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Realistic or Modern DotC High

Winsley slowly woke up, her hearing hazy and unchecked as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything was fuzzy, and it didn't help that she could barely open her eyes. There was a sharp sting on her cheek, hovering after she was slapped. She didn't lift her head, or any part of her body for that matter. There was no more strength left in her. She was completely and utterly defeated, and if anything else were to happen, she would slowly and painfully die. She didn't want to die. If she had to do anything to stay alive, to not get hit again, she would do it. Slowly she shifted her head as it laid on the ground to look at the two. Bucky terrified her at that point, she didn't move an inch, scared that if she would he would beat on her again. That didn't matter anyway, though. She felt a sharp kick into her side, where her stab wound originally was, and let out an animal-like yelp, whimpering afterwards. Before he could hit her any more, she spoke up with whatever voice she had left to speak with. It was hoarse, cracking at each word. "I hate you. I'll never love you." She coughed, closing her eyes afterwards. It was hard to say those words, but she had to. In the end she only hoped that he wouldn't believe them, that he would understand that she didn't mean what she said, that she was just doing and saying what it took to survive. From then she couldn't muster any more strength to do anything but breath. Her eyes were forced to shut on her, though she kept herself awake. She didn't want to go unconscious again, not when Bucky was still there.

Kilo pulled back when Sage did, making sure to accept Winnie's comfort. It was helpful to say the least, though he knew none of them would be happy, not until Winsley was safe. He looked to Sage as he spoke of a plan, getting to share ideas with how they could start everything. Every now and again he nodded, agreeing that Winsley would survive, hoping that she would. It was the one thing they had to depend on, otherwise they might have lost hope. "Alright, let's start picking information from them. We have to work through this, we'll go around Bucky. We have to..." And so he continued to discuss ideas, throwing them around. If it took all night to figure something out, he would take that time. He wouldn't sleep well until they found a way to save her.
 
Bucky looked over Winsley, then over to Jay. "See? She's so weak she barely stand to be alive and she still manages to choke that out." Jay stared down at Winsley, bit his lip as he always did when he felt nervous. "Now kick her," he said. Jay didn't move. "Come on, show me you heard her." He was still. Lifeless even. Bucky rolled his eyes, grabbing Jay's arm and pulling him away. "Fine, don't kick her. I don't fucking care. I don't need to punish you. I'm sure your dad will beat the shit out of you when you get home. Maybe this time he'll knock some common sense into your hollow fucking skull." Jay stayed quiet as he was dragged to the steps, as Bucky began pulling him up them. "Chloe, I'm going back home. I just came over to let some frustrations out." Bucky finally let go of Jay and kept on walking upstairs. Jay used this moment to look at Chloe.

She was shaking so hard he thought she would fall over. But she swallowed down her fear and looked up to Bucky. "Alright, I'll have the remote working when you get back," she called. Bucky nodded and disappeared through the basement door. Chloe fell. Despite how much he hated Chloe, Jay rushed to catch her. It was a concrete floor after all and she was falling from the fourth step up. That was a concussion she didn't need. "I'm fine," she said, getting back to her feet, stumbling, grabbing the rail for support. She held it tight, and Jay kept a hand on her back to steady her. "I... I've never seen him like that," she whispered. "Neither have I." Jay and Chloe looked at each other, the same realization in both their eyes before she turned back to Winsley. "The rat's filthy. Clean her up," she snapped, though her words were missing their usual bite. "Can't have stains in this fucking house or my dad will kill me." She started up the stairs. Slow. So very slow. Jay waited until she was gone before walking back over to Winsley.

He crouch low next to her. "Baby, I'm going to pick you up, alright? It's gonna hurt like hell but we need to clean you up so I can figure out what needs stitches and what doesn't." He cautiously moved his hands beneath her legs and back, giving her a moment to settle from that pain before lifting her, being as careful as he could. Once she was up he waited a moment before carrying her, keeping his upper body as still as possible as he took her upstairs, through the guest bedroom and into the connecting full bath which was huge. It had a hot tub in it, and then a bath and shower all in their separate areas, along with a connecting closet. He looked around, unsure of where to put her before finally settling for sitting her on the edge of the hot tub, pushing her legs in the water. The jets weren't on and the water was only warm. He figured it would help soothe some of the pain as he got the bath ready, trying not to say anything or think anything.
 
Winsley kept herself still, hoping only in her mind that she wouldn't be kicked, that she wouldn't be further abused, and especially by Jay. There was silence from him, with only Bucky's voice conquering the silent void. In her mind she flinched at the words being spat at Jay. Were they true? Did his father beat him? That only frustrated her, but she couldn't move to show it. It even hurt to feel her chest rise and fall as she breathed, so she tried not to let it, yet that was difficult.

After what seemed like forever, Bucky was gone. The other two talked briefly just before she heard Chloe walk up the stairs, and Jay heading down shortly after. She heard his voice next to her, listening carefully. After everything that Bucky did to her, surely it wouldn't have been as painful as she already experienced. As she was lifted, she let out a quiet cry, raspy as it came out. She felt each ache and painful bruise, as they moved up the stairs, though she bit her lip. Her body was limp, she couldn't move anything. They reached a large bathroom, where she could clean up. First off she was propped on the edge of the hot tub, with her legs carefully moved in. Just the movement of her legs made her suck in a breath, causing a hissing noise. Thankfully it was warm water, which helped her muscles relax, though not her bruises. Everything still hurt, and surely everything would hurt for a while. She stayed silent for the time being, holding back her voice so it wouldn't be lost. Winsley just wanted to be moved fully in to the tub, to sink in to it and lay there for eternity. The water felt nice against her grimy skin, even when she felt so disgusting. There was blood that dripped from her face and random cuts here and there on her skin. The stitching on her stab wound felt like it was going to tear, which only made her gasp. Slowly she moved her hand over it, her whole arm shaking and hurting as it was moved. Hopefully she would be able to push through this, though she wasn't sure if she could.


After her shower, Korren moved to get herself some clothing, putting on a baggy shirt and leggings. Then, she moved to grab a nearby IPod in Bucky's room, since she knew he wouldn't miss it. She would've used her phone, since she brought it inside, though didn't want to turn it back on. There could have been messages, something to look forward to, but she didn't know when Bucky were to come home. She couldn't risk it. Instead, she brought the smaller music device with her to play some piano music to help her settle down from the encounter, while she made food for herself. From there she started to make chili, something she looked the ingredients up for and began to follow the recipe. After that she would make cookies, something to get things off of her mind, anything to not be sitting there waiting for her worst nightmare to come back.
 
Jay grabbed some soap, thinking for a moment before deciding to pour it into the hot tub. It'd be easier to leave her where she was and he'd just drain it afterwards so Chloe wouldn't yell at him for it. He turned the jets on, watching as the soap turned into a mountain of bubbles before turning them back off, glancing over at Winsley. He wasn't sure what to do with her. "Um, your clothes... well, it probably doesn't matter, really." He didn't want her to have to move around to take them off. He walked over, pushing her shirt up enough to take the gauze off the knife wound. He looked over his own stitch work, making sure nothing was broken. The spot looked irritated but at least she wasn't bleeding from it. Although she was bleeding from plenty of other places.

He gently moved her into the water before kicking his shoes off and swinging his legs over, and pulling off his shirt, before pushing himself all the way in next to her. He felt awkward in this situation, unsure of what to do for Winsley. He couldn't imagine her having and sort of strength to do anything on her own and yet he felt like he was violating things by trying to do anything. Of course, it was a stupid thought. They'd had sex a handful of times so it wasn't like they weren't familiar with each other but now it just seemed... different. Now that she could barely move and he had no idea how to help. He was scared to touch her and do something wrong, but he didn't exactly want her to give him a tutorial on how to clean her up either. He had a feeling she wasn't in the mood to talk. "Okay, so we'll start with your hair and I guess I'll just work my way down. I'll try and be really careful but if something hurts exceptionally bad just let me know and I'll stop and move on." The silence was killer. He didn't like it.

As he moved to grab the shampoo he also got his phone, playing some music in the background while he poured some shampoo on Winsley's head, moving his fingers through it slowly, trying not to hurt her as he lathered it up. He had seen Bucky wasn't afraid of headshots either, so he was sure she was hurting already and it only made him feel horrible. "I can't watch something like that again," he said suddenly, still working on her short hair. "My room isn't clean and I don't have any full proof way into my house without getting caught since you can't exactly scale a building right now, but... but after you feel good enough to walk on your own we're out of here, okay? I don't know how I'm going to do it but I will. I promised you that and I'm gonna keep my promise. And don't rush yourself, okay? I think Chloe is just as freaked out as I am. I'm pretty sure you'll be safe from anymore bullshit for at least a few days." He began to rinse off her hair, using a cup he had found sitting on the edge and pouring it over her head, careful to shield her eyes from the soap as it washed down over her.
 
Winsley stayed completely still as he fixed up the bath, trying to hold her own weight on the edge. It was a difficult task but she thankfully managed. She watched the jets push water into the tub, filling it with fairly warm water. With her feet in the water already she could feel the water against her skin. It was soothing and comforting, the exact thing she needed while aching so badly in every place. It was apparent that even blinking felt like a task. There was a sharp feeling on her injury as he pulled up her shirt, causing her to suck in a quick breath. He took off the bandage covering it, which irritated it temporarily.

