Heaven ── TOM HOLLAND

34. Love is Pain

Orion let out a cry as he raised his hand, fingers moving to a snap, and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed onto his hand. Her tears had long spilled over now, bottom lip trembling as she clutched his hand. "Please, you have to believe me," she begged, both hands holding onto his. "You have to, please." Slowly, she sunk down to her knees, her body shaking with cries. "I love being an angel, it's all I've ever wanted. I'm not a rebel, please."

Tom's heart lurched, and he found himself squeezing Mateo's hand despite wanting to have his crying girlfriend wrapped in his arms.

Orion yelped as Baxter tugged his hand out of her grip, his eyes narrowed at her. "This isn't angel behavior." He lifted his gaze to eye the other three individuals watching. "All four of you are going to face consequences for this."

Kelsey inhaled sharply. "All f-four?" She quickly shook her head, her chest tightening at the look of fear on her younger brother's face. "No, you can't. This was all me, I did this, they didn't do anything. Punish me, not them!"

Baxter stared at for a moment, giving the four a false sense of hope as he considered what Kelsey said to him. "Fine." Mateo let out a shaky sigh as he readied to thank the older man. "The three of you will be sentenced to trial, while Orion testifies against you."

Orion's head snapped up at that, and she instantly found herself shaking her head. "No."

Baxter blinked. "No?"

She stumbled to her feet, biting the inside of her cheek as she stepped away from the older man. "N-No. That's not fair." Her eyes flitted over to Kelsey, a silent message exchanged in their short eye contact, one that said 'its okay.' Looking away from Kelsey, Orion swallowed the lump in her throat, before speaking clearly, "The only one sentenced to trial is Kelsey." She looked back at the two boys watching in silence. "The three of us are innocent."

Baxter's eyes darkened, and Orion felt a shiver run down her spine as he took a step towards her. She inhaled sharply as he stood ahead of her, not daring to take a step back in fear of looking weak to him. Yet, she still trembled with fear as he locked eyes with her. "Either you stay and they go, or you all go," he hissed.

Orion let out a shaky sigh. "Okay." Baxter looked pleased for a moment, though his satisfied smirk quickly faded when Orion stepped away and interlocked her hand with Tom's. "Then we all go." Baxter opened his mouth to retort but Orion silenced him with a shake of her head. "This is what being an angel is, staying loyal to the ones you helped, not betraying them in their time of need."

Tom squeezed Orion's hand in response to her words, earning a squeeze back from the girl.

For a moment, Orion thought he might have cracked and let them walk free like any other sensible person, but she was disappointed as a snarl resonated from the back of his throat before he raised his hand to snap his fingers. A shrill gasp escaped Orion as thunderous footsteps sounded from behind them. The guards.

Tears brimmed at her eyes as she let go of Tom's hand and allowed herself to be tugged into their hold, all her friends following suit. Baxter watched with a blank expression as guards restrained her, his arms crossed over his chest to give off the impression that he didn't care.

It was far from it.

He didn't know what he was walking into when he followed Orion and Tom to the place they rushed of to. A part of him wished he just decided to not listen to that gut feeling and trust that Orion could handle whatever was happening on her own. But his protective side of her was not allowing that he stick behind and watch her deal with something on her own when he could easily help her. He could only wonder what she would have done had he not shown up. Would she have turned in her friend like she was meant to do, or would she have orchestrated an elaborate cover-up to save her like before?

With doubts still swirling in the pit of his stomach, he raised a hand to the guard holding back the only daughter he's ever had, making them immediately release their hold on her. Orion watched with parted lips as Baxter took a step forward, her bottom lip latched between her teeth as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"You don't have to go like this," he spoke quietly, only Orion hearing his words, the rest of the group forced to watch. "Testify against them, Orion, please. You're destined for greatness."

A tear slipped down her cheek as she moved away from his touch, glossy eyes meeting his. "You don't have to do this, please," she pleaded, eyes begging. "Y-You know we're innocent, Dad, please." Baxter tensed up as Orion's throat tightened, the foreign word tugging at their heartstrings as tensions were high. Her eyes darted between his, looking for just a small shred of hope for her to grab onto, but she found nothing but an unfamiliar coldness in them.

"I... won't be a victim to your manipulation, Orion," he replied gruffly, Orion's face falling as he waved a hand for the guards again. With a rough tuff, she was back in their hold, a low cry escaping her as she was pulled away from Baxter. "Take them to the holding cells."

Orion kept her head low as she was lead away, leaving Baxter to watch her leave with the guards. The only one who dared to meet his eyes was Tom, the young man slowly shaking his head at the man as he was lead away, pure disappointment in his eyes.

Orion chest heavily rose and fell as she walked further and further away from Baxter. This was it. This was her demise. She was no longer the girl he thought could achieve unimaginable things. She was a delinquent in his eyes, somebody not worth saving. The one man who took her in when she was an orphan gave up on her.

She rose her head to look around her, her gaze instantly settling on Kelsey, whose guard was walking her alongside her. Kelsey met her eyes, a look of regret in them. "Orion, I'm so sorry."

Her apologies meant nothing. Not anymore. The last years of her life were spent chasing after Kelsey, keeping her out of trouble, keeping her clients away from her, going out of her way to guarantee safety for someone who didn't care the slightest bit about being safe. She didn't see the girl who pushed her out of her comfort zone, or brought her snacks when she was too stressed out, all she saw was the girl who ruined her life.

So with tearstained cheeks, and a hoarse voice, Orion spat, "You were never worth saving." She diverted her attention to the sight in front of her, unable to see the way Kelsey's eyes filled with tears at her words.