I fiddle with my hands as I look intently at Levi's face, checking everything's alright. He moves himself further up in the bed, before patting the bed next to him. I hesitate before swallowing, and going to gently sit on the bed with him. I make sure that I am the furthest I can be from his bandaged leg without falling off the bed. Levi's arm comes around my waist, pulling me closer to him on the bed. I lean my head on his shoulder, looking up at him.
"Are you okay?" He asks me.
"I'm fine. You're hurt not me, I should be asking you."
"I'm good, the painkillers are helping. I'm more worried about you than anything."
"I'm a bit shaken." I admit.
"Okay, I don't want to freak you out even further, but I need to ask you something." Levi states. I sit up further, feeling, and hearing, my breaths quicken. I look back over my shoulder.
"Um... Okay." I respond pondering what he could want to ask. He's caused me to worry when he said that it would freak me out. He leans over, with slight difficulty, to the table beside him.
"I just want you to know that we're all here." He says straining. He sighs moving back to sitting upright, passing what he was trying to reach, to me. I look at Levi confused, before looking down at the thing in my hand, which is a crumpled photo. All the breath in body escapes me, as I bring a shaky hand up to cover my mouth.
"Wh-where did you get this?" I ask swallowing down my tears.
"It fell out of Tanner's pocket." He lets me know sympathetically.
"Oh my god." I let out quietly. I look down at the photo in my hands, and stare at it again horrified. It looked to like it was a still from a CCTV camera, but I know it isn't, as it's of me in my apartment in my bedroom. I let the photo fall onto my lap, feeling a mixture of emotions including horror, shock, and confusion.
"Do you know when it was taken?" He asks.
"Um... Uh..." I start, trying to gather my thoughts. I look back down at the photo realising that the reason he knew about Sophie being my daughter wasn't from the phone call. He has been watching us, for how long I don't know. My guess at the age of the photo, was before I even met Tanner. I feel bile start to rise, causing me to jump up off the bed and run to the adjoining bathroom, the ice cream and everything else coming back up. Still in Colton's shirt, my bare knees hit the cold, tiled floor.
Levi who is bedridden calls for the guys standing outside. The door flies open before I hear multiple footsteps walking hurriedly into the room. Over my retching I hear Levi tell them to keep Sophie out. I cling to the toilet seat as I feel a big, warm hand draw comforting circles on my back.
Once my stomach is empty, I feel the tears start to come. I move back from the toilet, looking around the small bathroom. Brody is on the floor with me, his hand on my back. Storm, Ryder, and Ashton are crowded around us. I turn back to the toilet, flushing it, to try and lessen the smell of my vomit. I bend my knees up, bringing my hands up to run through my hair. I can't believe I didn't notice the camera, or is it cameras? Is there one in Sophie's room? The thought of that makes my body want to bring up the contents of my stomach, which is nothing. How long have the cameras been there? Why is he doing this? I hadn't even seen him at this point. I rock slightly, trying to process everything in my mind. He knows about my mum, and her many boyfriends. He knows when I leave the house, and everything I do. He's probably seen me getting changed! At least Jack didn't put cameras in my home. It's hard to believe that I would compare Jack and someone else, to find that Jack was the lesser of two evils. What kind of person thinks that it's okay to spy on someone in their own home? I'm glad that my mum isn't home right now, but I don't know where I'm going to go. I know that I definitely don't want to go back home right now.
Brody's hand continues to rub my back to try and calm me down.
"I'm guessing that he showed you." Brody states. I nod, thankful that I don't have to try and explain my state to them.
"I know you won't feel like answering questions right now, but we need to know when the photo was from, so we know what are dealing with." Storm says, trying to be gentle. I inhale deeply.
"I think it's a couple of days before school started." I manage. Storm along with Ashton shake their heads in disgust, after shooting each other a glance.
"He probably knows that we know now, so he might stop using the cameras." Storm tries to reassure me.
"I'm not going back." I tell them defiantly, starting to hyperventilate. Brody pulls me closer to him, and starts to stroke my hair.
"And we wouldn't expect you too." He mumbles.
"Where are Sophie and I going to go? I can't afford a hotel room." I tell them dismayed.
"You don't need to. You can stay with us." Ryder tells me.
"I can't impose on you like that." I reply.
"You can, I'm not going to let you go anywhere else." Ryder insists. Why are these guys so kind? I don't deserve them and their support.
"Thank you." I tell him fresh tears starting to fall.
Here you go! Hope you liked it! I am so sorry for the long wait, I am currently drawing up an update schedule for all my books, so soon I will have a definite day. I would have got it up earlier today, but I was busy redecorating my living room.
Tanner is a bigger creep than before, isn't he?
What did you think?
What do you think will happen next?
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CC ;)