Silence.

Complete silence. A heavy weight on my shoulders.

And a big block of cement waiting to crush me again.

Waiting to break every bone in my body, ready to crush my soul as if my mind isn't splintered into a billion pieces already.

I've carried the weight of the world on my shoulders since I was a little boy.

Ever since my mother got murdered in our house. Maybe even before that.

I've watched my family being slaughtered and put in boxes, because of what we do. Everyone I love has died in front of me and I have gotten back up as if none of it ever mattered.

As if it didn't ruin me on the inside.

So why does this feel different?

Why do I feel this emptiness in my soul? As if half of me is missing.

Why do I feel like I miss a lung, an eye, an ear, an arm, a leg?

Why does it feel like the only bright parts of my heart are shut off, unable to make me see the good in life anymore?

Because he's dead...

Leonardo is dead.

No body, no death... That's what I've been telling North the entire time. But now he's gone.

And we have no body.

'Rafael.' I look up and stare at Valentina, watching as her tears start to seep through.

She has been trying so hard to conceal her pain for me. 'Say something.'

I try finding the words, try catching my next breath, but it doesn't work.

No body, no death. No body, no death. No body... No fucking death.

The rings don't mean anything- they just found that because he dropped it or something- No body, no death.

I get up from my chair and almost run up the stairs, skipping three at a time, before heading to Celine's room.

But I find her crying in the hall, kneeling in front of Leon's room with the door wide open.

She looks up at me with teary eyes and holds her phone in her hands.

'Veah- she-' I step aside, peeking into the room, finding North laying on the bed wrapped in the sheets.

'What did they say?' I say, wondering where my voice is coming from.

Because I can hear myself talk, I can hear the words coming out of my mouth, but it doesn't feel like I'm the one talking.

Celine cries into her arms and all I can do is look as her body trembles with pain. 'Celine.'

I want her to look at me and tell me what it is they said exactly, but I can't make myself move an inch.

'What did they say?' I repeat, my voice turning harder this time.

She inhales sharply and looks up at me as tears roll down her face, 'They-'

Not so long ago, she felt this pain too.

Loss.

It's the worst pain to ever exist.

'They said that- They would give us hi-his body if we agreed to their con-conditions.' I watch as she struggles to fill her lungs with air and stumble back as I try to do the same.

I am going to fucking kill them...

They had my cousin all this time, without telling me, and expect me to do shit for them?

I will kill every one of them and make their families watch as they slowly bleed to death.

'What conditions?' She shakes her head, tears dropping on the floor. But my anger only increases.

'What conditions?' I can hear a small gasp and ignore it, before waiting for her to answer.

I need her to answer.

'Hunter did something with the royal family of Sp-Spain, they wa-want him to p-pay.' I don't think I've ever heard Celine stutter this much.

Not even when she cried after Vincent's death.

But once again, Hunter Steel is the cause of all of this. 'What did he do?'

'I-I don't know.' She cries and starts muttering something in Mandarin.

They couldn't deal with it, so they're asking me.

'Where is Marco?' Celine looks at the ceiling and takes a deep breath, before looking back at me.

The tears stopped. There are just some lines going down her cheeks, but no more tears.

As if she just flipped a switch, knowing that I need her to tell me all she knows.

'They were... on their way.' She says, not crying anymore, but exhausted. I nod and turn around, noticing Valentina standing not so far behind me.

I don't know how long I left her downstairs, but she cried her eyes out. She broke down entirely, her hair undone and her eyes bloodshot red, and I didn't even hear her.

She takes a shaky breath and steps forward, reaching out to me, with her small shaky hands.

'Raf-' 'I will kill them.' I say, feeling my anger rise again.

They knew. They knew all along and they didn't tell me.

I will kill them.

Even if it's the last thing I do.

'You can't just-' 'I can.' I state, looking right at her eyes. 'I will kill everyone who had something to do with this.'

A hint of fear flashes behind her eyes.

And I don't think she fears me for doing it, she fears for them. She fears for their lives.

'I know that you're angry right now but-' Something slashes through me, cutting me in half entirely, making my body go numb before the pain comes in, making this so much worse.

