"Wanna take a nap?" Red asked when we walked in the front door.

"Yeah, let's go to my room." I said with a frown as we walked past the kitchen, where Elise had had her meltdown.

Things are shaping up.

"I've never been in your room before." Red observed.

"You've never been in my house before." I said with an eye roll. "I've only been inside yours once, and like, three times I've stood on the front steps, but that's it."

Red slipped his shoes off and flopped onto my bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a blush.

"We've slept in the same bed before, Chance. And that was when we barely even liked each other."

"I guess." I mumbled.

"Do you not want to? If it makes you uncomfortable then I'll go downstairs and sleep on the couch." He said, concern in his eyes.

"I don't want you to sleep on the couch. It's just a small bed, that's all." I said, rolling my eyes and crawling into bed next to him. "So stay in your half and don't hog the covers."

Red scooted over toward the edge of the bed.

I couldn't sleep for several minutes, despite my tiredness.

"Red?" I asked.

"Hmm?" He moaned, rolling over onto his side and facing me.

"I can't sleep."

"Sorry." He sighed.

"Stop staying on your side of the bed! It's annoying, alright." I huffed, crossing my arms in frustration.

Red's arm reached out and snaked around me, pulling me closer to him. His body was radiating heat, and I let myself peacefully drift away, letting go of everything I had worried about. Elise, my mom, school. Everything. Right now, all I had to worry about was sleeping well for the first time in a while.

I drifted off in Red's arms.

*******

The last time I slept with Red was the day we skipped school. That day I had a dream about him and Charley, if you remember.

Today I had a very....different dream. Let's just say it's not appropriate to put in writing.

But I woke up in a sweat, and, as carefully as I could, I lifted Red's arm and climbed out of bed.

As I walked past the window, I saw that the sun was just setting. We had been asleep for about three hours already.

I entered the bathroom and turned the shower onto a cold temperature, to uh... calm myself.

Stripping my clothes off and stepping inside, I regretted my entire life when the cold water hit my skin.

My mind wandered to the dream I had. What if Red had noticed, or woken up before me and seen? How embarrassing would that have been?

I finished rinsing off and turned the water off, stepping inside and wrapping a towel around my waist.

There was a knock on the door.

"Just a minute." I said, almost slipping on a puddle on my way to the door.

I opened it to Red standing on the other side, blushing.

"I need to take a shower." He rushed out.

A smirk slipped onto my face as I realized we were in the same boat.

"You too, huh?" I grinned.

"Shut up." He moaned.

"It's all yours. Have fun." I said with a wink as he brushed past me.

"Don't tell me what to do." He grumbled, and I let out a laugh as the door shut behind me.

I made my way back to my room and quickly got dressed before knocking on the bathroom door.

"I'll be in the kitchen." I yelled to Red.

"Alright." He shouted back.

I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I was hungry, okay?

I checked the cabinets, finding nothing but Rice Krispies. Obviously mom hadn't had much time for grocery shopping lately...

I dug around in the freezer for a minute or two, finding some expired toasted waffles and popsicles.

Opening the fridge, I scanned the shelves until I hit the jackpot, a roll of Cinnabon's. Perfect.

I popped it open and placed the raw stuff on a pan and, after preheating it, stuck them in the oven, filled with a newfound excitement.

"What smells good?" Red wondered as he walked down the stairs in a pair of sweatpants that I recognized.

"Are those mine?" I asked with a grin.

"What? No." He laughed with a mischievous grin.

"You couldn't even put a shirt on?" I teased.

"Ah, you're right. I'll go put one on right now." He turned to go back up the stairs with a devilish grin and I frowned.

"I'm making Cinnabons!" I shouted in efforts to distract him.

"You know how to get a guy, Freeman." He winked and descending into the kitchen.

"Thanks." I blushed. "How was your shower?"

"Shut up." He blushed as well, and I felt very accomplished.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know enough about you." He observed. "What's your favorite color?"

"Black." I said without hesitation.

"I see. And that goes hand in hand with the satanic rituals, pet crows, and black eyeliner?" He joked.

"Red, please. I've never worn black eyeliner." I said with a mischievous smirk as the oven dinged and I pulled the tray out.

"What?" He gulped.

"What's yours?" I asked, changing the topic again.

"Take a guess." He said with an eye roll.

I took a second to look at him as I held the pan in my hands.

"Tan." I said with a straight face.

"What the fuck?" He sighed.

"Kidding. Would it happen to be, I don't know, Red?" I laughed.

"How did you know? Was it that obvious?"

"Nah, I'm just really, really good." I winked at him.

"What's your favorite movie?" He asked me.

"I like horror movies, so like, The Visit, The Conjuring, and Insidious. Stuff like that." I said with a shrug.

"So you do perform, like, nightly satanic rituals?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Please, Red." I scoffed, and he smiled. "They're at midnight, get your facts right before you make a fool of yourself."

He glared at me, and rolled his eyes.

"I like Spider-Man Homecoming." He said.

"That was really good. Tom Holland? Yes, please." I said with a smirk and licking nothing.

