Bend, but Never Break: A One Tree Hill Fanfiction

Prologue

Sixteen year old Maya Monroe paced in the waiting room of North Shore Medical Center, arms crossed over her chest while chewing her bottom lip nervously, the linoleum burning through her shoes as emotions threatened to swallow her whole. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the soft crying of a worried mother and the deafening silence of an equally terrified father. If she kept her eyes closed long enough, she could almost pretend that none of this had happened. She could almost picture herself in a world away from all of this. So, she kept her eyes closed, just hoping to disappear.

" Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher? " A voice broke through Maya's perfect fantasy world, causing her to frown with dread, but proceed to pay attention as a nurse explained a terrible situation to the increasingly emotional parents who had just stood up from their respective chairs.

Accident.

Head trauma.

Did everything they could.

Sorry for their loss.

Dead.

Maya did the only thing that she knew best and fled. She ran out of the hospital, tears nearly blurring her vision. She could barely breathe. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Walking felt rather impossible, in that moment, even as she walked towards the nearest bench upon reaching the parking lot and stared at the sidewalk that she would've started down to get home, as if thinking that seeing it would just automatically change her mind. Surely enough, as she managed to remember that she had parked only a few rows away from the entrance and the car wouldn't be too difficult to find for a quick getaway, Maya didn't think that she had the energy to do it. Luckily, she could think of one person that she could always call, no matter the circumstances. Unfortunately, after retrieving her phone from the pocket of her jeans and allowing the light to momentarily blind her through the otherwise darkness of the night, she realized that she already had four missed calls. And who else could those missed calls possibly be from?

" Maya Claire Morgan, " despite the annoyed tone of voice that the person on the other end of the call had taken on when she decided to return the various calls, Maya couldn't help but release a heavy sigh, feeling as if a weight-no matter how small-had been lifted off her shoulders. " Last I checked, your phone still worked. Where the hell are you? You know, if I knew that you were gonna deck my calls like this- "

" Wilder, " Maya quickly interjected, biting her lip while tears began to fall from her eyes as she replayed the event that had just occurred in the hospital in her mind over and over again. " I-I did something tonight. Something really, really bad. "

" Okay...calm down, honey, " Wilder said soothingly. Somehow, he always knew how to soothe her. It was a practiced skill, after all. " It's alright. "

" N-no, it's not. I-it's really b-bad, " Maya choked on her own words, tightening her grip slightly around the phone as she watched the street in front of her. Usually, Wilder could comfort her in a way that no one else knew how. However, at that moment, the thoughts running through her mind were all but consuming her. She was resistant to his comfort now, feeling as if she didn't deserve it. And that was probably true.

" Shh. Tell me where you are, okay? "