< Liam

(Liam's P.O.V.)

"Alex is here," I heard Cameron say just as Alex appeared at the end of the corridor. Gino got up and ran to him, Cameron too following behind.

I had been wondering about his absence since I came into the hospital. Now that, an hour later, he had finally showed up, his distraught appearance forced me to avert my eyes from him. But obviously, when had my eyes ever been able to lay off of him, so just as soon as I had averted them, they were back on him again.

His hair, a complete utter mess, more than usual. It looked as if he had been pulling his hair time and time again. His left cheek was bruised and battered, worse than I had ever seen before. Multiple gashes were littered all over his shoulder, disappearing underneath his shoulder. A bandage covered his forearm, no doubt covering a worse wound.

His injuries sent an immediate wave of panic within me. I had to force myself to stay seated as I watched him hold Gino by his uninjured arm. Contrary to his smirk that I had grown so used too, so much so that I could never really picture him without it. His now scarred lips, stretched into a thin line, felt wrong.

I had been so lost in thought that I didn't even realise when his eyes rested on me. Even when I finally did register the fact that he was looking at me, I couldn't say anything. We hadn't talked ever since he had left that morning, not one single text. What would I say?

I'm sorry for your sister? But she was going to be okay.

I'm sorry for your father? But would saying it out loud make it worse or better? What if he was just trying to forget that for now?

Are you okay? Of course he wasn't okay, that would be as good as stepping on his wound.

I didn't need to say anything . . . Ivory came back to sit next to me, placing her hand on mine which made me automatically turn to her. When I looked back, he was no longer looking at me and had sat down as far from me as possible.

"You should talk to him," Ivory whispered, "he might need you."

"He doesn't need me right now, Ivory, he just fucking lost his father, his sister could or could not die. What he needs is to be with his family," I told her. As tempted as I was to follow Ivory's words, I couldn't possibly be selfish right now.

She opened her mouth to argue but the door of the operating theatre opened and the doctor stepped out. Even before he could ask, Alex, Cameron and Gino were already on their toes.

"Is she okay? Tell me she's okay." Alex instantly grabbed the doctor's collar, shooting him a threatening glare that dared him to say no.

Ashton too had woken up and was standing up in an instant, walking nearer to the doctor, me and Ivory following behind.

"Mr. Flynn . . . " The doctor tried to push his hands away but Alex just tightened his hold on his collar. If he pulled any tighter, it would have been good enough to suffocate the doctor. I had never witnessed him this way, so angry and threatening.

"Alex, how can he speak if you're practically suffocating him?" I pulled his arm before I could think it through.

I almost expected him to push me away when he shot me a glare, causing me to flinch.

Yeah, should've remained on the sideline.

But he didn't and reluctantly let him go.

"Thank you." The doctor shot me a grateful smile and rubbed his neck lightly.

"Anastasia's okay, we were able to fix everything."

"She's okay? Alive? Breathing?" Gino repeated to confirm, his eyes shining with hope.

"Yeah . . . I guess that's my point . . . " the doctor told him.

Literally every single one of us was evidently relieved upon hearing that, the atmosphere no longer felt as grim or dense as it had before. It was almost like a weight had been lifted from on top of us.

Ashton slid to his knees, mumbling a light, "Thank God," and I felt Ivory's hand slip in mine, giving it a light squeeze. Alex enveloped Gino in a tight hug again, but what allowed me to finally breathe was the huge relieved smile that spread on his face.

"How bad is she hurt though?" Cameron stood there as serious as he was a few seconds ago.

"She had a slightly cracked rib but luckily it wasn't anything major, that was the easy part. Her hand was stabbed but again . . . fortunately her blood tissues were not affected. Her tendons were pierced and might take a couple weeks to heal. We were able to fix all the lacerations. Other than that, the bullet had hit her liver so we had to perform abdominal laparotomy.

She's safe now, but she's going to have to be careful about her injuries, which, as I'm familiar with her, is going to take a lot of effort. I think we'll keep her in the hospital for a while, just to make sure she receives proper rest," the doctor finished.

"Yeah, that's probably the best idea," Alex agreed.