'I'm not angry, I'm-' Annoyed. Murderous. Seething. Furious. Wrathful. Livid. At the end of my fucking rope.

And in pain.

A pain not even she can fix or deal with.

And that scares the living shit out of me.

But I don't have to finish my sentence as she steps closer, gently taking my face in her hands and wiping my cheeks.

Tears.

I'm crying.

I shouldn't be fucking crying.

I should be out there, gathering everyone that knew about this and killing them.

Yet I'm here.

Crying like a fucking baby.

'I know.' She whispers as she continues to hold my face and nothing more.

For a second, everything disappears. There's no more silence, just her voice and the faint beating of my heart.

Just a second. But it's not long enough.

Because as soon as she goes quiet, as soon as I can only hear my heartbeat, I panic.

I'm alone.

Alone in some dark room and everything is pushing me into a corner, but there's nothing around me.

At least not that I can see.

I step back and search for light, stumbling around the hall like I'm some drunk, before finally getting back my vision.

There she stands.

My wife. With tears in her eyes, staring at me as if I might die at any second.

'Rafael, please.' She begs, slowly taking a step closer, but I push myself against the wall.

I don't want to be sucked into that dark hole again. I can't be.

I don't even know if he's actually dead.

Because we don't have a body. We don't know if he's actually dead.

They claim they have his body, but what if they don't?

'Tell them to come to me once they arrive.' I mutter as I head back down the stairs, almost stumbling because of the weight that's weighing me down.

I've had this before. After my mom passed.

I had Leon to lean on back then. My brother.

He's- No body... No death...

I stumble back into the dining room and drop into one of the chairs.

The plastic bag on the table annoys me.

But what's inside of the plastic bag annoys me even more.

Leon's ring.

The ring he got from North almost a year ago.

He was so happy when she gave it to him, he couldn't stop talking about how much he loved it.

He wore it ever since. He wouldn't take it off...

Which means someone had to force it off of him or the police are telling the truth.

Both options are bad, but I would much rather have the first than the last.

I take the ring out of the bag and bring it closer to my face.

A blue sapphire pressed in a golden ring that would just fit him perfectly.

He wouldn't take it off...

I stare at the ring for a while, trying to remember how excited he was to tell me who got him this stupid ring.

"She bought me this!" He started to doubt North's feelings for him, or more if he was doing too much, which he obviously was, but this cleared all his doubt.

He was so proud of a stupid ring.

And he would've never taken it off willingly. He would've never let anything happen to it.

Never.

'Rio...' I look up and try to ignore the pain when I look at my wife standing in the frame of the door.

I didn't realize that it turned dark already.

I didn't realize that I have been sitting in the dark the entire time.

'What are you doing in here?' She asks, probably trying to find the light switch.

Once she does, I squint my eyes at the bright light that's almost blinding me.

It's bright and painful. As if it's trying to slash through my soul.

I would much rather sit in the dark, in silence, all by myself.

'Just thinking.' I reply, hating the way I sound.

'Want to talk about it?' She asks as she takes a step further into the room.

Closer to me.

I place the ring back on the table and shake my head, before turning back to her.

Instead, I ask the stupidest question ever.

'How's North?' She quickly wipes a tear away and slowly takes a step forward. 'She took a nap and woke up crying and started throwing up.' What?

I know pain can do a lot of things, but I have never seen someone get physically sick because of it.

'We tried to help her, but she didn't want us around so we had a fight and she locked herself in the room.' She takes another step closer, revealing a small bruise on her arm.

'I did this myself.' She instantly says when she notices my eyes on the bruise. 'I tried to kick the door down but it didn't work, but I'm fine. I promise.'

She's not.

She's not fine.

She wants to cry, but she won't cry in front of me.

'Valentina-' 'She wants to leave.' She whispers as if she doesn't want me to hear it either.

Leon just died, or at least we just found out, and she wants to leave?

'No.' Even if I wanted her gone after all of this, I can't.

'I want her out of this, Rio.' She continues, quickly wiping another tear away, 'She has suffered enough already and I-' 'She's not going anywhere.'

I promised Leon I would take care of her if something happened to him.

