Chapter forty-seven.

I had been in hospital so much recently I was actually considering calling it my third home. After a long chat with Kathy about her job, my school, and our home lives, I fell into a peaceful sleep. It was now eight AM and the boys had told Kathy last night they were coming back to visit me as soon as visiting hours were open.

"You'll be fine, sweetie, you are in hospital, they can't shout at your too much," Kathy told me as she straightened things in the room. Kathy and myself had become quite good friends over the last few visits and phone calls to meet up. "Just press the button and I'll be here, I'll whack them with my clipboard," she grinned and exited the room.

I sighed and leant back against the pillows. My leg was itching and I couldn't do anything about it, stupid cast. My peace and quiet lasted for about five minutes before a set of brothers and best friends barged into my room. I wanted to sigh and go back to the peace but they were my friends, they were worried about me.

Nora was the first person to break the silence, she threw herself at me and almost screamed my ear off, "what the hell?! I was gone for what, half an hour? I find out that my best friend, no, my sister has hopped onto a motorbike and is speeding away? What the hell is up with that, Mitchie?" I didn't answer; I just pulled her into a hug and tried to quiet her muffled cries.

No one spoke after Nora; they all looked at me until I felt self-conscious. "What happened to him?" I finally asked. He was surely taken away after the police came.

Sean sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand. "The police took him. He should be facing prison for what he has done to you, and a restraining order so he can't come anywhere near you without breaking the law. Mitchie, I'm so sorry."

I stared at Sean in confusion. "What for?"

"If I had just stayed and faced him..." he didn't continue, I tugged him so I could pull him into a hug. "I'm sorry," he mumbled against my shoulder. I pulled back and looked him in the eye; he had tears slowly making their way down his face.

"Don't you dare say sorry, Sean, you tried your best. I shoved you back out so you wouldn't be in the hospital bed instead of me! Say sorry again and I'll shove you out that window," I added the last part as he opened his mouth and pointed towards the window, we were at least sixteen floors up.

"I'm glad you are okay, Mitchie, I can't lose my best friend," James hugged me and wiped a stray tear. I tried to smile back but they could tell it was forced. "Mitchie, why did you do that? Why didn't you just tell us?"

"Because he was going to hurt you," I hiccupped through the tears, trying to be strong. "I couldn't let him touch you guys, you mean the world to me and if anything happened because of me..." I was suddenly crushed; everyone was in on the hug. I couldn't help the smile that way onto my lips. "How did you guys find me?"

"Sean was coming down the road as you were going down the drive way, he saw you and realized we were trying to get you back, so he followed you," James told me, nudging Sean over with his hip. "Lucky he found you when he did. Mitchie, what was he going to do to you?"

"Keep me," I shrugged. "I don't know. He just wanted to get revenge on my father. Can we... not talk about it now?" They all nodded but I couldn't help but notice Tony, Zac and Sean didn't look too happy. I smiled at them even though they didn't look like they wanted to return it.

***

I hugged my one knee to my chest and stared at the boys in front of me, they looked seriously stupid right now. Not being able to hold it in any longer, I burst out laughing, causing the whole room to look at me. The boys shot me a glare before going back to dancing.

Since the rehearsal dinner, Andy had insisted the boys took another dance class just to be safe. Those boys needed more than one more lesson; I had to wipe away a tear as I looked at them. "Come on boys, put more effort into it!" I called, doubling over with laughter.

Tony and James were awkwardly holding hands and dancing, Zac was with Andy's sister and the remaining Johnson brothers were dancing with each other or someone they begged to come along with them. I had managed to get out of it because of my leg but on the night Andy expected me to hobble around and make it look like dancing, I agreed to one dance. I sniffed and wrapped my arms around me, it was cold in here.

"Could use a jacket?" A boy appeared next to me and I could swear he was familiar. I stared at him for a second too long; he cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow. "If you don't want it..."

