All For One [ TGGBB One Shots ]

17 | It Isn't Your Fault

I dropped the phone.

No.

I didn't believe her, I couldn't believe her, there was no way Bennett had been shot, because the four of us always had each others' backs. There was always someone to protect him.

I turned very slowly to look at Declan and Jordan, who were both shocked. Clearly Bennett didn't get hurt very often.

He didn't. He's not hurt. This is a joke, just a joke, Bennett getting his revenge on us for snapping at him, that's all it is.

"T-t-that's not possible," I stuttered, trying to keep my voice calm. I don't. I can't. I refuse to believe it.

The lady on the other end sighed. "He's just a teenager, and a very famously rich one at that, strolling unarmed around the city. It's very possible."

"B-b-but... but he... I can't—" I couldn't finish. This wasn't happening. It wasn't possible. He never left the base unarmed, and we rarely ever left the base.

He was distracted. By me. It's my fault. All my fault. We should have left him alone, I should have made sure he knew that I was loyal to him and him only.

It's all my fault. This is all my fault.

With that thought, I burst into tears, feeling them slip down my burning face as I slumped into a ball on the couch. I felt Declan's arms slowly wrap around me while Jordan grabbed the phone.

"What hospital is he being held at, ma'am?" he asked. His face was still pale and his voice was shellshocked.

The lady rattled off the name of the hospital but I wasn't listening. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault.

It's all my fault.

Declan stood up, as did Jordan, but I just slumped back onto the couch. It was my fault. It was my fault.

I should have told him that I would never leave him. But I didn't. It's my fault.

"Naomi?" Jordan asked softly. "What's wrong?"

Declan stood up quickly and glared at him. "Are you serious right now? Her boyfriend was just shot and you ask her what's wrong?"

Jordan sighed. "This isn't the Naomi that I know. The Naomi that I know would be rushing to get to Bennett, to help him. She wouldn't just shut down like this."

"It's my fault!" I blurted. "It's all my fault! If I had just told Bennett that I would stay loyal to him, none of this would have happened!"

"Shhh, Naomi, shhh," Declan and Jordan sat back down beside me. Declan slowly rubbed my back as I cried while Jordan put his hands in mine.

"That," Jordan declared, "is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Declan rolled his eyes. "Have you heard yourself yet?"

Jordan ignored Declan's snide comment. "Naomi, it isn't your fault. It's never your fault. This is our fault. It's our fault for not telling Bennett that we weren't going to try to make a move."

"At least, not out loud," Declan muttered under his breath, and I figured it would probably be best to pretend that I hadn't heard him.

They're wrong. It's not their fault, they didn't do anything wrong. It's all me. I guess it really is my fault.

"Let's just go," I muttered. I stood up quietly and the other two followed me, giving me uneasy looks.