2 Stay
All I do is sleep, because when I’m awake all I can see, all I can think of, is Tex. Those last moments play on a constant loop. His voice echoes in my head. That final look in his eyes—not fear or even pain, but love and acceptance.
It feels wrong that the world’s still moving when he’s not in it.
Jace spends the first night after the mission, stretched out beside me, letting me bury my face in his chest until my tears run out. He doesn’t try to make me talk. He just lies there, solid and warm.
The next night, it’s Noah. He tries to coax me out with tea and some sarcastic remark about how I’m ruining my “mysterious badass” reputation. I manage a weak smile, but it doesn’t last. He ends up just sitting on the floor beside my bed, laptop open, working in silence until I drift off.
Night three is Luca’s turn. He’s quieter than I’ve ever known him to be.
All his flirty quips and half-grins are nowhere to be found.
He just takes my phone, mutters something about screening my messages, and leans back in the chair by the window.
He keeps swapping between staring across the grounds with a faraway look in his eyes then back to me.
I can feel the soft heat of his eye, gently watching over me.
Even when I sleep, I can feel them. The change in the air when one leaves and another arrives.
The weight of their concern pressing in but never smothering.
When I do open my eyes, it’s to the dim light slipping past the curtains or the quiet shuffle of one of the boys switching shifts at my side.
Sometimes they speak. Sometimes the silence speaks for itself.
They try. Little things, every day. My favorite takeout.
New books. Music humming softly from the speaker.
Tex’s ring is cleaned and tied around my neck.
But most days, I can’t make myself get out of bed for more than a few minutes.
Dakota comes and tries to coax me out with promises of pastries and gossip.
When Savvy visits with magazines and chocolates, her soothing tones are gentle and full of care.
She nearly convinces me to take a walk but when I start getting dressed the shirt I grab is the last one he’d held me in.
I try to breathe it in, hoping that it still smells like him but it’s been washed, and the only thing I can smell is laundry detergent.
Each passing day seems like another chance for something of Tex to be stripped away.
I crawl back into bed, and when the sobs leave my chest she just holds my hand until I find peace in sleep again.
Lucian sits beside me, offering silent comfort. Running his hand up and down my back. But I can’t bring myself to open my eyes, the weight in my chest is heavy from grief. The thought of Tex being gone, forever, is just too much. Every breath hurts. So, I sleep.
The days bleed together until I can’t tell where one ends and the next begins. I don’t know what finally pulls me out of sleep that afternoon—the low murmur of voices in the suite, maybe, or the sound of the door opening. I just want to escape, be alone. I wish they’d leave me in peace.
“Where is she?”
That voice cuts straight through the fog. I push myself up, blinking hard—and there she is. Maeve. Standing by the door with her coat half off, scanning the room until her gaze locks on me.
I’m on my feet before I even think about it. Crossing the space in three steps, throwing my arms around her, and burying my face in her shoulder. Fresh tears sting hot against my skin. I cling to her.
She wraps me up instantly, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other rubbing slow, reassuring circles between my shoulder blades. “It’s okay,” she murmurs. “You really thought you could disappear on me and I wouldn’t come find you? Not a fucking chance.”
I choke on a laugh.
There’s movement in my periphery—the couch just a few feet from the bed, Jace, Luca, and Noah all sitting there, the TV playing low.
None of them says a word. They watch for a second, then turn their attention back to the screen, giving us the moment.
I pull back enough to look at Maeve, my voice breaking. “How—Are you really here?”
Her smile is soft, but her eyes are fierce. “Lucian called me. Told me everything. And then he booked me a flight.”
The weight in my chest shifts, just slightly. “He told you? I’m not dreaming?”
She nods. “He said you needed me.”
Something in me crumbles at that, and I hug her all over again, tighter this time. I don’t care that my face is a mess or that my hands are shaking. For the first time in days, I feel like I can breathe—even if it’s ragged.
Maeve doesn’t let go, even when my grip loosens a little. She just eases me back toward the bed, one arm still hooked around my shoulders.
“Come on,” she murmurs, kicking her bag toward the wall. “Let’s sit before you fall over.”
The mattress dips under our combined weight, and before I can even think about it, she’s kicked off her boots and pulled herself up to sit cross-legged beside me. Her eyes scan over me, cataloging every change.
“You look like hell,” she says quietly, but there’s no judgment in it.
A watery laugh slips out before I can stop it. “I feel like hell.”
“I’m here to drag you out. The devil doesn’t stand a chance against me.” We both laugh at that, because she’s right. Nothing and nobody can stand a chance against Maeve when she sets her mind to something.
Across the room, the guys are still on the couch. They’re quiet, the background noise of the TV filling the silence just enough to make it comfortable.
Maeve shifts, tucking her legs under the blanket with me.
“So…what’s the plan? You gonna tell me your version of everything, or do I have to bribe it out of you?
I did bring your favorite snack from back home.
Those cookies and cream donuts from Miss Daisy’s bakery you always ate like a feral raccoon.
” I smile, the gesture’s almost too much.
I remember the rare times she’d smuggle them in her lunch box and we’d stuff our faces before break was over.
One of the few luxuries I ever got under Daniel’s constant control.
“You didn’t.”
“I absolutely fucking did.” She goes to move and grab, what I’m sure, are very crushed donuts from her bag when I grab her arm.
I shake my head, a lump forming in my throat. “Not yet. I-I can’t…”
The words get stuck in my throat.
“That’s fine.” She pulls the blanket tighter around us. “I’m not going anywhere and neither are the donuts. But they might get stale if you wait too long.”
