Picture of Nick Bateman as Tyler to the side.
-Unedited
Carter Kelly's P.O.V
I find myself waking up on a stiff bed with a thin but warm blanket covering me. An annoying beeping sound and constant whispering preventing me from going back to dream land. A large hand is gripping my own tightly, sending small tingles up and down my arm. I flutter my eyes open, my vision blurry at first but it soon goes back to normal.
"Carter!"Hudson gasps as she jumps out of the chair she was sitting in and stands up so she's right next to me. "Thank God, you're awake!"
"What happened?"I furrow my eye brows, trying to remember what I had done before I fell asleep.
"How are you feeling?"A deep voice says from the other side of me. I turn their direction and my gaze is directed towards a pair of beautiful green eyes. That's when it all comes back to me.
I almost killed myself.
I jerk my hand out of Tyler's grasp and scoot over toward my sister. I wince when I sit up too quickly, causing a my head to pound.
"Careful, sweetheart."Tyler sucks in a breath, reaching out to me but I move closer to my sister. Hudson puts an arm around me and hugs me close to her.
"We thought we lost you."Hudson whispers to me before tears start to run down her cheeks.
"I'm right here."I try to comfort my sister by rubbing her back like she does for me when I break down like this.
"If only I hadn't forced you to come with-"
"It's not you're fault, Hudson."I tell her. "It's not you're fault at all. It's no ones fault but mine."
We held each other like this until the door opened.
"Luna, you're awake."An unfamiliar doctor notes as he walks into the hospital room. "How are you feeling? You should lay down."
I give him a small nod before laying back down and readjusting my blanket, it was now that I noticed what I am wearing. It was a red and black flannel that was huge on me, the sleeves were extremely long and it went down to my mid thigh. As for pants, a pair of Calvin Klein boxers. I'm in his clothes. Ew.
"I'm Doctor Mason."He says. "We stitched up your arms and thighs, they should be completely healed in a few weeks. We got most the medication out of your system, too."
"Thank you."I say quietly, very quietly.
"You're lucky, you know? Alpha Evans sensed that something was wrong almost immediately. If he got there too late, you wouldn't be alive."Dr. Mason says somewhat harshly.
"I know."I nod slowly, biting my lip to prevent tears to spill from my eyes. A small growl echoes throughout the room and my attention focuses on Tyler.
"Don't talk to her that way."Tyler growls. "If you have anything else to say, say it quickly and leave. You're not helping much."
"Yes Alpha."Dr. Mason clenches his jaw, slightly annoyed. "That's everything."
"Then you're dismissed."Tyler waves his hand, motioning for him to leave the room again. Dr. Mason walks out of the room, looking a bit angry.
"Alpha?"Hudson's voice says after a few awkward moments after the door closed. "Would you mind if I went to go cook something for Carter? Would you look after her while I'm gone?"
"That's my job, Hudson. She's my responsibility and I will take care of her."Tyler answers. "You don't ask me to look after her when that's something I intend on doing my entire life."
"R-right. I'll just go cook something for her really quickly then."Hudson nods slowly, standing up from the edge of the bed and then leans down the kiss my forehead. "I'll be right back."
She turns to leave but I catch her wrist. "You don't have to, I'm not hungry."
"Carter, you've been out for a week."Hudson informs me. "You need to eat something."
"A week?"I raise my eyebrows at her and slowly let go of her wrist. Maybe I am a little hungry then. She nods and leaves quickly, leaving me alone with Tyler.
"How are you feeling?"He asks, sitting on the edge of his chair so he's closer to me.
"Fine."My voice cracks.
"Please don't lie to me, darling."Tyler says softly. "You don't have to act around me."
I just shake my head, I bite my lip again when I feel tears close to spilling out from my eyes. I don't like when people see me cry, makes me from more anxious. No one can know just how broken I am and no one can know just what thoughts run through my head.
"C-Can I have a bottle of water?"I ask so I would get a few moments to recompose myself.
"Of course, I'll run and get you one quickly, I'll be back before you know it."Tyler gives me a comforting smile, which does help some me a bit. But he's not leaving quick enough. He stands and leans down and kisses my forehead gently, making me blush. I don't like that he does that, I don't want to be with him. I don't understand why he hasn't really gotten that. "I won't be long."
