My mum stayed until visiting hours ended, promising she would be back as soon as possible. She knew how uncomfortable I would feel sleeping there. I slept very little that night, hospitals scared me. It was okay during the day, it was busy and full of people. But at night it was quiet and lonely, I didn’t like it. The nurse came to me in the morning with breakfast before rushing off, muttering to herself about how much work she had to do. My mother also called in on me before she headed into work, bringing me some sweats and a baggy t-shirt to change into. It was good to see her but she didn’t stay long.

It was just past 3 when Amy came running in.

"Oh Jack! I came straight from school when I heard, I had no idea!" She said frantically. Her eyes flicking between the wires and machines surrounding my bed.

"Amy, I'm okay" I assured her with a light chuckle. She was so cute when she got all worried like this.

"I can't believe this has actually happened. What's the damage?" She said with disbelief. She ran her hand through her hair, sitting herself down on the seat next to the bed.

"Just a few bruises…. And fractures" I said hesitantly, not wanting her to freak out anymore. Her eyes met mine, turning sad.

"… I don’t understand why you would do this for Alex, what has he ever done for you!"

"I couldn’t just let it happen. Anyway, he's not that bad. He has helped me"

"Yeah, well help for a life time doesn’t make up for the state your in. Especially from him. And where is he? It just shows how much thanks you get"

"He came here yesterday actually. He was…. Different" The memory of the day before flooded back into my head. I remembered the feel of his skin on mine, his dark brown eyes, dotted with tiny green flecks.

"Jack...i don’t like the gooey look in your eyes right now" Amy's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"I don’t know what you mean" I told her, dropping my eyes to the floor.

"Just… be careful Jack. Look how Stanley ended up"

"We don’t even know that was him" I moved my eyes back on hers. I just couldn’t imagine Alex being capable of that, not after the events of the day before. Although he wasn’t smiley or warm, there was something else about him… an innocence almost.

"Don't get mixed up with someone like that, please" Amy looked at me with begging eyes, placing her hand on mine.

"I'm not mixed up in anything"

"Okay. Stay that way. I'd better go, my parents have already got it in for me at the moment. I can't be late"

"Oh how come?" I asked, feeling guilty that I had just talked about myself. She shrugged it off immediately.

"It's nothing important, something stupid. I'll see you soon, I hope you feel better" She leaned forward, pecking my forehead.

"Bye" I smiled at her. She turned and left swiftly, shutting the door behind her.

I was counting down the minutes till I saw him, hoping with all my heart he wouldn’t change his mind. It was becoming unbearable when he appeared at the door.

"Hey" I said, trying not to sound to eager. I didn’t want to scare him off.

"Hi" His voice was quiet and husky, he looked as tired as I felt. He stood in the doorway hesitantly.

"Is it still okay if i…" He asked timidly.

"Yeah sure, come in" I smiled, gesturing towards the chair next to me.

"I, uh… brought you some stuff. It must get boring in here all day" He said, holding up a plastic bag awkwardly as he approached the bed. It rustled as he placed it down by his feet, lowering himself down into the seat.

"Oh… Thank-you" I said quietly, not really sure what to say. The strangest feeling crept up through my stomach. I looked down at my hands, avoiding eye contact as I felt my face warm up. We sat there in silence for a while, not looking at each other. Everything in the room apart from Alex suddenly drew my attention.

"How's school?" I asked, trying to break the awkwardness. He looked up at me with a blank expression, but it faltered.

"I didn’t go in today" He admitted, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Why?" I asked, my eyes aching to find his. But he wouldn’t look up from his hands.

"I didn’t want to deal with everyone asking me questions, or Stanley" He said fiddling with the sleeves of his hoody. Stanley. I immediately began to think of everything Amy had said to me.

"Do you know what was up with him yesterday?" I asked hesitantly. His eyes immediately shot up to meet mine, filled with an indescribable emotion. He held my stare, his expression a mix of dubiousness and shy.

"No" His words were matter of fact.

"Do you?" He asked me. Although I knew Stanley's strange turn of character had nothing to do with me, his question made me nervous for a reason I couldn’t tell.

"No" I answered as clearly as I could manage. Again we fell into silence, but this time our eye contact held. Alex looked at me questionably, studying every feature on my face.

"Can I see what's in the bag?" I said quickly, wanting to be free from the intensity of his stare.

"Oh..yeah" He said, looking awkward again. He leant down, picking up the bag and passing it to me. He immediately avoided eye contact. I took it from him, peeking inside. He had packed a range of music magazines, their covers plastered with my favourite bands. A smile played on my lips. I frowned, picking up a small box that laid in the very bottom, hiding in a crease. I pulled it out of the bag, opening it. It was an mp3 player. I turned to Alex, unsure on what to think.

"It's just a few songs that I, uh… thought you'd like" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. He was biting his lip again. I turned it on, flicking through the many files listed. Blink, Green Day, New Found Glory... It was obvious a lot of time and thought had gone into it. I grinned at him.

"This is amazing Alex. Thank-you" He looked up timidly, giving me a small smile, his dimples showing. I placed an earphone in my ear, putting on Green Day.

"Do you wanna listen?" Alex nodded in response. I picked up the other earphone, gently placing it in his ear. The lower part of my palm brushed against his stubble. His eyes immediately met mine. I froze, keeping my hand where it was. Alex gently leant into my hand until it was cupping his cheek, I shifted to meet him halfway. His breath left goosebumps behind. He closed his eyes, nuzzling into my hand further, his lips meeting my skin. My heart began to hammer, threatening to break free from my chest. I slowly lowered my hand until it rested upwards on the bed, his face resting against it. I smiled to myself, could he really be capable of hurting stanley? He was gently snoring into my palm. He'd fallen asleep. I sat there like that for a while, listening to the music he had downloaded for me. It was only when it got close to the end of visiting hours that I decided I had to wake him up. I huffed.

"Alex" I said softly, running my other hand over his cheek. His eyelids slowly opened. He looked up at me sleepily, realising what had happened. He shot upright in his chair, looking down. His cheeks were a faint red.

"Sorry" His voice was croaky, it was kinda cute.

"I'd better get home" He said, standing up. I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted him to stay by my side all night. He walked idly over to the door

"Okay. Will… will I see you tomorrow?" I asked timidly. Alex turned and met my gaze.

"If you want to" He answered quietly. I nodded, a small smile crept onto my lips. He nodded once.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Night Jack" He said as he backed out of the doors.

"Night Alex" I breathed, putting in my earphones.

Notes

Hey guuuys (:
I dont like this chapter, sorry its a bit crappy :c
Thankyou for all the comments so far, they make me happy :D So keep them coming!!
Thanks for reading ((((:
XXX