⚠️Warning: Scenes taking place in a morgue ahead. If affected, please read with caution.⚠️
~~~~~

*Mick*

"Where's Mallory?" Vince muttered into the phone.

After about two days in recovery for cracked ribs and some cuts and bruises, Vince was booked for involuntary manslaughter and reckless drunk driving. Doc has a lawyer already on the way for him, but he's still looking at jail time.

Right now me, Doc, and Sharise were visiting him in jail and talking to him.

I sighed. "She went with Tommy, Zutaut, Nikki and the rest of Hanoi to see Razzle before they shipped him back to London... Considering she's his... Well, was... His girlfriend, then she had a right to see him."

He let out a shuddered breath. "God... She must fucking hate me, what have I done?"

"Vince, right now, she's just thankful that you're not, dead, too," Doc said. "She saw your car, she nearly fainted and so did Sharise."

He kept his head down as we spoke.

"Vince," Sharise sighed.

"I messed up... I fucking messed up, I killed Razz, I hurt MJ, oh fuck," he said in a shaky voice.

"Vince, you need to calm down," Doc said. "We're going to do everything we can to help you."

"How!? You have some fucking reset button Doc?!" he shouted.

"Calm down, Vince," I snapped.

"Everyone thinks I'm a monster, a fucking murderer!!" he shouted. "And I think I really am... And so do you guys."

We were quiet when Doc suddenly spoke.

"It was a horrible accident.... A mistake.... You can redeem yourself from this," he said.

Vince sighed as he looked down.

"Mick...." he mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

He hesitated to talk, but still did.

"Why were you on the beach?" he asked.

I froze as I tried to keep it together.

"I-I remember vaguely.... You were laying on the beach the night of the party, by my house, b-before I left with Razzle.... You asked me to leave you there," He mumbled. "I-I listened, I know thay but ever since it came back to me, its had me all nervous...."

I pursed my lips before leaning in.

"We're gonna get you out of this, you hear me?" I said sternly.

He just gulped nervously and looked down as Sharise and Doc exchanged worried looks.

*Tommy*

Mallory refused to let go of his scarf. She held it close to her chest as tears streamed down her face. Its the last thing she had of him to hold.

We had walked into the examination room, a body on the table covered in a white sheet.

The coroner hesitantly held on to the sheet before sighing, then removing it.

Mallory sobbed out and looked away as Nikki and I froze on the spot, my stomach churning at the sight. Even Nikki started to almost look ill.

Razzle's face was covered in scratches from the glass, but the right side of his head looked bashed in, and he had a gash on his face too. He looked so pale, and had a massive bruise on his side, too, from where the car hit him.

Mallory broke down as she approached him, gently holding his face in her hands.

"Oh god," she sobbed. "O-Oh my god, Razzle...." She sobbed as she clung to him, crying into his chest.

I sniffled as I watched, my heart in pieces at the sight.

Michael came up to Mallory, tears in his eyes as he rubbed her back.

"I think that's enough," Zutaut said to a coroner in a low voice, a pained look in his face.

Andy looked over and sighed. "Mallie, come on..."

"N-No..." she sobbed as I stepped over, holding her hand.

"MJ, come on, they have to move him," I pleaded.

"No, no I-I can't leave him," she sobbed, clinging to him as then Andy and I went to pry her off where she just began to cry harder. "Nooooooo, please, don't make me leave him!!"

We pulled her away as Nikki stepped in, holding her back as Hanoi gave Razzle a final farewell before the coroner covered Razzle back up.

MJ sobbed as Nikki and I pulled her from the room, holding her up.

"Zutaut," Nikki called. "Take her outside. She needs air."

He nodded sadly and took MJ, who tried to catch her breath, and lead her outside.

I sighed as we faced Hanoi Rocks.

"We really are sorry..." Nikki said. "Had anyone known Vince was even planning to step out, we would have stopped him ourselves."

"Don't blame this on yourselves," Andy mumbled. "The only good thing is that your mate isn't dead, either, and Razzle's death was pretty quick according to the coroner... Almost didn't feel a thing..."

"What about the funeral?" I asked.

"One his childhood towns," Michael said. "I'll be buying Mallory's ticket to come with us, give him a final goodbye..."