A silent sob escapes my lips when the door closes, tears stream down my face and I try to keep up and wipe them away. Calm down, everything's okay. Don't panic. I take deep breaths to control my breathing and wipe away the last of my tears. Don't let your anxiety control you.
Once I'm calmed down, I take a look around the room. It's nothing special, there's a rocking chair that Hudson was sitting in to my left and a couple less comfortable looking chairs to my right. Across from the bed are a few closets and a desk where I'm assuming Mr. Camry would sit. There's a TV mounted on the wall between the two closets.
The door opens and Tyler stands there with six different kinds of bottled water. "I didn't know which kind you liked best." He states as he walks into the room, closing the door behind him, and holding all of them out to me.
"Thanks."I say softly, taking the Voss. I really only like Ice Mountain and Voss but Voss is pretty expensive so I usually just have Ice Mountain. And don't give me the 'It's water, it's tastes exactly the same.' No. Try Ice Mountain and then get a sip of Dasani. Dasani is gross.
"You're welcome."Tyler smiles gently at me. "I'll remember that next time."
"Oh, you can just get me Ice Mountain."
Tyler brushes off my attempt of persuasion. "Do you need anything else?"
I shake my head shyly.
"Are you sure? I'll get you anything you want."Tyler assures me, but I still shake my head. "Why don't I get you another blanket? It's kind of cold in here, isn't it? I'll get you one. Or maybe anther pillow? Yeah, you look like you need another pillow. And maybe I can get you a hot chocolate? Where do you like it from? I can be at a Dun Brothers or a Starbucks and back in five minuets."
In all honesty, everything he offered sounds pretty good. But I don't want him to do any of that. It'll just make him think that he's taking care of me and then I'll never go anywhere without him holding my hand. Ugh.
"No thanks."I shake my head, trying to come up with an excuse. "I'm fine with what I have now."
A smile creeps onto Tyler's lips as he sits down in one of the chairs to my right crosses his arms over his chest. He looks pleased with something, though I'm not sure what. I feel his gaze set on me, so I take a few small sips of the water and try to ignore it, hoping he'll stop.
I tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear, immediately remembering that I took a shower, with water, which means my hair is curly. Crap. I'm sitting in front of the most handsome person on the entire planet with curly hair and no make up to cover up my bags and spots and scars. I probably look disgusting.
I shift uncomfortably as I move my hair to the right side of my shoulder to hide my face.
"Carter?"Tyler asks, sounding slightly amused. He laughs lightly, "Are you trying to hide behind your hair?"
"Uh..."I stutter nervously, but thankfully Hudson scurries into the room. Finally.
"Okay, so there wasn't much in the pack house kitchen so I just made you buttered noodles and grabbed you a couple protein bars and then quickly filled a glass of milk."Hudson says quickly. "And I stopped by Dun Brothers because I know you like their hot chocolate the best. Whip cream on the bottom and on the top."
She sets down the tray on my lap and adjusts the bed so I can sit up properly with a back rest.
"Do you have a pony tail?"I whisper to her and she rolls one off her wrist. I quickly put my hair up in a pony tail and pray that my skin looks clear today. Oh my God! I probably have a unibrow, too. I casually feel the space between my eyebrows to make sure it's not too hairy there.
"I'm going to grab a soda, I need caffeine."Hudson says. "I'll be back in a second, cake."
I give her a small nod as I pick up the fork and take a few bites of the noodles. Once she's out the door, Tyler speaks up. "Why didn't she get a coffee at Dun Brothers?"
"She hates coffee,especially the smell. So, I can't drink it around her."I explain in a quiet voice. "So I get hot chocolate most of the time. I like them both, but I like coffee too."
Tyler smiles at me again. "I like it when you talk."
"I talk."I defend myself in a slightly louder voice. "I just know who's worth talking to."
"And you've been talking quite a lot to me, since we've met I mean. If you consider how little you talk."Tyler says, seeming pleased with himself.
I shake my head a look down at the tray in my lap to hide part my blush. I had talked to him more than I normally would to people I've just met.
