[Copyright © 2013 The Daredevil]

All rights reserved.

***

"Did you bring the book?" I asked Nissa once again.

She rolled her eyes, with a sigh. "For the umpteenth time, yes, I brought the goddamn book."

We were driving down to the hospital to see her grandmother, who was currently battling cancer. Every Friday, Nissa and I would go to the hospital to visit her. We would spend the evening gossiping with her, or-when she was too tired-we would read to her.

Nissa's grandmother was like my own, since I never met either of mine. Bubba, as she insisted we call her, was glad to unofficially adopt me as her granddaughter. Nissa would always go on about how Bubba preferred me over her, but we both knew that wasn't the case. Bubba adored Nissa.

As we walked down the hospital's hallway, I looked into my huge tote bag to make sure we had everything.

"Oh my god!" Nissa whisper-hissed next to me, grabbing onto my arm. I looked up from my tote bag, giving her a questioning look. "Isn't that Ryder?"

Raising an eyebrow, I followed her gaze. Sitting in a chair in one of the waiting rooms, was the daredevil himself. He was sprawled out, his legs spread in front of him, head resting on the back of his chair, his eyes closed. He was wearing the same clothes he had on at school that morning. Dark blue jeans, an ocean blue v-neck tshirt, leather jacket over it, unlaced combat boots and a black beanie on his head. My eyes drifted up to his face and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him; he looked exhausted as hell.

"Let's go talk to him," Nissa suggested as she started in his direction. I quickly reached out and grasped her hand, pulling her back.

"What?! No, Nissa, leave him alone," I demanded and tried dragging her in the opposite direction. Rolling her eyes, she pulled her hand out of my grasp and resumed walking towards him. "Nissa, get back here," I whisper-yelled and groaned in frustration when she kept on walking. I looked around the hospital for an out, but realized that I couldn't leave her down there alone; she would definitely get lost.

"Hi, Ryder," Nissa greeted with a grin. I watched as Ryder's eyes slowly peeled open and he looked around in confusion. Slowly raising his head, his eyes zeroed in on Nissa. He stared at her intently for a minute, then let his head drop again, his eyes closing. "Are you okay? You look tired."

He groaned softly and opened his eyes to give her a look of annoyance. "Go away." Nissa's shoulders fell in disappointment and she turned to leave.

Hell no.

"Hey, jackass, she was just saying hi, do you always have to be so rude?" His eyes snapped open at the sound of my voice and he looked up with a smirk.

"Hello, sweetheart," he greeted, a hint of mischief twinkling in his blue eyes.

"You're an ass, you know that?" I told him, my glare shooting daggers at him.

"Look, I'm tired as fuck and I just want to sleep, I am so sorry if your friend's fucking feelings were hurt," he answered, his expression blank.

"You're an immature, son of a bitch. You think you can treat people like shit just because you have a pretty face? Well-"

"Awe, you think I have a pretty face?" he interrupted with a smirk.

"Shut up, that is not the point. The point is that you can't treat people like shit." I scowled, which seemed to add to his amusement.

"What are you doing here anyways? Are you stalking me now?" he asked and I growled, my hands coiling into tight fists.

"You have the attention-span of a goldfish," I told him and stomped away. I heard him chuckle behind me and my blood boiled over. What an arrogant jerk.

I walked over to Nissa, who was standing at the end of the hallway, waiting for me, a grateful smile pulling her cheeks. Once I reached her, I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her in Bubba's room's direction. She turned to me once we resumed walking and smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

"Sure I did, no one messes with my best friend," I told her as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smiling.

"Casey, why do I have the feeling that you and Ryder have interacted before?" she asked suddenly and I shrugged, dismissively.

"What do you mean?"

"He called you sweetheart, which is weird, since he doesn't call anyone by nicknames." She glanced at me and I shrugged again. "Laila told me that she mistakenly called him babe once when they hooked up and he completely flipped out on her."

