---Sage’s POV---

My fingers restlessly drummed against the tabletop as I tried to find something to do. The TV was on, flashing some culinary show through the room while I heard Josh and Samuel move about behind me.

It had been a week since I’ve been sent back out of the hospital, but only because I demanded to be released. After one portion of the famous hospital food, I had pursed my lips and declared that I wasn’t going to eat anything else than a nice, home cooked meal.

I had pleaded, begged and bargained with Declan and the others before they finally relented when the doctor gave the A-Okay, if and only if I did the minimal amount of effort in the house, sat down and rested.

Off course, I hadn’t really counted on the fact that as soon as I came home, I was guided to the sofa and forced to sit down. Then, I’ve been told what I can or rather can’t to until I was better, wrapped tightly in a blanket and dropped in front of the television.

At first, I didn’t mind at all; it felt nice to finally relax, to just ask for a drink or telling someone you were hungry and knowing they loved to bring it to you. But I wasn’t used to sit still, I was always busy, running after my siblings or checking my patients in the hospital.

I knew what the limitations of my body was and perfectly knew where to draw the line, so after day three, I felt that I could at least walk around and maybe do the dishes or fold some laundry.

That was, until Declan caught me red-handed while I was loading the dishwasher, barely winching because of the bruises on my ribs. After making sure I’d never, ever strain myself again, Declan had ordered Josh and Samuel to keep a close eye on me whenever he wasn’t around, making sure I wouldn’t do something against the doctor’s orders.

So now I was bored out of my mind and trying desperately to keep myself busy. My siblings were all absent; Laura and Davy have gone out with their own friends and Ellie had been invited to a sleepover with one of her school friends.

Sighing softly, I slowly stretched my limbs, barely winching at the dull pain of my broken bones. Yeah, my arm had indeed been broken when I had been tied to Timothy, trying to fend of the dog that had been sent after us.

The bite-marks were healing but still very sore and bruised, not to mention that I had some bruises in my face to accompany the torn lip. A visual reminder of what happened but the past was the past, although I still had some nightmares.

My eyes landed on the empty thee cup and I couldn’t help but smile before I made the motion of standing up. Finally something to do!

“Here, I’ll take that for you. Just relax love.” Declan said as he swooped in, removing the cup out of sight before I could finish getting up. I blinked and blinked again before letting out a disgruntled sigh as I dropped myself with a huff.

He’s been doing this the past few days, even before I had been released from the hospital. I’m surprised he has actually allowed me to feed myself! I glared at the flashing screen, unconsciously knowing that I was just irritated because there was nothing to do for me.

I caught a glance of Josh’s amused smirk and shot him a glare before laying back and closing my eyes, rubbing over my temples. Wasn’t there anything I could do without being babied for it? I might have a cast around my arm and sure, I had some bruises but I wasn’t an invalid!

Sam had taken over the kitchen and had provided everyone with the food they needed, Laura had tried to do as much of the household as possible and dragged Davy with her while I sat here doing nothing.

Closing my eyes, I simply gave up to try and do something around here. Either one of the guys became a little tattletale and went to Declan, or the man himself made sure that I didn’t even twitch a finger without his consent.

Not only that, but even our relationship seemed to be put on a soft burn. Whenever I initiated a kiss in the hopes of making out, I only got a small peck, a caress over my back and a cuddle for my efforts.

“It’s called sexually frustrated brother dearest. Now you know how Josh feels like whenever I tease him.” Davy had teased me after I was left hot, bothered and frustrated when Declan went back to the kitchen after my nth failed attempt.

I had replied by flipping him off, crossing my arms as I pouted like a little kid.

The soft clinking of dishes being set down made me open my eyes again. Declan was setting my dinner down, his brown hair a tussled mess but I avoided his gaze and instead looked at the screen.

I could feel his eyes on me but I clenched my jaw, watching the screen mindlessly. Not only was I bored out of my mind, I was forced to sit in this seat all day until it was time to sleep, and then I was guided back upstairs to our bed. I was surprised I was even allowed to pee on my own.

“I’m sorry.”

Surprise flooded my system but I kept my eyes on the screen before Declan sat beside me, clasping my hands in his own. He sighed deeply, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles, his eyes watching me sadly as I glanced at him form the corner of my eyes.

