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 A month later.... I'm alive!

Sorry about the super late upload. LIke I said before, I was on a 2 week long vacation in late decemember and the day after I got home, my laptop crashed! I do have a family computer but all it does is freeze and take forever so updating was practically impossible.

But now my laptop is fixed and I can update again! Im sorry about making you guys wait so long but hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter :)

PS: Another dance from the Dance Bash in the sidebar! It's the Juniors dance :)

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     I felt as if I were watching a movie. A completely terrifying real-life version of a movie, that is.

            I was in the shed the day of the fire and I was watching it from the outside. I followed Jace with my eyes as he ran inside, dodging the fire in such a dramatic way that it couldn’t possibly be real. He slid down next to my unconscious body then caressed my face with a look filled with so much compassion and sorrow.

            What he didn’t see and I did was the roof of the shed caving in. I tried to call out to him but no words escaped my mouth no matter how hard I screamed. Finally, the roof caved it and just before it hit us, I woke up with a scream.

            My nurse, Gretchen, came running in and soothed me by telling me the same old things. It was just a dream, I’m safe, I’m no longer there, and so on. The only good thing today was that I was finally able to go home. After weeks in the hospital, hours of physical therapy (That still needs to go on even though I’ll be home), countless visits from the doctor, horrible hospital food, and explaining the same story a million times, I’m able to leave this place and go back to where I belong.

            Dillon had called the hospital and said that he was just getting everything ready for my homecoming. I needed my bed to be lowered so it would be easier for me to get in and out of it every morning because I still can’t support myself that much with the broken leg and burns. I was to be put into a wheel chair until I could fully walk without any problems and I had come to the hospital for weekly checkups. I really didn’t care what I had to do as long as I got to go home.

            So after the doctors checked me out and said farewell, Gretchen helped me get dressed in some clothes that Dillon had brought me and then lowered me down into my wheelchair. When she wheeled me out of my now empty hospital room, Dillon and Jace were in the hallway listening to my main doctor explain something to them. Dillon, who obviously wasn’t taking in anything he was saying, was stroking his imaginary beard with a considering look on his face.

            “Yes, doctor,” He spoke in an English accent. “I do understand.”

            I rolled my eyes at him while Jace smacked him then murmured his apologies to the doctor before assuring him that he knew what to do. The duo turned to me with bright smiles then took me away from Gretchen. I said thank you to her for everything and let my brother and Jace wheel me out of the hospital and into the fresh air. A wide smile spread across my face as I breathed in. The scent of freshly cut grass filled my senses and I had to stop myself from rolling around in it.

            The ride to my house involved Dillon chattering excitedly, Jace listening to him, and me staring out the window in awe. After being in the hospital for almost a month—both conscious and unconscious—it was weird being out here. The last time I had been down this road was the time right after my big solo at the Dance Bash. So many things have happened since then that it’s hard to believe it. I’m basically a whole new person inside and out.

            The moment the car slide into the driveway is the moment that I realized that I was finally free. If I were able to, I’d be jumping out the minute the car stopped and into my house but since I couldn’t walk without help that was impossible.

            “So how should we do this? I think it’d be easier just to carry her in then put her in the wheelchair,” Dillon suggested.

            “Sure, do you want to carry her or should I?” Jace said in return.

            “I will,” My brother replied and took me up in his arms bridal style. He was especially careful with my leg and my worse of the burns that were on my arms. The worst burn of all was the one that ran down my face. Hopefully some medicine would be able to heal the scar that should form within the next few weeks.

            Dillon sat me on the couch as him and Jace tried to figure out the wheelchair. Watching them together, it was almost like old times. Before the whole fake-relationship stuff that ruined everything, I mean. Ever since I was in the fire and Jace saved me, I’ve seen them growing closer again. It was nice. Dillon needed Jace again and I know that he missed him.

            After around ten minutes, the two idiots finally situated the wheelchair together and by then, I had other plans.

            “Can I take a shower?” I asked and they froze. “I don’t need you two to help me! I just need a garbage bag to cover my leg and a chair to sit on. I actually want a shower where I’m not being cleaned by someone I don’t know.”

            “Sure but if you need help I’ll… I’ll…” Dillon seemed stumped as to what to do.

            “I won’t need help. I’m just taking a shower, Dill! It’s not like I’m walking up the stairs or something.” I gave him my most comforting smile and he finally gave in. Dillon hoisted me up into his arms while Jace carried some chair that we found in the garage and went up to the bathroom that I usually used.

            When the two left me, I stripped out of my clothes and gripped the counter to pull myself up and stare into the mirror. The girl who had last been seen in here was most definitely not the same girl I saw today. Scars and still open burns marred my entire body. My hair was now showing my natural roots and was singed at the ends. I seriously needed to go to the salon soon.