As if he knew he was dying soon.

It was a stupid thing to do, but I honestly thought she would die before he ever would.

He was supposed to live.

He wasn't supposed to die at my fucking wedding. No one was.

And they warned me... All of them warned me...

He was supposed to protect her, not me.

But I promised.

I promised I would take care of her if something would happen to him, so I can't let her go. I don't have time to watch her and deal with all of this at the same time.

I just can't.

'Why not?' She asks as the tears threaten to escape again.

I know she's not doing this because she doesn't want North around.

She wants North to catch a break. She doesn't want her to leave, but she doesn't know how else she can get North out of this environment.

'Because she's your best friend and she's not stable enough to function on her own.'

'She needs a break.' She mutters, making me sigh deeply. 'She can take a break in her room, now go see how she's holding up.'

I don't want her in this room. I don't want her around me.

I don't want her to see me like this, when I break.

She shakes her head and keeps her eyes on me. Those teary and pained eyes.

'You need me too.' She mutters oh so softly. 'She needs you more.'

She wants to oppose, she wants to shake her head and tell me that she'll be here for me, but North needs her more.

We both know that.

As long as there's no proof of his death, as long as I haven't seen his body myself, I won't break.

I won't allow myself to fucking break.

'Go.' She stays in the room and simply looks at me, waiting for a hint of something that might show her that I'll break, but I won't.

'Valentina, just go.' I say as I watch her doubt if she should or shouldn't.

And when she finally decides to listen to me, she takes her sweet time walking out of the room.

Leaving me in complete and utter silence again.

After some minutes, I hear the front door open. I can hear Brandons voice down the hall and wait for their footsteps to get closer.

But they seem to stay in the hall, talking to... Kai.

I want to get up or shout at them to get their asses over here, but I'm exhausted. And I feel like I need to spare the last ounces of energy I have left for what's about to come next.

Whatever that might be.

When they finally walk into the room, they stare at me in anticipation. As if I'm giving them a big prize or something.

'Took you long enough.' I sneer, making Marco frown and Brandon sigh deeply.

'We came as fast as we could.' Brandon mumbles, throwing his phone on the table.

I look at the time, noticing that three hours have passed already.

Three fucking hours.

Madrid is two hours away. 'Three hours is as fast as you could?'

Brandon wants to respond, but Marco grabs his arm and quickly shakes his head, before turning back to me.

'We got stuck in traffic.' I let out a chuckle, letting it rumble through the room as if it's the funniest thing I've ever heard.

Which it might be.

Leonardo is dead and they got stuck in traffic?

'Are you going to tell us why you rushed us back here after sending us away for barely a day?' Brandon asks, making me want to rip his throat out.

But I should save my anger for later.

'Leonardo is dead.'

Their mood drops and something in their souls just breaks.

They were probably thinking it was something good, but I would never get them back this quickly if it was something good.

'What do you mean? He can't be-' 'The police had his body all this time and they won't give it back to us unless we help them with some bullshit.' I quickly answer, not knowing much more.

They look at each other, trying to confirm if they heard it right, before turning back to me.

'How did you find out?' Marco asks, a bit skeptical about it all. 'They wanted to talk, so I sent Celine.'

Brandon gasps for a second, before looking at his phone on the table.

She probably texted him about it so he knows I'm not lying or making any of this shit up.

He wipes his tears away, before taking a shaky breath and trying to stay composed.

But Brandon has never been good at keeping himself composed. He has always been all over the place.

Marco on the other hand has been able to hide pain well enough for me not to notice that much.

Just not this time.

I notice the tears forming in his eyes. He tries to blink them away, but it's impossible.

They just keep coming. Pushing him over the edge.

'Are you-' 'I want them dead.' I intervene before they can bombard me with more questions.

Brandon nods and slowly reaches for his phone, before realizing something. 'Neveah...' He says, slowly looking up at me as tears roll down his face.

'She's in his room.' He rushes out of the room, probably running over to North to comfort her.

But she's not buying it. And I shouldn't either.

No body, no death.

I told her that time and time again, so why should I stop believing it now?

