Juliana Woodland and Nate Jacobs have been best friends for as long as they can remember.
They are now in their junior year at East Highland High School and things are starting to get complicated.
*Had this story up on my old account and it got dele...
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Juliana and Nate woke up sometime later, her arms loosely wrapped around him. Despite everything, they both felt very well rested from sleeping in his bed after being in the hospital bed and chair since New Year's Eve.
She yawned and looked up at him, trying not to wince as she her eyes landed on his face, still full of cuts and bruises.
Every time she looked at him, she would get flashbacks to the party; the awful noises from the glass bottle breaking and the punches, then the blood pouring out of him.
She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to chase the memories of it away. "You really need to eat something," she told him, stretching as she got out of bed. She knew that he didn't have breakfast at the hospital before they left.
Before he could answer, she disappeared downstairs and came back a short time later with a tray of soup and toast. She placed it on the bed and started stirring the contents of the bowl.
"You haven't eaten yet today." She commented, sounding concerned.
"I know," he reluctantly picked up the spoon. He hadn't had much interest in eating since he regained consciousness. He was in so much pain and had so much going through his head, that he couldn't really be bothered with food.
After forcing himself to eat some to please her, he leaned back and watched her try to unscrew one of his medication bottles with a determined look on her face.
All of a sudden, he was overcome with guilt that felt even worse than the physical pain he was in. He thought of the horrible things he said to her in the bathroom at the New Year's Eve party, and how hurt she was.
He didn't blame her at all for saying that she hated him; he would too.
Yet here she was, taking care of him when he had expected her to leave once they got back to his house. And before that, she was by his side the entire time in the hospital. He knew that he didn't deserve her, and that she deserved much better than him.
"You don't have to stay," he murmured, unable to make eye contact with her from the shame he was feeling. "I'm really glad you're here, and I appreciate it more than you can know. But... I don't blame you if you want to leave."
The truth was, he needed her more than ever. But the guilt was too much, making him feel suffocated as he replayed their fight in the bathroom in his head, along with all the other horrible things he had done in their relationship.
She put her hand on his arm, careful not to apply too much pressure. "Natey, I'm not going anywhere. I know we said... a lot of things, but you need someone right now, and I'm here for you."
She couldn't stand the idea of him being here without her. She knew his mom would take care of him, but she also knew he wouldn't want to accept her help.
She hadn't seen Cal since they had arrived at his house, which she was glad for. Even if he was there, she or Nate wanted nothing to do with him.
"You're still my best friend, and I want to know that you're okay." She said as she shook two pills out of the bottle. She pretended to be very focused on the task, but really she couldn't look him in the eye. It was just too much.
