Pain.

            That was all I could feel.

            Everywhere.

            A bright light filled my eyes— or did it feel my eyes? It was all black. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if that light I was seeing was actually a light. All I knew was that my whole body hurt like hell. Like a truck had hit me…

            With a gasp, my eyes shot open. A truck had hit me! A blinding light filled my eyes, and immediately I began to full out panic. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t see. “No, no, no!” I mumbled, my voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. I struggled to sit up, but as I did, fire spread through my midriff and head. Groaning in pain, I flopped back down.

            “Rosie? Rosie?”

            I knew that voice.  “Chace?” I croaked.

            “Rosie, oh my God, you’re awake… Doctor! Doctor!”

            I blinked and blinked, trying to get my vision back. It couldn’t be gone. Not yet. Anything but that. I wasn’t ready. My four months weren’t up. Try as I might though, the only thing I could see was the bright white light. Tears began to form at my eyes and I held back a sob. Not only did my whole body cause me discomfort, but now my eyesight was gone.

            “Rosie, hold on a bit, okay?”

            “It hurts,” I moaned.

            “It’s okay,” he assured me. His hand found mine and squeezed tightly. “Hey, look at me.”

            Look at him? I didn’t know where he was. I could never look at him again. The thought nearly caused physical pain. Never again would I see his soothing smile, or my mom, or my dad, or my friends… It was too much for me. A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I once again slipped into unconsciousness.

            “Her vitals are good, her wounds are healing nicely… As of right now, she’s in no real danger, but we won’t know about her mental state until she’s fully awake.”

            My mind registered the hazy words, but it felt as though I was standing outside a nightclub, listening to the heavy bass through the door. The doctor continued speaking and I attempted to sit up. A low groan escaped my lips as pain cut through my midriff.

            Immediately there was a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t try to sit up.”

            “Right,” I mumbled. “Thanks for that useful advice.”

            There was a low chuckle from my right and I turned my head, opening my eyes and expecting to see Chace. Instead, all I saw was a bright white light. A cold force clutched at my heart and squeezed, knocking the breath out of me. Right. My vision was gone. Over and done with. Extinct. No more. Expired. Dead and buried.

             “Rosie?”

            It was crazy how memory worked sometimes. Just by hearing Chace’s voice I could imagine his face perfectly. His semi-curly umber hair, his chocolate colored eyes, his sturdy jaw, the extra dimple the right side of his face displayed when he smiled… Sighing lightly, I closed my eyes.

            Closed my eyes?

            My eyes shot back open again. Chace was staring at me, a small frown on his face. Immediately my heart beat increased by ten fold. Using a shaky hand, I reached out and touched his forehead. It wrinkled beneath my touch as he narrowed his eyes at me. “You okay, Rosie?”

            “I can see you,” I stated, my eyes growing wide.

            “Yes…?”

            An overwhelming urge to kiss him took over my brain and I leaned forward to perform the act, but the pain in my stomach stopped me. Moaning, I fell back into my pillow. “It’s nothing, nothing…”

            “Ms. LeBlanc, how are you feeling?”

            Twisting my head to the left, I noticed two doctors standing by my bed, clipboards in their hands. As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. “Hungry.”

            The one on the right smiled down at me, his green eyes twinkling. “That’s good to hear.”

            “Do you remember what happened?” the female one asked, pushing her blonde bangs out of her face. The nametag on her coat read Dr. Styles. “Your accident?”

            Nodding, I winced as I once again tried to prop myself up into a sitting position. I really needed to stop doing that. “A truck hit me, right?”

            “Yes,” she responded, scribbling something down on her clipboard. “If you’re up for it, there’s a few tests were have to do to make sure you have no memory damage.”

            “Uh, yeah, sure. Might as well get it over with.”

            Chace cleared his throat awkwardly. “In that case, I’ll head out… Rosie, do you want me to bring some outside food? No one was lying when they said hospital food is gross.”

            “Yes,” I said at once. “I’ve had it before.”

            Laughing, he stood up from his chair and slid his jacket on. “Right. I’ll stop by and tell your parents you’re up too. What do you want?”

            “A Shirley temple,” I told him. “And a sandwich from Subway.”

            “BLT?”

            I blinked, surprised he knew that. “Er… yeah.”

            He wagged his finger at me. “Don’t give me that look. I do pay attention when we talk, you know.”

            “Yeah…”

            Leaning down, he gave me a quick kiss before waving. “See you later, Rosie.”

            I stared after him, a bit in shock. Even I didn’t remember when I told him what I liked on my sandwiches. Turning to the doctors again, they gave me sly little smirks. A blush spread across my face. “W-what?”

            “You’ve got yourself a pretty good catch,” Dr. Styles informed me. “I swear, that boy hasn’t left your side for more than five seconds. He even has his father bring him food.”

            “His father?” I echoed. What was his father doing here?

            She nodded. “Yep. Anyway, why don’t you take some painkillers and then we start? It’ll be over before you know it.”

