(unedited)

If the last thing that I do is bring you down,
I'll bleed out for you.
So I bare my skin and I count my sins,
And I close my eyes,
And I take it in.

"Bleeding Out" -Imagine Dragons

No one expected it.

That I was certain of.

But even so, people reacted. Police were trained to react quickly, after all. As soon as the bang! sounded through the room, the officer closet to Vanessa pushed her down. But that didn't help because the bullet wasn't headed towards Vanessa.

She wasn't the target.

Jacen was.

Jacen, who didn't have the reaction time of a police officer and stood frozen in shock as the bullet whizzed towards him.

Then- suddenly- Keira was there, a split second before the bullet hit. It was so fast I almost believed I was hallucinating.

'The average person can move fourteen feet in a second.' I distantly remembered someone telling me- probably Shawn. So it was possible.

But that wasn't what made me believe it was really happening.

No, it was the sharp crack that echoed through the room when Keira's head snapped back, colliding with the witness stand, that made me realize Keira had jumped in front of Jacen. Then the thud as her body slumped to the ground.

For the second time- the room erupted in chaos.

A majority of the police officers rushed to the crowd, already trying to keep them calm. A small group of them, about five, went to Keira and Jacen. Three of them knelt down beside Keira's still body, while the other two pulled Jacen down from the witness stand. But he wasn't paying attention to them. He wasn't even looking at his sister. Instead he was looking to the back of the room.

I turned and followed his gaze to see a man in a police uniform ducking out the doors. The man looked up for a quick moment; just enough for me to see that it wasn't really a police officer.

It was Detective Fallon.

Jacen saw him at the same moment that I did. He pulled away from the police officers holding him, and ran across the room.

Without thinking, I sprinted after him.

"Elena!" I heard someone call behind me- Kaden, I think- but I didn't stop, slipping through the doors just before the officers guarding it could grab me. I skidded into the lobby just in time to see Detective Fallon turn a corner, Jacen chasing after him. I turned down the hall, but there was no sign of either of them.

Shit.

I slowed, glancing around. Then something on the floor, a little farther down the hall caught my eye. Something black that glinted under the fluorescent lights.

Detective Fallon's gun.

As I got closer, I noticed something else near it. A dribble of blood.

Oh, fuck.

A crash came from down the hall, letting me know I was in the right place.

"Come on, Jacen," I muttered, peeking into the different rooms. "Please don't be doing something stupid."

That was when I heard it -the dull thud of flesh hitting flesh. I sped up my pace, hurrying towards the sound. It was some kind of meeting room that I found them in. Multiple chairs were knocked over, and the table was asked, making it look like a tornado had swept through the room.

Jacen was straddling Detective Fallon on the ground, driving his fists into his face repeatedly. The other man feebly tried to fight back, grasping at Jacen's arms, but either he wasn't a good fighter or Jacen was too angry to stop.

I watched for a moment as Detective Fallon's attempts became weaker and weaker, before realizing what was happening.

"No, Jace, stop!" I yelled, racing forward. I wasn't sure how I would stop him, considering he was bigger and most likely stronger than me, but him killing Detective Fallon would make things a lot more complicated.

It only took me a split second to realize I was too late as I watched Jacen's fist strike Detective Fallon's temple. The crack of his head as it fell against the hardwood floor was sickening.

Jacen got off him, but kept his eyes on Detective Fallon's still form. Not that there was any use- he was out cold.

Or worse.

I crept towards them, though Jacen didn't acknowledge me, just continued staring down at the body. I kept an eye on him for any movements, even though I highly doubted he would jump up and attack me.

Jacen had hit him pretty hard.

I knelt down beside Detective Fallon's unmoving form and gingerly pressed two fingers to his wrist. I moved them around, trying to find a pulse.

Nothing.

My breath caught.

I lifted them to his neck, trying to see if I could find one there... Still nothing. I glanced up at Jacen, who was watching me with a cold, somewhat distant expression. "I can't find his pulse."

His mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out.

My phone buzzed in my pocket before I could prompt him for some kind of response, and I pulled it out to see a text from Ashton.

Where are you? he asked.

Left corridor. Halfway down the hall on the right, some kind of meeting room, I texted back before pocketing my phone.

I looked at Jacen, waiting for him to say something like 'I didn't mean to', but he didn't, seeming like he was in a state of... Not quite shock, but like it hasn't completely sank in yet. I shifted my gaze back to Detective Fallon's body.

What are we doing to do?

It wasn't like Detective Fallon was a good person, in all honesty I wouldn't be mourning his loss, but murder was still murder whether the person deserved it or not.

I heard the sound of rapid footsteps down the hall, and a moment later Ashton appeared in the doorway with Nathan behind him. "What happened?" he demanded.

