Stephan's Point of View

"Hey honey." My mother had greeted while wrapping her arms around me, holding onto me tightly like she hadn't seen me in years.

"Hey." I mumbled as I hugged her in return. We stood outside of the hospital room that Lana was located inside of. I clutched my bike keys in my hand while my grandfather's guitar pick keyring hugged my index finger, the guitar pick belonged to him it was the last thing he had given me before he died so I turned it into a keyring, that way I would always have it with me even though I don't ride my bike as often anymore. I held onto my bike helmet and followed my mothers eyes to see her staring at it and then she looked up at me and sighed deeply, she hated motorcycles but she mostly hated me riding them, she had always complained when I had came home with injuries in the past because according to her, motorcycles came from the devil himself. My black leather jacket hung comfortably from my body as I smiled at her sigh and then her eyes stared directly at my hair.

Fuck, what now.

"You're hair looks a mess. Lemme me fix it." She said as she had quickly ran her fingers through my locks correcting the mess she had seen in front of her.

"Seriously?" I smiled and then she smiled in return aware of the fact that she was treating me as if I was little kid.

I then opened the hospital room door and stepped aside allowing her to enter first because I'm a gentlemen.

Her red back high heels clicked on the surface of tiles as she stepped inside clutching her oversized Prada bag. Her light hair hung from her head in a ponytail and then her thin lips stretched as she greeted Lana and Toby's parents who stood inside.

I entered behind her and closed the door behind myself once I had strolled into the room. I shoved my keys into my pocket, placed my helmet on the table and then turned to see Toby lounging on a chair that was placed beside the hospital bed Lana was laying in.

"Hello, Stephan honey." Mrs. Hartley said and then walked over to me in order to peck me on the cheek. I then prowled over to Mr. Hartley who was always very quiet and shook his hand firmly while my mother went over to Toby and hugged him so tightly as if he was her son and then she kissed Lana's forward and brushed strands of her hair from her face and then Lana smiled at my mothers warm action.

I saw Lana laying there, weak wearing no make-up at all, looking as if she was emotionally and physically drained.

Her body was halfway covered by a white wooly blanket and medication stood on her bedside table, packets and plastic containers of some sort.

I stepped over to Toby and did the greeting handshake we had made up when we were in high school and then I moved closer to Lana, her eyes stared at me as she smiled small and then I kissed her cheek softly.

"How you doing? You okay?" I asked, genuinely wanting to know how she was.

"Yeah, I'm okay...I feel light headed but overall I'm good." She spoke softly, her voice husky, probably from all the yelling that occurred earlier.

"That's great." I replied and smiled apologetically as I plopped down on the seat beside Toby. I slouched down making myself comfortably and then I smirked awkwardly as I glanced around the room that was in complete silence, nobody said a word for a moment.

"Okay, so now that all three of you are here, let's discuss what had happened because all I know is that Ian tortured my daughter and Stephan shot him." Mrs. Hartley spoke breaking her voice into the air as she stared at the three of us."What happened? Can someone please explain."

"Mom, Ian is mentally ill. He tortured Lana because she didn't love him instead she loved Stephan. So he went to extreme lengths to be like Stephan but still Lana didn't love him, he grew frustrated and then took it out on her." Toby explained with no energy in his tone. I could see that he was just as tired and worn out as Lana.

"Lana so during your relationship with Ian you loved Stephan?" Her mother asked.

"Before and during." Lana replied and then glanced over at me to see the expression on my face, but there was none.

"So you guys are together now?" Mrs. Hartley asked curiously as both our eyes shot to see her instantly.

"No." I replied quickly before Lana could even speak. "I care about Lana obviously I do, I'm just not in love with her." I said slowly as I squinted my eyes. All of a sudden I felt the urge to smoke a cigarette which was fucked up because the last cigarette I had smoked was two years ago when Gracie found out that she was pregnant with Bree. I knew that I had to quit smoking because I refused to bring that toxic air around her nor my daughter. So having the urge to smoke now after two years was kinda messed up, but I could fight the pull.

"Okay Stephan." Mrs. Hartley said flipping her dark hair back, pulling me from my thoughts. "Lana, what were you doing at the lake house?" She asked as she pulled her jersey tighter around herself, staring at Lana for an answer.

"Ian and I thought it would be cool to take a swim in the lake so we did. After swimming we headed inside and made ourselves a meal, I remember drinking water and then not to long after, my body just felt numb. I struggled as I made my way to the bathroom and that's when I had realized that he had slipped something in my water. I used the last bit of my energy to text Toby because I knew something was wrong and then I collapsed and, completely blacked out. I woke up strapped to a chair and that's when he began to...you know, torture me." She explained and then began to cry as her tears streamed from her eyes. "I'm sorry." She spoke. "It's just really hard to talk about it." She sniffed as salt water flowed from her eyes like an open tap.

"It's okay sweetheart." Mrs. Hartley spoke and then went over to comfort Lana. "Okay, I don't think we should speak about this any further for the time being, because we basically know what happened next." She said holding her daughter in her arms as Lana curled up to her still crying tears of pain.

I don't know what the fuck I would do if Bree was here and that had happened to her. I couldn't imagine how Mr. and Mrs. Hartley felt seeing their daughter in that state. I Probably wouldn't be able to handle seeing my daughter suffer but then again I would probably kill the dick who caused those tears to flow from my baby girls eyes. I would kill him without thinking twice.

