Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

45

-Chapter 45-

Sang Sorenson's POV:

I woke up tangled in red sheets, sweaty and disoriented as I fell out of an unfamiliar bed.

Where the hell was I? What was I doing here? I had to get home to Moth--

The thought died as quickly as it had come.

Mother.

Fuck, so much had changed. My problems now were much larger than just mother. Now there was the sex ring to think about and Mr. Hendricks and the fact I was a ghost.

A tear fell from my eye followed by another. I cursed myself for being unable to stop them as my fingers dug into the carpet. I tried to kick the sheet off me to no avail. I became more tangled.

My body was racked with sobs as I dropped to the carpet in defeat. I was fucking helpless. I had killed people and I couldn't escape a god damn blanket.

I fought a moment more before my elbow came free, and I sniffled as I finally managed to untangle myself from the bedding.

I wiped away my tears. "Idiot," I told myself. "You need to get this shit under control. You're safe now. This is your life. Accept and move forward." I took a deep breath. "Accept and move forward."

I rose to my feet, raking back my matted blonde hair with my fingers. There was no mirror in here, but if I looked close to as awful as I felt, I might give the boys a scare.

No time to worry about such things!

I opened the doorway and found myself in a wide hallway. Across the way was a bathroom. This place looked kind of familiar and it took me a moment to realize this was Nathan's house.

It looked different when it wasn't filled with a bunch of drunk high school kids.

I found Nathan in the living room toweling of enough sweat that I wondered if he had been swimming.

"Nathan?"

He turned, then grinned broadly. "Hey, sleepyhead."

"How long was I out?"

"Not long, it's only seven in the morning. Here, Gabe got you a swimsuit. We're all out back."

He handed me a pink one piece and shooed me off into his bathroom. I changed quickly and when I came out Nathan put a muscular arm around my shoulders. "Lookin' good!" He smiled. "I'm glad that you aren't hurt, Sang. You scared us yesterday."

"I didn't mean to..."

"Hey, no worries. I just want you to know that we care. All of us, in our own ways, whether it's today or tomorrow or ten years from now. We might not all stay in the same place, but that won't change the fact that we are family."

We may still be family, but it really changes my ability to get involved with any of you... I thought miserably...selfishly...as we went through a sliding glass door.

I didn't realize Nathan had a pool, but there it was being cut through by four of the boys.

Matthew was barking out commands from the sidelines. He wore a dark pair of sweats and a loose black shirt. From his knuckles to his sleeves he was bandaged, and the side of his head was still wrapped in gauze. His dark red hair was messy and stuck out in places from his inability to brush it, but that did nothing to soften his orders.

"Thirty more laps, and if I see you slow we'll do ten minutes of planking followed by fifty burpees." Matthew glanced at me in an appreciative way before his eyes found mine. "Keep it up. You have a lady watching."