Aiden's POV

I was awake again in that same hospital room. I could tell just by the smell. Oh, I can't open my eyes -or move at all, for that matter-. As my hearing came back, I heard someone crying.

"I should've never accepted that bet. I'm so sorry!" the person sobbed. Oh, it was Alex. Wait. Why was he crying? Another sharp pain and I was out like a light again.

Alex exaggerated his breathing a bit so I could try to follow it, and, as my breathing calmed down, I stopped crying and my hold on his thumbs relaxed. The recent memory of those guys was trying to creep back into my mind but was staying stationary for now.

"You feeling any better?" Alex asked. He looked like he was trying to be calm for my sake. How kind of him. I nodded.

"God, I should've looked to make sure they wouldn't do something like that. I'm sorry," He said, taking off my glasses and wiping my tears.

"It's ok; I just got a little spooked," I told him, taking his hand by the wrist and moving it away.

"Sure," he said, voice full of sarcasm before he put my glasses back on.

"Let's continue walking, shall we?" he asked, adding, "I'll keep an eye out this time."

"mhm," I hummed and got up. This feeling of protection felt a bit nice, but it also made me feel weak. Heh. As if I needed someone to keep me safe.

We walked as if nothing had happened; the only different thing was Alex looking back every few minutes. I almost walked past my street because of how much I was thinking.

"Bye," Alex said with a smile.

"Yeah, bye," I replied, not bothering to turn back and look at him. I opened the door and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The small body of my sister leapt at me in joy.

"Aiden!!!" Kayla shouted happily, giggling when I spun her around before placing her back down.

"Calm down, Princess. I was only gone for the school day, not half a year," I said, using her favourite nickname.

"Dad's home!!!" she told me, jumping up and down. I was surprised. He was usually out on business trips, "He's here because it's gonna be Halloween in a week!!!"

"Did he give you sugar or something?" I asked, feeling exhausted just by her energetic presence.

"No! I'm just happy that he's here!!!!" she squealed.

I sighed and decided to follow her into the living room.

"Hi, dad"

This is the second episode of my writing binge! Hopefully, this got posted a day after the previous one, but -either way- I feel like, compared to the last one, this one's a bit happier lol. Also, new character introduction time! Fun fact, I made a relationship sheet for basically every character in this series (some which I haven't even introduced yet) and even started writing individual character information sheets for them. Anyway, I hope you have a nice day/night/evening/whatever time it is for you right now! Comment any thoughts on the series or anything of that kind. Take care of yourself! It's getting closer to winter, so keep yourself safe in whatever weather your winter brings ＼(⁀▽⁀ )／.