Welcome To My Life

The next morning I was woken up by a nurse, who wanted to run some tests.
"I think you'll be able to go home today" he said happily.
I sighed. "Home" wasn't home. It was Jack's house and I wasn't exactly looking forward to going back there, as I lashed out on both Jack and my parents, which probably didn't make my aunt and uncle like me very much. I was pretty sure they already thought I was this rebellious teenager that was acting out all the time, just for the hell of it.

My aunt and uncle were the kind of people who didn't believe in mental illness. Depression? We all have bad days, you'll get through it. Anxiety? Bull shit. Panic attacks? It's in your head. Suicidal? You just want attention. Thankfully my parents were more open minded when it came to this. They did actually take me seriously and got me help. But after the accident, they just... forgot about it. I was doing okay before, after all... Little did they know I could've used therapy. A lof of it. There was no way my aunt and uncle would allow me to have it in Baltimore, because what if people found out they had a mentally ill cousin? No, this time I'd have to get myself out of the mess that was my pathetic excuse of a life.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the nurse left, saying she was going to ask a doctor if I was good to go home. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand. The screen told me I had two new messages, so I unlocked it to read them. The first one was from Alex.

Hey you, did you sleep well? :)

The second one was from Jenna.

I'm sorry for lashing out on you yesterday. You didn't deserve that. I just got... jealous, I guess when I saw you and Alex. I'm sorry. Are we good?

I decided to answer Jenna first as she might've been anxiously waiting for me to reply.

Don't worry about it, I can imagine. We're good! I'm sorry for yelling at you.

I pressed 'sent' and opened Alex's message again to reply to it.

Only just woke up, so yeah, I'd say I slept pretty well. Probably going home today. Can't wait. *Note the sarcasm*

I had just sent the text when the nurse returned, saying I would indeed get to go home today. I wasn't feeling like actually going home, nor did I think Jack and his parents would bother to pick me up. My phone rang again, the screen saying I had a new text from Alex.

Alex: Ah, can't be that bad right? I bet it beats the hospital!
Liz: How about you pick me up and and we go get ice cream instead?
Alex: Ice cream? Are you nuts, it's October! How bout I take you out for lunch? ;)
Liz: Can I still have ice cream for dessert?
Alex: If that's what you really want...
Liz: Yay, you're the best!
Alex: What time do you get to leave?
Liz: Around noon, I think
Alex: See you in an hour then!
Liz: Does that mean we're just gonna stop texting now?
Alex: Probably not.
Liz: Tell me something interesting
Alex: Uhm... we've been asked to perform at the school dance next month? Is that interesting?
Liz: Uh YES. When do I finally get to see you play?
Alex: When you and Jack stop bickering
Liz: So if I'm nice to Jack I get to come to rehearsal?
Alex: Yeah, you think you can manage it?
Liz: I don't know, but I'll try my best.
Alex: Good. I should be leaving now, so I won't be replying for a while. See you soon!
Liz: See ya!

I decided to try and get dressed. By now I was feeling better than I did last night, stronger. I managed to dress myself, grabbed my belongings from the nightstand and sat back down on my bed to wait for Alex. About 5 minutes later, he entered the room with a bouquet of flowers.

"Ah, you shouldn't have done that!" I said, smiling shyly.
"Who says these are for you?" Alex smirked, causing me to fake pout.
"Okay, okay, they are for you" Alex said, handing them to me.
"They're beautiful" I said, looking at the flowers. "But you still shouldn't have done it."
"Hey, go big or go home!" Alex exclaimed, causing me to smile. "Now let's go have lunch."
"And ice cream" I added.
"And ice cream" Alex repeated.

After the nurse checked me out, we headed outside for Alex's car. Like you always see in movies, I wasn't actually allowed to walk out of the hospital, no, I had to be in a wheelchair. I reluctantly sat down in the chair, after I was forced to do so by Alex.
"I can walk!" I protested while Alex wheeled me to the exit.
"But you won't" Alex replied. "I enjoy pushing this wheelchair way too much."

Alex started zigzagging around people walking the hospital corridors, sometimes going to fast I actually had to hold on to my armrests to make sure I didn't fall out of the wheelchair.
"That was fun" Alex said happily when we got to the exit where we had to leave the wheelchair.

He walked around the wheelchair and wanted to help me get up.
"Alex, seriously, back off. I can stand up on my own, I did not break my leg" I said, sounding more serious than before, causing Alex to back off.
"Thank you" I said after I got up.

"Sorry" Alex muttered, while putting the wheel chair with the other ones.
"Don't be" I replied. "I just... don't exactly like being pampered."
"Yeah, I should've known that" Alex nodded, still looking sad.
"Now wipe that sad look off your face because we are getting ice cream!" I exclaimed, dragging him with me out of the hospital, causing Alex to smile.

It was a surprisingly beautiful day, considering it's October. The sun was shining and though it wasn't exactly warm, it wasn't cold either. We walk up to Alex's car, me still holding his hand, kind of unconsciously. We both got in the car.

"You like pancakes?" Alex asked.
"You mean, do you wanna go to IHOP?" I interpreted.
"Pretty much." Alex nodded.
"Hell yeah!" I replied.

Alex laughed at my enthusiasm, started the car and drove to the nearest IHOP. I watched Alex while he was driving and couldn't help but smile. In this moment, I felt happier than I had in a while. This boy I had only met a couple of days ago made me happier than anyone had been able to over the past year. The other day I read this quote on Tumblr, that said 'Stay close to anything that makes you glad you're alive'. I didn't know what the future had in store for me, but what I did know was that this boy was worth holding on to, worth opening up to, worth staying close to.

Notes

Sorry it took so long! I didn't really know where to go with this (actually, I still didn't when I started writing).

In other news, I saw Tonight Alive this weekend and met Jenna! Yay! Don't worry, she was nicer than I made her out to be in this story, she was very lovely

Title credit: All Time Low - Walls