"Oliver! Oli!"

I frowned when my cat didn't respond to my calling. I walked further into my house, looking around for him.

I smiled slightly, entering the kitchen. It felt nice to be home. Being in the hospital for two days wasn't fun at all. Especially since the police had interrogated me for the better part of one day. I scowled at the memory.

I checked Oliver's food bowl, not surprised to find it empty. I hastily went to the cabinet and grabbed two cans of food, opening them and putting them on a plate. I also grabbed the bag of dry food and filled up his bowl.

I heard the jingle of his collar as I did so. I turned around with a grin as he came trotting into the kitchen.

"Oli!" I cried, bending down to pick him up.

To my surprise, he lashed out at me with a clawed hand. I yanked my hand away in surprise. Oliver seemed to glare at me before going to his dish of hard food and eating it.

"If you're going to have an attitude then you won't get your soft food," I told him, frowning. "It's not my fault I couldn't come home to feed you because I was in the hospital!"

Oliver looked up at me and I stared flatly back. After a moment I gave in and put the plate of soft food on the floor.

"You're lucky I'm so kind," I told him.

He began purring as he ate the soft food. I smiled at him, squatting down so I could pet him. This time he didn't attack me.

I went to my phone to check the messages. To my surprise, the blinking red light on the message machine flashed 25. I hit play.

"Honey, it's mom. Happy birthday! I guess I had a chance to call you today after all! I hope you have a good day! I've got to go now, but I'll try calling again later!"

There was a beep, and I hit delete message.

"Hi Em, it's mom again. I guess you're still out with your friends or something. I hope your enjoying yourself! Happy birthday again! Your stepfather says happy birthday too. Call me, alright?"

There was another beep, and I deleted the message again. I smiled slightly, glad my mom had called.

The next few messages were telemarketers, and then a few more from my mom telling her to call me. I frowned slightly as the messages grew more frantic. I started listening to the last message, my finger on the delete button.

"Hi, Emmery," a deep voice started, surprising me. "I don't know what you've been doing the last few days, and I know it's not really my business, but call your mom. She's been worried sick about you."

I gasped in realization when I realized it was my stepfather.

"I know that you want to have your own space," he continued, "but please at least come home to visit. You know, not only your mother has been worried about you. And don't you want to see your little sister? Please give us a call. Much love, Emmery."

The message ended with a beep and I stared at it for a moment. My step-dad had called me? I moved my finger down the message machine and pressed in.

"Message saved," the machine said.

I swallowed, picking up the phone nervously. For the first time in a very long time, I dialed my home phone number. After the third ring, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but suddenly found it dry.

"Hello?" my mom repeated.

I cleared my throat. "Um, hi mom... It's Emmery."

There was silence on the other side of the phone for a minute, and I thought briefly for a moment that she had hung up. Suddenly sobs came from the other end of the phone and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Emmery!" my mom sobbed, making it hard to understand her. "You called! I was so worried about you! I thought something happened, or you were ignoring me!"

"No, mom, I've just been busy," I responded with a smile. "I wouldn't ignore you."

I heard my mom sniffle. "I see. How was your birthday?"

I smiled in amusement. "Hm... I don't think any words could describe how my birthday was."

Terrifying, nerve-wracking, adrenaline pumping, fast-paced... those words could only begin to describe it.

"Well I hope it was fun!"

"In a way," I responded with a grin.

"Mark!" my mom suddenly called. "Emmery's on the phone, do you want to talk to her?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but already hear the sound of the phone being passed to another person.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi," I responded nervously, tracing circles on the wall with my finger.

"Emmery, how are you?" my stepfather asked, sounding happy. "It's been quite awhile since I've heard your voice."

"Same," I responded with a small laugh. "And I've been doing well, how about yourself?"

"Very well," he responded. "But I'll be even better once you come to visit."

"Eh..."

"C'mon, Emmery, you have to visit," he urged. "Your mom and I would be thrilled. Please?"

I sighed in defeat. "Okay."

Mark laughed. "Don't sigh! We are family. You should want to come visit us."

