doppelgänger --> there's never just one {sequel}

dennis & sadie

^ dennis's lip/cheek wound matching the stitched one on Andy on the WSTW album cover

As Dennis leaned over the kitchen sink, spitting out all of the blood that quickly filled his mouth, he heard the front door open, and then felt a pair of hands on both of his sides and a head rest on his shoulder, pink hair hanging over his shoulder so that he could see it.

Bex.

"What happened?" she asked, her tone concerned. Picking her head up and leaning on the counter to try to see his face better, Dennis turned his head to look at her, and suddenly she screamed, jumping back a little and covering her mouth straight after, her eyebrows raised, expression more surprised-looking than ever, and maybe even a little scared, too. "Oh. My goodness, Dennis. What did you do."

*

Dennis's injury was not the kind for the urgent care center. No, not something quite that small. It was bigger than that.... much bigger. He was uncontrollably bleeding from the mouth, so much that the scrap towel Bex had brought him from the basement to stifle it was completely soaked with dark red gore by the time they had arrived at the emergency room.

He couldn't be seen by any doctors or nurses for the total of about twenty to thirty minutes because of how full the waiting room was, but during that time a nurse that passed by saw that Dennis's cloth that he was holding against his mouth was done for, and came back by to give him a piece of fabric that was much more absorbent and lasted a little longer than the former bloody old towel did.

When they finally got a room, the second cloth was also now completely red and soaked as well, just in time for him to be treated and for all this to be over, for this mess to be cleaned up.

The doctor came over to look, politely asking Dennis to take the cloth away from his face, and when he saw his eyes went wide. "Oh my. I was not expecting this," he admitted, looking between Bex and Dennis. "We see a lot at the hospital here, but I have to say: I don't think I've ever seen an injury quite like this before, at least in the history of my career."

Great, Dennis thought as the doctor and nurses rushed around the room, quickly communicating with each other as well.

One nurse came over to him, resting a hand on his arm. She had a kind face, but her expression told him she was preparing to break the bad news. "Alright, honey, you've been very brave with this all, and that's awesome. You're just going to have to be brave about this a little longer, and before you know it, this will all be over, alright? We're going to have to stitch up your wound, and in order to do that we'll have to put you under for a little while, but the good thing is, you won't feel a thing. And we're also gonna have to take out your lip piercing on that side, too. Is that alright?"

Dennis nodded helplessly, the only thing he could do to respond to her question right then.

"Great. And don't worry, we'll keep it safe and have it for you once you're awake again and ready to go." She grabbed a needle from the tray that sat on the side table, and he swallowed, hard. "Okay, just bear with me, sweetheart."

The minutes passed slowly, and he only felt Bex right by his side, pressed up against him and stroking his hair, comforting him, before everything suddenly just went.... black.

Just like that.

*

Sadie quickly learned what a genuine guy and the gentleman Grayson was, more and more each time she was with him. No matter what she said and despite her protests, Grayson paid for both of their movie tickets as soon as they walked in, plus popcorn and water bottles too. She carried the popcorn and her water bottle while he walked a few steps ahead to open the theater doors for her. She met his eyes with a sweet smile, nudging him on her way past him while walking in. "Thanks, Grayson."

He smiled back at her, watching her as she passed and following close behind.

"Where should I sit?" Sadie asked.

"Where do you usually sit?" he responded with a second question.

"Usually, like, in the middle of the theater. What about you, where do you usually sit at the movies."

"You had to ask."

Sadie laughed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I like to sit in a different spot than you do. I like to sit in the front."

Sadie made a face. "Don't you crane your neck the whole time you're watching the movie?"

Grayson grinned, Sadie able to see the glint of his shiny, white teeth even in the dark. "Yeah...."

"Grayson!" she scolded, half-joking. "Can we just...."

"Yeah, we can sit in the middle."

"Grayson --"

"Come on, Sadie, pick a seat, there are people behind us waiting," he told her, looking behind him and nudging her back gently.

She rushed into a lower level of seats, closer to the screen like he wanted, but also not the very first row where it was so painful to watch the movie from for the whole two hours anyone sat there. Once Grayson took his seat beside Sadie, he looked at her, one of his eyebrows raised. She laughed. "Sadie, I told you we could sit in the middle, like you wanted." She could smell the fresh scent of his green spearmint gum.

"It's fine, I don't mind," she told him honestly.

During the movie, Sadie snuggled up closer to Grayson, and slowly his hand migrated from resting on her knee over to where her hand sat on the one arm of the chair between their two adjoined seats. His fingers felt for hers and found them, the tips of his grazing her palm before his whole hand pulled her delicate one into his. His hand was warm, but comfortably warm, and not sweaty like she feared her future boyfriend's would be, back when she dreamed of who she would meet and fall in love with. But at this point, even if his hand had been sweaty, it still wouldn't have stopped her from falling head over heels for him. She was completely in love with him. She adored him.

She was a little nervous, but barely when she gently rested her head in between the crook of his neck and his shoulder.

Sadie couldn't care less about the movie at this point. Their arms intertwined, sides touching, hand in hand, bodies close....

She could only care about him, not even the way her neck was bent back far in order to see the screen, or how they were so close to the blasting speakers that all the other voices in the theater were completely drowned out by it.

She cared about him, and only him.

She was caught in the moment, and completely in love with Grayson Bailey Dolan, and it would remain that way for the rest of their lives, for both of them, until the very end.

She could only care about him.