Just Me ✔

Chapter 32

Chase lightly sets me down on my bed, as he grabs my bandages and my injury materials from the bathroom. He hurries back by my bed placing the stuff on the floor next to him.

His hands grab the hem of my shirt, "may I?" he asks. I nod, so he quickly pulls up my shirt halfway, revealing the bandage.

"Okay, this may hurt," he says before ripping off the bandage quickly. I wince in pain, but it is gone in an instant. "No blood," he sighs in relief.

"Good, but it still hurts like hell," I groan, as I feel Chase's hands tense on my stomach.

"I'm sure," Chase comments, "It looks like you may be getting another bruise again, but everything looks good otherwise." He says inspecting my injury.

"That's a relief," I say, closing my eyes. Chase then begins to do the routine the doctor taught him at the office a little bit ago.

"All done," Chase says after a few minutes. He brings down my shirt, and sits on my bed smiling at me.

"Thank you," I smile as I try to sit up, but the pain is present once again. I whimper as I fall back onto my bed, "I hate this."

Chase helps me get into a sitting position. "I know, but you have to get through the hard stuff to get to the good," he comments in a soft voice, looking me in the eyes.

"But, I thought I was done with the hard stuff," I pout.

Chase immediately closes his eyes, before standing up and walking to the door. I widen my eyes, did I accidentally offend him?

"Chase?" I call, "I'm sorry, did I -" I start but he cuts me off, turning around.

"No, no, you didn't do anything. Don't worry," he smiles, before joining me back on the bed.

"Good, I was scared you were going to leave me," I pout again.

He inhales quickly, before shutting his eyes. "Chase? What's wrong?" I ask, my voice shaky. He's honestly freaking me out a little bit.

He turns to me quickly, holding my two shoulders, looking me in the eyes. "Jayden, trust me when I say I will never ever leave you. It's just that, sometimes, I dunno," he drifts off, dropping his hands, "it's stupid."

"Chase, you can tell me. I won't judge you. Hell, after all you've done for me, the least I could do is listen," I say as I take his hand.

He looks at our hands, then at me before sighing, "Well, first, I want to say, don't feel like you have to repay me. I didn't do it for that reason. It's selfish but I wanted you here, Jayden. That night when he came, God, I had no idea what I'd do if I lost you. I was a mess when I saw you, but I stayed strong for Ethan, Beth, John, and especially you," he started as I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

"Every night that passed that you were in a coma, I felt a little piece of me break. It sounds so stupid," he shakes his head, but keeps going, "and with Lucas. Don't get me started on him," he says as I let out a light laugh, a few more tears slipping down my cheek.

"All I want is for you to be protected and to be safe, I don't want anything else to happen to you. I almost lost you once, and I'll go through hell to make sure it will never happen again," Chase finishes, looking back to me. "Crap, now I made you cry," he whispers, before gently pulling me towards him and wiping the tears.

"They're happy tears, Chase. It's nice to know that somebody cares about me," I mumble.

"It's not just me, your friends, Ethan, Kate, Beth, John, and so many more, care about you. Even Lucas, as much as I hate the guy, he punched Madeline for you," Chase comments, tensing when he talked about Lucas.

"Thank you," I smile, feeling better.

"No need to thank me," Chase returns the smile.

"No, I do," I say, sitting up slightly, preparing to casually spill my heart out to him, "Chase. You were the one person I could always rely on here. One of the first days I was here and you came to my room with the food, that was the one day I needed someone the most. You showed me compassion when we were strangers. You were there at the party. You were there when Lucas tried something. You helped me through the hard parts."

"You really have become my backbone with everything, and I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you. I know I'm probably a lot of work," I chuckle, as Chase shakes his head, "but just thank you so much, I don't know what I would do without you," I pout at the end. I can't imagine being here without him. He's become really important in my life.

Chase's eyes flicker down to my lips, as my breath hitches. "Fuck it," I hear him whisper before I feel his soft lips collide against mine.

I freeze at first, how am I supposed to kiss someone? My mind chases back to all the kissing scenes I've seen in movies, or read in books. I feel his hand touch the side of my face, lightly brushing his thumb across my cheek.

All of a sudden, my instincts take over and I kiss him back. My cheeks heat up, as I feel my insides twist in crazy directions. He pulls back for a second as I hear him lightly chuckle, before kissing me slowly and tenderly once again. Somehow the kiss made me trust him. It made me know that he would always care for me.

He pulls back once again, and places a kiss on my forehead. I smile, as I feel my heart racing and the adrenaline pumping. I rest my head on his chest, and I can hear his heart racing as well. It gives me some ease knowing it affects him just as much as me. I can't believe I just had my first kiss! It was amazing, but kind of weird, not gonna lie.

"You're so cute," Chase chuckles as he leans back on my bed.

"What?" I ask, scrunching up my nose.

"Just accept it, gumdrop." He comments, rubbing my back.

I just grunt in reply, but continue to lay on his chest.

I couldn't relax for too long, before I hear pounding footsteps down the hall, and I see Ethan threw open my door.

"What the fuck happened?" Ethan exclaimed, worry present on his face.

I widen my eyes, and sit up. Did he put video cameras in here? How did he know about the kiss?

"Madeline punched her," Chase scoffed, wrapping an arm around my torso. Oh, he was talking about that.

"Crap, Jayden, are you okay?" Ethan asks, his eyes flickering towards Chase's arm around me, before going back to my eyes.

"Yeah, it's probably just gonna leave a bruise," I shrug, not wanting to make it a big deal.

"That's horrible," Ethan frowns, before his smile slowly creeps back, "but honestly, I heard like five people talking about how they were gonna jump her after school."

"Ethan!" I yell, jumping up from the bed, "nobody deserves that. You shouldn't be happy!"

"She hurt you," Ethan says in defense.

"I know, and she has to pay the consequences by going to detention or whatever." I cross my arms.

"That's not enough for her," Ethan huffs.

"Lucas already punched her in the face, so," I trail off. I'm still surprised he did that. Lucas has really stayed clear of me after Chase and Ethan went to visit him that one night. I guess he's trying to be a better guy?

"Lucas? Wow, I'm surprised it wasn't you, Chase," Ethan smirked, as Chase got up off the bed.

"Shut up, I was there like 10 seconds after," Chase glares, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. I felt a blush form at the sudden affection. I looked up to Ethan, and saw him raise his eyebrows to Chase, as they seemed to have a silent conversation.

"Okay," I say after they continue this for a few minutes. They both snap their attention to me. "Why don't you guys go talk or whatever you are doing and I'll take a nap?"

They both nod, and trudge out of the room, while I go back to my bed and snuggle into my covers.

Today has been one hell of an emotional roller-coaster.