Disclaimer – I don't own Beyblade, any of it's Characters or the song 'love the way you lie' and 'love the way you lie part II' by Eminem and Rihanna I only own my words.

Based on the song Love the way you lie by Eminem and Rihanna.

...Even angels have their wicked schemes...and you take that to knew extremes...

...You swore you'd never hit 'em...never do nothing to hurt 'em …

...Cause you feed me fables from your head...the violent words and empty threats...

...Just gonna stand there and hear me cry...but that's alright because I love the way you lie...

...Love the way you lie...

Ray growled as a knock resonated through his small apartment

"What time is it?" he grumbled as he muted the television and glanced at the clock – 11.39pm

"Fuck's sake" he moaned as he stretched out on the large sofa – hoping that Mariah hadn't been woken by whoever it was that thought turning up at his house at nearly midnight was acceptable. Another knock resounded and he sighed standing and striding over to the door, pulling it open with such force he was surprised it hadn't come off it's hinges – he'd have to check it over in the morning he thought to himself as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the corridor outside.

Crimson eyes stared lifelessly at him from the darkness

"Kai?" the Neko-jin asked tentatively reaching a hand out "Is that you?" he asked again. Kai stepped forward from the darkness of the corridor and into the soft golden glow from the lamp inside Ray's apartment – giving the Chinese teen a sightly better view of the Russian – but not much better even with his sharp sight

"Sorry to call so late" Kai whispered hoarsely. Ray shifted his weight from his left leg to his right realising this was definitely Kai he relaxed

"Come in" he replied and stepped aside, allowing the younger teen to step into the brighter light.

"Are you ok?" Ray asked as Kai hovered nervously by the door, his eyes downcast and slate bangs shadowing his features.

"Fine" Kai whispered

"Come on through" Ray smiled softly "Oh, and take your shoes off, Mariah hates shoes in the flat" Kai smiled at the simple request that seemed so trivial compared to his problems.

"So, what brings you here?" Ray asked as Kai settled down on his cream sofa. The neko-jin decided to start with an innocent question and assess the seriousness of the situation.

"Tala" Kai replied softly as he picked at the edge of his shirt and hid his face from view with his thick slate bangs. Ray nodded, of course, Tala was the only reason Kai ever came over late – though it hadn't happened for a good 3 or 4 months.

"Did you two have another argument?" Ray asked – Kai and Tala were having a few problems which often resulted in blazing arguments. Things were said in the heat of the moment that needn't be and Kai would come over when he was upset. Ray was used to it, but usually Kai would wait until the morning instead of disturbing him so late.

"Yes" Kai replied – he wasn't sure how to explain "but it was different this time" he continued

"Like last time?" Ray asked "When he told you it was over?" he added. The Neko-jin fell silent as Kai let out a long suffering sigh, keeping his head low and face shadowed by slate bangs.

"No, not like last time" the bluenette continued "I was scared Ray"

Ray raised an eyebrow – this behaviour was very unusual. Usually Kai would explain what they had argued about, told the Neko-jin what was said between the two and then he would admit that perhaps he was in the wrong for telling Tala a few choice insults.

"What do you mean? Did he threaten to kick you out again? Because I told you you're always welcome here until things blow over" Ray replied and shifted on the sofa, moving a few cushions behind him so he was slightly more comfortable.

"He hits me" Kai whispered embarrassedly. Ray stared at the Russian with wide amber eyes...Tala had hit him?

"Look at me" Ray commanded, Kai ignored him "Listen, stay here tonight, I'm sure he doesn't mean to hurt you, he probably just lashes out by accident, you know he wouldn't ever hurt you intentionally" he tried to comfort the younger teen

Kai looked up slowly and Ray's breath caught in his throat as his gaze ran over Kai's bruised cheek and black, swollen eye, then moved down to his split-lip. Kai didn't need to say anything for Ray to realise that Tala had meant to hurt him, meant to make a mess of him. Kai eyes were sparkling in the soft glow with tears.

"Oh Kai" Ray breathed "Stay here, get some sleep" he decided and stood to make up the sofa bed for the Russian to stay on for the night.

