Getaway Car

I watched nervously as Noah paced the living room, it was morning now and our high of last night had worn off, leaving me a nervous wreck and Noah a pouty pissed off version of himself I don't like very much. It being early morning we were the only two in the house awake at the moment though I'm sure if Noah were to raise his voice again he'd wake someone eventually.

"Can't we just ignore it?" I asked quietly from my spot on the couch.

"That's what we've been doing; and look how far that's gotten us" Noah said exasperatedly as he continued to pace the floor.

"It's not like I'm in immediate danger or anything" I tried to brush the whole thing off but the feeling in the pit of my stomach said otherwise.

"I can't even believe you'd say that" Noah scolded me, "there's no telling what would happen to you if this guy gets any closer, Alex. Don't play dumb" his words were sharp although they did little to effect me. "I'm sorry" he offered a half ass apology as his back was to me mid step.

"I think you need to go back to bed, so you can wake up on the other side of it, maybe that'll fix your attitude" I muttered as I stood from the couch and headed for the stairs. I heard three heavy steps before and arm encircled my waist and pulled me against the wall that is Noah's chest. I yelped on contact as his other arm came around my front.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," his voice was soft. "Alex, I'm just worried about you" he explained into my hair. "Please don't be mad at me" he pleaded before pressing a kiss into my hair and moving forward to press another to the side of my forehead.

"You have a funny way of showing it sometimes," I countered as I tried to turn in his grasp. "You should work on that" I placed my hands on his chest as I looked up at him.

"I'm trying" he said after a tired sigh. "I'm sorry" he said again. Sneaking my hand up to the back of his neck I pulled him down to press my lips to his.

"I just want to ignore it for one more day," I said, barely pulling back from the kiss. "Just one more day?" I asked pulling back further to look him in the eyes.

"One more day" he agreed.

7:05 and the boys hadn't made it home yet. I sat nervously on the kitchen counter awaiting their arrival. my heels hit the cabinet doors in an odd off rhythm as my legs swung limp and jittery under me. my hands held the edge of the counter in a white knuckled grip as I waited for the door to unlock. Suddenly the sharp sound of my phone vibrating against the counter cut through the silence that hung in the house. Picking it up quickly I saw that it was Noah.

Hey babe, we're running a little late. I promise to be home by 8

I felt the blood drain from my face as I read his text, I can't wait that long. I'm already on the verge of an anxiety attack. Hopping off the counter I made my way to the front door, stepping into the only pair of shoes I had by the door, I grabbed Noah's keys from the small table before pushing through the garage door and unlocking his car. He had told me many times recently that I was welcome in the studio, I was warned it would be boring for me and until now I never had a reason to pay them a visit. Nervously sliding into the slick leather seat of the car I took my time adjusting the seat properly to accomodate my short legs.

Drumming my hands against the steering wheel I watched the garage door roll up through the rearview mirror. Backing out of the garage, through the driveway and out into the streets I learned that it had started raining, leaving the street slick and shiny. Making sure the garage door closed behind me I headed off down the road towards the house they're recording in. Turning at a stop sign, a car with their brights on got behind me, following closely causing me to curse under my breath as I struggled to see with the brightness shining into the car now.

Making another turn I hoped the car would go straight, no such luck. "Go away!" I complained as the car accelerated closer to the car that didn't even belong to me. After a few more miles down the same road the car took a turn I didn't, leaving me in the darkness I needed to drive safely. I let out a sigh of relief at the realization they were gone now. I wasn't but half a mile from the house now, only a minute or two more till I can see Noah.

In a moment that flashed by with a strange effect of time slowing at the same time, bright lights flashed into the car from the side before the gut wrenching sound of crunching metal was heard as I was throw across the car, smacking my head against the window, everything went blurry as I all I could see was motion and headlights, I laid cruppled in the car that seemed to be on its side, I was looking out of the front window but the view was wrong, I saw headlights and legs, then darkness overtook my blurred vision.

This throbbing in my head had been going on for awhile, so intense I kept my eyes screwed shut out of fear of making it worse by opening them. there was this low hum keeping me in this state between sleep and consciousness, a fan, air conditioning maybe? At the same time there was beeping, not just one beep but multiple, two I think but I couldn't be certain, not with my eyes closed. I fought to keep my breathing even though it hurt like hell to do so, everything got worse when I breathed erratically, the pain, the beeping, the sounds of the room. That was an unanswered question of mine, what room? where the fuck am I. The last thing I recall was lying in the sideways car, this was most definitely not the sideways car, but my thoughts still felt so scrambled I couldn't make sense of anything, at least not with my eyes closed.

Time was another problem of mine, I don't know what time it is and I can't guarantee that when I open my eyes I'll find my phone or a clock to clue me in on how long I've been in this state. Fuck, I think I need to open my eyes. I felt my face twist in pain as I pulled my eyes open to see a dimly lit room, clinical? Hospital. Fuck. Something tells me the car lying on its side wasn't pretty. Noah's not going to be happy I did that. I tried opening my mouth to speak but only a pained squeak came out, I hadn't had water in a while.

