Maybe, Just Maybe (Chapter 7 LAST)
Title: Maybe, Just Maybe
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ian and Anthony are in the hospital. It's time for the moment of truth: Will Ian honestly tell Anthony his feelings? Or is it all just downhill from here?
A/N: This is the LAST chapter of Maybe, Just Maybe! I know; it's sad! But please read and find out what has happened between the two boys after the accident! I hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Smosh. None of this every happened! (sadly. lolz.)
Chapter 7
After years of late homework and over-due library books, scars and bruises from skate boarding and biking accidents, rejection from girls to go to the school dance, and being called weird and a total embarrassment in high school, Ian always believed those situations will pass through with time. And they did. He always found the bright side to things, no matter what. Even for Smosh; if a video didn't work or editing just didn't cooperate with him, he gave it time and it worked out in the end.
But this time, he didn't. He felt embarrassed, weak, worthless, and pain. The feeling of rejection, especially coming from his best friend, was the lowest he has ever felt. He felt his poor heart heavy, like a ton of bricks crushing it down.
And at this moment, there was literally no time, no time in the world, to recover.
"Hey! Get out of the way!" A man yelled from the side of the park. His wife, standing next to him, covered her mouth, terrified of what is about to occur. Children, teens, and other adults were terrified as well. Watching a man about to get by a white car, full speed ahead, horn as loud as it can be, was like watching a man commit suicide in front of his family.Ian was watching his life flash before his eyes. He couldn't move. He was too scared to move. He shielded his body, as if there was a force field around him and it would stop the car from crashing into him. As much as he really wanted that to happen, Ian was only and completely vulnerable.
The car started to swerve, as the driver in the car slammed his foot on the breaks and lost control of the wheel.
"IAN!"
Ian saw Anthony, racing against the car from the side of the park, sprinting, arms wide open, thinking of nothing but saving the life of his best friend. His hair blew in the wind, sweat drops coming down his face, ready to win the battle against time.
The car was just a few yards away. Anthony wrapped his arms around Ian, as if he was Superman and Ian was the leading lady, and with the force of Anthony's body crashing into Ian's, they were able to get out of the way before the car could have hit them. They skidded on the rough pavement, definitely leaving scars and bruises on their skins.
The car swerved on to the park's area.The adults immediately moved their children to a safer area. Anthony and Ian landed head first on the other side of the street, across the park, on to the sidewalk.
Both boys were panting, trying to catch their breath again. Ian wiped the sweat off his forehand. He took in deep breaths and sighed in major relief to be alive. They were both lying down on the pavement.
Ian cringed when he immediately felt pain on the side of his face. He looked down on his body to see Anthony's arms still wrapped around him. He was shivering, embracing him. Ian's eyes widened to see stains of blood on his sweatshirt, coming from the side of Anthony's head. "Somebody, help! We need an ambulance!" Ian cried.
"Dude." Anthony tugged on Ian's stained sweatshirt and managed to give him a half smile. "You don't have to..."
"Shut up." Ian didn't understand why his best friend was trying to smile. But somehow the smile Anthony gave him felt warm. "I'm taking you to the hospital!"
A couple of adults from the park gathered around the two boys on the pavement. Some of them helped the two up and a young boy of 18 called 9-1-1. By the time the ambulances came around 5 minutes later, Anthony was already passed out. The man in the car talked to the a couple of police men and a doctor and one of them went over to Ian, who was lying on a stretcher.
"Young man," said the police man. He was slightly chubby and had sun-glasses on. "You're very lucky you survived this accident. If it weren't for your friend over there, you would've been hit immediately."
Ian held a towel on his cheek to stop the bleeding. He glanced over at his best friend on a stretcher going into one of the two ambulances that arrived earlier. He nodded at the police man and said nothing else. "...Yeah."
After arriving at the hospital and an hour of examination, Ian was the first one to go to the infirmary. The infirmary was bright from the sunlight. He saw a lot of patients, who looked worse than he was, relaxing from major surgery most of them just had. He saw children patients as young as 5 play with each other. He saw elderly patients chatting together and laughing. He thought to himself how could anyone possibly be happy in a hospital.
