Brian Reese was a small time cop who had grown up in an orphanage and thought that it was his sworn duty to protect anyone that he could - and that's what ultimately got him killed. He loved his job - it was what he lived for. That, and his family waiting for him back at home. He could not imagine anything different than waking up, going and protecting the people of the town he lived in and then going home to his adoring wife and kissing their tiny son goodnight before reading his young daughter to sleep. It was what he did everyday, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

The day he died was a Wednesday, November 21st to be exact. He was guarding a bank, something he often got switched to when the staff were low and needed a hand. The usual Guard, Denny, was on a two week leave because his wife had just given birth to a baby girl, and so of course Brian had offered to fill in for him while he was away so that he would be allowed the time off.

He wasn't even meant to be there.

When the robbers broke in at around nine in the morning, everything turned to chaos. Apparently, as the secretary had told the news reporter a few hours after, everyone was relaxed and having the usual morning chat between them, Brian had just finished telling them a story about his daughter and how she had tried to bake cookies but had put the whole eggs into them, shell included, when the front doors burst open and gun fire went off. Everyone had complied at first, dropping to the ground and keeping their hands behind their heads. But Officer Reese was not about to let them get away with what they were doing; it was wrong, no matter what the reason, stealing was wrong. He didn't stand a chance against them, any sane person would be able to see that, but when they began to take hostages he acted - managing to take two of them down easily with the gun he had hidden in the back of his trousers. He managed to usher everyone out the front door before going into the back to check on the staff there. Thinking that the two men he had shot were the only ones he let his guard down and ran to help the woman that they had been taking, and when he did a third gunman came out of the vault and upon seeing the scene, shot him, missing important organs but wounding him none the less. 

That was when he should of left it, he would have lived.

The man then attempted to grab the woman again and use her as a shield against the police officers but Brian Reese wasn't about to let that happen and he somehow managed to stand and tackle the man away from her.

He should of just let him go.

They fought on the ground for a few minutes, the officer even managing to get the upper hand for a moment. But it had soon vanished, and the robber overpowered him by using the bullet wound as a weak spot, applying pressure until the pain was unbearable. 

Maybe the robber was going to let him go, maybe he didn't want to end the young fathers life, but as he went to get off of him, Officer Reese pulled off his ski mask and saw his face.

That sealed his fate.

He shot Brian Reese four times in the chest at close range, making it impossible for him to survive. Luckily for the receptionist, she had been hiding while all this occurred and the burglar forgot all about her, running for his freedom once he had emptied his round of bullets into the mans chest, fleeing the scene.

She crawled out on her hands and knees towards the dying man, trying to apply pressure to his wounds and keep him alive, but it was no use. There was no saving the heroic man and she knew it.

So did he.

The last words he ever spoke were a whisper, a plead to the woman who held him in her arms as he died while she screamed for someone to get an ambulance, his world slowly fading from around him. His last words were imprinted into her mind like the blood that had stained her once white blouse:

"Tell my family I love them, forever and always." 

And he died. Lying in a pool of his own blood on a marble bank floor, in the arms of a sobbing woman who he did not love, his family sitting at home having no idea of what had occurred, reading a book together instead of watching TV. But when the police came to the door and the news broke, it tore their lives apart.

.

"Now Liana, I want you to be careful with your foot, although the bandages are all removed it'll still be unstable so be careful with how much weight you apply. I'll be back with your papers in a few minutes."

The doctor left with a quick smile and I felt my body relax as I sunk against the headboard of the bed. Finally- I could wiggle my toes again.

"So how does it feel to no longer be able to display a disabled badge?" I rolled my eyes at the male who smirked beside me, his perfect white teeth gleaming in the fluorescent lights of the hospital. "No but seriously, how is your foot feeling?"

I giggled, "A little weak but all in all not too bad Doctor." Now it was Landon's turn to roll his eyes at me but he smiled none the less, although it was a little tense. Things had had this weird atmosphere around them since yesterday, from the time he opened the front door to walking into the hospital with me it was as if he was walking on egg shells, and it was unnerving. I knew he wanted to talk about what happened yesterday, my sudden exit into my bedroom and my change in mood when my father was mentioned, but I couldn't. Not yet.

I rolled my ankle, my eyes watching it and twitching at the prickles of pain that followed the movements, it wouldn't be long before it would be perfectly okay again. Which meant back to work for me on Monday. The joys of adulthood.

"You alright, Liana? You let out a hell of a sigh there."

"Just realising I have to go back to work on Monday, that's all."

