Tomorrow is mine and Ryder's one month anniversary of being an official couple. I've never kept track of stuff like that in past relationships, but I've also never felt this way with anyone else before. Ryder makes my heart skip a beat when he says my name, my stomach fill with butterflies when he looks at me with his sparkling green eyes, and my body fill with electricity when he touches me. I'm completely smitten by this boy, and I have no clue how to handle it other than act like every girl I've tried so hard not to act like. I've always been an independent, badass woman, but deep down, I've become reliant on Ryder, always craving his presence.

That, right there, is what caused our first huge fight.

When Ryder arrived home from work today, I was immediately in his driveway, excited to see him. He was out of town all weekend for training, and I missed him so much. He was barely able to talk, sending me a text every few hours to check in. With our relationship still being so new, not being able to talk killed me, and by the time he pulled in, I was ready to spend the evening with him, talking about everything that went on.

Maybe, looking back on it, I did seem a little clingy, but I was just excited. I guess I could've given him at least an hour to unpack, but I felt like I was going to burst. I just missed him more than I could handle.

Now, sitting on his couch with him pacing the floor in front of me, I realize I made a huge mistake.

"Corina," he starts then stops himself, face in his palm.

"Ryder, I'm sorry," I say, nearing tears. I hate seeing him so stressed out.

"Sorry doesn't do anything." He's now standing in front of me, eyes glued to me with anger. "You're always up my ass, questioning everything I do, never leaving me alone."

"I- I didn't realize," I stammer out through the now pouring tears, but I can't finish my thoughts.

"You didn't realize you were never by yourself? Because I realized," he says with his voice raised. "I need time by myself! I can barely even take a shit without you at the bathroom door, asking me how it's going."

"I would never do that," I start, finally calming down. "I wouldn't want to smell that, idiot." I'm smiling softly, hoping to lighten the mood, but it doesn't seem to be working.

"Now is not the time for your jokes, Corina." He's so mad, and I don't know what to do to make it better. I feel like no matter what I do, he's still going to be upset. So, instead of staying and making him more angry, I decide to get up and leave.

Heading for the door, I pause and look back to him. "I guess I'll leave then. I'll give you exactly what you want." I turn the knob and step outside, breathing in the thick, humid air.

"No," he shouts, walking toward me. "Right now, I want to talk it through. That's the only way we'll figure this out."

"I can't talk right now, Ryder!" Now I'm yelling, unable to control my emotions. "I need to give you space, and I guess I can use the space too. Call me when you're over your shit." With that I stomp off.

Once I get into my apartment, the tears flow harder and harder until no more will come out. I've never cried this much in my life, I've never been so hurt in my life. I need to ride. I need to get my mind off of whatever it is that's going on, and just hope everything gets better. I can't handle the stress.

Grabbing my helmet and throwing on my boots, I jump onto Black Betty and back out of the driveway as fast as possible, hoping Ryder doesn't see me. I turn her on, the loud pipes overpowering my thoughts, and take off, squealing the tires. Getting onto the main road, my mind starts racing again. I can't believe I screwed up so much. I can't believe I didn't realize Ryder needed his space. I know he gave me signs telling me to just leave him alone for a little while. Everyone needs their alone time, so why didn't I realize that?

I can't listen to myself think anymore. I pull off to the side of the road and reach into my swingarm bag to retrieve my phone and headphones, needing music to escape myself. I shuffle the first playlist I find. Of course, out of every song on that playlist, "Zombie" by The Cranberries would play, the song Ryder and I listened to when I taught him how to drive a standard. The tears well up again and I quickly change the song to "Better Than Me" by Hinder, then ride off, hoping to eventually calm down.

A few miles down the road, my phone starts vibrating in my jacket pocket. I quickly take my left hand off the bars, leaving my right on the throttle, and pull the top of my phone out of my pocket to see Ryder's name on the screen. I scoff, pressing the lock button and shove my phone back into my pocket, zipping it in so it doesn't fall out. It vibrates again, and my tears start flowing down my cheeks, wetting the inside of my full face helmet. He wanted his time alone, so why does he keep calling me?

