The apartment was in a state of disarray and chaos, but I was tucked in between Marc and Corey safely, watching from the outside. Raven was raging, shouting in Russian and swearing while Axel frantically tried to calm down him and Brandon, insisting that behaving that way wasn't helping matters at all. Axel had called Sean and Owen as soon as he had caught sight of me, and even though he was trying to portray the image of a calm leader, I could tell he was panicking.

Lauren and I had never gotten into it so violently, and now that I was bleeding from one of her advances, everyone was panicking and I couldn't blame them. If I wasn't trying to keep the others calm, I probably would have been freaking out right beside them. Internally, I was having a small melt down, but on the outside, I wore an impassive expression, allowing Marc to press a tissue to my bleeding lip.

I was pantsless. Right before the chaos had started, Corey had brought me one of his shirts to change into so I could be comfortable, and also so it would be easier for Sean to inspect the gashes on my legs when he finally arrived. I felt kind of bad that I was bleeding on their couch, but when I voiced my concern, Corey quickly hushed me and pulled me down onto his lap, trying to see what he could do until Sean and Owen arrived.

"Raven," Marc barked out, apparently having enough. "Brandon. Knock it off or you can leave. Sang doesn't need to hear or see this right now."

The two boys suddenly seemed to remember that they were still in my presence and guilt clouded their faces. I shrugged, attempting to send a weak smile, but ending up wincing at the pain that formed from where I had cut my lip. Raven crouched in front of me, doing a poor job of concealing his anger, but at least trying to for me. I reached out and cupped his face gently, rubbing the pad of my thumb on his cheek.

"I'm okay, Raven," I quietly reassured him. He gripped my hand tightly, shaking his head at my words.

"You're not okay, Little One," he whispered. "Nothing about this is okay."

I remained silent, because if I did talk, I would have to agree with him and I didn't want to make matters worse. I sent him one last weak smile then curled into Corey's side, exhaustion settling over me. I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep, but knew that I wouldn't be able to for awhile. Once Sean and Owen came through that door, the apartment would descend into chaos once again, and I would be in the middle of it. Corey rubbed my back, his blue eyes reflecting sympathy for me. I sighed heavily and tried to turn my face away from Marc, but he gripped my chin tightly, sending me a stern look.

"Marc," I said, my voice coming out softer than I wanted it to. My throat was tightening up and my tummy was coiled in knots, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on pretending that I was okay. "My lip is fine. I'm just trying to lay my head on Corey. I'm fine."

Marc's mismatched eyes lit up with fury, towards my mother of course, and he shook his head, but removed the tissue that he'd had pressed to my lip. I began to shift again, fully intending on resting against Corey until two of my boys arrived, but Marc wrapped an arm around me and allowed me to lay my head on him instead. I felt so warm and safe between the two, that I nearly drifted off to sleep. I was quickly jolted out of my sleepiness by the sound of the door slamming.

I sat up straight, eyes growing wide and darting around, heart racing in my chest. I was ridiculous to think that it could be my mother or Zain or even Volto, but my head was still swimming with bad thoughts and I didn't know how else to react. Marc rubbed my shoulders in a reassuring manner and ducked his head down to whisper in my ear.

"It's okay," he said, his breath tickling my cheek and stirring hair that rested against my neck. "It's just Owen and Sean."

I jumped to my feet, not bothering to listen to the rest of what Marc had to say. Instead, I plowed straight for the door and into Sean's arms. The moment I felt his arms around me, and the warmth of his body against my own, I allowed myself to break. Tears formed and I let them fall, clinging to one of the men I was falling for. Quiet sobs escaped my body, and though the material of Sean's jeans stung against the cuts on my legs, I was reluctant to let go.

I was torn from his grip and I began to protest, only to be enveloped by another warm body and the smell of spring soap. I cried harder, gripping Owen's shirt, burying my face in his chest. He rubbed my back, his chin resting on my head, and I could have sworn I felt tear drops that weren't my own slide down my neck, but I didn't say anything.

"You need to sit, darling," Owen whispered to me, smoothing my hair away from my face as he pulled away to inspect me. I sniffled, gripping his shirt tighter and shaking my head. I must have seemed like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but all I wanted was to remain in the arms of someone I loved, someone I trusted. "Sean needs to look you over and I need to find out what happened. You have to sit..."

