A/N- edited only once. Beware.
Chapter 29
Coda POV
I am exhausted.
There are so many things running through my head at the moment- Hazel, her family, Cordero and the fact he always got what he wanted-
I stiffen and I have to try to curb my thoughts away from the gloomy thoughts of death and Cordero winning this.
With every beginning of a plan I formatted, I would always come up with a possible ending that could go wrong.
I was never like this. I was never this indecisive to make a plan.
It’s her my mind tells me as I struggle to shove it to the back of my head.
If one of my plans went wrong, I would be more okay if something happened to me than if something happen to her.
Parts of me try to convince myself that the only reason why I want to protect her is to reenact the alternative ending to Ridge’s death: me saving him.
No matter what I tell myself though, I know that this deep and fierce feeling to protect her goes beyond the feelings of my failure to protect my little brother.
I was falling for her.
I was falling for Hazel, the girl who hated thunder, talked with fire in her eyes and was fiercely- almost stupidly- loyal to those she cared about.
That’s why I had no doubt that if I was in danger, Hazel would do whatever she could to help me. Even if I screamed at her to run until I turned blue in the face, she wouldn’t listen to me.
Unless i-
The sharp ring in the air is enough to raise the hair in the back of my head as I reach for my phone, snapping it open.
“What!” I bark, clenching the phone within my hand.
“Tone,” Cordero tsks. “Again, with the tone, son.”
“Don’t call me son,” I snarl, all my weariness and fear resurging to morph into something stronger: hate.
-Hate for the man that had given me a home but in the end was threatening to take everything from me.
-Hate for the man that had caused my brother to feel inadequate.
-hate for the fact that I had stupidly brought Hazel into all of this.
“I have given you everything and you best not forget that,” Cordero snarls back, the hint of impatience in his voice refreshing to me. I was finally getting under the chinks of his ‘too cool and powerful’ armor.
“I’ve lost more than I’ve ever gotten from you,” I ground out, shaking with anger. I wanted to smash the phone into the table, my bad shoulder aching from my tense posture.
“Then you won’t have a problem when I kill the girl for causing all these problems for me,” Cordero says smoothly, the edge in voice clear.
The growl that leaves my lips next is feral, a sound that had traveled from my lungs on impulse as soon as he mentioned Hazel.
“if you touch one hair on her body, I will kill you.”
The calmness in my voice is surprising even to me.
It was almost terrifying to see how earnest and truthful the words felt coming from my lips.
There was no doubt in my mind that if it actually came down to it and I had the choice to save Cordero’s life or Hazels-or hell even my life- I would choice to save Hazel.
Every time.
-Without fail, and without any regrets.
I would gladly take Cordero down and go down with him if it meant keeping Hazel safe.
-that kind of devotion in my heart to a girl I had once loathed, was what scared me the most.
“I don’t think you remember who you’re messing with, boy,” Cordero sneers.
“No-“ I interrupt, rising up from the sofa to stand. “You don’t know who you’re messing with. I’ve lost Ridge to you already and It will be over my dead body before I lose Hazel too.”
And then I snap the phone shut, my body still trembling as I clutch the phone in my good hand, staring at the carpet.
I had chosen a side and now, Cordero wasn’t going to play any more games.
He was going to come for me and the plans Hazel’s father owned soon.
Standing there and coming to terms with the fact that somebody could die because of me, I am thrown back into the memories of Ridge’s blood on my hands and the look in his eyes as I pleaded with him to stay with me.
I had fed him, changed his diapers, carried him everywhere with me and I had lost him all too soon.
Everyone I had ever loved I’ve lost and now- now I was going to lose Hazel too.
I don’t know when I collapse back onto the sofa, my head burying into my hands as I lean forward but the feeling that overwhelms me next feels like suffocation.
“Coda?” I hear her whisper softly, feeling her hands rest on the sides of my neck as she kneels between my legs.
I drop my hands, staring down into her dark brown eyes, a worried frown on her lips.
She doesn’t say anything when I raise my hand to trace my thumb over to lips, smoothing out the frown.
