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UNEDITED

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Okay guys in sorry for this late update but I'm losing it with wattpad. They randomly deleted all my comments and WIPED OUT THE ENTIRE CHAPTER 57 (which was nearly 10,000 words) So not cool. Anyway if you have an apple product you'll be able to read it, but to those who read on the web or android and can't read the previous chapter, (please private message me or go to the end of this chapter to get a short summary of what happened in the previous chapter)

Somebody needed to switch off the damn alarm. It had beeping for the past I don't know how long and I was starting to get annoyed.

I tried to lift my hand to shut it but my hand just stays there unwilling to move. Oh god, why couldn't I have kept a catchier alarm? Like waking up to the Doctor Who theme song would have been much cooler.

But wait hadn't spring break started already? Why was I keeping an alarm, I-

Everything comes back to me in a flash and I wake up with a start.

Big mistake.

Everything hurts. And I mean everything hurts. Gods, it's like I decided it would be fun to go stand in front of a road roller.

"Oh thank god finally." Michella says flipping her magazine to the next page,"People were starting to panic. Even I was starting to panic that I was going to be wrong. But nope, I am always right."

I was most definitely in hell.

I collapse back into the bed and try to mumble something in the terms of go away I want to go back to sleep.

"I can't hear you with the mask you know?" Michella says,"Not that I really want to hear what you're saying either."

That's when I realise that there is a plastic mask placed on my face.

I struggle to get up and I'm stunned to see Michella actually putting her magazine down and making her way towards me.

Is this how she finally kills me?

But instead she tucks the pillow behind my back and helps me get into something that vaguely resembles me siting up.

I throw her a questioning look, what are you doing?

She shrugs.

"They called mom and dad first." She says,"They were too busy to pick it up so it reached their assistant. As usual. Then they tried to grandma and I picked it up instead and voila here I am."

"I told mom and dad-well their assistants it was nothing and you simply sprained your wrist." She continues,"And grandma doesn't know a thing. She'd probably freak and go commando on everyone's asses and I knew you wouldn't like that. Plus we both know that you could do better without mom and dad's fake concern over the phone you probably want to throw at their face."

I stare at her gape mouthed and she shrugs,"You're welcome. But I'd probably save the thank you's for your two boyfriends who are currently losing their shit outside. And then there is your batshit crazy best friend."

I probably would have at least attempted to hide my shock if Michella hadn't picked up her phone and speed dialled someone.

"Jake sweetheart." She says mockingly,"The love of your life is up and you didn't even have to kiss her awake. I-"

The phone must have cut off right then because she frowned looking at the screen.

"How rude." She mutters.

She has Jake on speed dial. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

"Do you want me to tell grandma?" Michella asks, sounding unsure for the first time in her entire life.

I shake my head and she nods satisfied.

"I figured." She says thoughtfully.

Just then a nurse bustles into the room wearing light pink scrubs, her brown hair tied up messily and a bright smile on her face. I recognise her almost instantly.

It's Mrs Reynolds.

Behind her Jake stands impassive his hands gripped tightly beside him, his knuckles bruised and cut up.

"Hi sweetheart how are you feeling?" Mrs Reynolds asks taking off the stupid mask from my face.

I open my lips to say something but I can't physically get the words out. My throat burns like it's nobodies business.

"Here you go." She says handing me a glass of water. I lift up my right hand which is heavily bandaged. I fail to grasp the stupid-

"Give it to me." Jake says coming forward and taking the glass out of her hands and holds it up using one of his fingers to lift my chin up and his other hand holds up the glass next to my lips.

I shoot him a grateful look but Jake isn't looking at me and his hand his shaking badly.

I quickly take two sips and clear my throat, trying not to wince and how sore it is.

"Thank you." I manage to say looking desperately hoping that Jake can finally look up at to me.

And he does. He looks to at me for just a second but it's enough.

It's enough for me to realise that Jake is totally and completely terrified.

He breaks away putting the glass down and turning on his heels and exiting the room hurriedly.

What the-

"How are you feeling?" Mrs Reynolds asks giving me a sympathetic look.

"Fine." I croak out the lie.

She smiles,"You're a brave one aren't you?"

"Anyways." She continues,"The bruises on your neck will hurt but they've not damaged anything. You've got a sprained ankle and wrist and a pretty nasty cut on your right palm but other than that you're okay."

"I'm sorry but nothing about this is okay." I hear a voice saying rapidly.

I crane my neck to see Rebecca standing at the doorway with Jake behind her.

"Yes." Her mother says trying to sound patient,"We figured that out when you tried to nearly poison the bastard who did this to her."

My mouth actually hangs open at the level of informality Mrs Reynolds adopts with her daughter.

She shrugs,"He deserved far worse. Be happy I wasn't going decapitate him and put his head on a spike for everyone to see. Actually that would be far too game of thrones for my liking."

Her mom shoots her a look.

"Well it's not like I actually got to do it. You caught me." Rebecca says drily walking into the room,"And then stopped me."

"I'd rather have him suffer alive wouldn't you?"

Rebecca turns to me and says,"You know if I really wanted him dead he already would have been."

And I know that Rebecca means it as she asks it to me. All I really need to do is help her hide the body.

I manage to smile. Because at that moment for the life of me I can't figure out why I always thought that I had no one.

