Author's note: So I managed to rewrite all of the missing chapters the were deleted, and I tried the best I could with them. The chapter numbers will now continue like this so there will be no future confusions hopefully.

Back to the story*

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Adrian was a little shaken after his run in with Elliot in the elevator. The guy's ego was too big to hear no, and so Adrian made him understand it with his fist.

Outside Brody's home, Adrian took several deep and cleansing breaths, as if to try and remove one of the most disturbing and baffling past hours of his life.

'1, 2, 3.'

Adrian let himself in as he opened the door to Brody's apartment. Adrian dropped his belongings by the door as he called out for Brody.

"In here!" Adrian heard from Brody's bedroom.

Brody was studying at his desk when Adrian walked in, several books and highlighters covered the whole area as Brody was revising for his exams.

"Hey babe, where've you been?"

Adrian closed the door behind him and fell backwards on the bed, exhausted by how the day turned out. "It's better you don't know. One of those 'ignorance is bliss' kind of things."

Brody turned back to his studies as he highlighted a passage in one of his books. "Whatever you say babe."

Adrian leaned on his elbows as he sat up slightly. "What you up to?"

"Running a marathon... What do you think?"

Adrian fell back onto the bed as he went full starfish on the comfy duvet. "Well excuse me for wanting to hear your voice."

Brody was momentarily silenced as he smiled to himself. "Dork."

"Asshole."

They both chuckled because of the stupid fight that was going on between them. "Anyway, where's my surprise?"

Adrian got up from the bed as he had only just remembered the cinnamon bun. He didn't think what state the treat would be in, given that it was probably roasting and smushed in a hot elevator for over an hour.

When Adrian dropped it on the desk, Brody recognised the bag brand and was instantly overwhelmed with joy. "Awesome."

That opinion soon changed when Brody looked inside it. Still grateful for the gesture, Brody just wanted to know what happened to the sweet treat. "Did it have a run in with a bear or something?"

Adrian got back up from the comfy bed and looked inside the bag. Inside, the cinnamon bun was flattened like a pancake, and the icing was no longer drizzled on top, but meshed together.

"More like a pig and a hound dog. Sorry."

"Oh well, should still taste good." Brody ripped a piece off and popped it in his mouth. It was still delicious and so he ripped some and fed Adrian. "Want some more?"

"I think I want something else hot, white and sticky in my mouth." Adrian's voice was unnerved as he looked into Brody's eyes.

Brody choked on the cinnamon bun as he began coughing at the piece stuck in his throat. "Real smooth there babe."

Adrian knelt down on both knees in front of Brody as he reached his belt to unbuckle it. "Yeah yeah, just take your pants off."

~~~~~~~~~~

It was now the weekend when Adrian had his checkup at the hospital, to check his stitches and to see if they healed. It was early in the morning when Adrian went with his mom to the appointment.

Adrian was currently alone as Sally was parking the car. He was led into one of the rooms and waited patiently for his mom and the doctor to come in.

Cool, calm and collected, Adrian was optimistic about his results. The beeping sound of the machine in the next room was disrupted by a text message received on his phone. Adrian felt the vibration as he picked it up to read it.

From Brody (7:37am): "It's going to be good news babe, I can feel it."

From Brody (7:38am): "I'll be here for you when we celebrate the good news. ;) "

Adrian both cherished and admired Brody's positivity, it helped soothe the nerves that were tingling through his body at the moment.

The click of the door opening made Adrian put his phone away. The sight of the doctor and his mom walking in together made Adrian nervous of the potential ticking clock that was on his future.

"Hi Adrian, I'm Dr Fabel. I believe we're here to just check up on the abdominal stabbing wound from a couple of weeks ago."

Adrian gulped as he nervously nodded his head. "Yeah."

Dr Fabel patted his hand on the chair and indicated for Adrian to sit on it. "Okay so let me take a quick look at it and then I can share your results from the scan taken the other day."

Adrian lifted his shirt as Dr Fabel pulled the bandage off. There was no discharge of any kind around that area, the stitching was neatly done and the colour around his stitches was the same skin tone as the rest of his body.

"Okay well it looks good so far, visually speaking you've made a complete recovery."

Adrian let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding as Sally felt equally relieved because of the good news. Dr Fabel then looked at Adrian's scan results and read the report.

Dr Fabel dramatically shut the case file closed and Adrian became terrified. His feelings were soon stripped away when he saw Dr Fabel instantly beam back at Adrian. "Even better, there seems to be no permanent or long lasting injuries to any of your other organs."

Adrian's almost broke down with tears of joy at the good news. Sally ran to hug Adrian as they both comforted each other in the loving embrace. Adrian thought that he was prepared for the good news, with the optimism that was rubbed off from Brody. But with it becoming a reality, it felt overwhelmingly different.

"So, I can carry on with my life, like normal again?" Adrian wanted a repeat of the results, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"You're in tip top shape young man, and you came out lucky with just a scar compared to some other people with similar stabbing injuries."

Sally looked at Dr Fabel and was overcome with emotions. "Thank you so much doctor, for everything."

"Just to be extra safe, give it one more week of no extraneous activities and then I see no reasons why you would need to come back."

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Hearing everybody's kind words after sharing the good news made Adrian feel overwhelmed with support. Growing up, Adrian never felt that he had the support group every child wanted and needed. He only had his mom and Adam back then, who were constantly there for him about everything. Everyone else was just a passing blur in Adrian's life, a facade that Adrian couldn't remember.

But now Adrian's life evolved, and he had more people by his side. He had the Ravens and the Coach behind him, the people he worked with, even random people in the school messaged him when the good news spread everywhere. Now he had another long term friend in Ashley and most importantly, Adrian had Brody.

Adrian's life wasn't over, he didn't have to give up his dreams of being the next biggest hockey player. He could begin to focus again on making his dreams come true, with his friends and family by his side, to make it all become a reality.

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrian was getting out of the shower as he wrapped himself in a towel. He used a second towel to dry his hair as he closed his bedroom door behind him.

It was by routine that Adrian went to grab a bandage to place on his stomach. Adrian was holding it in his hand when he remembered that he didn't need them anymore, letting out a chuckle to himself because of the momentary forgetfulness.

Adrian dropped them back on the desk as he looked in the mirror in front of him. From a distance the 2 inch scar was still noticeable to Adrian, like a blinding beacon that directed his attention to the scar. It was on the left side of his body as the angle was across the middle section of his abs and the area underneath his ribs.

Adrian kept looking at it, staring at it as he pressed everywhere around the scar. There was no pain there, which was a relief. But Adrian kept pressing around it until he moved his fingers onto the actual scar.

Dragging his finger against the scar, Adrian thought he could feel the bump that was engraved into his skin. It was like a mental itch that made Adrian behave like this, and Adrian couldn't stop. The clawing feeling from his mind was making him think bad things about the scar, wishing it would disappear.

'Go away stupid scar, you're hideous.'

'Why are you still there?'

'I'm tainted.'

Adrian was interrupted from his self-loathing when Adam barged through the door, letting himself in as he opened it.

"Geez don't you knock first?" Adrian cursed as he covered himself with the towel that was drying his hair.

Adam was the one that was sent to collect Adrian since there were people waiting for him downstairs. "We're all waiting for you, you coming?"

"Alright give me a minute." Adrian said.

Adrian heard the sound of Adam descending the staircase as he shut the door behind him. Adrian pressed at his scar once more, letting out a saddened breath before he started getting dressed.

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