Chapter 27 Oren
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
OREN
There is no way you ever loved me.
His words replayed on a broken loop.
Matthew, Liam, and Simon were wrong.
They were wrong, and the thing was, I knew it.
I knew this wasn’t the solution, but their votes outweighed mine.
When assessing my doubts, Matt had said it was the only way to protect him, to protect everyone, and that’s all I wanted.
Thorne enjoyed taking control, being the leader, but this mission would require sacrifice, and I wanted to keep him out of that role—out of my father’s line of sight.
I wanted everyone safe, happy—a chance at a life outside of these walls without my father’s looming presence. I wanted to gift it to Thorne, because I wanted a life with him. I wanted to leave with him wherever he desired. I wanted him.
And the way he’d looked at me? The way he’d crumbled beneath my stare as if I’d shattered every piece I’d glued together?
That tore my heart to shreds—a heart already burdened with mistakes. It was a pain unable to be extinguished through tears.
It was a constant yearning for someone who I’d ruined by my hands. They promised he’d be okay.
I knew now that he couldn’t be left alone, because I knew him.
If left to his thoughts, he would spiral and resort to self-inflicted injuries; I would rather him release his anger on me than unfurl it on himself. I loved him, and leaving him alone was not an option.
He needed someone, and even if he had to swing his fists during my apology, I would not falter. I would not leave him to the darkness, not anymore. I’d vowed to protect him, and I’d stolen that peace from him.
When was the last time someone fought for him past the barrier he held up when falling apart? When was the last time someone had sought him out, even after he pushed them away, spewing the darkest components of his heart?
His words had pierced deep, but they were rooted in truth, rooted in the abandonment, betrayal, and lack of trust he’d dealt with his whole life.
This time it was my turn to save him, to bring him out of the darkness I’d pushed him back into, but first I was headed to the one man I needed to talk to.
Swinging the door open to Matt’s room, Liam and Simon were chilling toward the back.
Curling my fingers, I gave him no warning as my fist collided with the side of his jaw, every ounce of anger and betrayal I felt issued in that punch.
“You lied! You said he’d be okay, that he’d understand, that he…
that he’d recover, but you fucking lied to me!
All of you! All of you fucking betrayed him and you made me complicit! ”
There was no cap to the fury. A deep agony not only at my inability to see the mistake before it happened, but trusting my friends to know better.
“Oren!” Simon screamed, pushing himself up from where he sat in an attempt to grab me. “Stop!”
I shoved my elbow into his chest. “Do. Not. Fucking. Touch. Me.”
Gone was the permissive man they’d crafted me to be to allow this plan, but what did any of it matter if Thorne wasn’t at my side? Nothing, not even now, was worth it if he wasn’t beside me each step of the way.
My fist cracked against Matt’s already bruising jaw, a guttural scream echoing off the haunted walls. “You… We broke him. We broke him!”
Simon’s arms wrapped around me, ripping me back as Matt coughed up a mouthful of blood. “Stop it! This isn’t making shit better, Oren!”
I thrashed against his hold, shoving my arms upward to release me from him.
With a quick turn and a shove, I landed a hit on Simon’s shoulder, the crack of my knuckles doing nothing to ease the pain in my chest as I stepped back.
“I said do not touch me,” I seethed, shaking my hand to ease its throbbing.
“You lied to me. And… And how is this going to get fixed?”
“Thorne made his choice,” Matt muttered as he held his jaw in his palm. “He’s my best friend, but he doesn’t listen to reason sometimes. He struggles to regulate his emotions—”
“Because that’s all he knows how to do!” I yelled, a tattered sob escaping me. “He’s only ever been betrayed—”
“I fucking know that!” Matt screamed, standing to his full height. “And yet, I fucked up. I messed up and drove him farther into a tunnel he can't escape from. I’m not you, Oren. I don’t…”
“Don’t what?” I countered, my lips pulling into a scowl.
“I don’t understand him to the depths you do. We miscalculated, but once a mistake this big has been made, Thorne can’t recover. I’ve seen it before, and only time heals it.”
“That’s a fucking lie.” I turned to Simon and Liam. “Do you agree?”
“We don’t know Thorne well enough to take a side…” Liam muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I’d agree with you though, Oren. I think we fucked up and may have pushed him too far.”
“Fucking hell.” Simon rubbed his shoulder, glancing between Matt and me. “I think we acted from a place of good grace, but it definitely derailed from what we’d anticipated.”
