Copyright ✘ One Direction [EDITING]

E I G H T E E N

Four months ago, my life changed drastically in a hospital.

My father was sent there after a nearly fatal overdose and began living his life in a coma.

Three weeks ago, my life made a turn for the better in a hospital.

I met five guys who offered me a job, and one of them happens to be my 'boyfriend'.

And now I'm sitting in a hospital once again, trying to figure out if my life has finally reached its climax and I either fall into a pit of despair or just get really, really, really happy.

"Carter, it'll be fine," Liam said, draping his arm over my shoulder and squeezing it tightly. I frowned and shifted away ever so slightly, hoping that he wouldn't notice, but I'm about three hundred percent sure that he did. I'm not sure if it's the fact that he'd touched me in my fragile state or the words he'd uttered, but something in me snapped.

" No," I hissed, running a frustrated hand through my brown hair. "You, of all people, know that I hate when people say that. I literally told you the first time we met."

Liam pursed his lips and leaned away from me, not bothering to answer. I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance and anticipation. Miranda, since she was my stepfather's actual daughter, was speaking with Jenna in his room. I had no idea what was going on and I felt a bit too anxious to find out.

What if he was dead? What would I do then? There'd be no insurance, maybe no house, nothing to pay for my school loans, and I probably wouldn't even have the strength to continue writing music. I'd be completely shattered.

What if he wasn't dead? How would be able to go back to our 'normal' swing of life after everything that had happened? I'd have to throw at him information about my job, love life, school, and there were still lawsuits and other things we all still had to deal with.

I knew that was I stressed, and I knew that if anyone told me any type of news, whether good or bad, I'd probably pass out and go into a coma of my own.

I needed to calm down, and I knew Liam could tell, because he slowly placed his hand on my upper arm. I tensed up but didn't yell at him, only gritting my teeth to remind myself to chill out.

"Car," he whispered, leaning closer to me. "I'm going to help you out, okay?"

My nose flared. "Okay," I said slowly.

I watched his eyes graze over my face before he gave me a serious look. He took my hand in his and began stroking it with his thumb. "You like writing songs, right?"

I snorted. "Uh, yeah." Seriously? "Did you really just ask me that?"

"Just trust me on this one, okay?" He paused. "What are you thinking of right now?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, traveling into the depths of my mind. I knew what I was thinking about, my father, but there was something more to that.

"My dad..." I told him in a soft, hushed voice. "I'm sad...it's like, I'm lost." I gulped. "I don't know where to go from here. I feel like I've been doing all these things to forget about this moment of truth, but...it's all in vain."

Liam nodded. "I've been watching you write music," he said, his eyes not meeting mine. "I think I know what I'm doing, but please bear with me, alright?"

I stared at him confusedly but he didn't wait for me to respond, just closed his eyes and squeezed my hand tighter.

"You tell me that you're sad and lost your way, you tell me that your tears are here to stay, but I know you're only hiding, and I just wanna see you." His voice filled the air around me and let out a shaky breath just listening to the lyrics he'd just come up with.