One Time [Montgomery De La Cruz x OC]

Home sweet home.

A/N: I think you Marci and Monty fans are going to like this chapter much better than the last one! Also, in case you didn't notice last chapter, Marci and Jessica are still close but she's much closer now to Marissa and Jeff than anyone because they were her main shoulders to lean on after everything started going downhill. Jeff has officially taken on the role of her number one best friend and her and Marissa are extremely close sisters. Sherri, Zach, and Alex are no longer around but they could come back for some visits.

One month later...

"Are you sure he's ready to go home?" Annie asked the doctor nervously while we were finishing up Montgomery's discharge papers. "Mom, come on." Montgomery groaned while the nurse was helping him put his shirt on. "Yes, Mrs. De La Cruz, he's ready to go home. He's doing better than expected and I think it'll help him heal more to get out of here." The doctor chuckled while signing his last bit of paperwork. "So Marci, you quit your job and you plan on staying home with him still, correct?" He asked me and I nodded my head. Monty glanced at me sympathetically before looking away. He felt bad but it was what needed to be done. Luckily, both of our parents have more than enough money and are more than willing to pay our bills while he's healing. "Since he's doing fairly well as far as getting in and out of his bed and wheelchair, I think it's still safe to say that you'll be alright without an in home nurse." He explained and I agreed. I thought we'd be just fine without one and if we did end up needing to get one, I'd met with several already. "Did you already pick up his prescriptions? He needs them as soon as you get home." "Yup. I got them all last night." I answered the doctor immediately and he happily smiled. "Alright then, I think you can go ahead and pull the car around and we can get y'all out of here." He grinned and we all did the same. I quickly ran out to my car and pulled it around to the pickup area. I waited there for about 10 minutes before Annie walked out holding Montgomery's stuff and the nurse came out behind her, pushing Monty in his wheelchair. They opened my passenger door and helped him in, him groaning in pain some along the way. Then they loaded his wheelchair in the trunk and the nurse said goodbye before Annie hopped in the backseat. "Are we ready to blow this popsicle stand?" I joked, causing them both to laugh. "Just go." Monty chuckled with a playful roll of his eyes. Even though he's still very high from all of the endless pain medications they have him on, he's so much more sober than before. He's much closer to himself than he's been in several months. We listened to music on the way home and once we pulled in, Montgomery immediately noticed that everyone else's cars were there too. "Welcome home party again?" He chuckled with an eyebrow raised and both Annie and I laughed but nodded our heads. Annie and I both quickly got out and got his wheelchair out of the back. She grabbed his stuff and went ahead inside while I helped him. All he really needed was someone holding onto him and he was able to transfer himself in and out of his wheelchair. As soon as he was settled, I got in front of him and started fixing his hair. "We've gotta make sure you look nice for everyone." I chuckled while running my fingers through it. He softly laughed before looking up at me. I thought I saw a look in his eyes that I hadn't seen directed towards me in forever but I quickly brushed it off. "I'm kind of nervous." He admitted while looking down shyly. No one except immediate family had been allowed in so today would be his first time seeing my family and our friends' since before his overdose and attack happened. "Don't be. They're excited to see you." I smiled with a shrug of my shoulders before getting behind his wheelchair and pushing it. "God, you're so fucking heavy." I groaned, causing him to sadly chuckle. I knew that he felt bad that I was having to do this. "I really think the muscles in my arms and legs are getting bigger from pushing you around, so thanks for that." I said, trying to liven his spirits. It worked and he laughed with a shake of his head before we reached the front door. He doesn't talk a whole lot, so I typically do most of the talking for us. I think he's just very uncomfortable with everything and doesn't really know how to act. As soon as I reached out to open the front door, it swung open and Andrew was standing on the other side with a smile. "Sorry I didn't come sooner, it's just so funny watching you put your whole little body into pushing him. We all got a good laugh out of it." He laughed, causing all of us to laugh and me to jokingly smack his arm before moving out of the way. He took over pushing Montgomery and I followed behind them after shutting the front door behind me. "Welcome home, man." Jeff said first while stepping forward and hugging Monty. Everyone else followed suit and then our kids' showered him with love and affection. They know to be very gentle and they know that he can't move his arms and legs that well. While