My chest doesn’t feel quite so tight. I let myself lean into her, my head finding the familiar curve of her shoulder. I don’t know how long we sit like that, the muted sound of the TV and the low murmur of the guys’ occasional comments blending into the mix.
I’m not healed, I’m not even sure what that would look like right now. But Maeve is here. Lucian knew what I needed. And somehow, that makes the air in my lungs feel just a little less heavy.
I jolt awake with a sharp gasp, lungs burning. My hands clutch at the blanket, nails digging into the fabric as my eyes dart around, looking for… What am I looking for?
The shadows in the corners of the room seem too deep, my skin clammy under the sheen of sweat. My heart pounds in my ears, drowning out everything else until I feel the weight of a hand on my back.
I jump.
“Hey, hey…” Maeve’s voice, low and calm, filters through the fog. “It’s me. You’re safe.”
The lamp on the nightstand is on, casting a soft pool of golden light over us. My gaze shifts automatically, searching the room, and that’s when I see them.
The couch cushions are covered with blankets and pillows.
Luca is curled on one, an arm thrown over his eyes.
Noah’s on his back on another, earbuds still in.
And right against the wall next to the foot of my bed, Jace is half-lying on a thin mattress like he’d tried to get comfortable but never actually had any intentions of letting himself fall asleep.
They’re all here. That melts some of the ice in my chest. Until I notice the one piece that’s missing.
Tex. The pain returns, emanating from the void.
“You were dreaming,” Maeve murmurs, rubbing her eyes. “You were thrashing a little. Want to tell me what it was about?”
I swallow hard, “Just…Tex. Daniel. And—” My voice catches, the words splintering.
Maeve doesn’t push. She moves, so we’re face-to-face, her knees bent under the blanket. “You don’t have to say it,” she says softly. “I already know.”
I breathe in, shaky and uneven, my eyes darting again to the guys. “They’ve been here every night?”
She nods. “Lucian told me before I came. One of them is always with you. Guess they decided tonight all of them were staying.”
Something like a laugh bubbles up, but it dies in my throat. “I’m falling apart, Maeve. I don’t know how to operate anymore.”
Her expression softens in that way that makes me feel like she’s seeing everything I’m too scared to say out loud. “Maybe you are,” she says quietly. “But you’ve been through hell, Iz. You lost someone you cared about, and the man who hurt both of you is still out there. It’s okay to not be okay.”
The tears come faster now. I cover my face with my hands, and Maeve pulls me in, tucking me against her like she used to. When the world felt entirely too big and out of reach. I thought I’d be stuck there forever. Somehow, it seems like a simpler time.
“Let these big, strong guys carry you for a while,” she whispers. “You don’t have to fight it all on your own anymore.”
Her words echo in the quiet, over the faint sound of Noah’s breathing, the scattered noises from the TV the guys must’ve fallen asleep to, and the soft rustle of Jace on his makeshift bed.
I let my head rest on her shoulder, my eyes tracing the lines of the room in the lamplight. The walls are the same. The furniture’s the same. But it feels different now—crowded, messy, alive with the quiet promise that I’m not alone.
“I’m so happy you’re here.” My voice cracks, thick with the tears I’ve already shed and the ones still threatening. I sniffle, rubbing at my eyes. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Maeve’s hand is still smoothing over my hair, her touch as familiar as breathing. “I missed you too, Iz.” Her voice is comforting. “I hated not being here. Not knowing if you were okay.”
I swallow hard, eyes stinging again. “It just hurts. Everything does.”
I blink, more tears slipping free. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Good thing you won’t have to find out. I’m not going anywhere, Iz. Not now. Not ever, ok?” Maeve promises.
I pull back just enough to search her face, my brows furrowing. “I know you’re always there for me, but eventually you’ll have to go home. Back home, back to your mom.”
Maeve’s lips curve into a knowing smile, the kind she gets when she’s holding onto a good secret. “Nope.” She pops the p of the word with a mischievous grin.
“What do you mean, nope?”
“I mean,” she says, drawing out the words, “our parents talked. For a really long time. And…let’s just say, some strings were pulled.”
I blink at her, trying to catch up. “Maeve—”
“I’m transferring here,” she says finally, grinning like she’s been dying to tell me all night. “Lucian’s making it happen. Papers, housing, everything. I’ll be enrolled here by next week.”
My breath catches. “You’re serious?”
“As a… very serious thing. Right now doesn’t seem like the time to joke about—.”
Something warm blooms in my chest, cutting through the numbness and I cut her off with excitement. “You’re actually…staying. I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” she says, squeezing my hands. “I’ll be right here, every day, walking these halls with you. Annoying you, making sure you eat, and sleep, and don’t disappear into your own head when shit gets hard.” She winks. “You’re stuck with me now, whether you like it or not.”
I let out another shaky laugh, swiping at my eyes. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I think the boys are still dead asleep. But then I catch it—the subtle shift of weight, the rustle of fabric.
“You guys are terrible at pretending to be asleep,” Maeve calls out, smirking over my shoulder.
Less than twenty-four hours here and she’s already calling them out.
How did I live without her here?
A low chuckle comes from Luca’s direction. “What gave us away? The breathing? The ‘listening very intently’ faces?”
Noah props himself up on one elbow, his hair sticking up in every direction. “So…we’re acquiring a new roommate?”
Maeve leans back, crossing her arms like she’s settling into a negotiation. “Depends. Are you guys going to hog all the hot water?”
Luca groans dramatically. “Great, another mouth to feed.”
Jace hasn’t moved, but his eyes are open now, meeting mine in the dim lamplight. There’s a kind of relief he doesn’t voice. Just a small nod, like he’s silently agreeing—this is good. This will help.
Maeve squeezes my knee. “Told you, Iz. You’ve got a whole team here.”