Fall in Love

by Anthology

  "Nat—" Alec groaned against my mouth, his hands gripping my shoulders as he pushed me tenderly away. "I love you so much, you know that right? I would never do anything to hurt you."

  "I know."

  Rain began to fall, sounding like a loud applause. I smiled, and grabbed my backpack. "Race you to the house?"

  Alec's jaw seemed to relax in relief, his smile warmed me. "Yeah, Nat, race you to the house."

  I beat him, mainly because I cheated. I was closest to the door, and it's possible that I threw my bag at him in order to make it there in time.

  Alec laughed. He was drenched from head to toe. His plain grey t-shirt plastered against his body. Suddenly it was extremely difficult to breathe as I watched his chest rise and fall. My eyes drifted shut as he reached out and traced my face with his hand. "You're so beautiful, Nat."

  Not compared to him. He was a god among teenagers, and he was all mine. I rose to my tiptoes expectantly. He chuckled and lifted me off the ground for a kiss and crushed his lips to mine.

  I wanted so many things. To sigh, to laugh, to tell him to never let me go. But our moment was interrupted when the door was thrown open.

  "Get a room or something," Demetri grumbled pushing past us, he wasn't even walking in a straight line.

  Alec cursed. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

  "Out!" Demetri stumbled to his car and threw open the door. The wind picked up, whipping it across my face. My teeth began to clatter.

  "The hell you are!" Alec ran toward the car and tried to jerk the door open, but Demetri locked the doors and slammed the car into drive. "Demetri! Don't!" Alec yelled until his voice was hoarse.

  The Mercedes peeled out of the driveway and took off, almost hitting a few mailboxes on the way.

  "Damnit!" Alec kicked the ground then ran to the side of his car and quickly jumped in. "Get in, Nat."

  I did as I was told, still stunned that Demetri would be that stupid to get behind a wheel when he was wasted.

  We followed in a tense silence, looking down the streets for any sign of Demetri. I didn't want to try his phone. The last thing we needed was for him to answer it while driving and hit something.

  I heard the sirens first.

  Alec was still busy cursing to himself and blaming himself for every little thing on the planet.

  I prayed I was wrong.

  But that same feeling that overtook me on the first day of school - the one that made me wonder if life was ever going to be the same - washed over me. The hair raised on the back of my arms. I closed my eyes and prayed, prayed that I was wrong. Prayed that Demetri was okay.

  We turned the corner.

  And I saw his car.

  He had taken the corner too fast and gone straight into an abandoned building. I could only see the taillights of the crushed car.

  Within minutes we heard sirens. I choked back a sob. "Alec, pull over!"

  "I can't, Nat! I have to find Demetri, I have to—" The words died on his lips as he glanced at the accident ahead of us.

  "No." He shook his head while he pulled into the spot across the street. "No." He slammed the car door and ran outside. My eyes filled with tears. I ran out of the car and grabbed my phone. Alec was yelling at the cops, the paramedics, everyone.

  "Mom?" I yelled when she answered. "Mom! It's Demetri! He's been in an accident! I'm here. I'm safe, yes. Mom, the ambulance is here. Oh, Mom, I don't know what to do." I sobbed into the phone. "Mom, I need you now!"

  The phone clicked off. Within minutes my mom had her arms around me pulling me into a tight embrace. The paramedics emerged from the building with Demetri lying across a stretcher.

  Blood was everywhere.

  Alec was shouting.

  I wanted to fall to the ground, but I knew Alec needed me. I had to be strong. My mom walked me over to him, without thinking we both pulled him into a tight hug. And cried. All three of us.

  "Are you his brother?" a man asked.

  "Yes." I answered for Alec. He seemed to be in shock still.

  "If you're riding with us, we need to go now." He jumped into the ambulance. Alec looked at me.

  "Go!" I pushed him towards the doors. "We'll follow."

  He nodded, seeming almost relieved that I made the decision for him.

  Alec jumped into the ambulance. I reached for his hand and grabbed the keys out of it then ran back to his SUV.