Ian hated hospitals. He hated the smell, the doctors, the posters hanging everywhere that were supposed to give you a happy feeling, everything that was in a hospital.
Ian had minor scars on his face, but they were cleaned up. He didn't care that his face stung and it looked blotchy. He didn't care about anything but his best friend. He was so worried, he couldn't stay still on his bed.
Ian took out his phone and tweeted on twitter: At the hospital. You better come out soon, Anthony...
He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. God. He prayed. Please let Anthony be alright. I... He opened his eyes. "I can't lose him." He whispered.
He felt his phone vibrate like crazy. There were already 30 or more tweets about fans reacting to Anthony being in the hospital. Most of them said, "OMG. WHAT HAPPENED?!" "IS HE ALRIGHT?" "ANTHONYYY!" He even got a few texts from the members of the Smosh Team, asking if everything was alright and if they should go to the hospital. Ian texted them back that it wasn't serious, even though he wasn't sure himself. He also calmed his fans down, tweeting he was going to be okay.
After a half hour, a nurse with a clipboard came through the double doors to the infirmary and walked over Ian.
"I've contacted your parents." She said. "They should be here soon. I've also contacted Anthony's."
Ian sprang up from the bed. "Is he alright?"
The nurse gave him a reassuring smile. "He's going to be just fine."
Ian sighed and couldn't be happier. "Thank God."
The nurse was about to check on another patient just when Ian asked, "Can I go see him?"
"Of course." The nurse helped Ian off the bed and he followed her down the hall to Anthony's room.
Anthony was lying on the hospital bed, resting. He had a long white bandage wrapped around his forehead.
"He has a wound on his forehead," the nurse said. "And he has a sprained ankle from the accident so he has to keep the cast on for a few weeks."
"Thank you, nurse." Ian smiled. With Anthony in a cast now, there will be problems with filming. But that didn't matter right now. The nurse went back to the infirmary.
Ian quietly walked over to Anthony and knelt by the side of his bed. He hesitated, but he held his best friend's hand. It was warm and it was still bigger than his. Ian looked up at him and he looked like very handsome asleep, even when bruised. Ian lightly lifted his hand and shifted Anthony's hair away from his face. Anthony wasn't unconscious so he woke up to Ian's small movements.
Ian was embarrassed and quickly took his hand away. "Sorry."
Anthony blinked a few times and smirked. "Nah. I should be sorry."
"Huh?"
Anthony turned his head slightly to Ian. "I was being a douchebag. I totally hurt your feelings."
Ian could feel his eyes welling up. "Anthony--"
"I always seem to hurt your feelings." Anthony looked up to the pale white ceiling. He made patterns in his mind with the cracks. Those big brown eyes can sparkle any dull room. "I'm the worst best friend."
Ian couldn't hold on much longer. "Stop it!"
Anthony was taken back a bit. He can feel Ian was about to go on some major rampage.
"You're the best friend I could ever ask for!" Ian's face was slowly turning red. He shut his eyes to prevent any tears from falling. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry you had to save my life."
Anthony smiled warmly at his friend by his side. "Ian--"
"But the truth is," Ian continued. "You make me happy. You make me realize there's meaning in my life."
Anthony was doing all he can to hold back his laugh. But he was happy that Ian was making him smile. He always knew how to do that."Yo Ian--"
"And I don't care if you think I sound stupid or I'm on crack or something." Ian wouldn't stop rambling. "But it's fine if you don't think what I'm saying is important. Most of the things I say are not important."
"Ian I--"
"But you know what?" A tear just fell from Ian's eye. "...This may be my only chance to tell you my true feelings. No matter how annoying I am, if I get rejected again, whatever! What I'm trying to say is--"
"Ian, can't you just shut up for one second?" Anthony asserted.
"You can't make me shut up right now--!"
