She looked at the letter for a minute then picked it up and looked at A.J.
"What?" he asked, worried.
"It's the letter from the college," she said and looked at him like she wanted an answer.
"Well,...open it."
"I can't," she said staring at the envelope.
"And, why not?" he asked and took the letter away from her.
"What if I didn't get in? I'm too scared to open it...you do it."
A.J. shrugged, "Mmkay," he said and tour open the envelope taking out a small tan piece of paper. He cleared his throat and read the letter out loud, "Ms. Millano we regret to inform you, but your test scores weren't high enough too --" A.J. was cut off by Annie snatching the letter away.
"WHAT?! Gimme that," she took the letter and read it over to herself, "Ms. Millano, you scores were fantastic..." she trailed off and looked at A.J. narrowing her eyes, "Why you little..."
A.J. looked at her innocently, "I couldn't help it."
"I ought to kill you! I won't, but I should," she shook her finger at him, then paused, "OH MY GOD....I GOT IN!!!" she screamed jumping up and down.
"I need somebody to hug! Ohmigod, somebody hug me!" she yelled.
A.J. was about to hug her, but was pushed out the way by Brian, "Hands off my woman, McLean!" he warned then turned to Annie, "I'm so proud of you! Congrats!!!" he said, almost as excited as her.
"Ohmigod, I have to tell Lina!" she ran towards the door, "But I have to get dressed first!" she laughed and ran up the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I know can you believe it? I actually got in and on a partial scholarship! I applied for the full one, but hey something is better than nothing," Annie said and pulled out a folding chair to sit down on.
"Wow! I'm so happy for you," Lina said faking a smile. Actually she was a little jealous of her friend. Lina still couldn't go back to school just yet, she had a least a few more weeks of therapy and she had to stay in the hospital.
She wasn't paralyzed on her right side, but she needed a cane to walk since the bullet affected her leg and arm. That meant working extra hard to get back her normal strength.
"OK, Lina take five," the nurse said and walked away.
"Hey, did you bring pictures of my favorite nephew?" she asked.
"You know I did," Annie smiled and took out her wallet, handing it to Lina.
"Awww, he's so adorable! When are you going to be able to bring here to visit me?"
"Probably next week, I don't want to take him out of the house yet," Annie took her wallet back from Lina.
"Oh and when in the world are you and Brian going to get married?" she laughed.
"Ha, ha! You're a riot and a half, Lina," she said sarcastically," But I'm making sure nothing and I mean NOTHING is going to stand in the way this marriage."
"And what is this, try number 3?"
"Yeah, well it wasn't our fault, the first try, there was a hurricane, so that wedding was canceled. The second, Brian's parents couldn't fly in. The third, the church was being repainted, apparently they "forgot" we scheduled our wedding there. This is time, Brian said it could be raining men and we are still getting married!"
Lina laughed, "Well, until then you guys think you could get me out of here?" she looked hopefully at Annie and A.J.
"I don't know, I mean you're not supposed to leave..." Annie trailed off.
"Aw, come on I'm gonna die in here! The food sucks, I'm in the mood for a Big Mac and fries...and no I don't want you to get it for me!"
~Annie's view~

A.J. looked at me and I shrugged, "Well, maybe I could charm your way out," he suggested.
Lina and I broke out laughing at the thought of that.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Oh man...just the thought of you....trying to CHARM her way out.....we might as well set up....camp, 'cuz that'll be awhile!" I said between laughs.
"Fine, make fun of me!" he pouted.
"Aw, we're sorry, but you were begging to get made fun of," Lina looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Well, OK, you're forgiven,"
"OH! How about you come over Bri's house with me? I know A.J.'s going to be there...he never leaves," I directed my last comment towards A.J.
"Anyway, what do you think?" he asked.
"Anywhere is better than here!" she laughed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~later that night~
Brian, A.J., Annie, and Lina were all at Brian's house watching movies. Annie asked if Lina could stay one night out of the hospital.
Brian, who had been avoiding her all night got up, "Anybody want a drink, while I'm up?" he asked.
"Um, could you get me a coke?" Annie asked.
"I'll take a beer...if you have any St. Littrell," A.J. teased.
"Shut up or you can get it yourself!"
"All right, no need to get snippy, I was just playin' with ya."
"OK, I'll be back," he said and walked to the kitchen.
Lina furrowed her eyebrows, 'Why didn't he ask me if I want wanted anything?' she thought.
She looked at A.J. and Annie who seemed to be into the movie they were watching so they didn't notice Brian's behavior.
'Hmmm, well, I'm about to find out why,' she told herself, then grabbed her cane to walk to the kitchen.
"Hey Brian," she greeted when she walked in.
He turned around, 'Damn, I was doing so good avoiding her,' he thought.
"Hey," he replied and turned back to fixing the drinks.
Lina sat down at the table, "Why are you avoiding me?" she said flat out.
"What?" he asked a little shocked.
"You heard me, so what's your answer?"
"I'm not avoiding you," he said, his back still turned to her.
"Then look at me," she instructed.
"Fine I don't see what..." he trailed off when he saw her. There were two reasons he had been avoiding her. One, because he felt guilty for her taking a bullet for him and he walked away without a scratch. Two, because that guilt gave him feelings for her.
"Well,..." Lina waited for an answer.
'God, I have to know if I feel for her that way,' he said a prayer in his head, then walked over Lina.
'Forgive me Lord,' he said before leaning in front of her.
"Brian, what are you --" she was cut off by Brian's lips pressing hard against hers.
Brian pulled back and looked up, "Oh my God..." he said when he saw the person in the doorway.