Chapter 5 ~
Rory ~
My father stands over me.
I didn't clean up—slap.
I was five minutes late—slap.
I didn't put the dishwasher on—punch.
My injuries blur together. A bang sounds.
I jolt awake, my eyes flying around the room.
Someone curses loudly. I look around at the room in Hannah's house and I sigh. I'm okay, I'm not there, I tell myself.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I go looking for Luc. I come into the kitchen and look at the clock on the wall. Four o'clock.
"No, I'm fine," Luc says harshly and I hesitate outside his door. He sighs loudly.
I’m about to knock when Luc keeps talking. “You’ll see when you get here. I don’t know what it is about her but I broke down on her shoulder in the first ten minutes of her being here.” He chuckles. “Dude, chill out. I cleaned the house while she was sleeping. It’s like Hannah never left.”
He talks briefly before I hear the conversation end and I decide to stop standing there like a creeper.
I knock lightly on the door and it swings open.
My words dry up when I see Luc, phone in hand with no shirt on. Fuuuuck. I stare at his rivets and abs for a brief second before my eyes flick up to his.
"Butterfly, hey." Luc smiles, oblivious to my struggle. "Did you have a good nap? You were asleep for a while. I thought I'd have to shake some life back into you."
I laugh softly and shake my head, trying to rid my brain of the mental image of Luc's abs. I look at the box on the floor, a few things split out onto the floor.
"Were you trying to lift that?" I question.
Luc sighs. "Yeah. I injured myself recently and it's not healing as quickly as I'd like." He changes the subject. "The guys should be here soon," he tells me.
I sit down on the edge of his bed. Luc sits beside me, stretching out his right leg like he's uncomfortable.
He hesitates for a moment. "I want to be straight with you. The guys might be a bit…wary and on guard of you. We have some things going on right now but I told them about you and they’re excited to meet you.”
I exhale, wincing when it pulls on my ribs. “Okay, just…I need you to be honest with me and let me know if this arrangement doesn’t work at any moment.”
Luc places his hand on my knee. “It’ll be fine, Butterfly but, okay,” he relents. I smile softly, needing his confirmation.
We talk about everything—anything—while I wait anxiously for his friends’ arrival.
Tires on the gravel and an engine being turned off echoes through the house. There's footsteps the hardwood as we stand up.
"Luc? What the fuck's going on, man?" A deep baritone voice yells out.
"I'm coming!" Luc yells out. He gives me a reassuring smile and grabs my hand.
I take a shaky breath and follow Luc into the living area and kitchen.
"Dude, we need details…” their voice trails off when I walk into the kitchen behind Luc. I stop walking and Luc tugs me forward at the same time.
"Sweetheart?" Dominic drops whatever he's holding.
"What did you just say?" Maverick walks in from the living room and stops abruptly when he sees me, making Mason run into him.
"What the—"
"—fuck?" Mason carries on what Maverick was saying.
"Laney!" Mason beams and runs over like he's going to put his arms around me.
I brace myself but the pain never comes because Luc steps between us. "Go slow, brother."
"It's okay, Luci," I murmur to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
He turns and raises one eyebrow. "You guys know each other I’m assuming since they called you Laney.”
“What else would we call her?” Maverick interrupts.
I nod, answering Luc first. "We met at school yesterday."
Luc isn't given a chance to respond when Maverick walks over and gently grips my chin. "You didn't have this bruise yesterday," he says gruffly. His fingers brush my cheek in concern. I stay silent as his blue eyes pierce mine.
"Thanks for leaving me to get everything," Alec grumbles, seeming to be unaware of my presence when he walks in and puts the grocery bags on the bench.
"Hi, Alec," I say softly and he spins around, his jaw dropping.
"Laney? You're the stray Luc picked up?" Alec says before he realises what he’s just said and his face turns a bright shade of red. “I…um, I…” Alec stammers but nothing else comes.
I turn to Luc who's still standing between me and Mason. "Is that right, Luci?" I raise one eyebrow to tell him I'm not impressed.
Luc winces. "I didn't put it like that."
"We didn't get any details about you but we definitely got that," Dominic injects.
"Luci?" Mason bounces on the balls of his feet, clearly excited for some reason. The other guys are still watching me in shock and confusion.
"His name's Lucifer. Luci's a nickname." I shrug.
"One that you are not allowed to use," Luc tells Mason who pouts.
"You told them I was a stray. Like a puppy that followed you home," I say point-blank. "They can call you Luci."
Luc nods instantly, clearly wanting to get out of the dog house. I squeeze his hand to show him I'm not really upset. I look at everyone else who's gazes have dropped to mine and Luc's entwined hands.