"I got him back," Jacen said flatly, speaking for the first time since I had found him and Detective Fallon.

Ashton glanced at me questioningly.

I gulped. "He doesn't have a pulse."

"What?" Nathan asked, stepping into the room after Ashton came closer.

I held a hand over Detective Fallon's mouth, fingers not touching his slightly wrinkled lips. "He's not breathing."

Ashton swore. "We need to get help. Now."

"We say it was self defense," Nathan suddenly said. The hard, almost icy, glint in his tone made us all freeze. "If they question it, it was self-defense. It wouldn't be hard since he shot at him. Self-defense, understand?"

His voice left no room for argument, so I quickly nodded.

Ashton went to get help, returning thirty second later with a group of medics who quickly got to work on Detective Fallon. "They'll bring him to the ambulance," he told us, as police and EMTs swarmed around us.

"I don't think he's going to make it," I said quietly.

"It was self-defense," Nathan replied.

"What if there are cameras?" I asked.

"We're sticking to that!" he whispered harshly. "I'm not going to let him go to jail."

I stared at him, seeing the slightly wild look in his eyes before looking away. I didn't know how close Nathan and Jacen were, but if I was looking at it from Nathan's perspective... We had already lost Skylar, and Vanessa, and maybe even Keira.

I turned to Ashton, standing on my tiptoes so I could whisper in his ear. "How's Keira?" I asked, quiet enough that the others wouldn't hear.

He shook his head. "Not looking good."

"Do you think Vanessa hired Detective Fallon?" Unfortunately, I didn't ask this quiet enough, because Nathan's head snapped up and he turned to look at him.

"She's in jail," he said. "How would she? And why?"

"Like some kind of final payback?" I suggested uneasily. "It just seems coincidental, that the person she hired to help her went for Jacen."

Nathan shook his head. "I don't think she would."

"We'd have to talk to her to find out-" Ashton started.

Nathan cut him off. "I'll go."

Ashton stared at his brother. "No way."

"One of us has to."

"It doesn't have to be you," Ashton argued.

"She'll talk to me." Nathan's expression hardened. "Besides, I have some questions of my own."

♡ the trouble with love ♡

Two days later, I found myself lying on Ashton's bed as he paced back and forth. I watched him for a couple moments, and when that got dizzying, or started making me worry, I turned to examine his room.

His room was a bit cleaner than what you would probably expect a teenage boy's room to be. It had a simple color scheme of white and dark blue.

His bed, which was huge, and just about the fluffiest thing in the world, was pushed against the wall farthest from the door. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall across from it, along with a leather couch. To the side there was a series of open cupboards that doubled as a desk, containing loads of books, scattered papers, and one very shiny and new-looking laptop.

I glanced back at Ashton. He was still pacing, looking distressed. "Sit down," I told him. "Pacing back and forth is just going to make you more nervous."

He frowned, but surprisingly stopped and sat down on the edge of his bed without arguing. "It's been two hours. One simple question shouldn't take two hours."

I flipped over so I was lying on my side, facing him, and propped up my head with my good arm. "Nathan can take care of himself. He said he had some questions for her, anyway."

"What if he's dead?" Ashton asked turned to me. "What if she killed him and that's why he's not back yet."

I groaned and flopped back down onto my back, throwing an arm over my eyes. "Well, now I see why you and Kaden got along so well."

But I knew Ashton wasn't always like this -well, that was a lie, he kind of was, but not as much. I had a feeling he was worrying about Nate so much to distract himself from the daunting fact that Skylar's funeral would be in a couple days.

I knew it would come crashing down sometime soon, so I followed along.

He shifted so he was lying down beside on his side, in the position I had been in earlier. He took my right hand in his free one, threading our fingers together. "Don't compare me to your step father, Elle," he scolded, a slight frown marring his face. "That's weird."

I smiled a little, closing my eyes. It was almost strange how normal this felt- a nice strange though. It wasn't like all of our problems were completely over, but it wasn't as crazy as before. "It's not my fault that you guys think alike. Maybe you've been spending too much time around him."

I cracked an eye open when he didn't respond, glancing over to see him staring at our joined hands intently.

"Hey," I said, squeezing his hand lightly to bring his attention back to me. "Nathan's fine. He can take care of himself."

Ashton blinked. "That wasn't what I was thinking about, actually."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You looked confused."

"Your hands are tiny," he said, lifting are joined hands.

I let out a slightly breathy laugh. Talk about random. He's still Ashton, alright. He had a point though, I guess. I unlinked my fingers from his, spreading them apart to measure our hands. My fingertips only went to about halfway between his second and third knuckle. "You just have freakishly large hands."

He grinned. "You know what they say about large hands..."

I glanced down the length of him. "Large feet?" I asked, blinking innocently. "What? I don't see what else you could possibly mean," I continued when he rolled his eyes at me.

