*~*~Natasha's P.O.V~*~*

My eyes flutter open slowly and excruciatingly; the smell of antiseptic overwhelming my nostrils. As my eyes open, I come face to face with a plain white ceiling. The sound of beeping and machines whirring can be heard beside me.

This seems familiar.

Slowly and carefully, I look around; attempting to find someone, anyone. But I don't see anyone. Though I can hear distant voices talking, I can just about make out what they're saying.

"She's absolutely fine. We have no idea what's wrong with her. There's absolutely no reason she should have fainted. At first we thought that it was maybe shock, but after the tests, we can determine that it isn't the case. We're sorry, but there is simply nothing wrong with her." An extremely familiar voice says.

Are they talking about me?

"But then why did she faint. I highly doubt that my daughter has a fainting problem, doctor. So please, I'm begging you, find out what's wrong with her." Another familiar voice speaks.

Mom.

"I'm sorry Miss Pearson. But there's absolutely nothing we can do. We can't even prescribe any medicines because we can't actually determine what the cause of the problem is. She's fine now, and you can can take her home after you have filled in all of the forms, but just make sure to be extra careful with her." That same voice from before answers my mom.

What exactly happened?

"Bu-

"Yes doctor. Thanks so much for your help. We really appreciate it." My mom begins to speak but is cut off by a masculine, deep, sexy voice.

Brody.

"You're welcome. But there's no need to thank me, it's my job. I'll just be right back with the forms you need to fill in, because she did faint, therefore we need to take everything into account and take signatures to investigate further, and then you can take her home." Who I can now confirm is the doctor, speaks.

Wait. Am I in the hospital?

And then it all comes back to me. The picnic. The walk. The screaming. Brody. And then the darkness.

I can then hear distant retreating footsteps of who I'm assuming is my doctor. Then, afterwards, I hear the door to my room open as two very familiar people step inside.

"Hey, you're awake." My mom exclaims quietly as soon she sees me; grabbing my hand and clasping her fingers around it tightly. She then takes my hand and moves it towards her face; kissing it gently. A tear slips down her face and drops onto my hand; warm and salty.

Using my free hand, I reach up to my mother's face, and wipe away some more falling tears.

I don't like seeing her cry because of me.

"Oh sweetie. Are you ok? Is your head fine? You feeling ok? No pain, or-

"Mom. I'm fine. Really. I don't even feel unfine." I attempt to reassure my mother; smiling widely at her. And it was true though, I felt absolutely fine. Fit as a fiddle. As healthy as a worm.

Although, I'm not sure that unfine is actually even a word.

"Are you sure?" My mom questions as she places the back of her hand against my forehead, most likely checking to see it if have a fever or anything. Worry is evident on her features.

I grab my mom's hand from my forehead and squeeze it tight within both of my hands. I smile even wider as I speak.

"One hundered percent sure." I repeat.

My mom visibly relaxes a bit at this, her shoulders untensing and the worry slowly seeping away from her face.

That's my girl.

"Erm. Hope I'm not interrupting a cute Mother-Daughter moment here." Brody says nervously as he comes into view from behind my mother; a smile gracing his features.

"No. Not at all." My mom replies as she wipes away a few last tears from her face; letting go of my hand. She then stands up and moves over behind Brody, letting him come nearer to me.

"I'll give you two some time to talk." She says as she turns away from me and walks over to the door; exiting the room as she shuts it behind her.

Brody smiles at her retreating figure; mimicking my actions as he turns back around to face me. He grabs my hands and holds them tight in his; squeezing them even more tightly. He runs his thumb soothingly on my knuckles, a reassured look on his features.

"I'm so glad you're ok." He tells me; letting a lone tear slip down his face into my hand.

No.

Pulling my hands away from his, I turn to look away from him, crossing my arms over my chest in an annoyed manner.

"Hey. What's wrong?" He questions as he moves over to the other side of the bed; coming back into view.

Once again, I turn away from him to look in the direction of where he was previously sat.

"Hey. Did I do something?" Brody asks solemnly as he places his hand on my chin; using his thumb and pointer finger to guide my face to face him.

I pull my face away from his touch and turn to look at anywhere but him.

