A/N - little bit short but oh well😍

TW: this scene contains scenes of assault (off page and on page)

~~~

Chase

"Are you sure about this?", Caleb dipped a large paintbrush into a can of paint and scrunched his face up, "mint fucking green?".

Hater.

"What's wrong with mint green?", I asked, dipping an identical brush into an identical can and getting to work on the opposite wall, "it's a nice colour".

"It just feels...basic", remind me why I asked the one brother who had an interest in painting to come and do this?

"It's a baby nursery Caleb, not some interior design job", I snapped before wincing, "sorry".

"No I'm sorry, I'll chill", he surrendered, "pre-paternal nerves, I got it". Rory was eight months pregnant now, and with our daughter due in the next few weeks, I was full on shitting it. So she'd suggested I paint the nursery to try and 'calm my nerves' while she took a walk to the store nearby- she'd insisted and now I was terrified at the thought of her being out there alone.

"Something like that", I mumbled, dragging my brush along the wall, "I should go to the store and-,".

"And what? Make Rory think you're coddling her?", he raised an eyebrow as I adjusted my glasses, "she probably just wants some fresh air Chase".

"She can get fresh air with me", I muttered, facing the wall again, "what if her waters broke out there and-,".

"She would've called you- instantly", he cut me off, "I always knew you were the biggest worrier of us all".

"Try having an eight-month-pregnant girlfriend and then talk to me", I shook my head, dipping my brush again, "I've barely slept in a week".

"Smoke something", he suggested and I sent him a deadpan look, "what? You should-,". I heard the door open downstairs and dropped my brush into the can, rushing out of the room while my brother was mid sentence; I heard his brush drop as he followed behind me.

Something was wrong.

As soon as I laid my eyes upon Rory, a shiver flew down my spine, even when she plastered on a smile at the pair of us.

I knew her better than that.

"What happened?", I stepped forwards before she'd even had a chance to take off both of her shoes, cupping her chin lightly in my right hand.

"What do you mean? I'm fine", the smile she tried to give me was nothing but a facade, especially when I could see the glassy look in her eyes.

"Rory", I leaned down slightly, feeling an unfamiliar sense of anger pulse through me- I wasn't an angry person, never had been and never would be, "what happened?".

"Chase, just drop it, yeah? I'll be fine", she moved her chin from my grasp and went to step past me, I latched onto her wrist to stop her.

"You'll be fine? So you're not", I stated, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "talk to me". I could feel Caleb behind me boring holes into my back, no doubtedly concerned about Rory too; they may bicker like siblings but they also got along like siblings too.

"I don't want you to get angry", she closed her eyes and exhaled, "I'm fine".

"Are you saying that to convince me or you?", I frowned, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "just tell me yeah?".

"I couldn't reach those cookies you like on the top shelf", she started, her throat bobbing as she swallowed, "I asked a worker for help to reach it- he stood behind me...and uh, put his arm around me from behind and touched my stomach while he got the cookies down".

I saw fucking red.

The jingle of keys filled my ears and Caleb brushed past me, I tipped Rory's chin up with two shaky fingers and pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to keep my breathing in check.

"Stay here", I whispered against her forehead, "give me a name baby". The door opened and Caleb stepped outside, the roar of his engine filling the air seconds later.

"Chase-,", she shook her head slightly, cupping my chin in her hand, "I'm fine, I-,".

"A name", I repeated quietly, not wanting to snap at her or startle her anymore than she already had been.

"His name-tag said Carson", I nodded once, kissing her forehead again before squeezing her shoulder and following after Caleb, "stay here yeah? I'll be back".

After I beat the shit out of someone.

~

"I've been waiting for this shit!", Caleb grabbed my shoulder and shook me with a loud laugh, "but that's fucking assault Chase, he put his hands on a woman- a pregnant woman at that-,".

"Not a woman", I clenched a fist in my lap, my jaw grinding as I tried to keep my rarely seen temper in check on the short drive down the street, "my woman, and my daughter".

"And you have every right to fuck him up", he nodded, "your first fight, I'm a proud brother right now".