I take a glance over at him to see that he's already staring at me.
"Why are you staring at me?"I ask quietly.
"You don't have any makeup on, you haven't straightened your hair, you haven't showered in a week, and you look beautiful."Tyler answers me in a sweet voice. "You're perfect."
"I'm not perfect."I whisper softly, squeezing my eye shut. Feeling bad memories come back to me. "I'm the exact opposite of perfect."
"You're worthless. You're fat. You're ugly. You're a waste of air. You're pathetic. You're talentless. You're useless. You're stupid. You're disliked. You're not my daughter, my daughters are perfect and you are the exact opposite of perfect. I hate you and so does every other being on this planet."My mother snarled at me before she shoved me into my room and slammed the door on my fingers. Tears rolled down my cheeks but I didn't dare make a sound. I ran to my bed and curled up in my bed and cried until I fell asleep.
"Oh, sweetheart..."Tyler whispers as he comes to sit down on the bed next to me, I instantly slide over to the other side. He gently takes the tray of food off my lap and slides it down to the end on the bed before gently placing his hand on my arm, peering up at my face. He cups my cheek with his hand so I could look up at him.
"Please don't cry, lovely."He whispers as he wipes a tear that was rolling down my cheek away with his thumb. "I want you to remember that, no matter what, you are perfect to me. You're the most beautiful woman on this planet and I'm the luckiest man on earth."
The tears stop but the blush returns. I want to lean away from his touch but I couldn't just yet. I feel safe.
"I like your blush."He whispers sweetly, a smile creeping into his lips. He caresses my cheek a little before letting me go. "I'll give you all the time in the world, but just remember that you're beautiful."
He kisses my forehead gently before going over to his seat again. He's giving me time? As in time to get better? Feel better about myself? Or as in he'll give me time on accepting this whole 'mate' thing. Because, it really is a lot to take in.
Most of me is glad he sat back down in his chair, I like that he's giving me space. But, the tiny other part of me is a little sad, I wanted him to stay here with me.
My sister soon walked into the room again, holding three Mountain Dews. She quickly takes her seat in the rocking chair and opens one of the bottles, making the little hiss noise.
"Carter, I know you probably don't want to, but please eat a little..." Hudson asks me quietly. I nod silently and eat a few more bites, for her. Eating is honestly the last thing I want to do right now.
A knock on the door gains all of our attention, Tyler mutters something under his breath and opens the door. Landon stands there, looking a bit anxious. "I heard she's awake." He whispers. "Can I come in?"
Tyler gives him a stiff nod and opens the door more for Landon to slip through.
"Hey."Landon gives me a small wave and sits on the edge of the bed next to me. "How are you?"
"I'm okay."I say quietly, not really knowing how to respond.
"It's good to see you awake."He states. "I was worried about you."
"Why?"I furrow my eyebrows together. "No one has ever really been worried about me before."
"Believe it or not, I care about you and I was worried about you."Landon tells me. "You're not only my Luna, but you're also my best friend's mate. Plus, you were always my favorite freshman..."
I smile a little bit at that. During his last year of high school ever, I 'tripped' in gym class and nearly broke my ankle. What really happened is I was shoved into a wall by one of the volleyball players. Then, Landon yelled at the whole team and got them all benched for the rest of the season. Now that I know that most of the kids at my old school were werewolves and that Landon was the Beta, this all makes sense now.
"Thanks."I say quietly, looking down at my lap.
"I just wanted to see how you're doing, everything feels okay, right?"Landon asks.
"Yeah."I answer, keeping my head down.
"Well, if anything does hurt, my dad and my brother will come right away."Landon tells me. "And, if you need anything, just give Tyler a pout and he'll do anything for you."
I nod shyly and look over Tyler's direction, he wore a slightly annoyed or jealous expression on his face but once he noticed me looking he gave me a small smile and a reassuring nod. I feel a blush coming on so I turn back to my lap and keep my head down.
"I got to go, I have to get to training but hopefully I see you before you get released."Landon smiles at me and waves.
"Bye."I say quietly and wave back before he exits the room and closes the door behind him.
