By the time I woke up, my head was resting on Marcus' arm as he clutched onto my hand across his chest. I raised my head slowly relieving the kinks in my neck from an uncomfortable night's sleep.

I had snuck back into his room after Marcus' grandfather, Miranda, Matt, and Joey had seen him. He had just been given another dose of pain killers and was almost asleep. As I made a move to leave the room he mumbled something about a promise he'd made and how he wanted me to stay. So I sat on the chair next to him as he held onto my hand and fell asleep.

To be honest, I didn't know where Marcus and I stood, but I knew better than to even bring that up now. I just needed to know that he was safe and happy. So for the first time in my life, I decided to shut my mouth (an anomaly, I know).

I got up slowly and snuck my way out of the room in search for coffee. As I stepped into the waiting room, I felt my heart swell with immense gratitude. There, huddled over and spread uncomfortably on the metal chairs were Miranda, Matt, Joey, Connie, and Amanda.

Like clockwork, Connie began to stir and she smiled sleepily as she saw me. I swear she was an empath.

"Morning," I whispered as I walked towards the sleeping group.

"Morning," She croaked. "How's Marcus?"

"I think he'll be okay. I think they're going to discharge him today. He's going to have permanent scars on his legs but it's a miracle he got out okay."

She shook her head, giving me a once over, "You look tired."

"Good mooorning," Joey sang as he stretched in his chair. "You're already up, Connie? Damn, you beat me to everything."

Connie laughed and shot me a look, "I beat him at cards last night. Three times."

"I fell asleep the last time!" Joey complained.

Connie rolled her eyes and turned back to me, "Amanda and I brought you some clothes and supplies," she handed me a bag and I graciously accepted it.

"Some of us," Amanda groaned, "are trying to sleep."

"Mabel's here," Connie chided.

Amanda kept her eyes clothes and her arms folded as she replied, "Tell her I said she should brush her teeth and hair."

"Thanks, Amanda," I stated sarcastically.

"No problem, babe," She muttered.

I yawned, pretty used to Amanda's emotional lacklustre. "Where's Marcus' grandfather?"

"He went looking for coffee," Connie replied.

I nodded before making the trek down to the cafeteria. Juan had looked so exhausted when I saw him at the hospital. He kept saying it was his fault and he has failed to protect his daughter's son. I really felt for him. He had lost his wife, his daughter and son in law, and almost his grandson. I shuddered at the thought of Marcus in danger for the thousandth time.

I saw his hunched figure seated at a table, his large raincoat drowning his thin figure, his frail hands clutching onto a steaming paper cup of coffee. His eyes shot up to mine as I walked in. The cafeteria was mostly desolate at five in the morning.

"Good morning," He whispered groggily. His grey eyes looked exhausted.

I smiled at him before sitting down. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"I probably got more sleep than you did last night," He chuckled humourlessly.

"Best night's sleep I've ever had," I laughed trying to lighten the mood.

He let out a half smile. "I can imagine. I'll be headed back home today, I think. I don't think my back can take these hospital chairs anymore."

I nodded, "I can drive you back? My friends brought a car and I can borrow it from them."

He raised an eyebrow, "You're going to drive me an hour away from here only to come back here?"

"It's nothing," I waved at him off.

He smiled at me and this was the first full blown smile I had ever seen from him. He looked so young. "I knew you were it for him, Mabel, from the first moment I met you. I told you when I met you that you would receive three-fold from Marcus. But, I really think he's received much more than that from you. I'm glad he has someone else who cares about him in this world."

He stood up and downed his coffee. "My friend is picking me up soon. I'm just going to say my goodbyes to Marcus. I think he's in good hands."

He just exuded wisdom. Maybe I'd chosen the wrong Mr. Miyagi to my Karate Kid.

By the time I grabbed coffees for everyone and made my way back, Juan had left. I wanted to go back into Marcus' room but the doctor was giving him a final check up before releasing him.