“You didn’t answer me,” Maverick reminds me. “Why wouldn’t we call you by your name?”
Uh, right. “Ummm…” I look at Luc who shrugs in a way that says tell them or don’t.
I take a deep breath but Alec beats me to it. “Because your name isn’t Laney Summers. It’s Aurora Winters.”
“You are the chick Luc yesterday,” Mason catches on. He says it like he suspected that.
“Um, yeah. Sorry. When we, uh, moved here, my father changed my name.” I glance across at Luc, not knowing what he told them.
“We know,” Alec tells me softly. “Luc told us.”
“I hope that was okay,” Luc says quietly.
“It’s fine,” I squeeze his hand, “I knew you’d have to tell them.” I’m not sure why I’m holding his hand but I don’t want to let go. Luc smiles sadly.
“Soooo…what do we call you?” Mason asks.
“Rory,” I say instantly and Mase grins, seeming to like that better than Laney.
"I'm sorry about yesterday," I tell them quietly. My gaze casts away, unable to make eye contact with them.
Dominic strides over. "We're sorry." His voice rumbles. I have to look up to meet his dark eyes.
"We shouldn't have pushed you," Maverick adds.
"No," I sigh, "I was scared. You guys were nice to me and I could have handled it better."
"It's fine," Alec tells me. The others voice their agreement.
Mason scoops me up in a hug before I can stop him. Pain slices through me.
Agony has me struggling in Mason’s arms, further yanking on my ribs. I crumble in his hold as pain overwhelms me until black is flickering in the corners of my gaze.
"Put her down!" Luc rushes out.
Mason immediately puts my feet on the ground and backs away in horror.
I put an arm around my ribs, keeling over and breathing heavily. Luc puts a hand on my shoulder, squeezing softly.
"Just gimme a sec," I manage to get out.
I wait a few minutes for the pain to fade before straightening out. I wrap an arm around myself. It turns back into a heightened ache that has me blinking back tears.
Mason's breathing heavily, something dark in his eyes. I slowly walk towards him, a hand holding my ribs.
Luc reaches out like he wants to stop me but his hand falls halfway.
Mason takes a step back and I instantly stop moving.
"Mason," I call out.
He shakes his head, not looking up.
"Mase," I say softly, not wanting him to be swallowed by pain filling his features. I don’t know why the nickname but it just slips out.
"I hurt you," Mason’s voice shudders and he squeezes his hands into balls to keep from reaching for me. I look back at Maverick who's watching his brother sadly.
I focus back on Mason. "No, Mason. I was already hurt," I explain.
He doesn't look up when I take a few more steps.
"Look at me, Mase." His eyes flick up hesitantly and I slowly lift my shirt so he can see my bandage.
"You're hurt." He stares at it.
"Yes," I tell him, trying to fight off my own demons. "Not from you, from someone else." I take another hesitant step.
This puts me right in front of him. He slowly looks up and I see the unresolved pain in his warm blue eyes.
I swallow deeply before pulling on my big girl pants. I can do this.
"You didn't hurt me, Mason." I hesitate for a moment.
"I didn't tell you guys yesterday who was hurting me because I needed to protect myself.
But if I didn't tell you now…that would just be stupid.
" I take a shaky breath. "When I got home last night, my dad wasn't happy I was late and he got angry. "
Someone growls in the background but I keep my eyes on Mason.
"I've got at least one broken rib and a couple of them are bruised." Someone coughs like a warning and I don't go any further into details.
I put a hand on his cheek and a bit more of the pain leaves his eyes.
"It might have hurt when you picked me up but the pain was already there," I murmur.
I slowly move my arms around him and hug his waist. They’re all so tall.
I count to five before he even moves.
Mason shudders and leans down. He slowly, carefully puts his arms around me and drops his head to my shoulder. He breathes heavily into my neck.
"I'm sorry," he croaks and I shake my head, gripping his shirt when he tries to pull away.
"It's not your fault, Mase," I tell him. I worry that I’ve pushed him too far but he relaxes into me. He nods into my neck and I pull back to make him look at me.
"Okay?" I smile softly, leaning up to stroke his cheek. He nods again and I see the pain slowly leave his eyes.
Maverick comes up behind me and puts a hand on Mason's shoulder. "You good, brother?"
"Yeah," Mason says, taking another deep breath. "I'm good."
"Are you okay?" Luc says concerned, coming up behind me. He rests his hand on the middle of my back. I’m acutely aware of all of them as they crowd around me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I tell him.
"Do you mind if Alec has a look?" Luc asks and I shake my head.
Alec steps up and I lift my shirt so he can unravel the bandage. He sucks in a sharp breath when it’s removed. The guys crowd around.