Why does some part of me feel like he's gone already, even though I haven't seen his body yet?

'I'm going to talk to the police.' I state as I get out of my seat and put the ring back in the bag.

'I need you to come with me.' Marco looks at me and quickly wipes his tears, before nodding. 'It's not a smart idea to go now.'

I turn to my wife, who's standing by the door.

She probably listened to our entire conversation. Not that it was that impressive.

'You will act on anger if you go now.' She continues as she steps into the room. 'I don't care.'

'We're just going down there to get Leon's body.' Marco says as he wipes his face to collect himself.

'And we're going to kill them all.' I add, making him frown at me.

'You can't kill the entire police department.' He states, making my anger rise again.

I hate that everyone is telling me what I can and can't do.

I hate that they're looking at me like I should be crying. Like I should be wailing on the ground. Like I should break.

But I don't even know if he's dead yet.

I don't have any confirmation.

I don't have to break.

I won't.

'I will.' I state as I get up from my seat and head for the door.

Marco steps in my way and shakes his head, 'You can't.'

'Watch me.' He stays put and mirrors my steps to the side before I roll my eyes at him.

'You can't Rafael.' I take a deep breath in hopes it will calm me down enough to not shove him out of my way.

My anger isn't supposed to be for him. It's supposed to be for the police officers.

'Move.' He stays put and looks into my eyes as if I'll back down because of the disappointed look in his eyes.

'They're not the ones who killed him.' He mutters, knowing that he hit a nerve with that.

'As if I didn't fucking know that!' I shout back at him, giving him a little shove that makes him almost fall even though it wasn't even that hard.

'Rio-' 'So why would you kill them?' He asks, knowing damn well that they did it so that we would help them first. 'Because they had his body the entire time!'

I shove him harder this time, making him drop onto the ground and look up at me.

'They made us look like fools because we kept searching!' I say, actually wanting to kick him for his stupidity, 'They knew we were looking and they didn't do shit!'

'Rafael, stop!' I look at Valentina, who's standing close to the door.

She knows that if she steps in between us, I won't be able to stop.

Not even for her.

'They knew he was dead... and didn't tell me.' My voice almost breaks, but I won't allow it to.

I won't cry again.

I'm done crying.

I need to figure out how I'm going to get my cousin's body. If he's even dead...

'Killing them won't solve anything.' I want to shoot him.

I want to shoot Marco, the friend that has been loyal since the day he was born.

I want to kill.

'I don't care.' I state instead, trying to find a thread of calmness in my head.

'You can't replace an entire police department, Rafael.' He continues while using the table to lift himself up. 'I can.'

'No, you can't.' He states, 'And you and I both know that it would be a stupid thing to do.'

Stupid...

What's stupid is that we're still talking about this even though we could be heading over there already.

'We should be getting Leon's body back and making sure that we finally get rid of Hunter.'

I almost want to shove him to the ground again.

'We are going to kill them and do all of that at the same time.' I state as I walk past him. And this time he doesn't stop me.

This time it's Valentina, my wife, who's stopping me.

'Don't do this.' I won't hurt her.

I don't want to hurt her.

'Move out of my way.' She shakes her head, firmly standing her ground.

'Marco is right, you just need to get Le- his body back and find Hunter, so that we can deal with the police later.' I shake my head and reach for the doorknob, feeling her small hands go around mine before I can pull the door open.

Her back is flushes against my chest and I can tell that she's waiting for me to let go.

I lean in, pressing her into the door, hearing her breathing fade into the distance as I close my eyes.

Unable to fight the darkness because I'm tired of this shit already.

'If you don't move right now,' I whisper, feeling her soft hair brush against my face, 'I'll kill you too.'

A small sob escapes her lips, and I can feel her move, before everything becomes clearer again.

She's facing me with tears in her eyes and fear plastered all over her.

She looked scared before, but she feared for others earlier.

I've threatened her before. I threatened to kill her mother. To kill her. Her best friend.

But now, right at this moment, she fears for herself.

She fears me.

'I'm not going to ask you again, Cataleya.' She looks at me as she silently begs me not to do this, but I'm doing this.

I don't care what anyone has to say, people are dying today. 'Move.'

