Take Me. I'm Never Gonna Let You Fall.

I remember being very scared that night. Like, my heart had jumped in my throat. Panic overwhelmed me. One minute, we were driving along, laughing and singing along with the radio. The next minute, the car in front of us crossed an intersection, and a pickup truck came barreling out of nowhere, slamming into their rear end. Rian's car did a 180, coming to a stop facing us. I remember stopping my own car, and getting out as quickly as possible. Henry's matching blue eyes were wide with fright as he sat there. I flung open his door, reached across him, and unbuckled him before pulling him out. I had grabbed his shoulders and repeatedly asked if he was okay.

Never before in my life had I felt such intense fear. He looked fine, but I needed that reassurance. My brother was everything to me. I couldn't handle seeing him hurt.

Finally, he shook out of it and grabbed my hands. "Hols, I-I'm f-fine. J-Just s-shaken," he informed me, giving me a small smile.

I breathed a sigh of relief before taking him into my arms again, hugging him tight against me. Around me, I could hear Alex finding out if the others were okay, and then, in the distance, the sound of sirens. The pickup truck was up on the curb across the street. Seeing that, the panic left and instead, I was filled with anger.

I released my brother and began stomping over to the truck. About that time, a young man was stepping out of it, dazed. Something about the way he was stumbling around made me come to the conclusion that he was either drunk, or high on something. That, if anything, pissed me off even more. He had endangered the one person who meant the world. And that was not something he could get away with.

"HEY! You piece of shit! What the fuck were you thinking?!" I screamed, waving my arms around as I got closer.

His heavy lidded eyes caught sight of me, and he shook his head. "Man, I don't know," he replied huskily, running his hand through his shaggy blonde hair.

"What the hell do you mean, 'I don't know'?! You could've killed someone, you stupid son of a bi-."

Before I could continue, I felt a pair of lean arms wrap around me, and a rough hand cover my mouth. Full lips touched my ear, then warm breath ticked the skin.

"He's not worth it, Hols. He's just not. The police are on their way. They'll take care of it. Take Henry home. He looks shaken."

I turned and nodded at Alex, giving him a small smile. He hugged me gently, kissing the top of my head. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. It was just a sweet gesture, meant to give me comfort. And it did. For some reason, that sentiment made me calm as I walked over to my brother, took his hand, and led him back to my car, tucking him into the front seat.

Slowly and carefully, I drove us home. I was worried, deep inside, about the other guys, but at the time, Henry was more important to me. I took him into the house, and sat him down on the couch before making him some hot chocolate, complete with lots of marshmellows. I sat down next to him before handing him the cup. He stared at it for a few seconds, before turning to look at me.

"H-Hol. I-I've never been so s-scared i-in m-my life. I-I don't k-know what happened. I-It was s-so quick."

I nodded my head. "I know, Henry. It wasn't your fault. I'm just glad you're safe."

We sat there for the rest of the night, talking quietly to one another, trying to calm the other person down.

I looked across the table. Daniella was leaning forward, a piece of pizza halfway to her mouth, forgotten, her eyes wide. I laughed slightly, making her jump back and grin sheepishly.

"That was intense. And on your first night? You must've hated the guys after that," she said, taking another bite. She winced, then tossed it back into the box. It had obviously gone very cold.

I shook my head. "No, not really. I'll tell you what happened the next day, and then I say we call it quits for the evening. Shower, and whatnot," I told her.

"That's fine with me."

We didn't say anything to our mother about what had happened the night before. The next morning, we got up and got dressed before heading to school, pretending that it was just another day. We played our parts well, Henry and I. My mother didn't even think that something was wrong. But I could tell just by looking at my brother. I think that night had embedded itself in his mind. I don't think he ever forgot it.

The school was already crowded by the time we got there. Slowly, we made our way to the entrance. Before we could make it to the doors, we were stopped by the four guys standing in a row, each holding a piece of paper with writing on it. Alex, Rian, Jack, and Zack had massive pouts on their faces, their lips jutting out. I bit back a giggle, shaking my head as I read the papers. 'We', 'Are', 'Mucho', and 'Sorry' were printed in big, black block letters.

"Forgive us? We're sorry about last night. Like, mucho," Jack said, sniffling.

I could tell they were playing it up just for us, but I decided to go along with it. I placed a finger to my chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know. I mean. You endangered my brother. He could've gotten very hurt."

Rian groaned. "I know! And I really am sorry! I didn't see that truck coming! I will like, give you my soul if you forgive us!"

The giggle escaped and I slapped him on the arm. "I was kidding. No harm done. Henry's fine, though I think just a little upset. You're forgiven," I told him, glancing over at my brother, who had his brows furrowed as he looked at Jack.

I had no idea what was going through his head at that moment. Something was itching at me in the back of my mind, telling me that I should know something, yet I wasn't sure what it was. I decided to ignore it for the time being. I knew that if something was going on that I didn't know about, Henry would tell me. He always did.

We finished putting away the pizza into the fridge, and cleaning up the table. It was all done in silence, neither of us having much to say. I had no idea what Daniella was thinking, but my mind was still in the past, still with Henry and Alex, and the rest of the guys. I hoped that as time went by, it would get easier, because right then, my chest was hurting, and I could feel the tears beginning to well up. It was much too soon. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.

I gave Daniella a quick tour of the house, then told her to make herself at home. I needed to lay down. I needed to think, and to get far away from her. She was bringing up memories that I hadn't thought about in a long time, and it still wasn't feeling right. It was simple, just talking about it, but once that was done, it was the thinking about it that really got to me.

I got into bed and pulled the covers up over my head. Turning on my side, I grabbed the other pillow and held it to my chest, burrowing my face into it. The tears finally escaped the confines, and dripped down the side of my face, turning the pillow case from a light green, to a darker color.

This was only the beginning.