Alison's POV.

The sound of a door closing reached my ears, and I snapped my head up, wincing at the pain in my neck. I groaned at the sudden flooding of light, bringing my palms up to my face to cover them from their assault.

"Miss Williams?"

I smoothed down my hair and rubbing away the residue of drool from the corner of my mouth, suddenly self-conscious at my appearance.

"Uh - yeah."

The doctor smiled, gesturing towards the door,"He's awake."

A large grin painted my face, and I threw my hands up, a giddy squeal leaving my lips. I flung myself onto the doctor, bringing him into a hug.

"Thanks so much Doc!"

He laughed, a blush on his face as I let him go,"No worries."

Giving him another smile, my hand reached for the door handle.

This is your fault.

A nasty voice had continued to follow me during the whole wait of Luke's absence. It had continued to tell me that everything that had happened was because of me. Everything was my fault. It had told me that Luke hated me. Luke didn't want to set his eyes on me ever again.

Could I really blame him?

Who would want to talk to the person who had thrown them into hospital? I wouldn't and there was no doubt that Luke would. I closed my eyes, my hand limp against the door handle.

I was indecisive. I wanted to see him. But did he want to see me?

A familiar raspy yet loud voice tore me from my thoughts,"Oh get in here Williams!"

I laughed softly. You could bet Luke to still have his playful side with him even if he was currently sitting in a hospital bed. Turning the knob, I shoved the door open.

Luke was grinning at me, propped up against the bed. Tubes winded across the room, some that were lodged deep within his skin. He was considerably pale, a few bruises still prominent and other slowly fading.

Again doubt swirled within me and I did not have the courage to approach my friend who could possibly hate me for getting him into this mess.

"I'm sorry."I blurted out before quickly looking down at the hospital floor.

There was a silence, and I feared that my greatest horror was true. That maybe Luke really did hate me. My eyes stung, and I clenched my fists.

"Alison?"

I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath as if it were my lifeline before pasting a smile on my face and looking up,"Yeah?"

He stayed quiet, studying me.

"Come here."

Like a lost puppy, I obeyed. I stood near his bed, still not meeting his gaze. One look at his bruised face would send me in tears. I couldn't cry in front of him. I wouldn't.

"Look at me, Al."he said, gently.

I refused, already feeling the stir of tears begging to be let out.

"Please."

Stubbornly, I held my ground.

He sighed, reaching out. He fingers brushed against my cheek and the familiar feeling of warmth and safety immediately enveloped me. Unconsciously, I leaned into his touch and he chuckled, softly. With his index finger, he lifted my chin up to meet his gaze.

"Hey."he whispered.

"Hi."

It was these moments when I wondered whether Luke thought of me as a friend. I would catch him staring at me with a strange emotion, a thoughtful expression on his face. For the time being, I was sure that we were just friends, and I wasn't exactly willing to become something more, at the moment. I had never really thought of Luke like that, he was the brother I never had. But the feeling of warmth towards him surely meant something, right?

"It's not your fault."

His quiet voice slithered in the storm within me. The guilt was slowly breaking me down. But his small statement had sparked something and I was yearning to hear that it really wasn't my fault. His objection was my hope.

"Alison."he said firmly,"It is not your fault."

I shook my head, feeling a stray tear roll down my cheek,"It is, you wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

He sighed, spreading his arms and a flash of pain passed his face and I quickly backed away, afraid that I had done something.

"Hey, Al."he smiled softly,"It's alright, you didn't do anything, just gimme a hug. You're too far away."

With caution, I etched closer to him. A frustrated sigh left Luke's lips and his long hands gripped my waist, pulling me to his chest.

I yelped.

"Ah."he huffed, approvingly, burying his nose in my neck,"That's better."

Was this a friendly gesture? Was he trying to showcase his feelings to me? Did friends do this? I inwardly shook my head, desperate to empty the confusing thoughts within it. At the moment my best friend was all bruised and bandaged up and here I was thinking whether he did or didn't have feelings for me. How ridiculous.

"Why do you think that this is all your fault?"he asked, gesturing to himself.

I bit my lip, again looking down.

"If you didn't know what Blake had done, you wouldn't have egged him on. Hell, you wouldn't have even approached him."I replied, my voice becoming increasingly higher as the pent up anger to myself begin to slowly ooze out,"If I hadn't been such a needy girl who needed to tell the whole world her past, you wouldn't be here. But no, I just had to say it! Your job is at stake and you're body looks like purple potato! And now here you are in a hospital bed, with disgusting food, and it's all my fault."

Luke was silent.

"So you're saying that you don't trust me to let me in on your past?"he said quietly.

My eyes widened as I replayed my words in my head. He had misunderstood me. I had claimed that I shouldn't of have told him because of my fear of him getting hurt. I extracted myself from his grasp, throwing my hands up.