She slowly takes a step back, admitting her defeat, and stares at the ground.

I open the door and walk into the hall, before turning around towards them.

'Marco, come with me.' If I drive right now, I'll be dead before I arrive anywhere.

He doesn't say a word as he steps out of the room as well, following me to the front door.

The whole drive to the police station becomes a blur, a vague memory that my brain won't even bother to remember.

'I figured you would be here sooner or later.' I turn to the voice behind the desk as I walk through the big doors.

Parker Jones...

'Where is he?' I ask calmly, making him smirk a little.

The room is filled with policemen, all of them staying far away from me, stuck on the walls like useless posters in here.

'That's not the way you talk to me, especially if we have what you want.' He taunts, enjoying this a little too much.

He gets up from his desk and takes a few steps closer, still out of arms reach.

'I will strangle you to death if you won't show me right now.' Normally, I wouldn't talk like this.

I would at least see what it is they want, but I don't care about any of that at this point.

I want my cousin back.

If they have him and they won't hand him over, I'll kill them. If they do have him and hand him over, I'll still kill them.

So it doesn't change much.

'We want to bury him.' Marco says, trying to stay calm himself.

Marco has never been an aggressive person. Not even when threatening someone. They always saw him as the calm and obedient one, who just did what he was told to do because he had no other choice.

But he seems angry now, fuming even. And he's trying to cover it up by being polite.

A few men chuckle around the room and I'll for sure remember their faces. Three stupid boys...

'I wanted to bury my wife, but it didn't come to that,' Parker says, looking back at me, 'Did it?'

I pull my gun and point it at him, pressing the end of the barrel in the middle of his big head.

'Kill me and you will never find his body again.' He states, a few droplets of sweat rolling down his face.

'How do I know you're not lying?' I ask, making him frown slightly, 'How do I know he's dead!?'

'Was the ring not enough?' He asks, his voice trembling just a little.

I press my gun harder against his head, watching as he closes his eyes for a second longer. 'Show me.'

'So you can kill us all and take his body without even lifting a finger to help us?' He says as he slowly tries to back away from me.

'Show. Me.' His adam's apple bobs up and down slowly, as a few more droplets of sweat roll down his neck.

'Get the pictures.' Pictures...

One of the men throws a big file into Marco's hands and Marco walks over to me, slowly taking out the pieces of paper.

The pictures.

My heart stops and the world starts to spin, my shoulders hurting at the weight of the block finally close enough to crush me.

'How do we know this isn't edited?' I sneer before I almost fall to my knees and beg god to reverse everything I've ever done.

'I know the risk, I wouldn't play you like-' I stumble forward, pressing Jones against the stupid desk he was just sitting on. 'I will fucking kill you.'

He shakes his head and looks me in the eyes as if he won.

'You need his body.' I do.

I need his body so that we can bury him with everyone else. It's the least he deserves...

'You can't kill me.' Parker proudly says, 'I'm the only one that knows where his body is.'

'Fine with me.' I turn to the right, pointing my gun at one of the guys that were laughing just now, and pull the trigger.

Blood splatters on the police officers around him, before his dead body drops to the ground.

And nobody moves. But the room fills with a new fear.

'Tell me where his body is or I'll kill everyone in this room and make you suffer so much you wish you were dead.'

My vision starts to turn dark red again, but I fight it.

I want his body before I lose it all.

'Did you just-' I point my gun back at him and press so hard that I figure he's going to have a fucking bruise, 'Give. me. his. body.'

Jones shakes his head, making me angrier and angrier.

I shoot the next guy and the next, wondering when he'll drop the act and give in.

And Marco, the one who told me that this was a bad idea, starts shooting as well.

'The royal family!' I stop when I hear a new recruit, a woman, shout the words. 'You bitch-' I kick Jones to the side and turn to the woman who has tears streaming down her face.

'Tell me more.' I grit, fighting the urge to hurt her. 'The royal family has him because they knew you would come over here and kill us to get him.' She cries.

'Please, don't kill us- we-' Marco shoots someone on the other side of the room, making her whimper.

It's clear she's new.