Her hand moves down to rest on my knee and I lean forward slightly to press my lips against hers, the thrumming in my heart frantic.
Not you.
I can’t lose you too.
~*~
Hazel POV (When you get there, the Dance Song is to the right)
Coda kisses me and I don’t pull back.
There is something raw in him right now, a feeling that I can’t seem to label as he kisses me.
I feel like I am burning, everything about the kiss feeling like a shot of lightning.
Walking into the room to see him like this was- terrifying.
Never once had I ever seen him like this- his shoulders slumped in defeat- and I realize that despite all he’s done to comfort me in my times of need, he’s gone through just as much pain-even more.
When Coda pulls back slightly, his nose brushing mine, his eyes are still closed.
“Are you okay?” I ask quietly, trailing my fingers over the collar of his shirt to fist the fabric in my hands, the realization that neither of us wanted to part prevalent in how both of us were clutching each other.
I watch as he swallows hard, his eyes squeezed shut.
He is shaking and I briefly wonder if his eyes are closed because he doesn’t want to cry.
Coda doesn’t answer my question but he doesn’t have to, it’s in the way he’s holding me, in the way he is inhaling shakily that hint to me that he’s not okay.
So I just stay there, crouched between his legs, allowing him to just breathe.
By the time Coda opens his eyes, the shaking has visibly lessened, his tone steadier.
“Let’s get out of here,” he tells me earnestly, his eyes imploring mine, the same undertones of desperation in his tone.
My lips part and I nod slightly, not knowing how else to tell him that I’d do anything for him.
I am rewarded with a small smile from him as he entwines his fingers with mine, quickly pulling us to our feets before making a bee line for the door.
“Wait right here,” he tells me quietly, the house eerily quiet as he turns around to head into the kitchen.
I stand out on the porch, waiting patiently for him, knowing that we had to be stealthily quiet with everyone asleep for the wedding dress rehearsal tomorrow.
‘Okay, ready,” Coda says, holding a package in the crook of his arm before taking my hand again.
His hand is warm, enveloping my own as we trudge through the sand, the waves crashing under the moonlight.
“What are we doing?” I whisper, as Coda pulls us closer to a cove of rocks close to the water.
I can see the outline of Coda’s face as he half turns to smile gently at me.
“Why are we whispering?” he whispers back in amusement.
“Because we just snuck out of the house at like midnight,” I whisper.
“Oh the naughtiness,” he answers back wryly, a smirk on his lips.
I shove my shoulder against his good arm, unable to stop the smile on my face.
“Why did you come see me at midnight anyways?” Coda asks, curious.
He pulls out the small blanket and sets the bundle down on the sand to spread out the sheet.
I swallow hard, embarrassed.
“Well um, I wanted to give you something back and um-“ I fumble with my words, watching Coda kneel onto the ground to work on untying the bundle. After hearing my stutter though, Coda stops what he is doing to stare at me with an amused smile.
I stop, throwing my hands over my eyes, so mortified. “I wanted to see you,” I mutter out, the words muffled by my hands.
My heat beats fast and I am burning.
“-And give you something back,” I tack on.
Coda is silent and I peek through the crevices of my fingers to see him still staring at me with a smile on his face.
“Oh look! Water! I’m going to see-” I say, feigning surprise in an attempt to run away towards the water.
I drop my hands, hell bent on running out of this embarrassing situation but mid sprint, Coda’s hand latches onto my wrist, pulling me down towards him.
I spin so fast, I trip over my own feet, landing in a sprawling mess right into Coda’s arms.
I try to sit up again but Coda wraps his strong around my torso, pulling my back against his chest.
“You came to see me?” he breathes. His lips at my ear and the warmth of his breath sending a shiver down my spine.
I blush and Coda laughs, the sound vibrating against my skin with his chest pressed to me.
“No, I only got out of bed to give you something back-“
“At the middle of the night?” Coda asks skeptically, a knowing smile on his lips.
“-Yes, it’s a very important thing-“
I don’t even get to finish before Coda kisses my neck, his lips curved into a smile as he hugs me back against him.
