Not So Delicate ||18+|| ✔️

Brooklyn ~85~

Time seemed to have come to a stop.

I couldn't help but remember all the moments I've had leading up to this. Every kiss, every cuddle, every story, every smile. Every second I spent loving and caring for these three men. For this man.

Atticus.

We had the most complex relationship out of all. We had our moments of weakness, moments where we lied to each other, moments where we accidentally hurt each other. But at the end of the day, he would hold me and tell me he loved me. And I'd do the same.

My throat felt like it was about to close. Surely this is a dream.. right? I pinch myself, nothing.

This was real.

Everything came rushing back to me like a raging river after a storm. The smell of blood, the sound of bullets, Alek, Atticus, Dante.

My eyes widened and I let out a scream when Atticus harshly pushed me backward, sending both me and Dante rolling down the stairs. I braced myself before I could get badly hurt, burning my hands on the carpeted floor. What the hell just happened??

I sit up and look at Atticus. Alek had shot him.

I stand to run but Dante grabs my ankle, saying something about it being too dangerous for me. I fight back and try to run but I fail. Atticus held his stomach, slowly backing away from Alek. I desperately kicked and squirmed to release myself from Dante but he easily overpowered me.

Another shot. I look back quickly.

Atticus...

I felt my heart shatter in my ribcage, piercing my lungs and organs. I watch as Atticus falls backward, his whole front was bleeding, staining his shirt. I watched and I hoped... I hoped he would get up.. please get up.

When he doesn't, I let out a scream. It felt like it ruptured my eardrums, it felt like it shredded my throat. I was sure it was even powerful enough to break glass. I felt dread and grief bubble and spill out of me. I don't even realize it when I kick Dante hard enough to be released. I ran to Atticus, picking up the gun that dropped from my hands when he pushed me. I shoot Alek, watching him drop to the floor in pain.

I grab Atticus's shirt, hauling him closer to me, I put his head in my lap and gently move the hair from his face. I was breathing heavily for some reason. I didn't even run that much. I press my palm to his chest, staring down at his closed eyes.

He wasn't breathing...

"Atticus.. no more games.. wake up," I say sternly, my eyes watering. He was okay. I know he was. He has to be. "Atticus, enough. Wake up, baby. You got to wake up."

I tap his forehead twice and then shake him a little. Either he was fast asleep or playing some sick game on me. I shake him again, a little harder. I heard footsteps come closer, my name being whispered.

I ignore him, my eyes still on Atticus.

"We still have to watch our movie... remember? You said you'd watch it with me..." I whisper shakily. I see a drop of water on his cheek, where'd it come from? I watch as another one appears, followed by two more. They were tears... my tears.

I was crying... why was I crying? There's no need to cry. Everyone was still okay. I heard my name again but I ignored it. I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to pull me away.

"Brooklyn.. You got to let him go, mami." Dante's voice said. He sounded like he was in pain. He kept trying to pull me away from Atticus but I refused to go.

"I can't leave him here, he'll get hurt," I tell him, my voice breaking. I blinked away the tears, clutching onto Atticus tighter. Blood was starting to seep out of his mouth, making my eyes go wide. My eyes move from his mouth to his eyes, down to his chest, and then to his stomach. He was shot in a spot that could be fatal, and the hole in his chest was awfully close to his heart. "No... No no no! Atticus!"

I yell his name, pressing my palm into his wound hard, the blood gushing around my hand. Cat and a girl who looked just like her appeared, grabbing my wrist and forcefully pulling me away from Atticus. I scream and curse at them, hot tears running down my face. He was dead, he was fucking dead!

My Atticus.. my lover. I watched his life get taken away in front of me. I yelled and sobbed. There was still so much more for us to experience. So much for us to learn. I wanted to marry him. I wanted to have a future with him. It wasn't supposed to end this way... But it did. His life was taken away from him by his own brother.

Alek.

My burning eyes turn to the top of the staircase, zeroing in on Alek who was watching everything, his hand grabbing his stomach where I shot him.

"You fucking bastard!" I yell, feeling rage overpower my grief. And then I felt a snap. It was like all self-control and emotions left my body. I felt empty except for the pure blistering hot rage that bubbled in my stomach. "θα σε σκοτώσω!" [I'm going to kill you!]

With the strength I didn't know I had, I pushed away everyone and ran up the stairs, kicking Alek's hand when it raised to shoot me. I grab his gun and aim it at his head. My cheeks were wet with my tears and my heartbeat felt faint. I don't have a murderous bone in my body... but that was before.

"Why? Why'd you do it? He didn't do you a fucking thing! He didn't even know you existed!" I yell, stepping on his hand. He yells out in pain, trying to hit me but I grab his other hand, twisting it in the same way Callan had shown me when he was teaching me a few self-defense tricks. "Answer me you piece of shit!"

When he doesn't, I place my finger on the trigger, centering the barrel in the middle of his forehead.

"Because his daughter doesn't deserve such a shitty father!" He yells, blood spewing out along with his spit. My grip on the gun falters a little. Did he say 'daughter'..?

"Atticus doesn't have a daughter," I say, my grip tightening around the gun again and aiming it at him better. I felt his hand slip out from under my foot, pressing into his wound again.

"Atticus doesn't, but Aristarkh does. A sweet 4-year-old girl who wonders where her daddy is every day." He grits out, staring me in the eyes. My gaze falls from him and travels over to Atticus... Dante was holding him with a frown, Cat and her twin staring down at him in grief. His blood stained the carpet floor. I look at my hands. They were as red with his blood... I swallow thickly, my eyes watering again.

"He doesn't have a daughter..." I whisper, trying to convince myself. The gun that was pointing at Alek pointed to the ground. It wasn't true.. it can't be true..

"You're right, he doesn't." Alek said amused before thrusting a small knife into my thigh, making me scream out in pain. I almost dropped the gun but I gripped it tighter before shooting Alek three times. His mouth gurgled with his blood and his eyes went empty. He stared into space as his life slowly became nothing.

I stare at him for a moment before I limp away, leaving the knife in my thigh to suppress the blood. I walk down the staircase, my eyes only on Atticus. Dante let him go a little, staring at me in shock and grief. I heard ambulances rushing our way, but they were too late...

I had already lost my lover. Dante lost his friend. And Cat and her twin lost a comrade.

I lost a piece of myself.

I drop to my knees beside Atticus, placing my bloody hand in his and lying in his arms for one last time...

~~~~~

I teared up a bit at the end there... our beloved soldier has fallen.

I already know you guys are thinking, "Oh he's alive." But unfortunately, his death is needed for what's to come. I'm sorry it had to be him. :(

R.I.P Aristarkh (Atticus) Koslov.

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