guardian angel (completed)

Peyton: "my guardian angel, not yours"

"Andrew," she said softly and held my hand. i have to admit that i was taken aback a little bit.

"yeah?" i nodded and looked into her eyes.

"it's you, isn't it?"

"it's me, what?"

"it's you. you're the guy in those flashes of memory. but i forgot about you. we had a disagreement, didn't we? about colleges and all that crap. the distance..."

i clenched my jaw at those words.

"you're the one who's always protecting me aren't you? from Ryder. you always talk to him when he puts me in situations that i don't like." she pointed out.

"i remember everything, Andrew. i remember you. i remember us. i remember everything we've been through. why did you leave my side when i needed you most?"

"if it weren't for me choosing a college almost a city away, we wouldn't have fought. and you wouldn't have been on that hospital bed," i muttered.

"Andrew," she whispered and placed her hand on my cheek. "but you didn't really leave my side, didn't you?"

i nodded. "i couldn't leave you, Peyton. i just couldn't."

"hey, hey, hey," she said softly. "i'm here now. it's back to before everything happened, okay?"

"what about Ryder?"

"we talked about it. and honestly, he regards you as a brother he never had. he misses you. and i told him i wouldn't press charges if he started to change for the better."

"Peyton," i uttered. "i fucking miss you so much. you have no idea."

she pulled me into a warm embrace and whispered into my ear, "thank you for being patient, my guardian angel."