I hope you guys like this chapter! Sometimes I feel like I'm losing sight of the story, but whatever hahahaha

Please make sure to vote and comment because it would seriously rock if you did! :D

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By the time Lizzie and Everett hit Flagstaff, Arizona one day later, Everett partially regretted ever saying yes to the road trip. The two were absolutely exhausted in every sense of the word.

Lizzie's eyes were heavy and drooping, a bit red with the strain of keeping them open and lack of proper rest the prior night. Tents sounded like a really good idea before. Now she just wanted to chuck the thing out and forget all about it.

Everett didn't feel that much better, either. The car kept him cramped up and compact for so many hours that his body felt sore and in need of a good stretch. Since he refused to take any rest if Lizzie couldn't, his eyes were in pretty much the same state: red, dry and heavy.

The two had their windows down, the cool night air keeping them refreshed enough to make the final leg of the trip. Lizzie made another turn, gravel crunching underneath their tires for several seconds before the engine died.

Hearing a heavy sigh, Everett just nodded. He understood that it was just a sigh of relief. "Next time we decide to take a road trip, let's skip that and just hop a plane," Lizzie mumbled out. Everett could hear a smile in her voice and smiled himself.

"Yeah, we're not doing this again. Sorry, but I'm sore and I've had to pee for the last forty-five minutes."

A hand slapped his arm. "Seriously? You couldn't have taken two seconds to say, 'Hey, see that 7-11? You should stop there.' - we weren't in that much of a hurry you know," she scolded playfully.

Everett shot her a look concerning the way she phrased her sentence and she rolled her eyes, shoving him. "Don't give me that look. You know what I mean!" she grumbled, hearing him laugh.

"I know, I know. But come on - I wanted to get out of this car just as much as you. I was willing to sacrifice a few things to shorten the length of the trip," he retorted defensively.

Quiet settled on the car and Lizzie broke it saying, "We really need to get out of this car if we're going to start arguing about your bodily functions."

Everett laughed and nodded in agreement. Not only that, he wanted to walk and lay down on a bed. Or a couch. Pretty much anything that didn't involve a tent. But a bed would be nice.

"You two are late - I was starting to get worried."

Everett had only just barely opened his door when a woman called out those words. It startled him since he didn't think anyone would be awake at the moment; it felt really late.

"Aunt Kate!"

Well, apparently Lizzie knew this person because within seconds, her door opened and slammed shut, her feet digging into the gravel as she jogged to her family. It seemed as though they hadn't really been able to be with each other in a long time. At least from what Everett could tell from their animated speech.

One hand on the car, Everett followed the cold metal in slow steps, moving toward the happy, but quiet voices on the other side.

"Oh! I can't believe how rude I am!" An arm, presumably Lizzie's, linked itself through the crook of his elbow and slowly tugged him along. Everett breathed a small thank you for the slower pace because the guy wasn't so sure he could go much faster in an environment that he didn't know.

"Aunt Kate, this is Everett. He's my best friend from back home," Lizzie announced the introduction, tugging Everett just a hair closer to her side.

Everett could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a harsh bass drum that practically made him vibrate.

Lizzie viewed him as her best friend? He didn't really realize it until he heard them out loud, but Everett always wanted to hear someone say those words in correlation to him. The fact that Lizzie said them made it a hundred times better.

Immediately, he could feel himself standing just a tad bit taller, thrilled with the revelation. Small as it may have seemed to most, Everett never had a best friend. Just Jesse and Jeffrey. But they were family and were just stuck with him. He wanted someone outside his family to accept him and claim him as a friend.

And he finally got his wish.

Everett slowly extended one hand in front of him, making sure not to jab what appeared to be Lizzie's favorite aunt. That would be embarrassing. "It's really nice to meet you," he said as he did so.

He heard a couple chuckles and wondered what was so funny. But before he could ask, someone pushed his hand away and hugged him, shocking the socks off of him.

"In this family, we hug, kid," Kate told him, a smile vivid in her voice. She let go and let out a deep breath of air, "Okay, I'm sure you guys are wiped out. Let's get your junk from the car and get you two some shut eye."

"Sorry," Lizzie mumbled from beside Everett. "Aunt Kate can get a little insane sometimes."

Everett shook his head, replying, "No, it's fine. She's ... well, she kind of reminds me of you." The teasing in his voice didn't escape Lizzie's notice and seconds later, she lightly pinched him.

"Zip it, North," she grumbled playfully, both of them grabbing bags and slamming the lid of the trunk down. She linked their arms again, the two walking at the pace of a snail towards the house.

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"Okay, and here is your room," Kate announced. Everett heard the clicking of a door opening and stepped forward. He could practically feel Kate hesitating. "So ... I guess I'll just ..."

Everett smiled and saved her from what could potentially become an embarrassing story over breakfast the next morning. "I'm good." He brought out his folded white cane and unfurled it. "I can take it from here."

She let out a breath and said, a smile evident in her voice, "Okay, well - then I guess I will see you in the morning. When you wake up, the kitchen is to the left after you exit the room and down the hall. There's a bathroom attached to your room, as well. Right side. Goodnight, Everett."

The door shut behind him and Everett dropped his bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes. With the help of his cane, Everett made his way to the bed and flung himself down on it. "So soft," he mumbled into the pillow. Although, after the trip they had, Everett was sure anything would have felt so soft and comfortable.

