||You're Mine|| {Scrutinized: Tanner x Reader}

Chapter 58

This was the first time since my family has been killed, that I slept without dreaming. No dreams of seeing their lifeless bodies, no dreams of mangled corpses of my friends, no dreams of losing my brother after his head injury takes over.

I dreamt of nothing, and it was peaceful. I think peaceful is something I desperately needed in a time like this, and granted, despite me feeling safe under the watch of Adam and Tanner, there was never a moment that I completely forgot about everything that was happening to me.

It was just worry after worry, stress induced moments that we could never catch a break from. Sometimes I blamed myself, all because I wanted justice, closure for my family and friends. But the more I thought, the more I realized how Adam has pushed me to find the truth.

Thomas started my journey, and now that he's dead, the only hope I have are two lunatics, but I've come to realize how much they care for my well being. Granted, they used me as bait at first, but after a while, Adam's view on me shifted.

If it weren't for his change of opinion towards me, Tanner never would have even considered me a friend, would he?

It always makes my thoughts race, because it's true. Adam was the boss, and he was the one encouraging Tanner to work beside me. I mean, when he couldn't even harm me, we fought a lot at the start.

But now, it's as if Tanner cannot function without me. I clearly remember the way he was before our bond was formed. He was happy, confident, bouncy. But now, it seems just my mere presence is deteriorating him more and more.

It's as if... there's something about me that he can't get over. I'm not sure why all of this is happening, but whatever the reason Tanner is acting strange, I hope to find out soon.

(Y/N)

My head jolted up from the dreamless slumber I had been entrapped in. The first thing I did after adjusting my eyes was look down. Tanner was resting just beneath me, chestnut brown hair tousled and mouth slightly open.

Judging from the position we were both in, it seems I was sleeping against his chest. My face grew warm as memories of what happened before this moment flooded my mind. My arms trembled, causing me to shift and sit up completely. I turned and checked my phone that was sitting on Tanner's nightstand.

It was already three in the afternoon. I let out a small gasp, suddenly remembering Adam, Clint and Oscar. The house was completely silent at this point, and I had expected to hear Clint in distress earlier.

But I suppose I was too distracted to even realize. The sudden realization made my heart beat faster, and I looked back down at Tanner.

The afternoon sunlight seeping through the heavy curtains cast a golden glow across his sleeping face. I watched him carefully, the way his chest was rising and falling, the soft breaths he took.

This man was beautiful, yet dangerous.

But that didn't stop me from feeling. I shifted my body so that I was propped up on my arm, lowering myself down to Tanner's level. I gazed at him closely, thoughts swarming in my head.

Tanner... how did we end up this way?

The question wasn't exactly rhetorical, because there simply wasn't an honest answer to that question. I but my lip, still in thought. Adam obviously held more empathy towards victims he can relate to, but Tanner refused to warm up to me as well. The way he changed was a bit sudden, and I still couldn't quite figure out how it happened.

Was it perhaps the night we sat and stared up at the night sky? It was the first time Tanner had opened up to me, and it was the first time I felt a bit emotional towards him. Learning about his past opened up more feelings from within me, and I grew to understand why he did such terrible things.