The World Awaits Your Smile

"Answer your phone," Justin mumbled, biting the skin around the nail of his thumb, due to anxiety. Hearing John answer on the other side of the phone, Justin let out a sigh. "Hey, man."

"Hey, J-Bo. What's up?" John asked, sitting down on his couch.

"Not much.." he muttered, "I kind of have to tell you something, though,"

John nodded, even though Justin couldn't see, "Okay.. shoot."

"Holly and her family got into a car wreck on the way to Arizona," Justin whispered, "The hospital aren't saying much, at the moment. I just know that Holly and her dad are stable."

John's mouth opened and closed a few times before he could even form any words. "What about Karen and Adam?" he asked, his voice cracking as he finished his reply.

"Not good." Justin shortly replied, "I've got to go, John. I'll call and let you know what's been said; if anything gets said, that is." With that, the conversation ended and John sat staring at his phone, in disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Kennedy laughed, staring at the face his lead singer was making.

John looked up, making eye contact with Kennedy, "Holly and her family have been in an accident," he said, slowly, his eyes soon averting to the floor.

After a few minutes of silence, Garrett spoke up, "Someone's going to have to tell Cody." he said, causing John's eyes to snap up to meet his, at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. "They used to be best friends, John. I think she deserves to know that something's happened."

"You phone her, then." John said, throwing his phone at Garrett as he exited the room.

Sighing, Garrett picked up John's phone off of his lap and scrolled through his contacts until he found the right one he was looking for. Listening to the ringing tone, he patiently waited until Cody picked up. Hearing her laugh, before she had even said hello, brought a small smile to Garrett's face as he listened to one of his best friends having fun.

"Hello?" Cody finally answered, a smile present on her face.

"Hey, Codes." Garrett said, running a hand through his hair.

"Garrett!" she grinned, "Merry early Christmas," she smiled.

"You too. There's something I've got to let you know, Cody."

"Okay, what's that?" Cody asked, resting her legs across Jack's lap.

Garrett sighed, "Holly's in hospital, as are her family."

The smile that had been on Cody's face for most of the day dropped in an instant, and her Maryland friends watched on with worried looks. "Oh?" she mumbled, "What... what happened, Gare?" she asked, moving her legs off of Jack to pace the room, instead.

"John just told us that they had been in an accident, that's all. I don't want to ruin the fun you're having, Codes. I just thought I should let you know.."

"No! I'm glad you did. Fuck. Thanks, Garrett. I'll phone you later, okay? Love you."

Throwing her phone across the living room, which just missed hitting Alex, Cody let out a strangled scream, through her hands.

"Cody?" Jack got off of the couch to wrap his girlfriend in a comforting embrace. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Holly's in hospital." she whispered, as the tears began to well up.

Zack decided to speak up, as no one else knew what to say, at a time like this. "Do they know what her condition is?" he asked.

"I don't know." Cody sobbed, falling to the floor. Luckily for her, Jack fell down with her, causing her to sit on his knee and cry into his shirt. "I have to go and see her." Jack nodded, swaying Cody side to side gently,

"Alex, go see when the nearest flights are down there," Jack instructed. Alex nodded, walking away to find his laptop and book flights. Lisa walked over to the pair, sitting down next to them, embracing them all into a group hug,

"I'm coming with you." Lisa said, looking at Jack and Cody, who both nodded. Alex walked back into the room holding his laptop in one hand, sitting down on the couch, scrolling down a page full of flights. He looked up at them all,

"Next flight's in three hours." Alex informed everyone, "Is that cool, for everyone?" he asked.

"Not for me," Rian started, "I have to go to dinner with Kara and her family around that time. Sorry, Codes." he said, sending sympathetic eyes towards the crying girl.

"Don't worry about it," she sniffed, "Just have fun with Kara, yeah?" Rian nodded in response.

"How about you, Zack?" Alex asked.

"I'll fly down later, with Rian. You don't want the hospital being overcrowded by us lot and people in Arizona, do you?"

"That's a fair point." Alex nodded, "So, I'll book four tickets right now, okay? Lisa, go pack some of our shit, we can go and grab some of Jack's clothes from his quickly and Cody's things are still packed. Everything's going to work out, Cody. We'll make sure of it." he comfortingly said.