“Sage, I know I’ve been a bit overbearing…or rather a lot. I know its been grating on your last nerves and you’re probably bored out of your mind but…ugh.” Declan rubbed his hands over his face while I slowly turned in his direction. He really looked stressed, upset and judging from the bags underneath his eyes, he didn’t had a good night’s rest either….

“Look, ever since you were kidnapped, I couldn’t help but think that this was my fault.” Declan confessed before reaching out, his touch as soft as a feather as he traced my bruised jaw.

“I should’ve brought you with us or at least left one of the guys with you. And then when we found you-“ He stopped, his fists twitching on his knees before he took a deep breath and sighed deeply. The movie was still playing, but I only had eye for Declan, my lover.

Poor man, I didn’t have a clue that he thought he was the reason of all this. Now that I realized that Declan was handling out of guilt, all my anger drained away and I felt my own stomach clench with a sliver of guilt. All the time that I had been angry with Declan, he was being consumed with guilt.

“Declan- Declan, listen to me.” I interrupted as he kept apologizing and explaining how everything was his fault. “I chose to hack into their database, which lead their attention to me. When you left, I could’ve grabbed everything and went to the panic room, but I didn’t.”

Declan growled and cupped my face with his hands.” Don’t you dare to turn this around on you Sage.” I smiled and shook my head, “It’s the Black Sun Declan. But what’s done, is done and we can’t change anything. I’m just glad that we saved Timothy as well.”

He nodded at that, probably remembering the poor guy. He was still in ICU with his fiancée by his side. I was just glad that he made it out there alive and the Government was going to cover all his bills, along with a substantial amount on his account to make up for his kidnapping.

I smiled as Declan drew me in his arms and sighed contently. From over his shoulder, I could see Josh and Samuel observing us closely with big grins on their faces before Josh shook his head and waved me a goodbye.

“Where is he…never mind.” I answered my own question; knowing that the only reason Josh was going out right now, was to keep an eye on Davy. Richard had long since left the band, claiming that he needed to keep an eye on Benjamin before his man did something really stupid.

Declan’s heavenly scent wafted in my nose and I inhaled it deeply before nuzzling closer. He only squeezed me a bit tighter against him, hazel eyes sparkling happily before he kissed my forehead and gave me a plate of food.

I rolled my eyes at his pointed look, since I hadn’t been eating that well lately. Knowing that Declan would worry if I didn’t eat at least half of my plate, I dug in, smiling at Sam. He slowly smiled back and nodded once at the silent question in my eyes.

“Don’t ya worry about me Sage. I’ll be fine.” He drawled before walking back into the kitchen. Declan matched my worried expression before he sighed deeply and shook his head.

“He needs to do this on his own Sage.” He snorted, leaning back in the seat. “What a big, dysfunctional family we are huh?” A smile played on my face at that as I continued to eat. We really were one big family now. The guys had been here for so long, they felt like relatives.

After a long silence in which I managed to polish off most of the food, I sat back with a muffled burb, earning myself an amused shake of the head from Declan before he let me help him with the dishes. When he heard my relieved sigh, he shot me a sheepish smile as he flushed slightly.

“Gods, if I knew I was literally driving you up the walls, I would’ve had sat down to talk sooner.” He muttered while I smiled and rinsed the dishes, brushing the silky soapsuds off my hands.

The front door opened and I grinned as Laura walked past the kitchen, retracing her steps when she saw me standing there, handing the dishes to Declan. “Look at you, walking around and stuff. Did the Warden finally let you out or did you seduce his pants off?”

I gasped, stunned at her rather Davy like comment before wiping my hands clean on the soft dishcloth. She wiped her hairs out of her eyes, smiling teasingly as I huffed and shook my head. “You’ve been around Davy too much, you’re sounding just like him.”

Her laughter bubbled through the room as Declan stole the cloth to clean his own hands and winked at Laura. “Come on, look at his face. I couldn’t say no to that.” He said with a teasing squeeze to my cheeks.

Pushing him off, he walked past Laura, giving me a wink over her shoulder as she squealed and started telling how cute we were. Yeah, it seemed that everything was fine between us.

The story is slowly coming to an end :) I'll be sad to leave these guys but hey, it means that I'll be able to work on another book :)