"Nissa, the guy is a player, calling him babe implies you want more than just sex, his mind is programmed to respond to that. He's a caveman," I grinned and she laughed.

We finally reached Bubba's room and my grin grew when my eyes found her sprawled on her bed, a pout gracing her wrinkled face.

"Bubba, why are you pouting now?" Nissa asked with a playful roll of her eyes. Bubba's head snapped in our direction at the sound of Nissa's voice, a big grin spreading on her face, replacing the pout.

"My babies," she mumbled, her eyes sparkling with happiness. We both walked over towards her and wrapped her in our arms.

"Hi, Bubba," I greeted with a smile, she grinned in return and gave me a chaste kiss on the forehead.

"Hi, baby girl," she turned towards Nissa and gave her a kiss on the head, "hi, Cinderella."

Bubba started calling Nissa, Cinderella, when we were around three. She always said Nissa's long blonde hair reminded her of Cinderella's. Nissa had hated the nickname, since she hated anything Disney-related, which was ironic, since she was such a girly-girl. She always said she hated the false pretenses they gave to girls at such a young age.

Nissa rolled her eyes as we both sank into chairs near Bubba's bed. "So, what was the pout about?"

"Did Mrs. Henderson get your panties in a twist again?" I asked with a smirk. Mrs. Henderson was another patient that stayed in the room next to Bubba's, she was Bubba's nemesis, always competing with her in everything.

"Oh, I do hate that self-righteous witch," she grumbled.

"Bubba!" I scowled as Nissa laughed.

"What?" she asked with big innocent eyes. "As for the pout...these idiots won't let me have any chocolate. I'm a dying woman, why can't I have some damn chocolate?"

Nissa laughed harder as my eyes got wider. "Bubba, you are seriously getting out of hand."

She gave me a sheepish grin. "Did you bring the stuff?"

"I did bring the stuff, but I'm a little reluctant to give it to you, because of that potty mouth," I told her with a playful scowl.

"Oh, please, look who's talking; you're just as bad as I am." She rolled her eyes and gave me a knowing smile. Trying to hide a smile, I pulled a small bag out of my tote. I handed it to her and she peered into it, grinning when she scanned the contents. It was filled with kisses and M&M's.

"Bubba, try not to get caught this time? Nissa and I almost got caught as well because you went bragging to Mrs. Henderson." Nissa nodded in agreement and she gave us an apologetic smile.

We usually sneaked sweets into the hospital for her, and last week we almost got caught because Bubba had decided to go shove it in Mrs. Henderson's face, who had then told the nurses.

"So what's the gossip of the day?" she asked as she snacked on her chocolate, changing the subject. She handed both Nissa and I a piece each. Even though, we always insisted that the chocolates were hers, she always insisted we have some with her while we gossiped.

"We just ran into Ryder Cavanaugh downstairs," Nissa informed in a nonchalant tone as she popped a kiss into her mouth.

"Oh, that boy with the killer looks and the horrible attitude?" Bubba asked as she unwrapped another chocolate. Bubba had bumped into Ryder in the town's park once before she'd been admitted to the hospital for chemotherapy and had come home ranting about how angry and cold he'd seemed. She'd also gone on and on about how handsome he was and how he needed someone to screw the anger out of him.

"The one and only," I mumbled with a roll of my eyes.

"He called Casey sweetheart, Bubba," Nissa told her and Bubba's eyes snapped towards me.

The traitor. She knew what Bubba was like. Throw her a bone and she'd chew on it all day.

"Did he now?" She turned to me with a small smirk and I groaned.

"She's blowing things out of proportion again," I hastily answered, throwing a glare Nissa's way, who just shrugged.l like she hadn't just thrown me under the bus.

"Well he is handsome, you should tap that," Bubba answered carelessly and I choked on my own spit.

"Oh my god, what are these people teaching you?" I asked, mortified. It really wasn't that strange to hear her speak like this, but it still took me by surprise.

