I quickly picked up some clothes and put them on. At this moment I didn't care if they matched or not because the most important thing was getting to Alex. Although we hadn't spoken to each other in a while, he was still someone I really cared about─despite what he did to me.

I rushed out of the house, ignoring my parent's questions and running to the spot where I usually parked my car, only to find it empty. I tried to retrace where I had been in the last few hours and remembered that Mike drove it to and from the cliff so he must have had it.

Cursing under my breath, I entered the house and walked into the living room where I knew my parents would be watching TV, cuddled together on the sofa.

"Are you going somewhere sweetie?" my dad asked, shifting his eyes from the TV to me.

"Yeah but Mike has my car. Can I borrow yours?" I asked, my words coming out quickly as I was running out of time. His expression changed from calm to worried very quickly as he got up and walked towards me.

"What's wrong Victoria?" 

Sensing that I was continually running out of time, I informed them of Alex's condition, finding it hard to breath as I explained everything. As soon as I finished, we all rushed to the car. My dad got behind the wheel and drove us there, ignoring the speed limit.

~~♡~~♡~~♡~~

With emergency vehicles surrounding the place, we were forced to park slightly further away. Immediately after the car stopped, I jumped out and ran to the house, not bothering to check whether my parents were following me or not. There was only one thing that was important to me at the moment and that was ensuring that Alex was alright.

When I got there, Fae ran towards me, tears in her eyes. She immediately engulfed me in a tight hug before pulling back to straighten herself.

"What happened Fae?" I asked, feeling panic overtaking me.

"I don't know. When I got here he was already on the ground," she replied, sniffing to keep her tears back.

I nodded before we walked towards the crowd of neighbors who had gathered, pushing past them and earning a few annoyed glances and some grunts.

"Ma'am please stay back," a police officer told me as I was in the lead.

"I'm his wife."

His eyes which were hard just a few seconds ago suddenly shone with sympathy as he nodded his head, moving to the side to allow us to get to the ambulance. Walking towards it, my head spun with possibilities of what I would find. I grabbed onto the nearest emergency worker, causing her to turn her head.

"Are you relatives?" she asked. I told her our relation to Alex before following her to the ambulance and getting in the back where he lay on a stretcher.

Surveying him from head to toe, while sitting beside him, I didn't see any blood, much to my relief. But if there's no blood, what's wrong? I thought to myself, placing a hand lightly on his forehead to find it warm.

The ambulance sped through the dimly lit streets, the wailing sounds of the siren attacking our ears. Every time we made a turn, my heart beat accelerated, the fear of something serious being wrong overwhelming me.

~~♡~~♡~~♡~~

As soon as we reached the hospital, activity buzzed around us as everyone rushed to get Alex inside. Fae and I followed the workers inside, arms linked, before we were told to wait in the waiting room. My persistent protests did nothing to faze the lady behind the desk as she continued to tell me to be patient.

Defeated, Fae led me to the waiting room where we took a seat. I placed my palms on my eyes and pressed down to prevent the tears that I could feel prickling my eyes.

If only I had been there when it happened, I thought to myself, suddenly feeling guilty for leaving Alex for the first time. A few moments later, I heard footsteps getting closer to us. I removed my hands to find my parents along with Alex's parents and Mike, rushing towards us.

"We heard what happened. What's going on now?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know, they won't tell us anything," I cried. My mother walked towards me and engulfed me in a tight hug, whispering soothingly to calm me down. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Marian rolling her eyes, almost as if she thought I was faking my emotions.

It's true that I'd been away from Alex but that didn't change the feelings I had for him.

After several minutes, a man who appeared to be a doctor came to us, asking if we were there for Alex. With somber nods, we replied.

"I have some good news," he said with a small smile. However that did little to make me feel better─I was scared to learn what was wrong.

"He had an overdose of Ibuprofen which can be found in many over-the-counter medicine." As he explained everything, I zoned out, my mind focusing on the word overdose.

There was no way that could've been an accident. There had to be a reason behind this, I thought, but what was it? 

"Can we see him?" I asked, interrupting him. He smiled at me before nodding slightly.

"He might be asleep though," he said as I stood.

Walking behind everyone, we made our way down the hall to the second to last door. Everyone turned to look at me, asking me with their eyes if I wanted to be the first to enter. The only person who didn't turn was Marian, who quickly opened the door and rushed in─eager to see her son.

After everyone had filed in, I slowly walked in to find him surrounded by the people he loved and who loved him back. His eyes immediately focused on me as I walked to the end of the bed where his feet lay.

I gave him a small smile, my eyes starting to water. However, his face remained blank, his eyes being the only part which projected an unexpected emotion: guilt.

"My baby, are you alright?" Marian cooed. A small smile appeared on his lips as he looked at his mother and nodded, placing a hand on the hand she had placed on his cheek.

"What happened?" My mom asked, standing closer to him.