"Chance! I'm right here!" Red growled.

"Sadly, yes." I grinned as I began to frost the Cinnabons.

"What's your favorite song?" He asked.

"You won't know any of them." I said with a blush.

"C'mon, try me." He begged as I handed him the first roll.

"Six Feet Under The Stars, acoustic version, by All Time Low. Also Stella and A Party Song." I blushed. "I know, you've never heard them but they're really good."

"I'm sure they are. I don't really like music but I think Fall Out Boy is pretty good."

"You're an emo." I said, smiling at him and taking a bite of my dessert.

"You're a Satan worshiper."

"It's an art, really." I laughed.

"What are we going to do for the rest of the day, and tomorrow?" He asked me.

"I was planning on just relaxing, if you have a better idea then I'm down." I shrugged as I finished frosting the last Cinnabon and eating another one.

"I have a question." He stated, suddenly looking sheepishly down at the floor.

"Uh, sure." I said. Red licked his lips and leaned over the counter, like me, so we were face to face. "W-what is it?"

"It's just...well I really like you," He gulped, "and I hope you like me equally as much..." a blush found its way onto his cheeks. "So I was wondering if you-"

I sucked in a deep breath.

"If you..." he tried again as I stared into his eyes.

I was certain he was going to ask me to be his boyfriend, if only my phone hadn't rang.

"Hello?" I asked frustratedly into the phone.

"She's up right now if you want to visit." Mom said from the other end.

I pressed the phone to my chest.

"She's up." I said to Red.

He dug around in his pocket and showed me his keys before walking to the door and down the front steps with me in tow.

"Yeah okay. We're on our way now."

I grabbed one last Cinnabon and stepped outside, surprised with how dark it was.

We both climbed into the car and as Red pulled out, I was hit with a hard realization.

"What do I say to her?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"I...." he trailed off, "I don't know. That's a tough one." He frowned.

"It was my fault she tried to do it in the first place. Does she even want to see me right now? She shouldn't." I let out a shaky sigh and leaned back in my seat.

"Calm down Chance. It wasn't just you, remember that." He assured me. "And you want to fix things between you guys, right?"

I nodded. "Of course I do."

"Then just explain that to her. Apologize. She might now forgive you at first, but if you guys were as close as you say you were, then in time it'll be okay."

I sighed again. "Okay."

******

"She's not talking yet, she's still weak. But I think you should talk to her." Mom said as the three of us stood outside of Elise's hospital room.

"Alright." I breathed heavily and stepped hesitantly into the room.

I shut the door behind me but didn't turn. I couldn't yet. I felt her eyes boring into me and a chill went down my spine. I wasn't ready.

I was already choked up and I hadn't even faced her yet.

Gathering myself, I finally turned around and met Elise's eyes.

"Hi." I whispered, still not fully comprehending that this was actually happening.

She looked terrible. There were bags under her eyes, her hair was up in a messy bun, and the bandages running down her arms looked like they could stand to be replaced.

I sat in the chair next to her bed and glanced at her. She was staring out the window and a stream of sunlight had fallen onto her face, highlighting how beautiful she was, even in his state.

"Elise," I choked out. She turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were filled with sadness. They didn't sparkle the way they used to.

"I'm sorry." A tear ran down my face.

I put my arms on the side of her bed and started to cry.

She wasn't doing anything, saying anything. Why should she?

Her arm, the one that didn't have needles in it, reached out to me and she placed it on my hands.

A sob racked through my body and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm sorry." I cried again, and looked up at her through blurry vision.

She gave me a sad smile as a tear ran down her cheek. Elise shook her head as if to say 'don't worry about it.'

"What I did wasn't okay. I'm sorry." My lips trembled and my throat ached. "I'm sorry. I will never be able to make this up to you, I know that, but I'm going to try. Everyday I'm going to try." Tears flooded down my face and I let out another sob as Elise squeezed my hand in hers.

"You are never going to forgive me. I know that."

She looked at me sadly and shook her head.

"No you won't. I don't want you to. I don't deserve it." I lifted my other hand and covered my mouth with it.

"I just needed to see you. Make sure..." I cleared my throat. "Make sure you were okay now."

I screwed my eyes shut again as a new wave of sadness came over me.

She was never going to be perfectly okay. This would always follow her. Maybe, if I was lucky, she would be happy one day. But she would never be perfect, perfectly happy. Perfectly okay.

"I'm sorry." I said, pulling my hand out of her grip and standing up from the chair. "I need to go."

"Chance." She rasped out as I put my hand on the door handle.

"What?" I sniffed, shocked that she had spoken.

She smiled at me. It was small, but I would never forget it.

I smiled back through blurry eyes and tears, and finally left the room.

"You okay?" Mom asked when I shut the door behind me.

"Yeah." I said shakily. "It's just so weird right now. Everything is so wrong. None of this should have ever happened." I wiped another tear from my cheek and took a deep breath.

Red wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"It's okay." He assured me. "Let's get you home and to bed. Again."

"It's 12:42. I'll call your school and tell them you'll be out tomorrow." Mom put a hand on my arm.