I look over at Hudson to avoid Tyler's burning gaze on me. She looks tired. Her eyes are puffy and red as if she had been crying, she has dark bags under her eyes, her hair is greasy and she's in the same clothes she was in the last time I saw her before I uh, fell asleep.
"Hudson?"I ask softly and capture her attention. I can't believe I'm doing this... "You're tired and smell gross. Please, please, please put down the caffeinated drinks and go home and shower and then sleep for days. Please."
"Carter, I'm fine."Hudson gives me an unconvincing smile. "Don't worry about me."
"Hudson, I'm always worried about you. You get the hiccups too easily, you always manage to lose one shoe, and you don't know how to whistle."I tell her. "You need a shower and rest."
"Carter-"
"Please? For me?"I beg her quietly. "I'll be fine here."
"Okay, okay, fine just stop with the puppy dog eyes."Hudson waves me off. "I'll be back tomorrow."
She gives me a kiss on the forehead and leaves. Maybe I should've told Tyler to leave because now I'm alone with him again. I glance over at him quickly, but only to see that he's already staring at me. I blush and keep my head down again.
"Hey, you don't have to keep bowing your head."Tyler says softly. "You're my equal, darling."
"No ones ever treated me like an equal."I say quietly. "Everyone treats me like I'm nothing."
"You're not nothing."Tyler tells me softly, moving over to sit on the bed. I slide over to the other side away from him. He stops me by gently placing his hand on my knee and another on my chin so I can look at him. "Carter, you are not nothing." He cups my cheek gently, I feel him moving me over closer to him and I want to struggle but I'm too focused on his gaze. "You're my everything, Carter. I will personally make sure that no one will treat you like you're nothing."
"I..."I attempt to think of something to say. I have no clue how to respond to him. His words make my heart stop, all the negative things that people have said about me in the past all slip away. All I can think about are his eyes, the beautiful green orbs that stare into mine.
"You really are my everything."Tyler whispers, moving his hands to my waist, pulling me closer to him. I try to pull back and he pauses for a second. "Please, just let me hold you. You're my mate, my everything. I won't hurt you and I won't try anything. I just...I just need to have you in my arms for a few seconds."
I give Tyler a small, reluctant nod and that's all he needs. He pulls me into his lap, my temple pressed to his chest, his arms wrapped around me. He's cradling me, rocking us gently back and forth. His lips don't leave my forehead.
"I thought I lost you."Tyler whispers. "I can't lose you, darling. I can't lose you."
"Y-you didn't lose me."I whisper back. There was something about the way his tone sounded, desperate and scared, it made me feel the need to comfort him. "You didn't lose m-me."
"I know, baby, I know that now."Tyler whispers quietly again. "But, that day I was so scared. I felt a shift in the air, my wolf was going insane, we both were so worried. I had to get to you. The bathroom door was locked...I had to break it down to get to you. And I saw you there, laying unconscious, I've never been so scared in my entire life."
"I-I'm sorry."I whimper quietly.
"You're okay, now."Tyler says softly, his voice cracking. "That's all I care about, that you're okay. That's all that matters to me."
"Tyler..."I whisper so quietly that I'm surprised he heard me. I look up at him and he looks down at me, his eyes glossy. Tyler brings his hand to my cheek, wiping the fallen tears away. He whispers softly, "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't mean for you to cry."
I just shake my head and press my lips together in a thin line. I don't know what came over me or why I did it...but I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I bury my head in his neck, silent tears dripping down my cheeks.
"You're not supposed to be sorry."
Tyler buries his head in the crook of my neck, his breath fanning over the mark he gave me. His arms wrapped tightly around me waist, keeping me pressed against his chest. His breathing becomes even again, he became less tense. A sigh escaped his lips. I got a strange feeling, a pleased one. I'm pleased to be have comforted him.
"You really are going to be the death of me, you know?"Tyler murmurs into my hair.
I pull away from his neck slightly and he looks up from mine. I give him a small smile before attempting to remove my arms from his neck all together.
"Wait, five more minuets."Tyler whines as he presses me tighter into his chest and buries his head in my neck again. I small laugh escapes my lips at his childishness and rewrap my arms around his neck again, but don't hold him as close this time. Tyler murmurs again, "I like it when you laugh."