“Then you’re all coming with me to fix him,” I snapped. “Especially you, Matt. You owe him a fucking apology, or are you too much of a pussy to admit when you’re wrong?”
His jaw tightened, but he gave a simple nod. “Fine, but all of us leaving to go get—”
“None of you are talking to him except for me,” I corrected. “I need you to make sure that when we find him, he can’t leave. I need him to take his anger out on someone, and I want it to be me. I promised him, and no matter how heated it gets, you let it happen.”
“What the fuck?” Simon snapped, his attention landing on me. “We aren’t just going to stand by if he elects to beat your ass.”
“Guys—”
“That’s an absurd order, especially considering all Thorne is capable of. If we allow him to fully unleash, then what happens to the mission? What’s the point of everything—”
“Guys!” Liam yelled, cutting through Simon’s onslaught. “I’m not sure how great that will go, not only because of that, but because I watched him grab his bike keys before he left. And considering we are all fairly acquainted with the two ways he likes to cope…”
“Talking isn’t an option,” Matt muttered, standing to give a nod to Liam. “I tried to before, but if he left for the club, we just need to get him back here safely. He’ll be wasted by this point.”
“Alcohol or a blade,” Simon sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “Seems he elected the former this time.”
Liam punched him, the force of the blow enough to earn a sharp hiss. “Un-fucking-necessary.”
“Am I wrong?!”
“You’re not wrong,” I said, the fury dissipating as I glanced at them. “We need to go now before he rides back here, because if he gets on that bike, he’s not going to make it back to base.”
“I think that’s his goal…” Liam clenched his jaw, his eyes sweeping between the three of us. “I’ve seen him hurt before, but this? This is something completely different.”
I nodded, the ache in my chest amplifying. “He’s been broken, but now he’s defeated with nothing to reach out and hold onto. He thinks even his best friend betrayed him.”
He needed saving, and this time, I’d make sure he didn’t end up alone. That he would make it safe to base, even if he broke me in the process, because I deserved it.
The club lights matched the beat of the bass, each flash of light increasing my need to find him, to make sure he was okay.
He wasn’t sitting at the bar top, but the bartender reported him drinking all night, which meant I’d probably find him on the floor somewhere. Simon, Liam, and Matt waited by his bike as a safety precaution, which left me to search inside for him.
I wanted him safe, and I wanted him happy, even if that never involved me again. I’d destroyed our trust and broken him beyond the limits I thought capable.
Weaving in and out of the crowd, I knew it shouldn’t be hard to find him, but the anxiety of the situation was making it difficult to focus.
Losing track of how many sweat-laden bodies I’d slithered between, I felt the concept of hope slip from between my fingers, the incessant drum of regret beating in the hole my betrayal had left in my chest. That was until I rounded the corner to where the bathrooms were, where Thorne had taken me, and found him pressed up against the wall with another man’s tongue down his throat.
I faltered as his fingers threaded into the blonde’s hair, a switch happening as the man twisted him against the wall. He was… He was kissing another man. He was allowing him to dominate him, a side that had been reserved only for me and me alone. A promise he’d made to me, and with another blonde?
A man who barely noticed the tempo of his tongue or allowed Thorne the grace to push away, to chase him?
Stepping forward, I yanked the blonde from my love, a snarl ripping through my throat. “Get the fuck—You.” It was the blonde from the first fucking night I’d gone clubbing.
“You?” He looked at me confused before shifting his attention back to the man he’d been throat fucking with his tongue seconds ago. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Again?”
“Get lost.” This piece of shit didn’t deserve a single word more, his blonde roots needing more than a touch up.
“He came alone. Not my problem, you can’t seem to keep your man satisfied, shortie.”
Without a second’s hesitation, I drove my knee into his dick, grabbing his shoulders as leverage to keep him upright. “At least I have a straight shot to your cock, fucking asshole.”
He doubled over, groaning in agony, but it wasn’t the sound he released that caught my attention; it was the very inebriated Thorne whose time-processing abilities had finally caught up.
“O-Oren?”
Tears welled in my eyes at the state of him, his pupils blown and stance a clear indicator of his current state. He was more than intoxicated, and from the lulled state of his voice, I wasn’t sure it was only liquor in his system.
“What…” he hiccuped, lifting a brow. “What are you doing h-here?”