My bones shuddered as my heart pounded against my chest so hard I swore I could see the jumps through my shirt. I gripped the passenger's side door, my knuckles straining and turning white while the tension in the car made it hard to breathe.

The surroundings blurred together as Josh sped down the road. Ian and Trevor sat in the backseat, none of us saying anything to lighten the mood.

Images of Fox lying in a hospital bed invaded my thoughts. Wren didn't know a lot about what exactly had happened or what condition he was in. He just knew that he was injured. The lack of details did nothing to ease my nerves. Not knowing was the worst part, fearing the worst case scenario.

I didn't want to think about what condition he was in. He could be bruised and broken or left hurt and alone before someone had gotten to him.

My eyes stung as I choked on sobs. Josh sent me a worried glance but I kept my eyes staring straight ahead. I fought the urge to look at the clock, too worried about how long it was taking us to get there.

Tires screeching brought me back to reality, taking in my surroundings as Josh took a sharp turn into the hospital parking lot. I barely waited for him to stop the car before getting out and rushing through the doors.

I fumbled with my phone as I quickly tried to call Wren back to find out his whereabouts, and more importantly, Fox's. The phone only rang a couple times before Wren showed up from around a corner. I hung up the phone and made my way over to him.

"Where's Fox?" I instantly asked, Josh, Trevor, and Ian following behind me.

"They're doing some tests," Wren said. "We haven't been able to see him yet."

"What kind of tests?" I asked, frustration evident in my tone.

"Some x-rays I think and a concussion screening," Wren replied. "He's conscious, we're hoping it's nothing too serious. You can come wait with us."

At his words, it seemed like I could finally breathe again. The air pushed out of my lungs and the squeeze on my heart loosened as I followed Wren over to the waiting area outside Fox's room. His whole family was already sitting and waiting for their chance to see him.

Fox's mom was the first person I made eye contact with and she sent me a sympathetic look. I was suddenly conscious of the tears I was still holding in my eyes.

"Elijah," Vanessa called out, motioning for me to go beside her. "He's going to be okay. The doctor already came and told us."

I let out a sigh of relief as Vanessa put a comforting arm around me.

"She also told us that he was being irritable and asked us if that was normal," Leo added from beside his wife. "And I said 'Yep, that's our boy.'"

"Do you know what happened?" I asked his parents in a small voice, laughing slightly at Leo's words.

"He was on the side of the road with the car when he called us," Vanessa began. "And when we got to him he was pretty banged up but he hadn't crashed the car. We were too worried about getting him to the hospital so we didn't question him too much."

I was left confused at her explanation but I didn't question her further. I just had to wait to see Fox. He would explain everything.

The rest of the siblings spoke quietly with each other while Josh, Ian, and Trevor stood up against the wall. I made eye contact with Ian, who kept his face impassive. He was never one to show emotions, and tonight was no exception.

Waiting was agonizing, my worry for him making it impossible for me to stand still. I had never felt this jittery in my life. My heart felt like it was crawling up my throat, blocking any words from coming out as I stood there. Every time a doctor walked by, I hoped it was his, until finally, it was.

"Wow, there are a lot of you," the doctor commented before turning to Vanessa and Leo. "Fox is still conscious. We did some x-rays and nothing is broken but we're still waiting on the results of the concussion test. You can go on in and see him. I'll be back as soon as we have the results."

After the doctor walked away, Vanessa and Leo motioned for me to follow them into the room. I didn't hesitate to take them up on their offer.

When I saw Fox, my whole world stopped. He was sitting up in the bed, his legs hanging over the side with his face etched in a frown. I began to get too used to seeing bruising on his handsome face, though this wasn't worse than last time. He flinched a bit when he moved, obvious that his injuries were more than what I could see.

He squinted at me and I realized his glasses were missing from his face.

"Elijah," Fox called out, moving to stand up.

"Stay sitting," I commanded, rushing over to him and lightly forcing him back down.

"I'm fine," he said with an eye roll. "I can stand."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Leo cut in, standing behind me with his arms crossed over his chest.