            “Sure,” I agreed easily. Tests were always easy…

            Two hours later, I was finally back in my hospital ward, resting on my bed with a Shirley temple in one hand and my sub in the other. Chace sat to my right, easting his own sandwich while my parents stood on my left, yapping away at me. Only part of mind was focused on their words, while the other was fixated on my food. Tube food really didn’t do much for hunger.

            “You gave us quite a scare three days ago,” my dad told me, shaking his head. “Your pulse was erratic. Doctors thought maybe you were going into shock, or something. Though, I think you scared Chace the most.”

            At that moment, Chace choked. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered as my dad grinned at him. “You guys should have been more scared.”

            I raised my eyebrows. “So was it just a false alarm or something?”

            My mom shrugged. “No idea. I think you just wanted to frighten us.”

            “Sounds like it,” I responded with a grin. “Oh well. So after that I was out for another three days?”

            All three people in the room nodded.

            “Huh. So that’s a total of six days, right? That means today’s Thursday… Ugh. Braille lessons…”

            “Braille lessons?” Chace echoed.

            My eyes shot open. “Um…”

            My parents exchanged looks. Then my dad stood up. “Brenda, mind coming to the hospital café with me? I think I want a coffee.”

            “You read my mind,” she said quickly, swiping her purse off the floor. “Be back in a bit, Rose.”

            With my eyes, I begged them to stay. I wasn’t ready for this. All the courage I had before was gone. “Dad,” I pleaded.

            He shook his head at me. “No coffee for you.”

            “Fine,” I snapped just as they shut the door.

            A small frown appeared on Chace’s face. “What about these Braille lessons?”

            “I, um…” Swallowing nervously, I clenched the bed sheets in my hand. “I have something to tell you.”

            He tilted his head to the side. “Yes?”

            “I… My…” A lump in my throat formed and I grimaced. Why did I have to be so emotional all the time? It was really beginning to tick me off! In fact, the whole situation pissed me off. If Chace hadn’t said that he didn’t want any more life-changing thing in his life, it would’ve been ten times more easier to tell him. But then again, it didn’t exactly change his life. Only mine. And if he wanted to leave, he had the chance. I’d give him the chance.

            “I’m going blind,” I forced through gritted teeth. “I have this stupid disease called Cone-Rod Dystrophy which is slowly deteriorating my vision. I have until the end December. You know how I said I was clumsy? I was lying. I’ve never been clumsy in my life. I started falling because my vision blanks out on me. That’s how I got in my accident. My vision decided to screw with me and that’s when the truck hit me. And yeah, this is life changing. Sorry for bringing it into your life, Chace.” On his name, my voice cracked. I bit my lip hard, trying to keep my emotions under control. I wasn’t going to break down in front of him.

            The room went silent. Chace gaped at me, his eyes wide.

            “Aren’t you going to say something?”

            His mouth moved, but no words came out.

            “That’s what I thought. Listen, I get, I’m going to become a burden. You can leave if you want. I’m not going to force you to stay with me. I understand completely,” I told him, my hands shaking. “You can leave…”

            “I…” Jumping up, he glanced to the door.

            My heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t really going to leave, was he? There was no way Chace would walk out on me… He wasn’t like that. I was counting on him to not be like that, no matter what I thought, about allowing him to decide, somewhere deep inside me I depended on his kindness. “Chace…”

            Without another word, he ran out of the room.

            “Chace!” I shouted, flying into a sitting position. “Ow!” Gasping in pain, I slowly settled myself back down on the bed, holding my gut. “Shit!”

            That wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to leave. He was supposed to stay here. With me. It was Chace after all… Chace wouldn’t run away…

            “No,” I whispered as tears rolled down my face. I scrubbed them away furiously. “I’m not going to cry… I’m not.”

            Maybe I’d misjudged his personality. Or maybe I’d misjudged myself. What kind of person was I? Wasn’t this using Chace? Taking his kindness for granted? I’d truly expected him to stick it out with me because I thought he would be too nice to leave. That was the honest truth. So how could I be angry with him for doing the opposite of what I expected? I couldn’t. I’d have to face this alone— no, not alone. I still had Katie and my parents… just not Chace.

            “But I want Chace,” I confessed, squeezing my eyes shut. “That’s all…”

            Suddenly the door burst open. Surprised, I jumped, earning another painful protest of my stomach. My eyes shot to the front of the room, where all I could see was a gigantic penguin. I blinked, wondering if I was going crazy.

            Just then, Chace popped his head from around it. “Hey,” he said sheepishly. “I tried finding a teddy bear, but all they had was this…”

            “What are you…” I began, but my voice died in my throat.

            Grimacing, he lugged the gigantic stuffed animal into the room, setting it on one of the empty chairs. “I figured I should buy you an apology gift.”

            My heart lurched. He wanted to apologize for wanting to leave? It wasn’t his fault at all! “You don’t need to—”

            “I do… Actually, Rosie, I’ve known about your illness for awhile.”

            “You… What?”

            Scratching the back of his head, he plopped into the chair next to my bed. “Yeah. I saw your mail that one time. When it was on the counter?”

            “From that long ago…?” It didn’t make sense. He’d known about it? Why hadn’t he said anything? Why was he still going out with me?

