just a friend // m.e.

35

I woke up to a loud ringing in my ear. I groaned grabbing my phone. Without looking at who it was, I pressed answer.

"Hello?" I said barely awake.
"Hello. Is this Emily Dallas?" The voice asked.
"This is she," I said sitting and confused.
"We found your daughter," he said
"What?! That's great! Thank you so much officer!" I exclaimed, accidentally waking Matt.

"Who is that?" He said in his raspy voice.
"Shhhh!" I told him.

"Come to this police station," the officer said. He hung up, and I had a huge smile spread across my face.

"Matt they found her!" I said.
"Baby that's great!" He said pulling me into a hug.
"Get up! Let's go to the police station," I told him.
"But my hair..." He sighed.
"Who cares!" I chuckled

We rushed over to the police station. I was in my pajamas and flip flops. But I didn't care.

"Mama," I heard. I turned around, and there she was.
"Baby!" I exclaimed opening my arms to hug her.
"Owie," she whimpered once I touched her.

I let go and took a good look at her. She had bruises on her arm and one on her leg. My eyes watered at the sight of seeing my baby hurt.

"Who brought her here?" I asked the officer next to me.
"We found her. She was in an alley," he said then started walking off.

Who would've done this? Taylor? No way. He in jail. The dude at the restaurant? How? He doesn't even know me. He just thought I was cute.

"Matt we have to go to the hospital," I said. He nodded and gently grabbed Avery.

We arrived at the hospital, and Avery was asleep. I made sure she was still breathing. Her heart was beating slower than usual. I slowly took her out of her car seat and speed-walked inside. A few nurses came towards me.

"What happened?" They asked me.
"I don't know, but she went missing last night and was found this morning. She's only a few months old, too. Please help her," I pleaded. They nodded and took Avery to my arms.

I cried in Matt's chest. Her body is still fragile.

"Shh. It's going to be okay," he said then kissing my forehead. We may not be dating, but we are best friends. I'm glad to have him with me right now.

We sat in the waiting room for about 2 hours now. I stared to worry even more than earlier.

Nurses jogged over to Matt and me. I stood up quickly; my hands sweaty and shaky.

"Is she okay?" I asked.
"She's too young to experience so much pain. She can die easily, or we can perform a surgery," The nurse explained.
"Well how soon is the surgery?" Matt asked.
"If you agree, right now," she said.

I looked over at Matt for what he thinks.

"This is all you," he said, and I nodded.
"Will she be able to live during the surgery?" I asked the nurse.
"There's a 50% chance she might live and a 50% chance she might not. This is a risky surgery, but we will do our best for you," she assured me.

I looked over at Matt once again. She slowly nodded as if he was unsure, too.

"Okay, we'll do it," I exhaled. The nurse nodded and walked away. "Let's pray everything goes well," I said resting my head onto Matt's chest.

•

The doctor come out of the operating room a few hours later.

"How is she?" I asked quickly standing up.
"I'm sorry," he sighed.

Tears instantly flowed right out of my eyes. My precious Avery. She's gone. The doctor walked away, and I hugged Matt tightly. I cried into his chest. He tried being strong for me, but it didn't work. His tears dripped onto the top of my head.

We called Carter to take us home. This week has just been horrible. Cameron died, I found out Matt has been lying to me since the hospital, and now Avery's gone. What else can go wrong?

We got to my apartment, and I went straight into mine and Avery's room. Everything in there made me feel sad. I couldn't stand being in there.

"Carter can I stay with you guys at the hotel?" I asked, and he nodded.

I looked around the hotel room and it was just the guys.

"Where's Maggie?" I asked.
"She-um- she ran away. With her ex," he shrugged. Great, another bad thing.
"Oh Carter, I'm so sorry," I said sympathetically and hugging him.

(A/N: That's not what happened, but this is a book so who cares.)

"Anyways, when's Cameron's funeral?" Shawn asked.
"Next week," I sighed.
"I still can't believe my best friend/brother is gone," Nash said sadly.

*Cameron's funeral*

"Next we'll have a few words from his sisters, Sierra and Emily," Nash announced after his speech. Sierra looked over at me, and I motioned for her to go first.

"Where do I even begin. Cameron annoyed the hell out of me, but I love him anyways. He always helped me smile whenever I was sad, but this time he's gone forever, and he won't come back. He can't help me," She sniffled and couldn't continue. I got up and started my speech after she sat down.

"Cameron Alexander Dallas is my twin brother. I don't even know what to say. We've done basically everything together. Except for when I moved here to New York. He was always by my side, and he still is. He made me feel wanted. Our fights always lasted pretty long, but we got over it. I mean that's what siblings do. I just can't bear the fact that he's gone permanently," By the time I finished I was bawling.

I walked towards where I was sitting before. All the guys said their speech about Cameron.

The funeral ended, and I was trying to comfort my parents. I've never seen my parents cry so hard that it made me cry.

"I think you guys just need a break. Take your mind off of things,"Nash said.
"We're gonna go back to the hotel," My mom said, and I nodded.

"Let's go to your apartment," Matt said putting his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm not ready. All of my memories of Avery are in that house. The hallway to my apartment reminds me of Cameron. I don't think I can ever go back," I said as tears puddled at the bottom of my eye. He nodded understandingly and took me to his hotel.

"Let's go to sleep," he said as we got in bed. I looked at the time and it was 11:35 PM. I nodded, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him.

"Emily!" I heard a shout from afar. I turned around and saw Cameron.
"Cameron? How are you here?" I asked confused.
"I'm here to make you happy. You seem so depressed, and it makes me sad," he said. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes.

I tried to hug him, but once I touched him, he was gone.

"Cameron?" I asked.
"Cameron?!" I shouted louder. He never came back. He's gone again.

I woke up crying and sweaty. I slowly made my way out of Matt's arms, making sure not to wake him.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Your stronger than this Emily! You don't have to do this to make you feel better!" I said to myself.

I looked around for something sharp. There was nothing. I tiptoed to the kitchen and found a small knife.

I hesitated to grab the knife. Is it really worth it? In the end, I grabbed the knife. I slowly cut slight slits on my left arm.

The blood oozed out and dripped onto the floor. Tears came out of my eyes because of the cuts stinging.

I stopped hesitating with my cuts, and went faster. The world started spinning. My strength left me. I dropped the knife by my side and passed out.

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early update because I got excited!😜