  My mom wordlessly got into her car. We both followed the ambulance the few miles it was to the hospital.

  I was too numb to even know what I was doing. I mechanically parked as close as possible, then jumped out and ran as fast as I could toward the emergency room. My mom was close behind, but she was prattling into her phone.

  The minute the doors opened I figured out why.

  Dad was standing with his cell phone in his hand. He was in normal clothes again, meaning he was on his way home.

  "Dad, you have to—" I fell into his arms.

  "Nat." He hugged me tight. "He's going to be fine. I'm going in right now."

  "Don't let him die, just don't let him…" I fell to the ground. My mom was behind me, trying to pull me into her arms. The last thing I saw when I looked up was my dad's disappearing form as he ran into the emergency room.

  "Nat?" Alec's voice cracked behind me.

  My mom helped me to my feet. But I was only up for a second before Alec pulled me into his arms. His body tense with exhaustion and worry. I rubbed his back. I knew I needed to be strong. As much as I was blaming myself for Demetri's actions, I knew Alec was taking it harder. He always did. It was like he lived with guilt over every bad choice Demetri made.

  It felt like one of the horrible nightmares I had been having. Only, I wasn't the one hit with the car, nor was I the one in the accident. Exhausted, I fell against Alec. His strong hands came around my stomach, pulling me into a backward hug. My eyes darted to my mom who was speaking to one of the triage nurses.

  I felt Alec sigh behind me. "We should go sit down."

  My throat felt all closed up. I wasn't sure I could trust myself to speak without breaking down.

  We sat in silence for over an hour and still hadn't heard anything. My grip on Alec's hand hadn't lessened any. I wasn't even sure he knew I was still sitting next to him. His eyes were trained on the double doors leading into the emergency room.

  "He's going to be okay," I finally said, my hand clenching even tighter than before.

  Alec said nothing. He didn't even blink.

  I let go of his hand and began rubbing the back of his neck, desperate for him to make any sort of noise, or at least acknowledge that I was there. I didn't want him to feel alone.

  "Alec," I tried again. "Is there anyone I need to call?"

  Slowly, Alec shook his head. "I don't know, I can't think right now…"

  "Your manager? Agent? Someone to handle the media?"

  "Crap." Alec finally broke his stare from the double doors and looked at me. "Nat, I don't think I can do it, I can't—" His voice cracked.

  "Give me your phone." I held out my hand.

  Alec dug into his pocket and gave me his sleek silver iPhone, typing in the password before he gave it to me.

  I scrolled through the address book. Alec was still tense next to me, but he watched me and then pointed out his agent's number.

  I nodded and dialed.

  Explaining the accident was earth-shaking. I didn't want to talk about it, but I was doing this for both Alec and Demetri. I repeated the story over twelve times to their managers, assistants, agents. Over an hour later I was finally hanging up and Alec's phone was blinking that it only had 20% battery power left.

  My head pounded with the start of a headache as I shoved the phone back into his hand. "Thank you," he murmured.

  I embraced him tightly and laid my head over his shoulder. "Any word?"

  He shook his head. "Nothing."

  "Is there anything else I can do?" I asked in a small voice.

  Alec relaxed
a bit and flashed me a small smile. "Honestly, Nat. You've gone above and beyond the call of duty. Just sit by me. It helps."

  "I love you."

  He was silent.

  Dread filled my belly as I waited for his response. Did this change things between us? Did he blame me for Demetri's freak out?

  "I love you too, Nat." His voice was hoarse.

  Tears pooled in my eyes, and then the double doors flew open. My dad strode towards us, his eyes were tired. I could see the strain on his face.

  It seemed like time stood still. Each step he took toward us felt like an eternity. I realized if I just concentrated on the floor where he was stepping, listened to the steady cadence of his shoes against the tile, I wouldn't pass out. I could even my breathing.

  "Alec." My dad. The very same dad who hadn't once hugged me in my whole life, pulled my boyfriend into the tightest hug I've ever seen, and then opened his arms to me.