Soon she was moved to lay in the water, allowing it to wash around her. Blood that caked on her began to slip off her skin and into the water, causing her to feel a little less dirty.Her clothes still were on, but she didn't care. As long as she was getting cleaned, that's all that mattered. She laid there still as could be, since being still was her best option. It only irritated her to stay still, though she had to learn patience. Her nerves and anxieties tugged at her mind, pulling her stomach into an empty pit. Over time the silence was broken, yanking back the overwhelming presence of nerves and anxiety. Slowly she closed her eyes as he started to clean her hair first, lathering it steadily. It hurt, but she didn't make any noise. If she could have she would have squeezed her hand into a fist, but that would have only made it worse. Instead, she laid there and dealt with it. His voice piped up, which she listened to closely. The water swished into her ears, though she could hear him well enough to understand what he was saying. "Mhm," She managed to croak out, keeping her eyes closed as he cleaned her. Winsley took deep breaths, trying to ignore the minor pain being caused. With him speaking now, she only wanted to talk more, to communicate. Her communication was hoarse and croaky, though it was communication nonetheless. "Do what you can. We'll make it." Even though her eyes were closed, she lent a soft smile to him. It held there for a moment before dropping again. In her mind she didn't truly believe those words. Only time would tell her if she could make it, and time wasn't telling her anything. Surely she could heal if she was given the chance, though it wasn't just Chloe that wanted to hurt her. There were the other athletes, as well as Bucky, that were after her. They had no ties or connections with her, therefore making them much more dangerous. That was what she was scared of.
 
Jay moved to wash her body next, grabbing a cloth and letting it soak before running it over her skin, while he was as gentle as he possibly could be, he knew there were areas he had to pay close attention to, like the stitches. He didn't move her too much, and only washed what was easily accessible with her clothes on, before turning on the jets to help move the water around so she could rinse off. "You probably shouldn't talk too much, Wins, I can tell it's hard on you. Don't worry about it, I'll just read your mind- I'm sure I can," he added, trying to smile back at the soft one she offered him.

He leaned down and kissed her temple before turning the heat up on the water, figuring it would help. "We can just stay here and relax a bit. I mean, the blood tint isn't very charming but we can just ignore that for now." He moved his hand to hold hers, his thumb brushing over the back of her knuckles. "I thought I lost you for a minute there. God, I would have killed him. I swear I would have. He thinks he's the only one with a gun?" Jay snorted. "I would have shot the fuck out of him. Might still do it, honestly." Jay blew out a breath, letting his back rest against a jet as it poured onto him, feeling relaxed in the moment, content. And with the music playing in the background and Winsley right next to him he was feeling a little brave, too. "Winsley, last night- maybe this morning, I don't know. Time moves at a weird pace when you're watching the shit I've had to see, but anyways, whenever it was, I almost told you I loved you." He let out a breath, letting that sink in. "And then I didn't, because it didn't sound right. You're amazing and different and I love those things about you, but I also love pizza, you know? It's just... it's not strong enough, I guess, for what I really wanna tell you. It's more than love and... and that's why I know you're not getting hurt anymore. I'm not going to let them." He squeezed her hand, then remembered.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry!" he shouted, letting go immediately. "I'm sorry, I forgot- fuck, I'm such a horrible person, this is why I don't admit my feelings and do all this cringey bullshit." He ran his hand over his face, moving to get out for the water. "I'm going to go find you some clothes, you don't have to respond or anything. I'll um... be back," he mumbled, before moving to the closet to get he what he could.

Bucky had just gotten home and was inside his house, trying to wipe the blood off his knuckles. He had taken a detour to clean himself off but it was evident he had missed some spots and he worked quickly to hide them as he headed inside, a bouquet of flowers in hand. He went for what he thought was Korren's favorite kind. At least, they had been when they had been dating just a few weeks ago before she finally broke it off. "Korren!" he called out, thinking she was maybe upstairs until the smell of food led him to the kitchen.

He walked inside, smiling sheepishly as he saw Korren cooking. "Korren, my love, I got you some flowers. I wanted to apologize for... for being me, I guess. I'm really trying but you... you do this to me, you know. It's only you. You give me attention and love- or you did anyways- and I, well, I really miss that and I'm hoping I can do something to make it up to you." He held the flowers out for for her, hoping she'd like them. "Also, whatever you're making smells really good," he added, trying to throw a compliment in, trying to make himself seem better.
 
Winsley laid still for the time she was being cleaned, feeling the slight pain that spiked every now and again. She moved as he moved her, listened as he talked to her. Everything hurt but she didn't complain. What would have been the use anyways? She was alive, that's what mattered for now. Besides, she had Jay with her. He was helping her through this painful experience, and that mattered a lot too. She opened her eyes when he kissed her temple, feeling the bruising around her eye. Surely it was completely black and blue by then, possibly even both of them. Thankfully most external blood washed off, though internal blood still stuck around as the bruises that laid under her skin. She looked up into his eyes as he held on to her hand, turning her head leisurely when he leaned back. A small smile crept back on to her lips as he spoke, as he tried to explain that he didn't just love her. Near the end her hand was squeezed. She held back a gasp, though it was visible that she winced. It hurt, and he quickly realized this fact. Before she could move to do anything, he was out of the water. Even so, she slowly reached her arm towards his direction. It hurt as it hovered there for more than a few seconds, shaking as she held it there. Soon she dropped her arm back into the water, allowing the warmth to envelope it. Everything hurt again, shooting up her spine and spreading across her body. It was for a short period, but it still hurt.
She didn't say anything, though if he saw her eyes it would have said enough. Why move? Come back. Desperately she wanted to speak. Oh how she wanted to speak, but it only hurt to. Out of desperation she let out a whimper, breathy and weak. The one time he was opening up, he stopped himself. Sure he was going to help get her clothing, but that could have waited. All she wanted was to hear him speak, to hear how his mind was functioning and how the gears turned. There was so much going on inside his mind, yet he had trouble with letting it out. His voice was caged, and it wasn't completely his fault either.

Korren moved about the kitchen, finishing up with the chili before moving on to start making the cookies. With the music up and her mind in other places, she had been spaced out into another world. Bucky's voice was faint, though she took it as possibly just some voice in the music, not hearing her name completely being heard. It was fishy though, strange. Soon the voice was explained when Bucky walked in to the kitchen, holding flowers with a sheepish smile on his face. At first his presence made her heart jump as she turned to fully see him when he spoke. She slowly settled, turning halfway to the dough she was putting together, almost ready to mix. His words tugged at her emotions, making her feel like what happened really was her fault. It was her in the bikini, after all. It was a temptation he couldn't get away from, and yet.. couldn't he?

She turned to him fully as he apologized, holding out a bouquet of flowers for her. They smelled wonderful, and confused her brain. It was thoughtful of him to do such a thing, yet she didn't love him. She couldn't... could she? No. Yet, out of spite, she wandered closer to him, close enough to take the flowers from his hands. Could they have been messed with? She was careful with them, taking in a small dose of the scented flowers. They looked and smelled amazing, her favorite flowers. Honeysuckle, Rose, Peony, Viburnums. With such collage of soft colors meant for a perfect bouquet. Carefully she took a petal of a rose in between her fingers, brushing through it. It was soft, they were real. She looked back up when he complimented her, finding it strange for a moment. "Oh, uhm.. thank you." Korren gave a meek smile before looking back down at the flowers. Of all people to hand these to her.

After a moment she moved to get a vase, poured water into it, and placed it and the flowers in it on the table. It made the kitchen seem nicer, and less... empty. Then, she moved to continue making the cookies, glancing down at a cook book for direction while she continued to prepare them. While she did so, she turned down the music on the ipod, just so the music wouldn't fill the house. She kept it at a volume where she could hear it just enough.

While continuing to bake, she had an idea. Since she had to please him, she felt that maybe it would have been best to have him help her bake. If it meant for him to do something, and to give them hopefully innocent interactions to keep him happy, then she would do it. Steadily she turned to look over at him, pausing from her activity. "Hey, uhm.. Bucky? Can.. do you want to help me?" Korren's heartbeat picked up, though not too much. The thought of him by her side messed with her mind, making her feelings confused. A small part of her enjoyed the thought, though the rest told her it was all just so Bucky wouldn't get too mad or hurt anyone, including herself. For now she forced herself to believe that the latter was the most important thought, even if the former fought to be in the spotlight.
 
Jay moved to grab some sweatpants and a tee shirt for Winsley, along with whatever undergarments he could find. Chloe had most of the closets in the house full with some seasonal style though this one seemed to be more full of things that just didn't fit anymore, or maybe were from last school year. He tried to put everything in a semi-folded neat pile before walking out of the closet. It hadn't taken too long, and so he noticed Winsley's desperate look quickly. He frowned slightly, setting the clothes down and walking over to the tub, climbing back in. "Hey, I'm here. I'm not leaving you or anything, Winsley." He moved as close as he could, taking her hand in his once more, careful this time not to do anything stupid.

"I'm right here, babe, I'll always be close by." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, before glancing over at the clock on the wall. They had time. Plenty of it, actually. Yet still he didn't want to stay here for too long. "Maybe we should get out. We could go sit on the couch, watch some TV. Chloe usually schedules some sort of hair or nail appointment on the weekend so I can lock the house up and it'll be just us." He hesitated a moment before running his fingers through her short hair, moving it back and out of the way as he offered her a smile, hoping to reassure her.