Landon made a sound of agreement, his hand rubbing his jaw as he frowned, clearly thinking about something to do with work but it just made my eyes zone into the fading bruise on his skin. I really shouldn't ask about it... but I really, really wanted to.

"Landon..." He looked at me expectantly, his back straightening, "Why did those guys attack you?" The easy, open expression he had previously had on his face disappeared and a cold shutter seemed to cover his features, it was as if he had two personalities.

"I told you, I don't know." It was like he didn't want to let me in, and I knew what that was like, heck it was me everyday. But I wanted in.

I needed the truth.

"I think you're lying." I breezily stated, not looking at him and purposely trying to keep the atmosphere light, I didn't need him flipping out on me again, but this whole mystery act was beginning to wear thin and I hadn't even known him for that long, if this was how he was going to be all the time then I was going to have to stop seeing him often because I wouldn't be able to deal with it much longer.

"Okay, so what if I am? Are you going to tell me why you sprinted out of the room yesterday?" His brown eyes suddenly looked like they were on fire as he glared me down, the competition clear in his features. We were both far too stubborn to give in. "That's what i thought, i'm going to go see where that doctor is."

He stood up in a snap and was out the door before I could even reply, my words slipping back down my throat as the room turned silent, only my breath echoing around me. 

I looked around the pale hospital room, the light blue walls a nice contrast to the white flooring that was almost giving me a headache with it's glare. It was clean, pure, it didn't have a single mark on it that would display the torture and death that had touched it, it hid it perfectly, completely unaffected. 

I wish I could say the same about me.

I wish that I could say that I was over my fathers death, that after eight years I could walk past that bank without imagining his body slowly lose it's strength, his eyes slowly losing their life, but I couldn't. I wasn't over it, and if you knew what to look for you could see it.

Maybe it would be in my bitten fingernails that never grew past a certain length, or perhaps it would be my always red chest where I would rub whenever I got nervous or my heart began to ache. If you knew the signs they were easy to spot, for me they were like a warning light - I could spot them just as well as I could spot Margot's signs of depression, and that scared me. I wasn't like her. I was in control.

I had to be in control.

"The doctor says you're free to go, so lets go." Landon's voice shocked me but I quickly scrambled off the bed and made my way to the door, watching not to put too much pressure onto my ankle, I didn't need to go over it and make everything ten times worse and end up in another cast. 

As we walked past the front desk in silence, my mind suddenly brought a thought to my head,making me grab Landon's arm in panic. "Landon did they give you the bill for my care?" He eyed my fingers around his arm before nodding. "Can I please have it?" His hand slowly moved into his pocket and he pulled out a folded piece of paper, making funeral music begin to play in my head.

How much was this going to be? 

I rapidly snatched it from in between his fingers and ripped it open, looking for the bold number at the bottom. When I reached the figure the air rushed from my body and I felt relief come off of my shoulders; it wasn't as much as I thought it would be. It was a little inconvenient but it wasn't going to bankrupt me for the next four months.

I grinned, putting it into my bag before noticing Landon's stare and I felt my fingers fix my hair, fearing he was scrutinising me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He answered after an extremely pregnant pause and then continued to walk forward, not saying another word to me and I felt relief, we weren't going to get into another fight about a situation I didn't want to talk about, it seemed we were getting somewhere. "Just wondering when you're going to stop holding everything in all the time."

Or maybe we weren't.

.

The next day, Landon didn't come over for obvious reasons, I was no longer handicapped and could function fine without someones help, and therefore there was no point in him entering my home and annoying me endlessly throughout the day.

And I was fine with that.

For the first day. But then it was the weekend and I was still alone.

I suppose when you've been sitting doing nothing for an entire week it sort of loses it's thrill, and to then lose the person you were spending time with as well... well it just made me all the more bored in all honesty.

Sure I could walk around if I wanted to, but my ankle would ache after about half an hour and I couldn't exactly get anywhere without walking because Margot had the car. I was housebound and sick of it.

Margot had laughed at me when I told her I was bored this morning, saying she knew that I would miss Landon, but I didn't! I just missed company, I could of sat here with a dog and been happy, if it meant that I had someone to talk to.

Unfortunately everyone I knew was working or busy, and that was incredibly sad - who runs out of people to call after five minutes of trying? 

Me.

After finishing Tarzan I was honestly about to start stabbing my leg with a stick just to find some amusement, anything seemed better than sitting and staring at the tv... and perhaps I was also trying to avoid looking at my laptop which, when opened, would display the very much blank screen of my first 'chapter' of the book that I was meant to be writing.

