Miserably Delightful

chapter 21

The apartment was in a state of disarray and chaos, but I was tucked in between Marc and Corey safely, watching from the outside. Raven was raging, shouting in Russian and swearing while Axel frantically tried to calm down him and Brandon, insisting that behaving that way wasn't helping matters at all. Axel had called Sean and Owen as soon as he had caught sight of me, and even though he was trying to portray the image of a calm leader, I could tell he was panicking.

Lauren and I had never gotten into it so violently, and now that I was bleeding from one of her advances, everyone was panicking and I couldn't blame them. If I wasn't trying to keep the others calm, I probably would have been freaking out right beside them. Internally, I was having a small melt down, but on the outside, I wore an impassive expression, allowing Marc to press a tissue to my bleeding lip.

I was pantsless. Right before the chaos had started, Corey had brought me one of his shirts to change into so I could be comfortable, and also so it would be easier for Sean to inspect the gashes on my legs when he finally arrived. I felt kind of bad that I was bleeding on their couch, but when I voiced my concern, Corey quickly hushed me and pulled me down onto his lap, trying to see what he could do until Sean and Owen arrived.

"Raven," Marc barked out, apparently having enough. "Brandon. Knock it off or you can leave. Sang doesn't need to hear or see this right now."

The two boys suddenly seemed to remember that they were still in my presence and guilt clouded their faces. I shrugged, attempting to send a weak smile, but ending up wincing at the pain that formed from where I had cut my lip. Raven crouched in front of me, doing a poor job of concealing his anger, but at least trying to for me. I reached out and cupped his face gently, rubbing the pad of my thumb on his cheek.

"I'm okay, Raven," I quietly reassured him. He gripped my hand tightly, shaking his head at my words.

"You're not okay, Little One," he whispered. "Nothing about this is okay."

I remained silent, because if I did talk, I would have to agree with him and I didn't want to make matters worse. I sent him one last weak smile then curled into Corey's side, exhaustion settling over me. I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep, but knew that I wouldn't be able to for awhile. Once Sean and Owen came through that door, the apartment would descend into chaos once again, and I would be in the middle of it. Corey rubbed my back, his blue eyes reflecting sympathy for me. I sighed heavily and tried to turn my face away from Marc, but he gripped my chin tightly, sending me a stern look.

"Marc," I said, my voice coming out softer than I wanted it to. My throat was tightening up and my tummy was coiled in knots, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on pretending that I was okay. "My lip is fine. I'm just trying to lay my head on Corey. I'm fine."

Marc's mismatched eyes lit up with fury, towards my mother of course, and he shook his head, but removed the tissue that he'd had pressed to my lip. I began to shift again, fully intending on resting against Corey until two of my boys arrived, but Marc wrapped an arm around me and allowed me to lay my head on him instead. I felt so warm and safe between the two, that I nearly drifted off to sleep. I was quickly jolted out of my sleepiness by the sound of the door slamming.

I sat up straight, eyes growing wide and darting around, heart racing in my chest. I was ridiculous to think that it could be my mother or Zain or even Volto, but my head was still swimming with bad thoughts and I didn't know how else to react. Marc rubbed my shoulders in a reassuring manner and ducked his head down to whisper in my ear.

"It's okay," he said, his breath tickling my cheek and stirring hair that rested against my neck. "It's just Owen and Sean."

I jumped to my feet, not bothering to listen to the rest of what Marc had to say. Instead, I plowed straight for the door and into Sean's arms. The moment I felt his arms around me, and the warmth of his body against my own, I allowed myself to break. Tears formed and I let them fall, clinging to one of the men I was falling for. Quiet sobs escaped my body, and though the material of Sean's jeans stung against the cuts on my legs, I was reluctant to let go.