I hate my laugh. With a burning passion.
I keep quiet again, just letting him hold me for now. I've never really liked being held or touched by people. The whole 'human interaction' thing isn't something that I've ever liked. I hate people. And people hate me. So, it's a good arrangement I guess. But, part of me likes just being held by him.
"You're adorable, you know?"Tyler says again. "You're tiny and you have cute mannerisms. You look perfect in my clothes, by the way."
I felt uncomfortable by the string of comments he was giving me. I'm not exactly used to people genuinely being nice to me. Usually, I'd get a bunch of comments telling me how fat I was and about how I'll never amount to anything.
"You're scent drives me insane, too."Tyler continues. "It's chocolate and raspberries, but mainly vanilla. It's pure heaven."
"I haven't showered in a week."My voice comes out quieter than usual. "I'm sure I stink."
"I can smell a bit of that, but you're scent over powers it, darling."Tyler nuzzles my neck, causing sparks to circulate throughout my body. "It's perfect."
Tyler pulls away from my neck but only secures his arms around my waist tighter. "You drive me insane."He whispers as he leans in to kiss me.
Every fiber in my body is telling me to let him kiss me, but I know that I shouldn't. I lean back to keep distance between us and he stops.
"It's overwhelming."I whisper. "All of this. One day, I'm a human thinking that supernatural beings were just on TV shows and the next, I'm told that I have werewolf blood and that I have a...what's the word?"
"Mate, you have a mate now."Tyler helps me.
"I-I just want to go slow."I say softly.
"Then we'll go slow."Tyler gives me a reassuring smile. "I don't care if it takes days, weeks, months, years...I just want you and I'll wait as long as you need."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can, baby girl."Tyler tucks my bangs behind my ear.
"Why did you give me this right away?"I tilt my head to the side to show him my neck where the mark he gave me lays. "Landon told you I was human and..."
A slightly annoyed expression appears on Tyler's face.
"I know it seemed quick, but I've been waiting for nearly six years to find my mate. The only thing I've ever wanted to is to find my other half. And when I saw you, standing there with an amazed look in your eye as you watched the storm going on outside, your eyes wide and your beautiful face..."Tyler sucked in a breath. "I lost control. Most Alphas instantly mark their mates, it's an Alpha thing. I didn't understand it until you came into my life. Yes, I sensed that you were human almost instantly, but the second I laid my eyes on you, I knew that you were mine, my other half, my everything, my mate...
"And yes, Landon and the others did warn me and try to persuade me to stop, but my wolf was in control."Tyler explains. "All I wanted to do is place my mark on you so that the world knows you're mine. But usually, when you mark your mate, you hear all the others thoughts and send messages through each others minds. Now, that problem varies but usually goes away when you've marked each other. But we can't exactly do that..."
I shake my head and kept my gaze down.
"Carter, you're my equal. You don't need to keep bowing your head like that."He gently tips my chin up so I can look up at him.
"Did Landon know about us being mates before we did?"I ask quietly. "Is that why he was nice to me the entire time?"
"No, that's impossible. The only people that can tell if we were mates, is us."Tyler gives me a smile but his expression looks annoyed. "And why are you and Landon so close?"
"We're not. I've never really been close with anyone."I say softly. "But Landon stood up for me when he was still in high school. He got the whole volleyball team suspended when one of the girls shoved me and broke my ankle and beat up the football captain for making me drop my books and shoved me into the lockers. He was just nice to me."
"Landon's always been a good kid like that."Tyler mumbles to himself before looking at me in the eye again. "How old are you again, sweetheart?"
"Eighteen."I answer quietly. "I graduated last spring."
A smile forms on his lips. "That's good, baby girl.
I give him a shy smile even though a wave of exhaustion spreads through me.
"You look tired, princess."Tyler notes out loud again. "I can get you some warm milk and honey to help you sleep or I can get you another blanket and maybe some pillows. Yeah, that's what I'm going to do, well, I'll tell someone to bring it to us. They'll be here soon, darling."