"Your discharge papers are getting ready,sweetie." Mrs Reynolds says ignoring her daughter and taking the needles out of my arm,"We've taken a blood test too, standard procedure, the results should be out in a couple of days. But other than that you're fine. You just need a long lazy spring bring."

She gathers her clipboard and then walks out of the room.

"I'm going to go to." Michella says slowly looking inbetween Jake and I,"To be perfectly honest the sexual tension in this room is far too much for my liking."

She purposely bumps into Jake on her way before heading out and Rebecca stares after her glaring holes at her back.

Suddenly it's only the three of us.

"You." She looks at Jake,"Go sit beside her and be nice, talk to her instead of standing here like an idiot."

Jake's mouth drops open and I have to stop myself from laughing.

"I mean it." She says looking between the both of us,"I'm not in the mood to handle any of this angst right now because I swear to god I'm going to end up killing someone and since I got caught trying to kill that person I'm in a worse mood."

"Yeah." I manage to joke,"It's been a while since one of your assassination attempts went haywire."

She shrugs giving a little smile,"You have no idea.If I was there I would have kicked his ass to hell and let him stay there. Good thing Jake did it for me."

She inches even further away so much so that she's standing outside the room.

"So you both flirt, kiss or do whatever it is that you do together and I'll be right back." She says turning on her heels and walking away.

"What just happened?" Jake asks looking pretty much stunned.

"That's my best friend for you. She probably just came down from her permanent room in the mental ward for a stroll."

I manage to turn myself around slowly so that I'm completely upright on the bed. I survey the damage then, my hands all pale and bruised especially on both wrists where hand prints are clearly visible.

My right hand, the one I grabbed the knife with was tightly bandaged although it had already started to show tiny bits of red.

I wasn't in the best of shape but I would live. I had the entirety of spring break to get over this so I would be okay.

I look up at Jake who is looking at me his lips in a tight line and his fists clenched.

My throat is still burning and I have no doubt that it probably resembles the worst of the bruises.

"I-" my voice comes out scratchy and broken and I forcibly clear it.

"How are you feeling?" Jake asks me carefully.

"Perfectly okay." I say, lying just a bit. There was no point telling him that I felt like something out of a zombie movie.

Scratch that the zombies must have felt better. The zombies on walking dead have nothing on me.

"Are you sure?" He asks once again and I nod with some difficulty.

"Great." He says completely transforming,"Then I can begin to start telling you just how stupid you were for even thinking that what you did was not the most idiotic thing ever."

I blink rapidly trying to figure out how he went from being utterly unsure to completely angry.

"How could you be so damn dumb Clara? " He yells,"What the fuck was you going through that head of yours?"

I roll my eyes,"Stop over dramatising it like a two year old. You make it sound like i was going to die or something.Nothing happened plus I kicked his ass-"

"Nothing happened?" His eyes narrowed,"Nothing happened. Are you fucking kidding me right now? You collapsed. You quite literally collapsed and you were bleeding, you still are by the way. Those bruises on your neck? They didn't come because Edward the sparkly a vampire decided to bite you and turn you into his eternal one true love."

"I much rather have Damon-"

"Clara." Jake warned,"This is not funny. And don't you dare say nothing happened."

I'm actually surprised by just how angry he is. What happened to looking terrified?

"So what? " I know I should probably shut up but the level of hypocrisy was starting to annoy me,"You can do all of this shit. You did the same damn thing with Eric and he-"

"Thats because I can handle myself. Unlike you I'm not a-"

"I swear to god Jake Henderson if the words you're a girl comes out of your mouth, bleeding, bruised or not I will come and kick your ass." I say moving slightly and then trying my best to hide my wince.

I try to push myself up and turn my body but I end up siting awkwardly on my hand and I cry out.

"Yeah you seem Just fine." He mocks but his eyes give him away as he worriedly glances at my hand.

"I'm super-duper" I say flexing it.

"This is not a joke Clara. " He says running his hand through his hair,"I don't know what makes you hate yourself so much that you just run blindly into these things without thinking through the consequences. It's like you want to get hurt."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." He says,"If you were fine you wouldn't have collapsed. I wouldn't have to carry you all the way to the nurses office, worried out of my-"

"You did what?" I say now getting angry,"You carried me? Are you fucking out of your mind? Your shoulder, you're ribs, you could have-"

"You're kidding right now, aren't you?" He says looking absolutely stunned,"You're actually positively kidding right?"

"No I'm not." I say glaring at him,"I'm not kidding. You could have just dumped some water on my face I'm sure I would woken up."

"Are you for real?" He asks and I shrug.

It would hurt a lot less if I wasn't.

He looks up and sighs,"What the hell am I supposed to do with this girl?"

"Jake you're over reacting." I say,"I wasn't in some car accident or-"

"You're hurt Clara."He deadpans.

I give a blank stare,"I'm a big girl Jake I can handle a few-"

"I really can't give a fuck as to what you can handle Clara, it's as to what I can." He says,"And right now all I can see in my head is just going limp-"

And that's when I realise Jake isn't angry. He's not even close to being mad.

"You're scared." I state,"You're actually scared for me."

"Do you need an award for finally figuring that out?" He asks sarcastically.

