"Alice," a voice said, muffled.

My body moved slightly, my mind feeling very foggy, I couldn't grasp what it was or who it was that was calling to me.

A seagull cried out from somewhere around me and I was acutely aware of the salty ocean smell surrounding me.

"Alice, you're freaking me out, get up," the voice said, a hint of annoyance tracing its tone.

The person nudged me harder, shaking me. I took a deep breath and nearly choked.

I pushed myself up sluggishly and coughed. I just inhaled sand, what the heck.

I opened one eye slowly, then the next and found myself on my knees on the beach. What?

"What the hell Alice? What happened to you?" The voice growled, coming closer to me.

"Scared the hell out of me," it muttered, the dark frame covering me with its shadow.

I blinked, very confused. I glanced down at my sand covered clothes and looked at the sand. There was blood where my head was. I gingerly reached up to investigate my head and pulled my hand back to find red on my fingertips.

Suddenly a tan hand came into view and started scraping at the spot and it revealed a piece of wood right beneath the surface.

"You must have landed and hit just right," it murmured. "Alice look at me, are you okay? Jeez we need to get you to the hospital."

I blinked again, the sounds penetrating my ears at a slower rate than normal. A strange ringing was dimly playing in the back of my mind.

I slowly lifted my eyes, the light causing serious discomfort and was surprised to see the last person I would think would want to be around me.

Jesse.

I stared at him and his hands flew to my face, pushing my head this way, then that way, then down, then up and just when i thought he was satisfied, he scoot closer to stare at my head.

"Can't believe," he muttered under his breath.

What the hell? I knew I fell, but I got up...didn't I? Did Adam just pick me up?

Was all of that just a dream? All of that was a dream. Dad was a dream. None of it happened.

My heart fell.

"Hey," Jesse said softly, lifting my chin to look me in the eyes.

I met his hazel ones and my heart surprisingly lifted again. Maybe he didn't hate me.

You're bleeding, he wouldn't leave you to the seagulls.

I sighed.

"Can you walk? You have a nasty cut on your forehead, it's still bleeding and I don't think I've ever seen you look so pale," he said.

"What time is it?" I asked.

He took a breath and glanced quickly down to his watch.

"5:20."

My eyes widened.

"I've been out here all night?" I whispered to myself, carefully inspecting my other body parts.

"What?" He asked angrily. "Why are you out here anyways?"

I slowly looked back at him as sudden movements made my head feel as though it would fall off.

"I--" I glanced down then my eyes bounced back to him. "I fell."

I said it more to myself, but something about it annoyed him.

"No shit," he grumbled. With a sigh he stood, taking me with him in his arms. "We're going to the hospital."

Stars danced in the front of my eyes at the motion of standing and my head fell back over his arm, unwillingly. I did everything I could to hold it up, but failed.

"Hey, keep your eyes open," he demanded.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What?"

"Please don't hate me," my voice cracked, remembering the horrible drive home. "I need you."

The movement stopped, meaning he must have stopped. I focused on breathing deep in order to gain some kind of strength back.

I heard him sigh, his breath hitting my collarbone and his hands tightened on me.

"I could never hate you Al," he murmured. "Could never leave you."

The last part was barely above a whisper, but I caught it.

He doesn't hate me, some part of me smiled at that, even if my face couldn't show it. I was relieved. At the end of the day, he was pretty much my best friend besides Lissa and Demi. I'm not sure what I would do without his annoying pranks or his incessant perverted remarks.

He began walking again before my eyes went completely dark. I could barely make out the sounds of his nervous questions and his fast feet before everything went black again.

..............

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at a white ceiling. I glanced down and saw a blanket covering me and my arm was wrapped in an IV.

I lifted it slowly and winced at the the tape pulling on my arm hair.

"Hey," he said.

Turning to the left, I saw Jesse leaning against the bed, his hair disheveled like he had just woken up.

"Hey," i whispered.

He took a seat on the bed and rest a hand on my leg, squeezing it softly, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"You know, you confessed your love to me earlier," he teased.

Scowling, I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, I did not."

Did I? Oh God.

Smirking, he squeezed my leg again and sighed.

"You scared the hell out of me you know, when I found you face first like that I thought," he trailed off. "I just thought something really bad had happened and how we left off, i just, you scared me."

He appeared to be nervous and I couldn't figure out why. His hazel eyes met mine and I slid my hand over his. He glanced down to our hands and I squeezed.

"Who's going to call you out on all your shit? You'll have to die first is all I know because there's no one else who will knock you down off your high horse," I joked.

He laughed and looked down, nodding his head slightly.

"Yeah," his eyes met mine again. "I guess I need you too."

He ran a hand through his curly locks and sighed.

"Jared called," he said slowly.

The monitor beeped a little faster making Jesse glance up at it and back to me to study my face. I felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"Wanna know why he went back to jail?" He asked, his finger tracing the patterns on the sheets.

I quietly waited.

"Apparently your mom was throwing away your dads stuff and he just lost it on her."

I didn't realize I had stopped breathing until the monitor basically thought I was dying. Jesse jerked his head up to the monitor and then to me, looking scared to death.

I let out my breath and blinked. She threw away his stuff. But why? Narrowing my eyes, I looked away. Well, I suppose that explained his behavior a little bit, but it didn't excuse it. I was still mad at him. And mom.

"I guess when you hear that, you can't be too mad can you?" Jesse muttered to himself.

"Thank you," I suddenly said.

He looked up, confusion etched across his face.

"I'm sure he never thanked you so I will for him. You're a better friend to all of us than anyone ever could dream of having," I explained.

He smiled. "Well I'm still mad at you, but you're welcome. I can try to stay away all I want and I always wind up back here."

I laughed slightly and nodded. I understood why he was mad. It was a lot to handle and I couldn't blame him for being tired of it. It was a lot to ask of a person.

"I would do it for you anytime, you know that right?" His eyes burned into me as I met his gaze.

I was so thankful for his familiar sunny, ocean and sunscreen filled scent. It was so comforting. Taking a deep breath,I smiled.

"When did you become so sweet?" I questioned, a teasing tone coming out.

He shrugged. "You know, I thought you were dead when I found you. Didn't want to waste another minute."