"Stephan, thank you for protecting Lana." Mrs. Hartley smiled pulling me from thinking about Bree and then I nodded my head lightly and returned a small smile.

Orin's Point of View

I walked down the staircase, I was half asleep. I found Anita and Paisley doing the dishes side by side as if they were best friends. The music blasted as they sang terribly to Lorde. These people can't sing for shit, they shouldn't even try.

Anita then turned to face me and noticed me lurking.

"Orin, honey your food's in the microwave." She said and then turned her head back to the dishes as she scrubbed them clean and Paisley dried them with a drying cloth.

"We don't care, we ain't caught up in your love affair and we'll never be royals." Pais sang loudly as she giggled while doing her silly dance moves.

"Royals." Anita did background as I walked past the two of them in order to retrieve my food. I smelt something it the air as I passed the two of them and then paused, turning myself around and walking directly to Pais. I began to sniff her, my nose filled with a smell I had recognized causing the frustration to hit me like a rock.

"Oh my god!" She laughed. "Why are you sniffing me!? Get Off! Bad doggy!" She giggled but I didn't say a word I just squinted my eyes and then walked over to the microwave and pushed a button in order to have it warm my food for one minute.

"Anita." I turned to face the woman that gave birth to me with curious eyes as the microwave buzzed while it heated.

"Yes, Orin." She smiled facing me.

"Can I please speak to you in private." I said as if I was her parent and she was in trouble.

"Sure." She said politely and dropped her things and then followed me up to my bedroom, Pais looked confused as she watched us walk up staircase.

I closed the door behind us because I didn't want Paisley to overhear the conversation that was about to take place.

Anita sat down on my bed, her hair it's usual mess and her face tired but she still managed to smile.

"What did you want to talk about Orin?" She asked staring up at me.

"Umm...what does Paisley do when I'm not here. Please be specific?" My green eyes focused on her.

"She goes to the library, reads for a while and then comes home." She seemed confused.

"Okay, do you actually see her enter the house or do you just assume that she's home?" My eyes narrowed.

"Orin, what are you on about?" She shook her head, her eyes puzzled.

"You're daughter reeks of male cologne. How you fail to notice it is alarming. Which makes me question if you actually give a fuck about her." I spoke as I stared her down.

"Orin, how dare you say that! of course I care about Paisley and do not speak to me in that manner! I am the mother and you are the child! Don't forget that." She said firmly while raising her voice, she was shocked at the words coming from my mouth as she lifted herself from my bed.

"Then act like the mother!" I yelled. "Don't even bullshit me Anita, you don't fucking care. If you did you would have notice the little things, you would pay closer attention to your daughter and not let anything slip past you."

"I have a lot going on in my life! I'm still learning how to be a parent Orin!"

"And who's fault is that? You better open your eyes mother." I spat out the word mother not meaning it at all, because she was anything but a true mother. I paused. "Open your eyes because if you don't the next time you'll see Paisley she'll be 9 months pregnant and then you only have yourself to blame." I said shaking my head in disgust, at the thought of me giving my so called mother a lecture on parenting.

Paisley's Point of View

"Hey baby. I'm on my way home from the hospital. I miss you...can I please see you tonight?" I stared down at Stephan's text while Orin and my mother were upstairs. I heard Orin's voice roar and that's when I knew it had something to do with Stephan and I. Orin only yells about things when I'm involved.

"I can't sneak out tonight. Orin's in one of his moods and I'm sure he's going to be watching me all night." I replied as I stood in the kitchen with the drying cloth still laying in my hand and my hair tied in a messy bun.

"Blueberry. I'm going to come over to your house. Honestly, I'm fucking fed up with your brother. If I want to see you and you want to see me. We will fucking see each other! I'm coming over there as soon as I get home. I need to have a word with him." I read his text as my heart began to beat faster.

No.

"Stephan, please don't." I replied.

"Paisley, I want you in my life! I want to be around you as much as I possible can, at the end of this summer you'll leave to go home and then what? I'm probably never going to see you again. Why? Because Orin wants to play bodyguard. Fuck no! You don't need protection from me. I won't hurt you! He needs to get that and that's why I'm coming over to explain that to him." He typed and I couldn't help but smile as I read those words. He had caused my heart to warm up but I still didn't want him to come over, not now at least.

"Stephan, knowing Orin...your intention of a conversation, won't end in a conversation. You don't get it, he only sees his side and no one else's, that's the way Orin is. In his mind he thinks he knows what's best for everyone. I appreciate that you want to try and make things better for us but, now isn't the time. Please listen to me and please calm down babe. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?."

"Okay sweetheart but my patience is running out, I just want you to know that." He replied and then I heard footsteps come from the staircase. It belonged to Orin so I shoved my phone into my pocket before he could notice it or else he would become curious as to who I was texting.

"Um everything okay?" I asked as he paused to stare at me but didn't say a word. He then brushed past me and made his way to the microwave.

"Orin?" I said and then realized that I shouldn't have said anything because one word can trigger a few weeks of anger but surprisingly he didn't seem angry at all when he had spoken.

"Paisley, just fucking don't." His tone calm but he refused to make eye contact with me. He was no longer angry,

No.

My only brother wasn't angry. I could see it in his eyes, his usual flame of hatred was in no sight. He was no longer angry. He was just...

hurt.

Authors Note
Thank you guys for reading!!! I would like to dedicate this chapter to my voters you guys are amazing.

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