'What do they want from me?' I ask as I pull her closer, 'Tell me.'

'They-' She looks into my eyes, 'Martin Steel kil-killed their oldest daughter, they w-want the Steels to p-pay!'

The Royal family of Spain...

The last time we had trouble with them was generations ago. They helped us back then, at least that's what my grandfather used to say.

He also said that we should always listen to them because of how they helped us, but fucking hell do I want to kill them right now.

'So they gave that information to you.' I finish for her. She nods as her whole body trembles in fear. 'Good to know.'

I pull my gun and shoot, watching as everyone behind her gets splattered with her blood, enjoying the other shade of red in my vision.

'She told you!' Parker exclaims, rolling to the side of the room. I nod and wipe the blood off my shirt. 'She should've told me sooner.'

'You're sick!' He climbs onto his feet and tries to get out of here, but Marco stops him.

'Let go of him.' I notice everyone frowning at my statement, but Marco does as he's told.

'I want all of you to tell the king that he can call me. Get back to work and clean up this mess.' I state, walking out behind a stumbling Jones.

I might've kicked him a bit too hard.

'You should've left for England when we told you to.' I say, making him look over his shoulder.

I point my gun at Jones and pull the trigger, watching as his blood paints the walls a beautiful red. 'Anyone else who wants to pull a stupid stunt?'

They stay silent as I turn back to face them, not one of them looking me in the eyes. 'If I find out any of you know more, I'll kill you.'

Without awaiting a response, we make our way to the car outside and get back to the house.

'Those pictures.' Marco says, sounding like something's stuck in his throat. 'They-' 'They're real.' I admit, feeling something gash through me.

I've been stabbed before, I've been shot before, I've been tortured before, I've felt loss before.

But this feels different. I can feel the pain, I can feel the memories burn in my brain, I can feel the loss like I did before, but it's different.

When we make it back to the house, Valentina is seated at the end of the stairs, waiting for our return.

'Fill her in.' I mutter, unable to say or do more than that, and he takes her to the dining room to fill her in on everything that happened.

She's going to be pissed when she finds out we killed a bunch of people, but I couldn't care less about any of that right now.

I make my way up the stairs, barely able to lift my legs high enough to get up the steps, and end up in front of Leon's room.

Even though it seems like every other room in this fucking house, it just feels like him.

North is sitting by the window, looking through the room as if she's following something.

Her eyes shoot to mine as I stumble into the doorway and she silently asks the question that has been killing her the entire time.

Is he dead?

I sigh deeply, making it sound like a desperate whimper instead, and press myself against the wall instead of falling forward.

Tears start streaming down her face, but she doesn't make a sound.

As if she expected the worst, as if she knew what was coming.

I have seen North cry more times than I would like, but I have never seen her cry like this.

Soundless yet full of meaning. Sad yet somewhat at peace. Or numb...

'I'll-' I clear my throat, hating the way I sound, 'I'll leave you to it.'

She nods and walks over to the bed, before taking a seat on it.

I head towards one of the empty bedrooms, walking past a few others. And I can hear muffled sobs in every one of them.

I shut the door and take a deep breath, glancing around the dark bedroom in front of me.

I want to ruin it. I want to rip everything in half and burn it all to the ground. I want to murder everyone that knew about this before I did, I want to hurt people worse than I'm hurting right now.

But-

'Rio...' Valentina's voice wavers down the hall and I barely hear it because of the loud thunder ringing in my head.

'Rafael, where are you?' I open the door and watch as she walks into the room, staring at me. 'I'm so sorry.'

She wraps her arms around me, warming me for just a second, before fear extinguishes every little flame inside.

'Go to North, see if she needs anything.' I say, barely louder than a whisper. 'Rafael, you need-' 'Go.'

I look down on her, watching as the tears start to threaten to spill out again. 'Just go.'

Everything I care about turns to ashes. Everyone I love dies.

I don't want her near me. I want her out of this room. Out of this house. Out of this country. Out of my life.

Because she'll die too.

They killed Leon, the only blood I had left, and I can't deal with anything else at this point.

I just can't.

'You need time, I get that. But I'm here for you, okay?' She trembles as she takes a step back, allowing me space even though I want her back in my arms.

