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The pain was breathtakingly excruciating. Not even Draco, Alex, and Clay’s beating compared to the pain that ripped through her body. She held her side desperate to stop the blood, but she was already terribly weak. The blood seeped between her fingers, covering her clothes and hand in half a second. The shock of the shot had the rest of her body numb and her thoughts reeling. She hadn’t even felt Alex grip onto her hair. When he yanked her head up she saw Cody and the reality of dying washed over her in full force. She’d tried to take her own life several times in the past and she could count two occasions where she’d been far too close to successful. This however, was different. It was like she was understanding for the first time that the concept of death.
She couldn’t control the tears that fell from her eyes, making her feel more like a helpless child then a capable adult. She felt herself slipping, her breathing getting slower, and she could feel her heart start to falter in her chest. She started to think about how terrible of a person she’d been. She was going to die, without being able to tell Cody how sorry she was. She had run out of chances to tell him just how much he meant to her. Things started to blur around. She felt someone pick her up then, but she couldn’t will her eyes to open now no matter how much she tried. At one point she’d felt Cody’s touch and she was sure she was imagining it.
She faded in an out of consciences then. On minuet everything was silent and the next she could hear someone giving orders and talking over her. Then black. Then there was more piercing pain. She groaned, adjusting her body when she finally came too and she knew she had to look as bad as she felt. She lend, up against the headboard, glancing around. A small smirk came to her lips when she realized that she was in Cody’s room. The pain was a dull throbbing now, due to whatever they’d given her and she was grateful for it. The door opened, her heavy eyes moved to see Cody slipping into the room and she couldn’t help but smirk despite how weak she felt. They’d fucking done the impossible. They had, with little interaction and a short amount of time, fucked over three of the worst human beings Lane had ever met.He sat down on the side of the bed and she winced lightly, the movement caused inevitable pain. She pushed it down though, because if there was anything she wanted right then it was Cody.
"I thought I was going to lose you for a while there." He breathed, able to hear just how tired he was and she hated that it was her fault. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from him though as he took a deep drag off his cigarette. She felt her insides twist, there was something about the way Cody looked at her in that moment. She felt both incredible and guilty at the same time. He held her eyes and she had to force herself not to look away. "I'd have died right along with you." She let her eyes fall to her hands then.
It didn’t last long though when he placed a hand on the back of her neck. He lend in and pressed his lip against hers. He pulled her gently towards him and couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips. The eminence pain in her body didn’t seem to matter when he was kissing her. She placed her hand on the side of his face, the leftover blood on her hands smudging onto his face, but she didn’t want him to pull away. She kissed him back hard, despite the growing pain in her body. She finally let out a soft painful groan having to pull away. She sighed as she lend her back against the headboard, letting her head fall back against it, she closed her eyes taking in a deep breath.
“I’m sorry.” she finally breathed after a long minuet of silence. Laney couldn’t remember the last time she’d apologized. “Thank you for…” she trailed off, letting out a shuttered breath. Delaney had never been any good at showing her emotions. It was a lot of the reason she acted out the way she did, but so much shit had happened, she need Cody to know exactly how she felt and why she’d done what she’d done she owed him that much. “Not giving up on me, like everyone else.” She whispered, trying her best to stop the tears, but they feel ever through closed eyes. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been completely transparent, like she was now in front of anyone. “I know I’m the farthest from easy.” She admitted, keeping her eyes closed. “But, in case you’ve ever doubted it even for a second, I’m completely in love with you.”
She opened her eyes then meeting hers, despite everything in her wanting to look away. She knew she looked like a fucking mess, she was just adding red, tear filled eyes to her broken and abused body. She couldn’t find it in herself to care though.
“You always deserved so much better then me.” She breathed, making it clear that’s what she’d convinced herself. “When I caught you with Louie…” She trailed off once more, clenching her jaw as she adjusted herself. “I called Alex, I figured I put you through enough hell. You looked so good at the funeral and I was just wearing you down. I could see it.” Lane admitted. “Had I known…I never meant…Fuck.” She dropped her head hating herself, now that she was hearing what she’d done out loud, she just cried harder, unable to control herself. The last six months had completely fucked with her already unstable mental state.