I glanced down at my phone which sat on the arm of the sofa beside me and debated how desperate I was to get out of the house. There were two choices to who I could call, Landon or Derek, both seemed rather intimidating at present.

Derek would be cute, however it's not even midday and that's a weird time to see someone.

Landon is annoying.

After scanning my clothes, hair and attitude I realised that I was in no mood to try and entertain a romantic partner and so I decided to suck up my pride and phone Landon, as much as it pained me. My finger hovered over the pad as I literally had to calm my breathing down in order to be able to talk, I had to have a plan - I wasn't just going to call him and have him boast about how I 'wanted to see him'.

"Hello?"

I almost screamed in surprise at his deep voice.

I'd fucking accidentally called him already!

"U-Uh, Hi?" I tried, hitting myself in the forehead when I heard what I sounded like, "It's Liana." 

"Yeah, in this day and age we have this thing called contacts in phones." Jerk. "Plus, how could I forget your number after that voicemail you left me last time." Double jerk. Why the hell did I call him again? "What can I do you for, Peanut?"

"Well," I paused, what was my answer? With eyes darting around I tried to find something to use as an excuse but all I could think of were the potato chips rustling in my lap. "I'm out of food, I need to pick up groceries and Margot has the car." Yes Liana, good job!

I could literally of patted myself on the back, how i'd managed to say all that with a voice that didn't break was beyond me, but I wasn't about to complain at my new found phone confidence.

"And? What's your point?" He was really going to make me beg wasn't he? He couldn't just be a gentlemen for once and save me from stumbling over my words, instead he has to be a sarcastic dickwad all the time.

"My point is," I grumbled down the line, hands clenching around the now crumpled bag of chips, "I need a ride, and if your not busy-"

"Wow Saunders, that's the type of talk I like to hear coming out your phone, you lucky boy." 

A smack sounded from the other end of the phone and there was some hushing and cursing while I tried to fan my face from the flaming heat that had built up. Oh god did that person think I was telling Landon to come over here and let me... ride him? Please let me rot in a hole a thousand foot below ground, it would be appreciated.

"Sorry about that, this guy is at my house and he thought we were-"

"Stop!" I interrupted quickly, not wanting him to go any further, I wasn't a child I knew exactly what that guy thought we were planning on doing. 

"But yeah i'm sorry, i'm kind of in the middle of something right now so I can't really..." By the tone of his voice I knew he was feeling a bit awkward and I suddenly felt stupid; what if he wasn't intending on ever seeing me again after this week? What if he'd just done what he did because he was a good person and now that i'm better he had zero intention of ever talking to me again, oh my god I've turned clingy.

"It's fine!" I half shout with over happiness, the fake tone of it probably completely obvious to Landon even through the phone. "Don't even worry about it, seriously i'll just call one of my other friends because you know I have loads to pick from, I just thought i'd ask you seen as you might be bored, actually I don't know why I called you at all, i'll just call Derek or something, have fun with your friend whatever you're doing! Bye!" 

After that I hung up.

And then proceeded to scream into a pillow for a solid thirty seconds.

'I'll just call one of my other friends because you know I have loads to pick from.'

Who the hell let me babble for that long? Why didn't I shut myself up, what had I even said to him; i'd probably offended him by at least ten percent of what I said plus I sounded like a complete idiot. Who tells someone they have loads of friends? That's a clear sign that you definitely do not have loads of friends, and Landon already knew that! He'd fricken spent the entire week with me without anyone else, besides Margot and Derek, seeing me, it was kind of obvious that I had a very small pool of friends to pick from.

I brushed my hair out of my face and took a deep breath, letting my emotions flow out of my mouth and into the empty space in front of me as if I was blowing away my embarrassment. Landon and his friend were probably sitting, laughing at me right this second and that was fine - because I was no longer going to see him ever again - if he didn't want to see me after caring for me then I wouldn't want to see him either, simple as that.

No more Landon Saunders.

My phone suddenly went off on my lap and I grabbed at it, excitement filling me at the thought of actually having company.

Landon Saunders.

Are you fucking kidding me? Can he hear my thoughts or something. My heart frantically began to beat in my chest, the nervousness filling my lungs as I stared at the screen, not knowing what to do.

Was he calling to ask me if i'm insane?

Maybe he had butt dialed me after I called him and he isn't actually wanting to talk to me, and if I answer it will look really sad because I had nothing else to do other than answer a butt dial from a guy that no longer wants to see me.

The phone stopped ringing and my eyes widened, fuck. I'd missed the call.

