"Victor, I honestly think you need to trust Benji. From the time that I spent around him when you were here, he looks at you like he would do anything for you. You two are perfect together. Victor, my friend, you have found your Bram. On a side note, Bram and I will be in town in a week. Abby and Leah asked us all to meet at Waffle House. Our friends Nick and Garrett will be there too. We want you there, Victor. You and Benji, Felix too.
Love, Simon."
-----
Benji
Two Days Later
As I opened my eyes, the first thing I see is Victor sleeping in the chair next to me, I think, "I wonder how long he has been here." I wonder how long I have been out. I think, "What brought me here-" I close my eyes, and I remember the other day, with Dillon, and how he was about to shoot Victor. I look at my arm, and I mutter to myself, "I took a bullet for him."
I reach for his hand, and as I interlock our fingers, he wakes up. I look into his eyes and say, "Babe, I love you." He gets up and kisses me, and I start to cry. He looks into my eyes and asks, "Babe, what is wrong?" I take my arm that isn't in a cast and pull him close. I say, "I was so afraid that I was going to lose you." He looks at me and says, "Babe, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here."
I close my eyes and ask, "So, is-" Victor sits back down in the chair, not letting go of my hand, and says, "I don't know." I look at him again and ask, "What about-" I see everyone else standing in the doorway. I start to cry because we all are safe.
Andrew smirks at me, his arm is also in a cast, and with his free hand, he is holding Mia's. He says, "Campbell, that's gonna leave a badass scar," He looks at Victor and says, "Salazar, you are one lucky man." As he finishes, a nurse walks in behind them and says, "No more than three people to the room, all of you must leave." I ask, "Um, when can I go home?"
She smiles and says, "We called your parents, your mother and brother will be here soon to pick you and your boyfriend up." I smile and say, "You get to meet-" Victor kisses me and says, "I already have. She is the one who signed the waiver that let me be in here with you." I feel the tears stream down my face.
-----
Victor
One Week Later (Two Weeks Since The Incident)
"Victor, are we going to talk about it?" Says Mrs. Spier as she was writing on her yellow legal pad notebook. I close my eyes and say, "What is there to talk about?" She smiles and says, "Victor, honey, you need to talk to someone about what happened. Dillon could have killed you."
I look at her and say, "Ok fine, so my boyfriend's best friend tried to kill me to get with my boyfriend. I was tied up and thrown into the back of his sports car. I heard him kill a cop because of me. He shot at my friends, injuring Andrew. He almost killed me, but Benji took the bullet." I freeze and start to cry.
Mrs. Spier sat next to me, put her hand on my back, and said, "Victor, honey, it's ok to cry about this." I look up at her and say, "What would I have done if Benji died." As I continue crying, she asked, "Have you heard anything new about Dillon's condition?"
I freeze at his name. I don't want to hear it. I snap, "Who cares, all I know is he is in a coma, and pieces of his skull are lodged in his brain." Mrs. Spear says, "Victor, he can't hurt you anymore. Benji is safe, and so are your friends. If Dillon wakes up from an injury like that, he won't be the same." I look up at her and ask, "How do you know?"
She picks up her iPad and scrolls through an article she was reading earlier. She hands me the iPad and says, "Dillon was fortunate. An injury like he had, he has a five percent chance of survival. If he survives the coma, he will have severe memory loss and many other medical issues." She pauses for a second to gauge my response, but I am just reading the article. She continues, "He is going to have a long road to recovery, which he won't ever be the same person. You and Benji don't ever have to see the Dillon you knew ever again."
I feel myself starting to feel bad for him, and I say, "So, Benji's best friend is just gone?" She nods her head and says, "The friend that he knew is gone."
-----
Carter
One Week Ago
As I walk up to the ICU at the hospital, I immediately notice the two people yelling at the doctor. I take a step back and try to hide in the hallway. I mutter to myself, "Why the hell did I come here without telling anyone." I quickly whip out my phone and text Felix and say, "Babe, I am at the hospital. I wanted to check on Dillon." I look at the message and decide I am not going to send this yet.
I slid the phone into my pocket and headed back down the hall towards the screaming source. As soon as I make it over there, Mrs. Vanderbilt looks at me and snaps, "Why the hell are you here?" I look at her in her black Chanel dress, long jet black hair, and the skin that looks like porcelain, and I snap, "I'm here to see my brother."
Mr. Vanderbilt, a tall man wearing a Versace suit that looked like it cost more than anything I would ever own and snow as white as snow, says, "You are not our son, not anymore." He points to the room and roars, "That isn't our son either. Vanderbilts are not weak like him. They are strong and resilient."