Bucky smiled at the offer and nodded, shrugging his jacket off and setting it on a chair at the table. "Sure. I... I don't really know how to bake but I can try." He walked over to her, looking over the cookbook. "I didn't even know we had this," he muttered, flipping through a few pages before letting it rest back on the page Korren originally had it on. "Hen makes a lot of recipes out of this one though, it looks like. I always like having something sweet in the house and she really likes baking, I think. You remember Hen, right, my cook? She's on vacation right now with the rest of the staff. I think I bought her tickets to Hawaii- or maybe it was the Bahamas. It was a few thousand dollars though because she has four kids, plus her husband. Mom actually paid attention to me long enough to yell at me for wasting all that money."

He shrugged to himself, suddenly feeling a bit too warm at the mention of his mother. He wondered if she had come home last night, if she left early, if she knew Korren was here. "But anyways, butter, sugar, flour... I think I can find all this stuff." He turned to the fridge, looking their first for the butter before moving off to the pantry to find the sugar. "We gotta put everything back where we find it though, or Hen will carve me like a Thanksgiving turkey." He grabbed the sugar and the flour. "Oh, do we need eggs? I think we needs eggs. That a baker thing, isn't it?" he asked, walking back over to the counter with the flour and sugar. He set them both down, opening up the flour a bit too fast for the bag to handle. In a puff of smoke, the white powdery substance coated half of his face, and he blinked, a bit shocked by the sudden attack.
 
Winsley watched him come back, relieved that he came. It wasn't that she didn't believe he would, it was because she was lonely. Music played, but with Jay music didn't seem to be enough. She smiled as he climbed back in, comforting her and making sure she knew he was there. He was the only person she had at that moment. She almost nodded to what he said, but avoided doing that motion. "O..kay," Winsley shared a slight smile, the best she could do for now. With her hair being pushed back she leaned into his hand, not caring at that point if he touched it. He was the exception at that point, after all, since she couldn't really fight it anyway.

After a minute she finally moved to speak, taking deep breaths before speaking. "Change m.. my clothes." She spoke with a whispered voice, hoarse. Just barely understandable, but she managed. It was more of a demand than anything. If it caused her pain, she didn't care. Feeling stuck in these clothing was not comfortable in the slightest. The water soothed her, though the clammy feeling of her clothing sticking to her skin did not help anything.

Korren looked back with slight relief when he answered calmly, agreeing to helping her. She shifted things around to make room for him, looking back to the cookbook. He had been looking through it, which she let be. Instead, she placed a few ingredients inside the bowl, stopping when he started to speak. Pity came over her at the mention of his mother scolding her, and she looked down at the counter with a saddened expression. That woman never seemed to love her own son, which meant for his behavior to claw for attention. She looked back up at Bucky in silence before turning back to the bowl, continuing to fix things up. Korren heard him speak, moving around to grab the ingredients and reminding her of his cook's orderly personality. Sometime ago she remembered Hen being rather meticulous about cleaning up the kitchen, keeping it neat and tidy. "Will do." She spoke, just before hearing him turn to put something down, going to grab eggs.

With this announcement she turned to see what he was doing just to make sure he would needn't any help. It turned out that he did after all. The flour puffed up into his face, covering half of it. She held back a laugh, placing a hand over her mouth to hold it back. The look on his face made it harder to stop herself. Without further ado she moved to grab a towel, putting water on it so she could help him wipe off the flour. "Here," Korren moved over to stand in front of him, holding his face in place with one hand, while carefully wiping off the flour with the other. Meanwhile she folded her lips, holding back her laughter to see his face like this. She looked at his face, though tried to avoid his eyes. That was more difficult than it sounded.

Once was all it took to look into his eyes. Her laughter dropped, as did most of her smile. Slowly her hand moved down, away from his face. What was she doing? At that moment she almost felt love for him, felt happy to be around him. It was there, it was growing, but she didn't want it to. It didn't feel right, and yet... it was natural. His eyes drew her to him, but she didn't want to be drawn. She didn't want to be near him... didn't she? The one thing she couldn't do then was easily tear away her eyes, though slowly and surely she moved her eyes down, down to his chest. It was the best she could have done then to pull away from him.
 
Jay nodded once at Winsley's request. He slowly got out of the water before helping her out as well, picking her up and sitting her on the counter by the sink. He grabbed a towel first, before reaching for the hem of her shirt. "I'm going to try and make this as painful as possible, alright, Sweetheart? I'm sorry, I know I probably won't do a good job of it but I'm really trying," he told her, carefully peeling the shirt off first, working as hard as he could to keep her arms from having to move up too far. He held them when he had to, hoping his support would ease the suffering of moving one arm up. It was easier after he got it over her head though, and let it trail off the other arm and fall to the floor.

He didn't like this. How exposed she was. Normally he'd love this moment but now he could see all the bruises clearly on her body, and it made him sick all over again. He held it in this time, though, and worked slowly to removed her pants and then everything else. He wasn't sure what to do. Completely avoid looking at her and make her feel bad or stare too long and make embarrased. He was searching for a happy medium as he dried her skin off with the towel, before carefully dressing her in what he had found.

When he was finished he used the towel to dry her hair as best he could, working quick but light like he normally did when drying his own hair. After it had been reduced to damp instead of dripping, he stopped, his hand gently resting under Winsley's chin as he looked into her beautiful eyes. He kissed her gently, before pulling back. "You feel any better?" he asked, pulling his soaked shorts off as he walked back into the closet, grabbing another pair of sweatpants that looked to be a guy's. Probably one of the other football players.

He headed back over to Winsley after changing, picking her up and carrying her downstairs, sitting down on the couch with her in his lap. He grabbed for the remote, setting it beside them before taking a blanket and wrapping it around the both of them, wanting her to feel warm and cozy in hopes it would help.

Bucky chuckled lightly as Korren cleaned him off, though his own laughter faded as he noticed the struggle in her eyes. She did love him- or, she was trying to. But something was holding her back. Maybe it was Sage, or maybe it was fear. He wasn't sure, although he did want to find out. He moved to rest his hand under her chin, gently prodding it up so her eyes met his once more. Those deep blue oceans he had fallen in love with. Not just the joy in them, but also the fear. God, did he loved to watch them darken in fear. But right now, he wanted to see them light up. "Hey," he said, slowly reaching for a handful of flour.

"I think you missed a spot," he said, before lifting his hand up to his mouth and blowing the flour all over Korren. He laughed, taking a step back as he looked over his beautiful girl covered in flour, reaching for more. "Come on, I may not be a good cook but at least I know how to work the ingredients," he joked, tossing the flour up in the air into a beautiful arch. It was going to be one hell of a mess to clean up but as long as he had Korren fighting for him, fighting to love him, he didn't care.

God, did he love her. And as he laughed he hoped she would laugh, hoped she would relax and maybe just let them have this moment. Maybe just enjoy this moment- really, honestly enjoy it. He wanted her to have fun. He wanted them, two people functioning as one couple, to have fun. So that maybe, just maybe, he'd get the attention he oh-so desperately craved and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to send her away to make her love him. Maybe he could do it all on his own.
 
Winsley laid still the whole time, unwilling to move out of fear for her injuries being irritated, most specifically her stab wound. Every little movement hurt, even as Jay tried his best to be as careful as he could. She sucked in breaths, attempting to regulate her breathing. Slowly she closed her eyes, not wanting to see any part of her body. Feeling every bit of her was painful enough, and by now she knew she was quite a sight to see. No, instead she experienced the moment in blindness, only opening her eyes when she was fully clothed and away from the mirror. He asked her a question, and she simply groaned in response, confirming she felt better in between the kiss.

Once they were downstairs on the couch, Winsley felt much better, though still achy. Her head laid against his chest, resting to breath as they laid there. Her focus was not on the television. It wasn't on anything in particular, really. She held her eyes open, though she was lost in looping thoughts. They would be brought up, then forgotten all at once. One thought she seemed to jump back to was how Chloe acted. Just barely she noticed Chloe in the basement, keeping quiet. She didn't usually keep quiet, or stop bullying. Of course she would have stopped then. What normal human wouldn't stop? No one. Only Bucky didn't stop, and he wasn't normal. Something was dearly wrong with him.

Then, her thoughts looped to her friends. Did they know where she was? They must have been worried sick... and Sage... was he okay? "Sage.." Winsley whispered, laboring breaths in between. She remembered the phone, where she put it. "The phone.. in... the box." Her worry only grew. She had to contact them. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to rest, not when she wasn't sure if they were okay or not.

Korren looked back up when her chin was tilted up, her heart skipping a beat. Whether it was because of fear or love battled to be the main answer. Her eyebrow arched to question what he was doing, though she closed her eyes just in time to be hit in the face with flour. The white powder covered her clothing and some of her face. An awkward laugh fell from her lips, mostly because she didn't know how to respond. "Alright." She reached for some flour and tossed it in his direction, sticking her tongue out at him playfully. At that moment she lost sense of reality, and felt some normality. It was like playing with a friend, and she hoped it stayed that way. At that moment though she decided against thinking, chuckling slightly as he laughed along. She then proceed to grab another handful, backing away slowly. If it was a fight he wanted, he would get her defensive and offensive strategies. A small smile crept onto her face, a natural one. It didn't belong there, and yet... it was there.
 
Jay kept his arm around her as she asked for Sage, rubbing her arm carefully, his fingers just barely brushing over her shirt, just enough for her to know he was there, comforting her. "Alright, babe, I'll get it for you. You just relax, alright?" He carefully moved away from her, heading downstairs and getting the phone out of the box before going back up. He moved to sit down next to Winsley, wrapping his arm around her once more as he opened his phone and put on his camera. "Smile," he said before taking a selfie of the both of them. "This way Sage will see you're alive and kicking, even if you do have a black eye." He handed the phone to Winsley after that so she could do what she wanted with it.