“I knew you couldn’t resist me,” Coda laughs. He pokes my cheek. "Look how red your face is. you're redder than Gordon Ramsey when he's raving about how much everyone sucks."
i swat his hand away.
“Look! I have the thing I wanted to give back right here!” I say embarrassed as I reach into my pocket to wrap my fingers around the thin chain.
When I pull it out to dangle the necklace in front of us, Coda stills, the laughter seizing.
Seeing how quickly his mood changed, I sheepishly continue. “After everything you told me about your mother and how important she is to you, I figured you’d want this back.”
Before Coda can speak, I rush on with my words. “And I mean, I know it was wrong of me to hold this necklace as collateral against you, I didn’t know how much this meant to you so im really sorry, Coda, really-“
Coda stops me by lifting his arm to brush his thumb against the delicate heart pendant on the necklace, his lips pressed against my shoulder.
I wait for a long moment, barely breathing and waiting for Coda’s response as he stares at the necklace for the longest of times.
The necklace shimmers under the moonlight, the delicate silver chain hosting the beautiful heart locket where the words Il mio cuore are engraved.
Coda’s thumb brushes over the words briefly, the locket surface slightly worn as if someone had constantly run their fingers against the words too.
Il mio cuore.
The words sound so familiar and I briefly wonder if they were the same words Coda had whispered to me a few days earlier.
It doesn’t seem like the right moment to ask him to be a Google translator at the moment so I stay quiet.
Coda’s the first to break the silence, lowering the necklace to slip it into his pocket.
“Do you want to dance with me?” he asks.
“Right now?” I blurt out, my cheeks flaming.
Coda roll his eyes, his playful manner returning.
“You don’t want to trip onto your face tomorrow, right?” he asks me, laughing.
Oh, that’s right. The wedding and the dance rehearsal are tomorrow.
“Shoot,” I mutter, digging my toes into the sand.
Coda stands up, adjusting his hoodie before offering his hand to me.
I stare at it for a long moment before placing my hand in his, allowing myself to get yanked up.
I bump into his chest slightly, our noses brushing.
“You know,” I say breathless. “When we first met and you offered me your hand, I was deciding whether or not to poke it.”
The words leave my lips before I can stop them.
Coda blinks, confused.
“You wanted to poke my hand?”
I bite my lower lip and nod sheepishly. “I got nervous.”
He chuckles in response, his good arm resting on my lower back.
“You’re a weirdo, you know that right?” he asks me with a gentle look in his eyes.
I glower at him, allowing him to guide our bodies to a slow sway. “ You’re annoying.”
“I haven’t heard that one before,” he retorts.
I smile to myself, resting my cheek on his chest, the sand shifting below our feet as we just sway to the sounds of the ocean.
I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day and through
He sings the words softly, his voice low and rich with a tone that I can’t describe as anything else other than the word home.
It’s an old song, but it’s the song my parents danced to on their wedding day.
Even though Gwen had chosen the song for her first husband and wife dance, I think of the song as more personal to me, a song that will forever be the memory of dancing here on the beach with Coda, his voice soft and tender.
I'll find you in the morning sun
And when the night is new
I'll be looking at the moon
But I'll be seeing you
I close my eyes, his voice like a lullaby.
Coda’s voice fades out, the only sound between us the ocean waves.
“This was the song my mother and I danced to,” he tells me quietly, his thumb rubbing a soothing circle on the small of my back.
“It’s pretty,” I murmur, feeling sleepy.
Coda makes a low noise of agreement, his hand moving to rest on my head.
I yawn into his sweatshirt, exhausted.
I feel Coda moving to lower us gently to the ground, my body curled on top of Coda’s.
The rise and fall of his chest is a reassuring rhythm that I can feel from the tips of my fingertips down to the tips of my toes, the feel of his warmth a familiar comfort.
Coda runs his fingers through my hair slowly, methodically. “Hazel?”
“Yeah?” I ask, half asleep.
“Do you regret meeting me?”
Looking back, that kind of serious question should’ve woken me up so I could properly respond to him but maybe if I was fully awake, I wouldn’t have been as honest as I wanted to be.