Fox sighed, holding eye contact with his father. I began to see where Fox got his stubbornness from. They continued their staring contest until Fox finally gave in and let out a heavy breath.

"Some guys ran me off the road," he started. "So I got out to yell at them and all four of them got out of their car and started attacking me."

My blood seemed to stop in my veins, my face draining of any color as I though of what this implied. Somehow, my old team was involved.

"Did you get a good look at them?" Vanessa asked. "So we can talk to the police?"

"I know exactly who they were," Fox replied, earning looks of surprise from his parents. "They're from the Catholic school hockey team."

"Did they say anything to you?" I asked him, sitting down beside him on the bed and taking his hand in mine.

Fox seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me until I squeezed his hand. He looked at me briefly and then down at our intertwined hands.

"They said something about it being a warning, that I was gonna have it worse next time if I kept you from leaving," Fox admitted in a sullen tone.

"Dave put them up to it," I said in an empty tone, my grip on his hand immediately loosening.

"He must think that I'm what's keeping you here," Fox reasoned, grasping back onto my hand. "Not the fact that he's completely fucking deranged."

"Was Landon there?" I questioned, afraid of what the answer might be.

Fox shook his head and for the first time tonight, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Who is Dave and why is he trying to make you leave?" Leo questioned, earning a smack in the arm from his wife.

I let Fox explain the situation to them, not having the energy to do it myself.

"We're gonna see if the doctors can get an officer in here so you can make a statement," Vanessa told her son.

With that, his parents left the room, leaving the two of us sitting hand in hand, our legs leaning on each other's.

"This is really bad," I spoke up in a shaky voice.

"It's gonna be fine," Fox assured me.

"No, the police are not going to know Dave sent them," I rushed out. "They're going to deny everything."

"Don't worry about it right now," Fox calmly responded, letting go of my hand to wrap his arm around me and wincing as he did so.

"Are the doctors sure you don't have any broken ribs?" I asked, pulling away slightly. "You're in pain."

"They didn't break my ribs," Fox asserted with narrow eyes, irritation in his tone. "They're weak. They couldn't even break a twig."

"You're hurt."

"That's only because there were four of them and one of me," he retorted. "I could take any of them in a fair fucking fight."

I glared at him, the rollercoaster of emotions I felt tonight taking a toll on me.

"You're not taking this seriously."

Fox sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I can't mope around and pout about shit I can't change. They attacked me, Dave was probably in on it, whatever."

I sent him a look of disbelief before he continued.

"We get over it and focus on getting Dave and those goons out of our lives for good," Fox said, a serious expression on his face.

A small smile made its way onto my lips.

"How are you so brave all the time?" I asked, leaning closer to him.

Fox scoffed. "I'm not."

"You are to me."

I finished leaning in and connected our lips. Our kiss didn't last long and we had to break apart when Colt waltzed into the room.

"This is what you guys have been doing in here?" Colt asked, his Switch in hand.

"None of your business," Fox answered his brother as Colt sat down in the chair beside his bed and started playing a game.

Fawn and Raven walked in a few minutes later, each with a coffee in hand.

"You didn't even think to ask if I wanted anything?" Fox questioned his sisters with a glare. "I'm the one that's been in this hell hole for hours."

"Robin will get you something," Raven said, sitting down at the foot of the bed. "They went off with your friends."

Fox raised his eyebrows at me.

"Josh, Ian, and Trevor are here," I told him.

"Trevor?"

"He was with Josh," I replied. "I don't know the details."

Fox smirked but didn't say anything else about the two of them.

"So who the hell beat you up?" Fawn asked, taking a sip of her coffee. "I can go rough them up."

"I don't doubt it," Fox responded.

"Seriously though. What the hell?" Raven added, turning to face us.

Fox didn't explain the specifics, but he ran through what happened after he had left my house.

"You fucking scared us!" Robin boomed was he walked in the room, Wren following behind him.

"Whatever. What did you bring me?"

"I brought the peace offering of a redbull," Robin said, handing it over to Fox.

