I'll Always Be Here For You, No Matter What

I'll Always Be Here For You, No Matter What
Sophie

I had to be reasonable, I think I was madder at myself than I was at Logan and dad right now. How could I've been so stupid to have not noticed mom was sick? And with cancer, to make matters worst. I am such a bad daughter. I got so caught up with my own things that I haven't spent time like I used to with mom. I deserted her and left her on her own to deal with her battle when she needed me the most.

I slowly made my way back inside her room. She laid peacefully on that small hospital bed. The nurse wrote down her vitals and smiled at me when she saw me walk back inside.

"Hey, Sophie. I thought you were going to rest?" She asked politely, making me give her a wide smile in return.

"I changed my mind. I'm not really sleepy right now. I just want to stay here with her if that's ok?" I said as I made my way next to the nurse.

"OK, let me know if you need anything. I'll be right outside at the reception desk if you need anything." She said and smiled, placing the clipboard back into place and jotting down the time she had come in to check on mom. They had been coming in every two hours to check her vitals.

"Thank you, I'll let you know," I answered making her smile back, patting my shoulder as she walked past me, leaving me in the room with mom.

I glanced at mom in a daze. I still couldn't believe everything that was happening. My mind refused to believe that she was sick. She walked around normally and did all her chores without any complaints.

"How could I not notice you were suffering mom? Why didn't you tell me you were going through this? Why did you keep this from me?" I whispered to her as the nurse walked away.

Mom stirred in her sleep, her hair covering her face. I slowly walked towards her, pulled the chair next to her bed, and leaned down to remove her hair away from her face.

"I get it now. Why your hair felt less silky and shiny." I said as I moved it away and looked closely, realizing the small, barely noticeable fabric of the wig's band. It was such a thin sheer that you could barely tell it was there. It blended perfectly with her skin tone, giving it a natural look.

I slowly ran my hands through the hair strands, making her sigh.

"You are SO silly. Do you know that? How could you think that you had to fight this all alone? You're not alone in this mom. We stick together, remember? This family fights together, and especially, when it comes to you, Hailey McKenzie Patterson! You are not alone. Do you hear me? You have to fight this, you can't leave me too. I already lost grandma and Logan. You can't leave me as well. Please, momma. You have to fight this. " I implored with her, as the tears invaded my eyes, blinding me from seeing her pretty face.

"I need you, mom. Please, don't leave me."

"Sophie, it's ok. Everything will be ok. I promise." Logan's voice startled me, making me jump in place. I stood quickly on my feet, looking away from him.

"Sophie, I know you're mad at me for not telling you. You have all the right to be mad at me. But I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I will always be here for you, no matter what." He added, placing his hands on my shoulders from behind me.

"Even if things didn't work out between us, we can still try to be friends. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll always be here for you and Hailey. I promise." he said as he pulled me back making my back crash softly against his back. the knot in my throat kept me from answering a word to him. This was a disaster, everything was wrong. Our relationship, my friendship with Troy, mom's cancer, everything. . . . everything was falling apart.

Though I knew things between Logan and I could never work as friends, because I was still madly in love with him, right now- I needed him next to me. I needed to feel safe in his arms. To feel protected, at least for a little while.

This storm was just starting. This was just the beginning of this battle. Mom's battle. The storm before the big storm.

I placed my hand on top of his, allowing myself to cry like a five-year-old in front of him. He slowly turned my body, hugging me tightly. My arms automatically hugged his waist as I laid my head against his chest, my favorite place to be, in his arms, feeling protected. I was unsure if this could be the last time he would hold me like this, which made me want to never let go.

He held me tight, unwilling for both of us to part away from each other until my crying ceased. I wasn't sure how long I cried, but I was glad he didn't judge me nor say a thing to me other than hold me tight.

I sniffled, slowly pulling away. Unwilling to look at him in his eyes, I pulled away and turned my body to sit. He slowly grabbed my arm, making me turn towards him.

"Sophie, I mean it, I'll always be here,"

"I don't need your pity. I'm sure you have better, and more important things to do right now. YOu can leave if you want." I managed to utter out in a low groggy voice. I pulled my arm away slowly and sat next to mom.

