Ring of Love

Busted

Ally's pov:

Waking up the next morning, there are three things that I come to realize. 

One, I am in Axel's bed.

Two, one of his arms is wrapped lazily around me.

And three, my phone is ringing from somewhere in the room. 

I blink away the sleepiness in my eyes and try to find my phone which must have been pushed under the blanket sometime during the night.

As I am blindly looking for my phone, I glance at Axel's small clock on his dresser to see it is only eight in the morning.

I let out a sigh of relief once I find my phone near my right foot and drag it up towards my eyes so I can see who is trying to facetime me at such an ungodly hour.

...

It's Ella.

"Oh shoot," The shock of seeing her name makes me drop my phone, and I frantically swipe to decline the facetime call.

Back in California, it's only four in the morning. Why in the world would she be trying to facetime me at a time like that?

Knowing I couldn't fall back asleep without knowing what my sister needs, I gently remove Axel's arm from my side and do my best to quietly remove myself from the bed without waking him up.

For a quick second, his breathing changes, and I think he's going to wake up, but he only shifts and rolls over to his other side and falls back into a soundless sleep.

Quickly and quietly as I can, I get to the door and make my way into the hallway. From here, I spot Claire and Zoe sleeping on the couches in the living room. They both had big, comfy-looking blankets that must have been given to them by Dylan or Bryce after I had gone to bed with Axel.

Walking to the bathroom, I am able to peek into Dylan's room from a small crack in the door. He only had a light, small blanket covering his lower body, so I can assume the blankets my friends were using probably came from him.

I make a mental note to thank him later as I slide into the bathroom and gently close the door behind me.

Finally, I look down at my phone to see a single text from Ella, telling me to call her back as soon as I can, no matter what time it is in California.

Letting out a nervous, shaky breath from all the possible scenarios playing in my head, I quickly facetime my sister back, making sure to angle the camera above my neck since she would notice the unfamiliar shirt I was wearing the second she saw me.

Trying to act as normal as possible, like I wasn't just sleeping in my crush's bed five minutes ago, I put on a small smile as the camera connects, and I see my sister's worried face through the camera.

My smile drops.

"Ella, are you okay?" I ask, getting straight to the point as my eyes dart around behind her to see an unfamiliar background.

"I'm fine, but did you see that text that mom sent us?" She asks, moving the camera a bit so I could see where she was.

She was at the hospital.

"No, I must have missed it. What happened?" I ask, beginning to pace back and forth in the bathroom as I wait for Ella to answer.

"Dad was rushed to the emergency room after falling off a ladder-..."

"He knows he can't do that-..." I harshly whisper, trying to keep in mind that my friends were sleeping right outside this door.

For about a year now, our dad has been trying to pick up a new hobby after deciding that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life cooped up in an office engulfing himself with work.