"You don't need to-"
"I'll get you anything and everything you need or want, plus extra."Tyler pets my hair gently before kissing forehead. "You're my everything and I'm going to take care of you until my last breath."
A knock on the door captures both of our attentions, Tyler gives me a small smile before kissing my cheek and sliding me off his lap onto the bed. He gets up and answers it, a woman stands at the door holding a couple blankets, a few extra pillows, and a glass filled with milk and honey...at least I'm assuming so anyway.
Tyler smiles at her and tells her thank you and she bows her head in respect. He closes the door and hands me the glass of milk. He gives me a reassuring smile,"It'll help you sleep, sweetheart."
Tyler fluffs and then sets down pillows on the bed as I take small sips of the milk and honey. Which, I personally am addicted to because it's always helped me sleep. It's half gone when he turns back to me and he gives me another smile.
"Good girl."Tyler murmurs, leaning down and kissing my forehead as he runs a hand through my hair. He somehow managed to remove my ponytail at some point. "Lay down, baby girl."
He holds his hand out for me to give him the glass and I give it to him before obeying his request. He covers me with the two blankets the woman brought and turns out the main lights and keeps the small lamp on the side table by the side of the bed on. I struggle to find an actual comfortable position, though. Not to mention the fact that he's just staring at me as I try to sleep.
"Having trouble?"Tyler's deep voice tears me from my thoughts. I nod shyly in response and he chuckles lightly. "I know that these beds aren't very comfortable, I'm hoping you'll be back at the pack house in a few days."
"The pack house?"I ask, my voice comes out quieter than I expected it to.
"Don't worry, my little love."Tyler gives me a goofy smile. "You have your own room to sleep in."
"Okay."I nod shyly.
"Here, sweetheart."Tyler pulls his chair up to the bed and gently touches my back, rubbing soothing circles down my spine. "Does this help any?"
I once again give a shy nod and curl up into a ball, facing the other way so he won't see my blush. I feel myself slowly drifting into a calming paradise of black.
♡♡♡
A soft snoring is the first thing I hear when I regain consciousness from my deep sleep. I've never been someone who sleeps an entire night let alone sleep well. If I do sleep, dreams of my past cloud it.
I blink my eyes open to find myself in a somewhat familiar room, that is until I realize where I am and why I'm here and what happened the night before.
A large, muscular arm is draped over my stomach and the tingles that erupt on my skin lets me know that it belongs to Tyler.
I turn my head to the right and see him sitting awkwardly in his chair but his upper torso is draped over the hospital bed. His brown hair is falling over his eyes and his plump lips are slightly parted. A small smile plays onto my lips, he's adorable when he's sleeping. It's strange that Tyler is the most intimidating man on the planet, the best looking person I've seen in my entire life, but he's so kind to me and he does cute things around me.
I turn on my side, facing him, and curl up into a ball and try to fall back asleep again. I try to welcome the darkness, but Tyler stirs and soon awakes me again.
"Baby girl, I know you're awake."Tyler chuckles and I slowly blink my eyes open again. "How did you sleep?"
"Good."I say simply and quietly.
"That's good."Tyler smiles warmly at me. "Do you want some breakfast?"
"No thanks."I say quietly again. "I'm not really hungry."
"You have to eat, little one."Tyler lectures me. "What would you like? Say anything and I'll get it for you."
"That's okay. I'm fine, really. I'm not hungry."I insist. I can't eat, I'm fat enough already. "I'll have lunch later."
"Carter, please eat."Tyler looks at me pleadingly. "I call you little one for a reason, you're too small. Baby girl, I could count your ribs and your spine when I found you that night. I need you to eat, please eat."
"Tyler-"
"I'll do anything, lovely, anything."Tyler takes my hands into his large ones. "Please, sweetheart."
Why does he care if I eat or not? I can't eat. I can't get any more fat. I can't look uglier than I already do. I can't do that. I can't.
"Carter?"Tyler speaks in a very soft tone, his eyes look straight into mine, and he wears a desperate expression on his face. "You're my everything, baby girl. Please, eat."
I stare at him for a moment, not sure how to answer until I decide to mutter, "It's not that easy..."