            “Yeah. I figured since you didn’t tell me, you didn’t want me to know.” Pausing, he laughed. “I know, great detecting skills there. But yeah, so I didn’t say anything about it. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

            My mind was having trouble processing his words. He’d known from then? That was more than two months ago! “I…”

            He held up his hands defensively. “You have the right to be angry, Rosie. In fact, you can slap me if you want. That was private. I shouldn’t have looked. I’m sorry.”

            “I… I think I’m going to pass out.”

            “What? What’s wrong?” he demanded, his worried eyes searching mine. “Should I call a doctor?”

            “I don’t understand.”

            “Don’t understand what?”

            “You.”

            He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

            Chewing my bottom lip, I dropped my gaze. “Why are you still going out with me?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Doesn’t it scare you? Isn’t it a burden? I’m going to go blind, Chace. I’m not going to be able to do anything we normally do.”

            Without warning, Chace slammed his hands down on my bed. “Is that what you think of me, Rosie?”

            With wide eyes, I struggled to find my words. “Uh…”

            “What you’re saying… I’m not with you by choice, Rosie.”

            “Oh? Then you’re with me because you feel bad?” I snapped without thinking.

            He snorted. “Yeah, definitely.”

            “In that case—”

            “No, Rosie. That’s not even close. I’m not with you because I pity you. I’m with you because I can’t leave you.”

            I frowned. “What?”

            “Rosie, I love you.”

            My heart skipped a beat. “You… what?”

            Chuckling, he dropped his head. “Man, you really do make me act like a girl. Crying all the time. Confessing my feels. Geez, Rosie. You’re dangerous.”

            “You love me? B-but…”

            “But what?”

            “I…”

            “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

            Did I? I wasn’t sure. Was it love at first sight for him? The whole idea seemed a bit ridiculous… “I don’t know.”

            “Well, I don’t.”

            Now confused, I raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you ask that?”

            “Well, I figured if you said yes then I could just use that as an easy excuse,” he admitted with a grin. “I don’t really feel like having to explain my emotions. I just love you, Rosie. The moment I read that you’re going blind… it hurt me. Not because I thought you would be a burden, but because I realized how much it must hurt you.”

            “It doesn’t…” I started, but his look cut me off.

            “Don’t lie. This is scary, Rosie. It’s scary even for me.”

            The lump in my throat returned. “But…”

            “Listen, Rosie. The only way I’d ever leave you if you left me. Even then, I’d fight like hell to get you back. You’ve changed me in so many ways. Good ways. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

            “Chace…”

            “But hey,” he continued, a smile spreading across his face, “there is one good thing about you going blind.”

            Blinking back tears, I smiled back. “What’s that?”

            “It gives me the excuse to hold your hand for the rest of our lives.”

            “It does, doesn’t it?” I responded with a watery chuckle.

            He leaned down and pressed his forehead against mine. “You know, Rosie, the first thing I noticed about you was your hair. Isn’t red the color of fate? Maybe we were fated to be together.”

            “You think that?” I asked, grinning. “You sound more like an old man than an eighteen year old.

            “If you haven’t noticed, my mind is a few years older than my body,” he retorted, pulling back to smirk at me. “I mean, if anyone heard our conversation just now, what would they think? Two teenagers going through this? They wouldn’t understand.”

            I nodded. “You’re right. They wouldn’t. But we do. And that’s all that matters.”

            “That’s right,” he agreed.

            “Hey, Chace.”

            “Hm?”

            “Kiss me,” I ordered.

            Pretending to think about it for a moment, he twisted his face into a look of concentration. “Well… Okay. Since you asked so nicely.” Inclining his head, he pressed his lips against mine softly.

            “I missed that,” I confessed when he pulled away.

            “Me too,” he said with a grin before kissing me again.

            At exactly that moment the door opened, and my parents appeared, entering at the worst moment possible. Chace and I broke away immediately, embarrassed expressions crossing our faces.

            My mom grinned while my dad narrowed his eyes at Chace. “What do you think you’re doing?”

            “Uh… mouth-to-mouth?”

            “Good one,” he snorted, switching his intimidating gaze to me. “I guess I have to keep my eyes on you two now.”

            Chace and I exchanged amused glances. “Good luck,” I wished my dad.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “Nothing. Nothing at all…” 

__________________________________

            Okay, so I decided to have this story be in two parts. This is the end of the first part. The second part will be about what happens now that Chace knows Rose is going blind. It won't be too long, but I didn't want to end it here (which was my original plan.) It's supposed to be a short story, about 50,000 words. Which is where it is at now. Sooo I decided to continue it, just as like a sequel/part two. So... yeah xD It's not over, don't worry! 

            It feels like I haven't written in so long... I've still been catching up on Supernatural. I'm on season 4 now. Css is in it now. God, I love him. Mischa is so... attractive. In the weirdest way. I'm such a fan girl xD 

            Remember to go vote "A Surreptitious Realtionship" in the Watty Awards under Most Popular! The contest is almost over and I really need everyone who thinks ASR deserves to win to go vote! And remember, just go to the website if your on your phone with your browser instead of your app to vote on a mobile device! Thank you :D 

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