Back to December || n.h.

06

"Arlington, wake up."

Groaning at what she recognized at Silas' voice, she snuggled deeper into what she was guessing was his shirt. It smelled of lavender hand sanitizer, so she took a large inhale of the floral aroma before opening up her eyes and smiling a bit.

"Yeah, why are we in a hospital?" Her hazel eyes widened once she realized that she wasn't in her dorm room, but sitting on Silas' lap in the emergency room of the county hospital. Arlington gasped unknowingly, silently remembering what had happened the night before. Niall came back to the dorm, and he had been hurt. "Is he okay?"

Silas' hands gripped her waist a little too tightly, and she automatically stood up off of his lap. He looked down, a guilty image playing on his face, "Sorry, but yeah, he's fine."

Arlington nodded, suddenly feeling very awkward around her best friend. "Uh, I'm a bit hungry," Her face flushed red as she spoke for some reason, as if she was worried what he would think about her. Arlington was surprised; this wasn't normal for them.

Silas patted his pockets for his wallet, and when he found it, he met his gaze with Arlington's. "I can just run to McDonald's or something. What would you like?"

"Just a coffee. Get one for Niall, too." Arlington tossed him the keys to Niall's truck as she spoke, laughing a bit when they hit him in the cheek and bounced onto the floor. Silas laughed along with her, rather nervously. Soon enough their laughter had died down and the nurse sitting at the desk behind them was staring at them too curiously for a stranger.

Bending down to pick up the keys, Silas sent Arlington an awkward wave, "I'll be back in, like, 15 minutes."

After Silas had left the hospital, Arlington turned towards the nurse behind her to ask if she could see Niall. The nurse showed Arlington to his room, but only after asking what her relationship with Niall was. Arlington told her that she was his step-sister. Surprisingly, the nurse believed her false words.

Niall was sitting upright on a bed when she entered the room. He honestly looked fine in her opinion, but the tired look in his eyes begged to differ. Arlington figured he would be fixed up with a couple hours of sleep.

Arlington stepped into the room, hearing the door shut behind her. She tried to advert her gaze from Niall, instead focusing on the mirror across the room. Her face wrinkled up at the sight of her appearance; she looked quite unpleasant.

Niall's reflection in the mirror was smiling at her, "You look fine. If anyone looks bad, it's me."

She made a sound between a snort and a laugh as she turned to face Niall. He rolled his eyes at her, beginning to stand up off of the bed. Arlington tried not to notice how he sucked in a deep breath when he was up on his own two feet.

Niall flashed her a closed grin, "Don't worry about me. It's not like I was in a car accident or anything. The doctors say I'm fine too, just a bit sore. By the way, go tell your friend Caleb he's an awful doctor."

"Caleb is a great doctor."

"Arlington, there is nothing wrong with me. Caleb was wrong, therefore, Caleb is a bad doctor."

She wanted to tell Niall that he was right, because he was. Caleb really was an awful doctor.

The room was silent for a few more minutes until the door began to open, showing a tired looking Silas. In his hands were two coffees and a McDonald's bag. Arlington quickly grabbed the coffees, handing one to Niall in hopes of escaping an awkward conversation. She had no such luck as always.

"Hello, Niall. I do hope you're feeling better," Silas sat down in a plastic chair, a fake smile plastered onto his face.

Niall returned a smile just as plastic, "I'm fine as long as you didn't hurt my truck."