            It took me awhile but I was able to get into the shower, turn on the water, and sit down on the chair while cleaning up my body. It felt nice but I wished I could clean my leg that was broken but a cast covered the entire thing.

            I was just about done so I turned off the water and pulled myself up by grasping a handle that was built into the wall. Unfortunately, my hands were still a little bit soapy from washing my body so my fingers slipped off of it and I went tumbling to the bottom of the tub. I cried out in pain as my leg agonizingly hit the chair and then heard people running up the stairs.

            “Peyton?” Jace’s voice rang out to me as he pounded on the bathroom door.  “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

            “I fell,” I told him through gritted teeth. “Don’t come in though!”

            Regardless of what I said, the doorknob jingled but thankfully I had the right mind to lock it beforehand. “Are you hurt? Shit, I’m coming in there if you are. I’ll break down this door if I have to—“

            “I’m fine,” I half-lied to him. I know that I didn’t injure anything serious but it did hurt more than before. I painfully stood up and wrapped a towel around my body before unlocking the door so Jace could stop pounding on it. He stumbled in and helped support my body because I almost fell yet again.

            “Are you okay? Do you need to go back to the hospital? Dillon’s out getting food for us, I should probably call him…”

            I didn’t focus on whatever else Jace was saying because someone else was behind him. My eyes widened and I tried covering up wounds as he stared at them without any emotion on his face.

            “Err, hi, Sean,” I said awkwardly as I averted my eyes to the ground. “How’s it going?”

            His eyes trailed on all of the worst burns before he finally met my eyes. “Not too good but I’m in no shape to complain right now.” His eyes went at my injuries again. “How are you?”

            I gave him a sarcastic laugh, “I feel as good considering all that has happened. ” I lied then turned my attention back to Jace. “Can you help me to my room so I can get dressed?”

            He nodded and half-carried me to my room with Sean trailing behind. I shut the door behind them and hobbled over to my dresser to pull out some comfortable and loose clothing for me to wear. I was just barely able to get the sweats over the huge cast then told them that they could come in as I sprawled out on my bed.

            The two of them entered and took seats around me. Things were weird so I looked out the window and saw the burnt down shed. My stomach clenched as the memories of that day flooded into me and I turned away but not before catching the eye of Jace.

            “So, why are you here, Sean?” I asked him.

            “I’ve actually been out of town the past two weeks and before then you were unconscious. I came to make sure that you’re all right. When I heard about the, uh, fire… I felt horrible about not making everything okay with you.”

            I gave him a light smile but it didn’t mean anything to me. I still didn’t forgive him about cheating on me and I don’t think I ever will. I do appreciate his care for me but there’s no way I can ever return it again. “Well, I’m fine. Thanks for caring.”

            “You’re not fine, Peyton. Don’t lie to everyone and say that you are. We all know that you hurt. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth and say how you really feel.” The seriousness in Sean’s voice surprised me. But the thing is that he’s right. I did feel like crap all the time but I didn’t want anyone babying me like Dillon was doing now. I wanted everyone just to forget that the whole fire had even happened and things could go back to how they were… Well, minus the hatred towards me.

            “What can I say, Sean? I lived through the second fire I’ve been in but didn’t come out perfectly fine. I don’t want your pity though.  I admit that I hurt but that’ll go away soon enough, it’s really not a big deal.”

            “But—“

            “But nothing.”

            “Peyton!”

            “Bye, Sean.”

            His eyes widened when I abruptly told him to leave. He didn’t even respond until Jace practically dragged him out of the room and a few minutes later materialized again.

            “Do you need anything, Peyton? Your medicine, a blanket… Something else? Dillon should be back soon—“

            “Why did you stay?”

            Jace stared at me in confusion. “What do you mean—“

            “At the hospital. When I was both unconscious and not you’d stay there almost as long as Dillon. Why?”

            His mouth moved as if he was going to say something but nothing came out. He ran his fingers through his hair and I saw the newly made scar from the fire on his forearm which just made more questions pop into my head for him. When he finally answered, it wasn’t what I was expecting. “I really don’t know myself, Peyton.”

            There was a glint in his eye that I’ve never seen directed at me before in my life. It wasn’t bad, it was… I don’t even know. It was something that I couldn’t explain but it made me feel oddly attracted to him. I actually found myself checking him out.

            Underneath the scars were broad muscles that were a result of working out and soccer. His defined jaw and full lips were absolutely perfect to me even though they had flaws while a little freckle perched above his lip and laugh lines would appear anytime he’d smile. His brown hair was soft and the only reason I’d know that was from the countless amount of times I had run my fingers through it in the midst of a kiss. Last of all were his eyes. The pale light blue and green combo combined amazingly with the rest of his features.