"I don't want to intrude on your new family," I muttered into the phone, now tapping the wall.

"Emmery Willow," my stepfather started, suddenly sounding serious. "I don't ever want to hear those words from you again. You're as much a part of this family as I am, and I don't want you to forget that."

I blinked in shock at his words.

"Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, sir!" I responded, still surprised.

"Good. Now I expect you to be over for dinner on Saturday night. No excuses. Understood?"

"Yes!" I responded, and even found myself saluting. I grinned sheepishly at myself.

"Okay. I'll spare you the trouble of talking to your mother again. She's a bit emotional right now..."

I laughed. "Thank you, Mark."

"Anytime, Emmery," he responded. "See you Saturday."

"Bye," I responded, taking the phone away from my ear and hitting the end button.

I placed the phone back on the charger and leaned against the wall for a moment. A smile slowly spread on my face. All this time I had been thinking I'd been in the way... and I was wrong. I chuckled at my foolishness.

But it was a good thing I thought wrong. Otherwise I wouldn't have had the experience of living by myself, or making friends at my new school, or owning a cat. And I wouldn't have met Matt. Or Hudson.

I yawned, suddenly over come with exhaustion. I rubbed my eyes and made my way over to my bedroom. I flopped onto my bed, not even bothering to change of the hospital gown I had to wear home since my clothes were beyond repair.

I couldn't remember falling asleep, but I knew I had because the next thing I knew, I was hot and sweaty. I tried to pull the covers off me, but found they were stuck. I frowned, rolling over. I hit something soft midway.

I sat up quickly, my eyes flying wide open. My breath caught in my throat when I noticed there was another person in my bed with me. And it was a man.

I panicked for a full minute until I looked more closely at the man next to me, or teenager to be more precise. A scowl formed on my face.

I brought my elbow down hard on his back.

Hudson was up immediately, crying out in pain. He turned towards me, his eyes open in shock.

"What was that for? That hurt!"

"What are you doing in bed?" I demanded, my face flushing. "No, scratch that! Why are you in my house?"

"Because I love you?" he responded innocently.

My face grew hotter, but I didn't let his words phase me. "That doesn't matter! You can't just go into someone's house and climb into their bed!"

"But I didn't have anywhere else to go," Hudson muttered, propping himself up on his elbow and looking at me.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

"They let me out last night," Hudson commented, wincing as he stretched out.

My eyes momentarily shot to his stomach. Guilt washed through me. I had forgotten he had been stabbed. It was a good thing he wasn't asleep on his stomach.

"Why can't you go to your house?" I asked, sitting Indian style on my bed.

"There's nothing in there, remember?"

I frowned, now remembering how everything had disappeared after he had tried to stay away from me when his supposed death day was approaching.

"Where'd all your stuff even go?"

"My dad's," Hudson responded, stifling a yawn. "I'm having him ship it back tomorrow, but it probably won't arrive for a few days."

"A few days? Where does your dad live?"

"California."

"All the was across the country?" I asked in surprise. "What does he do?"

"He's an actor," Hudson said casually.

"What actor..."

"Steven Matthews."

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Your dad is the Steven Matthews?"

Hudson nodded, looking un-phased. "That's the one..."

"Why haven't you mentioned this before?"

"Because I wanted friends who liked me for who I am, not who my father is," Hudson responded, a smile on his face.

I stared at him, still in shock upon finding out who his father was. The thought of him being Steven Matthews' son hadn't even crossed my mind.

"You look like you're in shock," Hudson chuckled.

"I am!" I responded, shaking my head. "I would have never guessed."

"Well now you know. And since you do, you're going to keep it a secret, right?"

"Sure," I responded slowly.

"And you'll let me stay at your house until my furniture arrives?"

I hesitated, pursing my lips. Hudson gave me the puppy-dog look. I sighed, giving in. Hudson smirked, recognizing that he won.

"But you can't sleep in my bed," I told him, narrowing my eyes.

Hudson began pulling the puppy-dog look. "Aren't we lovers now? Why can't we sleep in the same bed?"

