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Exhausted was the word.
For exactly two weeks and two days, you slept on the unbelievably uncomfortable couch in Miguel’s hospital room, adamant about doing so no matter what anyone told you.
And everyone tried to tell you something.
Carmen, Rosa, Sensei, Demetri, Hawk, Aisha (through phone), even Sam. Nothing made you budge: you were staying until he woke up and that was final.
You’d wake up in the morning, have lunch with Carmen and Rosa, talk to him in hopes that he could hear you, go home, take a shower, change, get back and repeat. Every single day.
Every day was harder.
Every friend that came to visit with that look on their face, every visit from Sensei, every time his mom would break down crying and beg for him to make it through, every prayer from his grandma, every one-sided conversation you’d have with him as he stayed unconscious. Everything was harder these days.
So yeah, you were exhausted.
Sometimes Hawk would bring you lunch for you to share, and he’d distract you with conversation that he’d occasionally include Miguel in with a “you hear that, man?” or something of the sort, which made you smile.
Or Demetri would bring you comic books to keep you entertained, staying a couple hours at a time and silently reading beside you to keep you company.
Aisha called every day to check in and Sam visited once in a while. Sensei Lawrence visited all the time, his mom and Yaya were obviously always there, even Daniel LaRusso visited once. But nothing really felt like real company when Miguel was there but not really there.
You’d been spending day after day without your best friend and you were starting to grow a sort of anger towards everyone and everything, replaying the fight over and over in your head and growing more and more irritated as the days went by. God help Robby Keene if he ever got face to face with you.
And then Miguel woke up.
After two entire weeks and almost everyone around you losing hope, he woke up, while you were asleep. You woke up scared, groggy, confused about all the noise: the loud beeping, the yells, the motioning, the sudden amount of people in the room, Carmen yelling Miguel’s name- oh no, was he… no, his mom wasn’t yelling out of despair. She was happy .
And you realized it: he was awake.
He was awake!
He was awake and trying to talk and god damn you couldn’t see a thing through the tears and it was like you were paralyzed, unable to move as you processed the situation, barely believing what was happening. This had to be a dream, it had to be, but it wasn’t!
The day after that, you slept in the hospital room yet again. In the same unbelievably uncomfortable couch, but you slept way, way more comfortably than the nights before. The usual ‘good night’ directed at him every night was met with a smile this time.
The day after that one, you went home. For the first time in two weeks and three days, you slept in a bed. Your two-week suspension was already done with, but you let yourself sleep well into the afternoon.
Everything that happened during the days after that was a blur, nothing short of a rollercoaster. You cried silently while Miguel and you watched as a doctor told his mom he would maybe never be able to walk again and you hugged Hawk tight when he told you he’d gathered money to help pay for the medical costs and you went back to sleeping on the couch in the cold hospital room after the surgery.
And then the day came. Miguel was finally out, and you couldn’t even believe it.
He deserved a great thing, for a change.
“Holy shit! You haven’t seen actual sunlight in so long! How’s it feel?”
“Yeah I kinda feel like a vampire,” he remarked, covering his eyes from the sun with his hands. Carmen and Rosa walked within a distance behind the two of you as you pushed his wheelchair forward.
“You know you don’t have to push me?”
“Yeah but it’s fun.”
“Not more fun than being the one riding the wheelchair.”
“Oh we’re bragging? Push yourself then.” You pretended to be mad and retrieved your hands from the handles, crossing your arms in front of your chest in fake indignation, and he turned the chair to face you, feigning offence.
“Wow I thought you’d go easier on me after everything!”
“I would never go easy on you.”
“Wait! I just had the best idea.”
“Okay?” You said as for him to go on, not entirely trusting him.
“Sit on my lap.”
“What?” You ignored the burning feeling on your cheeks, blaming it on weirdness of the proposition, not what he was telling you to do.
“Sit on my lap! If you’re so jealous I’ll take you with me.”
“No way.”
“Why?”
Yeah, why ? “Because- because we’re so gonna fall!”
“No we’re not! Do you not trust me?”
“I don’t, actually!” You let out a laugh.
“Shut up!” He exclaimed, smiling that smile of his.
Yeah, that one. Could you really say no to that? “Oh, my God,” you muttered, but did as he said, carefully sitting yourself down on his thighs.
“Okay, ready?”
“No?”
“Wrong answer!” He pulled on the wheels fast, picking up speed, and you had to support yourself by wrapping your arms around his neck.
“Miggy! Don’t do that!” His mom yelled after you, and you both laughed, out of breath with the adrenaline, when he stopped.
You waited as Rosa and Carmen walked up to you, only noticing you were still on his lap when Rosa shot you a funny look.
[ . . . ]
“Oh my God, Carmen, this is so good!” You exclaimed as you ate, Miguel agreeing with you eagerly by nodding his head.
“Thank you, mija! I missed having dinner with my baby,” she added, smiling at Miguel.
“We’ve had dinner together every day since I woke up!”
“Not proper dinner at the table! Different things, Miggy.”
As dramatic as it sounds, you couldn’t help but think about how utterly alive Miguel made all three of you.