I snap, "How in the hell can you say that-" Mrs. Vanderbilt slaps me across the face and snaps, "You will watch your mouth, you trash!" I look at her with so much hate that I think she knew how I felt. I ask, "So, does this mean that you are disowning him?" She laughs, and Mr. Vanderbilt says, "Let's go, dear, time is money. The boys are a waste of both."
I look at the doctor and say, "Can I ask-" He smiles at me and says, "It's nice to know that someone still cares for this boy. His parents, if that's what you want to call them, will pay for his treatment. You saw the rest of their reaction." I feel myself start to cry. I ask, "Is he going to be ok?"
The doctor looks at me and gestures for me to sit when I do. He sits down next to me. Setting down his clipboard and stack of files. He takes a deep breath and says, "I am going, to be completely honest with you, Dillon Vanderbilt-" I put up my hand and say, "Give him my last name, not his. His parents don't want him, but I will take him. I may be an orphan, but he is the most family I ever have had." The doctor smiles and says, "Of course. What would that name be?" I tear up and say, "Baxter."
The doctor reaches for his files, finds Dillons, and writes down the name. His face goes from the smile to frowning. He solemnly says, "Your brother is lucky to be alive right now. The bullet he was shot with was the right kind of bullet. Also, the spot in which the bullet hit him, fractured fragments of bone. Those bone fragments have lodged themselves into his brain."
I close my eyes and start to cry, but the doctor flips through Dillon's folder and pulls out an X-Ray. He showed it to me for me to see the bone fragments, which are circled in red. Nine bone fragments all scattered throughout his right hemisphere. I ask, "Will he-"
The doctor puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Son, time will tell. His body needs to heal. He has made it through the surgery, but he isn't out of the woods yet. He may not make it out of this alive, but he won't be the same if he does." I look at him and ask, "What do you mean?"
The doctor repositions his glasses and says, "Usually from a bullet wound to the head, five percent of patients don't make it. Of those five percent, 95% of those don't survive the coma their bodies go into. If he makes it out of the coma, he will suffer from severe memory loss, speech impediments, seizures, and possible paralysis." I start to cry and ask, "Can you remove the fragments?" The doctor closes his eyes and says, "If we do, he will die."
I take a deep breath and say, "Can I see him?" He gets up and points in the direction of his room. He says, "He is in there, he can't respond to you right now, but if you talk to him, he will know you are there." I nod my as I get up, I say, "Thank you."
As I step into Dillon's room, I immediately notice all the machines hooked up to him. He has half of his head wrapped up, and he is lying there as if he was dead. I mutter to myself, "Wow, I never thought I would see you like this."
I pull the chair up to his bed, and I grab his hand. I start to say, "Dillon, you have no idea how much I love you. You are the only person in the family to treat me as a member of the family." I start to cry, and I continue, "You were the one who told mom and dad to pay for my surgery. If it weren't for you, I would still be Carla Baxter, the orphan from Savannah. I know you had your moments, but you always got me. No matter what, you have always been there for me."
I stand up and walk around the room as I continue, "I know you loved Benji, and maybe if you got to him before Victor, you would be with him, but you can't mess with people like you did. I can't forgive you for that. You almost killed us."
I look at him from the foot of the bed and lean, I continue, "I can never forgive you for what you did. I will always love you, but I will never forgive you." I close my eyes and wipe away the tears. As I do, I walk towards the door and say, "Be back soon, ok?"
-----
Victor
We walk up the stairs to the door, I look at Benji and say, "Babe, are you ok with this?" He grabs my hand and says, "I need to meet your family as your boyfriend sometime." He looks at me, I melt. I say, "Babe, I love you so much." I pull him in for a kiss, and he pulls me in for a kiss, and I melt.
I grab his hand and pull him towards the door. Taking a deep breath, I knock on the door. I hear Adrian scream and run towards the door. I could hear Pilar snap at him, "Adrian, I get to answer the door!" It opens, and the sight is exactly like I envisioned, they are fighting over who gets to answer the door. I hug both of them and Adrian squeals, "OH MY GOD!! YOUR ARM LOOKS LIKE THE STONE GIANTS FROM FROZEN!" Benji laughs and says, "Hey, I'm-" Adrian smiles and interrupts, "You are Victor's Novio."
I look at Benji, his face was bright red. I laugh, and his face just gets even redder. We walk into the doorway, and I immediately see my mother has been sleeping on the couch. I ask my siblings, "How is everything going?" Pilar looks at me and gives me a half-smile, saying, "Abuela has been whipping mom and dad in shape."
Like we just summoned her, Abuela and Abuelo walk down the hall and say, "There are my two grandsons!" Benji and I walk over, and she gives us the biggest hugs. Abuelo does the same, and he slips something into my pocket. I look confused, and he says, "Your novio needs to go on a date with you, so you take him out." My face goes red, and Benji just laughs.
