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“Do you want me to try and take off your bra, Blake?” Liam asked, and when I glanced up at him I almost smiled at the cute, unsure look on his face. I shook my head, not really caring about my bra, in that moment, but then groaned loudly at the idiotic movement.
“No more head shaking, okay babe?” Tom declared and I hummed an agreement.
“You want to get under the covers?” Liam asked as they both stood over me where I lay on the bed.
“No. You’ll both k-keep me warm,” I whispered as I turned onto my side and hoped they’d get the hint. I needed them to hold me.
Thankfully they understood, and within moments they had both stripped off their jeans and were laid either side of me, Liam at my back and Tom in front of me.
“You need to rest,” Tom told me quietly. The lights were so dim it was almost dark in the room with the blinds closed, and the house was so big that we couldn’t hear the others in the kitchen. It was just blissfully silent.
“I can’t…not until they’re home.”
“We’ll wake you the minute we hear something, love. Tom’s right. The best way to shake this migraine, is sleep.”
“Grey will be upset when he gets home. He’s going to need you.” Tom added, and that convinced me. I knew I would be very little good to anyone as I felt in that moment. I needed to be better by the time Grey got home. I wanted to be there for him in whatever way he needed.
“Promise you’ll wake me r-right away?”
“We promise. Close your eyes now and rest. We’ll stay right here with you.” Liam pressed my back even tighter against his front then placed a kiss on top of my head. When I glanced up to Tom he smiled reassuringly and ran his hand up and down the small area of my back he could reach. It was enough to reassure me that I wasn’t alone, and despite my worries for Grey and Declan, sleep came pretty quickly.
***
“GREYSON!” I shot awake at the high pitched wail I knew instantly had come from Nan. I had no idea how long I had been asleep, but judging by how badly my head still throbbed, I didn’t think it had been long.
“Grey!” I gasped as I looked to Tom, who was still holding me.
“Maybe we should just…” Liam started, as he released his hold on me and moved to lean over me instead, but I didn’t even let him finish.
Instead I sat up and crab crawled down the bed as fast as I could, jumping to my feet when I reached the end of it.
“Blake, just hold up,” Liam tried again as I grabbed the first pair of pyjama shorts I could find, and hopped into them whilst also leaving the room. I almost ended up in a heap on the floor as I tripped over the shorts in the process, but I just about kept myself upright.
I could hear the twins hurrying down the hallway behind me as I speedwalked towards the voices I could hear, but I didn’t slow down to wait for them. I couldn’t. I needed to get to Grey. Nan had sounded so distressed and I knew something was wrong.
“She wouldn’t listen, Nan…I tried but she…she just wouldn’t,” I heard Grey say before I rounded the corner.
“I know, my boy. I know how hard you tried. It’s not your fault. There’s nothing we can do if she doesn’t want anything to change,” Nan was soothing him. Then I rounded the corner into the living room and saw him.
He was wrapped tightly in his nan’s arms, looking so small and broken despite the fact he was towering over her. His clothes looked rumpled and dirty, and to my dismay I could see spots of blood on his shirt.
“What happened?” I demanded, feeling panicked. Grey looked up from where he had been resting his head on Nan’s shoulder.
Declan also appeared from the kitchen at the sound of my voice, followed by Dad and Trent. I looked to them as my eyes filled with tears I refused to allow to slip free.
“He’s okay, tiger. Just some bruising,” Declan tried to reassure me, but hearing Grey really was hurt only made it worse.
“Bruising?” I looked to Grey as a tear slipped free, and I hurried to swipe at it, not wanting to upset Grey any more than he already looked.
It was so painful to see him looking so very…broken. There was no other word for it. His eyes were glassy and red, his face pale, but more than that was the lack of emotion in his beautiful eyes. It was like he had shut down all of the passion and emotion I was so used to seeing there and it terrified me.
“I’m good, baby,” he tried to tell me, but I wasn’t buying it. As Nan released him and he stepped back, I started towards him.
“No you’re not,” I replied, then I launched myself the remaining distance between us and wrapped my arms around him, keeping the hold loose until I knew where he was hurt.
He didn’t need to say anything. It was proof enough that he was very far from ‘fine’ when he wrapped himself around me and small, quiet sobs slipped from him. He was barely making any sound, but his body was shaking with each one.
“Sh-she wouldn’t listen,” he uttered. “I can’t save her, Blake. I can’t save her.”
