Thorns and Roses (Book 1)

Chapter 1

Ben's P.O.V:

I pace around my office as I thought about the Isle kids, mostly Valerie. We weren't planning on it, but we had to admit her into the hospital. She's been in there for three days at most. "Ben;" I turn to see Jay in the doorway, "Valerie wants to see us. All of us." He says, and I sigh, smiling a bit. "You okay, dude?" Jay walks in, closing the door. "You're thinking of Valerie, aren't you?" I sigh at his questions.

"Didn't think you were the type to be so direct. Yeah, I am." I sigh, looking out the window. "I should've killed him." I can feel Jay glaring at me a bit. "Where did that come from?" He asks, and I turn to him shrugging. "I just know he would've deserved it and still does." The only ones who know about the events on the isle are the VK's, Pirate crew, Val, as well as myself; it'll stay that way if I have any say in it. Zeus forbid the amount of FG's lessons I'd have to sit in on if they knew.

"Hey, c'mon. We better get going before Valerie falls asleep. I don't think they'll let us see her." I sigh, closing my eyes and looking back at the Isle. She's safe, but her scars are so deep. She'll never trust a single soul again. No matter how bad someone tries convincing Valerie, she'll be okay. Nothing will change the torture he put her through.

Valerie's P.O.V

I sit in my room, looking blankly at the wall ahead of me. The silence lingered as my eyes trail to my untouched plate of food. "Honey;" the nurse walks in with a seemingly warm smile, "you need to eat." I scoff rolling my eyes as she tries to bring me food. "Not hungry," I tell her, and she sighs. "Than you should walk around, your ankle will heal weird if you don't." I lean back against the headboard. "Hurts," I tightly close my eyes as my breathing is a bit shallow. "What hurts?"

I start to tear up as the memories come flooding back. "Everything hurts. I just wanna sleep." She seems concerened. Yet, I chose to ignore it. She bows, leaving out of the room as I lay down in bed. I hold the teddy bear, Evie, made for me, close to my chest as I turn off the lights. "Is she sleeping?" I hear a familiar voice outside of my room. "She is, but you can go in if you want, Jay." He's here? Sitting up, footsteps walk toward my door, and one of my oldest friends enters. "Hey, pirate princess." Moving to speak, I cough as blood gathers in my hand. "Val?!"

Jay sits next to me on the bed. "Gonna try walking today?" He asked as he wiped away the blood that was slightly dripping from my mouth. I shake my head no, and he chuckles a bit. "I thought you'd say that. We've been here for four days. You were admitted three days ago." I look up at Jay as he sighs. "If you ever wanna get out of this hospital, you gotta start somewhere." Rolling my eyes, he chuckles and grabs my hand; I don't pull away. "Come on, do it for me?" Looking away, I sigh, "Okay..."

"Knock knock." Another familiar voice grabs my attention - looking up, Ben smiles sweetly at me. "Hello, Valerie, it is good to see you again." I see what he did to Gaston again, recalling how good it felt to see my abuser tied up like the pig he is; if anything, I owe him a...Thank you." I manage a smile as he blushes a little. "Dude;" he turns to Jay, "you're blushing hard." I shake my head, "Perhaps, I managed to catch something while I was here, I should go." He turns to leave.

A nurse, standing behind Ben the entire time, puts a hand on his forehead. "No fever, lover boy." Ben looks at me, trying to hide his blush. "Ain't that funny?" I give a shy smile, making him blush harder. Jay snickers, jabbing my arm, "A heartbreaker, who knew?" I shake my head at him. "Let go." I told Jay, as I grabbed onto the bed. I look back and forth at Jay and Ben, motioning them to separate on different sides of the room.

"I wanna try on my own." I tell them both as they smile. "Just in case, I want you both on either side." I smile, glancing over at Ben. A few steps in, and I feel a sharp pain, my leg buckling; I fall towards Ben, feeling my heart pound. It shows on the monitor, "Val, you okay?" I nod shyly, "Wanna lay back down?"

"U-uh huh;" My face is bright red now. Jay smiles, lifting me with ease, "You did good, just relax now, princess." I scoff at my nickname. Relaxing into the bedding, I feel myself drifting to sleep. "Excuse me;" the nurse grabs the boys by the shoulders, "Perhaps, we should let her rest. Say goodnight and go home." My best friend plants a kiss on my forehead, and Ben akwardly waves before they leave.

Once alone, the lady smiles at me, "You're lucky. Not many can catch the prince's eye." He probably catches a lot of eyes himself, I can't compete with the girls here. 'I'm just a broken shell.' Flicking off the light, turning away, the nurse sighs. "Goodnight, Valerie."

Audrey's P.O.V:

Ever since he got back from the hospital, Ben's acted differently -- like something is on his mind, but what? Is Valerie okay? 'Should I ask him? I have the right, not that I need it.' Without realizing it, I start staring at my boyfriend for too long. He notices this, smiling my way and grabbing my hand. "Something wrong, babe?" He asks me sweetly. I mumble, "How can someone be so perfect?"

Confused, Ben raises a brow, "Sorry, I didn't hear that. Can you repeat?" Blushing, I shake my head to brush off the question. "It was nothing, don't worry;" he nods, and I look him in the eye, "I should be asking YOU if YOU'RE okay, babe. You seem troubled." Ben sighs, looking forward and dropping his grin. "Not really, no. It's probably not hard to guess, but it's Val. She..."

He turns to face me, grabbing my other hand, "I did something to help her on the Isle, and now I'm wondering if I...If I could've done more." Whatever he did, it's weighing on him for whatever reason; with so much on his plate, some decisions leave him unsure if he did the right thing. I free my hands, wrapping Ben in a hug, which he returns without hesitation, "Babe, I'm sure you did what you felt was right. And, if the time comes to take further action, you'll make the right call again."

"What would I do without you," I think before smirking playfully. "Probably worry yourself to an early grave over breakfast."