Abuela grabs my hand and pulls me into the kitchen, where mom and dad were cooking. I look at them, and they seem happy, happier than they have been in years. I say, "Mom, Dad, hey."
Mom turns around and says, "Mijo, I am so happy to see you!" She looks over to Benji and says, "Oh, you must be Benji!" She hugs him so tight I thought she was going to pop him. She starts to cry and looking over his shoulder. She says, "Thank you so much for being there for him. If it wasn't for you-" She breaks into tears, and I see her envisioning what would have happened if I had died. Seeing that made me start to cry as well.
I look at my dad, and he is standing there sobbing. I walk over to him, but he ignores me and heads straight for Benji. He hugs him as tight as he can and says, "Welcome to the family, son." The rest of the night, we talked and laughed like a family, and my parents treated Benji like a Salazar. I was the happiest I had ever been then I was tonight.
-----
Felix
"Hey, Carter, where are you? I just got off work." I ask as I clock out of work. His voice echos through my phone, and it brings a smile to my face. He says, "I'm home, specifically I am in Victor and Benji's room. See you soon?" I smirk and say, "Be there in ten." I hang up the phone and say, "See you tomorrow, Sarah!" I dart out the door and run to my boyfriend's house.
When I get there, Carter is sitting on the step waiting for me. Seeing him made me happy, happier than I usually am. He grabs my hand and pulls me in for a kiss, and the next thing I know, we are making out, and I wish we were in his room. When I pull myself off him, I ask, "So, um did Owen say it's okay for you to use his room? I know he is in town since Benji got shot." Carter looks into my eyes and says, "Ya, he is only in town for the next few days. For now, I am sleeping in the room with Victor and Benji." I laugh and say, "What if they-"
He laughs and says, "If they want to get intimate, I just sleep on the couch. I do that a lot." We both laugh, and he says, "Come in! Benji and Victor wanted to say hi." He grabs my hand, and I follow him down the hall."
When we get to the room, Benji and Victor are sitting on the bed, and Victor is sitting on his lap. I laugh and say, "Since the Dillon thing, you two have been inseparable." They laugh and kiss. Victor says, "After he took the bullet for me, I knew that I couldn't get away from him. Benji grabs his hand and kisses his neck.
Carter grabs my hand and pulls me to sit on the couch bed that he has set up in the room. As soon as we sit, he pulls me in for a kiss, and we wind up laying down on the bed, intertwined in the sheets. I was expecting Victor of Benji to say something about it, but I look over for a split second, and they are in the same position.
After a long time, I finally say, "So, um, what do you want to do tonight?" Carter laughs and says, "Well, I could think of some stuff." Benji laughs and says, "I can call Owen and see if he is coming home tonight." Victor is underneath him, looking out of breath. Carter asks Benji to call before I could say anything.
Benji makes the call and says, "So, Owen won't be home tonight. He says you guys can sleep on the couch in his room." I blushed, and Carter goes from laughing to looking sad. I grab his hand, and he says, "So, um I saw Dillon the other day."
The room goes silent, and Benji or Victor won't look at Carter. I ask, "So, um, how is he doing?" Victor and Benji look at me, not expecting me to ask anything. Carter starts to cry and says, "It doesn't look good. The doctor says that if he survives, he will suffer a lot." Benji snaps, "He deserves it for what he did!" He pulls Victor in closer and wraps his arms around him.
Carter looks at him and says, "Benji, I get why you are mad, but he is just a broken person. His parents ruined him mentally, and he just snapped. I understand that he hurt you and almost killed you both, but he was my brother." Victor says, "I wish I knew him when you first met him, babe." Benji smiles and says, "He was my best friend like you have Felix."
I blush and say, "Awe you, guys!" Everyone starts to laugh, and Carter says, "If he survives, he will have memory loss, speech problems, seizures, possible paralysis, and a 95% chance of dying while in his coma." He starts to tear up, and I wrap my arms around him.
Benji says, "When Dillon wakes up, I will never forgive him." He pulls Victor close to him and kisses his forehead. Carter looks off out the bedroom window and says, "He won't remember anyone anyway." Victor quickly says, "Oh, I know this is terrible timing, but I almost forgot, tomorrow night, Simon and everyone will be in town. They want us to meet them for dinner at Waffle House."
------
So, what do you guys think of what happened to Dillon? Let me know in the comments. Also, I would like to thank JaredReynolds0 franticfanfiction for helping me write this chapter and every chapter! They both help me out a lot and it means the world.
Either way, I was told I should write a side story that shows the emotional abuse Dillon went through as a kid, let me know if you would read it in the comments.
Coming soon, I will also start to post an original story on here called NightShade. A story about a LGBT superhero I have been working on. So be on the lookout for that as well!
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