Peter

As I walked back into the hospital room, I saw Thalia staring blankly at Leo's sleeping form. It had been a week since we drove away from Caesar's mansion and Leo had been in and out of consciousness. However, the doctors said he would be fine.

I got my shoulder fixed and, due to my sheer stubbornness, I checked out of the hospital early to attend to Leo. Fiona, mother and I were taking turns with watch duty and packing duty (since we decided to continue on with our plan for moving to Japan). Thalia was with me.

Her current behavior wasn't something strange. She'd been like this ever since we left Caesar's mansion. She was quiet, reserved, and kept all thoughts to herself. I knew it wasn't healthy, but at the same time, I wasn't sure if she would open up to me.

"I brought you your water." I said, snapping her out of her thoughts and handing her the bottle I'd just retrieved from the vending machine.

She looked up at me before taking the water and mumbling a quick thank you and taking a sip. I sat down in the chair beside her and began to twiddle with my thumbs.

"So, Lea?" I began, deciding to try and break the ice. Thalia turned to me, her expression blank. "About, what happened at Caesar's-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She said swiftly. She drank another few gulps of her water before continuing. "I'd rather forget the whole endeavor entirely."

"I understand, but I personally think it would be better for you if you talked about it." I explained to her, grabbing her hand and rubbing my thumb across her knuckles. "Listen, Thalia, I know that the event that Caesar brought up was a traumatic one and I couldn't even begin to comprehend how you felt having it forced back into your mind like that, but," Thalia pulled her hand away and turned away from me as I continued, "but I know it's been eating at you ever since we left and I want you to know that you can always talk about it to Fiona, mother, Leo, Corey, Rhys, and even me."

I gently took Thalia's face in my hands and turned her so that she was looking into my eyes. It was then that I noticed the tears falling down her round cheeks. "Talk to me, Princess." I begged.

"What the hell is there to talk about?" Thalia sobbed. "The guy who did it is in jail and the dick who forced the incident back into my face is dead! All is well that ends well!" She said through sobs. "I'm fine now! It's not like...like..." Thalia covered her mouth with her hand as another sob rocked her body. She leaned towards me and I wrapped her in a hug, pulling her close and stroking her hair as she left all her bottled up emotions out.

"I'm sorry." She said in a barely audible tone. "I'm sorry that I brought so many problems into your family's life. I'm sorry that you have to constantly put up with me and protect me. I'm sorry that I'm weak and defenseless and 'damaged goods' and-"

"Hey, hey, hey," I began. "Don't say that, Lea. My family and I would never think so lowly of you. If anything, you're the best thing that's ever happened to us." I pulled away from the hug so she was looking into my eyes. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"But-"

"Thalia, you are worth so much to the people around you and you posses so much strength for being able to face your life with a smile and headstrong attitude despite everything that's happened to you. I'm so proud of you for that." I said brushing a piece of her hair out of her face. "I'm so proud of you, Lea." I repeated.

"Proud?" She asked.

"Yes. Proud."

She let out a small sound that sounded like the mix between a sob and a whimper and hugged me close again, her tears wetting my shirt as I stroked her hair.

We stayed like that until her cries turned into sniffles. As she finally pulled away, I kissed the top of her head.

"Well you two seem cozy." A weak voice stated playfully.

Thalia and I turned to see Leo smirking at us from on the bed. "A man gets shot in the gut and falls unconscious and what does he wake up to? His baby brother getting all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend." Leo fake gagged and Thalia laughed.

"Well someone looks a bit better." I joked in return.

"Nah. With my luck I'll be out like a light in a few hours." Leo replied.

"I'll go get a nurse then." Thalia said, getting up and leaving us alone.

"I'll text mom and Fiona that you're up." I said, pulling out my phone to do just that.

"How are the moving preparations coming?" Leo asked, picking up a glass of water on the desk beside his bed.

"Everything is almost packed up. No one has come looking for us yet and I'm sure it'll be a while before anyone discovers Caesar is dead since he lived in such a secret, isolated place." I replied. "Mom is all caught up on everything and she's down with the plan. Once you fully recover, we'll be ready to leave."

"Excellent." Leo said, quickly gulping down the glass of water. "What about Thalia?"

"She's fine." I replied. "We'd just got finished talking about the incident when you woke up."

Leo nodded. "That's good. Last time I was up, she seemed pretty out of it. When I was listening to Caesar talk about what happed to her, I felt sick. If the man responsible wasn't already in prison, I'd go kill him myself."

"You'd have to take me with you." I stated. My blood boiled at the mere thought of Thalia in that moment. She must've felt so scared and alone. One thing was for sure.

I was never going to let her feel like that again.

Thalia came back followed by a nurse. "Mr. Ronan! It's good to see you up again. How are you feeling?" The lady asked.

"Tired." Leo answered. "Kind of weak."

The lady wrote down some notes on her clipboard and nodded. "That's perfectly normal, sir. Now I'm just going to do a quick little check up on you and your vitals and I'll leave you to it!" Leo nodded in response.

_ _ _ _

Being just as impatient as me, Leo too decided to check out early, much to everyone's dismay. He had trouble walking, but it had been about a week since he was in the hospital and he was afraid of losing time, lest Caesar's remaining men come for us. He just used a cane and called it a day.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to ride a plane in your condition, dear? I don't want you getting hurt." Mother asked him.

"For the umpteenth time, I'll be fine, mother." Leo reasoned. "There's no need to worry."

"He's saying that now, but just wait until he's crying like a baby on the plane and we can't land." Fiona smirked.

"Ha ha. How funny you are." Leo deadpanned as everyone laughed.

We were riding first class on the plane, something we were used to, and were the only ones there. That was good.

We got situated in our respective seats and relaxed. Corey immediately pulled out a pair of headphones and an eye mask before putting them both on, and getting comfy. He was most definitely going to try to sleep through the whole ride, but with Rhys right beside him, who knows how effective that was going to be.

Leo sat with mom and both of them were already talking. Probably about something boring, no doubt. Across from them sat Fiona and Ricardo, who were both on their phones, yet still managing to talk wile doing their own things.

Thalia sat with me. She called the window seat and I was not going to deny her. I'm assuming this must have been her first time riding first class because her wide eyes were taking everything in.

"First time?" I asked teasingly.

"Believe it or not, yes. Not all of us are as rich as you Ronans are." She replied with a smirk.

"Oh believe me, I know." I said, looking her up and down in playful disgust. She gasped in offence and smacked my arm, earning a laugh from both of us.

The pilot made an announcement announcing the fact that we were about to take off and everyone quieted down a bit to get situated. Thalia stretched and yawned, leaning her head over onto my shoulder to no doubt relax and try to get in a quick nap.

I reached over and intertwined our finger, earning a small smile from her.

As the plane began its takeoff, her face twisted in discomfort, but with a quick kiss to her temple, it melted into a smile once more.

I smiled in return before resting my head upon hers and closing my own eyes.