muse,"
"Yellowcard,"
"All Time Low,"
"My Chemical Romance,"
"Panic! At the disco,"
"What are you two arguing about?"
Lily and I looked up as Alex, James, Tom, Landon and Kyle entered.
"We're not arguing! We're naming good bands," said Lily, sounding affronted. Kyle snorted.
"Muse aren't great," he said. I threw Alex's pillow at him with a glare and he grinned innocently. James punched him.
"What are you saying? Muse are epic."
Kyle and James proceeded to argue while Lily and looked at each other then rolled our eyes. Everyone sat down somewhere in Alex's room; Lily, Alex and I took the bed, James took the seat at the desk, Landon took the beanbag and Tom and Kyle sat on the floor.
Alex had decided to go all out and invite everyone over his house for dinner, which made me relieved. I didn't want to get all depressed again and the more people, the happier I generally was. So now the seven of us sat in Alex's room talking about random crazy shit, including memories of primary school.
I was amused to learn that Tom and Alex had once disliked each other greatly. It was weird to think, because they were good friends now; just like Nicola and I had been in primary school, now look at us.
We sat in Alex's room for a couple of hours, just chatting about the general rubbish that teenagers chat about, then Mrs Collins called us down for dinner.
"Hi!" exclaimed Sarah with excited enthusiasm, a beam on her face as she regarded everyone.
"Awwww!" Gushed Lily. "Your sister is so cute!"
Alex rolled his eyes, shooing his sister away as we all sat down at the table, minus Sarah and her mum, who had already had dinner. We talked and laughed as we served the food, but my dad was constantly at the back of my mind, haunting me, making me worry all over again.
I don't think I could take it if he died. I think I would fall back into depression, even with my friends and Alex. They might not even be there all the time to support me - what would I do then? But I had to think positive, I had to believe he would make it through this.
He had to.
~*~*~
Six of the seven of us were currently laughing hard at Landon's joke. Landon himself was grinning, pleased with his response, and I was grateful, for I had been thinking depressing thoughts again.
"Liz! Liz! Liz!" Lily suddenly exclaimed and I stared at her, wondering what was up. We were currently seated outside beside our usual tree at school on Monday morning, having finished our lunch.
"Yes, Lily?" I asked in a fake posh tone, trying to sound more light hearted than I felt. She grinned.
"What do you say to a shopping trip?!"
I think the look on my face said it all, because it was met by raucous laughter from the boys. I really, really wasn't enthusiastic to go shopping.
"Aw come on Liz! It's gonna be great! We haven't hung out alone in ages. Please?" she begged, and I sighed. She was right. I had been spending a lot of time with Alex because he had been helping me with my dad, and also before that, when I just wanted to spend loads of time with him because I was proud to be with him. I had barely hung out with Lily and I felt guilty.
"Alright, but you owe me," I scowled and she laughed, knowing it was unlikely that I'd follow her up on that.
After agreeing to the shopping trip, I realised that actually I was kind of looking forwards to it. Spending time with Lily seemed like a great idea. Lily really was an awesome person, always bubbly and happy and, like Alex, always knew exactly how to cheer me up. She was my closest friend, along with Alex, and I really respected her for making me happy.
The bell rang and we all got up, laughing at Kyle who was struggling to stand. We didn't take pity on him, just leaving him to flail his arms around like a lunatic. Finally though he managed and we made our way to our next lesson.
It was history, which I shared with James and Nicola. I hadn't heard from Nicola in a while. She had been keeping to herself - although she did glare at me at every opportunity - and it seemed now she was backing down now I had friends to back me up. I was relieved; Nicola had really put me through hell these last few years and I hated it.
History was boring but it was really the only lesson, other than French, where I learned new things. I tried to put as much effort at I could into all of my lessons, hoping that one day I could be a teacher or something.
As usual we had a partner activity. Most people would mess around, but James and I didn't. We actually did work as we talked and I didn't find the activity as boring as the rest of the lesson. Then we went over what we'd done, then the lesson ended, to my relief. We packed our stuff up and started to leave.
I was, as usual, going to visit my dad after I got to Alex's. There was still no improvement and it had been two weeks. He was just lying there, pale, frail, helpless and it was tearing me apart.
James seemed to understand what i was thinking as we exited and pulled me into a strong hug.
"Liz, it's going to be okay," he whispered, still holding me close. "He's going to be alright. You Johnsons seem to make it through anything,"
His breath was warm and somehow comforting against the side of my face, where his mouth was. I mumbled something that could have been an agreement, and then a cold voice cut through our moment.
"You have a boyfriend, Johnson, get your filthy hands off him,"
We pulled away and my eyes met a pair of dark brown ones. The corridor was almost empty now, save a few stragglers who had been let out late. Nicola glared at me, her arms folded.
"I'm aware I have a boyfriend, Moore," I replied mockingly, scowling back.
"Then why are you suddenly all handsy with James?"
"As if I need to explain myself to you. I'm certainly not telling you, you cold hearted bitch. You wouldn't understand,"
Our eyes glared daggers into each others', before Nicola finally sneered, her lip curling nastily, before she walked away.
"Believe you me, Johnson, you're going to pay."
I ignored her empty threat and turned back to James, who had a small smile on his face.
"Glad to see you standing up for yourself," he said with a bigger smile as we started to walk towards the entrance. I smiled wanly back.
"Yeah. I'm more confident now. I'm happy," I said.
We exited the doors and I met up with Alex outside the gates. I told him about the encounter with Nicola on the way to his house and he, too, was happy I stood up for myself against Nicola.