"God no need to be rude." I say,"I'm fi-"

"Stop lying. It's okay. It's okay for you to tell me that you're not okay. It's better than you lying to me, over and over again." He says sounding exasperated,"I don't know how many times I'm going to have to tell you this but you're not fine."

"And neither are you." I say and I realise that we are probably repeating ourselves like a broken record but it wasn't my fault that he was so damn thick sometimes.

"I'm thick?" He says,"I'm thick? Really?"

I blink looking at him realising I had spoken out loud. And I'm amazed to be honest. How long had it been since I had done that?

"Yes, you're thick." I say,"Because if you realise that two weeks back I was the one who had been standing in your position and trust me it was a whole lot scarier."

"Scarier?" He says and then laughs but there isn't anything funny about it,"Really? Scarier. Sure because why on earth someone choking you and threatening you with a knife be scary at all?"

"Jake-"

"You told me that you had been here two weeks back standing in my position worried out of your goddamn mind." He says breathing heavily,"Then why would you want to put me through this?"

"This isn't about you."

"Really?" He says,"Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that you didn't pull this shit with Kevin because of some misplaced concern for Alec and I-"

"This isn't about you." I say,"This is about me. It's about the fact that the only reason Kevin was messing with you was because you saved me. Because I couldn't handle myself and you had to rescue me like some stupid damsel in distress."

"We are way past distress right now." He mutters and I sigh.

"You don't know how it feels to have someone pay for a stupid mistake you made." I start to say.

"Oh really." He says,"If I didn't know that then, why the fuck would I be leaving you right now and running away to New York. Do you think it's because I want to?"

"Because I don't." He says shaking his head,"I really really don't want to. But I have to because it's the only keep you safe from my mistakes. But then there is you. I mean obviously life must have gotten boring for you and you just have to go looking for trouble don't you?"

"Maybe I'm just trying to show you how pointless it is for you to leave me and go." I say.

"You really hate me that much that you're putting me through this, aren't you?" He says.

"I think I've said I love you far too many times for you to know that isn't true." I say.

He opens his mouth and then shuts it again.

"And it wasn't like you weren't doing the same thing yesterday when you were playing the stupid game." I snap.

"It's different." He says.

"How?" I demand,"You were in an accident. You think I don't notice every time you move that shoulder of yours you wince-"

"And you think I can't see through this stupid I'm just perfectly peachy act of yours." He says.

"No one ever does." I snap,"I say I'm fine to everyone who bothers asking me and they believe me. So I keep it up Jake because there is no point of telling someone you're not fine when they can do absolutely nothing about it."

"Well it would help a whole lot more if you didn't blindly go looking for trouble with a large, I'm here arrow. I mean it Clara." He says firmly,"You're never going to do this-"

"Well it's not like you're going to be here to actually know." I say drily.

"We are back to this again, aren't we?" He sighs running his hand through his hair,"I don't get what you want me to do. I don't know how I can convince you that this is the only way. Admit it Clara two weeks back when you came to my house and kissed me it's exactly what you wanted me to do, you wanted me to go away."

"I didn't-"

"Of course you did." He says,"You use those words, those three words to make sure that you push me as far away from you as possible."

"Is that what you think?" I say my temper rising,"That I'm pushing you away by saying how I feel? That I enjoy getting my heartbroken every time I say those words? Do you really want to know why I want you to stay? It's because I realised what Clara Wilson looks like without Jake Henderson and it's absolutely fucking terrible."

"Then hate me," he says,"Blame me for everything that's wrong-"

"I can't." I say ,"You have no idea how much I've tried but I just can't."

"I'm doing this because I won't be handle it if something happens to you and it's my fault." He says,"I'm leaving because you and I both know you deserve better-"

"Maybe I do." I yell my voice hoarse,"But I don't want better. Haven't I proved that enough time already? The only chance I had with better I managed to mess up because of you. Because of how I feel about you. Because of how I'll always feel about you and I wish you going away would change that but all it does is scares the hell out of me."

"It scares the hell out of me that once you walk out of here I will never ever feel the way I do when I'm with you." I say.

"And you think I'm not." He states,"You think that I'm not just as scared as you are?"

I smile slightly,"No. You're Jake Henderson and I'm just plain old drab Clara Wilson who landed you because you felt sorry for me and decided to help me get a boy I had been after for a long time. Sure I was fun for a while Jake but you will forget about me in a blink of an eye. But I don't think I can. And I know it's selfish as hell but I'm afraid that you'll just forget and I'll be-" I shake my head stoping myself. Seriously after a point it all got too pathetic for me too.

He stares at me silently.

"What no smartass comeback this tim-" Before I can finish the sentence I start coughing violently.

It's the horrible sort of dry coughing the kind that burns your throat all the way through.

My eyes are watering by the time I'm done and my throat feels scratchy and terrible. My head aches and I realise just how tired I was. I could barely keep myself sitting upright.

"Here drink this." Jake says lifting the glass up to my lips so I can take a sip out of it.

Worry predominantly shines through out his eyes as he looks at me scanning every inch of my face.

He's siting on the chair beside my bed and his other arm is around my waist rubbing small circles on my lower back.

I give him a small nod and he sets the glass down. He doesn't say anything and I close my eyes for just a second.

I lean over the side swinging my feet slowly testing if they would be able to take my weight when I stand. I open me eyes and he looks up at me and I realise just how close we are. His finger takes a loose strand of my hair and curls it around his finger gently.

