[WORD COUNT: 2741!]
AN: remember to leave your thoughts! 💭💞

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It was terrifying. The noise scared you the most, more than anything. Because despite knowing there was a gunshot, there was no impact. Nothing touched your skin accept Toms hand, which had firmly locked itself against your back, holding you closed in his chest. And it scared you. Did he miss? Did he hit Tom? You'd only know if you turned around...

And how you wished you hadn't. Standing in front of you was non-other than Harley. Proving correctly, that bulletproof vests did not work, as a clear hole pierced through his chest. You almost fell to your knees looking at him, standing in front of you staring, before looking down to the wound in his chest.

"O-oh..." he stammered quietly, before stripping forward into your arms. Tom helped lower him down, tears streaming down your cheeks and your mouth stuck for words.

"N-N-No, N-no, NO!" You yelled, holding him in your lap as the crimson liquid began seeping into your fingertips, shaking hands hovering over the wound. "NO! No this isn't fair!" you sobbed, gripping his gloved hand in yours. All Harley could do was smile, placing a hand on your damp cheek drawing your attention back to his face. His teeth were faded among the blood coating his tongue, seeping out onto his lips as he moved them in an attempt to talk.

"Y-your g-gonna be f-fine" he smiled, ushering away the tears as they hit his gloved thumb. You shook your head, nose crinkling and eyes closing as you let out a sob, pressuring your cheek against his hand as he held it there "y-you have Tom"

"No, Harley, please! W-we can get through this, come on COME ON!" You were now shaking violently, Harleys breathing becoming more jagged and his weight on your legs becoming heavier each time he exhaled. He was going, leaving you behind and you knew it deep down inside but accepting it was another thing. You couldn't lose him, not after everything you had been through over the years and yet here you were, having only reunited a couple hours ago and now he was in your arms, saying his final goodbye.

Your head fell to his forehead, your tears streaming down onto his cheeks as you sobbed aloud, not caring about the disturbance as Tom placed a hand on your shoulder.

"D-don't forget me, eh?" he whispered gently, hand falling back to his side before those precious eyes you had once cherished disappeared behind his lids. Your mouth fell open, feeling like you couldn't breathe. Your heart felt tangled in barbed wire, Harry at the other end carelessly tugging on the strings until the needles pierced through your heart and bled out into the puddle of your lungs. You felt like you were drowning, suffocating as your hands began to grow damper from the blood oozing out of your best friends chest. This wasn't how it was supposed to end.

"It's okay... It's okay... It's okay..." you repeated softly, whispering into Harley's ear as he relaxed, rocking him gently in your lap. He was heading for a better place, somewhere where he could be treated correctly for the man he was. He had done so much for the world and this is how he was repaid. A bullet through the chest. "Sssh" you kissed his cheek gently "It's okay if you wanna go, that's okay" you chocked, tears feeling numb as they continued the same path as the last down your red cheeks, "I-I understand" your frown became more prominent, biting the bottom of your lip trying to fight back tears.

Harley's head finally fell limp and you knew at that moment he was gone. There was nothing you could do to bring him back and his blood was all over your hands, seeping into the cracks of your palms and under your fingernails.

Tom turned you around slowly, encasing you tightly into his chest as your tears flooded his shirt. Harley rolled off of your legs slowly as you moved them from underneath him, sobbing down into Toms shirt as he clenched you even tighter than before, disregarding every inch of pain he may be feeling in order to take yours away. He wanted to take all the pain away.

"You were r-right about one thing" you finally spoke after what felt like hours of silence, voice quivering as you sounded more vulnerable and weak than ever, but Harry got the gist you were talking to him. You turned your head from Toms' shoulder, your cold and revenge filled eyes facing Harry head on.

"Oh? And what is that?" he asked cockily. The smoke still rose from the barrel of the gun, making your blood run icy cold as he knew full well he had just killed an innocent man, probably not his first, and yet he could still look at you with a proud smile. Thinking about that made picking up Harley's gun a lot easier.

"You don't bite the hand that feeds you" you gripped the metal tightly, moving to your feet and pulling back the Glock, finger on the trigger as you pointed it towards Harry.