"I refuse to speak to you, or look at you, until you wipe those tears off of your face and smile." I tell him defiantly. I keep my face straight to sow him my seriousness towards this matter.

Nobody should be crying because of me. I'm not worth their tears.

Brody chuckles lightly at my excuse for not interacting with him, and begins to talk.

"I'm sorry. Here. Look. Tears gone. I'm smiling now. Look. Look at me." He says as he once again uses his thumb and pointer finger to turn my face around so that I'm facing his.

I smile at him as I take in the huge grin on his lips; no moisture on his beautiful features.

"That's my boy." I coo as I grab Brody's cheeks and pinch them as if he were a baby.

He squats my hands away from his face; pouting angrily. Little does he know that just makes him look cute. He then points at me like an angry teacher would to a naughty student and begins to speak.

"Don't touch my face. Comprendo. No toucho mi faco amazingo. No. No no no no no. I-

"Ok. Ok. I get it. I won't touch the face. Or whatever it is you just said." I tell him as I give him a weird look, confused at his words.

What?

"What do you mean? That right there, was some quality Spanish. Or Italian. Or maybe it was French. Or-

"Yeah yeah. I know, it could be many languages." I say exasparatedly as I cutt him off.

Seriously though. What language was that?

For a moment, nobody speaks, untill brody ruins the comfortable silence. "I think it was Moroccan." He says.

There is a short, awkward silence that follows, before Brody and I both start to laugh at his ridiculousness, clutching our stomachs as we double over in laughter.

Idiot.

"I hate to interrupt your little rendezvous, but it's time for us to get going." My mom speaks as she enters the room; closing the door behind her as she strolls over to me and Brody, a genuine smile gracing her features.

"I've filed in all of the forms, and all of the necessary documents. Dr Slade has given me persmisson to take you home now." She tells me joyfully; clapping her hands together in excitement.

Ah. Dr Slade. That's why he sounded familiar.

"Come on, now. Let's get you home." My mom walks over to my bed and helps me to get up onto my feet, though I was perfectly capable of doing it myself.

My mom and I walk out of the door, and to the entrance of the hospital; Brody following closely behind, carrying all of my things.

Isn't he sweet.

We exit the building and stroll over to the Parking lot, making our way over to Brody's car.

As we reach the car, I open the door to the passenger's side and sit inside; closing the door behind me. Brody mimicks my actions, only he sits in the drivers side.

Then, My mom taps on my window; effectively catching my attention. I roll the window down hurriedly, and listen as she begins to speak.

"Sweetie. I've got to go to work now. You know how they are, but Brody is going to take you home. Promise me you'll take care of yourself until I'm back." She tells me seriously as she holds out her pinky finger, indicating for me to take it.

I laugh at my mother's childishness; wrapping my pinky around hers as I begin to speak.

"I promise." I reassure with a bright smile on my face.

"That's my baby." My mom coos as she ruffles up my hair; leaning forward to leave a kiss on my forehead.

"Bye." She waves to me as she strides over to her car-just a few spots away from Brody's- unlocking it with her keys as she gets into the driver's side; shutting the door behind her. She then puts the keys into the igniton; starting the car as she drives out of the Parking lot and onto the traffic filled main road.

I watch her car until it is no longer in my line of sight. I then turn to face Brody as I hear him put the keys into the ignition and start the car.

"Ready?" He questions as he fastens his seatbelt.

I imitate his actions; clicking my seatbelt into place.

"Ready." I repeat as I smile to him.

Brody smiles back at me just as wide, before he places his foot on the pedal,  and revs the engine. He then proceeds to back the car out of it's parking space, and turn it around; driving out onto the main road. The same traffic filled one my mom drove out onto.

This is going to be a long ride.

***

"Brody! Give me the remote! I want to watch the news!" I shout as I run around my couch; attempting to grab Brody so that I could then grab the remote from him.

"Nuh uh. I'm watching Scooby Doo." He shouts back childishly; blowing a raspberry at me as he runs away from me.

Baby.

"Brody, please. Just gimme the remote." I plead exasparatedly; quickly running out of breath.

Hey. I Dont excersise much.

"Nope. Never. Gonna. Happen." He says adamantly; standing his ground.

Ugh. What do I do now?

Then, suddenly, a genius idea hits me. Like a brick.