"Thank you" Kai replied thickly. Ray moved quickly, pulling out the queen sized bed and throwing a few blankets over it, and arranging some pillows before Kai began to cry. Ray knew the Russian hated people to see him cry.

"I'll see you in the morning" Ray smiled and left the room, flicking the lamp off as he went. He heard a quiet sob escape the younger teens lips as he closed the door.

The Neko-jin turned and leant against the door with his eyes closed, sighing heavily. He knew Tala had a fiery temper but he never imagined the redhead would take it out on the one person who adored him more than anyone else on the planet. He opened his amber eyes slowly, staring straight into the face of his fiancé Mariah.

"Did you?" He asked softly. She nodded

"We can't let him go back there" she replied sadly "Let's get some sleep and worry about this in the morning" she decided as she led Ray to the bedroom to sleep.

XXX

The morning dawned all too soon for Ray. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and he had heard Kai up nearly the entire night as well. The Neko-jin rolled over and looked at Mariah who was staring at the ceiling with tired eyes, she hadn't slept either.

"I don't know what to do" Ray admitted to his fiancé. Mariah turned her teary gaze towards him as a heart-wrenching sob reverberated down the hall

"Nor me" she replied and sat up slowly "We can't let him go back" She added as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Ray followed silently and the pair walked down the hall. They both paused outside the door, hearing muffled sobs as Kai desperately tried to hide the noise with his pillow.

Mariah glanced sadly at her love before gently opening the door and stepping inside. Kai froze as they walked in, staring at the pair with wide, bloodshot crimson eyes. The bruising around his eye had darkened ever so slightly and the swelling looked worse – if it was possible – from all the crying Kai had done the previous night which left his eyes puffy and red-rimmed.

"Do you want a coffee?" Mariah asked into the awkward silence that fell over the three. Kai nodded minutely and she gratefully walked over to the small kitchen and filled the kettle up before flicking the switch and waiting for it to boil

Ray settled down on the spare sofa and looked at his slate-haired teenage friend.

"Thank you" Kai whispered hoarsely "I'll be gone soon" he added quietly. Ray narrowed his eyes slightly

"You're not thinking of going back surely?" he asked suspiciously. Mariah unconsciously leaned slightly further over the counter trying to hear Kai's quiet reply

"No" he replied hesitantly "I need to pack my things" he turned his gaze to the carpeted floor and sighed heavily as Mariah made three coffees and placed them on the table with milk and sugar.

Kai looked up at her gratefully and picked up a steaming mug, before downing the scalding liquid in only 3 gulps without milk or sugar.

Ray glanced at Mariah worriedly. Kai had been living with Tala for so long now, could he handle leaving him? Obviously the hot-pink haired girl was thinking the same as she took a small sip of her coffee.

"Do you want to stay here?" Mariah offered as she glanced at Ray apologetically. She couldn't leave Kai alone regardless of what Ray had to say on it. Thankfully the raven-haired Neko-jin smiled softly and nodded in agreement

"I don't want to be a burden" Kai replied quietly keeping his gaze to the floor

"Of course not, I'll make the bed up in the spare room" She smiled, a genuine smile slipped onto the youngest teens face as he watched her drink her coffee.

"Get some sleep, go over later this afternoon" Ray suggested with a smile as Kai nodded and waited for the pair to leave before settling down to get some sleep.

XXX

"Have some coffee and something to eat and then you can go" Mariah smiled and handed Kai a coffee and a plate of biscuits. He took a single biscuit and took a small bite. The t.v quietly played in the background while the three teens talked.

Ray clicked the t.v off and smiled as Mariah grabbed a biscuit. A loud buzzing froze all movement in the room. Kai's gaze snapped to his cell phone which lay on the table. The phone vibrated loudly on the wooden coffee table for a minute or so, the screen flashing 'Tala Calling' Kai stared at the phone with wide eyes for a long time after the ringing had ended and the room had fallen silent

"I should go and pack" he said reluctantly after a long silence

"Better to get it over with" Mariah agreed "Do you want Ray to go with you?" she asked but the bluenette shook his head with a soft smile.

