Chapter 81

Stella

The car barrels into the driveway, skidding across the asphalt before it comes to a screeching halt in front of the mansion’s doors. Luca jumps out of the drivers side and rushes to the backseat where Silas and I help move Sebastian towards the door. Once it swings open, we help pass Sebastian off to Luca before getting out ourselves.

I immediately attach myself to Sebastian’s side, wrapping my arm around his torso as he drapes his across my shoulders, putting some of his weight into me.

“Silas,” I say, catching my brother’s attention, “where is the first aid kit? I’m gonna patch him up when we get inside.”

Sebastian and I begin to move around the car, watching as Luca and Silas rush inside. I steal a quick glance at Sebastian. He looks down at me with a pained smile on his face, his breathing slightly ragged.

“What’s so funny? You’re in pain,” I breathe out, helping him towards the front doors of the family home.

“I went to rescue you,” Sebastian’s voice is slightly agitated from the pain, wincing as he walks, “and here you are saving me. It’s ironic.”

“Shut up,” I breathe out with a small smile on my face, avoiding his gaze as we move inside the home.

The lights are dark and the rest of the residents are asleep. I look around as Sebastian and I quietly move up the stairs. Silas passes by with a medical kit in his hands and points to it before walking inside of Sebastian’s bedroom.

We enter the bedroom and I help Sebastian towards the bathroom, turning on the bright white lights as Silas slips through the door. I quietly thank him as Sebastian begins to peel his bloodied shirt off of his body, his tan back now exposed.

The bullet went through his shoulder, and I suppose it just missed me when he was running us away, but he still must be in a lot of pain from it. I frown and gather his clothes in my arms, tossing them into the bathtub to the side of us. Sebastian leans against the countertop and looks down at his shoulder where slow drips of blood roll down his bare chest.

“We should wake up Matteo,” I whisper to him, our eyes meeting for a brief second before I turn my attention back to his bleeding wound, “he’ll know what to do...and how to clean the wound safely.”

“It’ll be okay,” Sebastian’s voice is soft and reassuring. He takes the fresh bandages from my hands and helps me press them firmly against his shoulder, his blood being absorbed into the gauze. “I’ll walk you through it, okay?”

I look up at Sebastian with widened eyes. I begin to shake my head but he is already handing me clean gauze, moving towards the shower. He steps inside and nods his head to the empty space beside him.

My body moves without me even thinking. Suddenly, I am standing beside him, shower head in hand, and spraying away the blood, washing it away. The once dark red spot is now clear with the bullet hole now exposed.

Once it is clean, we leave the shower and I put as much pressure as possible onto his wound while he changes into dry pants.

Sebastian’s back is to me. I have to bite down on my lip and hold back my tears as I dry off his skin with a towel, beginning to wrap his shoulder with the gauze while we sit on his bed.

I sniffle, just loud enough for him to hear. My heart plummets in my chest as I wrap the white gauze, now a bright red where he was shot, and my hands tremble. Sebastian looks at me from over his shoulder, a small sigh leaving his lips.

I pin the gauze down tight enough so it won’t move when he sleeps. I wipe a tear away from my eyes and turn to leave but Sebastian grabs my wrist, drawing me back to him.

“Stella?” Sebastian asks, his expression softening under the dim light of his bedroom. “What’s wrong?”

I hesitate to answer. How can I tell him that I feel endlessly guilty for putting him in danger? That he should never have come to save me, that he never would have been shot if he had just stayed home.

How can I tell him that his life would be so much better without me in it?

“Stella…” Sebastian whispers.

Tears begin to roll down my cheeks. I shake my head, my arms feeling numb, and let out a shuddered breath.

“It’s all my fault,” I choke the words out, “it’s my fault you got hurt. It’s my fault that you and Silas were in so much danger. You never should have come for me.”

“What? How can you say that?” he asks, his voice just above a whisper. His hands attach to my waist, pulling me closer to him. Heat radiates from his body, comforting me.

“Because it’s true,” I look at him through teary eyes, “you never would have been there if it weren’t for me.”

Sebastian wipes my tears away. He remains silent, listening to every word I have to say. I sniffle and divert my gaze, looking at anything but him, unable to face the bullet wound of guilt that I have put onto myself.

“Even Adrian knew not to save me,” I admit, finally reaching up to wipe away one of my tears, my fingers brushing against his. “He saved her but not me…maybe he was right to do so.”

“Stella,” Sebastian grabs my cheeks and turns my face to look at him, “don’t speak like that ever again. Adrian’s choice to not take you is reflective of his own actions, not yours. You can’t let it define you.”

“But you got hurt because of me,” I shudder, “what if you had died, Sebastian? I don’t think I would be able to live with your blood on my hands.”

“Stella,” Sebastian breathes my name out and it makes my heart skip a beat, “I would have taken a bullet for you no matter the situation. All of us would have. We love you so much…I love you, Stella. You are worth saving. You are worth going through the danger for.”

My throat tightens and it feels raw as I hold back my sobs. I swallow the lump in my throat and bite my lip, looking away. Sebastian tilts my face back to look at him, though, and his face is soft and gentle.

A cry finally leaves my body. Sebastian pulls me close, my head resting in the crook of his neck. My arms wrap around his neck and he slowly lays us down on his bed. I close my eyes as my tears stain his skin, rolling onto the mattress below us.

“I’m so sorry,” I sob, clinging onto Sebastian like my life depends on it.

Because it did.

“It’s okay, Stella,” Sebastian rests his chin on the top of my head, my cheek now pressed against his chest. “I got you. You’re safe now. You can rest.”

Sebastian pulls the covers over our bodies. My sobs turn into quiet cries and those quickly fade away as a wave of exhaustion takes over my body. Sebastian’s hand rests on the back of my head and he gently strokes my hair, whisking me off into a deep slumber.