"I'm in this constant battle of trying to make you hate me so that you can just let me go and at the same time tell you that Id probably do anything for you, so you can understand why I'm doing this. Why I'm leaving you." He says and then carefully tucks the strand behind my ears,"But I'm failing miserably at both."

"You need to understand that if I had been even a second late then a lot worse could have happened." He says slowly,"And it would have been all my fault. Last time when it had happened with Eric and now- it's like all I do is get you deeper and deeper into trouble."

"And it's like each time I fail to save you." He says,"If I had been a little earlier then you wouldn't be flinching every time you swallowed."

"Jake-"

"Everything that's happened to you has been fault and fuck Car I panicked." He says looking down,"When I found you I was thanking every god you were alright and then-and then you just went limp and I-"

He stops gulping.

"And I don't know what terrified me more." He says,"That you might not wake up or that when you wake up you'd be so goddamn afraid of what I almost did in front of you because Clara if you hadn't-hadn't stopped me I don't think I would have stopped until he was dead."

He puts his face in his hands,"Car I can't-"

"Hey-Hey." I say taking his hands and intertwining mine as best as I could through his, pulling then away from his face.

"You don't scare me." I say,"Never have, never will. I didn't tell you to stop because he didn't deserve what you were giving me. I stopped you because I was afraid of what it would do to you. That and if you took Rebecca's chance of revenge she would probably end up killing you."

He snorts at that.

"You are one of the best people I know." I say,"And I don't care what you think about yourself but this is what's true and it doesn't matter how much you try to tell yourself otherwise."

He rolls his eyes,"And I thought I sprouted out cheesy lines."

"God this a really bad case of déjà vu." I laugh,"Can we just stay away from hospitals after this? I think I've had enough of this place for sometime."

"I've had enough of hospitals for a life time." He mutters,"Especially if it involves you fainting or hurt again."

"Thank you for caring so much." I say,"But it's not going to matter anyway. You're leaving."

He sighs,"Take a lesson from your favourite song and Let it go, Clara. Just let it go."

"H-How do you know it's my favourite song?" I ask stunned.

"You keep on humming it, all the time, and you don't even realise it." He says shrugging,"Just like you don't realise so many things. How you're completely oblivious to the effect you can have on people. How you can be the biggest dork on the planet but so help me god Clara Wilson it's why-"

I don't know what he was going to say because Alec bursts in the room looking frantic.

He grabs me into a tight hug,"Oh thank god, I heard you were awake. Are you all right?"

I nod tearing my gaze from Jake who has shock written all over his face and he backs away instantly breaking eye contact with me,"I'm fine. Just a little banged up. But other than that I'm just fine."

He nods and steps back, seemingly satisfied with my answer and I frown looking at him.

"What happened to your nose?" I ask taking in the appearance of his slightly crooked and bruised taped up nose.

Alec's eyes flutters away from me,"I ran into a-"

"I punched him." Jake says casually leaning against the back wall.

"What?" I say,"You did what?"

"I punched him straight in the nose- should have probably done worse but there was no time." Jake states, his tone utterly bored.

"But why?" I ask.

"I deserved it." Alec reassures,"Don't worry-"

"Why Jake?" I interrupt.

"Well because he was an idiot for letting you go do this on your own." Jake responds back in his same cool tone,"He knew what you were going to do and helped you. So he deserved it."

"He deserved it." I state,"And who exactly are you to decide what he did or did not deserve?"

"Clara I-" Alec starts.

"Well I decided it the same way you decided it was fine for you to and your lapdog here to take me out of the game just because you wanted me out." He says,"The same way you decided it was okay to go after a boy who is at least thrice your weight and-"

"That's real rich coming from you the king of fucking stupid choices and bad decisions." I say,"Let's not forget his two weeks back you crashed a fucking car and not only did you put yourself in danger but Alec too. So excuse me if I don't take you seriously."

"And let's not forget about E-" I stop myself right on time and then continue,"You're irresponsible and I'm really fucking sick of having this same conversation with you when you behave like such a damn hypocrite."

"He did-" Alec starts but Jake cuts him off.

"So what? This is your way of getting back at me? By getting yourself nearly killed" He laughs drily says,"Brilliant move Clara like that isn't stupid at all."

"This is exactly why I went to him." I say,"Because all you want to do is have your way. Going after Kevin was my decision. And he helped me because he cared about what I thought and what I wanted."

"What you wanted almost got you killed."

I give Jake a look,"Yeah what I usually want happens to be the worst for me. But it's still my decision and It didn't get me killed." I say.

"Oh yes that's why you're in the Emergency Ward currently. Because it's a brilliant vacation spot." He says drily.

"Shut up!" Alec yells startling both Jake and I.

"Enough is enough." Alec says calmly,"You both are behaving like ten year olds and it's annoying as hell."

He turns to Jake,"You should know better than to push her now. She's hurt and she's weak and it's not her fault that she got hurt. We are all to blame here and I should have been smarter than letting her go alone. To letting her do it at all."

"You saved her once from that asshole, don't push her so far that someone needs to save her from you Jake." Alec says calmly.

"Someone does need to save her from me." Jake mutters but Alec ignores him and turns his gaze towards me.

"Don't strain yourself over all of this." He says,"Act smarter than screaming yourself hoarse over some stupid argument both of you are having."