I want to feel that spark of fire, even if it offers the slightest warmth, but I don't want to drag her down with me.

I can't drag her down with me.

'I know.' I mumble as she gives me a quick kiss and rushes out of the room.

My phone starts ringing and I instantly look at the name, hoping that it's the royal family, ready to get Leon's body back.

But it's a number I know, but haven't saved and will never save.

Alessio Moretti...

The phone rings and rings and rings, until it doesn't anymore.

I take a seat on the bed and stare at the door, waiting for someone to walk in.

Marco. Or Valentina. Or Brandon. Or Celine. Or Kai. Fucking hell, even North.

Or... Leonardo...

When the sun rises and I haven't slept for a single second, I hear muttering coming from down the hall.

I know everyone has been awake for a while, I've even seen them walk by my room.

I saw their mouths move, but I didn't hear a single word.

I get off the bed and stumble down the hall, towards where the sounds are coming from.

It's Leon's room.

I stay in the hall, out of sight, and lean against the wall. 'Leave me alone, please.'

It's North. She sounds like she didn't sleep either.

'Neveah, Celine has a point.' Valentina...

'I don't care.' She replies with indescribable pain in her voice.

I take a deep breath and ready myself to walk past the room and head downstairs.

'When did you get your last period Neveah?' Celine softly asks, not wanting to bring it up.

My eyes widen and I step closer, stopping in the doorway.

I look into the room and see North crawled up into a ball, in the corner of the room.

She looks exhausted, worse than yesterday.

'Neveah?' Valentina looks at Celine, begging her to stop with the painful questions. 'I don't know.'

'You've been feeling nauseous, you've been having stomach problems, have you gotten your period yet?'

Celine steps closer, making Valentina get up from the bed. She steps in her way, trying to protect North from the pain. But it's no use.

If she is pregnant, we have to take her to a hospital. She needs to get checked up.

Neveah finally looks up with tears streaming down her face. She looks broken. Unfixably broken.

But she's trying to count the days, weeks, months, to answer Celine's question.

'Three months.' Mio Dio...

We all turn to her as she takes a deep breath.

And then it happens. Realization hits her like a truck as she turns to me.

She starts sobbing. Crying with every ounce of energy she has left.

It looks like someone is dragging a knife straight through her, slowly dragging it down her chest, not caring about the pain she's already been through.

'Neveah!' Valentina runs to her friend and wraps her arms around her, trying to calm her down as Neveah breaks into a million pieces again.

'Neveah, we need to get you checked up.' Celine states, rushing over to the bed.

They try calming Neveah down with all they have, but nothing seems to work.

She's too focused on the pain to even hear a word they're saying.

But her eyes are glued to me. As if I'm supposed to help her.

'North.' She gasps for air and stops herself from breaking any further, wrapping her arms around her body.

'I-' I nod and step closer, finally stepping into the room. 'I know.'

Valentina pulls Neveah into her arms, rubbing her gently to try to stop her from crying. 'It's all going to be okay. We're all going to help you. You're not alone in this.'

She nods and rubs her hands on her stomach, slowly turning to Celine. 'What if-' 'Don't even start. We're going straight to the hospital so we can do a check-up. Everything is going to be okay. Okay?'

She nods and wipes her cheeks, before looking back at me. I nod and try to mask the fact that I'm too tired for any of this.

The thought of Neveah being pregnant right now scares the shit out of me.

She could've lost the baby by now, simply because of all the pain and sadness she had to endure.

I just hope that the baby's okay. That she's okay. That everything will be okay.

Just like Celine says.

'Kai will drive us to the hospital.' And before I can even process anything happening, they're already pulling North out of the bed, getting her dressed and ready for the check-up.

She's fucking pregnant...

----

A/N: North's pregnant first!!!

Do you think it will be a boy or a girl? Or both?

I'm sorry if some of you don't like the fact that Leon's dead, but like I said, it's all part of the story, so please try to understand.

I love you guys so much and I can't wait to see what you guys thought about this chapter! I hope to see you in the next chapter<3

Have an amazing day/night my loves!