Chapter 18

Krystina's POV
             I walk into the group counseling room and walk up to Danni. "Hey Danni," She turns around from setting papers on each person's chair and pulls me into a hug. I hug back and she pulls away patting my shoulders.

            "Please be careful out there. You haven't been out of the hospital since you've woken up."

            "I'll manage. But thank you for helping me with this, you could get in trouble." Danni pulls her keys and hands it to me.

            "You deserve to see the real world and be happy, even if it is for an hour or so. It's worth it." I put the keys in my sweatpants pocket and pull Danni into another hug.

            "Thank you so much Danni." Danni hugs me tight.

            "You're welcome." She pulls away and pats my head, "Have fun." I smile and walk into the hallway.

            "You almost ready?" Talia asks sitting on the floor next to Duncan.

            "I'm kinda nervous." Frayia pats my back.

            "It'll be fine. We got you covered." I nod and exhale slowly.

            "What time is it?" Talia stands up and looks around the corner.

            "4:20, everyone should be headed here now. Go wait in position and get ready to run." Talia pulls me into a hug. I hug her back and when she pulls away she 'boops' my nose. "Use protection." I push her away while both of us laugh.

            "Shut up. Are you sure you guys wanna do this?" Talia and Duncan nod.

            "Well I'm kinda scared, what if you can't get back in? You'd get in so much trouble." Frayia says crossing her arms over her chest.

            "Don't worry about me. Just be careful, all of you. You are aware you might get sedated right?"

            "I could see the extra hours." Talia says shrugging her shoulders.

            "I've never been sedated before; it'll be a new experience." Duncan says with a smile.

            "I'll talk my way out if it." Frayia says leaning against Duncan. I laugh and hold out my arms.

            "Thanks guys." They all look at me oddly. "I'm waiting for a group hug." They all mutter 'oh' and come together for a hug. After a few seconds we pull away and I stand just out of camera view with my back turned to everyone. I look at the clock, 4:30. Group is starting, 5 more minutes and the plan will go into place. I wait impatiently when Sky walks up to me.

            "You look worried." I sigh and bite my lip.

            "Why are you talking to me now?" He leans against the wall.

            "You and your friends should learn to keep your voices down. So you're going out to meet your boyfriend."

            "What's it to you Sky? Plan to turn me in? Just do it now before my friends get into trouble," I start to walk away when I feel Sky grab my hand.

            "I'm here to help, if you'll let me." I raise an eyebrow.

            "Why do you wanna help me?" Sky sighs and releases my hand.

            "Cause like it or not I care about you. I wanna at least be friends with you." I can tell he's being honest.

            "Fine, friends," He smiles and starts to walk away. "Where are you going?" He turns and walks backwards.

            "Do you honestly think your friends getting into a fight won't raise suspicion?" That thought never occurred to me. "Exactly, so I'm gonna see how well Talia and I get along. Have fun." He smiles at me and walks down the hall. I smile and look down to the doors and see Aiden hidden slightly, he waves at me and I can't help but smile. I look at the clock, 4:34, almost.

            Just then I hear yelling. Talia and Sky must be getting into it already. I see the nurses run over and go down the hall; I look around and see there are no nurses anywhere. I run over to the doors and scan Danni's key. The button turns green and I open the doors, I see Aiden hold up his hand and point at the receptionist desk. The lady is still there, just gotta wait for her to turn around. The phone must have rung; she picks it up, stands and turns her back to me. I open the doors quietly and crouch in front of the receptionist desk. Almost there.

            "Yeah, Skylar Williams, I have his paperwork here." After a few seconds of silence she speaks again. "I found Natalia Stryder's file as well. What's happening?" I look over at Aiden and he's calling me over. I run over to him still crouched hoping the receptionist won't see me. As soon as I reach Aiden he picks me up and pulls me I to a hug. I can't help but smile, this feels right, being in his arms.

Aiden's POV
             I lift Krystina and hug her tightly, it's been way too long. I put her down, she opens her mouth to say something but I grab her face and kiss her. She's surprised at first but soon kisses me back, after I pull away I lean my forehead against hers.

            "Needless to say I've kinda missed you." She laughs and places her hand on my chest.

            "Well I missed you too." She pulls away and grabs my hand, "Let's get outta here." We walk into the elevator and meet up with Aubrey, Hayden, Ellie and Jonas. "Whoa. Everyone's here." I laugh and push her into the elevator. Aubrey pulls Krystina into a huge hug with tears in her eyes.

            "I missed you." Aubrey says pulling away.

            "I missed you too." Hayden taps on Krystina's shoulder.

            "Where's my hug?" Krystina laughs and hugs Hayden tightly. After pulling away Hayden picks up Ellie. "Ellie, this is Krystina. Krystina this is Ellie."

            "Yeah we spoke before, hi Ellie." Ellie smiles.

            "Hi Krystina." Krystina turns to Jonas.

            "You must be Jonas, hi." Jonas smiles and nods.

            "Hi."

            "He doesn't speak much." I say grabbing the bag off the floor. "There's a hoodie in here, just put it on for now and when we get back to my place you can change. The hoodie is mine so it will be fairly big on you." Krystina unzips the bag and pulls out the hoodie.