I open my mouth to say something but then shut it back again but Jake doesn't look the least bit impressed by Alec's outburst.

"Next what are you going to do?" Jake asks Alec,"Go give her a gun to shoot herself with?

"Stop it." I say.

"You're fucking impossible, you know that?" Jake asks.

"Have you seen yourself?" I say.

"Have you heard the both of yourselves arguing?" Alec says sounding exasperated.

"Then tell him to leave." I snap,"It's what he does best anyway."

"Fine, that's exactly what I'm going to do." He says and throws Alec a look filled with warning, which Alec acknowledges with a small nod.

Jake gives me last look and then leaves without another word.

I know there is a large part of me that wants to demand that he comes back instantly and stops behaving like a kid but I'm simmering with rage.

I know that I'm probably being the second biggest hypocrite on the planet right after him but my pride won't let me back down from the decision I made.

If it came to that I was sure that if it came down to having a choice of taking this entire thing with Kevin back I wouldn't do it any differently.

Except maybe be carry an extra can of pepper spray in my pocket and keep a baseball bat in my locker. But that was it. And Jake knew that.

And it made him even madder.

Good.

"Don't let his I'm angry as fuck act freak you out." Alec says,"He was losing his shit for the hour you were unconscious."

I smile tiredly,"Yeah I bet. Are you sure your nose is okay? It looks-"

"I'm not the one who almost got choked to death." He sighs,"Clara I can't believe you did that. It was so stupid."

Yeah so everyone keeps telling me.

"And I was so stupid for letting you do it." He says,"I don't know what I was thinking. I knew how dangerous he was, what he had done to you but I still let you do it."

"It's because you knew I could." I say,"And it's not like you could have stopped me."

"But that's why you came to me isn't it?" Alec sighs,"You came to me because you knew Jake wouldn't let you do it. He would have stopped you because he knew how stupid it all was.And he was right. I made a stupid error of judgement-"

"Helping me was not an error of judgement." I say sharply,"And Jake Henderson needs to stop making decisions for me."

"Tell me that he wasn't right about this?" Alec says,"That he wasn't right about keeping the Kevin thing from you? He was doing it to protect you."

"He doesn't have to-"

"THe guy maybe an asshole. He maybe the biggest bastard on the planet but he would do anything to protect you." Alec says,"I trust you more with him than with myself."

"Trust and Jake don't always go together." I say.

"But that's the thing." Alec says,"He's willing to do anything, even if that makes you hate him just so that you're alright. And i always thought that the two of you were as different as they come. Polar opposites , but now I don't think I've ever seen two people more similar."

"We are not-"

"When you asked me to take Jake out of the game tell me you weren't doing the same thing." He persists,"That you were protecting him even if it made him hate you."

I open my mouth to say something but then shut it again. It was twisted, the entire thing, specially because Alec Evans of all people was showing me the light when it came to Jake Henderson.

"I guess." I finally say.

"We were almost done with practice yesterday when Natalie comes up to Jake and starts telling him something frantically." He continues,"and then suddenly he's running so fast as if his life depends on it."

"When Natalie finally told me what was going on and I managed to find you guys, Kevin lying practically half dead on the floor and you were in Jake's arms and he was desperately trying to wake you up."

"I must have reached moments after you fainted. And I had never seen anyone so scared in my entire life than Jake was."

"I have never seen Jake lose it and panic." Alec says,"He's one of the most calculating unfeeling people I have had the bad luck of meeting. And yet there he was freaking out, desperately calling your name asking you to come back to him and apologising over and over again."

"I had always thought that I deserved you more because I loved you more than Jake." He says,"I've been in love with you for so long now I didn't think he could love you more. But the night of the accident, this,makes me think just how wrong I was when it came to him. That maybe he had always had the edge over me and I was too stupid to see it.And you know what makes me a terrible person?"

"The way he looked at you at those moments when you were lying there, all I could think about was how I could ever hope to compete with that." Alec says.

He looks up at me his eyes wide and pleading,"We are over but you know I haven't given up hope. So tell me now. Will I ever have a chance to compete with that?"

I stare at him thoughtfully for a while an I'm about to respond when the door burst open and Michella stands there looking less than happy.

"We need to go, now." She says,"Your discharge papers are ready and we need to talk."

She turns to look at Alec,"You can do this later. I'm taking her home."

"Michella not-"

"You're right." Alec says interrupting me. He gets up and pushes his chair back leaning forward and then pressing his lips against my forehead.

"I'll talk to you later." He says and then turns around walking away.

"Wow you've got them both that whipped huh?" Michella comments.

"What are you even doing here?" I say,"Here to celebrate that I god what I deserved?after all, you do hate me that much."

She rolls her eyes,"I don't hate you that much. Yes I dislike you strongly but that's about it. But right now I'm acting as our absentee parents signing your discharge papers and helping you home, the least you could be is nice."

"Thank you." I say quickly,"But it's you and you hate me. So unless you have an ulterior motive this all makes no sense."

"Like I said,strongly dislike." She says,"I maybe a cold hearted bitch Clara but you're one too, thinking that I could go that far."

"You turned my best friend against me. You slept with the boy I loved, you-"

"I'm sorry I'm confused, which boy are you talking about?" She says,"I always get confused who you love nowadays. Wether it's Jake or Alec or both."

