It was one week later, and Cass was on her way home from the hospital. She had been spending the past week meeting with different therapists that was going to help her on her way to recovery, both physical and psychological. Nick had spent every moment by her side, determined to convince her that he was not going to let her disability put a stopper to their relationship. They had talked a lot about what was going to happen when Cass was ready to go home, and they had decided that she was going to move in with Nick. She would need his help with practically everything, and living with him would be a lot easier than having to call him from her own apartment every time she needed to get out of bed. They had also set a date for the wedding. Nick wanted to do it before the group started working on their new album at the beginning of next year, and Cass agreed. It was now June, and they would be getting married in December, on Christmas Day. That would give Cass time to work on her program to get her strength back in her legs, or at least try. The doctor had given her no guarantee, but said that her chances were good.

“I can’t wait to get home…” Cass said anxiously as they were driving to Nick’s place.

“I can’t wait to have you home.” Nick smiled, glancing over at her from the driver seat.

Cass smiled back and placed a hand gently on his thigh.

“It’s gonna be weird though. I mean, I haven’t been there since… you know.” The memories form the night she was shot still haunted her thoughts every hour of the day. She was dreading to see the house for the first time, yet, she also wanted to get it over with so that she could move on.

“It’s gonna be ok Cass. He’s gone now. He can’t hurt you ever again.”

Cass sighed. “I know…”

Half an hour later Nick parked the car in the drive way, and turned the engine off. He looked over at Cass and took her hand.

“Are you gonna be ok?”

She nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yea… I think so.”

“Ok.” He opened the car door. “I’ll help you get out.”

Nick stepped out of the car and walked around it to help Cass.

That was when it struck her. This might be the life she had to live. Nick would have to help her out of the car every time she’d gone somewhere. He would have to carry her up the steps to the front door and inside, up the stair to their bedroom, out of the shower, down to the beach… everywhere. She looked down at her hands as Nick opened the door to the passenger seat to help her. She didn’t want to cry in front of him, she wanted to be strong, but moments like this made it hard to hold back the tears.

“Baby… what’s wrong?” Nick bent down and lifted her face with his hand. “Why are you crying?”
Cass shook her head and sighed. “I just… it’s nothing. Just glad to be home I guess.” She lied. Nick knew immediately that she wasn’t telling the truth, but he didn’t want to make things worse, so he let it go.

“Come on, let’s get you out of this car.” He said as he put one arm around her back and one to support her legs. Cass put her arms around his neck, and slowly, Nick lifted her out of the car.  

Cass looked up at the house, trying not to remember the incident that had happened there two weeks before. She was preparing herself to feel bad, but instead, she had to smile. Nick had installed a ramp that went from the driveway and up to the front door to make it easier for her to get her wheelchair inside.

“Aww, Nick you didn’t have to do that.” She kissed his cheek lightly.

“Of course I did. Only the best for you.” He kissed her back and started walking up the steps to the front door. “I’ll get your wheelchair later.”

Cass nodded and reached over to open the door. As soon as they stepped inside, they were met by cheers and applause. Cass gasped. She looked around the room, seeing a large banner that said “WELCOME HOME CASS!” All the guys and their girlfriends and wives were there and they all rushed over to her as soon as Nick and Cass entered the room.

“Oh… you guys…!” Cass felt like crying again. She was truly touched by how wonderful everyone had been to her ever since the accident and this proved to her that she had some amazing friends. “Did you know about this?” She looked at Nick, smiling.

“I had no idea…” Nick tried to look innocent.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Cass laughed and smacked his chest, as Nick carried her into the living room and sat her down on the couch.    

The party went on for a few hours after that. Everyone was having a good time, and Cass actually felt like she was one of them again, even though she would have loved to walk around, chatting with everybody, instead of sitting in a wheelchair trying not to hit the furniture or one of the guests. Baylee was enjoying sitting on her lap, pushing the wheels as fast as he could while everyone was laughing at Cass’ expression every time he went a little too fast.

Later that night, when everyone had left, Cass and Nick were sitting on the couch watching TV. Cass didn’t pay any attention to the show that was on; instead she let her mind wander again. She had a lot of fun that day, even though she could sense that the others were kinda uncomfortable with the new situation. They tried to treat her like they always had, but she noticed that they were a lot more careful when it came to what they said. Aj had excitedly told everybody how much fun he had had the night before when he and Holly had been out dancing. Cass noticed that Holly had kicked his leg and given him a look that said ‘Shut up! Cass can’t dance anymore, remember…?’, followed by a few seconds of awkward silence, before Baylee had started jumping up and down singing the chorus to Just Want You To Know, making everybody laugh. Cass had to smile. That little guy had saved her night.

“Cass? Cass, baby?”

Cass jerked out of her thoughts and looked over at Nick.

Nick smiled at her. “A penny for your thoughts…”

She laughed.

“What?” Nick asked.

“Nothing… I just remembered something you said one time.”

“What?”

Cass shook her head.

“Aww… come on! Tell me.”

“Ok… you said something like, don’t give me a penny for your thoughts, give me a quarter for your dirty ones ---“

“---so I can buy a condom…” Nick laughed. “I can’t believe I said that…”

Cass smiled and shrugged.

Nick looked at her more serious this time. “But seriously. What were you thinking?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. Just that I had a great time today, and that Baylee saved the night. It would’ve been a lot more awkward if he hadn’t been here…”

Nick nodded. He had noticed too. “He’s a kid, you know. No worries.”

“I wish I could be like that sometimes.”

“I know… But you gotta face reality, you know.”

They fell silent for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

“You wanna go to bed?” Nick asked.

Cass hesitated. “I kinda wanted to take a shower… but umm… you know, I’ll need some help, I think.” She almost felt like she was asking him to be her slave or something, and she hated it.

Nick sensed that she felt weird asking him, but he just smiled at her. “I’ll help you over to the bathroom. I wanted to show you something there anyway.” He lifted her up from the couch and walked across the room. They entered the guest bathroom and Cass was surprised by what he had done to it. He had installed a seat in the shower, so that she could sit down and shower on her own. He had moved all her toiletries downstairs and updated the bathroom to adjust her needs.

“Oh Nick… Thank you so much.” Cass suddenly felt like a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders. This meant that she didn’t need as much help as she thought she would need in the first place.

“You welcome!” Nick smiled and kissed her gently. He felt proud of himself for the way he was handling the situation, and he was glad that Cass was taking this so well. He was proud of her too, for not giving up, and for making the best out of the situation, even thought he knew it was very hard for her.

He left Cass alone, and told her that he would be waiting in the living room to help her upstairs once she was done.

As he sat down on the couch again, he had to smile to himself. Despite everything that had happened, it looked like they were going to make it through. Soon, she would be his wife, and there was nothing else he wanted more.