  We stayed like that for a few minutes. Dad stepped back. "He's going to be fine."

  I lost it.

  Tears streamed down my face, my body wracked with sobs. Alec wordlessly pulled me to his side. "Can we see him?"

  "Not yet." My dad looked from Alec to me. "We had to induce a coma so he could heal. We'll pull him out of it when I think he's out of the woods. He has four broken ribs, and a bruised spleen. His left wrist is completely shattered and one of his lungs was punctured. He has a mild concussion, and his face is severely bruised. His right cheek bone is fractured but other than that he's doing just fine."

  Yeah, other than his entire body being broken. I could feel Alec tense next to me. I knew what he was thinking. His brother was okay, but he could have died. He's also left-handed, meaning he wouldn't be able to play guitar for quite a while. I knew enough about Demetri to know music was his only escape. I shuddered to think of what he would turn to if he didn't have his music.

  "Sir?" Alec's voice cracked. "Thank you. I don't know what to say. Other than I owe you everything."

  My dad smiled genuinely and patted Alec on the back. "It was my pleasure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on our patient."

  Guilt stabbed my chest. I had always thought my parents didn't care. Was it possible that they actually did? For my dad to do what he did, to embrace me, and then be so genuine with Alec. Confused, I just kept my mouth shut and allowed my brain to replay images of my past.

  "Nat," Alec whispered next to me. My head snapped up. "Thank you, for taking care of things, for the calls and—" He shook his head and licked his lips then looked back down at the floor. "I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

  I hugged him tight. "I'm sorry, Alec. If I could have known, maybe—"

  "No." Alec jerked back and glared. "Don't even think about blaming yourself for this! We all go through crap, Nat. That's life. It's how you react to it that defines the person you grow into."

  "Wise words from a nineteen year old. I wonder if you listen to your own advice?"

  Alec cursed. "My situation is different, believe me. What I did, it was unforgiveable. I'm lucky my brother still talks to me."

  "It's not different."

  "The hell it isn't!" He yelled, his eyes widening, his mouth tense.

  "Fine." I snapped. "How is it different? How is what you did any different?"

  "I caused this!" Alec bolted from his seat and began pacing in front of me. "Do you even know the type of guy Demetri was before all this? Innocent little virgin who wouldn't even touch alcohol if someone paid him to! I protected him from everything and—"

  Alec stopped talking.

  "You sheltered him so much that he never learned how to deal with stuff on his own," I said. I knew Alec would be mad that I was butting in, but it was the truth. "Alec—" I got up and walked toward him. "You were the older brother. Yes, it was your job to protect him. But…" I shrugged. "Sometimes you gotta let people take the hit. How do you think a quarterback learns how to deal with the fear of getting hit?"

  Alec snorted and looked away. "He gets the crap beat out of him at practice."

  "Exactly." I reached up and brushed the hair away from his forehead. "Alec, you tried to protect Demetri from everything, and the minute things took a turn for the worse, how did he cope with it?"

  "He didn't."

  I kept talking. "So, then you tried harder, you changed your whole life, you coddled him even more, removed him from your old lifestyle, put him in counseling, tried to fix him, and then something else happened, and what was his reaction?"

  Alec sighed. "The same as before, only this time he nearly killed himself."

  "Alright then." I wrapped my hands around his head, pulling it down closer to mine. "I know I'm not perfect and we both know you aren't."

  That got a laugh out of him.

  "But, Demetri needs to grow up. He needs to learn, and hopefully this will be the start of that." I decided not to add in the part that Demetri was most likely facing criminal charges and would probably have to spend time in court over this escapade, nor the thought that he may not wake up at all. It hurt too much to think about.

  Alec sighed. "You're right."

  "I'm what?"

  Glaring, Alec pushed me away with a laugh. "Don't push it, Nat."

  "Alec?" A small nurse approached. "You can see your brother now. He's in ICU, but he's stable. I'm sure the doctor has informed you that he's in a medically induced coma, but you can still talk to him."

