Lox's POV...

Shit! That was a good one. I felt that fucking seizure in my bones.

Apple pie scent fills my nostrils so I know Greya is the one who's arms are around me, my head resting on her shoulder, my face buried in her neck. Half my body is draped on top of her and she's holding me. I feel her warm soft breathing in my hair. I've never felt safer waking up from an episode.

It's dark but I can make out a dim light in my peripheral vision.

"W...where am I...I ?"

"Oh B, are you okay?" She kisses the top of my head. "You're in my room."

I'm in her bed and we're snuggled together yet I know I seized again, my whole body aches. And my arm...I'm wearing my arm brace to help keep it in a normal position. Liam must've gone home to get it.

Wait.

Everything comes back to me, my visions, Greya telling me she thought I was dead. They've all been lying to me..

I awkwardly transfer my weight so I can roll off of her.

Once I get onto my back, Greya sits up in the bed and watches me.

"Where i...is e...everyone?" Liam especially has a lot of explaining to do.

"Ari and Declan went back to campus, Liam, Fynn, and Cohen are in the living room, and Chase went to bed. You've been sleeping for five hours."

And I could sleep for another five more. I need to get out of here, away from her. She's still taking care of me after I told her to leave. To be fair, she lives here and isn't going anywhere. I can't be near her right now. She's been pretending for months that she doesn't know me. Who does that?

She says she thought I was dead. Hah! Probably her excuse for leaving me when she saw I was in a coma and my life was going to change forever. She didn't want to be with me through some of my darkest days. Liam must've known about her. How could he let me get close to her again; fall in love with her.

"I n...need t...to go h...home. Sort th...things out w...with Liam." Damnit, I can't get up.

"I can't let you do that."

"W...what do y...you mean?" Ugh! I wish I had a normal working body.

"The last time you left my house because you needed to be with Liam so something terrible wouldn't happen... something terrible did happen and I haven't been able to forgive myself for letting you leave that night." Tears form in her bright eyes.

"Th...this is a...as terrible as i...it g...gets."

"I wish that were true."

"You're upset and you haven't heard the real story yet, you just had another long seizure, what if you go home in distress and you have another seizure, hit your head, or stop breathing this time. I can't let you go home. Please listen to what we have to say first. I promise everything will make sense."

So far what I've heard is hard to believe. I can't imagine what her and Liam are going to say or if I even want to know. I was finally beginning to feel wanted, part of a group. No. No, no, no. Can't be.

"Cohen a...and D...Declan we're m...my friends b...before too, w...weren't th...they?"

"Yes. Your best friends, your brothers really."

Of course they were.

I try getting up again but it's impossible with how weak I am and neither my left arm or leg want to move at all.

I have no idea what's real and what isn't or who to believe, who to trust. All I'm sure of is that I'm disabled and whatever they tell me isn't going to change this fact. I'm disabled and I can't get out of this bed without Greya's help. The last thing I want to do in this moment is ask her help.

"I...I n...need help t...to get t...to the l...living room."

Her emerald eyes sparkle with hope. "You'll stay and hear us out?"

I don't think I have a choice since I'm not ambulatory. I can't walk out of here on my own.

I've attempted to lift myself up a few time and failed each time so far, so she's going to basically do everything for me.

She climbs out of the bed and walks over to my side and leans over me so I can get my right arm around her. Her own arms slide under mine and wrap around my back. My left arm hanging in the brace at my side. I'm supposed to be angry with her but she smells so good and I'm very comfortable in her arms.

She lifts me up so I'm sitting. My legs still stretched out on the mattress. Shit! The rooms spinning and I lean my forehead onto her shoulder, taking a few deep breaths.

"Take your time, I've got you," her words so sincere, I want to believe her.  She used to hug me and say those exact words to me. I remember that.

"I'm g...good, y...you can s...swing my l...legs around n...now."

I keep my arm on her while she gently lifts my legs and swings them over the edge of the bed. Gosh, I haven't felt this unstable in a long time.

"You had convulsions for a little over two minutes. Liam said that's been your longest one in over a year."

That explains why my body's acting like I got run over by a bus.

"Did y...you catch m...me." That scares me the most. losing complete control of myself, falling and injuring myself more. I can't handle another injury on top of this.