He didn't bother changing out of his clothes and fell asleep almost immediately.

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Everett could feel the heat of the sun on his skin the next morning, forcing him out of his sleep induced daze and making him suck in a deep breath of air through his nose.

Rolling over onto his back, Everett stretched and bent in various positions for a few minutes before hearing (and feeling) the satisfying pop of his back. He sighed in relief and blinked a few times in an attempt to get the sand out of the corner of his eyes.

When it didn't come out right away, he rubbed his eyes a little. When he finally felt awake enough to move around, Everett swung his legs off the bed and stood. He felt around for his cane, not quite remembering where exactly he set it down before passing out the night prior.

His hand collided with the long and cold piece of metal, fingers tightly grasping it as he began walking. He grabbed his backpack with his bathroom supplies and began the search. The bathroom turned out to be easier to find than Everett originally thought, only taking a few minutes.

Closing the door behind him, Everett made quick work of taking a shower and brushing his teeth, getting squeaky clean before drying off with a towel. With lightening speed, Everett yanked on his boxers, jeans and a shirt, running one hand repeatedly through his hair and hoping it looked good enough.

He didn't want to make a bad impression on Lizzie's aunt. With the title of best friend and growing feelings on his end, Everett didn't want to mess anything up before it even started.

With a groan, Everett found the nearest wall and bonked his head on it repeatedly. Why, oh, why did he have to get a crush on her? Not that Lizzie didn't make an excellent crush ...

Only that Everett felt himself being friend-zoned by that title of best friend. It tasted a little bitter-sweet, but he vowed that he would find a way to express himself and crawl out of the friend-zone.

Even if it took a little while. Besides, he still had things he needed to work on and he didn't want to rush out his feelings when they hadn't been properly sorted out by himself, anyways.

Straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, Everett proceeded to exit the bathroom and bedroom, turning left and heading down the hall. It was a bit of a slow process. He didn't know this area, so he obviously tried to make sure that he didn't knock over any expensive vases or bumped into tables with pictures.

Finally, Everett could hear voices, clearly belonging to Lizzie and Kate. But the conversation didn't sound too awful pleasant. In fact, both parties sounded a little annoyed.

Putting on hand on the wall, Everett followed it without his cane in an attempt to eavesdrop. And yeah, maybe it wasn't the smartest idea, but he really wanted to know what the discussion taking place was about.

"Did you even tell that boy why you decided that it was time for a cross country trip?" Kate demanded to know.

Silence followed for a few seconds before Lizzie replied, "No. I didn't. But ... it's not like he and his family don't know where he's at! I just didn't think that ... he would come if he knew the reason. You know?"

"I don't think you give him enough credit, Liz," Kate said softly and Everett felt his heart drop into his stomach. There was something about the way Kate said those words that unnerved him. "I honestly think that Everett would have come either way."

Lizzie sighed and Everett heard a chair scoot across the floor before a body, presumably Lizzie's, fell into it. "I just didn't want him to think anything bad. I guess, I don't know. It's not something I'm super happy about. Everett's got enough sadness without adding on . . . my own problems. It's hard to talk about sometimes and even just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe, you know?"

Everett's eyes widened and he gulped a little. What problems?

What exactly was he missing out on? What did Lizzie

Before he could think about it any longer, he reluctantly told himself to just wait and not just to conclusions. After all, it could be perfectly innocent ...

Right?

Everett mentally scoffed before steadying himself and waltzing around the corner. He forced a tiny smile on his face and mumbled, "Good morning." to everyone in the room.

"Hey, Ev. There's waffles and bacon. Want some?" Lizzie jumped right into conversation with him, Everett noticed, not leaving any room for her aunt to interject.

Nodding slowly, Everett eased himself into a chair. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. Syrup too, if you don't mind, Liz." he mumbled towards the end, but according to the small chuckle that floated to his ears, Lizzie heard him anyways.

Silence engulfed the kitchen, the only sounds coming from food being piled on a plate and the scraping of Everett's fork on the dish.

"So ..." Lizzie cleared her throat a little bit and Everett stopped mid-bite and moved his body so it faced her direction. He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "There's somewhere I need to go today."

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The car ride didn't have a whole lot of chit chat and a slight tension filled the smallish space. "So where are we going again?" Everett asked, just as the car pulled to a stop.

Lizzie sighed loudly and said, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Doors opened and with a frown, Everett followed suit and left the car. Lizzie placed a hand on the crook of his elbow and pulled him across what he assumed was a parking lot.

Automatic doors made a whooshing sound in front of him and immediately, Everett's senses were sent into overdrive. Soft chatter hit him from every direction, overlapping words and conversations making him wince as he tried to sort them out.

Squeaking shoes made their way across the floors and he wanted to yank off those shoes and chuck them outside.

And then the starkest contrast from the outside world: the rich and overwhelming smell of antiseptic.

"Why are we in a hospital?"

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OKAY PEOPLE! LET'S HEAR THOSE GUESSES!!

Comment on the following line (if you're on the app, do an inline comment to make the guesses easier to find):

Why did Lizzie make a cross country trip just to go to a hospital?

Closest guess will get a dedication! :D

Adolescent Odds will be updated tonight as well, so please make sure to check that out as well!

Love you guys!

- Kim