You finished the food quickly and took off to Miguel’s room. You both laid on his bed on opposite ends, both facing the ceiling, in a comfortable silence that came after about an hour of talking about random things.
You propped yourself up by your elbows to face him. “Do you want me to stay over?”
He tilted his head to look back at you. “What?”
“If you want me to. I know it’s your first night out and all-”
"Why wouldn’t I want you to?” He smiled, and you couldn’t fight a smile yourself.
Then there was a knock on the door. “Guys?”
“Yeah mom?”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah!”
With that, Carmen opened the door immediately, smiling at the sight of the two of you. “Just making sure. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, mom,” he laughed. She’d been checking in way more often than usual, but Miguel understood. He always understood.
"Just asking,” she smiled. “Do you need me to take you home, sweetheart?” She asked you, and you turned to Miguel, sharing a look that silently told him ‘I’m not the one asking her!’
“Um can Y/N stay over tonight? Just tonight?”
“Yeah of course! Sweetheart you know you can always stay over. I’ll bring you some blankets, we can-”
“Anything’s fine! Really.”
“Oh honey I’m sorry you won’t be comfortable-”
“It’s alright, promise!” You reassured her, and she was back with about 5 blankets in no time, laying four on the floor right next to Miguel’s bed for you to lay on and handing the fifth to you for you to cover yourself with, along with a pillow too.
[. . .]
You were both stupidly tired-- and reasonably so- but neither of you could sleep. You tossed and turned around on your make-shift blanket mattress but just couldn’t seem to find a comfortable enough position, sighing in frustration at the empty tries.
“You okay?” Miguel spoke up in a whisper, scaring you. Wasn’t he asleep?
“Did I wake you up?”
“No. Was awake.”
“Can’t sleep either?”
“Is it the floor?”
“No, it’s fine-”
“You wanna come up here?”
“What?”
“I think there’s room for the two of us. I’m not that ripped, you know, I don’t take up that much space” he joked.
You chewed on your bottom lip, unsure if this was a good idea. "You sure?”
“Yeah it’s fine.”
As you went silent, deciding on what to actually do, you head Miguel shifting his body around to try and make room for you.
“Just- just climb up here.”
You got up and did as he said, struggling to make yourself fit in the bed with him. "This isn’t gonna work,” you commented.
“Yes it is, wait,” he moved your shoulders, turning your back to him, and scooted closer to the wall to make more space for you.
“Isn’t this uncomfortable for you? It’s gonna give you pressure sores.”
“How do you know about pressure sores?”
“I pay attention to what your doctors say!”
“Stop worrying!” You could hear him smiling as he whispered to you. “My legs are positioned right, if you wanna know so bad.”
“Fine. But you better not be lying.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’m… not gonna invite you to my ninth birthday party.”
“Okay that’s way too low even for you.”
“Yeah so I’d be careful.”
“Copy that.”
It was all peacefully quiet for no more than about twenty seconds before he started moving his arms around.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know where to-” he moved his arm around, settling on placing it around your waist, carefully. “Is this okay?”
You felt yourself inhale a sharp breath. It should be okay. Right? It should be completely and totally chill and fine and normal . “Yeah it’s fine.” You didn’t know if he had heard the hesitation in your voice, but he questioned you again.
“Is this weird?”
“What do you mean?”
“ This ? We’re kinda cuddling.”
“Why, is it weird for you? I- I can go back to the blankets-” you were already moving to stand up but he pulled you closer to his body by your waist.
“ No ! I- I mean- it’s not. I’m just asking. Cause I don't want you to be uncomfortable. This is fine.”
“Okay.”
“ Okay .”
“Are you sure you’re not uncomfortable? You know you don’t have to lie right?”
“No, I'm not! I promise. This is… nice. Uh- you know what I mean.”
You didn’t, exactly. “Yeah.”
Silence again.
“Did you actually sleep on that couch every night?”
"Why are you thinking about that?"
"'Cause we're talking about being comfortable and that did not look comfortable."
You laughed. “Yeah it wasn't exactly the best sleep of my life."
“Was it better than my bedroom floor?”
You let out a loud laugh and elbowed his chest slightly. “Your mom was very nice for setting that up for me!”
“Hey don’t hit me! I just got out of the hospital!”
“Oh that’s very sweet of you to think I care.”
“Oh I know you care! ‘Cause someone slept in the hospital for two weeks for me.”
“Okay, okay, let’s get back to talking about your bedroom floor.”
“No take backs! You were worried about me.”
“Yeah no shit.” Your tone wasn't playful anymore.
He paused. “I’m sorry I scared you like that.”
“Dude, you’re the one who got pushed down the second floor. You don’t have to apologize .”
“Yeah,” he let out a weak laugh. “I guess .”
God, these silent pauses were getting unbearable. “What were you gonna tell me?”
“What?” He questioned, clearly confused.
“You left me a voicemail. Before- you know.”
“Yeah. Right.” Was his heart actually beating a little faster or were you imagining it?
“I know it’s probably something stupid that probably doesn’t matter now, that’s- that’s why I didn’t mention before but-”
“But?”