She nods. "Liam helped me get you on the bed and I kept you on your side and cradled your head."

"Y...you held m...me like th...that for f...five hours?"

She nods again.

"W...why?" I'm so thankful she caught me and kept me safe while I slept soundly in her arms.

"Because I love you. You mean everything to me. Please remember that."

I'll try. No promises.

She turns around and lowers herself so I can get onto her back. Second day in a row she has to carry around her...Well I don't know what I am to her any more.

I apologize for almost chocking her while I try to hang on with one arm and then I thank her when we reach the living room couch.

The three guys are quietly observing me. Greya brings a pillow over and rests my braced arm onto it, somehow knowing that supports me better. After, she sits beside me, a few inches apart to give me some space.

"O...ok, throw i...it at m...me." They all look at each other, deciding who's supposed to speak first.

"What exactly do you remember before your injury?" Liam carefully asks.

Everything's fuzzy, I don't remember much, only the people who are sitting next to me.

"I r...remember m...moments with G...Greya. Her b...backyard but n...not th...this one. I th...think I remember p...parts of our o...old house. A p...piano room, y...you playing v...video games. Cohen." I look at Cohen.

"W...we played s...soccer t...together?" He nods. "I w...was with y...you a lot I...I think?"

"Everyday," he shyly affirms.

"Why h...have y...you all b...been lying t...to me?"

"To keep us safe, you and me," Liam answers.

"Safe f...from wh...what? T...tell me th...the truth." I look straight at Liam. He owes me the truth. They all do.

They all look at each other again. Both Liam and Greya are holding back tears. Whatever it is, must be upsetting.

"Loxley isn't your real name and Liam isn't mine," Liam says.

I'm frozen in place. I have no words. This all sounds absurd to me. I decide to keep quiet and listen to the whole story.

"You we're Becker Reeves and I was Alec Reeves. We are brothers. Half brothers, we have the same mother."

And what a mother she is. This poor kid has grown up without a mother and I feel bad about that.

"I don't even know how to explain this... there's so much. You weren't in a car accident, you were shot in the head... by my father."

"Wh...what?" What the fuck!

"Ex...explain."

Greya's tears have fallen and I can make out her soft sniffles.

"Do you remember anything about Jack?"

"Wh...who's J...Jack?"

They all cautiously eye each other again. All knowing my past, yet no one's wanted to tell me about it until now.

Liam continues, "He was my father and you and I thought he was yours too until you found an adoption paper a week before you were injured that said Jack adopted you. Our mom left us five years earlier without any explanation. She just disappeared and Jack apparently spent five years looking for her."

"Wh...where's my f...father? D...do I h...have one?"

Liam nods and then rubs his eyes.

"Your father is Vincent Torrio, he's a convicted murderer and crime boss from Chicago. We didn't know he existed until the night you were shot. Mom and him were apparently together briefly and she got pregnant with you. Your grandfather Knew his son was bad and helped hide mom from him. If your father knew she was pregnant he would've kept her locked in his home and taken you away from her when you were born."

This sounds like some messed up fiction movie. How could anyone believe any of this.

"Th...then wh...what?" I don't know how much more of this fucked up story I can take.

"Cohen's parents helped mom with a new identity and then she met Jack, an NFL player. They married and had me. Jack was injured and was never able to play again. He started drinking and was violent. Mom disappeared and we thought it was because of Jack but it was because she thought Vincent had found her. She left us because she didn't want Vincent to find you or know of you."

That makes sense why she always seemed paranoid the two years after my... after I was shot.

"Why w...was I sh...shot ?"

"That night you were at Greya's house. I called you because Jack came home with mom. He found her and brought her back home. He was out of his mind, waving a gun around so I messaged you to come home. Not only was Jack searching for our mother but so was Vincent. They both found her and Vincent followed them to our house. When you got home, Jack had me and mom tied to chairs and him and Vincent were pointing guns at each other.."

The tears are pouring freely from Greya's eyes as she listens to Liam's story. This must be what she meant by letting me go home when she should've tried harder to make me stay.

"G...o on," my voice quivering. I'm not ready for this next part.