"Alex!" I heard the frantic voice of Nick at my side. I heard him scramble from where he was and suddenly he was touching me, he had a hold of my arm. I turned to look at him, he looked like shit. "Thank God you're awake" he rushed out, "You scared the shit out of us" he spoke quieter now. "You scared the shit out of me" he said under his breath as he stepped back from me. "I'm going to go find a nurse" he announced before rushing out of the room. I dropped my head back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. What the fuck happened?

"Everything hurts too bad to eat" I pushed the tray away from me before I laid back in bed. "The thought of it is disgusting right now" I explained to Nick who was staring me down.

"You need to eat something, Alex," he pressured.

"Later, I just can't right now, my thoughts are racing, I need you" I stopped for a breath. " I need you to tell me what happened already" I pressured him back. Nick decided eating was more important than getting me up to speed on what happened after the lights went blurry.

"Alex, it's a lot, I really think you should eat first." Nick pleaded with me.

"No, where the fuck is Noah, what is going on?" I raised my voice, instantly regretting it as it caused a sharp pain through my ribs.

"Fuck it, fine, you win" he conceeded. "Let's start by telling me why you were driving Noah's car?" he asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

Fuck, why did I do that, exactly? "I, uh, he texted me, you guys were running late." I started. "I was about to have an anxiety attack so I left in his car to find you guys at the studio" I pieced the words together as I said them.

"Okay" he nodded as his eyes stayed on the floor. "Makes sense," he agreed. "My side of the story starts with us hearing the other car T bone Noah's with you behind the wheel. That shit was so loud" he shook his head, his eyes still trained on the floor. We were confused, Jolly stepped outside first and called us all out to see what happened. Noah recognized his car, he started running and I just followed him." he paused and let a moment of silence hang over us as he searched for the right words. He swallowed thickly before continuing, "It was raining, and as we got close there was this guy carrying you from Noah's car." Nick's voice thinned out, emotion heavy in his voice."He had you Alex,"  he spit out words he hated to say. "He had you" I watched Nick finally lift his head for his eyes to meet mine. "Noah lost his shit, he hit that motherfucker square in the jaw and ripped you out of his arms. I took you and Noah beat the shit out of that bastard."

"Where is Noah now?" I cut in.

"He's in jail" Nick said shortly. "They both are," my mouth hung open in shock at the realization of the severity of the situation. "Police will be by later to question you, They have your phone for evidence" Nick explained. "The guys are getting Noah's bail paid today, he'll be home tonight, you probably won't be though" Nick went on.

"I wanna go home," the words came out weak as tears I didn't know I had slipped down my face.

"Don't cry Alex, I know this is really shitty and all, but it's over, the guy is in jail, you're safe now" his words only caused more tears to fall from my eyes, tears of relief.

"I need to see Noah" I croaked out, wiping tears from my face.

"I'm sure he'll be here." he reassured me. A moment passed before he spoke again, this time changing the subject. "I want to say I'm sorry, for how I acted." I gave him a confused look before he continued. "When you two got together, I was a little out of line, Noah really cares about you" he admitted his eyes finding the floor again.

"Thanks," I wasn't sure what to say. Never in my life has Nick apologized for being himself so I was in a state of shock by what he said, it was like I wasn't talking to my brother.

Hours passed, or at least it felt like it, I was still in a lot of pain so it may have only been minutes. Eventually Nick left me to fall asleep. He hadn't been home at all, My nurse and I had to force him to leave so he could get some rest. Letting sleep take back over was nice, peaceful, quiet, I'm not sure how long I actually got to sleep for, but I do know I was woken up by a weight on my arm.

Cracking my eyes open I was faced with brown hair and a tattooed arm. He was here, Noah was free. Noah's forehead laid on my forearm, his fingers in between mine. I squeezed his hand in mine alerting him, I watched him snap his head up to look at me, a half smile instantly appearing on his face. "I'm so fucking sorry" he said immediately upon seeing me. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. He stood from his seat to lean over and wrap me in his arms the best he could. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" he kept repeating.

"Don't say that" I scolded him lightly as I buried my head in the crook of his neck. "Don't ever say that" I used his own words against him.

"Alex it shouldn't-"

"Noah, stop" I cut him off. "Not right now, I can't argue" I said defeatedly. "I love you so much" I said barely over a whisper.

"I love you too, baby" he conceded and he continued to hold me.

"I need you" I said the words I thought I was only thinking as I felt tears slip down my face again. Noah held me tighter as I cried into his shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm such a wreck" I apologized pulling back from him.

"You aren't a wreck, you were in a wreck" he corrected me, earning a giggle that shot pain through my torso.

"They guys told me you have broken ribs" Noah stated as he moved to sit in the chair that Nick occupied earlier. I only nodded as I tried to even my breathing. "I'm so sorry," Noah said again.

"Stop saying that" I hate that he feels the need to apologize when he's the one who saved me. "I'm sorry I wrecked your car." I apologized.

"Doesn't matter' he brushed it off.

"I'm sorry I caused all of this" I said as tears continued sliding down my face.

"Alex" his voice came out stern now. "Don't say that" he said firmly as he looked at me with his deep brown eyes I fell in love with. "Don't ever say that."