It was then Chloe came downstairs, preened and proper, her face and hair made up to where it almost seemed she hadn't witnessed something gruesome. She noticed Jay and Winsley on the couch and scowled. "A fucking rat on my couch? I'm leaving now and I'll be back in six hours. I want her out of my sight when I get back," she snarled, but the way she emphasized the words made Jay realize something. She hadn't said to put her back in the basement, just out of Chloe's view. He smiled lightly and Chloe blew out a breath, looking over at Winsley for a moment. "For what it's worth, you're one fucking tough rat," she muttered, her voice quiet now, before finally she walked out of the house, leaving them officially alone.

"I feel bad for her, you know," Jay muttered. "She just had all her expectations shattered. She really loved him as weird as that may sound. I didn't completely hate him either, if I'm being honest with myself. But now... now I think neither of us can look at him. I didn't realize he was a total monster till now." He looked back to Winsley, kissing the top of her head. "I'm just glad you're far out of his reach now," he mumbled, wishing he could hold her closer but afraid the movement would hurt her too bad.

Bucky laughed harder as she blew the flour onto him and then got back with more. He grabbed a handful himself, smirking as he looked over at her. "Oh you silly girl, you think you can get away from the flour?" He snickered and launched himself forward, throwing the flour at her before picking her up and spinning her around, laughing as he did. It was so fun to just be a kid, to play with Korren, to get his mind off everything except the girl he wanted.
Flour puffed into the air and rained down on them as he continued to spin her around, feeling perfectly at peace with the moment before he finally stopped, setting her down and smiling brightly at her. He leaned forward, nuzzling his nose against hers and looking deep into those blue eyes. "You're almost good enough to eat. You're just missing one..." All at once he grabbed an egg and cracked it on her head. "Thing," he finished, chuckling at his work.
 
Winsley smiled the best she could for the picture, keeping her eyes open for it so less of the bruising would show. Then, she held the phone in her hands, carefully pressing the screen. Each movement hurt, but they had to know she was okay. They just had to. Just after she typed in Sage's number, she paused at the sound of Chloe's voice. At first she twitched, startled by her presence. Her eyes trained on the girl, feeling the words hit her. It was strange. They were backed up with a half- compliment in the end. Weird, the fact that Chloe decided to even say that was a step towards the better. She sighed when the two were finally left alone again, looking over to Jay as he spoke. For a moment she felt pity for Chloe, though couldn't fully understand what she possibly saw in him. She nodded slowly, her neck aching as she did so. It was best to stretch herself, to move.
One hand curled around his hand, holding on to it loosely with her bruised fingers. With the other hand, she opened the phone back up, moving to send the picture of her and Jay, just before tiredly working on a message. Hey Sleeze, you know that this girl isn't giving up. Don't mind the bullshit on my face, and well, everywhere else. Jay's here taking care of me. I love you, hubby. :* <3 Sent. Once it was sent, she placed the phone down next to her, turning to kiss Jay. It hurt to reach for his cheek, so instead she placed a peck on his shoulder. It was the best she could have done for now, though it was good that she was moving, no matter how little her motions were.

Korren giggled as he moved forward, tossing what little flour she had in her hand at him before getting picked up. At that little bit she panicked, gripping on to his shoulders tightly. It wasn't that she was scared to be dropped or picked up, it only reminded her of times where she would be lifted and never put down again. Her laughter turned to an awkward filler laugh, one that lacked much excitement at all. Still though, she went along with the motion. Her eyes squeezed shut until she was put down. There was flour all over her, especially in her hair, though she didn't mind too much. The smile on her face lifted up a little more, lifting to keep the moment light and happy. Bucky had moved forward towards her face, meeting eye to eye, which made her heart skip a beat. Their eyes locked, and even as he was being kind, her heart skipped a beat, maybe even two. Her cheeks engulfed in red, burning and tingling as he moved so close. It confused her how close he was, with two emotions fighting for control. A cold substance had been knocked on her head, snapping her out of her own mind. Then it spilled from her scalp and downwards. She awkwardly chuckled, though was confused on what he put on her head. It was an egg. The only way she knew though was by placing a finger in the substance, looking at it for a moment, and wiped it on his shirt. "Aw, come on." Korren took the moment to take her head and rub it against his shirt, chuckling a little. "That's what you get." She stuck her tongue out at him, trying to joke along as he did.
 
Sage had been busy planning with Kilo and Winnie. So busy, in fact, that he hadn't felt his phone buzz on the bed and so he continued working out the gritty details with them until finally he called for a break. "Winnie, Kilo, go do your couple think somewhere else for awhile, I think we all need a break from this," he said. Sage grabbed his phone, noticing a text from an unfamiliar number and opening it. The picture made him uneasy, but the message below it made him smile. I love you too, my beautiful wifey. You tell that little bitch that I'm going to fuck him up if he doesn't make sure to keep you safe. Sent. Afterwards, he offered his phone to Kilo so that he could see what was going on with Winsley. They were all so close he knew Kilo would want to to know she was okay.

Jay read over the text as Winsley typed it out, watching it send and frowning slightly. "Hubby? Well that's just no good." He tsked as she kissed his shoulder, leaning down to kiss her properly. "I want that role," he said, smirking at her before kissing her again. He almost forgot for a moment about all her injuries even though they were staring him in the face, and he moved to rest his hand on the side without the stitches. He wished he could do more but he didn't want to hurt her and so he pulled away, though kept himself close as he took his phone back, looking to see a message from his father, asking where he had been last night. Jay rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer. "I think I'm gonna need a side ho for at least a week though since you'll be out of service." He laughed to let her know he was joking and kissed her temple. "I'm kidding," he added, wanting to make sure she knew.

"Because I more-than-love you, and I like letting you know that." He turned the television on to give them more background noise, but he could only look down at Winsley, at how beautiful she was even if she was covered in bruises and cuts. "You make me so happy, you know that? Seeing you smile makes me feel good, like maybe I do deserve to be with someone who makes me as happy as you do." He was trying the feelings thing again, though it still made him slightly uncomfortable to give all his trust to one person. "Obviously don't try to respond since I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but I just wanted you to know that." He moved through his songs, picking a love song on his playlist and playing it, singing along with it softly to serenade her. He didn't have the best voice but he was trying as he looked over at her, smiling despite his nerves as he sang along for her. When he was finished his phone beeper and he looked down to see a message from Sage. He frowned slightly as he read it, but handed it over to Winsley all the same. It hurt to know her friends hated him so much, though even he hated himself for allowing everything to happen, and that feeling of deserving happiness went away quickly as he moved his arms back to his sides instead of around her.

Bucky laughed as she rubbed the egg onto him, moving his fingers to comb the slimy egg out of her hair some part. "I suppose it is," he responded, before moving his hand form her hair to rest on her cheek. He looked into those blue orbs, his smile widening, but then falling as he watched her. "Will you kiss me when you love me again? I want you to make the first move. I shouldn't keep trying to do it, to rush you, but... but when you're ready, you kiss me okay. And when you do it doesn't mean we have to do anything else or it has to be a long kiss. Just something simple. Just so I know." He let his hand rest on her cheek a moment later before dropping it back to his side. The music crescendoed and he looked towards his iPod, smiling as an idea came to mind. "But until then," He took her hand in his, spinning her once before bowing. "May I have this dance?" he asked, holding his hand out for her to take.
 
Kilo nodded along as he listened to his friend plan, too caught up in making sure everything was going to work out in the plan to notice the buzz. He understood the requests for no couple shenanigans, giving Winnie one last kiss on the head before crossing his arms. "Alright." One glance was sent towards Winnie to make sure she understood what he was agreeing with, before looking back at Sage. He picked up the phone, glancing over the text to analyse it. The message that followed was given by no other than Winsley, which he could tell by the way she talked. A relieved sigh fell from his lips, while a smile curled around it. She was alive, she was fighting, and soon they would be fighting for her in turn.

Winsley moved to look at Jay, chuckling lightly as he spoke. It seemed he was slightly jealous, though it was in good fun for sure. Why else would he joke? The side ho comment made her question him momentarily, though he played it off as a joke. Thankfully it was a joke. She smiled at him, her lips curling up to display her happiness with him, with hearing his voice. God did she love to hear him speak, to hear him open up to her. Her head leaned up against his shoulder, clinging slightly to his side as he hummed and sang to her. It wasn't Sage level of singing, but it was sweet. Sweet to think of serenading her in her time of need, to make her smile when she could have been crying her eyes out. When it was over, she merely rested there. A message came in, which she noticed him hand to the phone to her, so it had to have been Sage. For the moment she took a moment to lay there, to relax. She glanced down to the phone, takin get her time to pick up the phone and read the message. What was on it definitely screamed something that Sage would say. She smiled for a moment before responding, clicking carefully at each button. He'll keep me safe. Just no more fighting for now... I think one large beating is enough. Bucky hit me and didn't stop. I don't want to witness another beating. She set the phone down, feeling a tear trickle down her cheek. The only time she noticed it was when it dropped onto the phone. Quickly she wiped it away, forcing a wince out of her from moving so fast. She didn't want to be sad. Not now. Not ever again.