"Final carpool places," Joey began as Miranda rolled her eyes at him. It seemed that was her immediate response no matter what he was saying. "I say Matt and I carry the incapacitated in our truck and you guys meet us at Marcus' place."

And that was how I ended up squashed in between Miranda and Amanda in the backseat of Connie's tiny Honda. Apparently, her boxes of classroom setup and lesson planning took precedence over actual humans who needed space to sit.

"I feel like Chinese," Amanda rebutted the food debate that we were currently in the middle of.

Connie sighed, "We always get Chinese. Let's do Thai."

"You got to choose last time!" Amanda whined in returned.

"How about Italian?" Miranda piped up and I braced myself for the resounding "No!" From Connie and Amanda.

Miranda crossed her arms, "Jeez," she muttered to herself.

After a moment's silence, Connie's quiet voice broke through. "Breakfast food?"

"Pancakes!" Amanda agreed as though she couldn't believe we had forgotten it.

"I'm down for eggs," Miranda agreed.

Amanda pulled out her phone, "Ordering from skip the dishes now."

Connie's gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, "How are you two feeling?"

Miranda sighed, looking at me before responding, "It just feels surreal. One minute everything's normal and then the next, you're rushing to a hospital because one of your best friends is in there. How are you doing, Mabel?"

How was I doing? I hadn't caught my breath enough to actually consider that question. Marcus was in the hospital with pretty substantial burns to his legs. I was pretty positive I was madly in love with him. But he had barely looked at me as Joey and Matt lugged him into the truck. What was I doing here if I wasn't Marcus' girlfriend? I was feeling a little lost. But I gave a weak smile and responded with, "I'm just glad he's okay."

We parked in front of the apartment to see the guys had already gone inside (Connie's driving was questionable at best). So we all trickled in slowly until a notification let Amanda know the food was in the lobby.

"I'll grab it and make my way up," I smiled at the group as they stepped into the elevator. In all honesty, I was avoiding seeing Marcus. It hurt to see him. I hated that I couldn't put my feelings aside while he recovered but I wanted more than to just be his friend.

I grabbed the bags filled with breakfast food from the delivery guy and leaned against the building for a minute trying to let my heart catch up to my brain.

"Mabel?" A familiar voice called out and I swivelled around to see Jackson walking up to me with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey," I greeted politely. Jackson seemed like a lifetime ago at this point. I was embarrassed with myself to see how naive I had been with him, but Connie was right. When I loved, I loved hard and fast (that's what she said).

"I heard about your boyfriend from Max. How's he doing?" Jackson questioned as he stood before me awkwardly. It was kind of nice to see him being the awkward one for once.

"Better," I smiled, holding onto the bags of food tightly.

Jackson nodded, "That's great. I'm really glad to hear that."

I let out a small laugh, "Is that what you came to my apartment to ask me?"

He chuckled nervously, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. "Well, not exactly. I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay," I trailed.

"I asked Connie out," He started before eyes shot up to mine. "She said no."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Connie didn't say a thing to me.

"So, I decided to pull a Hail Mary and see if I could ask your permission."

"My permission?" I asked in confusion.

"I think I'm getting to know Connie. She'll never agree to go out with me after we went out. And normally I'd just leave it at that, but Connie's so goddamn special that I can't believe what a moron I was to begin with that I didn't see her right in front of my eyes - no offence." He added sheepishly.

"None taken."

"So here it is. I really like her and I think we could be something. I cut myself off from my family. Dropped out of football. I'm working at the coffee shop near where Connie and I intern. I'm making something for myself by myself. And here's this girl that I can't stop thinking about no matter how hard I try," Jackson sighed longingly.

He was giving me the love speech. I would have swooned if it hadn't been coming from Jackson.

So I just nodded. "I'll talk to her."

"You will?" He asked almost as if he was surprised.

"If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that people are worth fighting for."

>>

*hides in a corner pathetically*

Please don't hate me! I've been in and out of the hospital with some health issues but I'm finally getting back into a groove. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!