Us.

Chapter 17: I always will be

Claire's P.O.V. (continued)

"Claire, wake up." Braden whispers in my ear. "Hey, we got to go to school." He says again. I open my eyes and lift my head higher up on Braden's chest. "Hey gorgeous." He says as I look into his eyes, and a smile creeps across his face. I'm glad to see him happy.

"Hey." I say, with his eyes locked to mine.

"We have to go to school." Braden says.

"I-I can't, remember? I still have to wait a few days before I can go back." I say.

"Oh yeah, from the..." He says trailing off.

"Stop that, don't do this to yourself. It's not your fault, I just need to stay home and rest so nothing bad happens during school." I say looking up at him. He gives me a sorry expression and he's about to say something but I cut him off my reaching up and pulling his mouth to mine. He kisses back and a few seconds later I pull away.

"I'm gonna go. I'll see you later, okay?" I ask as I sit up slowly, being careful so I don't get cramps later.

"I'll walk you home." He says. I look at his clock, and he needs to get going.

"No, you have to go get dressed and stuff." I say placing my hand on his bare chest.

"I don't want you-" he says before I cut him off.

"I'll be okay. I'll see you later." I say as I stand up. He stands up and places his hands on my waist. I stand on my tip toes and gently peck him on the lips with a smile. "Bye." I say and I walk out of his room, closing his door behind me. I walk down the stairs and I make my way to the front door, hoping Cindy doesn't see me.

"Good morning Bra-you're not Braden." Cindy says as she comes out of the kitchen.

"Sorry for the disappointment, but I better be going." I say reaching for the doorknob and Cindy does nothing to stop me. I walk home and my mom rushes to me when I walk in the door.

"Claire! Oh thank god you're okay. You are okay, right?" she asks as she hugs me.

"Mom I'm fine. Did Jake tell you what happened?" I ask when she pulls back.

"No, what happened?" she asks. Why did I ask that?

"Braden, uh, um, passed out. I was staying with him, when-uh, he broke down. I couldn't just leave him, I'm sorry if I worried you." I say, almost telling her about the cramps, but she probably needs to know.

"Okay, is everything okay now?" she asks.

"Yeah. It's just while I was over there, I got those cramp things again." I say hesitantly.

"Oh my god! Sit down, did you call the hospital?" she asks leading me to the stairs.

"I'm fine now. No, but Braden was great. He helped me and I got through it. I just wasn't being careful about what I was doing." I say.

"I want you to rest today, and the doctor said you can go to school tomorrow." She says. I nod and go to the couch in the living room.

I honestly don't know what I think about going to school tomorrow. I've missed so much since the accident, and I bet everyone knows about what happened, and I don't want all the sympathy. I also can't deal with Dylan. I wonder if I can get a note from the doctor saying I'm allergic to Dylan now? I can't deal with him right now, I'll just rest today and go back tomorrow. There's gonna be so much work I have to catch up on, it's not even funny. But I can do it, I'll just have to hold back on spending time with Braden.

I don't want to do that.

"O-Okay." I say back.

"You'll be okay honey. I'll contact your teachers and explain what happened. You won't be alone, you have us, and you have Braden to help you at school." She says.