𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Lloyd felt Addison's body fall limp in his arms.

He hadn't even made it to the bedroom before she fell asleep, her head tucked into his neck while his thumbs traced the muscles in her thigh. The knife sheath was still tight against her skin, a thin layer of sweat coated her body from the warm air, soft breaths leaving her parted lips and ghosting against his throat. Lloyd finally reached his bedroom, slowly placing her body down onto the mattress, hands running down the expanse of her thighs before they stopped at the knee. He could tell by the crease of her brow, the small frown that rest on her lips, the way her fingers gripped the sheets below her, that something was wrong.

Whatever those agents did was affecting her more than he had ever seen.

A whimper fell past her lips in her sleep, his body instantly dropping down next to her to pull Addison into his chest, hands running up the back of her thighs, ghosting over her bum before they rested on the small of her back under the shirt she was wearing. "Sunshine," his voice was barely audible, a whisper in the wind, but enough where her body settled into his embrace, "I have you, I promise everything is going to be okay," it was true, as long as she was in his arms, Addison was untouchable, "you're safe," he pressed a kiss against her temple before slipping out of her grasps, going to grab some clean clothes for her.

The moonlight peered into the room, casting the bed in a silver glow, stars dancing along the onyx sky and reflecting against the marble tile as he made his way to the closet. He looked over his shoulder at the girl he loved, so battered and bruised, his heart stopping when he watched her curl into his pillow, the shirt rising so he could see the long bruises that ran across her stomach. Skin had been ripped, raw from them beating her, she wasn't helpless by any means, but Lloyd had always been fiercely overprotective of her. She didn't need it, Addison was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Lloyd didn't want her to, he wanted to be the person to take care of her at all times.

Lloyd wanted to be the man that he knew she deserved.

Just love her like she deserves.

Lloyd exhaled slowly, tilting his head back. Six was no longer his enemy, not fully, if he wanted to prove his love to the woman laying on the bed, he had to put that on the back burner, the man who he needed to go after was not only who he was working for, but his friend, Denny Carmichael. Fingers grasped the soft fabric of a shirt off the hanger, feet moving to grab the first aid kit before slowly making his way back to the bed. They incapacitated her, disoriented her, came after her when she was slowly crumbling. He had never seen her bolt to him like that, like for the first time she was actually scared of what was happening to her.

The mattress sunk under his weight when he sat down next to her, peeling the blankets back, the cool air kissing her heated skin and goosebumps rose on her thighs. His hand smoothed her hair off her forehead, thumb stroking her hairline gently, "I'm sorry sunshine," he leaned down to press a kiss to her nose before starting to pull the layers of clothing off of her gently, exposing the raw skin to his eyes. He felt the fire light in his veins, his thumb trailing over the marks on her stomach gently. Broken skin meeting his calloused hands, sharp intakes of air filing her lungs in her sleep, toes curling, fingers clutching the sheets.

He had to put an end to this, now.

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled his phone out of the fabric, pulling up Suzanne and Nicole into a group text, two simple words, even through a screen would be read with urgency, upstairs, now.

Less than thirty seconds later Nicole and Suzanne stood at the foot of the bed, watching Lloyds hands dance over the skin, putting ointment on, cleaning deeper wounds, patching up cuts. Blue and purple splotches covered the expanse of her stomach, a cut ran down her lip from where he teeth had sunk into the skin, chest rising and falling rapidly in her sleep. "Shhh," Lloyd whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to her temple, "I'm still here sunshine, no one can hurt you." A spoken promise that even in her sleep calmed her, fingers loosening enough to lift her from the mattress and place a clean shirt over her body, before she was settled back into the spot. It was the gentlest that Nicole and Suzanne had ever seen Lloyd act.