All of a sudden, Anthony grabbed the back of Ian's head and pulled him in for the most unexpected kiss he's ever had in his life. Ian's eyes widened. He was so shocked, he didn't even move. But as soon as Anthony's kiss slowed down and got more passionate, Ian slowly closed his eyes and searched for his best friend's lips. Ian was so immersed in Anthony's kiss. He was able to taste the cotton candy sweetness on his soft lips; something he wanted for so long. This was the best kiss, let alone the second kiss Ian's ever gotten in his life, he's ever felt. Ian had an idea that Anthony was a great kisser. He never knew how Anthony's lips felt like and they felt amazing.
Ian pulled away slightly to catch his breath. The tips of their noses were touching.
Anthony delicately caressed the injured part of Ian's face and smiled. "See? I can make you shut up."
Ian was lost with words. He couldn't take much under a minute. "I... I don't get it. Why did you kiss me?" As stupid as that sounded, he was really confused and flustered. Anthony could have slapped him and yelled at him to shut up. But thank God he didn't.
"To see if your feelings for me were actually true." Anthony said.
Ian raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Anthony sat up with his lower back against the pillow. "I already knew you liked me."
Ian's face turned red. "R-really?" He felt embarrassed.
"The night we drank with Abby." Anthony smirked. "You told me when you were drunk."
Ian held a palm to his face. He didn't know what to say.
Thankfully Anthony took the turn to speak. "At first, I didn't know how to react. You've always been my best friend, more like a brother, my entire life. And you would think 'but that's the thing. He's always been my best friend, so it's weird' right?"
Ian nodded.
"I just thought you were really drunk so I just joked around for a bit until today, when you were actually serious." Ian noticed the frown appearing on Anthony's face. "And look where we ended up. Hurt, almost dead."
"So you were taking advantage of my feelings the whole time you knew?" Ian questioned.
Anthony shook his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Ian. I'm such an asshole for treating you this way. And I realized how important this was to you. All I did was take my jokes too far."
This was awkward for the both of them. They never talked about this, they never questioned about it. The whole time Ian's heart was beating really fast. Yet he could hear Anthony's heart beat just as loud as his.
"You're not a complete asshole." Ian reassured.
Anthony half smiled, still feeling terrible.
"So you kiss me just to see if I was being serious." Ian said plainly. "Don't you feel... gay for doing that?" That was an idiotic question that seemed unnecessary at the moment.
Anthony shook his head. "No." He said, as if it were that simple to say.
"Dude, now I'm confused." Ian rubbed his temples. "Didn't you say you like someone else to Megan earlier?"
"So you heard us talking." Anthony said. Ian had forgotten he eavesdropped on their conversation earlier and he was about to explain but Anthony continued like it didn't matter. "It's true. There is someone I do like. And it isn't her."
Ian can somehow feel the pain Megan felt. Ian really knew how to empathize for people. "Whoever it is, they're lucky..."
"Ian." Anthony sighed, but with a smile. "You only kiss people when you like them, right?"
Ian's bright blue eyes widened. He felt his lips, still soft and hot. "You..."
Anthony couldn't helped but laugh a bit. "You are so dumb, you know that?"
All Ian could do is grin at his best friend like an idiot when he finally realized Anthony's feelings as well. He felt enlightened, he felt like his heart was lighter than ever. And that feeling of rejection immediately disappeared.
There was a knock at the door. The nurse appeared with Anthony's parents. His mom immediately ran to him and gave him the tightest hug he ever endured. Mr. Padilla gave Ian a quick embrace. Ian was startled a bit. He thought he was going to yell at him for causing injury to his son. But he didn't.
"Anthony always said he would risk anything for his best friend." Mr. Padilla smiled. "You're lucky, Ian."
Ian watched Mrs. Padilla cry to his son. Anthony was trying to calm her down and Ian smiled. "Yes, sir."
Ian figured he should leave the Padilla family alone for now. He began to walk out the door when Anthony called out to him.