"Why are you here?" I sigh.

"And as for the supposed best friend I turned against you." She states,"I hear she's the one who went and called Jake or else I'd be laying flowers on your grave right now."

Natalie had called Jake.

She could have easily walked out and turned her back. After all I did to her I wouldn't blame her and yet she'd gone and called Jake.

"So stop being an ungrateful little bitch and put your big girl pants on and focus on the main problem." She says,"And hurry up and get ready, there is only so many excuses I can give grandma."

"What's the main problem?"

"It's the fact that green eyed boyfriend number one currently beat almost assault rapist into pulp." She says.

"Yeah I wish he'd left me some work." I say drily,"I wanted a few hits to."

"Oh god you're not getting this are you?" She says,"Jake Henderson as in Henderson Corps heir just beat the crap out of some guy for you. Don't you think certain parties will be interested in that?"

"Fuck." I curse. If I had been paying more attention to Michella and not so caught up in the entire mess I had created I would have noticed that there was something very unsettling about the comment she made.

But instead I could already see the chain reaction setting off. One word uttered against against Jake in court and the whole media would blow up violently about Henderson Corp. Which meant that the case would become for too public, far too fast.

With everyone gunning for Jake not only would hw be dragged into the damn spotlight but Alec might be too and just by digging a little deeper Alec's parentage would slip out in the world.

And that would cause a whole lot of other problems. It's the exact thong Spencer had warned me about when I'd talked to her.

And not to mention Eric would surely come to know everything going and between Jake and I which would defeat the entire purpose of him going.

Well that wouldn't be so bad.

No, that wouldnt but the rest of it would be absolutely terrible. All the fights Jake and I had been having, all the reasons Alec and I broke up would be for nothing.

Oh god Jake was right. It was the dumbest decision I had made and he'd probably made a even dumber one by coming and saving me.

"The police haven't been alerted yet. The school is hoping to resolve this matter internally so that their reputation doesn't get tarnished." Michella says,"The Fields haven't gone to the police to press charges yet but if you-"

"I know. If I press charges they'll use Jake as a defense and the fact that their son was injured far more than I was." I say,"And even if I don't,There is a high chance that they'll go up against Jake."

"Either way, Jake gets caught in between." Michella says.

"Fuck. Fuck." I say rubbing my hand to my temple,"I need to talk to Jake."

"He's gone."

I look at her in panic,"What do you mean he's gone? Has he gone back to New York?"

"Do I look like his keeper?" She asks,"I don't know where he's gone but he left the hospital."

"Then what are we going to do?" I ask.

"I have an idea." Michella says slowly,"But you're going to have to trust me."

I give her a you're kidding look.

"The school has a meeting tomorrow." She says,"Ill come with you. Technically I can act as your guardian. All we need to do is talk to his parents and scare the crap out of them."

"How do we do that?" I ask fervently and she scoffs.

"We are the Wilson sisters and nobody messes with us and gets away with it." She says,"If we push them the right way they are going to run."

"And why would you help me?" I ask once again trying to wrap my head around the fact that Michella and I were actually planning in doing something together.

"Because I want to." She says,"Besides this isn't about you, is it? It's about Jake.So if you are desperate to get him out of this mess and accept my help."

I look at her apprehensively biting my lip. Trusting my sister wasn't on the top ten of the smartest things I could do list, but I had no other option.

So I sigh,"I'm listening."

________

"Aah!" I say throwing my pillow across the room. It hit the wall and fell down and I put my face in my hands curling my knees up to my chest.

I was exhausted. I was so damn tired and yet I couldn't sleep. I could barely get myself to stand up from my bed.

I was in terrible, terrible shape. It was three in the damn morning and I was just blankly staring at the ceiling unable to shut my eyes for a moment before I woke up with a start thinking that someone's hands are around my neck.

I had barely made it through the door earlier today. Michella and I had stumbled through the doorway around nine in the night. Michella had told Alec not to come anywhere near the house and that I would have to just get through the house steady on my own two feet, unless I wanted to tell grandma the truth.

But I had been firm about that much. There was no point of worrying her. Mom and dad on the other hand had each called separately to ask a super quick how are you and what happened?

Obviously Michella's it's just a false alarm excuse had worked. Although I'm not sure if their reaction would have been any different either way.

So as usual I responded that everything was fine.

They believed me.

To be honest everyone did when I said I was fine, it had become a habit for me over the years, every time someone asked how I was, I would say I'm fine.

No one ever bothered to question any more why would they? What could they do?

When we reached, my grandma didn't seem worried at all because Michella had given her some excuse that we were bonding.

If I had the energy i would probably laugh at just how improbable it was that the two of us were bonding. The Wilson sisters didn't do bonding. But grandma genuinely looked happy about the whole thing so I let it pass.

I tossed again in my bed frustrated. Come on I can at least try to sleep.

I close my eyes tightly trying to sleep. But it doesn't come. Because all I can recall is the stupid knife almost hitting Jake and a pair of hands wrapping around my-

My recurring nightmare coupled with my frequent glances towards Jake room had nearly destroyed any scope of rest.

When we first came home and I didn't see Jake's car outside,I nearly lost it thinking that Jake had left for good. But he came home after an hour of me glancing between my phone and his house, much to my relief.