"No!"I exclaimed, horrified that he could claim such thing,"I trust you with my life Luke. You've stuck by me throughout my worst times. Every night you would call me, making sure I wasn't crying myself to sleep nor starving myself. I had been immensely self-conscious after my relationship with and you knew that, so you had made it your number one priority to make sure that I was happy with myself, even if it had meant waking up at six o'clock in the morning for a run . You sacrificed so much for me. Your time, sleep and I could keep going on."

"You made sure I wouldn't continue life with a frown on my face or a fake smile. You made my smiles genuine. You were the cause of my laughter and smiles. You had been loyal towards me even when the whole media went against me, throwing snarky comments at me. You tarnished your reputation by snapping at a news reporter, even if you had played it off as finally getting yourself on live TV. If it weren't for you Luke, I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't be the woman I am. And for that, I am forever in your dept. So don't you dare, not even for a second, think I don't trust you."

I huffed loudly, my hands dropping to my side, wishing and hoping that he believed in my words. Slowly the corners of his mouth tipped upwards.

"That was beautiful, Al."

I let out a breath of relief, with a smug grin on my face, I replied,"I know."

He rolled his eyes,"No really. I haven't blushed this much until that blonde chick from the shop down the street told me that she mistook me as Chris Hemsworth."

[A/N: The irony.]

It was now my turn to roll my eyes, yet I couldn't help but smile. My mind was at peace to know that Luke didn't think of me as the source of his pain.

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Luke was allowed to leave the hospitals the next day after the doctors had thoroughly checked him through for any other injuries. His parents had already came by, scolding him heavily for his behaviour. It was amusing to see Luke cowered under his mother's furious gaze. It was a great change from his usually cocky attitude.

"Godamn, I'm glad they're gone."Luke sighed, flopping onto the sofa.

I shot him a playful glare, rolling my eyes.

"C'mon, your mum seems pretty nice."

He raised his eyebrow,"Nice? She had a different password for the Wifi every fucking day, when I was little, and I would have to do a long ass list of shit for her until she gave it to me. Yeah, real nice."

I snorted. Mrs Andrews seemed like the type.

"So about Blake..."Luke started, breaking the comfortable silence between us.

I tensed, not liking where the conversation was going. But I knew that I had to face him and tak of this true. It had been four years already.

I cleared my throat, before fixing Luke with an expressionless face,"Yes?"

The corners of his lips tilted downwards.

"You don't have to act like that with me Alison."he said quietly.

Deciding to act like I couldn't comprehend what Luke was saying, I tilted my head to the side,"What do you mean?"

He breathed heavily out of his nose, a flash of anger washing over his face as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You know what I mean!"

I just didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to talk about him or us. Not with someone else, no matter how close they may be.

"I don't Luke, I'm sorry."

His nostrils flared, and his fists were clenched firmly by his sides as if resisting himself from lashing out.

"Alison, that's enough."he snapped,"You're bottling all your emotions in, and that's not right. It's not healthy. And it won't do any good for both of you. As your friend, who got beat up by the guy himself, I have the right to know what's going on. You need to let me in, so we can talk this through and figure it out. I've seen you Alison. When Blake turned up at work, there was a flicker of love in your eyes - his face contorted painfully at the thought - . You still have feelings for Blake whether you like it or not."

I flew to my feet, feeling my own rage stir.

"I do not have feelings for him!" I bellowed, jabbing my finger on his chest.

"Yes, you do!"

How dare he, he has no idea how I was feeling at the moment. He didn't know how I felt towards others and he had no right to question my feelings nor tell me who I loved.

"No, I don't!"

"Then tell me why you seem so delighted when you see him!"

"I'm not!"

He opened his mouth to retort but then closed it, his lips forming a thin line.

"Whatever."he muttered, grabbing his coat from the arm of the sofa.

Luke made his way to the front door, as I angrily followed after him.

"Where are you going?"I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Out, mother."he drawled.

I sneered, grabbing hold of the fabric of his shirt.

"No you are not! We have to talk about what just happened!"

"Oh, so you can talk about that but not Blake?"he snarled, ripping his shirt out of my hold.

I glared at him,"Shut up! You have no idea how I feel towards him!"

He strode out the door, his steps firm. I didn't want to chase after him. At the moment I was furious with him. How dare he tell me who I liked! I knew that if he had approchaed me, again, on the same day. I would've definitely blown up on him.

But as he ran down the stairs leading to lower apartments, he paused, turning around. His face was void of any emotion, as he spoke.

"Talk to me when you are ready to open up."

And with that, he walked down the last step before turning the bend and disappearing from view.
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oof

QUESTION: You are on a flight from Honolulu to Chicago non-stop. There is a fire in the back of the plane. You get enough time to make ONE phone call. Who would you call?

ANSWER: Probably my mum.

What about you guys?