"I could fucking kill him Cub, I've never felt this angry in my life", I fisted my hair and pulled it, unbuckling my seatbelt the second his car came to a stop.

"Because he touched your girls, Chase", he nodded, "we all felt the same when that guy grabbed Izzy at the beach". And that? That only fuelled my temper even more as the pair of us climbed out of the car and entered the store.

~

"Do I just pounce? Confront him first?", Caleb was right, this was my first time getting into an altercation with anyone and even at 21, I still needed my older brother's advice.

"You'll know when you see him", was all he said, staying by my side as we scaled each aisle, taking note of every name-tag on every damn employee. Rory's face flashed back into my mind and I squeezed my fists tighter; the fact that she'd been intending on keeping it to herself driving me fucking insane.

Ironically, Caleb and I overheard another worker calling someone with the name Carson, and funnily enough- he was by the fucking cookies.

"Breathe, and just act", Caleb rubbed my shoulders as I advanced forwards, blocking out everything else as I grabbed the piece of shit by the shoulder and swung my fist into his jaw. He had more height on me, more muscle than me, looked scarier than me- but I couldn't give a fucking shit.

He'd touched the one person I cared about most in the world and for that he deserved every blow I directed towards his face.

"What the fuck man?", he stumbled back, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, "who the fuck are you?". I didn't speak, just hit him again, this time sending him to the ground and pouncing on top of him, my fists connecting with him over and over again.

He put his arm around me from behind and touched my stomach while he got the cookies down.

I couldn't stop, I wouldn't stop.

He'd hurt her, and in doing that, he'd hurt me too.

My knuckles burned, yet I couldn't stop, my breathing quickened, yet I couldn't stop, this wasn't like me- yet I wouldn't stop.

You're worthless Chase, my father's voice circulated around my head as I threw punch after punch, you're defective, nothing but a liability- no wonder your mother left and-

"That's enough, breathe", a firm grip yanked me up to my feet, snapping me back to reality as I blinked and took everything in.

The crowd of terrified people around us, all eyes on me.

The workers rushing to their colleague who I'd beaten beyond recognition.

The mangled state of my knuckles as my hands trembled at my sides.

I looked back at the guy on the floor and all I saw was myself; defenceless, weak, overpowered by Santiago's fists on countless occasions.

I was no better than him.

"Don't fucking let your mind go there", Caleb shook me, seemingly being able to read my mind, "he's guilty okay? He assaulted Rory- you're not at fault".

I was no better than him.

"I need to- I'm gonna-,", I clutched my chest and heaved, allowing my brother to drag me outside of the store in record speed so I could empty the contents of my stomach in a nearby bush, "what have I done?". I looked at my hands, bloodied, bruised, this wasn't me.

"You did what needed to be done", he rubbed my back, pausing all of a sudden, "fuck". I coughed, standing up straight to see what he'd seen; my whole body tensing when a police car and ambulance pulled up at the store's entrance. Shit.

"Cub, I can't- they can't arrest me", I shook my head, taking a step back, "Rory's at home and- what if I killed him?".

"You didn't kill him, trust me", he rubbed my shoulder and squeezed it, "you need to breathe, you need to be level headed". Easier said than done.

"Call Zane", I pleaded as an officer approached us, "call him now Cub I swear to-,".

"Sir?", I was gonna be tossed in a cell within the fucking hour, Xander was gonna have a field day with this, "can we-,".

"Leave him the fuck alone, you can see he's not okay", Caleb stood in front of me protectively, shielding me with his six-three frame so I couldn't see the officer's face, "you should be in there arresting the fucking scum who just assaulted his pregnant girlfriend".

"Regardless of what the victim has done-,", the victim?

"The fucking victim?", Caleb scoffed as my stomach churned again- the fact they didn't see Rory as the victim here made me feel fucking sick, "that piece of shit is not a fucking victim, you should-,".

"I'm gonna need you to calm down sir", the distinctive jingle of cuffs filled my ears and I swallowed; I'd heard that sound too many times in the company of Xander growing up, "you're being aggressive, and I may need to cuff you if-,".

