Sincerely, Us.

1- Visitor

Evan's POV

I'm worried about what remains of my reputation.

Connor Murphy stole the letter I wrote to myself. He got mad because I mentioned his sister Zoe in it and thought I had left it there on purpose. I didn't get what he meant, but he ran away with the paper. Jared said he's probably going to show it to everyone.

I was thinking about it as I walked down the hall. Keyword: "was". The principal's voice boomed over the intercom.

"Evan Hansen please report to the principal's office, Evan Hansen please report to the principal's office. Thank you."

My first thought was 'What did I do wrong?' As I was standing there dumbfounded, Jared walked past me. "Good luck, Hansen." He clapped me on the shoulder as he walked away.

I power-walked to the principal's office, praying that Jared didn't try to use me as a scapegoat again. When I arrived, the principal was waiting outside for me. "You have a visitor. They wanted a private word with you." He explained. "O-Ok... uhm, thank you, sir." I awkwardly trudged into the office.

I was expecting my mom to be there.

It was Zoe Murphy.

"Evan... Hansen..." She looked at my cast. Connor had signed it before he ran off with my letter in the computer lab. She nodded slightly.

"Sit down." She said. I immediately did so. "What...what's uh, you know, happening right now?" I asked. It felt like I was walking on eggshells.

"It's Connor. He tried to take his life a few days ago." She explained. I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded along. "Y'know what? I'll cut to the chase. If nobody shows up to visit Connor in the hospital, then I'm scared that my parents will freak out about him having no friends. He signed your cast. You don't have to pretend to be all buddy-buddy with my brother, but you're the closest thing I have to one of his friends. You'll get to leave school early and I'll drive. I got my license not too long ago. Don't act like you two are best friends or something, but at least show my parents that someone gave enough of a shit about Connor to be there for him after he almost died or else we won't hear the end of it."

Now I really didn't know what to say.

"U-Uhm, I don't think Connor would really want me to be there-"
"I already told him. He said he didn't care who I brought as long as our parents wouldn't be on his ass about it. He still doesn't feel too good."

I bit the inside of my cheek, bouncing my leg anxiously.

For once, I wished this day had gone the same as all the others.

"Come on, Evan. Nobody else is going to say yes."

Peer pressure.

"Ok, ok! I'll... I'll go. Should we tell the principal?" I asked.

"No, I told him when I got here. Let's go."

{—}

The car ride to the hospital was filled with awkward silence. I mean, I was basically a stranger going to visit a girl's brother in the hospital who almost died, she probably didn't want to talk about the weather.

We arrived at the hospital. Zoe checked in with a nurse while I just stood there behind her. "Evan, come on." She motioned me to follow her. She showed me to Connor's room. "My parents are waiting in here with Connor. Don't try and be best friends with my brother, just showing up is enough. Don't try too hard." She warned. I nodded "ok. Got it. Mhm." I did not get it, but I had dug my grave so now I needed to awkwardly wait it out inside. That's the saying, right?

I braced myself as Zoe opened the door. "Zoe, finally!... Wait, who is..." It was a woman speaking. I opened my eyes. There was a man and woman at Connor's bedside, who I assumed were Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. Connor was sitting up slightly, squinting at me. He looked horrible.

Connor's mom looked at my cast. She must've seen Connor's signature. She smiled warmly at me. Connor rubbed his eyes. "Evan Hansen." He said. His dad walked over to me. "It's good to meet you, son." He shook my (non-broken) hand. I looked at Connor. I tried to smile at him, giving him a polite wave. He nodded his head slowly.

"Connor! Is this your friend?" His mom asked. Connor bit the inside of his lip in thought. "Uhm..." I looked at Zoe, trying to see if I should answer. She just sort of shrugged.

"U-Uhm, we're acquaintances. I guess." I nodded along to myself as I talked. Connor's mom looked a bit less happy at that, but she still seemed glad that someone showed up for her son. "Well, we're going to talk to someone about when Connor can come home. Uh, Evan! You can stay with Connor! You two can talk a bit while the three of us leave for a moment. Ok? Ok!" She left without giving me time to agree. I guess it wasn't up for debate. Connor's dad and Zoe went with her.

I stood silent for a moment. I barely knew Connor, our most recent interactions were him shoving me, signing my cast, then running away with my therapy letter.

I took a breath. "Hey, Connor-"

"Don't."

Well, this is going great.

"What?" I looked at him. He didn't look as mean as usual, now he just looked pale and tired.

"I know that my sister dragged you along so that my parents wouldn't get so upset about me not having friends. You don't need to talk to me. I don't want pity."

I looked at the floor. "I'm not giving you pity. I just... wanted to talk? I don't... I don't know." I tapped my fingers against my cast.

Connor sighed and laid back down, closing his eyes. "Just make it quick."

"Uhm, I just... uhm..."
"Y'know, it's fine. You don't have to say anything."
I decided not to argue. I nodded silently. Connor put his hands over his face and sighed deeply.

A little bit later, the Murphys finally came back. "Ok! So, Connor, you aren't being sent to an institute. You're going to be able to come back someday within the next seven days. Tomorrow at the very earliest, but that's only if you make a complete recovery by tomorrow afternoon." Mrs. Murphy explained. She walked over and patted Connor on the shoulder. He removed his hands from his face.

"Evan, you can go now if you want. You don't need to stay here. Thank you for coming to see Connor though." Mrs. Murphy smiled at me before enveloping me in a hug. I awkwardly patted her back. She pulled away, tears in her eyes. "Here, can you write down your or your parent's numbers for us and Connor in case we have any updates?" She rummaged in her purse for a moment before extracting a notepad and a pen. Connor observed quietly.

"Oh, uhm, ok. My mom is at work or class most of the time though, so uhm, you- you can just have mine." I smiled, writing my number on the paper. "Thank you for coming, Evan." Mr. Murphy said. I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"It's, Uhm, been nice. Uhm, meeting you. Not the thing with Connor. Connor is cool too, though-" "Evan." Connor spoke up. I realized I was ranting and gave him a thumbs-up.

"I'll uhm go now. Give you guys some, uhm, family time. Bye, Connor and Zoe, and uhm, Connor and Zoe's parents... I'll just go. Bye!" I waved goodbye and started heading for the door. As I was leaving, Zoe whispered something to me.

"Thank you for dropping by, Evan. My parents appreciated you. Expect some messages, though."

I nodded and smiled a bit, exiting the door of the hospital room.

Wait, how am I getting home?