Alex's head drops to the ground along with Johnny's gun.

He curses from the pain of the gunshot wound in his leg and starts walking backwards away from the cops that move close to him, their guns pointed at him. I focus on Alex, not knowing whether or not he's still conscious as his chest is barely moving. As soon as Johnny is escorted out in handcuffs, blood gushing from his leg, I run into the warehouse and kneel down beside Alex.

"Oh god, Alex," I put my hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat. His face is covered in blood and his shirt is stained in it. Thank god the police got here when they did. And thank god Alex left his phone in his unlocked car so I could call them.

"Princesa," he mumbles, then coughs, turning his head to the side and spitting out blood.

Two paramedics come down beside us. "We're taking you to hospital, sir. Have you been shot or had any weapons used on you?"

"No, and I don't need to go to hospital," Alex tries to sit up, clutching his stomach and gritting his teeth to stop himself from making any noise.

"You shouldn't-"

"I'm fine!" He snaps and he causes himself a lot of pain by standing up. The paramedics and I get up too, and I take his hand with both of mine, helping him walk to the ambulance. "I'm not going," he says to them.

"Sit here and we'll just give you some ice for your face," the guy medic says and Alex sighs, sitting on the edge of the ambulance.

I sit too, and he puts his arm around me, burying his face into my hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't start that. I'm fine thanks to you."

"You weren't fine thanks to me. He could have-" He cuts himself short, pulling back and looking down at the ground.

"Please don't think about this, Alex. It's you i'm worried about. You need checked out."

"So do you," he touches the side of my head.

"I will if you do."

"Alex Fuentes," a cop says, walking towards us holding a note pad. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Shoot."

The guy looks at him weird.

"I mean, sure, yeah. Go ahead."

The medic brings over two ice packs for Alex but he just holds them and doesn't put them anywhere on his body while the officer asks him about what happened, and Alex explains everything.

"And he texted Alex from your phone?" He asks me.

"Yeah, he must have searched me for it because I was knocked out at that point."

Alex tenses. "He knocked you out?.. And searched you?"

"That's all I need for now. You two better get down to the hospital."

I squeeze Alex's hand and stand up, helping him into the ambulance. The blood around his mouth and from cuts is dried in and he seriously looks like he just got attacked by a werewolf or something. At the hospital, we are separated while they do a scan on my head and I clean the blood from me. When they let me go, I go the room Alex is in and see him sitting on the edge of his bed with two bandages on his chest.

"Owe," he winces when I hug him.

"Sorry," I step back, looking down at the bruising that is already showing on his stomach.

"Is everything okay? Any broken bones?"

"Surprisingly not. Just severe bruising on my ribs."

"Uh, Alex." I lean down and kiss his right cheek that is clear of cuts. "Why does this need to happen to you? You deserve so much better."

He takes my hands in his. "So do you. I don't know how to make up for what happened."

"I told you i'm fine." As long as I don't think about how terrifying that was and how I believed I was going to die, then I'm fine.

He shakes his head and looks down. "Your life would be... perfect if I wasn't in it."

"No, it would be horrible. It was boring and shitty before I met you and now this is the happiest i've been in years."

He continues to shake his head, frowning. "You could have died because of me. You don't deserve that," he meets my eyes. "I don't want you to be dragged down with me anymore."

"Please, Alex," I sit beside him, my body facing him and my grip on his arm tight. "Please don't do this. I won't let you walk away from us. Please. I love you." My eyes gloss over and I don't even care if I start crying. "I need you."

Finally, he looks at me and puts a hand on the side of my face, wiping away a tear that fell. "Okay," he whispers and I sigh with relief, but the tears don't stop falling, and I start thinking about what happened which makes it worse.

Alex puts his arm around me, pulling me against him and I lightly rest my head against his chest. "I'm never letting you out of my sight ever again," he says.

"I can live with that."

"Are you two okay?" I hear Isabella say so I sit up, wiping my tears and she rushes over to hug her son.

"Owe," Alex winces from the hug like he did when I hugged him.

Val comes in behind her. "What is it with you and hospitals? You attention seeking fuck," he jokes but his smile drops when he looks at me. "Oh my god, Amelia are you okay?"

"I'm good," I laugh a little and he stands in front of me.

Isabella pulls a shirt out of her bag and hands it to Alex and he stands up, pulling it on.

"How's your head?" She asks me.

"It's fine. They gave me pain killers."

She smiles sympathetically. "Your Mom and Dad are on their way here."

I sigh, feeling relieved and stand up too. I can't wait to see them. Val leans in closer, looking at both sides of my head.

"I wanted to see blood."

"Is that why you came? Not to be a supportive brother?" I laugh.

"Oh yeah, that too. Which ones my brother?" He looks around the room.

"Probably the only other guy in the room." I put my hand on his chest which makes him flinch, all expression from his face disappearing and he steps backwards so my hand drops. What the heck was that all about?

My parents walk in just then before I can ask about what just happened, and Val keeps his eyes on the floor. Mom hugs me asking if i'm alright which I respond to with I'm fine.

"Hey, Val," Dad says and Val smiles.