Korren giggled for the moment, though her laughter was put to an end. Her eyes lifted to look him directly in the eye again. Those cold yet inviting eyes, the ones that seemed to glare into her soul and search around it for emotions. It startled her, confused her. What she felt was a mix of opposing emotions, driving her to want to run, yet to also move closer. What really happened was her standing still, looking into his darkened eyes as he spoke to her. Ever so slowly she nodded at the end of it all. It wasn't that she wanted to, it was that she did it automatically. She understood what he was saying though, at least now. All of what they had done just then was being caught in the moment, caught in a whirlwind of emotions that she could not quite understand. And then, she was spun, with him offering a dance. Questions danced in her eyes. Would it be wise? Did she really want to do it? Did she have to?
There was an answer, it was subtle and almost silent but it was definitely there. Yes. She did want to dance with him. Whether it was out of fear or love, she was going to dance with him. Korren took his hand, ever so slowly lowering her nimble hand into his. "Okay." Her voice was quiet with a hidden kindness to it. Her cheeks flared red from her answer, wanting to almost immediately take it back. Love that she felt was all for Sage... right? That was right, wasn't it? Then she looked at the one that stood before her, the one that seemed so different from before. Perhaps he was changing, and perhaps he was getting help. The moment on the couch might have just been a fling, a big mistake, and now... what if he really did want to make up for it?
Enough, too much thinking. It was too much. Her brain couldn't handle the constant battling. She smiled at Bucky, moving closer to dance with him. Automatically her heart sped up, though she kept a mostly cool façade. She had to try and understand, to play his game. There had to be an answer in the end, and she was determined to find it on her own.
 
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Sage watched as his phone buzzed and looked at it again. His heart broke at her message and he bit his lip, letting out a shaky breath. I promise, no more fights. I love you, Wins, keep your head up. We're gonna get you out of there soon, rat's honor. He was playing more at a joke towards the end, hoping to make his best friend smile. Sending that message hurt him though, as he thought about how he could save Winsley but not Korren. He loved them both, though in different ways. He glanced up at Kilo, and then Winnie, suddenly feeling bad for making his little comment. What if that was me and Korren? In a time like this all he'd wanna do is hold her, but him and Kilo were not the same when it came to relationships by any means. He didn't apologize for his comment, or try to take back, but he did watch the two of them for a moment. Each in their own chair. Winnie had a horrible habit of staring at the ground as if she was always ashamed of herself. Kilo on the other hand was stoic, simple.

"Do you think it'll be one or the other?" It was an odd question, but it was something Sage had been contemplating. If they saved Winsley maybe Bucky would lock Korren up so tight they'd never get to her, but if they went after Korren first then surely Winsley was dead. "What if... God, this is so fucked up. What if we get Winsley and I never see Korren again?" He let that sit in the air for a moment, before scowling. "That's terrible. She's my best friend. I've known her longer. Of course I pick Winsley- but... but it doesn't feel right picking either one of them over the other out loud. Kilo... what... what would you do?" And there went Winnie, staring back down at the floor again as if she already knew the answer. "Um... nevermind. I... I don't know what I'm saying." Sage ran a hand down his face, brushing over the stitches on his forehead, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted even though he hadn't been up but a few hours.

Jay watched as she messaged Sage back, frowning as he watched a tear roll down her face. He hated to see her cry but the poor girl had been through so much. "You know, Winsley, if you need to cry, scream, whatever you can do in your state, you can do it. I'm not one to judge shit like that. Hell, I throw tantrums all the time, like a fucking fourteen year old brat. You do what you gotta do, baby, and I'll just take care of you through it all." He kissed her temple, holding her as close as he dared with her injuries. "For the record, you look gorgeous whether you happy, sad, or angry, whether you're banged up or flawless. It doesn't matter. My beautiful hood rat." He sat there for a moment, holding her, before he thought of something else that might cheer her up. "You know what I just thought of? A surprise... just for you. It's going to be amazing. After all this shit blows over I'll give you the surprise, alright? It's something to look forward to, if nothing else." He took her hand in his, holding it as they sat there. He glanced at the television, turning the comedy channel on so maybe they'd have something funny to listen to, so that way their suffering could be hidden if only for the moment.

Bucky allowed her time to contemplate before finally she took his hand, and he led her around the kitchen, the same type of ballroom dancing he had done with her such a long time ago when they had been truly a couple. It was before the drinking started, before all the problems began. It was such an innocent time, where he took her to parties and didn't roofie her drink, where he let her wear whatever she wanted and bragged about she was all his. He could remember those times if he thought hard enough, but the were far beneath them, buried under layers of secrets and lies. Back then he had danced with her like this at a party, even the music was fast-paced and everyone was jumping around, he chose to slow dance with Korren, to be tender with his girlfriend to show how much he cared. He hoped she was thinking of that night, of how nervous he had been to kiss her for the first time in front half the school. He was making it practically impossible for her not to remember that night. These were the same steps, and if her subconscious remembered right, the flowers he had brought her were the same array he had that night.

It was all perfectly on purpose, everything he had done. He wanted it all to line up so she would remember their good times together, especially the night he danced with her, the night their relationship became truly public. It was one of the best night they ever had together. He was practically chanting 'remember' in his head as he smiled innocently, as if this all wasn't a manipulation game, and spun her around, dipping her low as he had done that night. It was this moment so long ago he had kissed her, but he had just promised he wouldn't do that, and so he held her dipped just a bit longer than usual, wondering if she would close the gap.
 
Kilo looked over at his friend, curious as to what text he was reading. The look on his face made him worry, though just the thought of Winsley being alive helped him through it. He sat quietly in his seat, glancing over once at Winnie, who seemed rather pitiful without him holding on to her. It irked him, though he wasn't going to say anything yet. No, instead he listened to Sage. He listened to the questions, viewing the turmoil in his eyes. Once the turmoil was mostly over, he sighed, getting up to walk over to his side. "Sage, we can't afford to think like that now. We're going to get things figured out, just you wait."


Winsley glanced up at him, taking her time to do so while listening. It was sweet of him to say something. To recognize her pain and that she was going through the worst time in her life at that moment. She didn't feel the need to scream or cry, to waste her energy on self pity. As he kissed her forehead, for the moment she closed her eyes, sharing a softened smile with him. He was trying his best to cheer her up, to help her through this. This was one reason why she felt attached to him, attached to the cute pizza boy.

She chuckled at the little nickname, turning her eyes to him again. The surprise intrigued her, interested her. What kind of surprise would he possibly do. "Alright, Blue. But don't expect me to sit quietly." Winsley took a deep breath in between speaking, her voice hoarse and cracking at times. "I'm gonna get curious." Once more she smiled at him, slowly moving to lean against him to watch the comedy show. Quietly they watched, with her wanting to laugh at times. Admittedly it was pretty funny and uplifting, though she tried to keep her laughter to a minimum, as not to allow the pain to reoccur.


Korren moved as he did, turning and shifting as he moved them along in the kitchen. Slowly they waltzed over the flour covered floor, taking precise steps. A few times she looked at her feet, though over time looked in his eyes. It was a bad idea, to look into his eyes. Such eyes trapped her in, made her follow his movements without fighting. They made her face sting and turn a darker shade of red. They were focused in the moment, though any emotion was hidden, misleading. As for the dance itself, she recognized it.. no, remembered it. Then it hit her. The flowers, the dance, the slow movements across the floor. They all matched the night she danced with him at a party, slow dancing awkwardly in the middle of a fast paced soon. Everything went so fast, leading to the dip. The same dip he had done to kiss her.

Time felt as though it froze. In an automatic movement she moved in closer, just like the night they met, only it was her moving in for the kiss this time. Wait. No, no. What am I doing? Just before their lips touched, with breath mingling and noses touching, she froze. Her eyes stayed open. There she held herself, biting her lip for the moment. What was she doing? She didn't love him. Reality hit her in the face. Yet even as it did, she didn't move away, not much anyways. No, instead she moved so they were both standing again, though stuck nearby him. Parts of her felt betrayal welling up, then again everything was completely mixed up in her head. What could she do?

She leaned towards him, pressing her head against his chest. What else was there to do? Anything other than that would have all been a lie in the form of promised affection. Even being near him confused her, forcing her to try and stop thinking. There was too much on her mind. Silence echoed, she didn't know what to say. She only hoped that he wouldn't try what he did to her on the couch again, or anything else in that case.
 
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Four Days Later​
Chloe had spent the last four days complaining about her period to all the football players at lunch. They were all immature enough to be grossed out by it and so they never asked to come over. It almost bugged her, how pitiful they acted at a sentence as simple as 'I need some medicine for cramps' as if she had become some diseased creature. Even Bucky had scrunched his nose up in disgust and told her to shut up. Of course, she wasn't actually on her period, just making up an excuse to keep everyone out of her house. Winsley needed to heal, and as much as she pretended to despise the street rats, she could still remember how they took her in when she was down. Sage had been her first love, after all. He had taken care of her better than even her parents ever could. And Winsley, well she had been such an amazing friend. Even with Chloe's money they didn't use her for their own gain. Sage always offered to pay and Winsley always offered to share clothes. What had happened? Why had Chloe switched to the popular kids?

Bucky. Bucky had been a beautiful concept of her prince charming. So much so that when he offered her a seat next to him as a Sophomore she had taken it. She had abandoned her friends for a cute boy. It was almost supposed to be for that day. But slowly, ever so slowly, she began sitting with Bucky more often, going over to Winsley's less, cancelling dates with Sage. Sage wasn't prince charming. He was rough and cruel and he loved so hard and so passionately and as much as Chloe loved him back, she loved the idea of Bucky far more than the reality of Sage. What a mistake that had been. The reality of Bucky was perhaps her worst nightmare, and even as they sat across from each other at lunch and he locked their ankles together absently like he always did, she couldn't get the way he had beat Winsley out of his head. "Chloe, what's wrong?" She blinked, staring at Bucky. He didn't truly look concerned, just curious. "Would you ever beat me?" It was so sudden that the table went silent. Everybody knew Bucky smacked everyone around but no one knew except Chloe and Jay how lethal he could really be. "Course not, Chlo." His words were slow, almost a warning. Don't cause a scene. "Where would you get that idea?" She took a deep breath and stared at the salad she was eating to keep her figure for him, for the drill team, for the society Sage hated. He'd never care if she wasn't stick thin, if she needed a hug, if she actually cried.