Suddenly Greya's hand is on my thigh and I allow her comforting gesture. She probably needs the comfort too.

"Everyone began arguing. You and I had no idea what was going on or who Vincent was and he didn't seem to know us either. He was there for mom and Jack was in the way. And then a gun was pointed at mom and you jumped in front of her. Three gun shots echoed through the house. I'll never forget those sounds and seeing you and mom lying on the floor, blood everywhere," Liam sniffs, wiping the tears now falling down his face too.

I'd like to comfort him and I will when I understand the rest of it.

"I'm st...still c...confused."

"One of the bullets hit you and one hit Jack, killing him. I sat there tied up and useless, wondering if Vincent was going to shoot me next. Instead he walked over to you and mom. Your blood was all over mom and neither of you were moving. Mom was pretending to be dead and Vincent believed it. He took off as soon as he heard the police sirens. Cohen's parents entered the house with the cops and untied me. I went straight to you and felt for a pulse. It was faint. You were alive and Cohen's parents and a detective closed off the house to everyone except the paramedics and formulated a plan."

I look to Cohen for an explanation. What do his parents have to do with this?

"My parents are lawyers. They have a lot of connections. They arranged your moms new identity and helped her stay hidden when she married Jack and had Liam. When they showed up to the crime scene that night and saw your mom and you were still alive, they knew they had to make it seem you all died that night. They needed Vincent to believe it." Cohen's nervously rubbing his fingers together.

"Greya called me after you left her house. She was hysterical and wanted me to come get her, call the police and go to your house because she had a bad feeling. The police wouldn't let us near your house, they only told us you were all deceased and then the paramedics came out with black body bags," he adds.

Shit, I can't even imagine what that was like for them.

"We were told you had died, that Jack shot you. We weren't allowed to see you and a few days later there was a small funeral. Becker and Alec Reeves engraved on a headstone." Greya's crying into both her hands.

Greya and I loved each other, I'm sure of it and it remains evident more than three years later. She thought the person she was in love with was shot to death. If it was Greya who I thought had died, I don't think I'd ever recover from that. Now I understand her reaction to me on the first day of class a few months ago.

I reach out to her and gently pull her hand away from her face and slide my fingers through hers, resting our hands on top of my thigh.

I need to hear it all.

"S...someone explain th...the n...next three y...years."

The room is quiet. I'm not sure if talking about everything is like reliving what they went through. I on the other hand don't recall any of it and it makes me sad knowing my little brother witnessed something so horrible and my friends were told something equally horrifying.

"You were taken to the hospital and you, me, and mom were placed in protective custody and given new identities. Vincent was in the wind and he couldn't know about us." Liam continues, his voice shakes. "It was a miracle you were alive. You almost died a few times when they were trying to save you. As soon as you were stable, we moved you to a different hospital in a different city. You had no memories of any of it when you woke up. You didn't recognize me or mom and you were already going through hell trying to get through each day in rehab. The last thing you needed was to remember how Jack physically abused you, or how we hadn't seen or heard from our mother in five years, that you were shot, and your father is a felon."

I'm starting to see his reasoning.

"S...so you h...had me b...believe I w...was in an a...accident? And w...we've been in h...hiding for th...three years?"

He nods and wipes away more tears.

My brain's had more than enough for one night and I'm still in a lot of pain from my seizure, Greya's right to worry about me having another one.

I have so many more questions that need answers.

Here I've been convincing myself I must've been a bad person for no one to call or text or visit me in the hospital; thinking I had no friends at all. In the meantime, my friends and girlfriend were told I had died. Their loss was felt just as hard as mine. And poor Liam. A kid whose mother left and father was killed in front of him. He left his whole life behind to take care of and protect me.

Too much to think about. I'll need time to process. The truth hurts and we've all lived through the trauma from it.

"C...can we g...go h...home?" I ask Liam. I need sleep, time to reflect and let my body heal from earlier.

I squeeze Greya's hand. I can understand why she's worried about me, especially after our learning about my new reality.

"I'll b...be f...fine. G...going home t...to sleep." I tell her.

Best we all get some sleep tonight. We can be honest again with each other tomorrow or another day, or when ever I can wrap my mind around these unbelievable facts.