"You don't scare me, Y/N. I've got just as much as you have, you know? You shoot me and I'll shoot you back"

"We had a deal and you broke the rules" you stole the dominance in the conversation, voice weak yet stronger than ever at the same time, "You killed someone I loved tonight. Someone I cherished. That man had a family, he had parents, people who loved him. I loved him. He took a bullet for me and I will happily do the same. So go ahead, fucking shoot me you ass hole!" you yelled, pulling the trigger on the gun and watched as the bullet pierced right through Harry's leg, knocking him down.

Before he could point one back, you threw the gun down and flicked the switch which you had noticed sat untouched on Harry's desk. Without another word, you spun, gripping Toms hand in your own and made a run for it down the hallway. Tom was much slower than yourself, limping with a hand favouriting his left side.

Alarms began blaring sending your heart rate through the roof, presuming what you had set off was either a fire alarm or lockdown. If being the second, you had around thirty seconds to get out of the building, which came as less of a problem than should have been as the door was right in front of you.

You say such, as it seemed too easy. Too easy to get out of a situation which days ago came as impossible. Yet you ran. You ran as far as your legs could take you before finding the road back home. Your hand in Tom's all the way, not letting go even for a second. You caught the number eleven bus back down to the southwestern side of London, luckily being empty as both yourself and Tom looked a mess.

You were unsure how long you had, but feeling the cold fresh air of the morning set your mind back to autopilot, only knowing you would be somewhat safe in the comfort of Toms home. You hadn't spoken a word since leaving the building, and it didn't come as a surprise as both of you were a little shaken. Well, more than a little, for all you knew Tom could be seriously hurt.

Tear stains made your eyes sting with great passion as the air cut at your cheeks like carving knives, the front door to Toms home being open coming as no surprise. After slamming the door behind you, you collapsed onto the carpet of the living room floor, not wanting too, but not being able to hold back the hot bile that rushed up to your throat. Your hands hadn't stopped shaking, and the blood still covered your hands making the situation even worse, as now the rug was a mess and covered in red stains.

It had all happened so fast that if the situation may have run slower you feared you may have passed out, as Tom's hands were almost numb against your sides. You presumed it was the running for miles, through the cold bitter air hitting the back of your throat without warning that brought up the cold food. But then again, it could have been the fact you were covered in a dead man's blood.

"Hh-hey" Tom snivelled, bringing you down into his side with gentle hands. You collapsed into his skin, sinking down into the comfort of his legs and looking outwards, hands stretching out onto the cold floorboards past the rug as your eyes fell limp. But they remained open upon force. Tom watched you pant heavily, his heart aching as all he wanted to do was make things better, make everything go back to the way it should have been. "We're safe now, okay. I've got you" he whispered, sinking back against the couch and cradling you in his arms.

You didn't respond for a while, not even a whimper of a small movement. You just... Lay there. Completely silent. It wasn't until Tom began to wince that you lifted yourself from off of him.

"Let me see," you wiped your eyes carefully, gripping the end of Tom's shirt, but he was suddenly hesitant. "Tom-" you warned, having been through enough that night.

"Y/N you don-"

"I've been through enough bullshit tonight if you bleed out and I lose you too I swear to hell I'll chase your ass right up the stairwell to heaven and beat you with a hockey stick" your nose flared. Despite the intended sarcasm, there was not a glint of joy showering Tom's eyes. He just swallowed and nodded, allowing you to completely remove the shirt.

You weren't wrong when you thought it was bad, because it was worse than you had ever seen. Deep in Tom's side lay a long, deep gash still oozing despite being inflicted more than 36 hours prior. The outer sides were darkened with dried blood and the skin on the edges had turned white.

"W-we gotta get you to a hospital" you breathed heavily, wiping your nose with the back of your sleeve before Tom caught it in his hand.

"We've been through enough tonight, I can wait until morning"

"Tom if your not in a hospital by tonight I'm scared you won't be here in the morning!" you yelled, gripping the edges of your shirt tightly, nails digging into your palms. "Y-You know I'm starting to think this w-was all a bad idea! Ever since I came here both of our lives have been hell"

"You don't mean that" his voice cracked prominently, pulling on your heart strings a lot harder than either of you expected.

