Divorced Love (Stauren) {Book 1}

Chapter 6

Splotches of random light and color filled my vision as I breathed in heavy breaths.

Everything was a blur.

All I could do was hear the sound of that gunshot ringing out over and over again.

Slowly, my fingers ran up my opposite arm and to my shoulder where there was a warm liquid that soon covered my fingers. It wasn't until a few seconds later that a sharp pain surged through that arm.

I lifted my fingers up to my face to see them covered in red.

Blood.

Then, a muffled voice yelled out, "Steven!"

Lauren.

As soon as I heard Lauren's voice calling out my name, I snapped out of my daze to find the man who had shot me standing in complete shock. His gun was still raised at me, but his whole body was shaking in fear while his eyes were open wide.

I began stumbling over to him, holding onto my bleeding shoulder with one hand. On the floor, was the gun Lauren had tossed to me, and I picked leaned down to pick it up with my good had.

The man suddenly dropped his gun, and held his hands up in the air. "I-I," he began with a stutter. "I'm sorry, man. Please don't-"

"Get out," I growled. "Take your stupid friends, and leave."

The man gave a shaky nod before yelling upstairs. "Guys, get down here. The gig is up!" Soon, two other men came strolling down the stairs to see what was left of the scene that had just taken place. "There's nothing for us here." The man kept his eyes locked with mine as he spoke. "Let's go."

As soon as the three rushed out of the front door, I dropped the tough act and let out a groan of pain because of my shoulder. Before I knew it, I had fallen to the ground.

"Daddy!" Bella sobbed while running over to wrap her arms around my neck. Her elbow nudged my shoulder slightly, causing my teeth to clench together tightly. "Daddy.....you're hurt!"

I used my good hand to gently stroke Bella's hair. "I'm okay, peanut. The bullet barely even grazed me." I glanced back at Lauren who just stood in shock, swaying back and forth slightly with her hand on her chest. "I'm just glad you two are okay."

"But you're not okay, Steven," Lauren finally said, looking at my shoulder.

"I'm fine. I promise," I replied. "But we need to get out of here. It's not safe for you two to be here." I made eye contact with Lauren and saw that she wanted to say no, but on the inside she knew that I was right.

•°•°•°•°•

All I could think to do that night was bring Lauren and Bella back to my house. After a while, the pain in my shoulder slowly began to lessen. Luckily, the bullet had barely even grazed me. The only reason I felt so much pain at first was because it shocked me.

Once we had arrived, Lauren took Bella upstairs to get her ready for bed, and I went into my bedroom.

It wasn't long until I because anxious and walked back out into the hallway to check on Lauren and Bella. They were both in Bella's room, the little girl laying in her bed with Lauren leaning over her.

"It's okay, baby," Lauren whispered to Bella. "We're safe here. I promise."

"Okay," Bella whimpered, and Lauren leaned down to kiss her head.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Lauren said before leaving to room and closing the door behind her.

We then were face to face, Lauren's eyes drifting to my shoulder. "You need to get to a doctor, Steven."

"I'm fine," I responded while turning around to go into the bathroom. "I'll go in tomorrow."

Lauren followed me into the bathroom, her arms crossed over her chest. "At least let me take a look at it."

With a sigh, I nodded, making Lauren open the cupboards under the bathroom sink to look for a first aid kit. It didn't take long for her to find the small kit and get out all of the supplies.

I slowly began to take off my shirt, avoiding eye contact in the process. Dry blood covered most of my right shoulder, the shallow wound in the center of all of it. Lauren then wet a washcloth and began to clean off the dry blood so onto the wound remained.

"This will probably hurt," she said before pressing a cloth covered in alcohol against my shoulder. A groan of pain escaped my lips, and I clenched my teeth together tightly. "Sorry.....I had to clean it though."

"Yeah," I replied.

"Steven, this will probably need a couple stitches." Her cold fingers gently poked at my shoulder, avoiding the wound. "I know you're going to refuse to go tonight, but please go tomorrow, okay?"

I gave a small nod while looking at the ground. "Okay."

Finally, I decided to turn around to face Lauren, myself leaning against the vanity. "Are you okay though?" I asked her.

She hesitated before replying, "Yeah......I'm okay."

My head tilted to the side slightly, for I could tell she was lying. "I know you're lying, Lauren."

"I'm not....." She began, glancing down at the ground briefly. "I'm not lying. I'm okay.....but Bella isn't." I gave Lauren a questioning look, signaling her to continue. "That man held a gun to Bella's head, Steven. A loaded gun." Lauren bit down on her bottom lip, her face tensing up slightly. "I thought that living there would be okay. I had been okay since we split up, but I was wrong. But it was either live there or live on the streets because I couldn't afford anything else."

It was then when I felt completely guilty for not even coming up with the thought of giving Lauren money.

"I knew that place was dangerous," she continued. I could see her eyes beginning to water as she spoke shakily. "I knew, but I still stayed there because I didn't want Bella to know how bad things were getting for me and her."

I wanted to reach out my hand. I wanted to comfort her, but my body wouldn't let me do a thing.

"And I didn't want her to feel the pain." Lauren looked up at me, her eyes red from the tears that continued to fall. It was then when her legs went weak and she slowly slid down the wall and onto the ground. I could hear Lauren trying to keep in her sobs, but it wasn't working. A few moments later, a single sob escaped her lips which lead to more and more. Lauren dropped her face into her hands briefly before looking at the wall across from her. "I didn't want her to be afraid." She used the palm of her hand to shakily wiped her cheeks, but it didn't stop the tears from flowing. "And now that's all she is.....afraid."

She couldn't speak anymore, for she was crying too hard.

Finally, I reached down and gently pulled Lauren to her feet. No words needed to be said, for when we both knew something. Lauren instantly wrapped her arms tightly around my neck as she cried onto my good shoulder. My arms slowly went around her waist to hug her back.

After a while of just standing there in each other's arms, the two of us pulled away slightly. I looked into her eyes to see all the pain and fear that she had been trying to hide, and all I wanted to do was take it away.

So I did.

Within seconds, we both leaned in closer so our foreheads were touching. Our lips were just barely touching, and they lingered there for a moment before I closed the space between them.

A/N
I would absolutely love some comments on this chapter if you have time! :)

I'm so sorry it took so long to update this book, but it took a while for me to get the last couple parts how I wanted to. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I would love some comments!

Chapter shoutout: EmilyLovesMakeup1