"That won't be necessary", that voice did nothing but fill me with relief in a heartbeat, "why did I receive a call from Aurora in hysterics saying you were gonna do something stupid?".

She'd called Zane.

"By the looks of his hands, he did", Scott entered my field of vision and I didn't know whether I wanted to hug them or shrivel into a ball and die; the way they were looking at me told me everything I needed to know. This wasn't me.

"Some piece of shit touched her up in there", Caleb spoke for me as my heart thrummed and I fought the urge to throw up again, "he did what needed to be done". My eldest brothers' faces darkened, their gazes settling on me yet again, I'd never felt so small in my life.

"I beat him beyond recognition", I whispered, "I don't know what happened, I just-,". A hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed it, I glanced up and was met with that familiar pair of green eyes.

"Not now", I didn't even realise I'd started to cry until he wiped a thumb under my eye, fixing my glasses afterwards, "you stand your ground hm? I'm proud of you".

"Put your cuffs away and go back to your car", I was surprised to hear Marco's voice come out of thin air; then again he was the one we always went to in...illegal situations.

"Mr Delgado", the officer acknowledged him with a curt nod, "I was just-,".

"About to arrest my cousin for doing the right thing?", he cocked his head, "you should be counting your blessings I didn't have my way with the scum because- well we don't want to go there do we?". He flashed a grin that had absolutely no friendliness behind it and I shivered, Zane squeezed my shoulder again; I was beyond thankful for him- for them right now.

Apparently my cousin's threat and calculating glare were enough to send the officer in the opposite direction- I had never had any interest in what Marco did for a living and wasn't about to show any now; but at the rate he'd just sent that officer practically running, it can't have been good.

"I'm just like him", I whispered to nobody in particular and all heads snapped towards me, "I'm no better than him".

"You'll do no such thing as let your mind go there", Zane said what Caleb had already told me, "you are nothing like him- nothing".

"It's like it wasn't even me, Zane", I shook my head, "I was angry and-,".

"You don't need to explain yourself to me", he dismissed me, "Aurora's worried about you". Shit.

"Take me to her?", I pleaded, needing to see her to put my mind at ease.

"Get in the car", he nodded once, squeezing my shoulder a final time before letting go.

~

"Don't you ever run off like that again", Rory carefully threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder as I squeezed her back, "I didn't know what to do Chase, I called Zane because-,".

"I'm glad you did", I told her, "I'm sorry". She pulled apart and as if on instinct, looked down at my hands; I tried to stuff them into my pockets but she stopped me, lifting them and kissing my knuckles.

"Don't apologise for that, that was fucking hot", what?

"Huh?", I frowned, confused as shit right now.

"You think I'd be mad that you went and fucked him up?", she chuckled, "it just made me fall in love with you all over again".

"So what you're saying is I need to beat people up more often?", I kicked the front door shut even though Caleb was trailing behind somewhere, still up for helping me paint as if nothing had ever happened.

"No", she shook her head, "I can see the guilt in your eyes- not because you're guilty for doing it, but guilty because that's not how you usually react". Damn her for knowing me so well.

"He touched you", was all I said and she hummed, pressing a kiss to my cheek, then my nose, then my lips.

"I know", she nodded, "but I also love you just the way you are- book obsessed, coffee addicted, quiet loving, and always smiling". I kissed her, not giving two shits about my wonky glasses or the stinging of my hands; I just cared about her.

"I love you more than anything in the world", I spoke with my hands, holding eye contact with her the entire time; a grin spreading across my face when she smiled.

"I love you too, both of us do", she replied back the same way, rubbing a hand on her stomach afterwards; I kneeled in front of her and kissed her stomach three times.

"I hate to ruin the heartfelt moment", Caleb entered our home like it was his, "but we have painting to do Chasey".

Kill me now.

~~~

A/N - Chase being Xander-level angry one minute 🤝🏾 throwing up because of the guilt the next

I didn't bother with technicalities but lets all agree Marco's scary enough to make police officers run away pls🫡

I promise the Gracious chapter is in the works....