She laughed. "I heard Dr. Billy and one of his colleagues talking in the hallway."

"Bubba, I am not going to tap that, I have a boyfriend, remember?" I reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You're still dating that boy? Oh, honey, you're still young, don't tie yourself down to one boy. When I was your age, I was the town's harlot, but I didn't give a flying fuck; I was having the time of my life," she told me with a flick of her wrist and Nissa nodded vigorously in agreement. Nissa never really liked Drake and neither did Bubba.

"Bubba, you told me that when you met Grandpa, you fell in love and knew he was it for you. Grandpa died when you were barely thirty and you never remarried. You told me that, that was because he was the love of your life and there was no sense taking someone else's soulmate just because you were alone. Drake is my soulmate, I don't need to date anyone else's to know that," I stated firmly and she gave me a soft smile.

"I just want you to have fun, kid. You've been through so much. You grew up faster than most kids do, I just want you to feel free to be a kid every now and then." She clasped my hand in hers softly and gave it a gentle squeeze.

I gave her a small smile, giving her a hand a squeeze back, silently letting her know that I understood what she was saying.

"Enough of the mushy bullshit, are you girls gonna go party tonight?" She turned to Nissa, who nodded, excitedly.

***

"I look stupid," I told Nissa as I pulled down the way-too-short dress.

Not taking no for an answer, Nissa had insisted I put on one of the dresses my mom had insisted on getting me on one of the rare times she had actually spent time with me. My mom and I had never really had a mother-daughter bond, and we hardly ever spent any time with the other. When we did spend time together, we would always do something my mom felt like doing, which most of the time was shopping; an "activity" I hated doing. She had picked this dress out for me on one of those few and far between occasions and she would brook no refusal. And what my mom wanted, my mom got.

It was a dark blue dress that fit like a glove and hugged all the right curves. It came mid-thigh and was strapless. The dress was beautiful, but it wasn't for me. Along with the dress I was wearing ankle boots, a silver necklace and earrings. My hair was let down and flat ironed.

"You look hot as fuck, so shut up," Nissa answered with a sigh. She was wearing a short dark purple dress, black pumps and no jewelry.

Looking around the yard, I cringed. There were people everywhere, literally everywhere. Some were passed out on the grass, others looked ready to join them and the rest were drinking their way there. I followed Nissa into the house and winced at the loud music. The house was completely packed with teenagers dancing-better yet, dry-humping each other-on the makeshift dance floor. Others were engrossed in a game of beer pong, and the rest were either making out in any dark corner they could find or trying to find a place to make their tonsil hockey a little less PG-13.

My attention was drawn to the beer pong game once again when hoots and shouts came from it. I spotted Ryder at one end of the table, the infamous red cup in hand. His eyes suddenly found me in the crowd as if he knew I was looking at him, and he stared directly at me. I watched as blue eyes slowly made their way down my body, and I shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. His gaze traveled at a leisure pace back up and lingered on my chest for a minute, before continuing up to my face. His eyes met mine and he smirked when I scowled. His smirk only grew and my glare intensified. When he didn't relent, I growled, turned away abruptly and searched for Drake, since Nissa had abandoned me the minute we'd walked in.

I spotted Drake in the kitchen and made my way through the crowd towards him, or...more like pushed my way towards him. "Hey, babe," I greeted him when I reached him.

He turned towards me and gave me a weak smile, making my heart squeeze in my chest, and pit grow in my my stomach. I felt a little disappointed when he didn't even try to check me out. The only reason I had finally given into Nissa and pulled this dress on, was for him. I hated Ryder but it had felt good when he'd so blatantly checked me out, so it was a little unnerving that my own boyfriend hadn't done the same.

"Hey, Casey." I leaned in to kiss him and frowned when he subtly backed away. "We need to talk."

"Um, okay?" The pit in my stomach grew.