Axel stepped in, sensing my distress. His dark eyes were soft as they made contact with my own, and I quietly sighed when his fingers interlocked with my own. "Come on, Sang," he muttered, squeezing my hand gently. "You can sit with me and I'll even hold you, okay?"

I nodded, feeling slightly better about the fact that he would hold me. There was a soothing quality about Axel that he'd always had, even as a child. Even knowing what I did about him didn't a change thing about the way I felt for him. He wasn't just a friend, and I could never truly identify the feelings I had towards him, but I didn't care at the moment.

Axel sat on the couch first then pulled me onto his lap, putting me sideways, my legs sprawled out on the couch for easy access for Sean. Owen settled onto the coffee table in front of us, his eyes darkening at the sight of my injuries. I pressed a finger to my lip then winced when it made contact with the bruising and cut that was there. Owen didn't even have to ask before I was opening my mouth, the entire story spilling from my lips.

The entire time, Brandon and Raven paced behind Owen; Marc and Corey sat on the floor, sending me concerned looks. Sean attended to my legs, though looking very tense while doing it; and Axel held me tightly, his face buried in my neck, his heart racing and matching the rhythm of my own.

It was pretty much silent after I told my tale, and I leaned back into Axel who's grip remained tight on me. I didn't want to be the one to break the silence, especially when Owen looked to be thinking and Raven was ten seconds away from hunting down certain members of my family dismembering them. I almost wanted to get up and comfort Raven and Brandon, who both seemed to have fallen down a rabbit hole since I had shown up in their apartment. I didn't want to disturb Owen and Axel though, who no longer seemed as stoic as they tried to pretend to be.

The first to speak was surprisingly Sean. "Something has to be done," he said, his voice so sharp and angry that it was barely recognizable. I was always used to him being gentle and kind, that this side of him didn't seem to match his personality whatsoever. I reached out and caught his hand, squeezing softly, as if in an attempt to bring back the Sean I knew. He graced me with a weak smile for my attempt, and I rewarded him with an even weaker smile.

"What can we even do?" Brandon asked. His shoulders were slumped forward and his sad eyes looked darker than usual. Resignation and defeat was not a look he wore well, and I would have done anything to fix it, anything. "She's underage. We can't just take her from there without Lauren throwing a hissy fit. But we can't just send her back. We promised Knox and Zain we would take care of her when they couldn't. And so far we've been failing."

"We move in," Marc announced so quietly, that it was almost hard to hear him. We all gave him our undivided attention, confusion being the dominating emotion at the moment. "Maybe not all of us, but some of us at least. We'll claim that we need a place to stay. We'll tell Knox about the plan, but no one else in the family. If we can't bring Sang to stay with us, then we'll stay with her."

I thought the idea over, and the more I considered it, the more I liked it. I liked the idea of having the boys staying in the same house as me, spending time with me, and most importantly, watching out and making sure that Lauren doesn't pull anymore stunts. I knew that I would feel safe if they were to stay in the same house as me, and I knew that living there wouldn't be so bad with them around.

"Okay," Owen agreed though his lips were still drawn down into a slight frown. "But who lives with her then?'

"Me," Sean offered and when he caught me looking at him, he smiled and winked. "I don't get to spend enough time with you, here's my chance."

"Brandon and I can too," Marc said, sitting up straighter, obviously pleased with his idea. "I don't know if she'll be so welcoming towards Corey after he broke her prized son's arm. But that's okay. You guys will be coming in and out enough that it won't matter. You'll be able to stay a lot of nights too, claiming that you're there to hang out. This can work out."

"I'm in," Brandon nodded, his eyes losing some of the shadows that had been there previously. His eyes met mine and he grinned. "Also, it won't be so bad spending some time with my munchkin."

I giggled, silently scolding him for flirting with me when two of my boyfriends were present, though neither Sean or Owen seemed to mind, both wearing the slightest of smiles. It was never verbalized, but it had been decided; some of my oldest friends and even a boyfriend or two was moving in with me.

Even though I was still hurting over the situation from earlier, I couldn't help the grin that formed.

A/N: I'm reallyyyy sorry that this is so short but this chapter is setting up a looooot of stuff. So I hope you guys enjoy it!!! I don't have much to say today, really. What do you think of this chapter, I guess? The name of the second book shall be revealed to you soon, I even started working on the first chapter of the second book!

xoxo,

ry.