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“Better sleep like this all of the time then,” he told me with a sexy half smile.

“I’m not sure how the o-others will feel about that,” I countered.

“I can take them,” he joked. I smiled and snuggled against him again, never wanting that blissful moment to come to an end.

“Urgh! We n-need to move, don’t we?” I asked at hearing the distant sounds of the others in the kitchen and the smells of the delicious meal Nan was cooking for us all, wafting into the room.

“I hate it, but yeah. We do. Nan will only come looking for us if we’re not out for dinner.”

“Fine!” I whined as I rolled off of Dec and up to a sitting position at the edge of my bed, grimacing through the pain the movement caused to my ribs.

“Easy. You need to move slowly until your ribs are healed,” he scolded as he sat up and shuffled over to sit beside me. “Are you alright?” he asked as he looked me over with worry.

“I’m fine. Not the first time I’ve had to live with bruised ribs,” I shrugged.

“When you were a kid?” he asked as his concerned eyes met mine.

“Yeah, a few times,” I replied. “We should get out there,” I added, ready to move the topic away from my depressing childhood.

“It’s okay to talk about your past, if you need to, tiger. I can handle it,” he told me as he took my hand in his and kissed the back of it softly.

“I know, but I’m n-not sure if I can,” I admitted as I tore my eyes from his intense gaze and looked across the room. I hated the fact I was too weak to go into details of my childhood. I should be able to do that, to face my past and talk about it without breaking. It was all so long ago and so much had happened since then. I should be tougher and braver, should have gotten over it all so many years before, but I hadn’t and I knew it. Discussing my past would just serve to break me all over again and I wasn’t strong enough to handle that. I wasn’t even strong enough to handle the level of broken that I already was.

“Okay, but I’m here, when you are ready. We’re all here,” he told me as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head.

I watched as Declan stood and headed off to his room down the hall to freshen up, then I made myself stand and move to the bathroom. I needed to keep it together, and my train of thought was starting to head in a direction that would not allow that. I needed to end it there and pull myself together.

The sleep had made a difference and I felt a little calmer and a lot more together than I had when we arrived home. I just needed to focus on the present and block out all of my past, as I straightened up my ponytail and washed my face before the mirror. There was so much going for me in my present. I needed to zero in on those thoughts.

The beginnings of a headache were threatening, but it was something I was starting to get used to. Over the last week I had been getting them night and day. The doctors were unable to comment on how long the headaches would last, or even if they would stop at all, but the hope was that they would eventually. In the mean time I had painkillers, which I would need to find and take before things got any worse.

When I stepped out of my bathroom Grey was in my room, perched on the end of the bed in his navy uniform, his beautiful green eyes moving up to meet mine instantly.

“Hey,” he greeted as he stood and stalked toward me, instantly cocooning me in his arms. “I’m so happy you’re home.”

“Not as happy as I am,” I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around him too and clung on. Even after a ten hour shift, he smelled so good.

“How are you feeling? Trent said you had a panic attack earlier?”

“I’m okay. It wasn’t a b-bad one,” I assured him. “I just have a bit of a h-headache coming on.”

“Have you had some of the meds the doctor prescribed?” he asked with worry, still holding me against his firm body tightly.

“Not yet. We need to c-collect the prescription from the pharmacy.”

“Where is it? I can go now. It should still be open.” he offered.

“Dinner smells as though it’s ready. There’s no hurry. I’ll b-be fine,” I told him.

“The doctor said to take the meds as soon as you feel a headache coming on. I won’t sit by and leave you to suffer, baby girl. That is never going to happen,” he said firmly. “Come on. I’m getting those meds while you rest.”

Before I could argue any further he had an arm wrapped around me and was ushering me from the room and out to the living room.

“Blake!” Liam exclaimed as he looked up from where he sat in an armchair beside the fireplace. He had files and papers laid out on the coffee table, and was working on his laptop. He jumped up, dressed in long basketball shorts and a close fitting t-shirt, which he must have changed into after work. He strode toward me, wrapping his arms around me as soon as he was close enough. He smelled of the sandalwood bodywash he favoured, and his hair was still a little wet from the shower he must have taken a short while before. “It’s so fucking good to see you out of that hospital,” he whispered as he held me tightly.

“It’s good to b-be out of there, and even better to be at h-home with all of you,” I told him. “Are you still working?” I asked as I pulled back and nodded down to his laptop.

“Just finishing up after the inspection today.”

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