            "Thanks." She smiles at me and pulls the hoodie on. Her hair gets staticky and sticks up everywhere, she pulls her hair to her side and pull up the hood. She starts flapping her arms around. "Your arms are long." I grab her arm and find her hand; the sleeve of my jacket is about 4-6 inches longer. I laugh.

            "Well sorry for being a guy. Not to mention you're pretty tiny." She slaps me with the excess length from my hoodie and laughs.

            "I'm fun sized." I laugh and look over to Hayden and Aubrey.

            "Ready?" Everyone nods and I push the first floor button. I look back at Hayden and Aubrey, Aubrey is holding Ellie now and Hayden has his hand on Jonas' shoulder and the other arm is around Aubrey's waist. I can't help but think that Hayden and Aubrey would make great parents. I look down at Krystina and smile; I grab her hands and kiss her forehead. She wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me; I hug her back and kiss the top of her head.

            "Thank you Aiden." I pull away slightly and look down at her.

            "For what?" She smiles and rests her chin on my chest.

            "For not giving up on me." I kiss her nose. The doors open and we pull away, I grab Krystina's hand and walk out of the elevator. Aubrey, Hayden, Ellie and Jonas walk in front of us. We all walk quickly out the door and into our separate cars, I open the door for Krystina and when she gets in I walk to the driver's side and exhale loudly.

            "I feel like we just robbed a bank." Krystina laughs and grabs my hand.

            "Well close enough, you stole a crazy girl from a locked ward in a hospital." We both laugh. I turn on the music and One Direction comes on.

            "Who are these guys?" I laugh and nod.

            "Well, they're one of your favorite bands, One Direction. A lot of people will criticize you for it, they're a boy band." She nods her head.

            "Fuck the system! I'll enjoy whatever fucking music I want!" I laugh and pull out of the hospital. While driving back to my house I feel Krystina grab my hand, I look over at her and see her staring out the window smiling. I look back at the road and hold her hand tighter, I was gonna make today special for her.

Talia's POV
             I stand across from Duncan and Frayia is looking down the hall at the clock. I smile at Duncan and he smiles back, we could both get in serious trouble but right now it's just an act of rebellion, I can't be contained easily. I look over at Frayia and see a confused look cross her face; I turn to Duncan and see Sky in front of me. "Back off." I say pushing him away to get distance. He laughs and shoves his hands in his pockets.

            "Someone's aggressive. Is it the daddy issues in your life?"

            "Ok listen asshole; we don't have time for this just leave." I turn to Frayia but she's still looking at us.

            "So no daddy issues?" I sigh and turn to Sky.

            "No daddy issues, fucking leave."

            "So it's mommy issues." I glare at him and my clench my fists. "Oh, yup. Definitely mommy issues."

            "Leave. Now."

           
             "What is it? She beat you, chose drugs or alcohol over baby girl? She walk out on you?" I feel the anger run through my body.

            "I'm giving you one last chance to fucking leave before I make you wish you were dead."

            "Darling I've been wishing I was dead for a while. Is that what mommy did? Made you wish you were dead." I couldn't control it anymore! I punched him in the mouth.

            "YOU DONT KNOW JACK SHIT ABOUT ME!" I start to walk over to Sky but I feel Duncan push me back.

            "Talia don't-"

            "I'm not afraid to kick your ass either Duncan!" I push him to the side and pin Sky to the floor. I punch him in the face once more.

            "You have no fucking right!" I hit him in the chest and bring my hands to his throat. "You have no right to talk shit about my life! You don't know me or my situation!" He starts choking and trying to take my hands off his neck. The next thing I know I feel people pulling me away. "Let me go!" I manage to hit Sky once more in the face while he got up. When he lifted his face all he did was smile at me and mouth "mommy issues" with that I managed to free one of my legs and kick him full force on the side of his head.

            Sky fell to the floor, "Next time I won't be so nice asshole!" I felt a needle go into my arm. A nurse walks over to Sky.

            "He's knocked out."

            "GOOD!" I was being dragged out of the hall and into a room. It only had one bed. The nurses set me down on the bed and restrained my arms and legs before walking out. I feel the sedatives kicking in.

            Realization hits, I really hope Krystina made it out alright. I sigh and look up at the ceiling; Sky doesn't know my fucking situation. No one does. She left because she didn't care about me; all she wanted was the money and drugs. That's still what she wants, Sky is such an asshole. Sure I don't like my mom but no one has a right to call her out on it.

            I start feeling lighter; she doesn't even care about me, why should I get so defensive about her. Because I still fucking care, I just want her to like me, choose me over drugs for once. I feel so trapped. Maybe this is how my mom feels. Does she feel trapped in jail? Nah she couldn't, she keeps going back. I feel my eyelids get heavier. I'm just like her, stuck here, the possibility of getting better even when I don't want to. I was forced here; I don't want to get better. I'm not like my mom.

            I'm not my mom, but I will be if I don't get help. I close my eyes and drift off letting the sedatives take over.