Every Little Thing

Save Him

*Jace's POV*

After Caleb walked out I couldn't help but feel like there was a pit in my stomach, like maybe I should follow after him to make sure he was alright. Ultimately I decided against it when Kole and Alex came up to me to talk about the playoff game next week. Honestly, it was hard to feel excited about it when my best friend was hurting so much but I humored them by listening to the drone on and on about how we were for sure going to win.

Once the conversation around the room died down and the coach yelled at us to shower so we wouldn't smell like trash on the way home the team started to file into the showers, though that pit in my stomach just got more intense with each passing second. Just as I was about to take my clothes off to head to the showers I heard the door slam open and a voice called out, "Jace! Jace where are you!" I recognized Lily's voice, making my brow furrow as I stepped out from the row of lockers to see a frantic Lily looking around with pure panic in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I questioned as I hurried over to her. Having easily heard the yelling Kole, Zach, and Alex all followed suit, having also become rather close with Lily from the random hangouts during the school day. "He found me! He found and Caleb confronted him....Jace he has a gun." She sobbed out, the tears she had clearly been holding back spilling out as she spoke. Without missing a beat all four of us darted out of the locker room. While the others didn't know who she was talking about, Caleb and gun was enough info for all of us in that moment. Darting down then hall we had about made it to the door when a sickening sound rang out.

Time slowed to a crawl in those split seconds, the loud bang of a gun shot echoed through the air around us as we all haulted just before the door. My heart hammered in my chest, my eyes locked on my reflection staring back at me in the window of the door for what seemed like an eternity. "Go!" I shouted, finally snapping out of my horrified state as I threw the door open and darted out, the others heavy footsteps sounding behind me.

I looked around almost frantically, searching for Caleb and caught sight of the psycho darting out of the parking lot on foot. "Over there!" I heard Lily shout, stopping me from going after the pathetic fucker. Looking in the direction she pointed we ran as fast as we could around the wall of cars, the sounds of terrified yells coming from the direction of the field. Guess the idiot forgot about all the people that would be around. The second Caleb came into view, my heart dropped.

"Caleb!" I shouted as I dashed towards my best friend, loud sobs sounding from Lily the second she saw him. Dropping to my knees next to him I reached out and turned his face towards me, seeing his eyes flutter slightly before completely closing. "Fuck!" I shouted, quickly checking for a pulse as Lily dropped to her knees just on the other side of Caleb. Pulling off my shirt as she took his face in her hands and started pleading for him to open his eyes I pressed my shirt to the bullet wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "Call 911!" I shouted at the others. "On it!" Kole responded. Bless that boy for always having his phone on him.

"Please! Please open your eyes! I love you! I promise you I do! Please!" Lily sobbed out, leaning down to press her forehead to his. "Jace!" I heard the familiar sound of my girlfriends voice. "Oh my god..." she whispered as she kneeled down next to me. "His pluse was good when I checked....fuck he's bleeding so much....where's the damn ambulance?" I hissed out, trying to keep the tears back. I felt Amy's hand on my back, making me turn to look at her. "He's going to be okay..." she whispered, but I could tell she wasn't sure about that. "He has to be." I whispered back and glanced at Lily.

Alex and Zach and run off to get the coach, but I wasn't sure when exactly they left, just knew that they had hollered their intentions before running off. The sounds of sirens started to fill the air when all of our coaches came running out. "What happened?!" I heard Coach Dawson shout. He is the head Coach so likely the one that would need the most info. "A guy was harassing Lily and Caleb stepped in to defend her. He was concealing a gum it would appear." I said quietly, trying to remain as calm as possible even though my body was shaking. "Would appear? I think that's a damn understatement." I heard him say as I saw him checking for Caleb's pulse on his wrist.

Seconds later I heard the ambulance come screeching to a hault next to us. I would assume Kole told the operator the guy ran off or I am sure the ambulance would have taken longer. The whole gotta clear the scene thing would have been a massive detriment otherwise. Stepping back so the paramedics could take over I rushed around and started pulling Lily back. "No! I'm not leaving him!" She cried out, fighting against me. Amy stepped in front of her and took hold of her face. "Sweetie they need to help him. They can't do that with you right next to him." She said softly, trying to calm her down. "Are you related?" I heard one of the paramedics ask, looking directly at Lily as they worked to assess his injury.

"N.." she started to say but I quickly interjected, "She's his girlfriend." I felt her tense in my arms, but I knew if I didn't say that they wouldn't let her ride with. The paramedic nodded and they got Caleb on the stretcher. "Let's get him to the hospital." The guy remarked as they started loading him into the back of the ambulance. Coach Dawson got it and Lily got in right behind him, instantly taking Caleb's hand as she sat down. I watched her shoot me an appreciative glance as they closed the doors.

When the ambulance left I let out a shakey breath, the assistant coaches whispering to themselves. I would assume they were trying to figure out what to do. I felt Amy wrap her arms around me and press into my side, trying to comfort me. "Let's get moving. The quicker we get to the hospital the better." I said quietly and wrapped my arm around Amy's shoulders protectively. Hands down this is not how I pictured this night going, but I had to keep my shit together for the sake of...well everyone.