Side Story 1-11

Side Story 1-11
Liam ended up leaving two weeks later. Levi, Tim, and I think it has to do with Chase, even though Liam said that it doesn't; we don't believe him. He said he had to tell Chase that they were fated mates and then called us to tell us he was leaving right after that.

I felt uneasy about letting Liam leave, but we couldn't stop him, though, since he's a grown ass man. He didn't want to tell us where he was going; that's the part that I didn't like. I don't know why he felt the need to be so secretive about where he was going. It's not like we were going to follow him. He is old enough for us to give him space.

I told Paul what was going on because I was working on being better at communication. He told me that he would be there if I needed anything, even if it was something as small as a hug. I did use him the week after Liam left. I cuddled and hugged on him a lot; I felt like it might've been so much that he was getting tired of me.

Then I got that phone call. It was early on a Sunday, almost a week after Liam had left. I was confused when I answered, and it was Chase. I didn't even know he had my number!

My heart stopped when he said that Liam was in the hospital and I needed to get to Arizona.

"What? Hospital?" I asked, my voice trembling.

My hands shook as I booked the next flight that would get me closest to the location Chase sent me. I called Tim and Levi to find out they were already on their way to the airport.

I finish throwing things into my bag, then I run out the door to the car I called. I jump in the backseat and tell them to make haste to the airport. I get to the airport half an hour later. I've got forty-five minutes before the plane takes off. I run to the check-in, then I run to the security line. I make it through the line and get to my gate with five minutes to spare.

They start calling for boarding soon after I arrive. I go to the priority boarding lane and walk down the ramp after showing my ticket.

"Roxy!"

I hear someone calling my name from behind me. I turn to see Levi and Tim running up to the priority boarding line. They run through the line, show the attendant their tickets, then they run up the ramp to me.

"Hey, guys. Does anyone know what's going on?"

Levi and Tim shake their heads. Levi says, "No, Chase just called and said I needed to get to the hospital in Arizona."

I nod, "Same, I just hope everything is okay."

Tim and Levi nod solemnly. It's Tim who says, "Everything has to be okay. It's Liam, he's too beautiful a soul for bad things to happen to him."

I shake my head sadly, "It's his beautiful soul that draws the bad things to him. It makes it easy for people to take advantage of him."

We board the plane in silence after that. We take our seats and wait until we're in the air to fly 6 hours to make sure that everything is okay with our baby brother.

We arrive in Arizona, and call a car immediately to take us to the hospital. We get to the hospital, where we sign in before they let us know what room Liam is in. We rush to the elevator and get on it, riding it up to his floor. We rush from the elevator to his room.

We bang the door open in our rush to get into his room. Levi immediately yells, "Liam!"

We see them on the bed with Liam lying on Chase's chest. I notice the way Liam flinches at the loud tone of Levi's voice, but Levi doesn't seem to notice.

Chase says softly from his spot on the bed, "Quietly, please."

Levi glares at him, but his voice is quieter when he calls Liam again. Liam peeks his head from where he's tucked into Chase's chest, "Levi," is all he manages to get out before he begins to sob.

Levi rushes over and pulls Liam from Chase, wrapping his arms around him. Levi is crying too. "Liam! What happened? Chase didn't tell me, he only said you were in the hospital!"

Liam just sobs harder as he clings to Levi. Tim and I walk over and wrap our arms around both Levi and Liam. Tears start to fall from my eyes, witnessing them cry so openly.

I look over at Chase to see him looking devastated before he walks out of the room. We stay in the room with Liam, huddled around him, offering him support from our presence alone.

Fifteen minutes later, Chase comes back into the room. He looks like he's been crying as he wipes his face and walks over to a chair on the side of the room. He looks over at us huddled around Liam before his eyes find Liam, and he says,

"You have to tell them, Liam. They need to know everything."

Liam shakes his head quickly, mumbling, "No, no, no, no."

Tell us what? What's going on here? I don't ask my questions out loud, though. I keep quiet, just looking back and forth between them.

"If you don't want to tell them, I can tell them for you?" Chase asks him gently.

Liam slowly stops shaking his head before he begins to nod. "Yes, that will work."

Chase nods before he stands and asks us to follow him to the hallway. He turns around to see us still standing by Liam's bed, looking between him and Liam.

"C'mon, please. Let's let Liam rest for a bit while we have a chat," he says.

We slowly unwrap our arms from around Liam before following Chase into the hallway. Once we're in the hallway, with the door to Liam's room closed, Chase turns to us and says,

"So, it sounded like Liam didn't tell you guys much when he left."

Levi immediately responds, "No, no, he didn't. I already didn't like that. So what's going on? He doesn't look injured, so what happened? Is he sick?"

Chase holds his hand up to stop Levi from speaking further. "Whoa, slow down. I'm going to tell you what happened from the beginning."

Levi replies with attitude, "Okay, I'm listening."

I chose that moment to speak up, "What happened, Chase?"

He clears his throat before speaking, "Liam ran from New York because of me. I called him crazy when he told me about the fated mate stuff, basically told him he was lying, and was trying to trap me. So he ran as a result of that, and he has been here for seven days now. Two days ago, he was raped by two brothers."

I can see the pain that just speaking those words causes him. The same ripple of pain runs through me at hearing them. I don't have time to dwell on my pain as I hear Levi.

"What?!" Levi roars right before he lays a right hook on Chase's cheek.

Chase simply lifts his head back up and says, "I deserve all of that, so hit me as much as you want."

He looks so haunted in this moment; it's a very sad sight to see. I feel almost as bad for him as I do for Liam.

Tim and I move to pull Levi off of Chase, just as Chase turns and looks back into Liam's room. I follow his eyes to see Liam out of bed, trying to hobble to the door. Chase opens the door and goes and scoops Liam up, taking him and laying him back in bed.

I can only look on in awe as I witness firsthand the love he has for my little brother. I sigh and walk back into Liam's room. Bad things just seem to follow him. This is going to be a long, hard journey to recovery for him. The only thing I can think about is being there for him in any way possible.