.:Author's Note:.

The song Liam recorded for Blake at the top. ^_^

***

Liam's POV:

                Staring at the lion laying in the too white hospital room made a fresh set of tears run down my face. I didn't try to stop them as I drew my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my shins, and placing my chin on top of them.

                How can people be so cruel?

                "You don't need to cry, Liam." Madeline told me despite the fact that she was crying herself. "Before you know it, he's going to get up and everything is going to go back to normal. I swear it."

                I knew that Madeline didn't believe one word that she had said. Just as she finished speaking, she sobbed loudly and crashed to her knees, onto the floor. Mr. Older Lion came over and picked her up, much like you would a baby, causing her to cry even harder into the crook of his neck. He sat down on the uncomfortable sofa with her on his lap.

                I didn't know what to say, mainly because I've never been in a situation like this before. I did, however, glance up from Mr. Older Lion and his daughter to find my mate who was leaning against the door with dry tear streaks on his face. He looked back at me with a small smile that wasn't as bright as it usually is. I curled into myself more while taking another look at Dimitri.

                What could we have done to deserve this?

***

Flashback:

                "Hey, little man!" Dimitri said loudly as I opened the door. I laughed as he ruffled my hair before stepping aside to let his mate in also. Madeline rolled her eyes as she kissed my cheek once she was close enough. They filled with color instantly as she too ruffled my hair.

                "You are just the cutest shifter ever! Blake better not fuck this up." She said loud enough for her brother to hear. My mate poked his head out of the living room to glare at his sister.

                "I heard that!" He snapped jokingly before hugging her. I closed the door then followed all of them to the living room. Blake pulled me to sit beside him and pressed against my side while Dimitri and Madeline sat across from us.

                "So what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Blake asked his best friend and sister. I cuddled more against him, getting my scent on him as much as I could. I nuzzled his face, the crook of his neck, his arm, and his chest, before finally settling in content.

                "We're supposed to go to the Graveyard today. Duh!" Dimitri responded after Madeline had finished scent marking him too. Blakey told me that it was instinctive for shifters to scent mark their mate whenever opportunity strikes.

                "Oh yeah, I forgot. What time do you want to head out?"

                The Graveyard was a large fair that opened for three months straight once a year. Since my family had recently moved to Grave Town, Blake said that it was only tradition to bring me to the attraction. People from all over came to the small town for the park when it opened. I was excited.

                "We can leave in an hour or two." Madeline replied. "It doesn't close until ten tonight and it's only after three right now."

                "Are you okay with that, love?"

                "Y-yes, that's fine." I told him while nodding. It caused all three lions to smirk at me and my cheeks to fill with color again.

                "Dude, it's kind of weird to see you so happy in a relationship. It's a good weird though. I like it." Dimitri voiced cheekily. I blushed even more as Blake laughed and pecked my forehead.

                "I like it too." He replied.

                I listened for a while as the lions all conversed with each other, but it wasn't long before I became bored. It's not like what they were saying was uninteresting, but I just didn't relate to what they were talking about. I became slightly uncomfortable in my seat and shifted a bit so that Blake knew that I wanted to get up.

                "You want to move, love?"

                "Y-yes, please. I-I want to go downstairs."

                "Okay. We'll come get you when it's time to get ready."

                I nodded before I pecked his lips quickly and stood from the sofa. After waving to Madeline and Dimitri, I hurried downstairs to my safe haven. I felt like singing even though I had already done so earlier today in music class. Maybe I could record another song for Blakey.

                With that thought and a new song in mind, I turned on the soundboard and got down to making music. I banged the drums, strummed the bass, played the keyboard, and sang the lyrics to one of my most favorite songs. I was probably in the basement for an hour before I was done putting everything together.

                Happy with the final product, I saved it on Blakey's USB and then headed upstairs with it. Just as I got to the top, I bumped into my mate, but thankfully, he caught me before I could fall back and hurt myself.

                "Whoa there, love. We can't have you falling on that amazing ass of yours." He said with a wink and a chuckle. I laughed as I rolled my eyes and pushed him aside.

                "Yeah, because m-my butt would be the only thing getting h-hurt if I fell."

                "Was that sass?" Blake scoffed behind me as I headed up the second set of stairs to my room. I giggled, shaking my head and turning to face him once I was inside.

                "Nope, it w-was sarcasm." I replied before kissing him and then closing the door. I listened as he laughed and headed back downstairs as I grabbed my towel and washcloth. Leaving my bedroom, I quickly entered the bathroom to have a shower.

                Once done, I went back to my room, put on deodorant, and looked for something comfortable to wear. After slipping on my panty, I put on a pair of loose fitting jeans and a white T-shirt.

                "Are you done, love?" Blake shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

                "I-I'm coming, Blakey." I shouted back, grabbing a pair of socks and my Converse before running back downstairs. All three lions were already up and waiting for me once I made it to the bottom.

                "And I thought I took forever getting ready." Madeline teased. I bit my lip to keep in a smile as I glared jokingly at her. "You're right, big bro. He is adorable when he's mad."

                "B-Blake!"

                "You weren't supposed to say anything, Maddy. Now look, you've made my mate angry with me."

                "Whoops. I'm not sorry. Anyways, race you to the car!" Madeline was out of the door before any of us could even think to move. I giggled behind my hand as Dimitri and Blake frowned at each other.

                "Don't look at me. She's your mate."

                "Well, she's your sister first. The craziness must run in the family. I'm sorry for that, Liam." Dimitri said before he too was out the door. I put on my sneakers as Blake laughed, watching his best friend and sister bicker beside the car. After, I grabbed my keys and stepped out so that he could close the door.

                "This is going to be fun." My mate told me as we walked towards his car. Madeline and Dimitri were already in their car and parked at the curb.

