Inferno

~153~ Self-Sabotage

Ellie's POV

By the time I wake up, I feel like I've been beat. I slept so deeply, that somehow it feels like I'm drunk right now.

I look over and Taylor is lying there, staring at the ceiling.

"Did you sleep at all?" I ask him

He nods. "Just woke up about twenty minutes ago" he says, sounding furious.

"What time is it?" I ask, stretching out my aching muscles.

"Little after 1" he says softly.

"You ok?" He asks after a minute.

"Every muscle is aching. Was I a mess?" I ask.

He nods as he sits up. He gently puts his hands under my arm pits and lifts me up. He spreads his legs and puts me in between them. Then he silently rubs my shoulders. The way he's rubbing them, he's getting deep into my muscles, immediately releasing some of the knots in my shoulders.

"Alex, Wes, Liam, and I were trying to decide if we needed to take you to the hospital. You were right on the edge. It's like we were reliving Liam in the hospital all over again. You weren't to the screaming point yet, but we were waiting for it. Liam didn't see it last time...He was officially spooked" Taylor says, now moving to my shoulder blades. I groan a little when his thumb presses on a particularly tight muscle.

"I thought for sure she was kidnapped" I say. Wiping a tear away.

"My mind was trying to go there too" he says darkly.

"You ready to deal with this?" He asks after another minute.

"Am I ready to leave my warm bed, with my handsome hubby, while he's giving me a back rub? No...Will I? Yeah. Let me take a shower first" I say as I shimmy off the bed and kiss him gently.

After a minute into my shower he joins me. This definitely isn't a romantic kind of thing. We're just saving time. We silently wash and then get out quickly. I put on leggings and a comfy sweater, and leave my hair down. Putting my hair up right now is going to take more energy than I have. I am so grateful I have Taylor right now. I honestly don't think I could single parent on this one.

We get downstairs and Mason and Sasha are already working on Sasha's project at the table.

"Did you guys sleep at all?" I ask.

Mason nods. "A couple hours. She was too stressed about all her homework to sleep longer" he says as he writes something down on a piece of scratch paper.

Taylor is on the phone, having Liam send Emma over.

"Want us to go upstairs?" Mason asks.

Taylor shakes head. "No matter where you are in this house, you're going to hear this one. I'm not too worried about her being embarrassed right now. You guys can stay if you want" He says, annoyed.

"You think she deserves to just be grounded for this one?" Taylor asks Mason. He isn't being condescending...He's genuinely asking.

Mason shakes his head. "No. Not this time" he says simply.

"So you aren't against me spanking her?" Taylor asks, surprised.

"I didn't say that" Mason says, raising his eyebrows.

"I actually have no idea what discipline I would do if she was mine. There isn't a whole lot of options, is there?" He asks, really thinking about it.

Taylor shrugs. "I don't know...I'm coming up with a ton of different punishments for her right now" he says simply.

Mason nods. "I'll just say that this is the first time that I won't be silently judging you for spanking her" he says with a small smile.