Blinded by the Light

nine

My vision took a while to focus as I fluttered my eyes open. I squinted; the lights were bright at first. My eyes gazed to my foot which was wrapped in a bandage. I looked over at Reed who was asleep in a chair next to me.

I tried to move my arms to help me sit up, but I felt a sharp pain in my left arm. I winced and fell back on the bed. Reed snapped awake and saw me. "Alison," he got up and helped me sit up.

"How are you? Are you ok? Do you need me to get the nurse?" he rambled. I laughed softly at him. "No, I'm fine." I stated. He sat back down and sighed. "Jesus Ali you scared the shit out of me." he chuckled.

I looked down at the wrap around my upper left arm. There was a big spot of blood on it. I shivered as I remembered my stepdad stabbing me. "I'm sorry." I gave Reed a soft smile. "The doctors wouldn't tell me when you'd wake up. I thought you were going to be in a coma." he said. "I would've missed you too much."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "What do you mean?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you helping me? Why do you care about me?" I asked. He looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"You barely knew me and you let me stay at your house. You called the cops and came to help me when Andrew tried to practically kill me. I just don't understand. You barely know me and you're doing all of this." I said. He just looked at the floor.

"I like you, okay?" he said after a while. He looked at me and I glanced away. I heard him let out a low sigh. "I know what your life is like. I know how hard it is. When I was going through this, I didn't have anyone that was there for me or helping me."

"I knew something was up when you ran into me crying in the hallway. When you came into class late that one day, I saw the bruise on your cheek and I knew exactly what was going on. Then when I saw Nat hit you at the mall, I wanted to help you more than anything. I was just hoping that I'd get a chance to. When I saw you about to jump off the bridge the other night, I had a heart attack and I thought that if I hadn't been there you would've died. I couldn't stand to see you like that." he explained.

I watched him talk as he looked at his lap and fiddled with his fingers. He looked up at me and stared into my eyes. I couldn't find words to say. He just looked away and slouched down in his chair.

"Thank you." I said after a while. He looked up at me and I smiled at him. He returned a shy smile and I saw his cheeks turn pink.

* * * * * *

 I was able to leave the hospital after two days. I was perfectly fine, I just had to wear a bandage around my ankle and go easy on it. Reed drove me to my house so I could get anything I wanted from my room and bring it to his house. He told me I could stay there as long as I could.

All I took from my room was my clothes, makeup, ukulele, laptop and speakers, guitar, books, and my mom's record collection. She'd given it to me a while before she died. There were more than fifty, one of them being a Beatles record. I loved them.

Reed helped me carry everything into the back of his old pickup truck. It wasn't a far drive back to his house; we had lived fairly close to each other. He helped me put everything into the room I stayed in before. I would be moving in there for a while.

"Your uncle still isn't home from that trip?" I asked sitting on the edge of the bed. "Nope." he replied. "What does he do?" I asked. "He's a record producer. He records artists and signs them to a record label. He's usually gone a lot." he replied.

"Has he signed any famous artists?" I asked, crossing my legs onto the bed. He sat down and gave me one of his little smirks. "He recorded Jack Johnson." he stated. "The Jack Johnson?!" my mouth fell open. I had loved him ever since I was a little girl. My mom used to play him when I was a baby to try to get me to sleep, and I'd fall asleep almost instantly.

"Yeah. I got to meet him. He's amazing." he said like it was no big deal. "Amazing is an understatement. I can't believe you met him!" I smiled. He smiled back and stared at me for a while.

The rest of the day was really chill. We kind of just hung out and then we ordered pizza for dinner. Reed and I were sitting on the couch together. "What's your favorite movie?" he asked me. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I stated. He tipped his back and laughed. "What? It's a really good movie!" I argued. "It's the biggest chick flick ever!" he laughed.

"Ok fine. What's yours?" I asked. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." he smirked. "That's a good movie, too." I said. "What's your favorite song?" he inquired. "Anything by The Smiths or The Neighbourhood. What's yours?" I replied.

"Wild Horses. The Sundays' version." he stated. "I've never heard theirs. Play it for me." I told him. "Really? It's amazing. But you have to close your eyes." he said. I laughed and agreed to.

He plugged his phone into the stereo and the song started. I felt my smile disappear as I listened. Her soft voice and the acoustic guitar made me think of my mom. She used to play guitar and sing to me when I was little. I felt a tear slip down my cheek and I opened my eyes slowly.

I looked over at Reed. He was staring at me with his dark blue eyes. "I know you barely know me, but just.. trust me. I swear to God I'll protect you." he stated softly. We stared at each other before leaning in and breaking the distance.

His lips were warm and soft against mine. I felt a burning sensation when he brought his hand up to hold my cheek. I'd never felt this way when I kissed anyone else. It was more amazing than any other kiss I'd ever experienced. It was at that moment that I understood him and I knew exactly how I felt.