"Abby I don't want you to do the surgery."

As soon as Scott says that my head snaps towards him and I half expect him to be laughing, but no. He's staring at me with a straight face.

It's been two years since Parker, Ryan, and Mr. O'Neil have been arrested. They're obviously still in jail right now. Parker got more time for what he's done to us and previous offences. Ryan is in there on attempted murder charges, although I do feel bad for him. Scott ended up donating money to Ariele, Ryan's girlfriend, so that she wouldn't have to pay for any of her hospital charges. She's in remission as of now and her and I have actually become really good friends.

I've been saving up over these past two years to get rid of this stutter. Scott had offered to pay for it again when he realized that I was saving up again, but I had said no to him because he's already done so much. But ever since I've started college again and set my mind on getting this surgery, I've noticed that Scott has been a lot more reluctant when it comes to even talking about the surgery. And before now I thought it was just that he didn't care whether or not I got it, but that's obviously not the case. Right now he and I are sitting in the waiting room so that we can talk to my doctor. But I probably won't be getting the surgery for another few months.

"What d-do you mean you d-don't want me to g-get it?" I ask Scott who is slumped in the chair next to me with his arms crossed.

"Because you don't need it," he whines sounding like a seven year old. "What could you possibly do without a stutter that you can't already do now?"

"Public speaking," I immediately say as I begin listing all of the reasons I don't need this stutter. "I-interviews, telemarketing-"

"You aren't a telemarketer," Scott says rolling his eyes at me. "And you could still do all of those things if you want to."

"And I c-could do them all the m-more effectively w-without stuttering," I say and he sighs before turning in his seat so that he's laying on his side and staring at me. He reaches his hand up and starts playing with the ends of my hair.

"I don't want you to get rid of it," he says staring at me with pleading eyes.

"W-what happened to the g-guy who was offering t-to pay for it?" I ask frowning. "I th-thought you wanted it gone too."

"No I never said that," he says shaking his head at me. "I knew it was something that you really wanted. I was just trying to make you happy, but now I'm having second thoughts. I mean this is a part of you-"

"That I d-don't want anymore," I say cutting him off. "And I know t-that's not the actual reason Scott. Just t-tell me why y-you don't want to g-get rid of it."

He stares at me for a moment before running a hand through his hair, almost as if he's stressed.

"I guess I don't really understand what's wrong with it," Scott mumbles lowly. "It's what made me first start paying attention to you. It's kind of what got us to where we are now."

I frown at his reasoning. I've been with him long enough to know when he's lying and when he's only giving me half of the truth. It's not like he lies to me all of the time or anything like that, but I can just tell at this point.

Suddenly his head snaps forward and I see him glaring at something in front of us. I follow his line of vision and see a guy standing there and staring at me. But as soon as he notices Scott's gaze he flinches a little and looks in a different direction. I slap Scott's arm lightly.

"S-stop scaring p-people," I say and he just shrugs before looking down at his lap. I narrow my eyes at him. "Scott are you...afraid t-that we're g-going to change if I g-get this surgery?"

He doesn't say anything, he continues to stare at his lap. I grown and poke his arm. his eyebrow twitches but he doesn't look up at me. So I do the logical thing and poke him in the arm again. And again, and again, and aga-

Scott catches my finger with his hand and looks up at me. He wraps his hand around my own and places a small kiss on the top of my hand. He looks at me with puppy dog eyes and a sad smile on his face.

"I don't want to change things," he mutters leaning his head onto my shoulder and interlacing our fingers together.

"Th-things aren't going to ch-change just b-because my voice does," I say squeezing his hand. "It'll b-be like taking off braces. I'll look and sound d-different but I'll still be the s-same."

Scott groans and snuggles further into my shoulder. If there's anything that I've learned about Scott, especially after being with him as long as I have, it's that he's very affectionate and carves attention. He doesn't like it when he doesn't get his way, sometimes he acts like an infant and although I still think he's an asshole, he's a really annoying and caring person.

"I don't want it gone," Scott says sadly. "I fell in love with the girl who stutters. What if you get all stuck up because you can speak in full sentences without stuttering?"

"I very much d-doubt that will happen," I say rolling my eyes at his excuses. "And I f-fell in love with b-boy who mutters. Yet I d-don't make you mutter all the time."

"If I promise to mutter for the rest of all time will you keep your stutter?" He asks happily as his face brightens.

I laugh and shake my head at him. He groans and crosses his arms over his chest stubbornly. I roll my eyes and grab his face so that I can turn his head to make him look at me.

"N-nothing is g-going to change," I murmur against his lips and he slowly nods before pressing his lips against mine.

Kissing Scott is something that no one should ever grow tired of. It's like a new beginning. It's like jumping into a bed of leaves on a cool fall day. It's like being immersed in water after a long day at work. It's like reading the ending of a really good book.

You anticipate it, then when it happens, you erupt.

Scott and I pull away when we hear a door open. We look over and a man steps out of one of the hospital doors. A doctor.

"Abigail Smith?"

I'm going to say no, but I won't lie and say that every time she say Parker he was completely real. Sure Parker, Ryan, and Mr.O'Neil tampered with her mind a bit, but I will say that she did have PTSD. Some of the times that Parker randomly showed up he wasn't actually there because let's be real, there's no way that Abby could have gone through all that she did with Parker without getting a little...messed up. So yes, you guys were right when you guessed PTSD even though some of the time he really was there. That was kind of a bed explanation but whatever, you get the gist.