Once and for all- a Virals fanfic [COMPLETED]

Chapter 18

Tory's Pov

Chance and I progressed down the river. He walked a good distance behind me, and whenever I felt like he was getting too close, I snarled some kind of curse or insult at him. When we stopped to camp, I walked to the opposite side of the clearing, glared at Chance, and fell asleep immediately.

The next day, I woke up with a gasp. I glanced around wildly, thinking, it was just a dream. Then I saw Chance, covered in bruises and with an eye swollen shut, coated in mud. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears from flowing. Then, we continued walking down the river bank. I was snapping more insults at Chance than usual, and he finally broke when I called him a particularly bad name.

(A/N: any guesses on what Tory said? This is mainly for viralwolf who I know will love cursing out Chance right now.)

"Ok Tory will you just stop it already? I don't know why you're so upset," he said cooly.
I rounded on him. "You don't know why I'm upset. You don't know why I'm upset. You don't know why I'm upset? Maybe because you just threw my boyfriend into a stream when he had a broken leg!"

My ears began to pound, blocking out most of what Chance said, except for "he deserved it!".
From that point I wasn't even sure what I was saying. My vision was going red and my ears were pounding as blood rushed to my head.

"TORY!"
I whipped around and saw Ella slithering down the slope to the bank. Shelton and Hi were right behind her. Ella reached me first and engulfed me in a hug. Shelton and Hi came next.
"Can't breath," I croaked.

"How'd you know where to find us?" Chance asked as he hugged Ella. I made a mental note that after all this time, his eyes were still blue.

"We heard extremely loud cursing and guessed it was Tory," Hi said. "With the fact that you guys are the only other ones in the forest, we guessed right."
"Well there are still those angry forest people who tried to shoot us," Shelton said.
"Wait what?" Chance asked.
Ella patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Hi coughed and said, "Hey Chance, may I ask why you are, as Tory so elegantly put it, a "damn son of a bitch with no morals or values whatsoever who needs to get a fucking life rather than be an annoying asshole who ruins others perfectly fine lives because you're an incompetent stupid little shit-head bastard"?"

Chance sighed and said "She's mad at me."
"Really? What was your first sign?" Shelton asked sarcastically.
"Well at least we're only one member short. Person wise at least," Ella said brightly.
"Well...." Chance started.
"For now. Only for now, Claybourne," I snapped.
He bristled. "Admit Tory! You can try to hide, but soon you are going to have to admit the fact that Ben is-"
"Don't you dare say it!" I snarled. I could feel tears rising. "He's out there, no matter what you say!"
"Victoria, you saw him go down! Just admit it!"
"No! He's out there!" My tears were falling freely now. "He's not- he's not- he isn't-"

I was gasping for breath now. The others looked between Chance and me like it was a tennis match. Everyone was tense. Shelton and Hi watched me with a mix of fear and concern as Ella reached out slowly to me, like I was a wild animal. "Tory?" I turned and ran.

I continued to run. I'm not sure how long. I ran until I tripped and fell, cutting my arm bad on a rock. Then I crawled to the river and drank as much water as I could without throwing up. When I was done, I got up and walked some more. I could hear Chance and the others calling my name as they gained ground on me. I stopped in another clearing- seriously how many clearings did this place have?- and looked around.

It was the biggest one so far and could probably fit all of us. My eyes ran a quick survey of the area- stream, flowers, berry bush, spot of blue beside a tree, trees. My eyes shot back to the blue spot. Carefully I walked over to it. The spot extended into a streak. The streak formed a line. The line- I pushed aside the branches to the bush and felt myself begin to tremble. The line- was a leg that was connected to a person.

Ben.

I dropped to my knees beside him, a sob tearing from my throat. He was deathly pale and his right leg was bent at an alarmingly unnatural angle. There were bruises on his arms and all his clothes were torn and soaked, some places water, other places blood, especially around his broken leg. His hair was wet and matted down in front of his eyes, which were closed. I placed a trembling hand on his cheek careful not to hit a bruise and whispered "Ben."

I heard something crash through the woods behind me. I heard the bushes shake but I didn't bother to turn around.
"Tory, there you are! Wha-" Ella stopped short when she saw Ben. "Oh."

The others came and joined Ella behind me, Chance in the far back. I heard him clear his throat and softly he said, "Tor, I'm sorry but we have to go."
Without looking up, I said, "No."
He sighed and tried again,"Tory we ha-"
"No. I'm not leaving him."

I curled up beside Ben, mindful of his hurt leg. Laying my head on his chest, I closed my eyes, tears leaking out of them. Please Ben...
"Tory..." I heard everyone gasp, and then I felt a hand on my back. Big deal, Chance or Ella or someone put their hand on my back. But it was at the wrong angle to be Chance or Ella. Or Hi or Shelton.

I jerked my head up and looked into a pair of eyes. Dark brown ones, accompanied by a weak smile. I covered my mouth and let out a sob of happiness. Ben's hand gently rubbed my back.
"Hey Tor," he croaked.
"You're ok," I whispered.
"It's gonna take a lot more than a broken leg, a river, and a jealous son of a bitch to keep me from you," he said with a dry chuckle. I gave a small laugh.

Leaning forward, I pushed the wet hair from his eyes, giving another breathless laugh. Just above his face, I looked straight into his eyes. Leaning down, I kissed him. His hand moved up my back to the back of my head. I pulled away gently, and he brought his hand forward to wipe away my tears. It stilled on my cheek. I placed my hand over his and gently pulled it away. Intertwining my fingers with his, I rested my head back down on his chest. His other hand placed itself on my back, pulling me closer to him. Smiling, I fell asleep.