Book 3: Saving Scars {BoyxBoy}

Chapter 25

 Casey and Seth jumped when the door swung open, shocked to see Kieran, Annabelle, and Dante hurry into the room. Immediately Annabelle cried and ran to the side of the bed, where Cal was sitting up, his right arm in a sling, and started scolding him.

"Calvin Shaw, do you understand what you've put me through?! Do you realize how afraid I was?! And now this?!"

"Sorry, Anna," Cal said softly, a sad smile gracing his lips as Annabelle sat on the bed, fawning over him with her hands flying over his face and hair.

Seth was sitting in the chair beside Casey, his arms wrapped tightly around the trembling boy, smoothing down his black hair and rubbing his back as he stared blankly ahead, his eyes red and his cheeks stained in tears. Kieran made his way over to them and fell to his knees, taking Casey's hand and setting his other hand on Seth's knee.

"I'm so relieved to see you both, I was so worried."

Seth sniffed and tightened his grip on Casey, trembling, "We're sorry," his voice shook, "We just... we wanted this to just end..."

"It's over, Seth," Kieran soothed, and Seth looked at him.

"Really?"

"It's over," Kieran repeated, nodding, "X is gone. Everyone is safe. Everyone is alive. Everything is going to be fine."

Casey moaned, dropping his face into his hands and sobbing. Kieran snapped his lips closed as Seth tried to calm Casey, rubbing his back and whispering, "It's okay, he's gonna be okay."

Kieran felt his panic increase as he looked between his brother and boyfriend, "What's going on?"

Seth met his eye, "Lex... he...," he bit his lip and looked away, burying his face in Casey's hair, "He got shot."

Kieran's eyes grew wide and he stood up, "Where?"

"Chest-."

"No, I mean where is he?"

Seth leaned up and wiped his eyes, "He's in surgery."

"Who's his doctor?"

"Marin."

Kieran relaxed, "Then he's gonna be fine," Casey pulled his hands away to look at his brother, who smiled, "Marin is a fantastic surgeon, Casey. Lex will be fine."

"There was so much blood," Casey whispered, and Kieran frowned, "He was so pale... he looked so scared..."

"Hey, come here," Kieran held his arms out, and Casey slid out of the chair, pressing himself against Kieran's chest as Kieran wound his arms tightly around him, rocking back and forth and kissing his head, "Lex is a strong kid, baby brother, and he's too in love with you to leave like that. Not without one hell of a fight," Casey sniffed and rubbed his eyes with a fist, nodding, and Kieran held him out to cup his cheeks, "So no more tears. He's gonna be fine, I'm sure of it, and he'll want to see you smiling when he wakes up. You need to stay strong so you can lecture him for getting hurt," Casey gave a shaky smile and nodded, and Kieran leaned forward to kiss his forehead, "Go wash your face, okay? We can go get something to eat."

Casey obeyed, standing and walking to the bathroom that connected to the room. Kieran stood up and raked his hand through his hair with a sigh, looking down when he felt a soft hand encircle his, "Are you alright?" Seth asked softly, and Kieran bit his lip before nodding.

"I'll be fine," he assured, pulling Seth to his feet and wrapping his arms around him, speaking in a voice only Seth could hear, "You're alive, safe in my arms, and that's all I need. What about you? Are you okay?"

Seth smiled sweetly and wrapped his arms around Kieran's waist, lying his head against his chest, "I'm okay now. We all are... everything will be fine."