Fox snatched it out of his brother's hands and immediately opened the drink.

Wren stood against the wall next to where Colt sat, his posture rigid and tense.

I told Fox I was going to step out of the room for a moment, giving the siblings some alone time. When I got back to the hallway, Josh, Ian, and Trevor were sitting on the bench across from the room.

"How is he?" Josh asked, standing from the bench. Ian stared at me intently, waiting for my answer.

"He's fine," I said, leaning up against the wall. "He's in some pain but he's acting like his normal self."

"So he's being bitchy?" Ian asked with a scoff, his face no longer blank. It was like once he knew Fox was okay, he was back to being irritated with him.

"Kinda."

The doctor came back down the hall, walking with Vanessa and Leo. The three of them entered the room, leaving us outside.

We waited around a while, Fox giving his statement to the police, until he was finally being discharged. He surprisingly didn't have a concussion, which he boasted about to his family.

"How are you man?" Josh asked Fox when he came out of the room.

"I'm fine," he assured him, looking around at all of us. "You guys didn't have to come here."

"Well, Elijah made it sound like you were fucking dead so..." Ian snapped, his hands in his pockets as he stood next to Josh.

Fox turned to me with a confused expression.

"Wren called me," I clarified. "All he knew was that you were at the hospital and that's all he told me. So I thought the worst."

Fox nodded in understanding, putting his hand on my back.

"I'm glad you're alright Fox," Trevor added with a smile.

Fox returned the gesture. "Thanks."

We all left the hospital with the tension lifted from the air. I was relieved Fox wasn't badly injured, but the thought of why this happened, because of me, was haunting me.

Fox noticed I was distant and he brought his face in front of mine when we got out to the parking lot.

"Do you want to come spend the night with me?" he asked, concern etched onto his face.

I was the one that was supposed to be concerned with him, not the other way around. It felt like he was holding me together and without him I would break into pieces.

"Ian's staying at my place," I answered, my tone quiet and raspy.

There was nothing more that I wanted than to sleep with Fox wrapped in my arms tonight, but I couldn't abandon Ian. Even if he most likely wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the night, I wanted to be there in case he needed to.

"He can still stay at your house with Josh, right?" Fox wondered, looking over to where Josh, Ian, and Trevor stood at our car. "He doesn't need a babysitter, just a place to sleep."

I pondered on his offer, glancing over at the group at our car and knowing if I looked at Fox he could convince me to do anything.

I walked over to the group after telling Fox I needed to go talk to them. Their conversation ceased when I reached them.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Josh asked as soon as he saw me.

"Uh..."

I glanced around at the three of them.

"I just assumed you'd be staying at Fox's," Josh added.

I made eye contact with Ian, who then gave me an irritated scowl and crossed his arms.

"Go, Ellis," Ian snapped. "Now I can sleep in your bed instead of the fucking floor."

I waited a moment before nodding.

"Goodnight, Elijah," Trevor said with a small wave.

After saying goodbye to them, I made my way back to where Fox waited for me at his parents' car. He wrapped his arm around me, giving me a brief kiss on the cheek before getting into the car.

The ride back to his house was quiet, the only noises coming from Colt's game he was playing in the back of the SUV and the tires rolling on the pavement.

Once we were back at the house, Fox led me upstairs.

"I didn't wreck your car," Fox called out to Wren, who was about to open his bedroom door.

Wren slowly turned his head and let out a short laugh as he opened the door.

"I know you didn't," he said, closing himself in his room.

Fox opened his own door and I followed him inside.

"I need to take a shower," he said, heading to his dresser to grab new clothes. "I'm covered in blood and dirt."

I watched him closely, noticing his wince as he moved to remove his shirt.

"Fox," I said, astonished at the bruises littering his abdomen. "Are you sure you don't have a broken rib or something?"

"The doctors said no," he replied, trying to hide his discomfort as he removed the rest of his clothes.

My eyes watered as I looked at him, knowing he was hurt because of me.

"Hey," he said, coming in front of me and putting both hands on my cheeks. "Don't do that." He kissed my cheek under my eye, where a tear was about to fall.