He looked down and gulped before looking up to meet my eyes and looking at the window behind where his mother stood. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"I woke up today, feeling lost. I can't really explain it but I just felt... Empty. It was the same way I felt after what had happened at the barbecue. Then I remembered seeing my brother with Victoria and that just made me so... Angry. So angry that I became a little afraid of myself.

After eating breakfast, I remember asking myself 'what's my purpose in life? Why am I even here?' I mean my wife had left me and I was all alone. So I thought... Maybe I should just end it all. I had nothing to live for anyway; no one to make me feel like I mattered to them.

It began with a few pills but as I did a few things around the house, I didn't feel like it was working... So I took more to try and speed things up. I kept taking more and more until the bottle was almost empty.

I was watching TV when I heard the bell ring. And when I got up I began to feel very dizzy but I ignored it and went to answer the door. When I opened it, I saw Fae standing there and I asked her why she was there. And just as she was about to answer, I collapsed." He narrated, the whole time trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

As soon as he finished, the air in the room became heavy with tension as the mothers covered their mouths to silence their gasps and the males looked at the floor. I could tell everyone was shocked about his near death experience. And the guilt I felt surrounded me, almost like a tightly wrapped blanket, making it hard for me to breath.

There was no one to blame but me. I looked at him, trying to keep my composure but it was too much for me. I couldn't handle knowing that he had tried to kill himself because of me; because I left him. I slowly turned around and did what I was good at─running away from my problems instead of dealing with them head on.

Nobody said it but I could feel that they blamed me as well. As I ran through the hallway towards the exit, I heard my name being called by several people but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to be in the same room as the people who saw me as the reason for him almost dying.

The moon radiated brightly as I exitted the hospital, turning a corner to walk towards a small garden where I knew I would find a bench. When I saw that it was empty, I walked to it and sat down, placing my head in my hands and crying. Since the day I had found Alex with Amanda, I hadn't felt as bad as I did now.  

The only difference was that I was the one feeling guilty while Alex was the one who was betrayed.

I continued to sit there, sobbing. After a few minutes, I heard footsteps beside me. I looked up to find Mike looking at me with a sad smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, wiping my tears, only to have them replaced with more.

"Thought you might need some company," he replied, walking towards me and sitting beside me.

"Why would you want to comfort the person who almost killed your brother?" I asked bitterly.

"You didn't almost kill h─"

"No but I was the reason he almost died," I interrupted.

The silence that followed informed me that he also blamed me. Feeling heartbroken, I stood up and started to walk away from him until I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, pulling me back.

"Mike let me go," I said, trying to keep my composure.

"No. Your mind is not in the right place at the moment."

"How can you say that?" I yelled, turning around to face him. "I'm just a person who almost got your brother killed. If I was you I'd be planning a way to get even."

He looked at me, his eyes shining with sympathy. I didn't need his sympathy; I was the one who led Alex to do what he did.

He stood there, continuing to stare at me before he pulled me to him and hugged me. I stood there motionless while he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"Why don't you hate me?" I mumbled into his shirt, feeling the tears wetting the area where my head pressed against him.

"Because you didn't do anything wrong," he replied.

I pulled back and looked at him. There was no way he was being serious.

"But I'm the reason─"

"No you're not," he said, placing a hand on my cheek and wiping tears with his thumb. I turned to leave again but he placed his other hand on the other side to stop me.

"I hate seeing you like this," he whispered, so low I almost didn't hear it.

"Why?" I asked, curious to know his reason.

He sighed and replied, "because I care about you Victoria. A lot."

"How can you still care so much after what almost happened?" I asked, finding his statement unbelievable.

"I can't describe it. There's just something about you that makes me feel like this."

"Feel like what?"

"Like I can actually have a good impact on someone's life," he said. I felt my lips curl into a small smile as I looked into his eyes.

"I want to be the one to make you smile Victoria. The one you can always call when you're having a bad day. Please let me do that for you."

I continued to look at him, letting his words sink in. It all felt very alluring but I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave Alex for his brother; it just wasn't right, especially after what had just happened.

"I can't do that Mike," I told him, looking down.

He lifted my head, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Just say you'll go to the wedding with me," he said.

"I don't kno─"

"Just do it. Please."

It's just a wedding, I thought to myself, maybe it could help ease my mind. With a sigh I nodded "okay I'll go with you."

He grinned sheepishly before pulling my head closer to his and placing his lips gently on mine.

When we parted, we both stood there, looking at each other, happiness sparkling in his eyes while I was in shock.

"That's good enough for me," he said after a while.

"We should probably get back before they start to worry," I said, feeling slightly uneasy. He nodded before we returned inside, making our way to Alex's room.

~~♡~~♡~~♡~~

"I knew it. I just knew you were no good for my Alex," Marian said as we entered the room, looking disgusted by us─especially me.

"What's wrong with her?" my dad asked, anger touching his voice.

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "You'd have to be blind not to see that she was using Alex all along," she spat. The air suddenly became thick as everyone processed what she had just accused me of, silence being the only thing that could be heard.