"No, sorry, I recognize you..." I blinked and thought of McDonalds. "Andy!"

The boy laughed and shook his head. "I thought I recognized you. Mitchie, right?"

"That's me. What you doing here? Same name as the bride to be," I chuckled and patted the space next to me. He sat down, after looking at my leg for a second, and sighed.

"Cousin. I was forced to come here because I have two left feet, I personally say it's because I write with my left hand but she wouldn't have it. Why you here? Didn't think broken legged people made good dancers," he smiled and settled back.

"I am, sort of, one of her bridesmaids. I was supposed to be dancing but like you said, broken legged people don't make good dancers. Andy was disappointed but obviously there isn't anything I can do about it," I returned the smile. "Andy and Andy, cousins, cute."

"Andrew, but I preferred Andy until everyone started calling her that. Didn't you think we looked similar?" I shook my head side to side in a sort of gesture. "Huh, we always get we look more like brother and sisters than cousins. Sucks about the leg, how did it happen?"

"Fell down the stairs," I sighed. "Why aren't you dancing?"

"Partner felt sick and left. I would have preferred to keep you company anyway," he winked and I rolled my eyes with a smile. He seemed exactly like Sean... "Uh-oh. Cousin Alert," Andy shifted so he was hidden, or so he thought.

"Andrew, what do you think you are doing? Why aren't you dancing?" Andy appeared in front of us with a pretend scowl on her face, I only knew it was pretend because she kept smiling then stopping. I laughed and patted Andrew on the back. "I suppose its good you are keeping Mitchie company, I feel sorry for you, dear, being stuck here all night. Are you sure you don't want to go somewhere?"

"Of course not, these boys are enough entertainment for me," I grinned up at her from my spot. "Go have fun; I have your lovely cousin to keep me company."

"Okay, if you are sure..." she waved and headed in the direction of Trent.

"She gets so worried," I commented, looking around. I could see the boys looking at me, probably wondering who the boy next to me was. "You a worrier, Andrew?" I teased, nudging him. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "I'll take that as a no..."

"Yup. I don't worry as much as she does. How old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen, going on seventeen soon. How about you?"

"Seventeen. What were the chances of meeting at McDonalds, aye?"

"Are you a cowboy or something?" I blurted before I thought the question through. He blinked then laughed. "Sorry," I muttered, averting my eyes and blushing cheeks.

"No," he chuckled, "why would you think I am a cowboy? I'm guessing the accent is one thing, am I right?" I nodded. "Let me see, what else cowboyness do I have about me..." he tapped his chin in thought and snorted. "Is it the too friendly way I spoke to you?" I laughed and shook my head.

"No, it was like... when you said goodbye to me at McDonalds; it looked like you were going to tip your hat or something." I shrugged and realized how stupid I sounded. "Don't mind me, I sound silly."

"No, no," he nudged my shoulder. "I get it. I don't think I've ever been called a cowboy before, I like it," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes. I knew that myself and Andrew were going to be good friends.

***

The wedding was two days away and I felt nervous. I wasn't the person getting married but there was room for so much to go wrong, Andy was so calm that it was making me nervous to be around her. Where did she get all that calmness from anyway?

My dad placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of me and smiled. "How’s the leg, Hun?"

"It's okay, itching like crazy but what can you do?" I cracked a smile and took a sip of the drink. Me and my dad had connected over my time in hospital and the nights I was at home and not at the Johnsons. He said that he realized how important I was to him but Daisy and work had clouded his vision. I had rolled my eyes at the time but now I could see he was really trying to make up for what he did... He even tried to engage in a civilized conversation with Phoebe yesterday morning. That was a sight me and the boys couldn't stop laughing at.

"Are you going out with the Johnson boys today?" Even though he was trying his best with me, he still didn't like the fact that most of my best friends were boys. I sighed and nodded. Today we were going out for dinner; me, Sean, Nora, Zac, James, Tony, Robbie and Tess. We were celebrating different things, school ending soon, me making it through Steve's mental breakdown and the upcoming wedding.

