Grow Up

|Chapter 31|

*TAYLOR'S POV*
Nothing can explain how awful I've been feeling lately. Imagine the worse possible experience, and multiply that by 20 million. That's not even close to how much this event will ruin me. The woman I loved most in this entire world, gone—left—just like that. She was so special to me, one of a kind. Beautiful, intelligent, adorable, amazing, hilarious; it was only a matter of time before I completely lost it.

*SHAWN'S POV*
We all sat, silently, outside of Mahogany and Alyssa's hospital rooms. Carly's was empty, except for Taylor who still sat beside the empty bed. Not one of us could process what had just happened a few hours ago. We lost one of our best friends. We lost a part of the thing that matters most in the world: our family. As for Alyssa, she was in stable condition from the beginning, thank god. Mo was struggling in the beginning, but she is stable now. I began to tear up as the thought of Carly popped back into my head after trying to forget. I should've known I could never be able to forget such a fabulous girl. To take my mind off of her, I walked into Alyssa's room for the tenth time this morning. Just checking in. Before, I'd be in there for 10-15 minutes until she insisted I leave and get some rest. I have only gotten 3 hours of sleep in the past 24-36 hours, so I can't even imagine how much sleep Taylor has missed. The guys and I agreed not to tell Alyssa or Mo about Carly until they got home from the hospital. We figured the more they didn't know, the more rest they could get, and the faster they could get better. Although I don't know why they'd have to get better so soon. It's not like they would even think of doing Magcon without Carly. The first day I went in to visit Alyssa, this is how our conversation went (Shawn starting):
"Hey. How are you?"
"Good. How about you? How are you hanging in?"
"Fine I guess. I'm just happy you're okay."
"What about the other two? How are they?" My heart stung for a while after that question. I didn't know how I could possibly lie to the girl I loved, who mattered so, so much to me. I did anyway.
"They're holding in by the looks of it. Mo more than Carly." My voice broke as soon as Carly's name came out of my mouth, and I knew, instantly, she'd become worried.
"Shawn? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?"
"Shawn you already asked me that. What's wrong?"
"Oh. Sorry. Really, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, I'm just upset this happened to us. To you."
"You're so sweet. Thank you. But really what's the matter? Your mouth is twitching. Either I'm going insane or you're lying to me. Shawn, you know you can tell me anything, right?"
Damn she knew me well. I laughed.
"Thank you, really. You've been so amazing and I care about you so much. Alyssa, I think I love you." That was a lie. I know I love her.
"Aw Shawn! I think I love you too." And I kissed her forehead, leaving the room. Before I closed the door, though, she called my name.
"Shawn!" I turned at the speed of light.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're okay? I want you to tell the truth, be one hundred percent honest with me." I hesitated. I love her too much.
"I'll be okay." I tried to get away, but she summoned me again.
"That doesn't answer my question, so I'll ask one more time. Are you sure you're okay?" I waited there for a minute, thinking. Am I? Am I okay? I really wasn't sure, so I grinned and said the first thing that came to my head.
"I love you." With that, she smiled big and let me go.
And from that day on, I've been telling Alyssa that everything was okay. Inside her hospital room, she was happy as ever, while just outside of it, the rest of us (Minus Mo) were mourning her best friend's death. How would I ever bring myself to tell my girlfriend that the car crash she got into killed her best friend while she survived, walking away barely injured at all? I had no idea, but I have two more days to prepare myself. Wish me luck.

A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to base this one mostly on Alyssa and Shawn's relationship, because I think they're so cute! There'll be longer chapters coming, so I'm truly sorry the past few have been extremely short. Love you all!
P.S. Would you guys rather the next chapter be based around how Mo's doing, or Taylor? Maybe all the other guys? Leave suggestions!