BANE

CHAPTER NINE - BREACH (Part 2)

Holden woke up hours later to find Corbin in bed beside him. He shifted his weight to face him, while freeing his right hand to touch Corbin's sleeping face. Holden remembered back to his first morning in the apartment, over six months before. He had awoken on the living room couch only to discover that Corbin had fallen asleep sitting in the chair beside him. Holden had found him attractive, but generally intimidating and at times terrifying. He never would have guess that morning that they would one day end up like this. He had been right about one thing from day one... Corbin really did look peaceful when he slept.

Holden still was not sure it was okay for himself to feel happy. His life was complete chaos, but he felt more secure with Corbin than he ever had with Tyson. He had thought of himself as experienced, having been in a long-term relationship for five years before, but this was entirely new territory. Deep down, Holden had already realized that he probably loved Corbin, but he still couldn't bring himself to return the words when he heard them.

He could not reach with his left hand due to the IV placement, so instead he shifted his right one lower to grab Corbin's own. Holden smiled when his boyfriend opened his eyes. "You stayed?"

"Of course I stayed," Corbin's brow furrowed into an almost indignant frown, as if insulted that Holden would be surprised. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was expecting, to be honest. Is Layla still here?"

"She got in a big fight with Gordan after you fell asleep and they both left. Vic went home too."

"Did she say anything to you? Are you okay?"

"She gave me a hug when she left, but didn't say anything... Do you think she's okay with it?"

Holden entwined their fingers together. "I think she was just a bit surprised, that was a lot of news for one day."

"I hope you're right. I should tell her that Blake already knows... but I really want to hide in this room away from everyone for at least a week."

"What if we took a trip? We could kill two birds with one stone..."

"What?"

"It's probably not safe here for me right now... I want to go to your hometown. Layla can come with us and the two of you could do some brother-sister bonding."

Corbin could not believe what he was hearing. "Absolutely not. Blake almost killed you."

"Your siblings seem to know what I am—we need them."

"We'll talk about this when you're off the painkillers; you're not thinking clearly."

"I'm serious."

"So am I!" Corbin snapped and sat up in the bed. He sighed heavily when he looked back down at Holden. "You almost died twice in little over a week... please can you take a break from it all for a while? Take it easy for a bit and heal."

"I can't sit around waiting for someone else to make the next move. I need answers if I'm going to..." Holden stopped himself mid-sentence and sat up, looking around the room. "Where's my phone?"

"I think I saw it charging in the living room. Going to what, Holden?"

Holden ignored the follow-up question. "Can you grab it for me? And can you see if Birgitta is around? I want to get out of bed for a bit, I have to go to the bathroom."

Corbin sighed in defeat. "Sure," He exited the bedroom and found the two women curled up on the couch watching TV. He grabbed Holden's now fully-charged phone and asked Birgitta if she could check on him.