I didn't dare voice my thoughts to him. He would only try to convince me otherwise but I knew it was the truth. Dave had orchestrated this because he knew hurting Fox would affect me.

"Go lie down," Fox said, leading me to his bed. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

Fox exited the room, leaving me to my thoughts. I buried myself in the covers, taking deep breaths. Thoughts of Fox being beaten ran rampant in my mind. He had to suffer because he was with me and that caused a squeeze in my heart.

He didn't take long in the shower and I didn't know whether or not I should have been grateful for that.

Fox got into the bed and reached for me. Before he could wrap his arms around me, I turned around and wrapped mine around him. All I wanted was to hold him close.

He settled into my hold, letting out a content sigh as I kissed the back of his neck.

This was all I needed at the moment, to have him close and safe in my embrace.

***

"So you want me to go beat 'em up?" Alex asked, standing up and throwing some punches in the air.

"Sit down before you hurt yourself," Fox retorted.

Some of the guys had decided to come over to Fox's house the next day after hearing he had been in the hospital. Fox didn't like everyone making a fuss about him, but he didn't complain too much when they showed up.

"I could take them," Alex said, sitting back down between Ryan and Jude.

Jude scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head at him.

"You're not going to do anything to them," Fox asserted in a stern tone. "We're gonna let the police deal with it and keep ourselves out of trouble."

"That's no fun," Alex complained, slouching his shoulders.

I couldn't even force myself to become engaged in their conversation. My mind was too busy guilting me about what had happened to Fox.

"Fox is right," Ryan agreed. "Better them get in trouble than us."

"I'd like to go knock at least one of them out though," Jude added. "Imagine if they had really hurt you."

"Well, they didn't so we can stop talking about it," Fox replied, his voice dismissive.

He knew I felt guilty, I could tell by the way he looked at me.

Josh showed up a moment later with an iced coffee in hand.

"Where's Ian?" Fox asked.

"I had to drop him off at work," Josh answered, sitting down next to me as I leaned lightly into Fox's side.

The group continued their conversations while I zoned out.

I couldn't keep myself from thinking that if I had never gotten together with Fox, he would've never been targeted like this. He had always been worried about being disrespected and treated differently after coming out, and that was exactly what he had gotten for being with me. He was stuck in the crossfire, getting mistreated because of problems people had with me.

He didn't deserve the abuse and he wouldn't be getting it if it wasn't for me.

"Hey," Fox whispered, nudging my side and causing my eyes to gaze at him. "Where's your head at right now?"

I hadn't even noticed that the only ones left in the room were Fox, Josh, and I. I had been so lost in my head that I hadn't seen the others leave.

"Sorry," I muttered.

Fox's eyes were filled with concern.

"Are you staying here?" Josh asked me, standing up from his seat and pulling the car keys out of his pocket.

"Can you wait for me in the car?" I asked.

Josh gave me a strange look but nodded anyway, leaving Fox and I alone. I sat up, slightly distancing myself from Fox.

"I think we should break up," I said as soon as Josh was gone.

"What the hell, Elijah?" Fox questioned, his mouth gaping in shock at my sudden words.

"If you're not with me, you won't be a target for Dave," I reasoned, standing up in front of him.

"I think it's too late for that," Fox said, standing from his seat. "You're not seriously breaking up with me right now?"

"Fox," I sighed, running my shaking hand through my hair. "You wouldn't be hurt right now if you weren't with me."

"I don't care about that!" he shot back, his eyes bulging.

"But I do!" I retorted, my voice cracking as water built up in my eyes. "All I do is bring you trouble."

"That's not true," he denied, his voice right as he shook his head.

A tear spilled out of my eye and I quickly swiped it away.

"How can you not hate me for this?" I asked in a small voice.

"I could never hate you," Fox asserted, staring into my eyes as he grasped onto my shoulders. "This isn't your fault."

"Fox, I–" my voice gave out as I choked on a sob. "I can't let you get hurt because of me."

"And I can't let you dump me just because something shitty happened," Fox replied.