everyone was talking to him, I walked into the kitchen to grab all of his prescriptions that he has to take since the doctor told me to give them to him as soon as we got home. I took two pain pills out, an antibiotic, a muscle relaxer, his bipolar medication that's safe to take with everything else, and the pain patch that I had to put on his hip. I took out a pen and paper and wrote down all of the prescriptions and the time that I was giving them so that I wouldn't mess up on the time. I wouldn't have to change the pain patch for 3 days, so I wrote that down too. I grabbed a Gatorade out of the fridge and then walked back into the living room. "Oh good, I was just about to remind you about that." Annie smiled once she noticed everything in my hand. "Yeah, I wrote everything down so I won't get mixed up." I explained and she nodded her head, agreeing that was the best thing to do. If I messed up, it could really hurt him. Monty looked down embarrassed and everyone caught on so they made an excuse that they were going to go smoke and take the kids' in the backyard to play so that I could give him all of his stuff just the two of us. Once they were outside, I squatted down next to him and lifted up his shirt and gently pulled down his basketball shorts. "This goes on your hip, I'll put a new one on in 3 days." I explained since he hadn't had this yet because he'd been hooked up to IV's until now. He nodded and leaned to the side some so that I could get it better. I placed it on his hip before fixing his clothes and then standing up. "Okay, how many pills at a time?" I questioned while opening the Gatorade. "If they're small, just give them all to me at once." He mumbled and I nodded before gesturing for him to open his mouth. He did and I put them all in there before putting the Gatorade up to his lips. Once that was done, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a straw and put it in the drink. If there was a straw, he could use his left hand enough to bring the drink up some and then lean down to meet in the middle. He was able to feed himself for the most part too. I brought it out and handed it to him and he gratefully smiled. "Are you hurting?" I asked once I noticed him grimacing a lot and he nodded his head. He wasn't going to admit that to anyone else and he wouldn't have admitted it to me either unless I asked. "Well, those drugs should kick in soon, so you'll feel better." I assured him. "Yeah, I know. It just sucks until they do." He mumbled and I nodded in understanding. He closed his eyes and let out air through his nostrils. I watched him sadly before slowly reaching out and cupping his face. He jumped startled for a second before lightly opening his eyes and leaning into my touch. "I'm sorry you don't feel good." I whispered while running my thumb along his cheek. Innocent little touches is the most anyone would see out of us. We're still not even remotely together and I know that we're not in love with each other still. I genuinely feel like we're friends again though. I feel like we both still have a lot of hatred towards each other but now, he has a very high level of respect for me again and I have a very strong need to take care of him. I squatted down in front of him and placed my hands on his knees carefully. "You wanna lay down?" I questioned but he shook his head. "No, I need to show everyone that I'm thankful that they're here." He mumbled. "Don't worry about it, Monty. They understand that you're still in bad shape. It'll be okay..." "I'm staying up." He interrupted me. We stared at each other before I finally sighed and nodded my head. Whenever I stood up, I leaned towards him some since I was using the arm rests of his wheelchair to balance myself. I noticed him sniffing the air at the same time that everyone was walking back in. I suddenly felt very insecure. "Do I stink?" I whispered in a panic and that caused him to crack of laughing. That caused everyone to look at us in shock because he hadn't laughed like that in forever. "Oh my gosh, I smell bad! I took a shower this morning..." "You don't stink, Marci." He interrupted my whisper rambling with a laugh. Whenever I raised my eyebrows at him in concern, he laughed again. "I just noticed that you smell like strawberry and vanilla again and... you haven't smelled like that since after you were attacked." He explained, whispering the end. "Oh... yeah. I switched back to my old stuff. Today actually." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, not understanding why that was a big deal to him. He softly smiled with a small nod of his head before getting lost in thought. Why the hell did it matter to him what smell of shampoo and body wash I use? I chuckled with a shake of my head before turning my attention to everyone else. "Do y'all need my help with food or anything?" I questioned and both Marissa and Jessica nodded their heads. "K, I'm coming." I assured them. "Yell if you need me." I said to Monty while patting his shoulder and then walking off. Whenever I passed all of the parents, Jeff, and Justin, they all inhaled like Montgomery did and then looked at each other surprised and almost happy. I crinkled my eyebrows together in confusion but continued towards the kitchen. Once I got in there, we immediately got to work. As we cooked stuff and casually talked. Jessica turned to me with a smile. "The past few days, you've seemed more like your old self again, Mar. Happy and talkative and helpful. Over the past several months, you've just been kind of... there. I'm happy to see this Marci again." She grinned and I looked at her confused. "She's right, big sis. I was scared you weren't ever gonna be you again but... I see you in yourself now." Marissa added and I chuckled with a shrug of my shoulders. "I guess I just don't feel so sad and angry anymore. I don't know, it's just kind of happened over time. I'm healed, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders again but they both looked at each other with smirks. "Why would you be healed now all of a sudden?" Jessica asked with a chuckle and I once again shrugged. "Time heals everything. It's been awhile since everything happened and I guess I'm just getting to the point of accepting it." I explained. "Mhmmm." Jessica smirked, causing Marissa to laugh. They looked at each other and then glanced at Montgomery in the living room with the same smirk before chuckling and shaking their heads. "I think there's something you might have needed to be able to heal." Marissa spoke up after a few minutes. "Oh yeah? And what's that?" I chuckled and they both playfully rolled their eyes. "It's pretty fucking obvious but you'll just have to see it on your own, I guess." She responded. "Yeah, this is something that you have to see for yourself, we can't tell you or it won't be as impactful." Jessica added and I rolled my eyes at them while laughing. "Y'all look way too deep into things. I'm just getting over the shit that happened to me. All of it was enough to knock anyone out of focus. I just... needed to get my focus back." I said and they both softly smiled at me. "What keeps you focused is right in front of your face if you would just stop being so prideful and open your eyes to it..." "And open your heart back open to it." Jessica and Marissa said one after another. "Open my heart back open to it? My heart isn't closed to anything." I said confused and they both looked at each other. "But it is, sister. You'll figure it out." Marissa said while squeezing my shoulder and then walking past me towards the living room. "I'm glad you switched back to your old shower stuff, strawberries and vanilla fits you the best." She called out over her shoulder, causing Jessica to nod with a smile and me to look at them both confused. Why the fuck is that so great to these people? I walked towards the living room, Jessica following me, before speaking up. "Okay, why does every single adult in this house care so much that I switched shampoos and body washes?" I questioned and they all looked at each other. My dad went to speak up but Marissa stopped him. "That's something else that you need to figure out on your own, Mar. There's a reason why you switched back... just think about it." Marissa explained with a small smile, causing me to roll my eyes and huff out of irritation before going back to the kitchen. "I used the same shit for years and no one seemed to care then." I mumbled to myself in the kitchen while cutting up carrots. That's when it dawned on me. I stopped using using the strawberry shampoo and conditioner and the vanilla body wash because I didn't feel like myself anymore after everything happened. I felt like I needed to change, which is the same reason why I cut my hair slightly above my shoulders and dyed it really blonde too. I changed everything about my outer appearance to fit the change in my inner appearance. Now, I've subconsciously went back to my old smells, my hair is growing out, and I haven't dyed it again. I'm slowly turning back into myself without even realizing it. I hadn't even realized that I had changed until Monty said something to me about it that day during our fight. I didn't realize how much I'd changed until now. Why am I getting back to normal? Marissa and Jessica obviously don't agree with me that I'm just getting over everything, so what is it then? I looked around and my eyes landed on Montgomery smiling and talking to our kids'. There's no way it's him that's fixing me. No way. Not after everything that's happened between us and not when he's still not even anywhere near fixed himself. Not whenever we don't have feelings for each other anymore. It can't be him, it's not him. There's no way that someone who put me through so much hell and who I'm not in love with anymore could possibly fix all of my damage within just a month... just by being halfway back to normal. I couldn't help but to feel a lot more comfortable with him back home though. But it's still not him. He's just not. He looked up from the kids' and we made eye contact, causing a warm feeling to course through my veins. We stared at each other for a minute, almost studying the other one, before we both looked away at the same time. Maybe I'm not in love with him anymore, but I am damn glad that he's home.