“It’s stupid.”
"You can tell me.”
“I uh. I replayed it a lot. While you were- you know .”
“You did?”
You couldn’t believe he sounded so surprised. Was it that surprising that you wanted to hear his voice again while was in a coma for weeks ?
“I mean it was kind of the last thing you said to me before it happened. I didn’t actually talk to you that day so.” When he didn’t say anything, you tried to lighten up the mood, cursing yourself for bringing it down. “I’ve even got it memorized!”
“No you don’t,” he laughed.
“I do!”
“No way!”
“ Do too! ” You fake-gasped feigning being offended, turning around to face him- startling yourself for a half-second when you realized how close your face was to his, causing you to turn a bit more to lie on your back so you could face the ceiling instead of him, though he very much hadn’t let go of your waist in the process.
You once again set your mind elsewhere to avoid thinking about it too intently, clearing your throat dramatically before imitating the way he spoke.
“‘Um. Hey. Sorry I didn’t walk with you today. I’m not- I’m not ignoring you or anything. I just- I figured something really important out last night and I- I was gonna tell you like… 10 minutes ago but I didn’t- shit I have five more seconds anyway I’ll tell you at lunch bye-’ and then you got cut off.”
“Holy shit. I don’t even remember what I said word for word like that.”
“You had other things going on,” you joked, looking at him (though not turning your body to face him again yet) for a moment before averting your eyes to the ceiling again.
“You replayed it every day?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s cute.”
“Shut up. So… what is it? You made me wait for weeks, you need to tell me!"
He shifted a bit. “Uhhhh-”
“Come oooonn, you seemed excited about it!”
“Yeah but it’s not- it’s not that big of a deal.”
Now you’d gained back enough composure to actually turn your head to look at him. “You said it was really important!”
“I… didnt ?” He tried.
You only quirked an eyebrow up at him. He sighed.
“Did you actually get back with Sam? Is that it?”
“What?”
“I mean Tory was obviously pretty pissed. And the same day barely half an hour before all that happens you tell me you’ve got big news?”
“I’m not back with Sam.”
“I’m not gonna judge you if you are! Well I am actually. Obviously. But not that bad!”
“I’m not with Sam!”
“So Tory really did all that for nothing?”
“I mean, kind of? I did break up with her the night before. Right before Sam found me. And then Sam kissed me and guess Tory saw it but- we didn’t- we didn’t get back together.”
“What was it you wanted to say then?”
Silence .
“Did you get yourself in something? Is it bad?”
“I- I’m in love with you.” He was so quiet you almost didn't hear him.
“I mean it seems-” wait. “ what ?”
He let go of your waist, pushing his body up so he could sit down, you doing the same. “I’m sorry. I didn’t- I wasn’t gonna tell you like this. That’s- pretty obvious , but- I even. I left sensei a voicemail about it too-”
Non-stopping rambling from his part, complete silence from yours.
“I- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you like this and it’s- it’s fine if you don’t-”
“Shut up.”
“What?”
“Shut up. Just- for a second.”
“Oh- okay.” He stopped the rambling, but his widened stare kept itself trained on yours, as if trying to pry your thoughts out of your head through them.
You took a deep breath, trying to rationalize out loud what he’d just told you. “You’re in love with me. That’s what you were gonna tell me.”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know?"
He seemed taken aback by the question. It was understandable that it was not the first think he would've imagined you to say in return of his confession. “How do I- know ? I guess. I guess Sam kissed me that day. And I tried to kiss her back to see if there was anything still there, but there… wasn’t. And I had like just broken up with Tory for that exact same reason. I was dating these girls I didn’t have feelings for and I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have feelings for them.”
“'Cause you’re in love with me,” you said, more to yourself than to him.
“I mean- yeah. I’m sorry. I can- I can sleep on the couch if you want-”
That snapped you out of your trance-like confused state. “I’m not making you sleep on the couch, idiot!”
“But-”
“Are you sure? Like 100%?”
“Yeah, but-” It was impulsive, and you knew you probably should’ve said something before doing it, but what better way to show him you liked him back- as you’d just figured out yourself that very moment- than kissing him? So you did just that: you kissed him. In the dark, in his room, on his bed, with a million different problems to deal with, but that little moment, with him smiling against your lips, that was yours. A tiny little great thing in the middle of the chaos around you.
Yet another silence followed after you slowly pulled away from him, but this one was comfortable, content .
Miguel smiled at you. “So does this mean you like me back ooor ?”
“Shut up,” you muttered, smiling too, before pulling him closer to you by the collar of his shirt and kissing him again. You could definitely, without a doubt, get used to this.
“We’ve been friends for years and we haven’t done this before?” He asked, out of breath, when you pulled away again and you laughed, feeling light as a feather.
“We should go to sleep, Diaz ." You teased. "Your mom’s gonna get mad at me if you don’t sleep enough.”
“I am so in love with you.”
“Aw you have a crush on me? that’s embarrassing.”
“Shut up!”
"Yeah, yeah I'm in love with you too or whatever."
Maybe you deserved a great thing for a change too.