I tear my gaze from the ceiling and glance towards my phone.I don't know what makes me do it but I grab my phone and open my messages. I hesitate for a moment but in the end I click on the compose button.

To Jak(e)ass 1:41 am

I thought you'd left.

For good.

From Jak(e)ass 1:44 am

Would if I could,

But I can't so I shan't .

To Jak(e)ass 1:46 am

Are you drunk?

From Jak(e)ass 1:47 am

There isn't enough amount

Of alcohol in the goddamn

world to get me drunk

enough today.

From Jak(e)ass 1:47 am

Why are you up so late?

Is everything- never mind

I'm sure everything is fine

To Jak(e)ass 1:48

I know you're mad at me.

And I'm fucking furious at

you but that doesn't change

that I was freaking out that

You left today. I thought

You Really left.

From Jak(e) ass 1:48

It's what I do best anyway.

To Jak(e)ass 1:49

I didn't mean that.

You know I didn't.

I'm not fine. I'm not even

close to being fine by the way.

From Jak(e) ass 1:49

Don't apologise for being

right. It's the only thing I

can do well, leaving that is.

Whats wrong?

To Jak(e)ass 1:50

Everything. As usual.

To Jak(e)ass 1:50

I sound like such a wimp.

Everything's fine.

From Jak(e)ass 1:51

Count the number of

purple flying pigs. I'll be

right back.

P.S:Is your window open?

To Jak(e)ass 1:53

Why not flying horses?

P.S:What exactly do you

mean if my window is open?

From Jak(e)ass 1:57

That's because those already

exist and they're called unicorns. You'll be sure to

find them at the end of rainbows next to

leprachauns and their pot

Of gold. Come on it has

to be original. Like flying turtles or pigs.

And the best part about flying

pigs is that if it gets hit by lightning, free bacon for all.

To Jak(e)ass 1:57

You have a horrible

Imagination.

From Jak(e)ass 1:58

P.S: It means it means you

Need to open the window so

I can come. Since everything

Is fine right like you say now it's only obligatory for me to come and fuck things up.

To Jak(e)ass 1:59

It's open.

To Jak(e)ass 2:00

Please be careful and

Don't get hurt.

From Jak(e)ass 2:01

It's cute that you care.

To Jak(e)ass 2:02

I don't want to clean

Up the mess. I hear splattered

Brains leave stains that are awfully hard to remove .

That and like I said I'm

done with hospitals

From Jak(e)ass 2:04

And my imagination is

horrible.

I stop as I hear a little shuffling around my window and then suddenly Jake is in my room, all 6 feet 3 inches of him, his hair perfectly messy and his green eyes bright. I stare in shock as to how easily he crossed the gap between our rooms.

"Do you know how envious I am of your balancing skills?" I say smiling.

He grins back and my heart flutters. He's not mad at me anymore you can see it by the smile he gives me, the one that lights his eyes simultaneously and show the dimples on his cheek.

Seeing him smile like that is not meant for the faint hearted.

I smile back almost immediately my irritation and discomfort fading away to the furthest corner of mind.

And that right there I was so afraid of losing him. We had a terrible fight several hours ago where he walked away and yet we could go back to being us. The Jake and Clara who were so perfectly imperfect for each other that they just fit.

He gives a small bow,"Why thank you. I planned on being a tightrope walker as a kid."

"Seriously?" I ask.

He snorts,"Obviously not. Although I'm not scared of heights I rather not tempt fate."

"But you went on top of the Empire State Building." I say.

"Well I never said I was scared of the heights just not to find of them." He says,"And that time I was actually dealing with a more pressing fear of mine."

"Which is?"

"You doing something stupid and dying." He says.

"So small spaces, not overly fond of heights and utterly scared of my stupidity, is there anything I'm missing?"

"Nope I think you've got it pretty much covered." He says,"And here, I have a little get well soon present for you."

I eye him warily as he comes and sits on my bed right by my feet.

"I hope you haven't brushed your teeth" He says handing me a large kit Kat.

I don't think I've unwrapped anything faster in my life. I take a bite and grin happily.

"You are a god. " I say,"I'm going to marry you for this."

"I know I'm a god." He says cheekily,"I thought it would make you feel better."

"I feel terrible." I say honestly,"I'm not getting any sleep-"

He presses the back of my hand to my forehead, his eyebrows scrunched up with worry.

"You don't seem to be running a fever" He says,"But you should sleep. I'll just go."

"No." I say frantically,"Please don't. Every time I close my eyes all I see is-"

I trail off bringing my hand up to my neck.

"I should have killed that bastard." He mutters and then subsequently kicks his shoes off, which hits the floor in a jumbled mess of laces.

"Are those minion socks?" I ask grinning looking at his dorky socks.

"Not a word Wilson, not a word." He says and I burst out laughing.

Jake Henderson in minion socks. Oh god. I have officially seen everything.

"Think of it this way." He says,"I have all my minions at my feet quite literally all the time. It's the mark of any brilliant villain."

"Why are you the villain?" I ask.

"Because being good is boring." He says,"That and the armor looks itchy. Well, I suppose so it's not that I've actually made an effort to be good."

No,Jake doesn't have to make an effort to be good.

He settles himself,leaning against my pillows and stretching my hand towards me,"Are you coming?"