"Not here," he told me as he walked towards the door that led to the back, motioning for me to follow. I followed behind him, muddled.

What the hell was going on? Why couldn't we talk in the house?

He led me away from the house and through the woods, finally coming to a stop when we reached a river. He sat down on a rock and I followed suit, an awkward silence falling over us.

I fidgeted nervously, throwing him a glance, before my eyes fell to my exposed legs that were now starting to get cold. Shivering, I threw him another glance and sighed softly when he continued to stare of into the distance.

He sighed before finally turning to me with a grim look. "There is no easy way to say this."

"To say what?" I asked, clearing my throat when my voice cracked. Somehow I knew what was coming, I didnt know where it was coming from, but somehow deep down I knew what he was going to say.

He breathed in a lungful of air, the words falling from his lips with the exhale, "Casey, I'm breaking up with you."

Everything froze for a minute and all I could hear was my heart crashing and breaking in my chest. My mind went completely blank and his words kept repeating in my head like a broken record.

Had he just...?

No. It couldn't be. Why would he? We were happy. Weren't we?

Even though I'd seen it coming, it still hit me like a bucket of iced water, everything rushing at me before freezing, confusing the living hell out of me.

"Wha-what?" I struggled out, hoping I'd heard him wrong, hoping to God that I was wrong and that what I'd been expecting and dreading wasn't what was now happening.

"I'm sorry, Casey, I'm just...I'm bored. We're boring. Correction, you're boring. I'm sorry," he answered and my vision became blurry with the un-shed tears pooling in my eyes.

"Ouch, I didn't know I was such a fucking bore," I told him, my voice breaking. The tears in my eyes were threatening to fall, so I blinked furiously. I hated crying. Worst of all, I hated crying in front of people. It only led to pitiful looks and people asking if you were okay, when you clearly weren't.

"Casey, we've been together for more than three years and not once have we done something crazy, just for the fun of it. And I've tried to get you to do something fun for once, but damn, Case, you're possibly the dullest person I've ever met." He drove the knife into my heart and twisted it with each word. Why was he doing this? This wasn't the Drake I knew. The Drake I knew would never be so hurtful.

I whimpered as the tears spilled without my consent. I couldn't help it, my heart was breaking and the pain was becoming too much for me to bare. I loved Drake, he was the love of my life; I didn't want to lose him.

"Oh god, Casey, please don't cry. I'm sorry, that was really a nasty thing to say. It's just that...you and I, we're different. You're not spontaneous enough for me." He stood up and I sniffled. "I'm really sorry, I never meant to hurt you." Well, it's a definitely a little too late for that.

He walked away and my eyes followed him. I wanted to get up and beg him not to do this. I wanted to beg him not to walk away from me, but I was proud and I wasn't about to beg. Once he was out of sight, I let the pain take over. I couldn't remember the last time I'd cried the way I did that night. Every time I tried to stop, his words would come to mind and I would start crying all over again. I don't know how long I sat near the river and cried, but when I was finally able to stop, it was already late.

I stood up slowly and walked through the woods like a zombie. I was numb, confused and hurt. I could only think of one thing that might make the pain better. I didn't care anymore about the consequences. I needed to stop hurting, I need some relief. I had spent most of my life being the good girl. The perfect daughter, perfect girlfriend and perfect friend. I was done.

Once I reached the house, I walked up to the nearest person with a cup in their hand, grabbed it and downed it. I muttered a sorry to the person and proceeded with my walk to the house.

When I walked in the packed, dimly-light house, I looked around, trying to spot what I was looking for. Once my eyes fell on the table brimming with alcohol, I headed straight to it. Filling a red cup with the nasty-looking liquid, I brought it up to my mouth and gulped down a mouthful. My faced crinkled in disgust when the liquid went down my throat, leaving a hot, burning path behind. It tasted horrible and had a foul smell, but I didn't care. For the first time in my life, I wanted to get drunk.