To the Smelly Boy Apartment It Is! (Story 2 of Sev & M)

Chapter 20

Once they got back to the apartment Severine and Marcus got out of the car first. Marcus stood in front of Nora and Severine behind her. They made their way up the stairs and into the apartment. Severine let out a shaky breath now that they were relatively safe, Marcus heard it and knew he should feel slightly relieved too but he didn't. He saw Severine turn to Nora and whisper something. He thought he heard him say he would explain everything to her soon but he wasn't sure, everything seemed foggy. He felt a pressure on his wrist and saw that Severine had a hold of it and was tugging him towards his room. Once they were in his room Severine backed him up to the bed until he sat on it.

"We couldn't beat him," he said as soon as he sat down.

"We didn't want to destroy Nora's house," Severine responded.

"Would it have mattered? He's so strong," he countered.

"He is strong but I think if we worked together and knew Nora was far enough away from the danger we would have been able to hold our own. We're both really strong M," Severine said.

"I know that!" he snapped, "But he said...," he stopped mid sentence. Severine had flinched at this raised tone.

"What did he say?" Severine asked in a soothing voice.

"He said he would take you away from me. Just like he took my brother away from me," he finished. He wasn't looking at him but he heard Severine suck in his breath. Then he felt his arms go around him.

"I'm not going anywhere M. You know that right?"

He nodded and put his arms around him, when he squeezed him back Severine let out a small gasp and he felt him stiffen against him. He dropped his arms immediately and his dazed feeling was gone in that instant when he saw the blood on his wrist and remembered Severine had been hurt.

"Turn around," he said. His voice sounded hoarse.

"I'm fine," Severine protested, "I'm more worried about you."

"Turn around Severine," he said again sternly.

Severine sighed but did as instructed. The back of his shirt had several small cuts in it and two larger ones all surrounded by blood. Not an overwhelming amount but still, it was blood. He gently lifted the shirt above Severine's shoulders, using extra care where the blood had dried, and inspected the cuts. None of them were deep enough to need stitches but he knew they needed to get them cleaned and bandaged. He could see a piece of glass in each of the large cuts and felt his stomach turn at the thought that he was the one that just pushed it in further.

As if sensing his thoughts Severine said over his shoulder, "This isn't your fault M. The glass has been in there since the window shattered. This was my own doing. You don't have anything to blame yourself for."

He just nodded and hollered for Nora and when she popped up in the doorway he instructed her to where the peroxide, paper towels, tweezers, and bandages were. She went and got them quickly, once she had handed them to him she went back to the living room.

"You shouldn't have shielded me," he said as he started cleaning the smaller cuts first since they wouldn't take as long, Severine was kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"You would have done the same if you had noticed what was going on before I did," he replied, "besides I figured if he's doing all this because my father wants me back it isn't like he can seriously harm me."

He didn't say anything. He was struggling with the guilt of Severine being hurt again because of him. He placed one hand on Severine's shoulder and steadied his other to take the glass pieces out. He pulled them out quickly and Severine barely flinched. He cleaned both gashes and bandaged them as well.

With the cuts cleaned and the glass out he felt extremely weary, "Don't say that. Don't put yourself in unnecessary situations thinking that. I can't lose you too Severine. I can't."

Severine turned to face him again and pulled him back into his embrace, "I"m sorry. You're right. I'll be more careful. I'm not going anywhere okay, so don't look so worried."

He nodded his head. Not wanting to speak, despite Severine's words he still had an odd feeling in his gut that he didn't like. He felt himself shaking and Severine released him.

"You need to rest. I'm fine now, so you rest and I'll go check on Nora. I'll come back and check on you soon," Severine said, kissing his forehead. He nodded again and laid down.

He must have fallen asleep because he was startled awake by a loud noise like a book dropping. He rubbed his eyes and leaned outside his door listening. He heard Severine talking in his soothing voice.

"I know it's crazy and a lot to process but that was what we hadn't told you yet."

He heard Nora say something back but couldn't make out what it was. He debated getting back in bed but decided he had made Severine worry enough so made his way to the living room. When he came around the corner Nora saw him and gave him a sad smile.

"Hey girlfriend," she said but her usually playful tone was gone.

Severine turned around and they locked eyes, he nodded to his unspoken question. He had told Nora everything including who Issac really was and the truth about his brother. He wasn't mad that Severine had told her instead of him, he was glad Nora knew now and they wouldn't have to skirt around the issues. Nora stood up and started walking towards him, he noticed her eyes looked unusually bright and sighed. He didn't know if he could handle any more crying. She threw herself at him unexpectedly, he stumbled slightly but didn't fall.

"Thanks for saving my ass," she whispered. He could feel her tears on his shoulder.

He gave her a quick hug back then patted the top of her head, "Oh Nora, like I would have let anything happen to you."

She sniffled and pulled away shaking her head, "So what's the plan now?"

He looked to Severine again who nodded, "Well you're not to be left alone anymore. We can wait till tomorrow then go back to your place and get you some clothes and stuff but until this gets over you need to stay with us."

Nora nodded, he glanced at Severine and noticed he was looking at his phone, so he pulled her close for another hug and whispered low in her ear, "Severine is not to be left alone either. If you see or notice anything, tell me immediately. Understand?"

"I planned on it," she assured him.