18 and Life to Go

[Juliette's POV.]

"Oh my god!" I half-whispered before launching myself into Lizzy. Literally.

"Woah!" she cried out, chuckling slightly.

"Don't you dare do that to me again," I scolded, hugging her tightly. "What was that all about! One moment you're fine and the next... Oh you dumbass! Don't you dare!"

"Juliette, I can't breathe," she wheezed.

"Oh, sorry," I grinned sheepishly, letting her go and stepping away.

Her eyes scanned the room, and widened considerably. I smiled, stepping aside as I heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey," Dan said softly, standing beside her, Holly in his arms. "I think someone wants to say hello."

"Is that..." she began in a slight whisper. Dan handed the tiny girl over to Lizzy and her eyes lit up. I smiled at the scene.

"Yep. That's our Holly May."

"She's beautiful..."

Holly gurgled happily and I chuckled. Lizzy didn't take her eyes off her daughter for a long time.
I looked over at Dan, who kept his eyes on Lizzy and smiled a bit. He then sat beside her and put his arms around her. That's when I noticed a tear slip down his cheek.

He whispered something to Lizzy, low enough for her to hear only.

She looked at him and hugged him back.

I couldn't help but giggle at how cheesy this all was.

When the others arrived, Dan got up and let Nancy get her turn.

Once everyone had pretty much said hello, I noticed someone was missing.

I went over to Jack and asked "Where's Finn?"

He looked around and seemed to have realized this as well, "I don't know, I guess he-"

But he was interrupted by his twin coming in.

"Speak of the devil..." I mumbled, smiling.

He wasn't empty handed though.

He was holding a bouquet composed of red roses.

"I got six roses... One from each of us," he grinned. "Holly May included."

"Thank you, Finn," she smiled, taking the roses from him and putting them in a vase on her bedside cabinet. "Speaking of all of us... Where's Phil?"

My smile immediately vanished. I looked at my feet, not wanting to answer her.

"He's, uh, busy," Jack lied. "But uh, he's... He would come if he could."

"Oh, that's a pity."

"I'll be right back," I mumbled, leaving the room before anyone could say anything more.

I walked down to the cafeteria, hands in my pockets.

It wasn't Lizzy's fault. How could she have known? It was completely normal for her to ask, I mean, he was always with the rest of us...

How stupid I was to have let him go. But I couldn't go back on my decision, not now. It was way too late.

Though, I could inform him about Lizzy. He does deserve to know.

I pulled out my phone and typed him a quick message. I had reached the end of the message and almost added two hearts, out of habit.

Call me pathetic, call me what you will, but that did it for me. No matter how happy I was feeling about Lizzy being awake, I couldn't stop this from affecting me.

So I cried, in the corner of a hospital cafeteria, oblivious to a world that was oblivious to me.