"Thanks." I said, pulling away from Red and wiping my eyes.

"Come on, Chance." Red hummed softly and we left the hospital for the second time that day.

"I can see why book characters hate hospitals now." I sighed and closed me eyes.

"You tired?" He asked.

I nodded. "I want to pass out."

"Let's just relax and hang out tomorrow. Whatever you want to do." Red offered.

"Thanks but right now I just want to pass out." I snorted.

"Am I gonna have to carry you inside or something?" He laughed.

"It's very possible." I giggled and Red started to drive back to my house.

"I think I could carry. You know I play basketball?" He bragged.

"When do you even play? It seems like you're never busy."

"It's off-season for me right now. But soon I'll have school and then AAU will start up when that's done." He explained to me. "So I'm free right now but things get pretty hectic."

"Oh." I hummed and started to feel myself drift off.

"You falling asleep on me?" He teased.

I yawned and relaxed my body, suddenly really glad to be skipping school tomorrow.

******

I woke up the next morning in my bed, alone. It was kinda of chilly, so I slipped on my hoodie and made my way downstairs.

Red was in the kitchen standing by the stove. Numerous bowls and pans were out.

"What are you making?" I asked, sniffing the air.

"French toast and eggs." He said with a smile as he laid another French toast strip onto the pan.

"Cool, thanks." I smiled. I took a seat at the counter and watched Red cook.

"Your... your mom called." He said, suddenly getting very serious.

"Was it about Elise? What happened?" I asked.

"Well... she's being released from the hospital in two weeks." He told me.

I smiled at him.

"That's great! Is she coming right back to school? I still need to show her the video of my speech. Do y-"

"Chance." He interrupted me. "She's not coming home right away."

"Oh...oh." I stuttered. "Where is she going?"

"She's going to a different kind of hospital." He explained to me.

"What? What do you mean? How long?" I choked out, feeling my face get red.

"A hospital for people who have the same issues as her." Red sighed. "She tried to kill herself, Chance. They can't just fix her up and send her back home, and just assume she's okay, and that she won't try it again."

"How long?" Was all I could say.

"Two months." He said with a sorry frown.

"Two months? In a...what? In a fuckin mental institution?" I growled, slamming my hands down on the counter.

"Try and understand that she's sick, Chance." he said calmingly to me as he turned the stove off. "She's sick. And she needs help so that she'll be safe by the time she gets home. Don't you want her to get better?"

"Of course I do."

"Then try to understand that this is what's best for her. This will help her sort things out and give her some better coping mechanisms." He explained.

"You're really good at comforting people." I sighed as he slid me a plate of French toast.

"I think I'm a pretty good people-reader." He smiled at me.

"You were..." a blush came to my face, "You were going to say something yesterday before my mom called." I coughed.

"Oh was I?" He teased me.

"Red." I moaned.

"I was going to ask you to be my boyfriend, but..." he grinned.

"Shame, I would've said yes." I smiled back. A blush rose to his cheeks and I felt perfectly happy.

"Pass the syrup?" I asked.

He slid it over to me shyly and sighed.

"Want do you wanna do today? As a couple?" Red asked.

"Wanna watch our favorite movies?" I suggested.

"Sure." He said with a grin. "But I can't handle scary movies that well, just so you know."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. What are boyfriends for?" I winked at him and finished off my breakfast.

"My knight in shining armor." He sighed.

"My damsel in distress." I mocked him with a evil smirk.

"My pain in the ass." He rested a hand on my cheek and kissed me on the lips.

He pulled back and smiled as he viewed the tomato-like color of my face.

"Shut up." I scowled. "We're starting with The Conjuring."

******

Four hours and three horror movies later, I was smiling like an idiot and Red almost peed his pants. Twice.

"It is not funny." He snapped at me.

"It's just a movie, Red. None of that would actually really..." I trailed off and stared behind him. "Red." I whispered, in an attempt to freak him out.

"What? What is it?" He asked as he whipped around violently, looking behind him.

"You don't see it?" I tried my best to keep a straight face as he stood up and ran behind me.

"You better be joking." He said, jumpy.

"You're so easy." I laughed.

"Fuck you." He growled as he plopped down beside me.

"I'm waiting, trust me." I joked.

Red turned...well, red.

"Shut up." He scowled.

"Yeah. Okay. I wasn't sure about it before, but you definitely win the award for Best Comebacks. Congratulations." I joked. "Who would you like to thank?" I asked as I held the TV remote out to him for a microphone.

"I would like to thank my brother and sister, Ruth and Delta for always invading my personal space. I'd like to thank my school for making me hate my life more than I ever thought possible. And I'd like to thank my stupid boyfriend for making me question my entire existence, along with his. Thank you, and have a good night." He took a bow and handed the remote back to me.

"That was so moving." I said, wiping away a fake tear.

"I'm gonna be a motivational speaker." He laughed.

"That's fantastic. But you just missed the best part of the movie." I smiled.

"You think every part is the best part."

"Every part is the best part. If you think otherwise, fuck you." I laughed.

"I'm waiting, trust me."