The stay at Alex's house didn't last long. I dumped my stuff, waited a couple of minutes for Mrs Collins to sort herself out then we left, Alex staying to look after Sarah. The car ride was quiet other than the brief small talk we made. Don't get me wrong, I loved Sue and how she was almost, almost a second mother to me, but I just didn't feel like talking right now.
When we arrived, as usual we talked to the receptionist then wandered down the hallways that I knew so well, and I entered my dad's room. There was another bed which was usually empty but it now had someone in it; a man in his late sixties, possibly, with bandages wrapped round his arms. He was staring at the ceiling, unresponsive as I entered.
Ignoring him, I set eyes on my father. It was the same as always. His face was far too thin and pale, and a weird colour. He looked frail and if it weren't for the steady, if slow rising and falling of his chest, I'd have thought he was dead.
The thought scared me.
I stood right beside him and took his thin, bony hand in mine. It was warm - more signs of life. Seeing him like this made me realise what a waste these five years had been. If only we'd had longer together.
Sighing, I drew up the chair and just sat there, my mind far away as I kept my hand in his. Wondering, definitely not for the first time, what might have happened if mum hadn't died. I probably would still have met Alex - after all, Neil had come to our house to see his old friends. My dad - and mum - being two of them.
I was shaken out of my thoughts as a woman came in; a nurse. She smiled as she saw me and I recognized her as one of the people who had been looking after my dad for the past two weeks. I smiled thinly back and she must have understood I wasn't in the mood for smiling for she patted me on the shoulder gently and went about her work.
"He's getting better, we reckon," she said and I glanced at her, widening my eyes, hopeful.
"Will he wake up soon?"
"Probably,"
As if on cue, his eyelids fluttered and he uttered a groan. We both snapped our heads to look at him and I think the man in the other bed did too, but I didn't see him. I was too busy focusing on my father, who was now definitely waking up. A smile spread across my face as finally, finally those blue eyes, identical to mine, opened.
"Elise," he murmured, and then he seemed to come to his senses, his eyes widening a fraction as he realised that, no matter how much I looked like my mother, I wasn't her.
"Dad," I smiled softly and his face broke out into a smile, too, making me smile wider.
The nurse left us alone and I ignored the other man who seemed to be watching us.
"How're you?" dad asked in a croaky voice. "How've you been coping?"
"I'm good now," I said. "I was coping alright with Alex and my friends and stuff,"
I suddenly remembered the night before it happened. The argument between us, about Alex, and my eyes started to water.
"Dad, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, you were right, I was spending too much time with Alex..."
"Don't worry about that," he feebly flapped a hand at me and I was reminded of how weak he was.
"Dad....the night you....I found you, I was attacked too," I decided to tell him. I couldn't keep it from him for long. His eyes widened and his face grew extremely anxious.
"What?! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine, he didn't hurt me that much. But I'd be dead if it weren't for James and Alex," I said quietly, staring at the floor.
He gripped my hand tighter, despite how much strength he lacked, and for a while we were just silent, and I was silently celebrating, euphoric that my father was alive.
But the guy that tried to kill him was still out there.
~*~*~
{~Nicola POV~} (I know it's kind of random, but it's important!)
The moment I saw James with his arms around that stupid slut I felt jealousy and rage boil through me. How dare she! How dare she insult me by hugging my ex while she has a boyfriend?! That filthy little slut.
Unable to contain myself, I strolled down the corridor a little, my fists clenching as I saw him whisper something in her ear, his lips unnecessarily close.
"You have a boyfriend, Johnson, get your filthy hands off him," I hissed, watching as they pulled away and her eyes met mine, a scowl on her face. Aw, did I ruin your little affair time? I thought, but didn't voice anything as we glared at each other across the hall. James looked between us, as though he wanted to intervene, but decided against it.
"I'm aware I have a boyfriend, Moore," she replied, and I senses the sarcasm and mocking tone. Glaring harder and refraining from punching her, I argued back.
"Then why are you suddenly all handsy with James?"
"As if I need to explain myself to you. I'm certainly not telling you, you cold hearted bitch. You wouldn't understand," I was trembling from the effort of not leaping at her and clawing her eyes out. That insolent little bitch! How could she insult me like that? I wasn’t the slut who got close to my boyfriend's cousin.
It took me a few moments to compose myself before I could speak knowing I wouldn't fly at her.
"Believe you me, Johnson, you're going to pay," I sneered, then started to walk away, knowing that if I didn't, I would end up putting her in hospital and then I'd get suspended and Daddy wouldn't be happy.
Daddy...
Yes, I thought, a malicious smirk spreading across my face. Daddy would know what to do. Resolved, I headed out with my head held high, searching for his car. There it was, the shiny Mercedes, paid for by him. He was rich and I would be too.
I got in and he smiled at me as I kissed his cheek.
"Hello daddy!" I said and he smiled back.
"Hello princess. Have a good day?"
I nodded, noticing his face seemed a bit pale and his eyes bloodshot. "Are you okay daddy? You look ill,"
"I'm fine," he brushed it off as though it were nothing.
"Daddy," I began in the tone of voice that meant, I want something, please give it to me. When he told me to go on, continued. "There's this girl at school, her name's Elizabeth Johnson, and she's being really horrible to me. Calling me a cold hearted bitch and suggesting that I'm stupid. I hate her, daddy,"
I saw a smile spread across his features, the one he got when he was going to sort out whoever was pissing me off, and I knew I had won. Sure enough:
"Well then I'll have to ask for her to be removed from the school," he said, and I smiled widely. This was better than I could have hoped for.
"Oh thank you daddy! Thank you so much!" I beamed, while inside I was smirking deviously.
Finally, I'd get rid of that annoying, stupid little bitch.
____________________________________________________
*whistles*
So what do you think will happen? :O :O
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<3