I closed my eyes as then Nikki spoke.

"I'll go.... For Mötley," he said.

I looked at him.

"I'll pay for my hotel and Mallory's," He said. "She might not be a huge fan, but.... But at least she'll get to say goodbye to him," he said.

I looked over at Hanoi, who looked at each other.

"Okay," Michael nodded.

We let them sign some more stuff before we all headed out. I decided to let MJ crash at my place for the night.

The entire time, she just held onto his scarf, as if holding onto it will bring him back.

Once we parked at my driveway, I cut the engine, looking at her.

"MJ.... I'm really sorry for your loss," I said. "Razzle, he... He was a good guy, and... And I saw how happy he made you after everything..."

She looked up at me, her eyes still watery.

"He had asked me to come live with him..." she suddenly said.

I frowned and turned to her.

"He asked me to live with him in London... I was pondering on it for days, but then when you guys sung You're All I Need that night, I..... I decided to go with him.... We were gonna leave after the New Year, I-I was going to tell you guys on Christmas...." she sniffled.

I was quiet as I looked ahead. "Oh...."

"I wanted to start over... I did when I got to L.A., I figured I'd start over in a whole new continent, but.... But I guess it wasn't meant to be..." She said, looking at the scarf in his hand.

I sighed. "Mick once mentioned that you couldn't tell him something about your past...." he said.

She pursed her lips and looked away.

"MJ... What happened before you came to Los Angeles?" I asked. "I won't tell anyone, I swear."

I drew an X across my chest with my finger as I looked at her.

She hesitated to speak, then sighed. "I can't tell you everything, only because I swore to leave it behind me.... There are things I never even told Nikki, or even Dottie..."

I frowned as I waited.

"Someone hurt me, really badly back in Arizona... After they cheated on me, they....." She said, then sighed. "I barely even survived...."

My eyes widen in shock. "Someone abused you?"

She sighed. "You could say that...."

"Wait, did you think Nikki was gonna hurt you, too?" I asked.

"No," she immediately said. "Nikki has never even given me the smallest violent vibe when we were together, I felt safe with him.... Thing is, I just didn't want to risk anything... I was scared, and thought leaving the US with Razzle would be a start over of some sort..."

I understood what she meant and nodded as we sat there.

"Maybe this is what I get... I was too scared, I never gave Nikki a chance.... And I was going to just pack my bags and leave you and Mick and Vince and Sharise and their baby and..... Maybe this is karma on me, oh god....." she said before I quickly cut her off as tears streamed down her eyes.

"Woah, woah, MJ, hang on a sec," I said. "Just because you wanted to start over again doesn't mean you deserved to lose someone you love for it!"

She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Besides it wouldn't have been a permanent thing, right?" I said.

"Of course not, I was never thinking about shutting you guys out... You're my family, T-Bone," she said.

I smiled at her. "Then please don't pin anything on yourself...."

She sniffled and sighed, looking down at the scarf in her hand.

"Tommy..." she mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What's going to happen to Vince?" she asked.

I pursed my lips. "MJ, I... I really don't know...." I said. "What happened, it.... Its not looking good for him, its not looking good for the injured drivers..... I really wish I had a straight answer for you."

She sniffled and looked down.

"He must think I hate him, I.... I-I don't.... Part of me is angry, I admit it, but.... I'm only glad that he isn't dead either..... I don't think I could have been able to handle losing him along with Razzle...." she said. "He's one of my bestest friends..."

I frowned, then reached over and held her hand.

"Its gonna be okay, MJ... We'll all pull through this," I said.

She nodded as she gripped my hand, then clutched the scarf. "I'm gonna miss him so much..."

I gave her a pained look. "I am, too...."

I then pulled her into a hug, letting her cry out some more tears for a few minutes.

I really do hope I'm right about everything being okay...

~~~~~

🎼 Currently in Sapph's playlist:

Asking Alexandria "Vultures"

♡~ sapphire.