But A Dream

Whatever It Takes To Protect What I Love

Dylan version
Everything happened so fast. I was standing in the lobby begging her to put the gun down.

It was a normal morning, you know, waking up in the morning, getting ready for work and to drop off the kids to school and get the little ones in the family to work as well. Gerald was cooking breakfast as I was getting Suz, Hayden and Ashton ready for school.

We dropped off the kids to school. We went straight to the office. The kids were in the play room. I went to Gerald's office to talk about the high increases of the album sells and other businesses stuff. "So imma go down to Starbucks do you want something?"
"It's still early. Didn't you drink some coffee before we came here?"
"Yeah but that doesn't seem to give me the energy that I need."
"Baby just get the espresso. Five shots of iced americano." I laughed "I think it's not bad to drink whiskey early in the morning."
"Your crazy. You wanna go out to eat with the kids. At the diner we used to go."
"Yea. Did you get out the folder? The one with the report Matt needs it."
"I thought you had it with you?"
"No I had Ryland and Mel with me and I thought you did."
"I'll go and get it." I kissed him as I got up from the chair "it's normal when we're juggling this and being parents."
"We do this for our kids." I leave his office. I went through the lobby. The security sees me. I say hi to her. I went to the car and seen it. Then I bumped into Matt. I gave him the folder and he goes up back.

God sometimes he scares me. I walked back in. I heard a gun shot and people yelling. "I want to know where's Dylan and Gerald." She sees me "oh." She laughs. I turned around and it was Claire "the itsy bitsy spider went up the water fall, down came her killer and stepped the little bitch out. Now came the boyfriend washed the bitch out and the itsy bitsy spider never went up again." She laughs. She pulls out a gun.

I was standing in the lobby begging her to put her gun down. She was scared to do anything. I had my hands up so she could see them "don't do anything stupid that you'll regret."
"You don't know what you're talking about. You think your life is perfect." She cried in pain "I wanted him to be with me but there was no way it was gusto happen. He was in love with you and he forgot about me."
"Claire, not everything happens as you always want to happen. I learned it the hard way." She was shaking "just throw the gun down on the ground. We don't have to make this a bad thing or in with dead people. These innocent people haven't done anything to you."
"No they didn't. You did. You took a life away from me. And you thought it was going to make it better with your charity works, fundraisers and all this other bullshit so you wouldn't end up like the bad guy. You put Halsey in jail for no reason. That's what you will do with me."
"She almost torn my daughter away from me when she was just a baby. She shot me on the chest. I still have the scar to prove it. You're not going to be like her."
"Shut up!! Shut up!! The only thing you know how to do is hurt me more! But not today, you'll feel the same pain as I'm feeling." I heard Gerald.
"You don't have to do this. Put the gun down Claire and I'll call off the police." He told her "don't make this difficult. My kids are upstairs scared to leave. They don't want to grow up without a mother."
"Shut up! You both made me suffer and now it's my turn to do that to both of you."
"Claire I'll do anything you want me to do. Anything just please don't hurt my wife." Gerald begged "it'll be okay." He looked at me
"You're just giving up to easy. Fine, kill your wife." She hands him the gun but Gerald doesn't get it. "I thought you said anything and I want you to kill her so you can be with me."
"I'm not going to kill her. I'm not going to abandon my kids."
"Fine then I guess I should go up and bring one of them if you want to see them in pain that's fine with me."
"No! Stop! Where are you taking them? Just take me. You don't have to hurt them." I serenader. "Don't hurt them."
"What am I going to do with you?" Claire laughs. She had the gun pointing down on the ground "you can be my slave and he can be mine."
"And where shall my kids be? They can't be alone." Gerald told her "they're just kids."
"Don't worry about them. I'll take care of them."
"I dare you to..." she walks to me and points the gun to my head
"Dare me what?! Huh?! Not so brave or tough. You know what I have an idea. Why don't we go outside and show the cops and make a deal. Or shall I propose my deal." She loos at both of us "He comes with me, and I leave you here with your kids."
"No, it's not going to happen." Gerald told her. She turned around to Gerald. I kicked the gun off of her hand and punched her back which made her fall to the ground. She get up and jumps me from the front. She gets on top of me. She was way stronger than me. She begins to choke my neck. I was gagging for air. I moved my body around free myself for her. My hands were on her arms to try to get her off of me. With all her force she tried to kill me "you think you can hurt me? I don't think so. This a another great way to hurt you painful and very slowly." I was beginning to get dizzy as my vision became blurry. I coughed. I heard a glass shatters. She falls. I was breathing hard to catch my breath. I get up. Gerald helps me.
"You okay? Baby." He hugs me "we gotta go." Claire hits him with the metal stick in his back neck.
"Gerald!" He falls to the ground. "You won't have your way bitch, over me dead body."
"That won't be so hard." She sighed then laughed with a smile "I'll see you in hell." Gerald gets up. He pushes her to the glass window. Which made her get injured.
"You okay?" He asked me "she didn't hurt you?"
"No im fine." I see her get up and look for the gun. She grabs the sharp glass. I see her run to us. "Gerald watch out." He looks at Claire running towards us. I went in front of Gerald. I felt the sharp glass stab me in my stomach. After that moment I didn't know what happened.

I woke up with the sound of the beeping monitors. My vision was beginning to get cleared. I see everything. Gerald gets up from the chair all paranoid and scared. "You're awake! Let me get the doctor." I grabbed his hand to stop him.
"What happened? Why am I here? I don't remember after everything went dark."
"You were stabbed with the sharp glass on your abdominal stomach. You rushed to the hospital since the cut was deep, you went to emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. Baby I thought I lost you." He was crying.
"No hey, ger." I get up carefully to sit down. He helps me. I touch his face and wiped off the tears. "you weren't going to lose me. I saved your life because I love you and I want to protect you."
"That's my job. I can't fucking do that." He gets angry.
"I do this because I will do whatever it takes to protect what I love. It's you and our kids. Where are they?"
"Anthony and Monroe took Ryland and Mel to their place after cops knew there was kids in the building. James and Mia went to pick up Suz, Hayden and Ashton from school and took them to their house."
"Baby, don't be hard on yourself. We've been through so much. I will do anything to protect you." I kissed him
"They arrested Claire. She tried to keep me to after she stabbed you. Cops came in and arrested her. The they seen you in the floor and paramedics came in. I went with you."
"I know." I seen on my stomach "no wonder I felt a sharp pain deep in my stomach."
"Doctors say it went deep. But I'm glad you woke up. Now it's my job for now on to protect you and the kids. And we gotta stay here for a quite bit." He was more calm "what are we going to tell the kids?"
"Mommy got a booboo?" That was my answer "I don't know maybe." We laugh, I know he was better and it did scared him a lot.

I will do anything to protect them even if it costs my life but I know Gerald doesn't like talking about it.