            I also noticed he was staring directly at my lips.

            I know it’s wrong especially after everything that he’s done to me but in that moment, I actually wanted him to kiss me. It would definitely screw things up, yeah, but I didn’t care in that moment.  He inched forward in just a slight moment then stopped, averted his eyes to the bedspread, and bit his lip.

            “I, uh…” He didn’t finish because Dillon walked in the room with bags full of take-out teriyaki.

            “Papa’s home!” He yelled out with a huge smile on his face. “Did anything happen when I was gone?”

            I stared at Jace and pleaded with my eyes for him not to tell my brother about the fall. He sighed and shook his head. “Nope, Sean just stopped by for a few minutes to see Peyton but then left.”

            My brother’s eyebrows scrunched together—a habit that he does whenever he’s angry at something—and set the bags of food down on my desk. “I don’t like him coming over here. He always does something bad to her.” He nodded at where I was rubbing my arm where a particularly bad burn was. “Next time just kick him out.”

            “Duly noted.”

            Eating with Jace and Dillon was something like old times. There was obviously a tension that wasn’t there before that was brought on by the fire and the fake relationship but other than that, the two guys still joked around with each other and would make me laugh. When we were done eating, I actually got into my wheel chair and was able to wheel myself around with only one arm because my other one was so badly injured. I found myself in front of my dance studio and a sad sigh escaped my mouth.

            “You miss it, don’t you?”

            I nodded slightly at Jace while Dillon stood beside me. “I think that’s the one thing I hate the most about being injured in the fire. I want to be able to dance right now and not have anything hold me back.”

            “Soon,” Dillon said to raise my hopes but we all knew that it wouldn’t be ‘soon.’

            “Yeah, right.”

            Over the course of the day, a few people visited including Luke, Lauren, and even Alyssa. All my gifts from the hospital have been transported to my room so balloons, flowers, chocolates, posters, and cards took up every possible space in my room. I loved every thing I got but I wished that people would just forget that this even happened.

            “So when can I go to school?” I asked them as they helped me up the stairs so I could go to bed. Jace was staying the night to help Dillon out if I needed anything. “I’ve already missed so much, I don’t want to miss anymore.”

            “Let’s just see how you feel after this weekend,” Dillon said and carried me to my room. “We don’t want to stress you out when you’ve just gotten out of the hospital.”

            “Can I at least leave the house? Do you guys have a soccer game coming up that I can go to?”

            “In a few days but like I said, just wait these two days of the weekend then we’ll see. In the meantime, we’ll be here to keep you company.” My brother gave me a big smile and a kiss on the forehead before leaving with Jace so I could change in privacy. Although we had our fight just weeks earlier, Dillon had forgotten everything and became the best brother in the world again.

            After I was ready, I snuggled into my covers and yelled for one of the boys to turn off my light. I mumbled a little thank you because the pain medicine that the doctors gave me caused drowsiness so I was slowly slipping into the sleeping zone.

            I was somewhere between sleep and awake when I heard the door open but I didn’t move. They crossed the room and soon a pair of soft, warm lips kissed my forehead and hands pushed my hair back just as they did in my previous dream.

            “Goodnight, Peyton,” Jace whispered then paused. “It’s because you’re you.” Then he got up and left.

            My last thought before I fell completely asleep was wondering what Jace had meant.

            My dream started out perfectly. Everyone that I loved was at a picnic in the forest and having an amazing time. Everything was perfect. I was laughing at something that Dillon had said when everything changed.

            A huge wave of fire crashed down on us as if it were a tsunami. Everyone screamed and tried to escaped the flame but I watched them all scorch to death while I wasn’t being affected at all. All my loved ones screamed out from the pain and fell to the ground either dead or unconscious. Then I felt the pain myself as it flowed into me just as it had the day of the fire. I screamed and woke up drenched in sweat.

            A sob escaped my throat as I clutched my body and shook violently. It’s just a dream, Peyton. Nothing but a horrible dream.

            My brother and Jace came crashing into my room, took in my form and immediately went into action. They turned on the light and Dillon engulfed me in a hug as I cried into his chest. I even let Jace hold my hand and rub my back as he did the night I had an asthma attack. Just like before, Dillon made me take my inhaler and continued saying comforting words.

            “What is going on?”

            The words hadn’t come from Jace or Dillon and I was pretty sure they weren’t from me, either. I slowly pulled away from my brother’s chest and looked up to see my parents standing at the doorway.

            “Hi kids,” My mother said with a smile as she handed my father her suitcases. “We’re home!”

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Also, if you like my writing then check out my other stories! You might just like them more than this :)