More Than Friends - A Hayes Grier fanfiction

Chapter 42 - Apologies

I scream as I watch the scene play out. The car skids on to the sidewalk and the driver stumbles out in shock.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." The man is about forty and he looks terrified. I run over to Hayes to find his eyes are closed.

"Put him in the recovery position." The man yells. I remember the minimum amount of first aid I know and roll him gently. His face has a nasty gash and his arm is obviously broken. My eyes well with tears and I yell at the man to do something. A crowd of people is starting to form and I can hear people whispering.

"Someone call 911." I hear a voice yell and the man hastily pulls out his cellphone, his hands shaking. I lean over Hayes's body and cry. . His arms are flung across his chest, in an embracing position and I fall to my knees beside him. Tears fall from my eyes onto his pale, pale skin and I suck in my breath, trying not to have a breakdown in front of the crowd.

The ambulance roars down the street minutes later, alongside a police car and I fall back to the sidewalk. Friends gather round, asking me questions but I sob and can't answer.

"Sophie, he is going to be fine. The ambulance is here now." Kaitlyn has her hand on my forearm..

"Hayes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I repeat that cluster of words over and over.I feel the tears pour down my cheeks and I look around to see other people from the party crying like me. I feel the arms around me, dragging me away, so I fight back as if I am in a trance. Adrenaline pumps through my veins; I pull and pull against the arms which now try to comfort me but to no avail. I fall back against this persons chest and sob. I let all my tears out, crying Hayes's name. The person is hushing me like I am a tiny baby and I hide my head in the crook of their arm. Blinking back tears, I look up to see Kaitlyn and Alyssa, both with tears on their cheeks.

"Are there any witness of the accident?" A cop shout to the crowd and we fall silent. I stand up and raise a hand.

"Can my colleagues and I possibly have a word?" He asks and I nod. I follow him to his car and he calls mom to tell her where I am.

"Here." A police woman in the front hands me a box of tissues and I pat my face dry with one. Mascara comes off onto the tissue and, in a burst of random humor, I laugh; I must look a mess. The car rolls through the quiet streets and we finally pull into the police station.

"Follow me." I am lead through to a little box room where I am seated and the cop opens a slim notepad.

"What happened exactly."

"Well, I needed to tell Hayes something and he walked out into the road, I guess to walk home from the party. And then he kinda stopped and he just didn't see the car coming."

"Okay. Could you tell if the driver was speeding?"

"I don't know. I just remember suddenly seeing the lights and hearing the skid of the wheels... and then..."

The cop thanks me and I am sent to a waiting room until mom arrives. Her hair is messed up (obviously she just woke up) and she runs over to me. Pulling me into a bear hug, she bursts into tears and we whisper how sorry we are.

"Oh my god." She sighs when we both have calmed down. "We need to go round to the Grier's right now."

We drive to their house and walk quietly up to the door. Nash opens it with a tear stained face and I throw myself forward to hug him.

"I'm sorry." I cry.

"Shh, it's not your fault." He sighs and leads me and mom into the living room. Elizabeth is on the couch with her head in her hands.

"Oh thank the lord you are here." She cries and runs to us both.

"Elizabeth, I can't even explain how sorry I am." I cry into her shoulder.

"Sophie, hush. It's nobodies fault." She says into my hair and I pull away.

"How is he?"

"He's unconscious. They don't know how long it will be until he wakes up." She wipes her eye and mom holds her hand.

"Let's go." Mom says. She tells me she is taking Elizabeth to the hospital an that I should go home to pack for the competition. I sigh but I know she is right. It would be too traumatic to see Hayes right now. I hug the two Grier's then walk home to find dad waiting for me. He pulls me into a somber hug and then pats my back.

"It's alright kiddo. He's a fighter." Dad says and I nod solemnly. He pushes me towards the stairs and I slowly walk up. Molly stands at the top and grasps my hand.

"I'll help you pack."

"Thank you."

We pile two days worth of clothes on the bed and my cheer uniform. I pull out trainers and my cheer shoes and then, as quiet as mice, we fold all the clothes into my suitcase. When I finished I sit sadly on the edge of my bed. Molly sighs beside me and I look to the floor.

"Molly, can I have a bit of space. I need to sleep." I say shakily and Molly nods. I lie back on my bed and after an hour or so, I fall into a deep sleep.

...

"Sophie." A voice whispers in my ear and I wake up to find Molly leaning over me.

"C'mon it's time to go to the competition." She says, her hair tickling me and I sit up. After stretching and tying my hair in a ponytail I pull on my laid out practice gear and head downstairs with my suitcase an backpack. Dad loads up the car and we drive to the gym to meet the rest of the team.

"Hi girls!" Kayla yells all too cheerfully and I force a smile. Molly and dad go over to Kayla and, quite obviously, tell her about the accident. Her expression changes and she gives me a sad smile as I wheel our cases over.

"Just tell me if you need anything okay?" She says and I nod. The coach driver puts our cases in the hatch and I join Madison and Bailee while we wait for the last few members.

"Are you alright?" Madison asks and I nod. Instead of being solemn for the rest of the two days I decide to try and forget about the situation, at least for the remainder of the competition.

On the coach I sit at the back with Madison and I share a bag of candy with her. We chat with the others from the team and I start to feel slightly better when we start chanting the team name.

"I've got a good feeling about this competition." Bailee says cheerfully and I agree. Our team has really shaped up since last season and the routine definitely looks good.

We pull into a gas station an hour later to stretch our legs. The competition is in Raleigh so we have about an hour and a half left of the journey. Kayla calls me over and starts talking to me.

"How are you?"

"Feeling a bit better." I say and she smiles.

"Good to hear." I can tell she wants to tell me something.

"What did you want to tell me?"

"Well I made some last minute decisions and I have decided to swap you with your flyer for the stunt section, not the pyramid." She tells me and I am in shock. This close to the competition? Our first competition which decides basically the rest of the season? I cannot believe it.

"Is that a yes or no?"

"Yeah... I guess."