  Alec clenched my hand.

  "Sorry." The nurse looked between us. "Family only."

  "She is family."

  The nurse didn't looked convinced. Alec cleared his throat. "She's my fiancée."

  Had I been any more alert I may have given away his little fib by gasping, but I was too tired to react. Instead I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

  The nurse nodded. "Okay, this way."

  Chapter Twenty-four

  I fought back tears as we walked into Demetri's room. A tube was coming out of his mouth, his face was bruised and bandaged. I choked back a sob when Alec fell to his knees next to his brother's bed. I didn't know what to say. What do you say? All of us were hurting, all in different ways. I did all I knew I could do. I put my hand on Alec's shoulder and watched a man, a very strong man, cry silently as he looked at his only remaining family, in a coma, in a hospital bed.

  My fault, is all that ran through my head. The treacherous thoughts screamed at me! Why did I go for Demetri when I knew my heart belonged to Alec? Why did I drag both of them through this? I loved them both, I truly did. I was never one to understand people when they asked if you could love two people at one time. I thought they were stupid and selfish to even think of such a thing. But my heart was broken for the boy in the bed in front of me. I wanted to take his place. I wanted to remove the bandages one by one and kiss the bruises away.

  My knees felt weak, so I walked over to the nearest chair and sat down. Alec didn't move. He grabbed his brother's hand. "I'm so sorry," he croaked.

  The nurse came back in and told us it was time to leave.

  I thought it would take ten men to get Alec to leave his brother's side, but he nodded his head and put his arm around me as we walked out.

  "You need food," I said once we got back to the lobby. It had been hours since we had eaten.

  "I never thought I'd see the day when you would be force feeding me," Alec joked. Tension released in my shoulders.

  "Let's go grab some overnight stuff and some food and we can come back here."

  "You sure you want to stay the night at the hospital?"

  I exhaled. "I'm family, remember?"

  "I won't ever forget." Alec kissed my cheek and we walked outside hand in hand.

  ****

  The next three days flew by. I refused to go to school even though Alec was irritated with me for staying at the hospital. I couldn't leave Demetri's side any more than he could.

  Like he said, we were family. I felt like I was the only family they had. It
was like another half of my self was in that hospital bed.

  Each night I would go into Demetri's room while Alec made phone calls to update his agent as well as his publicist. I was probably boring the poor guy to tears, but I kept reading from our senior lit class textbook as if nothing had happened. I'm sure inside Demetri was screaming for me to stop, which actually cheered me up when I got to the end of Hamlet.

  The media had a field day with the accident. Some stations reported some really awful things, saying that Demetri had a drug problem, that he was high when he got into the accident. I was so angry most the time that when I walked out of the hospital and got a camera shoved in my face all I wanted to do was cry and lash out. Thankfully, Bob and Lloyd were lifesavers when it came to our security at the hospital. On several occasions I told them I wouldn't be upset at all if they suddenly lost control of their firearms.

  They laughed.

  Alec was talking quietly in the hall. I reached out and caressed Demetri's hand. His doctors had been slowly lessening the chemicals in his body. They figured he would be completely out his induced state over the next twenty-four hours. The bruises still looked dark and swollen across his face, but at least his lips had lost some of the swelling.

  "Your brother told everyone I was his fiancée." I caressed his hand. "It was the only way they would let me see you." My chest clenched, I was too sad to laugh but I wanted to. "Trust me, I could have taken that tiny nurse. We all know how strong I am." I bit my lip and watched Demetri lay completely still, making no movement. "Alec also told me that you used to pee the bed when you were little and that you were scared of birds until you reached the age of twelve."

  I laughed again and squeezed his hand. "Naturally, I thought the best way to get you out of your drug-induced state was to threaten you. So, I rented the movie The Birds, and if you don't come out of your coma I'm just going to keep playing it over and over again until you wake up."

  "Cruel," Alec said behind me.

  "And in order to prove my theory, I also recorded a few bird calls on my iPhone. Did you know there was an app for that?"