Chapter 2 #2
“So we’re just skimming over the part where you showed up on the back of Hunter's bike in what I assume are his clothes?” I asked dryly after an hour of Rory not mentioning it.
She’d gone straight up to her room to shower and get changed when we’d come inside, and she’d been quiet ever since coming back down to the kitchen to eat.
She finished her toast, glancing over at me.
“There’s nothing to say.”
“Were you even at Mule’s?” Lukas asked a little bluntly, and I knew she’d lied to us from the way her face tightened.
I expected her to lie some more, but she pushed her plate away and sighed.
“I needed you guys to leave me alone last night. Yes, I lied and never went to her house. I went to the Heights to sit alone.”
“So how did you end up with Hunter?” Jensen asked carefully.
“The fucker knows all my hiding spots. He always finds me,” she muttered, resting her elbows on the table. “I must have still been in shock or something. I didn’t realize how cold I was until he forced me to get on his bike and took me home. He found me at midnight.”
“He took you home? To his house?” Tyler bit out, not surprising me with his anger. He’d barely slept, the grief eating him alive, and I knew he was needing some kind of high but he didn’t have any drugs on him.
“I don’t really remember much. I was still covered in blood so he put me in the shower and sent me to bed.”
“Skeet’s going to flip the fuck out,” I warned, her eyes narrowing on me.
“Skeet doesn’t need to fucking know.”
“He does and you know it. We don’t keep secrets, Aurora. We promised.”
Guilt filled her eyes before she glanced away from me, her voice soft.
“I have to tell you guys something.” She swallowed, her shoulders tense. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, we planned on doing it yesterday, but—”
“We?” I echoed, confusion hitting me as I glanced around the guys. Lukas and Jensen seemed to be paying attention, but Tyler was staring at the table.
Whatever it was, he knew.
Had they done something? Burned down more houses? I was with him all night last night, so I knew he hadn’t snuck out of the house to meet up with her.
Rory blew out a breath, her eyes lifting to mine with determination.
“I was sleeping with Slash.”
Tyler cringed slightly, telling me I was correct. That fucker knew.
“Since when?” I demanded.
“Around my birthday. It wasn't planned, it just happened. Then feelings got involved and it felt messy. We decided to tell everyone after midterms,” she answered.
“That’s why he took a bullet for you? You guys were together?” Jensen asked, but he didn’t seem surprised.
I wanted to yell at her, to tell her how much it hurt to know she’d been keeping that from us, but I couldn’t make myself do it when tears filled her eyes.
“We were doing what we’re all doing. Just rolling with it. I couldn’t save him. I tried, but—”
I stood and moved around the table to her, the tension leaving me as I lifted her and took her seat so I could hold her on my lap. It was obvious what they had wasn’t a fling, and I felt stupid for not seeing it.
Tyler couldn’t look me in the eye, knowing I was going to corner him later to demand more answers, but it could wait.
Rory hugged me tightly, and I pressed a kiss to the side of her head.
“We’ll talk more about it later, baby. I’m glad you’re safe.”
We were all quiet as we sat there, and I was grateful to be able to hold her. I could have lost her yesterday, and as sad as I was that Slash was gone, I was also thankful that it was him and not my girl.
That probably made me a bad person, but I couldn’t help it.
The front door opened and Mom’s heels clicked quickly through the house until she found us, her eyes taking us all in.
“You’re all okay? The chief said there was a shooting at the Psychos’ hangout yesterday. I saw the news this morning, your friend died?”
“We’re fine. We weren’t there,” Rory said quickly, remembering what Diesel had told her to say. “I showed up afterwards though and tried to help save him.”
“You’re all forbidden to go near that place again. Do you understand?” Mom asked calmly, and I felt Rory’s entire body tense as she lifted her head from my shoulder to look at her.
“I’ll go there if I want to.”
“No, not this time. What if you’d been there? You could’ve been killed. Do you think I want to get the call that you’re bleeding out in a hospital because of that gang? I love you, and I only want to keep you safe, honey.”