He shook his head. "You're going to regret saying that."

I blinked up at him. "Am I?"

He nodded.

"And why's th-"

Before I could finish, he dove at me, fingers dancing across my torso. He is not going to- I gasped, squirming as he tickled me, careful to stay clear of bumping into my left arm. "That's n-not fair," I choked out through giggles.

His smile widened. "Say you're sorry, Elle." His fingers delved deeper, making me wiggle more as I struggled to catch my breath.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" I cried out. I panted, trying to catch my breath when he stopped. What I didn't expect was for him to lean down and gently run his lips over my neck, causing my breath to catch all over again.

I threaded a hand through his hair, pulling his face up to mine even though I hadn't fully regained my breath. "You're merciless," I told him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, pressing my mouth to his.

Yeah, I got to shut up Ashton Sinclair for once.

It was a lot more relaxed than our other ones, that was the first thing I noticed. It wasn't like any of our other kisses had been bad, but this one felt... sweeter, somehow.

Like we had all the time in the world.

I liked feeling like I had all the time in the world with Ashton Sinclair.

He broke away just a second before I did, but unlike me, he wasn't struggling to catch his breath. Instead, he moved his mouth back to my neck, trailing his lips over the sensitive skin. He sucked lightly at a couple spots, making me squeeze my eyes shut and bite back a moan. No one had ever done this to me before, and it felt surprisingly good.

He pulled away after a moment, and I opened my eyes to see him alternating between meeting my gaze and glancing my neck, a slightly wicked grin on his face.

"What?" I reached up and trailed my fingers over the spot he had been kissing, wincing at the pain when I applied more pressure. Then I gasped as I realized what he had done. "Did you just give me a hickey?"

He grinned, looking somewhat guilty, but not the slightest bit apologetic.

"Kaden's going to kill me," I muttered, collapsing back onto the bed. I shot back up. "He's going to kill you!"

Ashton cringed, but didn't respond, instead just leaned down and kissed the same area.

Using the hand I still had tangled in his hair, I pulled his head back. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Maybe I just like the way you taste," he murmured, his mouth brushing against my skin with every word.

"C-careful," I closed my eyes at how good it felt, not wanting to help his already big ego. "You're starting to sound vampiric."

I opened my eyes when he didn't respond to see him smiling softly. "What did you do now?" I asked suspiciously, futilely trying to glance down to see my own neck.

"Nothing. This just feels..." My breath seized for a moment when he trailed off, negativity already starting to fill in the blank. Boring? Unsatisfying? Weird? "Nice."

Nice?

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because we're lying on your bed?"

He shook his head. "Because we don't have to worry about everything right now. But that too."

"I like how this normal this feels too," I told him, ignoring the last part of his statement. I had noticed it before, and I was pretty glad I wasn't the only one.

"I didn't think normal was in your vocabulary," Ashton teased.

I gaped at him. "Me? You and your friends are the ones who started all of this!"

"And you're the one who didn't run away screaming," he countered.

"Maybe I should've," I teased.

"Probably," he said, sobering a little. "But I'm glad you didn't. Hey," he continued quietly after a moment, his mouth brushing against my ear. "You know I never got an answer."

I tilted my head slightly. "To what question?"

"Whether or not you would be my gi-"

"Hey Ash- whoa am I interrupting something?"

We both jumped at the sound of Nathan's voice. "For fuck's sake, Nate!" Ashton exclaimed, pulling away and shifting off of me. I sat up beside him, attempting to discreetly smooth my hair and hide the blush crawling up my cheeks.

"Sorry, um I can, um, come back later," Nathan stuttered, looking even more awkward than I felt.

I glanced at Ashton. Surprisingly he looked like he was actually contemplating it. "It's fine," I told Nathan before Ashton could send his brother away. "Did you just get back from seeing Vanessa?"

Nathan nodded with a slight wince.

"How'd it go?" Ashton asked, sobering, and no longer looking like he water to get rid of his brother.

Nathan shook his head. "It wasn't her."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. There's not any reason for her to..." He glanced at me. "She says sorry, Elena."

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. I couldn't say it was okay, she has tried to kill me, even if it had been a bit because of her mental illness.

"Maybe Detective Fallon was acting on his own whim," Nathan suggested. "And now that he's dead, so it won't gonna happen again."

That was an awfully optimistic assumption. It couldn't really be that easy. Detective Fallon was a hired hit man. And he didn't strike me as the impulsive type to act on his own because of some kind of hatred.

But Ashton didn't want to be the one to tell Nathan that.

"Yeah Nate," he said without meeting his brother's eyes. "I'm sure everything will be fine.

-- ♡ --

Little Ashlena scene for you guys before the books ends(:

QotC: Who do you think hired Detective Fallon?

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