"Yo, your sweatshirt is on the table over there." Anthony pointed. "The nurse cleaned it up."
"Oh, thanks." Ian grabbed his navy blue sweatshirt and walked out the room.
Ian wandered aimlessly back to the infirmary to see if his parents were there. He wore his sweatshirt again and put his hands in his pockets when he felt something. He took out a crumpled up piece of paper. He opened it up and remembered it was the note he was going to use to confess to Anthony earlier. He reread what he wrote: Anthony, bear with me for now. You make me happy, you understand me, you know how to turn a bad day into a good one. As corny and cheesy and stupid as this sounds, I am so glad you're my best friend. From being two weird kids in the 6th grade to being YouTube famous as Smosh, you've always been there, all the way to where we are now. Before I start rambling with my crap, I just wanted to say: I like you, Anthony Padilla. Not just as a best friend or a brother, but as if you were my other half and you complete me.
Ian shook his head, feeling this was really the most embarrassing thing he has ever written. He was about to crumple it up again when he saw more writing after his novel-ish confession.
It was Anthony's handwriting. It read: Dear Ian. I'm currently in bed, dying from a head wound and a sprained ankle, because of you. But as a best friend, I will risk my life to save you. You're slow, idiotic, dorky, weird, you name it. But that's why you are my best friend.
A poorly drawn arrow was pointed to the edge of the paper, insinuating to turn the paper over. It read: I (guess) I like you, too. -Anthony
Ian grinned at the paper, his face flustered, his heart beating fast and happily, and neatly folded it up and put it back in his pocket.
After Ian's parents met up with him and Anthony's parents, the nurse confirmed that Ian and Anthony could leave the hospital right away. Ian helped Anthony on to a wheelchair and rolled him out of his room. The parents were talking to a doctor about future appointments so the boys left them.
"So how are we going to film with your sprained ankle?" Ian asked.
"I dunno." Anthony said. He texted the Smosh Team he was fine and tweeted to his fans he wasn't dead. "We'll think of something. There's always special effects and green screens. I could pretend I have someone else's body."
Ian laughed. "You sure know how to find the bright side to things."
Anthony looked up at Ian behind him. He smiled. "I learned from the best."
Ian was flustered and smirked. "How cute."
Ian and Anthony approached what seemed to be a really steep slope leading to the lobby. To them, steep slopes meant totally riding on them. They instantly looked at each other and smiled.
"Ready?" Anthony prepared in his seat.
"Set." Ian set one foot on the wheelchair frame beneath the seat with the other foot behind him, ready for take off.
"GO!" They both yelled. Ian pushed the back of his foot and rode on the wheelchair with Anthony holding on tight down the slope. They accelerated on the slope like they were on a roller coaster. Ian always hated hospitals. He didn't know the reason why people were so happy in them. Then he realized, he had his own reasons. 3 in fact. 1: Awesome steep slopes to ride on with wheelchairs. 2: Recovering from injuries and leaving the place as soon as possible. and 3: Finding epic ways to have fun with your best friend in such a gloomy place.
Ian and Anthony both flew out of the hospital into a bright summer evening, laughing and having the time of their young lives, still bruised and injured, feeling like their lives have changed, or renewed, looking into the future of what unexpected things will come to them from this day on. Ian Hecox was certain about his feelings for his best friend. Anthony Padilla learned to take his best friend's feelings to heart. But does he see Ian as someone more than just a best friend or a brother?
Maybe. Just maybe.
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed the last chapter of Maybe, Just Maybe! What do you guys think? I never had a bunch of beautiful readers motivating me to write before. You guys are so awesome! & don't forget the amazing Smosh boys who made this fanfic happen! Now, you might think this is the end, right? WRONG! This is JUST the beginning! I'm going to start a new fanfic, which is the continuation of this story very soon. It'll definitely have a lot more drama, love, angst, doubts, interferences, hardcore and rough stuff (if you know what I mean ;D) so I hope you guys are looking forward to that!