"How about this?"Tyler looks into my eyes sadly, he looks unsettled. He brings my hands to his lips and gently presses them to my hands. "I'll take things slow for you to get used to the whole mate thing and the werewolf world if you take things slow with your diet? We can gradually build it up? Start with yogurt and eventually end with French toast or pancakes?"
I stare at him again. The way he speaks, the tone of his voice I mean, he sounds desperate...almost scared. It gives me an unsettling feeling. I don't like seeing him like that.
"Please."Tyler whispers softly.
"Can I start with low-fat yogurt?"I asks softly, bringing a smile to his face.
"Of course you can, my little one."Tyler stands up and kisses my forehead. "It'll be here soon, why don't you go take a shower? I had some extra clothes brought over a couple days ago, they're in the drawers. I'm going to check with the doctors to see how you're doing, hopefully you'll be able to get back to the pack house within a few days."
"Okay."I say quietly as I sit up slowly. My wrist brushes up against one of the sides of the bed and I wince at the stinging sensation it sends through my entire arm.
"Hey, careful baby girl."Tyler rushes over to me and places an arm on the small of my back and the other on top of my hand. "Let me help."
I slowly place each foot on the ground and stand up even slower. My legs feel like jelly. Tyler secures his arm firmly around my waist but makes sure not to hurt me. He's crouched down to my height, well, he's still taller than me but he's still crouched down.
I'm leaning on him for support completely. He walks us around the room so I can get used to walking again until I'm able to stand on my own. Tyler still held onto both of my hands so I didn't fall. Once I manage to get him to let go, I slowly and carefully walk over to the dresser with him following me closely behind and he opens the drawer for me.
There were a few flannels, T-Shirts, and hoodies and Calvin Klein boxers piled up in there. Part of me is disappointed that Hudson didn't bring me any of my clothes. But the other part of me was comforted by the fact that I was going to wear Tyler's clothes, they are comfy as hell.
I grab a black hoodie and a pair of his boxers, blushing when I turn around to see the smirk on his face.
"Let's get you to the bathroom, lovely."Tyler says as he grabs the clothes from me and walks closely by me incase I fall. Once we make it to the bathroom, Tyler lets me walk in first and follows closely behind me and sets down the change of clothes on the counter. "Be careful, okay? Just call my name and I'll be by your side in seconds. And please keep the door unlocked."
"Okay."I say quietly as I nod. "I won't lock it, don't worry."
"I'm your mate, it's my job to worry about you."Tyler leans down and kisses my forehead. "But I love my job."
My cheeks heat up at his comment and he smirks at me again.
"Don't take too long, okay?"Tyler says and I nod in response. He quickly kisses my forehead again before exiting the room.
I slide the boxers down my legs, catching a glimpse of my bandaged thighs, and unbutton the flannel. After unwrapping my wrists and thighs, I get a full view of the damage I did.
The cuts on my wrists and thighs have been stitched up and seemingly fully healed over, which is surprising since it usually takes a bit longer than a week to fully heal. Bruises cover my left shoulder, along with a small section of my back and part of my thigh. That must have happened when I slipped. My skin seems paler than it usually is and the bags under my eyes are darker. Tyler was right, you count my ribs. Easily. But, I'm still chubby and have fat rolls. I'm ugly.
And so I stand there, desperately thinking of something I could use for a blade. I need to. I need to so badly. My breathing rises uneasily and my body begins to shake, silent tears roll down my cheeks as I through on the hoodie quickly and run back out into the room to search for something to use, so I can take the pain away for just a small second.
I search frantically through the drawers, ever closet, and even through the papers on the desk that I'm assuming the doctor uses. A bag in the corner of the room catches my eye and I rush over to it, throwing everything out of it in search of something sharp.
That is until two strong arms wrap around my torso and pull me into a rock hard chest. I struggle desperately to get free, but fail miserably.
I'm quickly turned around but still fight to be released, but a large hand is firmly, but not harmfully, placed on my cheek and turns my head to look at at the beholder. My eyes lock with Tyler's green orbs.
"Carter."Tyler says to get my attention, he wears a concerned and scared expression on his face. "It's just me, little one. It's just me."