“You’re not my fucking mom, and I’m an adult. You don’t want me here? Fine. Fuck you,” Rory snapped as she stood and stalked from the room towards the stairs.
Mom went to follow, but I sighed and stopped her, motioning to the guys. “You guys go after her. I need to talk to Mom.”
Lukas practically sprinted after her, while the other two followed at a slower pace, and Mom looked at me with concern.
“Caden, she could have shown up a moment earlier and been caught in the middle of it. I’m not trying to control her, but—”
“Emotions are heated right now, we’ll make sure she stays here.”
“I’m worried about her.”
“He died holding her hand, Mom,” I said softly, pity filling her eyes.
“He did?”
“Yeah. They were seeing each other. She was covered in his blood when we arrived at the hospital. I know you care about her, but now isn’t the time to put authority on her. She’ll only run.”
She lowered herself into a chair, seeming confused. “They were dating?”
“It was pretty new.”
“You were okay with that? I really don’t understand your relationship dynamic. I’m trying, but it’s hard to imagine splitting my love between multiple people.”
“You love all of us. It’s like that.”
“My love for you boys and Rory is very different to my love for a partner. She’s involved with dangerous people, Caden. It worries me that you’re all being dragged into things that you won’t be able to get yourself out of,” she whispered, and I reached over to take her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“We’ve been involved with them for years. They keep us away from their business, we’re just friends.”
“I can’t lose any of you,” she said in a shaky voice, her hand tightening in mine.
“You won’t.”
“You can’t promise me that when Rory showed up to find one of your friends freshly shot and bleeding. A minute sooner and she would’ve walked into gunfire. I know she’s an adult, but it’s up to me to make sure she stays alive. I don’t care how old you all get, you’re all my kids and that’s my job.”
“I know. Sometimes you have to let us make our own choices and just be there when we fall,” I shrugged, and she gave me a sad look when she pulled back, getting to her feet.
“I might not get the chance to catch you. It was a long flight home, so I need to freshen up. Try and talk some sense into Rory, please.”
I didn’t argue, letting her leave the room before I scrubbed a hand over my face and grabbed my phone. The urge to text Skeeter about the Devils was strong, but he had enough on his plate. It wasn’t like they’d hurt her, so I texted him to check in instead.
Caden: Hope you’re alright. We’re here if you need us.
He saw the message but didn’t reply, not that I really expected him to.
Social media was filled with reports of the gang war shooting, and I had to find a way to keep Rory and Tyler off the damn thing. They didn’t need the reminder.
I headed upstairs to Rory's room, finding her sitting on the floor with Tyler as she consoled him, and Jensen gave me a small nod to let me know everything was okay.
Rory
By the time I’d calmed down from my outburst at Josie, Skeeter arrived and was waiting for me in the living room.
He was talking quietly with Caden, both of them glancing over when I walked in.
“Hey, baby girl,” Skeeter said softly as he walked towards me, putting an arm out to pull me against him. I breathed him in, a sense of calmness washing over me, despite the guilt at knowing his enemy’s clothes were currently hidden in my bedroom.
“Anything new?” I asked, and he sighed.
“Not really. I was at the Shed until three this morning, going over everything with the guys. It’s going to take a few meetings to handle it, I think. Can you come and stay with me tonight? We need to talk.”
“If you’re going to push me away again to—”
“I’m not,” he cut in, brushing his fingers through my hair. “We need to put a lot on the table and talk things over though.”
I knew he wanted to talk about Slash. He’d heard Slash’s confession in the van, so he knew something was going on between us.
“You guys go. We’re all crashing here tonight, so you can come find us if you need to,” Caden offered, tugging me towards him to give me a kiss. “Please be safe.”
“You too,” Skeeter said seriously in response. “Don’t wander off alone. It’s not safe.”
“We know, we’re not going anywhere,” Caden nodded, and I quickly went upstairs to say goodbye to the guys and grab Skeeter’s jacket for him before following him outside.
I went to get in my car once I’d handed the jacket over, but he stopped me.