"I'll explain other basic important stuff in my office, you could follow me the—"

"I'll go!" Cameron interjected even before the doctor could completely finish speaking.

"Wait, when can we see her?" Gino asked eagerly.

"I'd say we let her rest for a day or two, then you can see her." the doctor gave him a warm smile and walked away with Cameron by his side.

"Come on, Ashton, she's okay." Ivory ran a soothing hand on his back. He was shaking like a leaf but nonetheless, he nodded and got up.
Ivory whispered something to him before pulling me a little farther from everyone.

"I really think you should talk to him," she repeated from earlier, sending a wave of irritation within me. Why did she have to have such a one track mind?

"Before you start cursing me away, come on, Liam, I know you've been wanting to talk to him. I catch you playing with his stupid necklace all the time, I wouldn't even be surprised if it was in your pocket right now. Anastasia is good now, he's probably feeling at least a little better."

"What am I going to say?" I snapped at her, annoyed by the fact that she had kept such a close eye on me. Was there anything about me that she didn't know? Even more creepy was the fact that she was right about his necklace sitting in my pocket. It wasn't my fault! I had been playing with it right before Ivory had bursted into my room with the news of Ashton missing. I had pocketed it without even realising, and I hadn't gotten the chance to change before coming to the hospital, so it was still sitting in my pocket.

"Confess your undying love for him, maybe it'll put him in a better mood." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I glared at her. "There is no undying love."

"Yeah . . . that sounds completely believable."

I opened my mouth to scold her but she didn't give me a chance.

"Ashton!" She pulled at him by his sleeve. "Come on, let's get you something to drink, I don't know when was the last time you drank or ate anything."

"Can I come along?" Gino asked, already getting up and picking up his jacket.

"Sure buddy."

"Don't ever call me that," Gino shook his head at her in a disapproving manner.

"Okay, Princess," Ivory smirked as Gino scrunched up his nose in disgust.

They walked away, leaving me and Alex alone. Even though my eyes were staring at the corner they had disappeared around, the hair on my neck tingled with the awareness that his eyes were boring into my back. I took a deep breath and turned around to look at him, my breath hitching just a little when my eyes met his. I don't believe I could ever 'get used' to anything about him.

Everything about him made me breathless. Every. Single. Thing.

"Hey," I whispered foolishly, immediately feeling embarrassed.

"Hey." The corners of his lips lifted up just a little.

"Eh . . . " I felt like hitting my head on a brick wall. I was absolutely clueless as to what to say to him.

Go die, Liam.

"You don't have to talk to me out of obligation," he whispered, averting his eyes to the floor.

"I want to!" I protested instantly, clamping a hand over my mouth at accidently having yelled that. "I mean—" I took a deep breath— "I do want to talk to you. I'm . . . I'm not doing it out of obligation or anything . . . I just don't know what to say."

"But you said you wanted nothing to do with me."

Did I?

"I didn't exactly say that. I, uh, say a lot of things I don't mean anyway. For instance, I also say that the earth is flat."

He looked up at me again and stood up, coming to stand right in front of me. I tried to crane my neck to meet his eyes in the most subtle way possible. It was embarrassing how I was just a little over his shoulders. Well, then again, everything about me was an embarrassing mess when it came to him.

He interrupted my train of thoughts when I felt his arms snake around my waist and pull me closer. My heart caught up when he buried his nose between my neck and shoulder, his lips hovering over my skin but not quite touching. I'm sure he must've felt the bolts of shiver course through my body. He had to have.

"Perchè sei così perfetta?" he breathed as his lips finally touched my skin, placing a gentle, feathery kiss on it.

Other than the natural rush of adrenaline that was flowing through my body, comfort settled over me. Finding a little courage in me, I wrapped my arms around his neck. He was surprised, even though I couldn't see his expressions, I felt his breath pause just a little before his lips curved into a little smile.

"As alluring as you sound speaking Italian, translation please," I chuckled quietly.

"I asked why are you so perfect."

"I'm not," I whispered, "I'm such a mess around you."

"But you fit perfectly with me," he explained, tightening his hold on my waist to emphasize his point.