“Not once. You’re like superman,” I whisper quietly, laughing. “When I’m with you, it feels like there’s no safer place to be. It feels like-like-“
“Home.” Coda finishes for me, understanding in his voice.
I smile, burying my face into the crook of his neck and breathing in deep.
“It’s like you know exactly what I’m talking about,” I muse, yawning.
Coda exhales, planting a lingering kiss into my hair.
“You have no idea, Il mio cuore,” he murmurs.
I fall asleep smiling, knowing that I still didn’t know what those words meant but knowing that I liked the sound of them coming from Coda’s lips, the tenderness in them like an ache in my chest that I never realized I had.
~*~
CODA POV
She falls asleep with a smile on her face and I can’t stop staring.
She looks peaceful and happy, like she really believes that I will protect her, that I will be able to do anything just because she believes.
My eye trail over her closed eyes down to her cute little nose down until they land on her lips.
Looking at Hazel, it’s like-
It’s like looking at hope again.
-it’s like looking at the face of a second chance- a chance not to prove that I can protect the people I love but a second chance at happiness, something I never believed I was worthy of after Ridge’s death.
With Hazel in my arms, the necklace in my pocket feels heavy and I can’t shake the image of my mother, lying sick in her death bed, too weak to speak but still able to clutch my hand in hers with the necklace, her other hand pointing to her heart, a message of some sort.
As much as I pretended not to know what she was trying to imply, I know now that the necklace wasn’t intended for me to keep.
My father had given it to mother on their wedding day and years before, my grandfather had given it to my grandmother.
The necklace was more than just a piece of jewelry, it was history passed down from generation to generation-a token of love and faith and commitment.
-and now, it was my turn to decide what to do with the necklace.
Hazel’s legs tangle with my own, her arm thrown haphazardly over my neck in her sudden movement, her lips parting to restlessly murmur my name.
-and I freeze.
Every part of me freezes at hearing my name through her exhale, the surge of fierce protectiveness washing over me next not even a surprise anymore.
I tighten my arm around her waist, shifting so her head is resting comfortably.
It is there, lying in the sand, that I wish my mother was still here.
She would be able to tell me what to do. She would help me organize my thoughts-the way she always used to be able to do back when I was little. She would take one look at Hazel with a big old smile on her face, looking behind Hazel to shoot me an approving smile. She would ruffle my hair teasingly, and laugh at my embarrassment when I tried to explain to her my feelings for Hazel, her eyes bright. - she would remind me that I was doing the right thing, that I would be a fool to let this all go without a fight.
She would do all those things and more-if she were still here.
I look up into the sky and search for Lyre, almost able to hear the sound of her voice telling me the tragic story of Orpheus, a man who loved a woman so much, he lost it all.
“I can’t lose her too, mom,” I say quietly, my eyes searching for the brightest star- a sign - anything to let me know that I wasn’t alone.
~*~
A/N- Time goes by so fast. I've been trying to upload this chapter for a while but i've been changing bits and pieces here and there so i really hope you enjoyed this chapter. i have a habit of reading through my chapters and feeling like it's not good enough and trying to redo all of it so hopefully you sort of understand my sporadic updating cycle, i am really sorry for the delay.
This story has gotten really popular and i can't thank you enough for your support. i love reading through all of your comments and seeing all the votes-it fills me with so much hapiness, and it reminds me that what i write is important, that people actually want to read what i write. so thank you <3
The next chapter is going to be the climax or i guess one of the climaxes and this chapter was just a filler with Coda and Hazel being cute :)
On the right, you should check out the story collage, it is absolutely beautiful. Thank you AlycMck! and the song is really great as well so check that out too! :)
last thing, i promise- Please check out my stories 'The Night Vigilante' and 'Just Keep Swimming', i think they are going to be the next big projects i work on after MHB :) Just Keep Swimming is going to be the same kind of genre as this story and TNV is going to be filled with epic action and romance!
I love you all! Until next time <3
Please don't forget to fan, comment and vote!