"Okay, have fun. If you need me to pick you up I will be downtown," he ran a hand over his face, "trying to patch things up with Daisy."

I rolled my eyes, "have fun!" I kissed his cheek and took my crutches. There was a knock at the door as my foot touched the bottom step. "I'll get it," I called to my dad, who I could hear just about to get up. "Whoever it is better have a good reason for stopping me getting ready," I muttered as I tugged open the door. "Tess?"

"Hey!" She grinned and pulled me into a hug. "I am here to help you get ready!"

"Someone is cheery," I commented, eyeing her as I let her go first up the stairs. "How was the scan?" I was supposed to go with Tess to her baby scan but because of me being in hospital myself, I couldn't go with her - Robbie went instead.

"Happy and healthy so far," she smiled. "Robbie was great. He wouldn't shut up to the nurse how it's going to have his hair colour and my 'beautiful eyes'."

"Aww," I pulled her into a hug once I got to the top of the stairs. "You two are adorable together. Make sure you name your kid after me," I winked at her and walked into my room.

She smiled. "Once we know whether it's a boy or girl, we will start thinking of names. We want everyone's input. So far Phoebe has been thrilled but my parents not so much. They wanted me to go to a good college then move onto be a doctor or something but I don't think they regret me getting pregnant, they can see how happy it makes me." She touched her slightly showing baby bump with a small smile on her face.

"That's good. If you have both sets of parents on your side, it will be great," I grinned at her and laid back on my bed. "Now, why are you here? Not that I don't want you to be, but I'm supposed to be getting ready..."

"Like I said, I am here to help you get ready. We are going to make that cast work for you," she winked and began rummaging around in my wardrobe. I watched her in silence before she held up a blue dress I never wore. It was a size too big when I brought it at the beginning of the year.

"I don't know..." I bit my lip and looked at it. It was one of those long puffy sleeved dresses; it stopped just short of the knee. "Maybe. I'll try it on, last time it didn't fit me." I took it off her and walked into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later I wobbled back into my room to see Tess texting on her phone with a wide smile on her face. "What did Robbie say?" I asked, making her jump and shut her phone. "Cute. What do you think?"

"You look amazing! Let’s do your hair and makeup, then you will be ready to go," she smiled and pushed me towards my desk chair. I watched her in the mirror and realized she was wearing a knee length black dress and flats, she saw me looking at her and we both smiled.

"You look great, Tess."

"Thanks," she fingered the edge of the dress. "I hope it makes him notice me more..."

I turned to face her. "Wait, what?" She flushed. "Tess... if you're talking about Robbie, he already notices you... He pretty much likes you the furthest like can go..."

"I'm pretty sure he's only sticking here because of," she gestured to her tummy. "Maybe if he said something... or done something..." she laughed. "Ignore me, I'm being stupid."

"No, you aren't! Tess, he likes you, don't doubt that. He just has trouble showing feelings, like most of those boys." I smiled at her and we dropped the subject. We spent the rest of the time getting me ready, I didn't see why she wanted me all dolled up, but I let her have her way.

"You look amazing, no, scratch that. You look beautiful, Mitchie," Tess gave me a side hug. "Let’s go woo those boys."

"Wait-" before I even had a chance to question what she meant she had already walked down the stairs. "Stupid cast... stupid crutches," I muttered as I walked slowly down the steps. Once I shouted bye to my dad I got to the front door to see everyone waiting for me. I blushed as they all looked at me.

"Well, doesn't someone look beautiful," Sean said, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "Trying to impress me? You don't need to, I know how hot you can be already," he winked and I laughed. He leant closer to my ear and whispered, "It seems like you've captured a few boys attention. Shall we get going?"

I nodded and kept my head down as we walked past them. Tonight was going to be good.

~

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Big question: WHO SHOULD MITCHIE BE WITH? ;)