I look up at him stunned. Jake Henderson, I have to admit is a stunning addition to my bed, as he leans casually against it with a sort of look that says that this, being in my room asking me to come to sleep with him was a natural thing.

I could have probably stayed like that with my mouth open staring at him for seemingly eternity but I shrug it off and place my head on his outstretched arm, comfortably settling in.

"So I was initially planning to bore you to death with conversation but then I realised it's me." He says,"And any conversation with me is absolutely delightful."

"You wish." I say rolling my eyes and scooting closer towards him as a soft silence descends around us interrupted only by his steady breathing and my fast heart rate.

"Thank you for coming over." I say softly.

"Well I like being the person who can make you laugh when you're about to cry." He says,"Mostly because I'm pretty sure Alec has a shitty sense of hunour."

I smile and roll my eyes for the billionth time.

His hand finds mine and intertwines with it and I unconsciously graze my fingers over his bruised knuckles.

"Do you know you smell like honeydew?" I say randomly breaking the comfortable silence between the two of us.

"You smell like maple syrup and chocolate." He states stifling a yawn,"Almost every girl I've met, they all smell like strawberries but you, you just don't."

I smile,"So you're telling me that I smell like pancakes."

"No." He corrects me,"You smell like pancake toppings, and you know I'd love to have you on top of my pancakes."

"I will kick you out of my bed, if you even think like that." I say.

"Now you know that's all I can think about right?" He says and I whack him lightly.

"You're such a pig." I say.

"I don't really like purple." He says,"Can I be a blue one instead?"

"How do you even know about that?" I ask,"The flying pigs?"

"You drunk dialled me." He says lightly twirling my hair around his fingers.

I pull away so that I can see his face and he can see the utter embarrassment on mine,"I did what?"

"Yup you drunk dialled me when you went to that stupid party with your sister. You went all Harry Potter references on my ass." He says,"That and the usual of course. How you hate me, how you love me and how you want to have me for desert with extra whipped cream in top."

"You made the last part up didn't you?" I say.

He shrugs tugging gently on my sleeve trying to get me to lie back down,"It was worth a shot."

I settle back into my position, my head on his chest right above his heart. I could stay there forever.

"So on a scale of one to ten how embarassing was I?" I ask.

"Oh I thought it was measured from one to Clara Wilson."

"Jeez thanks." I say but I laugh none the less settling comfortably as he wraps his arm around my waist.

"Sleep Car, I'm still going to be here in the morning." He says,"Just promise me one thing. No pulling these kind of things again. No getting yourself hurt."

"If this happened and I'm not here-" he takes a deep breath,"I won't be able to live with myself. So please Clara, don't ever go looking for trouble."

"Are you counted?" I ask closing my eyes,"Because then I don't think I can make that promise."

He presses his chin against my head and sighs,"Before you I never realised how reckless and stupid my actions made me. And then there was you. You were a billion times stupider, a million times more reckless and a thousand times braver. But for my sake right now just promise me that you'll keep yourself safe for me. That you're not going to put me through that again."

"As long as you keep yours,"I smile sleepily,"I promise."

And I squeeze his hand, twice.

AUTHORS NOTE

Take this as a breather chapter for the shit that's going to come up soon. No cliffhanger, see? I'm being nice.

I swear to god every time I wrote a Clara and Jake argument it's like it's a single person arguing with themself because they are both so damn stubborn and hypocritical and pfft, opposites. I've never written two characters that were so similar.

The next chapter is going to be the last drag chapter of indecisive Clara. Because this love triangle is finally going to end and Clara is going to make her decision after that.

So who do you want it to be?

*inserts long author note here because if I actually go to write it then it will take me another two hours and people would kill me*

Sorry about the late update but wattpad and it's problems tend to get on my nerves. So don't even get me started on the problems. Let's not forget how Wattpad randomly took this book from number three in the what's hot romance list to nothing. But you guys are brilliant anyways!

Lol anyway guys, next update around next weekend. My update schedule is about a week to ten days so it isn't a sure thing.

So things that happened in chapter 57:

So Clara found out that the reason Jake and Kevin were fighting was because of her. Because Way back in chapter 13 when Clara had eaten the brownies and gone to a party with Alec and Jake (which she remembered

nothing of) where Kevin almost did to her what most assholes and creeps do in a party.

But not to fear as Jake came right on time and saved her then and beat the shit out of Kevin. Which is why now they hate each other.

Rebecca on the other hand is shipping Jake and Clara more than ever and is absolutely hating on Alec.

During the game Jake gets knocked down quite often and barely manages to get up. Clara being Clara loses her shit and goes to calm herself down.

When she comes back during half time she overhears Kevin talking to another the quarterback of the opposite team where he's basically selling out all the plays and telling them to target Jake.

She gets angry and tells Alec to take Jake out of the game before anything really bad can happen. Then she goes and basically does a lot of crap that ultimately gets Kevin kicked out of the school. (Alec helps her by giving her a locker code)

Kevin obviously angry goes after Clara throwing her around once he realises it's her who got him kicked out. Natalie sees what's happening but she walks away saying that Clara deserves what's she's getting.

Kevin nearly chokes Clara but then once again Jake comes and tackles him to the ground. Jake being really angry nearly kills Kevin but Clara stops him and then faints.

Oh god I just realised how lame that chapter was. Lol anyways.

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