Yes To Heaven- Tara Carpenter

Three

"Attention Panthers! A reminder that all classes and school activities are canceled tomorrow due to public safety concerns," the person was heard saying on the PA as Wes looked at his phone. "Nico just texted about Sam," Wes said, putting his phone in his pocket and catching the attention of Amber, who was sitting next to him, and Mindy, who was leaning against the picnic table. "She's coming?" Amber asked in disbelief, "Yeah," Wes said, looking at Amber. "Watch everything get worse," Amber said as she shook her head. Marcus rolled his eyes at her and her known hatred for Sam. Wes went to say something, but Chad and Liv came over, and Nico was not far behind him, shaking his head at the two. "Listen, all I'm saying is that with everything going on right now, I think it's time we take our relationship to the next, most intimate level. Chad said as they made it to the table, taking off their bags and sitting down. Mindy rolled her eyes at the couple. "He wants me to accept his Find My Family request," she explained to the group, who were confused. Nico sat by Marcus, who was sitting on the picnic table that Mindy was on, and the two did their handshake.

"It's the smartest option with a would-be killer on the loose. Chad started pointing at Liv, then at the others. "You know exactly where I am, and I know exactly where you are, and Nico and Marcus have it," Chad added, pointing at them, causing Liv to look at the two guys who gave her a smile. "Aw, you can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend," Liv said in a teasing voice. "And you can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend," Chad said, causing Amber to make a gagging noise at the couple. "Is this because you two aren't having sex yet?" Amber asked bluntly, making Nico laugh at that. "You bring up a very good point," Chad started, pointing at Amber. "Not that I want to sound like a stereotypical jock trying to get into his girl pants," Chad said. "You do," Marcus said, which caused Nico to nod. "Great!" Liv said, cutting him off and kissing his cheek.

"Don't do it, Liv," Wes said. "There's a psycho out there; you make yourself harder to find, delete social media, tape over your phone camera, disable GPS," Wes said. Liv gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up. "Thank you very much, Edward Snowden," Chad said with a sarcastic smile. "Actually, your mother just interrogated me about Tara's attempted murder, which was very fun," Chad said, pointing over where Wes' mom is standing. The group looked over, and Judy gave Wes a nod. Wes gave his mom a nod. "I'm sure she's asking everybody. I mean, Ghostface is back," Wes said. "The press still isn't saying Ghostface." Mindy said who was taking her headphones out, looking at Wes. "My mom doesn't want to cause a panic." Wes said, "It'll get out by the second or third killing. Mindy said "Jesus, Mindy, there wasn't a first killing of Tara alive. Amber said, "Mmm, that means she could still die. Mindy said she was making Nico tense up at that, which Chad and Marcus noticed. "What the fuck?" Amber asked, raising her voice a little. "Or the killer could come back," Mindy said. "Fuck! Mindy, come on." Chad said, glaring at Mindy. "Shut the hell up, Mindy," Nico said, glaring at her, hating the possibility of that being true.

"I'm just telling you, Arm up, okay? Pepper spray, check. Taser, check," Wes said, giving advice to them. "Girlfriend repellent, check." Amber said, mocking him causing the group to laugh. "Nice. Thank you," Wes said. "Oh, shit. Is that Vince?" Liv asked, causing the group to turn around to see Vince leaning against the car, looking at the group. "Wait. The creep you hooked up with last summer?" Chad asked. "Yeah, he worked with me, Tara" Liv said, causing Nico to look at Liv upon finding out that Tara worked with that creep. "He worked with Tara?" Amber asked, turning to look at Liv when Chad looked back at Vince. "He's been stalking my Instagram for the last couple weeks," Liv said, making Chad look at her. "Posting the creepiest shit." liv added as Mindy slowly lifted up her phone and took a picture of Vince, who heard them looking at him and blew the group a kiss causing Nico to glare at him. "It's probably time to introduce him to Hobbs and Shaw," Chad said, flexing his muscles.

"Maybe it's not the best idea to incite violence right in front of the sheriff." Liv said, grabbing his arm and pointing where the sheriff was standing. "It looks like he's leaving," Liv said when they saw Vince stop leaning against his car and spitting out his gum before heading to his driver's side. "Thanks anyway, boys." Liv said as she let go of his muscle with a squeeze. "Yeah, Mm-hmm," Chad said, smiling and squeezing his arm. Amber noticed the bruise on Chad's arm. "Hmm, Tara says she fought back hard. You've got bruises." Amber said, accusing Chad which made Nico pull a face since Tara has been unconscious since last night. "It's from football practice," Chad said, defending himself as the group looked at him. He leans his arms against the table. Nico looked at Amber up and down, not liking that she accused his best friend of something he knew Chad didn't do. He went to defend Chad, but his phone went off catching his attention. He took his phone out of his pocket, seeing a text from Tara. 'Hey, I'm up. Come and see me. I miss you. And tell the group, please.' Nico let out a sigh of relief, knowing Tara was okay. 'Alright, we'll be there soon.' Nico texted back. "Oh, sure." Amber started but stopped when Nico spoke. "Tara's awake. She just texted," Nico said, looking at his phone. "I'm going to the hospital. Are you guys coming?" Nico said he was getting up from his seat. "Yeah," Amber said first. "Yeah." Mindy said she was taking her headphones out. Nico walked off, not waiting for the others. Everyone grabbed their stuff except Liv. "Oh, uh, I can't, but I'll meet you guys later." Liv said, pointing at the group. Wes and Marcus look at Liv with looks before looking at each other. "All right," Chad said, leaning down and giving Liv a kiss. After that, they all headed off to the hospital except for Liv.

~~~

Nico was the first to arrive at the hospital and wanted a few minutes with Tara. Nico arrived at the nurse's station. "What room is Tara Carpenter in?" Nico asked, "How do you know the patient?" The nurse said, "I'm her boyfriend. Nico said, causing the nurse to nod her head, "Room 309. The nurse said, "Thank you," Nico said, then walked away. After a few minutes, Nico went to the room door. He reached for the handle but stopped just before he grabbed it. "You got this," Nico whispered to himself before knocking on the door and hearing a quiet voice say come in, causing him to open the door. When he saw Tara, he froze, not knowing what to say or do, but when she smiled, he moved over towards her, sitting on the bed, and gently pulled her into a hug, not wanting to hurt her. "I'm so glad you're okay," Nico said, his eyes watering. Tara kissed Nico's shoulder. "So am I," Tara said, pulling away.

"I'm so sorry, Tara," Nico said, which caused Tara to have a confused look. "Why are you sorry? Tara asked, examining Nico's face, seeing his eye and his stitched eyebrow. "I wasn't there; maybe if I was—" Nico went to say it, but Tara cut him off by gently putting her hand on his face, which he unknowingly leant into looking down. "If you were there, we would have both been hurt," Tara said, making Nico let out a sigh. Nico looked at her, about to say something, but was interrupted when the group walked in, making them both groan and pull away. "Sorry guy, we tried to keep them away for a little," Mindy said, pointing at her and Amber. "It's fine," Nico said, shifting his body to look at Mindy, then back at Tara with a small smile, who looked at him then chuckled looking down.

~~~