Chapter Fourteen

Back in the hospital. Bright lights, tons of people, and usually a lot of sick people as well. Great place, if you want to have a sensory breakdown. On the plane, Bryce expected that, when (and if) Liam woke up, there'd be a lot of hugging and crying and smiles, but instead, he was just standing there, away from Owen and Liam, staring at the ground.

Bryce covered his face and rubbed it as hard as he could. Owen noticed, and shot him a worried look, but Liam didn't see, or maybe just didn't care.

Maybe this was karma getting back at him. He sort of felt like he deserved to be ignored. It was only fair.

"Wait, where are we going after we leave this place?" Liam asked Owen. Bryce looked up, knowing Owen would say they'd go to his apartment. He looked back down to the ground, a little embarrassed. He began walking down the hall, as he noticed the others doing the same, their conversation muffled. He did hear a bit of the conversation, though. "Texty's in the car." Owen would say. "My legs are a bit shaky." He overheard Liam saying. The conversation went back to muffledness.

Bryce found himself in the parking lot, after being on autopilot for a while. He awkwardly walked over to the car and looked at Owen expectantly, waiting for him to unlock the car. He heard a chirp, and hopped in the backseat. Liam got into the front passenger's seat, and Owen started the car. Liam opened Texty's computer.

"liam! you're back!"

He chuckled. "That's right!"

"whats that mark on your face"

"Oh, I, uh... Wait, there's a mark on my face?" Liam looked at himself in the rear view mirror and saw a burnt spot of his fabric on the right side of his face. "Huh, I guess I got that from the lightning strike..."

"weird"

"Anyway, I'm happy to be back!" Liam bit back the sadness he felt from Bryce saying he didn't miss Liam, although it was something small. He wanted to punch himself. He wanted to scream and cry. He wanted to get struck by lightning a million times until he felt numb. Even though he thought it was something so little, Liam was making a big deal about it, and he was beating himself up over that.

Okay, Liam, you need to distract yourself. He told himself in his mind as he felt his head beginning to hurt.

Bryce stared forward, his expression apathetic. Before he knew it, Owen was driving through the apartment parking lot, looking for an empty spot.

Liam, Owen, and Bryce all hopped out of the car, with Liam holding the laptop. They walked into the apartment. Owen and Liam sat on the couch, while Bryce began making food. He hadn't eaten yet, and he assumed Owen and Liam were hungry.

He put down the pasta on the table and began to walk towards the door, but before he did, he turned around.

"Hey..." He began, turning towards Liam. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead asked something else. "What did you eat while I was gone? If you were eating stuff from the cabinet, I could grab some groceries after work tomorrow."

"I mostly ate take-out." Owen responded.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go grab the mail. See ya later." Bryce walked out the door. Liam jumped as it slammed shut. Owen got up and sat at the table, bringing Texty with him. Liam did the same.

"sooo"

"Somethin' wrong?" Liam asked.

"no, just kind of bored"

"..."

"yk i thought thered be a lot more chat when you came back from your coma"

"Yeah..."

"wanna listen to some music?"

"Sure."