                "I look f-forward to it."

***

                "I swear, Blake, if you don't knock those milk bottles down, I'm going to be ashamed to call you my best friend."

                I laughed, clutching my stomach as Blake threw the ball hard, knocking down two of the three milk bottles. He pouted as he crossed his arms and turned to face us. Madeline and Dimitri were laughing loudly, which didn't help my mate's ego. Just to make him feel better, I stood on my tippy-toes and pecked his nose.

                "I-it's okay, Blakey. You c-can't win them all."

                "Yeah, but I really wanted that oversized shark." He whined, making me giggle before pecking his nose again.

                "Can I-I try?"

                "Knock yourself out, love."

                Blake paid for me to get one try at the milk bottle toss. Papa used to take me to the fair in our old town whenever he had time. Because of that, I knew how rigged most of these games were. Seeing that there was no fake backdrop curtain behind the bottles, I knew that at least one of them was filled with lead to make it heavy.

                I aimed for the one I thought was filled with lead, which was normally the one at the back, and threw a curveball as hard as I could. I jumped in delight when all three milk bottles fell while the man behind the booth gawked at me.

                "Y-yay, Blakey, I did it! Did you see?"  When I didn't get a response, I turned to see that Blake, Madeline, and Dimitri were all gawking at me too. I stopped jumping to fiddle with my fingers and bite the inside of my cheek. "What?!"

                "How did you do that?" Blake questioned with a pout.

                "Oh, um, Papa always took me to the fair back in o-our old town. M-most of these games are rigged." I replied, blushing intensely as I rubbed my arm. Since the lions were still gawking at me, I decided to turn back to the man behind the booth and claim my prize.

                "What would you like, little lamb?" He asked me kindly.

                "M-may I have the shark please?"

                I was handed the shark, which I covered in my scent quickly before handing over to Blake. He took it happily before kissing me in appreciation.

                "This is going to be my favorite stuffed animal."

                "Y-you have more?"

                "Oh yeah, tons." He replied teasingly. I laughed as we all moved on to the next game.

                We spent over an hour playing games and going on rides, and there was still more to go. However, Dimitri got a call from his mother saying that she needed to see him at this instant.

                "I'll just take Blake's car, that way he can bring you over to the apartment in my car and just pick up his own so you don't have to leave with me, Maddy. You know my mother is slightly off the rocks, and what she's calling for could possibly not be serious at all." He said as we sat at one of the benches in the park. We had been eating cotton candy and deciding what to do next.

                "Sure, if that's okay with you guys that I'm technically going to be a third wheel." Madeline said with a slight smile. Blake shook his head while laughing, causing some cotton candy to stick to his face.

                "It's no problem at all, Maddy. We'll probably finish everything in the next hour or two."

                Since the decision was made, we finished our candy quickly before Blake gave his key to Dimitri. He left after giving an intimate kiss to Maddy who blushed madly as her brother booed at her.

                "No sex until marriage." He said firmly as we walked the park.

                "You're one to talk." She replied back instantly, making my eyes widen.

                Unfortunately, before we could respond, there was a loud explosion that made the three of us, and everyone in the park, fall to the floor. Maddy and I were buried under Blake before we could even comprehend it. People were running around frantically due to the explosion, but there was only one thought on my mind. Dimitri.

                When everything seemed to calm down, Maddy pushed her brother off of her and ran in the direction that Dimitri had left to. Blake and I got up and immediately followed behind her to the parking lot where there was a large fire. My eyes and nose burned as the smoke hit my face.

                Blake pulled me closer to his side as the police and ambulance came rushing by, heading towards the burning car; it was Blake's.

                "DIMITRI!" Maddy shouted as Blake wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from running into the fire. I covered my mouth as the EMTs placed a slightly burnt body onto the stretcher and ran to their vehicle. I only needed a small glimpse of the person to know that it was Dimitri.

                How could everything turn into utter chaos?

End of Flashback

***

                "I have to go to the station. I need to know why my fucking car blew up in the first place." Blake growled from his position at the doorway. I stood from my seat to stretch out my stiff limbs; I had been curled in a ball for too long.

                "I-I'll come with you." I told him, walking over to hug him and place my head on his chest. The sound of his heartbeat calmed me down in a weird way.

                "No, love. It's getting late and I have to bring you home. Your parents probably heard about the explosion by now."

                Just as he finished speaking, his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and smiled sadly at the screen before handing it to me. I answered when I saw that it was Papa calling.

                "Hi, Papa."

                "Lima Bean? Oh, thank God! We heard what happened and instantly thought the worst. Is anyone hurt? How are you?" Papa fired back instantly.

                "D-Dimitri got hurt p-pretty badly, Papa." I cried into the phone.

                "Shit! How is everyone else holding up? How is Madeline?"

                "She's not doing t-too well. Everyone is p-pretty messed up at the m-moment." I replied truthfully. I hugged Blake a little tighter, suddenly more than grateful I was able to hold him at all.

                "Yeah, I would think so. I know Blake needs you right now. You can come home when you're ready." Ma replied this time. I could tell she had been crying by the slight shake in her voice.

                "T-thanks, Ma."

                "No need to thank me, my little lamb. Your mate wouldn't be able to handle this without you there. Give everyone our best wishes, and tell them that everything is gonna be okay."

                "I will, M-Ma. I'll be home as s-soon as I can. I l-love you guys."

                "We love you too." My parents responded simultaneously before we ended the call. I handed Blake back his phone which he pocketed before placing his chin on top of my head. His tears soaked my scalp, but I didn't stop him, thinking it was better for him to get it all out.

                "I-it's okay, Blakey. E-everything is- is going to be alright."