He slowly sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Is that what you want? Or maybe you'll feel more comfortable if Troy was here, is that it?" He clenched his jaw, kneeling in front of me. and just like that, we were back to square one with the whole Troy misunderstanding.

"You know what? Think whatever you want. I am not in the mood to explain anything to you. If you can't even trust me when I tell you that nothing is going on between Troy and me, then I guess it's pointless for us to even try. I gave you all of my trust, there was not one time I made you feel like I didn't trust you. Yet you were always so jealous of Troy. Why, Logan? He's my best friend, how can you think there's something more between us? I love you, and I gave it my all in this relationship. We went through so much together, you were my first. I gave you EVERYTHING, why Logan? How could you think that I was cheating on y-" He pulled me by my arm, making my chest crash against his body, his fingers roughly interlaced in my hair as he kissed me vigorously.

My hands roamed his chest and slowly traveled around his neck. Our mouths molded together to all too familiar territory, fighting for dominance over the kiss. He slowly pulled me by my waist, pressing me against his front. I hadn't realized how much I missed his kisses until now, hoping that it would last forever, yet I knew, reality would take over soon.

He slowly pulled away, both of us gasping for air as our chests heaved for much-needed oxygen. I gulped down, my lips feeling the swelling from his rough kiss, yet already missing his lips.

"I said, I'll be here. Even if I can't have you anymore. Even if I have to bear seeing you with someone else, I will be here for you. As a friend, a colleague, a buddy, call it whatever the fuck you want. I'll be here for you because you still mean the world to me. And because I need you right now more than you can imagine as well. I need you in my life, Sophie, I really, really need you, as much as I know you need me. So Troy will just have to suck it the fuck up, and deal with my bad attitude and temper because I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He whispered, his lips grazing softly across my lips as his husky voice vibrated against me. My knees felt weak and heavy. God, how I wanted to fix this. But mom needed me now, and I needed to forget my problems and focus on her for now.

"Do whatever you want. I can't deal with all this now. I already neglected my mom for too long. I need to focus on her right now. So, if you don't mind, I want to be alone." I said pushing on his chest slightly. He cleared his throat and sighed.

He nodded, placing his arms on his pockets, "Yeah. . . . right. I Uhm, I will be outside with everyone else if you need anything." He said, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

I closed my eyes in regret, sat back on the seat next to mom with a thud, and covered my face with my hands.

"God, this is all getting out of hand."

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Logan

I made my way back to the sitting area and sat next to Ashley. She was busy munching on her cookies, which seemed to be her second bag. She had a few bags of chips and a chocolate bar, along with a can of soda next to her.

"Did you get to talk to her?" Mom whispered, making me turn towards her. I slouched down on my seat, pinching the curve of my nose. "Yeah, but she's still pretty mad. I don't blame her though. She has all the right to be mad." I said, sighing.

"Hey, Logan? Did you um, get to see if my wallet was in the bathroom earlier?" Lexie asked making me remember her request.

"Shit! No, I didn't. Sorry Lex, I completely forgot. I can go check now if you want?" I said gesturing towards the restrooms.

"Oh, no, no need, I umm," She said looking towards Troy as they exchanged stares.

"Never mind. See? I found it. I just wanted to let you know that I had accidentally dropped it on the floor next to me. I thought I had left it in the bathroom when I couldn't find it. Oops," She chuckled nervously, making me feel dumbfounded.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at my phone. It was easily a little past midnight. I needed to be at school early tomorrow to turn in my permission packet for this year's trip to Barcelona.

Though the trip had never caught my attention, I was looking forward to going this year. With all the things that had been happening, I figured going would help me to take my mind off of all these drastic events.

Two weeks after Christmas, after coming back from winter break, I would be overseas for an entire two weeks, roaming and exploring Barcelona. Who knows, maybe this will help me let go of Sophie for good.

(meanwhile, a few feet away, sitting on a chair, Mr.Patterson fills out the permission packet for Sophie, who has attended the Barcelona trip since freshmen year. And though he knew it would be hard to force her to go this year because of her mom's condition, he'd do anything to convince her, or force her, to go.)