Ben’s POV
As I stepped off the plane, Alison at my side, I let out a sigh of frustration as I noticed paps all over the airport. A friend of mine was picking Ali and I up and somehow the paps had found out about it.
Alison and I grabbed our luggage before making our way outside to find our ride. When I spotted my friend, Jack, I rushed Alison to the car, putting our things in the trunk before climbing into the passenger seat and heading towards our house.
We were going to go back to our house, drop off our bags, and then take my car to the hospital. I was more than worried about my father. According to my mother, he wasn’t in terrible condition, but he wasn’t in great condition either.
“Did you let Ryan know we landed?” Alison asked from the back seat.
“No, I figured you would.” I answered.
“I’ll let him know now then.” She said.
“Ali? Can I ask you something?” I questioned.
“Yeah, anything.” She said as she looked up at me from her phone.
“What’s going on with you and Ryan?” I asked.
“Nothing. We are just friends.” She answered with a hint of sadness.
“Do you want there to be more?” I asked.
“Ben, Ryan and I have talked about this. We agreed we would figure out what is going on after dad is okay and home again. We didn’t want to make any drastic decisions right now.” She said.
“Oh, alright.” I said nodding my head understanding what she had just said.
“How would you feel if we decided to start dating?” Ali asked.
“Well seeing as I already though you were…” I started.
“We’re here.” Jack stated, and as I looked out the window I saw our house.
We thanked Jack before taking our things and bringing them inside. When we sat everything down in the living room, I grabbed my car keys and we went outside and got in, heading straight to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, we went straight in, finding our mother in the waiting room, waiting for us. She took us to the room our father was in and the second Alison walked in, she rushed to his side, tears streaming down her face.
“How are you feeling dad?” I asked when he was fully awake.
“I’m doing alright I suppose.” He said softly.
“Do you need anything?” Alison asked him.
“I’m just glad you two are here, that is all I could ask for.” He said with a smile.
“Well we are, and I won’t leave your side until you are better.” Alison said.
“Thank you Alison.” He replied.
“Anything for you dad.” She said with a small smile.
*Next Day*
I woke up to my phone vibrating in my pocket, dad asleep in his bed again, mom asleep in a chair next to the bed, and Alison nowhere to be found. I pulled my phone out and cursed silently as I noticed it was Tricia calling. I was late to picking her and Ryan up from the airport.
I quickly stood up and rushed out of the room and down to the parking garage. The hospital was about 20 minutes from the airport, but I was there in 15. When I pulled up, Ryan and Tricia were standing up against a wall outside waiting.
“Sorry I’m late.” I said as I got out of the car to help with their luggage.
“You didn’t bring Alison?” Ryan asked as we all got in the car.
“She wasn’t at the hospital when I left for you guys.” I answered.
“Weird, she won’t answer her phone either.” Ryan said.
“Maybe she went back to the house to get some sleep. Mom might have taken her.” I said, “Tricia, are you staying at mine or yours?”
“Mine. I’ve got a friend coming to visit.” She said.
I nodded my head in understanding as I headed towards her house.
“Could you drop me off at yours first so I can check on Alison?” Ryan questioned.
“Yeah sure.” I said just as we were about to pass the road the house is on.
I turned onto the road and pulled up outside of the house before handing Ryan my house keys and telling him to let me know that Ali was alright once he found her.
Once Ryan was out of the car, I headed off to Tricia’s.
Ryan’s POV
As I unlocked the front door of Ben’s parent’s house, I noticed an odd silence. I closed the front door before heading towards Ali’s room. When I opened her door, I let out a gasp of surprise. Alison was passed out on her bed, but what caught my attention was the line of white substance on her bed side table.
I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Ben a text telling him to get home, now. I went and sat on the bed next to her, only to scrunch my nose up in disgust. She smelt strongly of alcohol.
That slightly explained the drugs. Ben had said after she drinks, she gets the urge to use, and this time she did.
20 minutes later, Ben was rushing through Alison’s bedroom door, letting out the same gasp I had before pulling his phone out and dialing a number.
“Did you sell anything to Alison?” He asked into the phone.
“That son of a bitch.” He said a few minutes later as he hung up.
“Who gave it to her?” I asked.
“One of Jake’s friends.” Thankfully, Alison’s friend May was at the bar. She brought Alison home, but she didn’t know she had gotten the drugs.” Ben answered.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“Well first we need to get rid of that.” He said, referring to the drugs on Alison’s bedside table.
I nodded my head before going into the bathroom and getting the trashcan and some toilet paper to clean it up. When that was done, we checked Ali’s pockets and purse for anymore she might have gotten. We didn’t find anything else, but by the time we were finished, Alison was awake and she didn’t look well.
“Ryan.” She said quietly.
“Hey.” I said back as I sat next to her.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered as she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in the crook of my neck.
“I’ve got to get back to mom and dad. Ryan, can you take care of this?” Ben asked.
“Yeah.” I answered.
He nodded his head before leaving the room. When he was gone, I put my hands on Ali’s waist, lifting her up and placing her on my lap.
“Ali?” I asked.
“Yeah?” She answered.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked.
“I didn’t know what else to do.” She said.
“What do you mean? I thought everything was getting better. I told you, you just have to focus on something else.” I said.
“You weren’t there, and I really needed to get away.” She said.
“Well I’m here now.” I said as I wrapped my arms around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