"Ok. How about this. I buy you dinner, and you hand over the remote." I negotiate.

Genius, Natasha. This is it. He's gonna break.

Brody stops for a second and looks at the ceiling as if deep in thought; rubbing his chin; most likely contemplating whether or not to accept my offer.

"Throw in some Starbucks and you got yourself a deal." He says smugly after a long pause as he turns back to face me.

What?!

"What! No. Buy your own Starbucks." I say defiantly.

"Ok then. No remote for you." He says slyly; a smug smirk gracing his lips.

Grr. That blackmailer.

I stop and think for a second.

Is it really worth it?

Think of all of the shows you could possibly watch. It's Pretty Little Liars night tonight as well.

Yes. Yes, it is.

"Ok fine. Deal. Dinner and Starbucks. Now hand over the remote." I agree hesitantly.

Brody's smug smirk widens at this, his cockiness increasing as he tosses the remote to me.

Self centred man banana.

"I win." He shouts victoriusly as I retrieve the remote from the couch and take a seat where it previously sat. I then proceed to switch on the TV; ignoring his cocky winner attutudd as I scroll through the channels, until I land on the channel that I want to watch.

Just on time. The reporter begins to speak as soon as the channel comes on.

"Breaking news! Midnight Murderer strikes again. That's right. You heard right folks, the Midnight Murderer has struck again! How, May you ask? Well, it's simple really. The WBPD got the wrong person. Or should I say, the wrong person got them. Here are the words of Nina Thorns, the main suspect in this investigation, who was due to go on trial tomorrow. "I don't know who they were. I was walking home one night, and they grabbed me. They told me that if I didn't turn myself into the police, and say that I was the Midnight Murderer, they would hurt my children. And I know that they are definitely capable of doing so. I don't know if they were male, or female. I was too scared to notice the gender. Or the face. I was just too scared." Well, there you have it. The Midnight Murderer, who we thought was behind bars, actually wasn't. They are still out there and Westbrook is in more danger than ever.  We hope that the real culprit is caught soon, and that Westbrook is actually safe. Once and for all. Melissa Hill reporting to you live from Fox Studios. Goodnight. Stay safe." She finishes.

You have got to be kidding me.

"Seriously." Brody sighs as he holds his head on his hands, a frown on his face.

"I know. Just when we all thought we were safe." I say sadly.

Again.

I am about to speak again, untill a realisation dawns on me. That murder happened last night. The walk. The screaming. The time.

Oh my gosh.

I burst into tears as I take in the situation. As I accept what I have done.

I killed her.

"Hey. Tasha. What's wrong?" Brody questions as he shuffles closer to me and scoops me up into his arms; hugging me tightly against his chest.

I cry vigorously as I attempt to reply to his query. My voice is croaky as a sob racks through me.

"L......l......last..n...n...night. T..t....that w...w...woman. S....s...She n...needed h..help. I stopped you. I killed her Brody. I killed her!" I manage to stutter out, but scream the last part as I continue to weep into Brody's shirt; effectively covering it with snot and tears.

He's gonna need to wash that.

"Hey. No. No you didn't. You were scared. Who wouldn't be." Brody comforts me as he rubs his thumb against my back in soothing patterns.

"I did. I-

"No. You didn't. Look at me. Look at me Tasha." Brody cuts me off as he pushes me away from his embrace and uses his thumb and pointer finger to guide me to face him.

He wipes away the damp moisture from my face; carefully swiping his thumbs under my eyes.

"It's not your fault. Ok. It's not. You understand me." Brody tells me as he gently cups my small face in his large, rough hands.

I nod slowly, accepting his words.

It wasn't my fault.

It wasn't my fault.

It wasn't my fault.

Brody smiles widely at this, a huge grin now on his lips.

"Good. Now stop crying. Come on. Shh. Smile." Brody says softly as he wipes away the remaining tears from my face with his thumbs; using his fingers to tug my lips up into a smile.

I smile as his fingers turn my frown into a smile. He didn't need to. I would have done it myself. His face always makes me smile.

Too bad he can't be mine.

"Now. Netflix and Matchmakers?" Brody suggests happily.

I laugh lightly as I nod in agreement. "Netflix and Matchmakers."