She glanced back towards the table that had once been filled with rats. Now Winsley was locked in her house, Sage was in the hospital, Kilo was watching over him and Patch, poor Patch, she loved Winsley so much, too much to go on without her. What had Chloe done? "You scare me." She stood, Bucky's eyebrows rose in confusion. Chloe didn't wait for his reaction though, she simply walked away.
-​
Jay had been texting with Sage for the last couple days, coming up with an escape plan. He was reading through their messages, laying next to Winsley on the guest bed, trying to think of the best time to do it. It had been four days since she had been beaten and her bruises were starting to go away, scabs were starting to fall off, her wounds were healing. He doubted she could do much on her own still but at least she could walk, maybe even run. "Chloe promises me that the guys won't be coming over for the next couple days so now's the perfect time to get you out, if you can manage." He sat up, holding her hand with one hand and scrolling with the other. "My room's all set for you. We'll hide you there for a couple days until they come looking for you then we have to move you somewhere Bucky wouldn't think to look." Jay thought for a moment, before looking down at Winsley. The poor girl was so broken. If only he could have stopped it all. "There's this abandoned warehouse a couple blocks from the pizza place I work at. I can get some couches and a bed set sent there and set up and you can stay there for a while, just until it all blows over. I'll get your school shit for you."

He laid back down on his stomach, leaning over to kiss Winsley before pulling away, laying with his chin propped against her shoulder. "You know, Chloe told me she doesn't want to do it anymore, be popular, I mean. Good for her and all that shit but the problem is she fucked you guys up pretty bad and she doesn't know how to fix it. She was hoping I could get some answers but honestly? Sage is a fucking scary dude. I don't think he'll ever forgive her unless you know some magical wand we can wave that cancels out his anger issues."
-​
Four days had gone by since the almost-kiss. Bucky had tried everything. He was truly sweeping her off her feet and while Korren loved to hesitate, loved to lean close, loved to tease him in her cute little way, hardly any progress was being made. It was frustrating and more than anything it was testing his patience. When he had first fallen in love with Korren it had taken him no longer than three days to sweep her off her feet. They were now ending their sixth day reunited and still she was being so shy. Sure, he could get his arms around her and sure he could kiss her cheek, but nothing else was happening. He had told her he loved her so many times, and said 'sweet dreams' every night. He even let her sleep in the guest bedroom as much as it hurt him to be alone. Most nights he found himself watching her sleep, wishing he could crawl in next to her, wishing he could give her a wake up call that was more his style, but he couldn't. he had promised he wouldn't do those things and in return she had done nothing for him.

It was inevitable really. And so that night he came home from football practice and he took a shower as was routine and he sat at the kitchen table since Korren normally made their meals and he thought for a long moment before looking up at her. "Korren, I think we need to have a very serious discussion," he began, taking a deep breath. "I think you're sick, love, but not like a cold. It's not physical. It's mental." It was the only explanation. Why else would she not love him after he had been trying so hard to do everything for her?
FlameintheRoses FlameintheRoses
 
Winsley watched as he typed away, planning along with Sage over these select few days. Thankfully she had been able to rest, her aches and pain turning to a dull roar under her skin. Scabs replaced open scars to show she really was healing. It was easier to move, but not perfect. A strange bruising feeling consumed underneath her breasts, over the ribcage. What she hadn't known was that a rib bone had been cracked. The pain stuck through in that area, but she refused to say it was anything more than a large bruise, which did in fact engulf over her ribcage.

She turned her head to him when he sat up, explaining the freedom had at that moment. They could leave, she could hide with him. It disappointed her that her friends wouldn't be able to come see her, but still she would be back to safety. "Yeah, I don't care about school. Just art." Winsley smiled at him, pressing her head against him when he lied back down. They kissed, then she looked him in the eye as he spoke of Chloe. Just the name irked her, though she listened to what he was saying. "Yeah, not even I can stop that. And I know she's helping now, but I'm not forgiving her. Not now, not ever." Her voice grew more annoyed. She moved slightly away from Jay. It slightly hurt, though she didn't care. This discussion wasn't something she wanted. No matter what Chloe did to attempt to redeem herself, it wouldn't work. Not when she left them for a psychopath. For a guy with no care in the world for anyone or anything.

Korren had been cooking in the kitchen, finishing up the meal. It was the one thing she could do without question in his house, one that didn't involve interaction that made her too uncomfortable. Then again, another uncomfortable interaction popped up as she was finishing up cooking. He sounded... concerned. This made her stomach drop. Had he known about what she had said to Sage, or what she had done to his gun? No, no he didn't say anything about those things. This didn't settle her heartbeat, however. Her head turned to him, unsure of what to say. She was fine, wasn't she? The other day he did figure she would have jumped out the window when she simply opened it to get a good view of the area outside of the house. Had that been on his mind? "I-I'm not sick, Bucky." Korren spoke up, chuckling softly in an extremely nervous manner. "I'm fine. I'm not sick." She looked at him, almost shaken by what he said to her. There was nothing wrong with her, there had to have been nothing wrong. "I'm fine." She put everything she was working on down, looking at Bucky at the time. Nothing was wrong with her. Nothing was wrong with her.
 
"Hey okay, we don't have to talk about her. Don't move away from me." Jay closed the gap she had made, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Come on, babe, I'm sorry, I know she's the fucking devil but I promised her I'd mention it. We'll change the subject though, let's talk about... " Jay's voice trailed off for a moment, trying to think of a subject that would intrigue Winsley. Finally, something came to mind. "Our first date. An official one." He grinned, nuzzling his nose against her neck as a million options swarmed through his head. "We could go to some fancy restaurant and dine and dash, or we could head up to the bridge and have a cute little picnic, or I could take you to this club where we could practically have sex on the dancefloor." He let his fingers tap against her hip, tilting his head up to catch her beautiful eyes.

"But no matter what we do I think it should end in my bedroom. I have some pills we can pop and my sister has these bath bomb things. They're fucking ridiculous. Supposed to help her relax. She gave me a couple and I tried one and damn, they're so weird. I think they're pretty cool though and if you ever tell anyone I said that you'll regret it." He leaned forward, nipping at her neck playfully, obviously not trying to cause her any harm. His phone buzzed as he did this though, and he glanced at the new message from Sage. Jay sat up, reading through it. They're checking me out today but I'm on crutches for the next week. Next time you see Bucky ask him about Korren. Jay sighed, nodding once at the message. I will. I can get Winsley out of here soon. And then once she's safe Kilo and I can go for Korren. Jay was only trying to help, and yet still Sage didn't seem to trust him. Jay had been trying to convince Sage to let him go in and get Korren for the last few days, but Sage always turned him down, and that didn't seem to change even then. Fuck no. I'm saving her because it's my job. You just focus on your side of things. He blew out a breath, laying back down next to Winsley. He turned to her, looking into those gray green eyes once more.

"Sage acts like he's Korren's personal knight. I could take a lesson or two from him, I guess." He moved to hold Winsley's hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing her knuckles. "What do you think? Does; 'Jay, Winsley's personal knight-in-shining-armour' have a nice ring to it?"

Bucky sighed, getting to his feet and walking over to Korren. He took her hands in his, looking down at the way their fingers intertwined. "Korren, I love you. You know I love you. But you don't love me." He met her blue eyes with his own dark ones, never once letting go of her hands. "And I'm a little worried about what Sage has done to you." He knew it was a touchy subject to bring him up, but Bucky had been dropping hints this whole time that Sage was the bad guy and now he needed to give another push in the right direction. "He's been manipulating you, Korren, and you've been falling for it. I know, I know. You think I'm the manipulator but Sage, Sage is just a greasier version of me then, isn't he? No, he's worse. Korren, he's killed people, he's screwed almost every girl at our high school, he talked you into sex and you guys hadn't even been together a full week. Babe, don't you remember how we waited almost a year before we made that big step?" They had only waited because Bucky had been in two sports and was far too busy and exhausted to try and push the idea, but he didn't bring that up now. "I'm afraid he's really messed with your head. And you're so smart, Korren, you're so amazing, so talented. We can't let him corrupt you." He moved to brush her dark red locks behind her ear, nothing but concern in his eyes as he looked at her.