"I missed you." He placed another gentle kiss on my skin as I shivered under him.

"I did too," I told him. "Fuck whatever I told you that day. I don't care anymore . . . I can't care anymore."

Reluctantly, he pulled back, the smile on his face gone, sending a wave of panic in me.

Is this not what he wanted?

"Liam—" He played with a loose strand of my hair that was not tucked behind me ear— "as heavenly as that sounds, it's not. Today . . . was exactly a painful reminder of that."

He shut his eyes tightly to prevent the water in his eyes from escaping his hold. "My sister . . . my father . . . none of this, my life, is heaven. And you deserve nothing less than heaven."

"I'll find my heaven with you." I hadn't been sure what I wanted before. Even after thinking about him twenty-four/seven, I had still been absolutely clueless. But now I was sure.

"Liam . . . I kill people. I get involved in things like drug cartels and assassins, my family lies in the middle of a very complicated mess of a broken council. There's always someone out there wanting to get us. We have blood on our hands and it's not gonna stop."

"Alex Flynn or Rossett or whatever you like to go by, never in my entire life have I ever been this sure and confused about someone at the same time. And yes, being with you is going to be far more complicated than I asked for. But I've made my choice. I want you."

I meant all of it. Our lives were turning, and there was no stopping that. But having him with me, something told me that it wouldn't be the worst decision I'd have made.

"How can you want me Liam? I'm a bad person." He leaned close to me again, staring straight through my eyes into my soul. He let the stands slip through his finger and trailed his knuckles over my cheek. Every moment he touched me longer, made me more and more firm on my decision. I had been so scared of falling in love and getting hurt. I had never given a chance to anyone. I had been scared that if I fell for anyone, I would inevitably crash on the cold hard surface of pain and loss.

With Alex, I wanted to let myself fall . . . and even if I were to crash, to just let myself fly until then.

I kissed him.

Closing my eyes and blocking all the insecurities out of my mind, I pushed my lips closer to his until they melted together, letting us connect closer than I had with anyone else before. And it assured me that what I had done was right.

For he felt like home.

He cupped my cheek and pulled me closer, even though there wasn't any distance left to cover, moulding his lips into mine, sealing them together. I chuckled at the stupid thought that came into my mind.

"What?" He pulled away just a little, resting his forehead on mine, our eyes still closed.

I shook my head as the flush of red filled my cheeks again from embarrassment. "You even taste like vanilla."

"Liam Keith, you've found yourself an everyday dose of a breathtaking vanilla dessert." He smirked at me, the evil-lovable dimple returning back on his cheek.

I trailed my thumb over it, pulling him down just a bit to place a chaste kiss on it.

"I thought you hated my smirk and the evil dimple."

"Pfft, it's a permanent guest in all my wild fantasies of you." I couldn't help but laugh at his dumbstruck expression. He stared at me open-mouthed, probably not having expected me to ever say something like that. Oh boy, he was going to have a hard time adjusting to me now that all my shy shells were falling apart.

"Tu sarai la mia morte," he mumbled, shaking his head as he pinched his nose, probably to calm himself down. He took my hand, pulled it towards his lips, kissing my palm as his darn grey eyes stared at me with a blunder of emotions swirling in them.

A new feeling coursed through me, and it was both terrifying and exciting.

Involuntarily or voluntarily, I may have been falling in love with none other than Alex Flynn.

Though I'm pretty sure it was the latter.

🥀

Fire on fire would normally kill us
With this much desire, together, we're winners
They say that we're out of control and some say we're sinners
But don't let them ruin our beautiful rhythms
'Cause when you unfold me and tell me you love me
And look in my eyes
You are perfection, my only direction
It's fire on fire

–Fire on Fire
(Sam Smith)

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• 'Perchè sei così perfetta?' means "Why are you so perfect?"
• 'Tu sarai la mia morte' means 'You are going to be the death of me'
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(WORD COUNT: 2550)

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER:
What do you look for to connect with someone or something? What feels like home to you?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter is dedicated to Nikki_crystal. Thankyou so much for helping me with the medical information I needed in this chapter and for bearing with my repetitive questions. I could not have done it without you❤️