“I know you like an escape route, but I don’t want you driving alone right now. I’m not starting a fight with you, so I promise I can bring you home if you need me to.”
The thought of not having my own car made me a little uncomfortable, but I abandoned my idea of bringing it and climbed into the McLaren, barely leaving the driveway before he spoke again without looking at me.
“How long?”
I knew exactly what he was asking, and I swallowed nervously.
“Around my birthday. We’d planned on telling you guys yesterday now that midterms are over.”
“How did it start? You fucking hated each other.”
I couldn’t tell him. Knowing his best friend had assaulted me would’ve killed him, and the last thing I wanted to do was make him angry at Slash now that he was gone.
“Heated argument that got a little carried away,” I said vaguely, a snort leaving him.
“So it wasn’t just feelings involved? You’ve been fucking since your birthday?”
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, knowing what we’d done was wrong. “I know we’re not all officially together, but I’ve felt so fucking guilty.”
“Then why the fuck didn’t either of you tell me, Aurora?
You’ve both been lying to me. I’m pissed off that I didn’t see it, but I’m more pissed off that my best friend never told me he’d fallen in love with my girl, and now I can’t punch him for it because he’s fucking gone,” he bit out, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“How the hell did you even manage to sneak around? You were always with one of us. Did someone else know? Were they covering for you?”
“Skeet—”
He glanced at me, a dry chuckle leaving him. “It was fucking Ty, wasn’t it? Did you three just have orgies together whenever you stayed at Ty’s? Did the others know? Am I the only idiot that didn’t?”
“No, the guys didn’t know until this morning when I told them. Please don’t be angry at Ty. He found out the night we were hanging out at your place and you went to get more beer. I asked him to keep it to himself.”
“You waited for me to leave my own house before fucking my best friend? Did you screw him in my bed?” he barked, my hand reaching out to brace against the dashboard when he jerked the car off the road and slammed on the brakes.
When I looked at him, he didn’t look angry, he looked defeated.
“It wasn’t like that,” I assured him, my voice weak. “We never planned it, and no, we didn’t fuck in your house. We messed around in the bathroom though.”
“Did you love him?”
“Yes.” Admitting that out loud almost made me tear up again. Slash would never get to hear me say it, all because I insisted I’d tell him later when he was better.
“Do you love me?” he asked in a low voice, his eyes burning into me patiently as he awaited my answer.
“I do, and that scares the fucking shit out of me,” I whispered.
He unbuckled my seat belt and pulled me onto his lap in the small space, taking my face in both hands to force me to look at him.
“I’m not scared of anything, but love is the one thing that terrifies me. Loving you could break me, Aurora. I tried fighting it, I really did. Do you want to be with me? I’ll even let you keep the blue blood pets you insist on keeping around.”
“You like them. Stop pretending they're a bother,” I joked, pressing a hand to his chest. His heartbeat was rapid as he waited for my answer, one that I’d been putting off giving him because official shit was final and scary.
It was ridiculous to think that, it changed nothing that was between us, but it felt different to commit completely. It was admitting these feelings were real.
“Do you want to be with me or not?” he asked, and I nodded.
“I want to be with you,” I said firmly, relief filling his eyes.
“Good. Don’t run from me. If anyone understands what it’s like to be scared of feeling things, it’s me. Talk to me if you freak out and we can work through it.”
“Can you talk to me one day about why it scares you so much?” I asked carefully, and he sighed.
“One day. I’ve been trying to bury it.”
“Maybe it would help free you if you talked about it?”
“Maybe. Won’t take back the fact I killed her over it,” he mumbled, kissing me before putting me back in my seat. “We need to get to mine, it’s safer.”
“You’re not going to flip out and throw me out about the whole Slash thing?” I said teasingly, but I was low-key serious. I’d expected a shitshow.
“I need to process it, but no. Always knew that fucker liked you,” he grumbled, starting to drive again.
He seemed lost in thought, so I stared out the window silently, keeping an eye out for trouble for the rest of the drive.