"It's a lot to take in, love, and I know it's hard to hear, but put your feelings for everyone aside for a moment and think. I'm not lying to you about anything. Did he tell you he was in a gang? Did he tell you about the armed robberies, the blood on his hands, the hard drugs he's addicted to? What about how he got a girl pregnant and threatened her into an abortion?" Okay, the last thing wasn't true as far as Bucky knew, but he did know it was extremely plausible. Especially with the amount of people Sage slept with. "He's not a good guy, Korren, and he doesn't love you. He just wanted a challenge. If he really loved you, he would have been here by now. He got released from the hospital two days ago. Still you're hung up on him, and that's the real problem, because it's keeping you from loving me even though we're soul mates." He took a deep breath. "Just think about all this, okay? Really think about it. I'm going to go upstairs and put some of your stuff together. You eat dinner without me. I think you need some time to let this sink in." While he never told her that he was going to take her anywhere, that had been his intention all along. And he wanted to plant the seeds of Sage being a horrible person now, so once she got to the hospital they were already questions in her head. For now though he let her go, heading upstairs to pack for her, hoping she hadn't paid too much attention to his words.
FlameintheRoses FlameintheRoses
 
Winsley sighed, looking at him as he moved closer to her, making sure she was by his side. Her vision then trailed to the ceiling, thinking while he spoke, while he tried to direct the conversation to another topic. She understood it was something Chloe needed to say something, but she did not want to hear it, not from her or anyone. A small smile peaked when he mentioned a date, with him listing off things they could do. Lightly she chuckled when he nuzzled against her neck, suggesting multiple things they could do when all of it blew over. She listened to him as he continued on, giggling at the times he poked at her, slightly tickling her side. "That sounds like a great time. And I hope I can see your sister again, she's so sweet." The conversation came to a pause as Jay checked his phone, by which she watched the conversation. His actions following made her slightly chuckle, though by the way he was saying it, she could tell he was slightly irritated in a way. She lifted her hand up as he kissed it, moving it after to hold his cheek. "You know, he only does that because that's just his way of loving. He wants someone to protect, and he found that in Korren." This wasn't the complete truth, but the rest of the truth was a topic she had no place in discussing with Jay. "I like 'hot pizza boy Jay' better." Winsley winked, chuckling slightly. It didn't hurt as much to laugh now that time had passed, which she was thankful for. Soon she was going to get out of there, she just didn't exactly know when.

Korren looked down at her feet, feeling his hand intertwine with hers. It felt comforting, comforting enough to pull her eyes to him, right where they met his. From then on she listened, feeling absolutely powerless to do anything else but listen, though after a few days her fear of him was growing less and less. This however didn't mean it completely went away.

She pondered over each word he said against Sage, not wanting to believe a single word he said. A knot curled in her throat, catching any words she would have spoken in defense of Sage. In reality, did she really know who she was dating? Did she knew Sage truly, or just the good side to him? Yes, he did drugs and was in a gang, but never did she truly understand the impact of it all on her. She took her eyes away from Bucky's, turning her head down as she thought about this. It was a lot for her to soak in. Most of it she didn't believe on the surface, though deep down... how could he be wrong? There were many signs pointing towards the words he spoke to her. Why else would he have rushed into dancing with her? With going along with her conversing just to switch it to much more intimate terms. The reality of it all sunk in. It was a lot to soak in.

Korren turned her head up when he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, showing nothing but kindness to her. Then the rest of the news hit her. Her eyes widened in shock by the news of killings, of robberies. "No.." She whispered, covering her mouth. Sage couldn't have done those things. There was no way he would have ever wanted to. Why would he do any of that? Had she been so blind to see past that over a silly crush? A fall back? While deep in thought she missed almost everything else he had said. All she knew was that he was going upstairs, going and leaving her to think.

She sat down in a chair, a tear falling down her face, then another. Silently she sat there, looking for answers to combat what Bucky told her, but nothing was there. Sage was nice to her, though she knew how aggressive he could get. She didn't know what he had done before he met her. Had their whole relationship been a lie? No, that wasn't a lie. But if he did the things Bucky claimed he did, then there were many things hidden from her. Had she been lied to?

Continuously the thoughts swirled in her mind, racing a mile per minute. She couldn't eat, not when there was so much information thrown at her. So many questions raced through her head, though she was scared to ask if they were true. She didn't want to know, not at least for now. Korren wiped away any tears that decided to fall, sitting silently at the table. Her hands were held in front of her on the table, poised naturally as she lost herself in her own mind. Thoughts played like voices, growing from a low murmur to yelling in her ears. The more that time passed, the more she questioned. Her mind continued to go into a darker path. What had she done... and what had Sage done? Why hadn't she known any of this sooner?
 
Jay smiled as she mentioned that she liked him better, kissing her quickly before pulling her a bit closer to him. "You know Celeste always mentions you when I'm home. She really likes you. Of course you'll see her again. A bunch of times. Even if we don't work out I think you're gonna have to keep hanging out with her." He closed his eyes, relaxing next to Winsley, forgetting about the time until another message came through his phone. This time from Chloe. Going to the hospital. Don't answer the door. He blinked, groaning slightly. "Fuck, Chloe, what are you doing?" he muttered, moving to show Winsley the text before pocketing his phone. He couldn't believe she was making sure a stupid choice. Especially after meeting Sage for himself. "Do you wanna watch a movie since she'll be gone for awhile? Or maybe we could go sunbathe by the pool? Or chill in the hot tub?" he suggested, trying to give them something else to do besides lay in the guest bedroom like they'd been doing for the past few days.

Bucky packed Korren's suitcase with some clothes he knew she liked to wear along with anything else he thought she'd need. He knew the hospital provided a lot but still he wanted her to have some of her own stuff. Specifically the stuff he had bought for her. It'd give her something to admire and all the more reason to think of him. Once he was done he took the suitcase through the garage and put it in the trunk so she wouldn't notice, before heading back inside.

He watched her for a moment, as she sat there obviously taking in a lot of what he said. She was crying, and a foreign sort of feeling washed over him. Was that.. guilt? He almost scrunched up his nose in disgust but managed to refrain, instead walking over and kneeling down in front of her. He carefully brushed her tears away, kissing her forehead before pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry, maybe that was too much. I shouldn't have done that." He'd never felt bad for manipulating someone before, but now was different. He had said too much. He should have stopped before he got in too deep but now it was too late to go back.

He stood up, still holding her in his arms, making sure to support all her weight. "Hey, love, let's go for a drive. We can get some fresh air, maybe some ice cream." He started for the garage, waiting for a protest from her, wondering if maybe he should put off the hospital even longer than he already had.

Winnie sat with Kilo in the cafeteria. Sage was upstairs in his room, getting ready to check out, and she was slowly sipping the coffee she had gotten, glancing over at Kilo every now and then. She had felt detached from him this entire hospital visit and she knew it was because Sage needed friends, not a couple, but she still wanted to be closer to him. She glanced around, making sure Sage wasn't on his way down where he insisted they'd meet them, before locking her ankle with Kilo's, smiling over at him. "You know, once we get Sage home we can go back to my place. I was thinking about this new video game idea and maybe I could show you some programming stuff," she said, her voice light and almost excited to have some alone time with Kilo again.
 
Winsley smiled, loving that she would get to see Celeste again, and that the girl would want to see her just as badly. All the comfort from Jay and information on his sister lifted her mood, though that didn't stay for long. The text from Chloe was shown to her, and her stomach dropped. For a moment there was silence before Jay started talking again, avoiding the subject. "Oh, uhm, the hot tub sounds great." Winsley leaned over to peck him on the cheek, smiling at him after doing so. Through this whole time she had been laying uncomfortably in bed, and was now healthy enough to at least stand on her own, though not for very long.

Still the thought of Chloe going to the hospital bothered her. She didn't know whether to feel angry at her, or pity the mistake of seeing Sage without her there to hold him back. Either way, Sage was in for an unneeded visit.
-

Korren glanced up to see Bucky in front of her, moving to comfort her at a time where she didn't know what to think. Soon enough she was pulled into a hug, held on to as she shed her last few tears. The gentle comfort he gave settled her down, and she allowed herself to move her arms around him, holding on loosely. He lifted her up from the seat, holding on to her as she settled down. It was possible that he was becoming his old self again, and she wanted to think that way now. Still a small part of her tugged away from that, pulling her not to care or love him in any way, though each passing day that side of her grew smaller. "Okay, ice cream sounds nice." She smiled up at him for a moment, before moving to follow to the car. Being stuck in that house was getting to her head, and she needed a break from it all. Meanwhile, she left her phone on the counter, not wanting to speak with anyone at that given moment.
-

Kilo had been lost in thought since he went down to the cafeteria. He thought about Sage, of Korren, Patch, Winsley, and Lift. They all had been dear to him, and now they were all separated because of Bucky. Winsley was safe for now, though she was still in captivity nonetheless, while Patch was mourning and shutting down from not being able to see her friend. Lift stayed with her at all times at her home, trying his best to calm her down. Korren had been stuck in the worst position, however. She was with the devil himself, and no one knew what was going on with her. Not even Sage fully knew.

All these thoughts flew through his mind while Winnie spoke, almost making him miss everything. He looked up at her, piecing together what she said for a moment. If only it were a normal setting that she said this in, acting as if nothing wrong was going on. It almost bothered him the way she avoided the situation, pretending that nothing went down almost a week ago. For a moment he paused, thinking about what to say. He shook his head lightly, not meaning anything by it though declining the offer nevertheless. "I'm afraid we can't, love. Not right now. I've got to check up on everyone, even my madré. If I don't go back in for work as well, they're going to fire me, Winnie. I can't allow that." His voice was quiet, baring worry to each word. They were all he could think of. "You can stay with me, Winnie, I've just... I have to take care of these things." A hand brushed through his hair, pushing the locks out of his face. With this much stress on his shoulders he wondered how he didn't have gray hairs already, even as a young man. With his free hand he took hers, brushing a thumb over her knuckles. He didn't mean or want to turn her down, but he had to. It was the right thing to do, especially at a time like this. There was no time for having fun while one of his best friends was trapped in Chloe's house and unable to leave without the stress of being possibly shot.
 