I come up to a stop sign, flipping on my right turn signal. To my left is a blind turn, so I sit for a moment to make sure nobody is coming, but the tears make it hard to see. I decide to go for it after nobody passes for a moment.

I see a light at the last moment, too close to react. The next thing I know, I hear a crash, my bike lying bent up on the ground, and me next to it, my entire left side in searing pain. The world around me turns black, and I hear a faint voice ask, "Are you okay?" I don't have time to respond before I slip off into darkness.

I wake up to a loud beeping, but I can't find the strength to open my eyes or talk. Where am I?

"She was hurt pretty bad, Mrs. Hamilton," I hear a woman say. Mrs. Hamilton? Is she talking to my mom? "She will be fine, but for now, let her rest. She needs time to heal."

"But why isn't my baby waking up?" I hear my mom say through tears. "If you say she'll be fine, why won't she wake up?"

"Anne," my dad buts in. Dad? Why is he here? "Listen to the doctor. She knows more about this than we do. Let her do her job and make our daughter better." Doctor? Am I in the hospital? What happened?

"I understand you two are extremely distraught right now, but I can assure you your daughter will be just fine, and will wake up before too long. She has plenty of brain activity. It's just like she's sleeping and having a good dream. Thankfully she was wearing her helmet." Was that the doctor talking? I would assume so, but it would be nice if I could open and damn eyes and see!

"Thank you, Doctor Williams," my dad says again, his voice low and tired. "We really appreciate you talking us through everything." Has my dad been sleeping? How long have I been here?

"It's my job, Mr. Hamilton, but I'm glad to help," the doctor says, sympathy laced in her voice. "If you guys have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. If she wakes up, let either me or a nurse know." I hear the clicking of her high heels leave the room, and now we're all sitting in silence, at least until I start to hear my mom sobbing.

"Shhh," I hear my dad whisper to my mom, consoling her as I drift back off to sleep.

I wake up again, still unable to speak or open my eyes. This shit is getting annoying. I just want to see my mom, let her know that everything is okay. I want to thank my dad for taking such good care of us. I want reassurance that I'm going to be okay.

I hear muffled yelling outside of the door, but I can't quite tell what's being said or who's talking. Listening closer, I'm able to hear my dad's familiar voice say, "This is all your fault, asshole!" I don't know who he's talking to or what he's referencing, but he does seem pissed. I wonder what that person did.

"Yes sir," I barely hear a deep voice mumble out. Why does that voice sound so familiar?

"I want you to stay away from her! Now leave!" My dad growls out, and I slowly fall back to sleep, listening so hard wearing me out.

I awake again to a sharp pain in my right arm. "Ow!" I scream out, staring at a blond woman with a syringe filled with blood in her hands.

"Nice to see you're finally with us, Ms. Hamilton." She says with a smile. "Sorry, I just had to take some blood for a sample."

"A little warning would have been nice," I grumble. Wait a second, I just talked! And my eyes are open! I look to the woman with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm your nighttime nurse, Hannah. It's nice to see your pretty eyes." She smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I've been with you the past few nights, but this is the first time you've responded to anything physically."

A few nights? How long have I been here? Where are my parents? Where's Ryder? As my boyfriend, shouldn't he be by my side through it all, making sure I'm okay? No, he wouldn't. He needs his personal space.

"Your parents have been with you every single night, but we convinced them to go to a hotel and sleep in a real bed for once. The poor things have been having back problems since the first night," Hannah sighs, squeezing my shoulder. "They argued about it for an hour, but Dr. Williams is a very convincing woman. Speaking of her, I need to let her know you're awake. She's been dying to meet you..." she sighs, "awake, that is." She waves a quick goodbye before heading out the door, leaving me to my thoughts. What in the hell happened to me?

----------

Wowza.

Who do you think Corina's dad was yelling at?

More importantly, what's going to happen with Black Betty!?

Let me know your thoughts! I'd love to see what you guys have to say!