"I mean it! Oh, I fucking mean it! I'm not being selfish here but tonight I lost someone who meant a lot to me and yes, that's not your fault but now his blood is on my hands and it's all because of me! If I hadn't have gotten you into that mess in the first place, you wouldn't have a huge fucking knife wound, and I-... I don't know about me!" you sobbed, head collapsing into your hands for what felt like the 100th time that night.

There was nothing but silence for what felt like ten minutes, yet only seconds had passed. Tom grit his teeth, moving forward and encasing you in his arms. You wanted to fight him off, tell him to stay as far away from you as possible because all you brought was trouble. But you didn't. You remained still and allowed him to hug you. Because deep down all you needed was a hug.

"These past couple of days made me realise something" Tom swallowed harshly, his lips resting gently on your head. "When I was sat in that room, all alone, all I could think about was you. Yet, not what I brought you here for. I experienced something I haven't had in a while and I didn't fight it. For the first time in a long time, I let it happen"

"Let what happen?" you whispered carelessly.

"I let myself think of you as more than a friend and less than just someone who I can use for sex, Y/N," he kissed the top of your head, "I... I love you. And I want to protect you no matter what. Seeing you in such a state, I wanted to wrap you up in my arms and never let you go, because... I do. I love you"

"Tom," you took a deep breath, moving off of his side. Tom wouldn't like the answer you were about to give him, but it was the only way he would possibly understand.

"What we went through, was a once in a lifetime thing. I know. But, despite that you can't just up and claim you love someone. Not now, and especially not to me. There is something here, between us, but I'll hurt you. I will damage you so much you won't be able to stand when I'm done because I'm fucked up in here," You pointed harshly to your temple, "I run in and out of relationships like they're going out of fashion and I can't let myself love you. I can't let you love me because I don't deserve someone like you. You care too much and I'll put you off relationships forever" you tried to lighten to mood by making yourself sound sarcastic, but it wasn't working.

"I... I respect that, Y/N, but" he moved to kneel on his legs, facing you head on, "Do I not mean anything to you?"

"Tom, oh my god you mean everything to me and if something happens and I lose you, the more I let myself love you the more it will hurt when I do"

"But your not gonna lose me, Y/N"

"Yeah. That's what they all say" you shook your head, backing up enough to stand on your feet. "Harry will be back some day, and he'll have both our heads. I love you. Fuck, I love you so fucking much. I do, I do I promise I do."

"Then why is this such a problem?" Tom asked, wincing as he stood to his feet, holding the gash still leaking in his side before he stared at you with pleading eyes.

"Just, because. I'm not good with relationships and besides your breaking one of your rules" you tilted your head slightly. In truth, Tom had completely forgotten about the stupid sheet he had concocted when you first moved here. He didn't want to care anymore, he just wanted to you.

"That's a stupid excuse and you know it"

"Would you rather me lie and say I don't love you?" You fired back subtly. Tom was stuck. He wanted you so desperately, but he had to respect the fact that you weren't ready to love someone yet. He felt stupid. Wrong for owning up to you. But then again, at least now you knew how he felt, and maybe in the near future things could progress if need be.

"Okay, fair point. But just to make the situation slightly easier. As a friend, move to New York with me"

"W-What?"

"Move to New York with me"

"Why?"

"We can get away from Harry for good and relax a little. We'll start over, as friends unless you wanna carry on?" Tom moved to sit on the couch.

"If I'm honest I've kinda missed it" you admitted, and it was true. You had missed your 'job'. "But on one condition"

"And that is?"

"Get your shoes on. I'm taking you to the hospital"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rush rush rush rush that was shit. But please don't come at meeeee 💭 this is where it starts to get good ngl, and my updates are gonna be a lot more frequent now I have a clear plot line to the finish. Thank you for reading, as always share your thoughts with me! ❤️☕️💫 Also, you guys in the last chapter going absolute ham thinking I would let you or Tom get shot. Who do you think I am? 😂😂😂