Jay sat up, ready to go help her to the closet so she could change when his phone buzzed again. He checked it, noticing it was an alert that he had football practice in an hour. "Oh damn," he mumbled, biting his lip as he tried to think of what to do. "I forgot but I have practice. So maybe we can raincheck the hot tub for when I get back?" He leaned over to kiss Winsley, resting his hand on her cheek, before slowly pulling away. "Love you, babe. Here," Jay grabbed the phone he had bought for Winsley and handed it to her. "Just text me if you need anything." He started for the door, knowing he had to leave now if he wanted to get coffee first. This had been his routine for the last few days though he had lost track of time today. Now he headed out of the house, locking it up behind him. Winsley's phone had a bunch of music on it so at least he knew she'd be occupied, and though he knew she didn't like being alone he couldn't afford to miss practice with the scout game coming up.

When he got to the coffee shop he stood in line for a moment, checking his phone for messages from Winsley already when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something familiar. He looked up, noticing Monty at the cash register, ordering some coffee. He froze, thinking about the dream he had the other night. It had been strange, but Jay had thought about it quite a bit since. This is my chance. He had an hour before practice started. He could do this? But wasn't it cheating? And what if Monty didn't even want to? Don't be ridiculous, of course he likes you. Jay sighed, moving past the line quickly to stand next to Monty before he could change his mind. "Add a dark roast with three sugar packets to that order," he said quickly, almost nervously, and pulled out his card, handing it over to the slightly stunned cashier. She tapped away on her computer though and ran the card before handing it back to Jay, who turned to Monty. He needed to do something bold, to show his reasoning for being there. Yet he couldn't think of anything. "Hey, haven't seen you in a few days. Why don't we sit? I could catch you up on all the crazy," he said, wanting to at least get them into a semi-secluded place before he made a move. This is cheating. I'm one hundred percent sure this is cheating. It didn't matter. It's not like he was in love with Monty he just wanted to release some tension. It wasn't going to become a regular thing. Winsley never even had to know.
-
Bucky did as promised and took them to an ice cream shop first. He ordered for both him and Korren since he knew her favorite, before handing it over to her when the order was called. He tasted his own, reaching to hold her free hand before leaning down to kiss her temple. Afterwards he began to eat more of his ice cream from where they sat outside with an umbrella shielding them from the sun. "It's a beautiful day," he said, looking around. It was then he got the alert on his phone. Practice in an hour. He'd have to drop her off soon though as he looked over at Korren he felt that he could just keep her next to him, keep her with him. She was falling in love with him again, wasn't she? But she hadn't kissed him yet. And that meant something. He couldn't honestly say she loved him when he knew that one little sign- or lack thereof- meant she didn't. He began biting off the cone, munching a bit faster though he tried not to let on that he was doing so.
-
Winnie frowned slightly, moving to sit next to him instead of across from him, moving to rest her hands on his shoulders. "But you're so stressed out Kilo. Let's just go over to your house then and just relax for a bit. Get your mind off everything. Who cares if you lose your job? There's plenty others that probably pay better anyways. We can get you a better job. Maybe something indoors too, with air conditioning. Retail, maybe? Or a manager? You could be a good manager." She rubbed his shoulders, trying to relax him, to stay close to him. "I can get you another job, I have a lot of connections. Don't worry about this one. You don't need to work right now anyways. Not with everything that's going on." Winnie only meant well, so she never thought about the other meanings behind her words, or the different ways he could interpret what she was saying. She loved him, and she wanted to be with him, and she wanted to help him. It was as simple as that. But it also wasn't, because she knew if he worked somewhere inside, somewhere like retail, she could see him more often. She knew if he was a manager he'd have more time for her and he wouldn't have to be down washing cars all the time.
 
Winsley smiled at the idea of being in the hot tub, relaxing in the water alongside Jay. Surely the feeling of warm/hot water would be soothing on her healing skin. Bruises covered her, though they didn't ache as much as they use to a few days ago. However, there was an interruption to this plan. Her smile faltered, though didn't completely drop. Even when she was stuck in this house, unable to leave, and only had his presence to comfort her. His practice was still more important than her at that very moment. She supposed she should have understood, considering he was practicing for an important game. It still stung to feel brushed aside overall. She wanted to see her friends, see her family. The first thing she wanted to do when she got out of there was go find her mother and hold on to her, then call her father. Surely there must have been news that she was gone... right? The others surely must have missed her, and she missed them just as much, if not more.

She smiled when he kissed her, moving away slowly to exit the house. "Bye, Blue Jay." Winsley spoke quietly, watching as he exited the door. His phone sat in her hands with a blank screen facing her. There could have been so many things she could have done right then. Especially when she was alone, she could have called Sage, or called anyone else to talk to them. But she didn't know who to start with. No, instead she played music. It was stupid to do that in her mind, though she just needed time to settle down, to get use to being alone. It was never easy to do so, however. Already her anxiety was spiking, though not as badly as it always did. Quietly she sang along to the songs, humming and reciting lyrics, sometimes whispering or mouthing the words. There was a pit in her stomach that she tried to settle, since she knew she wouldn't be able to rest well for who knew how long.
-
On his day off, Monty was grabbing coffee for the afternoon, trying to settle his own nerves. Earlier that week he went to the police, filing a missing person's report for both Winsley and Korren. One of which had been ignored since the day of its application, which was the one for Korren. By doing drive bys in her neighborhood and general areas around town they figured that she was just staying with her boyfriend, connecting and bonding over the week. There was no issue seen with that. As for Winsley, there had been no sight of the lost girl. She had disappeared since that fateful night, where everyone in that household was threatened by being held captive with an armed threat.

Monty went to grab his coffee, warn down over thinking about the others, thinking about Jay. None of them had contacted him since the incident, which was highly worrying. With the thought of them on his mind, he glanced over when he heard a familiar voice: Jay's voice. It stunned him for a moment, which allowed Jay to pay for his own drink. He smiled at him, grabbing his own coffee in the process. There was something slightly different about how Jay was acting, but it was very subtle. Nonetheless, Monty was going to get caught up on the drama, and in the meantime get to talk with Jay alone. "I would appreciate that, thank you JayJay." The little pet name felt too soon to say, though by now it was too late. He moved to find a table, ending up only finding one in the corner of the coffee shop, hidden away from the windows. The window seats were nice, though he didn't complain with the seating. "How've you been this week? I'm sure it's been... well, highly stressful." A sympathetic expression fell over his eyes as he sat down. That week had been hard for all of them, he knew. Soon he hoped that it would all blow over, though at this point he wasn't sure when or if that would happen.
-

Korren took the ice cream gratefully, displaying a half hearted smile in the midst of it. Since they left her mind was on the things he told her, trying to make sense of it all. Some things she tried to find evidence against his points, though there wasn't much evidence for her to back it up. She knew that Sage had loved her, but was it really love? Did he just want to use her like every other guy she managed to come in contact with? If not, then why did he manage to twist her thoughts, to make things that she thought weren't okay, okay? Slowly she ate her ice cream, again deep in thought. The only thing that anchored her from losing all sense of reality was when Bucky reached for her hand, holding on to it. In return she squeezed his hand back, though didn't think much of it. Had he been trying to warn her? But then again, who would bring a gun and shoot Sage in the leg for what he had done to her. It was extreme, but... hadn't Sage always acted a little extreme. More than a little, in all accuracy almost every action he did to defend her had been aggressive, every time he loved her it was overbearing, overly excessive.

Her thoughts were broken through by the sound of Bucky's voice, piercing through to comment on the weather. "Oh, yes. The temperature is wonderful, as is the sun in the sky." In a way this was to humor Bucky, though part of her was serious about that statement. Subconsciously she held on to his hand, running a thumb over his hand in a sort of reassurance. Over the past few days, holding on to him had felt more... comfortable. It was almost nice, and part of her loved that contact, yet another part told her it was very wrong. At the moment though, she ignored the latter. Taking her time she worked on finishing off her cone of ice cream, making sure it didn't drip on her or her clothing at any moment.
-

Kilo looked into her eyes while she spoke, as she tried to help and comfort him in many ways. In her own way he saw that she wanted to help him, but quitting his job was not something he could do. "Winnie, I appreciate all of what you're trying to do here, but I can't just quit my job. I have to check on my friends, my madré, and i have to do my job. There's no going around that. I'll be job searching but I can't lose this job, not now." He took a deep breath, before letting it out. "I can't afford losing the job. Winnie, I'm working to pay rent. If I don't do this, we're going to be kicked out of this house. I can't afford that." At that point he was depressing from the rent, thinking about the severity of the situation. Him wanting to have any fun in the first place was a mistake. He was missing hours, and by now he didn't know if they would be able to reach the quota for this month. Even though Winnie meant well when it came to connections, he didn't fully believe in what she told him. After all, recently she moved there, while he had been living there almost his entire life. "Life isn't going to pause for me, even during these misfortunes, love. I'm sorry." Kilo placed a hand underneath her chin, making she she saw eye to eye with him. "I love you, I do. But I need to take care of this, take care of my family above all else." He moved his arms around her, pulling her into a hug to reassure that he wouldn't leave just yet. Surely he could watch over her while working, while visiting his friends and mother, though it would be a daunting task whether or not he wanted to admit that to be true. Winnie had been through hard times, pushing through internal struggles that he wanted to fully understand, though could not completely wrap his mind around the concept. All he wanted to do was help her, help everyone he loved, but he knew that there was a dividing line, a one that placed his time management in sections. Winnie couldn't always be his priority, though he tried to make sure she was one of his priorities nonetheless.
 
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