Sighing, I put the tv back on. It was for the best anyway, why would I want to answer a mistaken call from him when I could watch-

My phone vibrated against me again and this time there was no hesitation once I saw his name, I answered it in a second.

"Landon?" I asked, confused as to why he had called me, and even more as to why he had then called me again. 

"Did you already call Derek?"  I wasn't about to tell him that I never had any intention of phoning Derek, that would make me look so pathetic and I wasn't ready for that yet.

"Eh, no. I was just about to." I lied, hoping he'd believe it.

His sigh of relief waved through the phone and it just made the situation even bizarre. "Good. Don't. We're coming to get you so be ready to go out."

Did he just say- "Wait, Landon, I thought you-" The end tone was now the soundtrack playing into my ear instead of his rough voice and I gently pulled the phone away from me, staring at it as if it was from outer space or something. Did he actually just call me and tell me that he was picking me up?

Why?

Wait. He said 'we' who the hell was the other person he was bringing along?

"Oh god, it's probably his friend that thought I was called him for sex." I mumbled to myself, my teeth immediately finding my nails as I struggled to get to grips with what just happened, I was about to see a person that thought Landon was my booty call... or I was his... or we were each others or... whatever.

That thought spiraled me into action; I needed to look good. Not because someone thinks i'm sleeping with Landon, but because I am meeting someone new and walking up to them in a worn out Jurassic Park shirt and sweats was not about to be socially appropriate for a first meeting, especially with a potentially cute boy there.

I jumped up and ran to my room, throwing open the drawers and finding a tank top and fresh undies before basically sprinting like an Olympian to my cupboard and ripping out a flannel button up and a pair of skinny black jeans. After applying a very healthy dose of deodorant under my arms I switched clothes and then sat at my mirror, wondering how long I had to try and look presentable.

I had zero idea how long it took for Landon to get to mine from where he was, I didn't even know how long it took him from his house let alone some unknown destination that he was currently coming from. Deciding to fear the worst, I quickly began plaiting my hair into a french braid that fell down my back before blow drying my  fringe so it didn't do that annoying thing and split at my middle parting. Afterwards I applied a light coating of concealer under my eyes and on my spots before dusting powder to not only keep it in place but to also try and ease my over oily skin: it was a serious curse. Then I just managed to apply eyebrow filler and mascara before my phone went off and the wand flew across my eyelid, streaking black the whole way.

"Fuck!" I cursed, quickly answering the phone, "Hi, are you here?"  I rambled, scrubbing at my eye in a bad attempt to clean it. 

"Yeah we're outside, my car."

"I'll be, em, two minutes!" Deciding that that was all he needed to know I hung up and was relieved to find that my eye was now mascara free, although it did look red and splotchy which was definitely not a good look.

Oh well, better than looking like I'd done a very serious attempt at a failed eyeliner.

I grabbed my lip balm and put it on before sliding on my knee high brown boots and shoving all my necessities into my pockets, not bothering with a bag because I would have to rummage in my closet to find a non clutter filled one and I definitely did not have the time.

As I ran out the door, stopping to lock it, and then jogged down the stairs I realised that I was doing far too much exercise for my body in a short period of time and then, by the time I made it out the door, into the sweltering heat and to Landon's car, I came to the conclusion that my face was most likely red, my neck quite possibly sweating and my body was going to be bent over in exertion. Which was obviously a very attractive and appealing look.

I took a second as I made my way over to catch my breath, covering it up by pretending to be looking for his car, and so by the time I opened the door and hoisted myself in, I was breathing normally and had a strained smile on my face. I had completely covered up the fact that I was out of shape and had been living on junk food for the last week.

However when Landon looked at me in the rear view mirror, the smirk on his face made it clear that I had most definitely not covered it up at all and that my performance was not going to win any Oscars.

"Hot outside, Liana?" 

Fuck you, Landon. Fuck you.

.

.

So a bit of a mixed chapter there - started off sad I suppose and then switched to funny?  I wasn't going to have more Landon in this chapter after the hospital bit but I love him too much.

ALSO - NEW CHARACTER ALERT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!

What are your predictions on Landon's best friend? Any ideas? I'll give you a hint, his name begins with a J lets see if any of you can guess it - if you do then the next chapter is dedicated to you, you psychic! 

But please leave a comment and vote if you're feeling nice! I'd love to get 3 comments on this and 5 votes before I upload the next chapter, that would be amazing!

So yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed and you had an amazing beginning to the year! 2016 is hopefully going to be my year to finish this book if all goes well!

Stay beautiful my lovelies, Nobodygirl x

P.S. What do you guys think of the new cover?????