Hold On Forever (A sequel)

painful salutations

heyy people of wattpad!

i've been DEAD on wattpad for the last few days, and i didn't update on monday because i've been on super strong pain meds that made me sleep for like 15 hours at a time and when i wasn't sleeping i was exhausted or trying to catch up on missed school work soooo i'm sorry! so guys pls pls PLSS vote on this chapter bc i'm trying to get to 100 votes on this so yeah!

ily all!!

x -e

I sit and watch them for a few minutes before beginning to feel left out, so I join in with them."Hey!" I yell, running to them. "I wanna play too!"

"Alright, let's go Eb," says Caleb, tossing the ball to me. I'm not fast enough to catch it, my running's a bit rusty because I didn't run very much in Russia.

"Sorry!" I yell to them as I grab the ball and attempt to throw it back. It misses them completely and falls in the river by the edge of our lawn. I look at it and blush deeply.

"Sorry!" I yell again, squinting to see where it landed and how deep it might be.

"It's fine, I'll get it!" Says Caleb, running to the dock and taking his shirt off to dive in. I run after him, and soon we're both standing at the edge of the dock peering at the ball which is bouncing in the tiny waves. There are ripples forming around it, flowing farther and farther away. I look up and Caleb and he's looking at me with a childish grin on his face, like he has a plan. I'm about to ask him what it's for when he brings his arms up and pushes my shoulders ever so slightly. But me being me, I lose my balance and fall into the water. I scream at the cold impact and once I've recovered from the chilly water I tread water, smiling up at him.

"You'd better join me or else," I say giggling.

"I thought you'd never ask," he replies and dives in flawlessly then comes up grinning bigger than before.

"I'm gonna kill you, you know?" I ask. He sucks in his breath and sighs quickly as if to say "oh well," and then his head disappears under water. He pops up behind me and I quickly splash him in the face.

"I deserved that," he says laughing.

"COUNT ME IN!" I hear my brother say, and then he jumps in the water. We have a splash war and Joey of course wins, then we grab the ball and climb out.

"Heads up Eb!" Yells Caleb and he throws me the ball. I miss of course, but it lands closer to me than the other ones have been, so that's a plus. I grin at them and shrug my shoulders. They just laugh and give me a thumbs up.

We play baseball in the yard for a while, which is so much fun but I'm exhausted after a half an hour of chasing the ball when I miss it. It's getting old, honestly. My stomach hurts in pitching waves as well, but I'm not going to stop playing, Caleb and Joey need to remember that I'm fun! What if they think Russia ruined me? Oh my God, what if Caleb began dating another girl while I was away? I mean, I'm was gone for a whole month! And there are tons of girls who love Caleb. At playlist live there were so many girls that were gushing about how much they wanted him when they met us. Caleb didn't know it upset me, but I couldn't believe they were telling him about how they were dying to date him as I was standing right there. An especially sharp pain pinches my stomach and I grab my side, doubling over. What is wrong with me? I suck in my breath and try straightening my body up but I sharper pain just digs in harder. I let out a soft cry like some dying cat and purse my lips, bracing myself and trying to stay stable.

"Ebony are you okay?" Asks Caleb, I squeeze my eyes shut and nod, wincing. "What's wrong?" He asks, I feel him take my hand that isn't gripping the side of my stomach. I open my eyes to see him looking at me, his beautiful brown eyes filled with concern.

"Maybe she's got the Russian plague," offers Joey. Caleb shoots him a don't-try-to-freak-her-out-anymore look and he shrugs.

"Let's get you inside," he says. I nod, agreeing with his offer even though my head is thumping with panic of what he might think of me now that I've ruined the entire night. He picks me up effortlessly like he always has. The feeling of his arms around my body is comforting. He carries me up to the house and opens the door.

"Back so soon?" Asks Mum.

"Umm, there's something wrong," says Caleb.

"Oh! Sweetie! Ten minutes back in America and you've somehow managed to hurt yourself again, huh?" Mum jokes, but its not funny. All I can concentrate on is the pain in my stomach and the anger at myself for not being able to handle it like any other almost-fifteen-year- old girl would do. I moan softly and Caleb sits down on the couch in the living room where everybody is seated, and from the looks of it they were engaged in a conversation before we came in. Great, now I've ruined their nights too. Hey everyone, Ebony's home, now let's have an awful night revolved around her! I'll bet everybody's SO happy to see me.

Calebs sitting with me on his lap but it's in an awkward position because the pain in my stomach has me doubled over. But he still holds me in his arms and strokes my hair. "Honey, what is it?" Mum asks, coming over to us and taking my hand. I just inhale sharply as another wave of pain comes straight at me. I feel everybody looking at me, waiting for me to answer my mother. I love everybody in this room so much, like I really, really do, but right now it's like my feelings have been twisted for me to feel angry at everybody for staring at me. I just want to go upstairs and hide for the rest of my life.

"Her stomach hurts," Caleb explains. I make eye contact with him to silently thank him for saving me from that awkward social situation.

"Oh my poor baby! It's probably upset from being on the airplane Ebby, that was a really long flight. Let's get you to bed," says Mum.

"Mkayyy," I moan.

"Joey, Daddy, and I will be leaving really early tomorrow morning and Caleb will be over at 7:00, okay?"

"Sounds good," I mumble. Caleb helps me upstairs and even gets me pajamas. I change and he tucks me in.

"I love you Ebony," says Caleb.

"I'm sorry for tonight," I whisper.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for ruining your game."

"You didn't ruin it Eb, it's not your fault!"

"Yeah, you say that, but I ruined everybody's night. It's obvious this past month has been much easier without me."

"Ebony Rose Shields, I have missed everything about you, right down to each and every word you say, all the quirks you have, all the mistakes you make. I missed your clumsiness and your selflessness. I missed how unaware you are that you're freaking adorable. God, I even missed the way your lips would pucker when you said words ending in O. I missed your everything, because you are my everything."

I don't know why, but Caleb's little love speech made me cry, and suddenly I'm bawling. "I love you so much Caleb Logan LeBlanc. I missed you, oh my God I missed you." I whisper into his ear. My lips slip down to his lips and we pull in. They touch each other softly and then I take him and he takes me to pull closer. The familiar sensation of kissing works it's way down our nerves, like fog drifting downward. I don't want to pull apart but we eventually need to. The room is dark but he's holding my hand so I feel safe. I lay down and he pulls the blankets up to my chin and then gives me a goodnight kiss on the top of my head before silently leaving the room and closing the door. Fatigue takes me over and I'm asleep in what seems like seconds.

alright, i hope you enjoyed it, and if you did don't forget to hit that vote button up there! ily all byeeee!