My chest is heaving up and down as I attempt to relax myself, but I've never been good at doing that. Just when I'm about to give back into the panic attack, Tyler brings a hand to the back of my head and runs his hand through my hair, tugging on it gently. His other hand on the small of my back, rubbing soothingly up and down my spine.
"Shhh, baby."Tyler whispers calmingly into my ear and rests his chin on the top of my head.
My whole body is shaking ferociously, I can't stop it. Breathing slowly becomes easier but my heads still spinning and my throat feels dry. The images of my ugly appearance still float around my mind. I look awful.
"I-I can't do it."My voice comes out as a high pitched whisper. "I l-look terrible."
"It's okay, sweetheart."Tyler whispers, kissing the top of my head. Ew, I haven't showered in a week. My hair has to be gross. Why in the hell would he kiss the top of my head?
He pulls away slightly and gently tips my head up to look at him. "Don't worry you're pretty, little mind over this, okay? We're going to get through this, together."
The way he said that, the way his voice sounded, the expression he wore on his face while saying it...
I've never seen or heard anyone sound so compassionate before. I honestly feel like he cares about me. No ones ever cared about me all that much, especially in this short amount of time. With Sam as an exception, I guess. Group therapy helped with that. We had to have partners and he came up to me and since that day, we've been inseparable. Well, we used to he anyway. I can just imagine what he'd say to me after attempting to off myself...
"Car, you pinky promised we'd get through this shitty world together."Then he'd smile and flick my forehead. "I can't deal with this damn world alone."
I miss him so much.
Tyler gains my attention again, he didn't do anything too crazy, he just started playing with my hair again. I love it when my hair gets played with. A sigh of content escapes my lips and a small smile creeps onto his face.
"Okay."I finally whisper in response.
That small smile became larger and his dimples become present. Holy crap he has dimples. I swear this guy just keeps getting more attractive by the second.
"Together?"Tyler asks. I nod in confirmation. He smiles widely, his eyes darting to my lips but quickly refocuses on my eyes. He kisses my forehead and my cheek before pulling me into a tight hug. Relief floods over my body. I'm glad he didn't actually kiss me. I like that he respects that I want to take things slow, granted he does kiss my forehead and cheeks a lot, but I want to wait for actually being kissed by him. Well, it would be my first kiss ever, too. So, I want it to be somewhat special - nothing crazy, but still special.
A knock on the door gains both of our attentions. Tyler sighs and looks back at me. "Why don't you quickly finish changing and I'll go get the door?"
I feel myself blush hard and pull down the hoodie I'm wearing. Now I'm thankful that I'm wearing his clothes and not mine, because this hoodie is huge and falls to my knees whereas mine would fall a little bit past my hips. I get up carefully and walk back to the bathroom and quickly slip on the pair of boxers.
Once I'm back out into my hospital room, Tyler is sitting in one of the chairs. A wooden tray is sitting on the bed and as I get closer I see a white bowl of raspberry yogurt with granola and raspberries on top with a white chocolate drizzled on top of those. A glass of milk and a Dun Brothers cup sit beside the bowl.
"I had someone get you hot chocolate just the way you like it."Tyler explains as he stands up. I crawl into the bed and he pulls the cover over my legs and then rest the tray on top of my thighs. "And I got you raspberry yogurt with white chocolate because of your scent."
"Thank you."I say quietly.
"You're sister left some movies you like, if you want to watch them."Tyler suggests. "She's coming by later tonight when her shift starts."
"We're at her work?"I ask.
"No, but she's temporarily working here while you're here."Tyler explains. "It's closer to the pack house, too. So, she'll probably work here for a while longer. Until you get settled anyway, she doesn't want to leave you in a new and different place."
"That sounds like her."I say quietly as I smile. "I love her."
Tyler smiles warmly at me and leans down and kisses my forehead. "What movie do you want to watch?"
♡♡♡
Yay! Update!
I wanted to show in this chapter that Carter isn't going to reject Tyler, but that she doesn't want to rush into things.
In the old version of this, things were rushed and it bothered me. Things are going to be slower but it will eventually play out don't worry.
Thank you for reading, please vote and perhaps fan?
Love you all
♡Aly