Lavender

Winning

I woke up with Adam and Max slung over me, as if they were protecting me. I slightly shook them both until they woke up. Adam groaned and stretched, while Max just squeezed me tighter. "Let me get up, Max!"

"No."

He looked up at me and I kissed his forehead. He released me and kissed my lips. I scurried out of bed before he grabbed onto me again. Adam and Max looked at each other and smiled. "Where's Luther?" I asked.

"Down the hall in our makeshift nurses office. It's run by the light blue band." Adam answered.

"We should let him sleep for as long as he can," Max added, "but we can bring him breakfast after we eat."

So we went downstairs and ate. The grey band sat across from us. I chatted with Eric while the others had a long conversation about boring things.

"It's good to have you back, Link."

"Thanks. I'm happy to be back. I still smell like campfire and I'm starving. How are things with you guys?"

"Getting better every day. About a year ago, things were really rough. But we're all doing pretty good now. Sex life has been amazing."

I laughed. "Is that all you care about?"

"No! But every relationship puts sex in different places on a list of priorities. My relationship puts it pretty far up. It's not just me."

"Makes sense. It's kinda high in ours too. Don't think we could live without it."

His voice got hushed and I leaned in to hear him. "They thought they'd never touch you again. Think about how bad they want to fuck you right now."

I smiled. "Pretty sure they're focused on Luther right now."

"You're right. You should relive some of that stress. Hey, I have an idea."

I pushed him away from me. He laughed and the others looked at us. "What's so funny?" Malcom, one of the grey-eyes men, asked.

We just kept laughing. The grey band said their goodbyes and headed upstairs.

Luther appeared at the top of the stairs and started walking down to us. Someone with light blue eyes was holding his arm, helping him down. They reached us and sat down across from us. The person with Luther addressed the rest of the Lavenders. "Link, Max, Adam. Your man here has not been communicating my words to you, so here I am. His bandages need to be changed every day or any time it gets dirty or he takes a shower or bath. Don't let him take them off. He should be stretching his legs multiple times a day with supervision. No rigorous exercise or stress to the body. Physical therepy once a week. Talk therepy once a week. Rest. A lot of it. Any questions?"

We looked at each other. Luther rolled his eyes. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Levi. I am his nurse. And I am with the rest of my band on the second floor, so stop by if you need anything. Night and day, 24/7. Anything."

We nodded and they left. "Why haven't you told us all this?" Adam asked softly.

Luther turned away and stood up from the table. "Let's go upstairs. I feel like people are watching me."

We helped him up the stairs and to our suite. "If I break, she wins." Luther spat.

"Break?" Max asked. Adam also seemed confused, but I completely understood what he meant. Luther doesn't want to let her win, and she wins if he becomes what she wants him to become. If he becomes weak, if he becomes dependent.

"You wouldn't get it even if I tried." He sat down on the bed.

"Can you guys give us some space?" I asked Max and Adam.

They looked at each other then back at me. They nodded and left. I sat next to Luther. "What are the conditions?" I asked.

"What?" He didn't look at me.

"Her win conditions. What means she wins? I'll help you avoid them."

"It's complicated."

I took a deep breath. "My conditions, for my family, have to do with self talk. If I hate myself, they win. If I talk bad about myself, they win. If I go back, they win. If I self destruct or self sabotage, they win. So I pretend to be confident and I let people love me even if I feel like I don't deserve it. That's how I win."

Luther looked at me. "You don't really talk about them, do you?"

"I can. I'll answer any question asked about them, but I don't want to feel like I'm trauma-dumping or bothering anyone."

"Tell me everything."