Hello Darkness, A New Years Day Fanfic

Part 13

Ali's POV

I was put on a diet of real food that night- as real as you can get as a hospital patient. I was hungry as all hell, and I ate everything they gave me, even though I found most of it disgusting.

Nikki stayed beside me for the next 3 days until I was released. Besides that, nothing significant happened, except Nico came to visit me on the day before I was released, a fistful of flowers in hand. "Sorry I couldn't make it sooner, schoolwork and all," he apologized. "which you missed a lot of, by the way, being all nearly dead and stuff."

I had basically forgotten about college. I mean, I hadn't even gone to one class. The only thing I'd been able to do was unpack some clothing- literally. I was mad, because I was being forced to pay room and board for everything that I missed, and would have to work double time to make up credits. On top of that, no one but Ash and Nico knew who I was.

Nico described his new roommate to me, since we'd gotten rid of the... "old" one after that incident. His name was London, he was about 5'10, and he was also into relatively good music. He was nice, apparently, and had shoulder length brown hair he tied up into a bun whilst he studied. Apparently, London possessed eyes that changed from green to blue to gray, given the day and the way the light caught it. Nico thought he was cute.

"I am a FLAMING homosexual," Nico exclaimed. "And he is actually very attractive." This caused us all to laugh, after which, Ash added, "Well, you're not like straight gay. Or at least, you told me you were somewhere in between, so I'd classify you as a charred to smoking homosexual." Nico shrugged. "Charred homo it is."

After an hour of happy conversation, Nico decided it was about time for him to get home. He gave me a hug and told me that when I got back, I had to knock and he'd take me on a Starbucks run. Nikki had to go, too, and so did Ash, so I was left in a bland white room all by myself.

My mood plummeted really quickly when they'd left. The plain, clean, white walls, and the overwhelming smell of ammonia left me feeling oppressed. I couldn't get up by myself, I couldn't make the conscious decision to walk to the nearest convenience store, and I had so much to think about.

Like, the fact that on my second day on campus, I was shot. I was shot. In the leg. On my second day. That had to be a record or something. There was also one imminent thing that loomed in my mind every waking second- Nikki. What were we? Were we friends, or something more? Were we even ready for something more? What was happening between us? It was just too much, so I decided to take a nap. When I awoke, he was at my bedside again.

Later that day, I was informed I was to be released from the hospital tomorrow, and since I was still 17 when I was shot, they were billing my parents, not me. That was a relief- I had enough on my hands, I didn't need a hospital bill to add onto it.

Moving back into my dorm the next day would've been easier if I could actually walk. I mean, I could walk, but I needed crutches, and they weren't exactly the most practical. I decided I would finish unpacking another day, and went next door to get Nico. He answered the door, rubbed his eyes, embraced me, and pulled me into the room.

On one bed sat a man, looking at his laptop, his hair tied up in a bun. "That's London," he said, pointing at him. London looked up from his laptop and muttered a weak "hi" before going back to whatever he was doing. I sat down on Nico's bed as he rummaged through a drawer for a shirt to wear. He pulled one out and took off his shirt. "Oops," he blushed awkwardly. "I hope you don't mind." Shrugging, I said, "Doesn't bother me." I noticed a scar on his chest, though, shaped vaguely like the curve of a question mark. I decided not to ask, but he noticed me looking.

"Charlie sliced me with a razor-blade. I had to go to the hospital. I was 6. Fun times." After slipping into his PTV shirt, he took my hand and led me out the door. "STARBUCKS!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, causing me to recoil and a door down the hallway to open. I was walking slowly, because of my crutches. He decided my pace wasn't fast enough, and scooped me up. I squealed and grabbed tight to my crutches as he ran with me. He put me down, panting, as we got to the elevator. "Well, someone's hyper. How much Monster did you have today?" He shrugged. "Just happy to see you." The elevator dinged at the bottom floor, and we stepped off.

We walked, or in my case, limped, to the Starbucks on the commercial side of campus, two or so blocks away. My leg hurt like hell by the time we were inside, but hey, I guess I'd have to get used to it- right? Some of the studious students glanced up, fairly weirded out by the people dressed in all black. I snagged us a table in the back corner of the dining area, and he went up to get our extremely overpriced drinks.

He came back and plopped down in the seat across from me. "So, what's been happening? Anything exciting besides being in a coma for a month?" I shook my head, trying to make my mouth say what my heart was feeling. "Can I... can I talk to you?" I asked, sort of shakily. He nodded and took a long sip of his coffee. "Go ahead. Anytime."

I looked down into my lap. "I really, really like Nikki, but I don't know if we're ready for something like that. I mean... Real-life relationships have never been my forte, because no one in real life has liked me enough to want to date me. I had an online girlfriend when I was in tenth grade that lasted like a year. Her name was Katie and we were in love, but the pain of not being together in real life was too much. Same thing with my boyfriend from the middle of 11th. I don't know how to do the in-real-life relationship thingy. But I really like him..."

Nico took my hand and sighed. "Listen, Ali. He obviously likes you, a lot. I say go for it. When I heard about what had happened that day, I cried, because I'd only known you for a little and you were fighting death. It made me realize that life is too short to just stand there scared. You have to live, you have to love. You have to keep on fighting until the day you die, and you never know when that day is coming. You never know the last time you're gonna see someone, or hear their voice, you just never know. The world is a dangerous place, Ali. You just have to keep on living. So, go for it. You're only gonna be here for a little while."

The words he said flowed through my brain and into my heart. They gave me hope, and made me decide to do something crazy- I was going to ask him out, and I was going to ask him out tonight.