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The pain consumed Jordan. He’d been in bar fights, he’d been injured on the field in the middle of football games, his dad used to beat the shit out of him just because he could, still this pain was something else entirely. It wasn’t just the pain, it was the thoughts that started to engulf you. If Jordan died, he’d die at least knowing that he’d saved Tiger from her brother and Clay. He’d die knowing that Cody would hopefully step up to the plate and at least make sure to help her out. Jordan honestly wasn’t afraid of death, the thought that scared him was not being there to protect Tiger. Not being around to make sure she’d get the help she needed. He was almost positive that was the only thing really keeping him alive.
He swore that if he lived, him and Lily were getting the fuck out of dodge as soon as he could. He was going to take her somewhere far off the beaten path, so they could live without the distraction of everything that had been keeping them apart for so many years. He kept going back and forth between thinking he was going to die and holding onto the thought of not wanting to leave Tiger alone.
At some point he’d lost consciousness. When he’d opened his eyes again, he was back in Havana walking down the cobble stone streets with Tiger. She looked beautiful. She always had. She wore a wide smile on her lips, like the one she used to ware when they were kids. He had this overwhelming feeling that he was dead. This was where he was going to live an eternity, in memories of Lil and that seemed fitting he guessed. He felt a pressure in his chest then and then the pain filled his body once again.
“You gotta stay with us.” He heard a voice tell him, forcing him to come back from the hands of death. “Jordan?” The voice called out again.
“Fuck.” Was all Jordan could manage, as they stitched him up. By the time they’d finished with him they’d given him heavy drugs to numb the pain. He hadn’t even asked where they’d gotten them, he’d just taken them.
He was surprised they’d managed to save his life. He wasn’t in the best shape, but he was going to live. Rome and his guys had really come through for him and Cody and he wasn’t sure how he’d repay any of them, but he’d have to. Not only had they saved his life, they’d risked their own lives to safe Tigerlily. He literally owned them his life and then some. Romeo helped set him up against the headboard, before he slipped out of the room. Jordan had wondered how Delaney was doing. He didn’t even want to think about what Cody would do if he lost her. It didn’t help that both her and Tiger weren’t in the best of shape. Hell, he wasn’t sure what Tiger would do, the two of them had been through hell and back together over the last several months. He let out a sigh hoping she was okay.
Jordan knew he had to look like shit, still what he looked like and what he felt he was sure was nothing compared to what Tiger had been through. If he had to deal with pain from getting shot, he’d do it for the rest of his life if it meant he had her back and she was alright. When the door opened he smiled up at her, he was weak, but the second he saw her it was like he’d forgotten completely about his pain. She wasted no time crawling into bed with him and he did his best to pull her close, wrapping his arm around her. He realized for the first time just how thin and fragile she looked. He could blame Delaney and her brother and the girls exs until he was blue in the face, but it wouldn’t make a difference. They had to take care of the guys and then move forward.
Her body curled into him. It felt incredible to have her back. She took his arm helping him to wrap it tighter around him. He could tell she’d been though everything imaginable and he wasn’t entirely sure what to say to her. He pressed his lips lightly to the top of her head, letting his lips linger there as she finally spoke.
"I missed you every day." Her voice was soft, so much so she was sure had they not been alone, he wouldn’t have heard her. He rested his cheek against the top of her head then, letting a comfortable silence fall over them for a moment, letting her cry. He figured she needed it, it was more then likely therapeutic to her. He could only imagine how the guys might have reprimanded her for crying when they were tormenting her.
“I never stopped loving you or looking for you.” He finally breathed through a horse throat. He kept his voice low. His eyes fell on the word her brother had carved into her collar bone and he winced, seeing that was far more painful then his physical wounds. “No matter what they told you, I still love you Tigerlily.” He breathed knowing all too well how guys like Draco, Clay, and Alex worked. “I know you’re broken and I don’t think anything I can do or anyone else can do will fix that.” He breathed honestly, pushing his pain away, because right now he needed her to know that she was still loved and she wasn’t a slut or a whore or whatever horrible thing they could think to call her. “I think we can figure out a way to help you heal though.” He breathed, wanting to give her some kind of hope, knowing she needed at least that.