I blushed at his word choice, staring at the sheets, and avoiding has gaze. "Because..."

"Because why?"

Hudson's head suddenly appeared in my vision, his eyes penetrating me with curiosity. I pulled my head up quickly, my face growing hotter. Hudson chuckled, pulling his body up into a sitting position.

"Ow," he moaned quietly, putting a hand to his gut.

"Are you okay?" I responded, my eyes growing wide.

"Yeah," he muttered.

I watched him carefully to see if he was lying or not, but when no other signs of pain crossed his features, I figured he was okay. I looked meekly at my hands.

I had come out of the whole ordeal the most un-injured. I had a few minor burns and cuts, and a broken wrist. Hudson had been stabbed, and had plenty of cuts. Matt had nearly died.

"When's Matt going to be released?" I asked.

Hudson raised an eyebrow at my random question, but answered anyway. "Not for probably another week or so. He was pretty heavily injured."

"Oh."

I looked down at my lap, feeling guilty again. Both of them had been injured because of my foolishness.

"It's not your fault," Hudson said, as if reading my thoughts. "If it's anyones, it's mine. You guys came to save me after all."

I frowned, shaking my head. "No, Hudson. It's no one's fault. Things just happened. There's nothing we can do about it now, so let's forget it."

"Those are some wise words."

I looked up to see Hudson's face only inches away from mine. He smirked as I blushed, leaning away from him.

"I'm going to kiss you," he warned.

Before I could protest or agree, he leaned forwards, pressing his lips to mine. I stared at his closed eyes in shock for a few seconds until I shut mine, letting myself get lost in the moment.

Hudson leaned over me, making the kiss deeper. I allowed it for a minute, before pushing him away.

He looked at me in confusion. "What?"

"I am not making out with you on a bed," I stated, narrowing my eyes.

Hudson frowned for a moment, before chuckling. "Oh, I got it. Okay."

"What?" I asked. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"You're afraid of us taking it too far," Hudson said with a wink.

Color instantly rose in my cheeks and I opened my mouth to retort. Hudson quickly covered my mouth.

"Don't worry," he told me. "Being close to you is perfectly fine for me."

I softened my look and smiled, pulling his hand away from my face. "Good."

Hudson chuckled again and I yawned, suddenly tired once more.

"So can I sleep with you?"

I frowned for a moment, hesitating. There wasn't anything wrong with sleeping in the same bed with him. It's not like we were going to do anything. And I trusted Hudson enough to know he wouldn't try something.

I sighed. "Yes."

"Perfect," he said, flopping down on his back on the bed. "Now come crawl under the covers and cuddle with me."

I glared at him, knowing he was trying to make me embarrassed. "We're sleeping with two different blankets."

Hudson frowned at me for a moment. "Fine."

I climbed out of my bed and went to my closet, digging around in it for a moment until I found a spare comforter. With blanket it tow I returned to my bed, climbing on it beside Hudson. He watched me with an amused look.

I wrapped the blanket around me, lying back on the bed when I was settled. I sighed quietly, turning to face Hudson.

"I love you," he said, smiling.

"I know," I responded, now blushing again.

"Say you love me."

I stayed quiet.

"Say it."

"I can't say it when you asked like that," I whispered, growing even more embarrassed.

Hudson chuckled quietly. "You're too cute when you're embarrassed."

"Goodnight," I stated, turning my back to him.

"Night," he said, laughing again.

We grew quiet. After awhile Hudson's deep, rhythmatic breathing told me he was asleep. I turned slowly to look at him.

I blushed when I saw his sleeping face. It was so handsome. His hair fell into his face, and his lips were slightly pouted. I reached out slowly, to brush the hair from his face.

A smile made its way onto my face.

"I love you," I whispered.

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This is more like an epilogue chapter. There's no more real story... the next one is an epilogue chapter too. But it's going to be the last last chapter-epilogue thing. Yeah? Okay! Well I hope you enjoyed this epilogue chapter x) Vote, like, tweet, comment :D Facebook page in external link.