Hold Your Head Up High

Chapter Three

Author's Note: I know it kinda sounds like Maggie is a teenager, but she's actually 25 😂. She just went to the concert with her mom because she likes Imagine Dragons too. Sorry if that confused anyone!

"Maggie?" I heard my mom's soft voice whisper next to my ear. I slowly opened my eyes and looked to see her bright face next to me.
"Hi baby. They said the surgery went great. There's a bandage on your arm, and the doctor said you'll need to keep it there for a while before it's fully healed. Luckily, you got the best case scenario."
I half smiled, still a little out of it.
"Dan wanted me to let him know when you were out of surgery, so I'm going to go tell him." She was about to get up when I spoke.
"How long was the surgery?"
"Longer than four hours; they said there was a lot of nerve damage. But that shouldn't be a problem now."
"Dan stayed for the other boy, right?" I asked.
"No, he was discharged hours ago. Dan said he'd stay for you, remember?"
"Yeah, but..." I sighed. "I didn't want to make him do that if there was nothing else keeping here."
"Oh, he said it's totally okay. Let me get him, but for now just relax." She kissed my forehead before leaving the room in search of Dan.
I laid in silence for a few minutes, trying to think everything out in my head. What time is it? I looked over at the clock next to my bed, and it said 6:52 a.m. That meant Dan had stayed up all night just to see me after the surgery. I didn't realize how caring he really was for his fans.
I saw the door slowly open, and he walked in followed by my mom. He had crutches on, and a large cast bandage around his foot.
"Maggie, how are you feeling?" He walked over and sat on the chair next to me, leaning his crutches against the wall.
"Like crap." I half-smiled. I wished I had said I was feeling fine after that, because his face suddenly turned sadder than it was when he saw me.
"No, it's fine. I'm just out of it." I looked down at the gauze wrapped around my arm, and I could see the blood start to bleed through it.
"I hope you're not in pain. Are they giving you enough pain meds?" He seemed so concerned for my health, and I couldn't understand why.
"They can only give me so many before I explode." My attempts to lighten the mood weren't working on him.
"Do you want anything?" He asked.
"I'm good. Thanks, though." I looked into his deep, ocean blue eyes. Dan looked into mine as well, but they probably weren't anywhere near as beautiful. I couldn't help but smile, and he grinned right back.
"I'm going to go get some apple pie... I'll get you two some as well." My mom got her cue and she left to get us food.
"So how's the tour going?" I break the silence.
"Pretty well, we've had a few sold out shows this past week. It's really an amazing experience." He sighed.
"What?"
"I just don't know what's going to happen now. I can't just stand there on stage and sing without running around and having a good time."
"You can still have a good time even if you can't run around. The fans will understand, and once you see all of them out there it'll make you really happy."
"I wish this shit didn't have to happen!" He looked at my shocked face and was just as shocked himself. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
"It's okay. I'm not too glad this happened either."
There was another long silence, with Dan's face in his hands and my eyes darting from my arm to the IV drip. I saw his head lift back up and he began looking at me with a little smile on his face.
"What?" I asked with a small giggle.
"You're... You're so beautiful, Maggie." I blushed.
"You say that to all your fans?" I laughed, but he kept smiling.
"I don't think of them as fans. I think of them as friends. And you are my very, very beautiful friend."
I looked at him with an are you sure? face on, and he smiled even wider. He leaned in and I followed, and it almost felt like everything was in slow motion once we kissed. I felt his touch for the very first time and it was like nothing I had ever imagined. We both came away from each other, blushing and feeling amazing.
"Wow." I was speechless.
"How was that?" He responded, and I couldn't help but giggle.
"Just... wow." I grinned like an idiot, trying to think about what just happened.
My mom walked in with an apple pie in her hands, and we tried to contain ourselves.
"Thanks, mom." I glanced at Dan and gave him a don't say anything look, and he agreed.
We ate in silence for a little while, until my mom sparked up a conversation.
"So, Dan. How's everything going?"
"Pretty good. Touring is fun." He ate another mouthful of pie with the forks my mom gave us.
"Is it hard being away from your family all the time?"
"Mom..." I gave her a you probably shouldn't bring that up look.
"It's fine, Mag." Mag... that was new. "Yeah, I miss my parents and brothers all the time. They come to a few shows when we're performing near them, but besides that and talking on the phone we haven't talked."
"Well don't worry, you'll see them soon enough."
We all finished our pie, and my mom wrapped up the rest that was left.
"Okay baby, I have to go to work. Call me if you need anything." She kissed my forehead again. She always does that. It's kind of her thing.
"Bye." She left, and I looked at Dan. I could easily tell he was tired.
"Do you want to sleep?" I asked.
"No, it's fine. I'll stay up with you." His eyes were comforting, but there were bags under them.
"Dan, you need to sleep." I insisted.
"Okay. I'll sleep right here." He laid back in the chair, and he was out in two seconds. Assuming I would be bored all alone, I just decided to sleep as well.
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it took so long for me to post it. I'll try and get the next chapter up by the end of the week. Thanks for reading! ☺️
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