"What's up, Dylan? Miss-"

Alex grabs Val's shirt and pulls him over to him, telling him to shut up which makes my Dad smile.

"Let's get you home," Mom says and I nod. She talks to Isabella before we go and I take that opportunity to turn to Alex, putting my hands on his sides and kissing him. His hand goes over my neck and jawline, taking control of the kiss.

There is a clapping noise beside us so we pull apart, and Val pulls his hands back. "Let's go, Mom's letting me drive."

"Great. Now I'm definitely gonna die." He leans down and kisses my cheek before walking out with Val. Isabella and Mom watch us adoringly and my cheeks heat up. Gosh, Mom. Must you?

+++

"What are you doing here?" I walk up to a awkward moving Alex as Yasmin walks on his other side.

"Exactly, he couldn't even get up to brush his teeth last night but he's coming to school."

"Actually, I just couldn't be bothered. And I have work to catch up on," Alex says.

"Why do you only start caring about school when you're severely injured?" Yasmin asks.

"What is she doing?" Alex looks at something in front of us and Yasmin and I follow his gaze to where Chelsea is talking to Val. She is putting her hands all over him and he keeps pushing them away, a panicked look on his face while she just tries to get closer to him. It's the most desperate thing i've ever seen.

"Why the fuck is she touching him?" Yasmin glowers, walking towards them and we follow. "What's going on?" She questions Chelsea and Val steps back, his hands gripping the bottom of his shirt and I notice they're shaking.

"Calm down," Chelsea does her signature hair flip. "We were just talking."

"Looks like you couldn't keep your hands to yourself."

"Mind your own business, will you?"

Alex holds Yasmin's arm as if he's stopping her from pouncing at her. "It is my business when you're harassing my little brother."

"Harassing," she laughs. "Whatever. Talk to you later, Val," she says and as she walks past him her hand runs over his shoulder, making him shiver.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine," I've never heard his tone so serious. "Why do you have to do things like that?" He starts walking away and she follows him.

"I'm so confused," I state.

Alex turns to face me, sighing as if deciding whether or not to tell me something. "Val has this thing."

"What thing?"

"He hates being touched."

"He-" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "How can he hate being touched when he has sex so much?"

He shrugs. "I figured out that he can tolerate it when he's on something, but when he's not, he avoids skin to skin contact. I don't really get it, but I guess everyone has their phobias."

"Has he always been like that?"

"I don't think so. I think it started three years ago and it only started getting really bad this year."

"That's... Interesting. Have you tried asking him about why?"

"He doesn't talk about it."

"I've touched him before... And Chelsea touched him through his shirt."

"It's focussed around his chest and neck for some reason. He'll let us touch his arms through his clothes but even with a shirt, his chest is a no." He shakes his head. "I really don't get it." I think back to last week when I touched Val and he flinched. Now it makes sense.

"I don't know what the deal with Chelsea is," Alex leans against the wall. "It's like she was trying to hurt him by touching him so much."

"You think she'd do that? She seems so sweet."

Alex laughs. "Babe, you're so clueless."

"How?"

"She's the one who got you drugged, and got what's his face to send out that picture."

"What's his face?"

"Yeah, that guy. Can't remember his name. The one I beat up."

"The one you beat up doesn't really narrow it down," I drop my smile. "Wait, she seriously did all that? But why? How do you know?"

"She told me, and I'm not sure why she hates you for no reason."

"Because she obviously likes you," I punch his shoulder and he grabs it.

"Ouch."

"Don't be a baby."

"So now in a baby? What happened to you going crazy over me being at school?"

"You're stupid for coming back when you're not ready to. What's the real reason you did?" I step closer.

"I told you I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Seriously, Alex? That's ridiculous. Johnny's in jail."

"I don't care. I need to make sure you're safe at all times."

"And you're gonna keep me safe when my light punch hurts you?" I catch him out, smirking. He just gives me a strange look, a small smile with his mouth open and his eyes wandering down to my chest. "What?" I question.

"You just turned me on a little."

I look around at the people in the corridor, hoping no one heard. "How?"

He shrugs and slips his arms around me, resting his hands on my lower back. "Do something to stop me getting hard," he laughs with seriousness and leans his head in closer so it's touching the side of mine and his mouth is beside my ear.

"Um, do you want me to do an unattractive cringey dance?"

"Maybe." He pulls me closer and I rest my chin on his shoulder, looking down instead of at the people watching us. His hands slip lower on my back and I pull them back up. Putting my hands back around his torso, one of my hands explores a little lower where no one can see, feeling over the waistband of his boxers that shows above his jeans. Uh, lord.

"I wish we could just skip school today," I whisper.

"We could."

"You could; I couldn't."

"We could just say your head injury made a comeback and you felt faint."

"I can't."

The bell rings and Alex pulls away, making me feel so cold. "Fine then. Let's just have a boring day at school instead.

I grab his hand when he starts walking away, and he smirks, seeing my defeated face. "Okay, let's skip school to have sex."

+++

Alex Fuentes cannot be killed

teaser: Diego walks in on something not gud

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