XXX

Kai's hand shook as he tried to unlock the door, eventually getting the key into the lock, he twisted the handle slowly and pushed the door open nervously. His crimson eyes scanned the room and he sighed in relief seeing no sign of the redhead.

"Hello?" he called out timidly, receiving no reply. He must've gone food shopping, Kai thought to himself as he made a beeline for his and Tala's bedroom. He quickly grabbed his rucksack and threw his few clothes into it carelessly before grabbing his watch, a few other items, his spare launcher and some of the pictures of himself with the bladebreakers.

He looked over at Tala's side of the bed, the photo frame held a picture of himself and the redhead holding hands in the snow in Russia, just after they'd gotten together after the Russian tournament, both of the Russian's had wide smiles on their faces and Tala's arm was wrapped protectively around the smaller bluenette's waist. He quickly pulled the frame apart and took the picture out before replacing the silver object on the side, he would leave the flat as if he had never lived there at all, he decided.

The bluenette quickly walked into the bathroom, picking up his toothbrush, shower gels and shampoos and his razor before heading into the living room to remove the pictures from the frames, giving the window a quick glance and realising that darkness had fallen already. He scanned the room, picking up the small ornamental crystal phoenix Tala had given him and stuffing it in his bag. He picked up on last frame, with his very favourite photo in it, of him and Tala, with Ray, Mariah, Bryan and Spencer, it was taken at the Christmas just been and it was a special picture to Kai.

Just as the teen placed the last empty frame back on the side his blood ran cold as a key clicked into the lock on the door. Kai froze, his heart skipped a beat, his rucksack thrown over his shoulder eyes staring intently at the wall, as if asking it to hide him, begging that somehow Tala wouldn't see him standing there.

"Kai?" The bluenette's eyes slipped closed in defeat as his redheaded lover addressed him. He turned slowly, his heart clenching at the look of confusion on the elder teens face. "Are you leaving?" he asked in a small voice. Kai stared at his abusive boyfriend with wide eyes, a voice in the back of his head screaming at him not to fall for the 'hurt' voice his boyfriend used to guilt trip him. The bluenette couldn't speak, he stood, his mouth opened a small way before closing abruptly. Tala always did this, he's been hurting the bluenette for a while, but never this badly. Tala had a stressful job working as an accountant and he had started taking his frustration out on Kai. It had all started just after Christmas, about 8 months ago, Kai loved that picture so much because it was taken when things really were perfect, before Tala got his stressful job.

"Where are you going love?" Tala asked again with the hurt voice that Kai hated with a passion. The bluenette stared for a moment longer as Tala gently closed the door and turned to face his younger lover with wide ice-blue eyes. Kai felt despair wash over him, sure Tala looked upset but his eyes sparkled dangerously – warning Kai that he was about to get a beating. He swallowed heavily before answering nervously.

"Nowhere" Kai whispered as Tala's face melted from his fake confusion and hurt into anger "Were you going to leave me?" The redhead hissed and took a threatening step forward. Kai cringed and took a step back away from the angry teen

"I-" Kai paused to take a deep breath "I'm not sure this is working, Tala" he explained timidly as Tala's gaze narrowed in fury, his mouth tugging into a scowl which showed a small amount of his perfect, pearly white teeth. The redhead took a few steps forward, forcing Kai to take a few tentative steps backwards until his back pressed up against the cold wall, he felt panic grip him as Tala advanced on the smaller, trembling teen.

"And where were you going to run to hmmm?" Tala asked in a sickly sweet voice "Baby, no one wants used goods" he smirked as he wrapped his arm round the slender teens waist and pulled him to his chest. Kai froze and held his breath as Tala pulled him close. It took only a few moments for Kai to gather the guts to pull away from the embrace, which Tala allowed, surprisingly.

"Really, I think I should just go" Kai announced with a small amount more confidence than before, as Tala was being fairly civil. Kai made to step around the redhead, but Tala wasn't going to allow his boyfriend to leave, he wasn't ALLOWED to leave him, Kai was his and if he couldn't have him then no on could!

"Where do you think you're going?" he hissed and grabbed Kai's dainty wrist in a tight grip. Kai gasped as Tala's grip tightened, cutting the circulation off and bruising his frail wrist almost instantly, making Kai's eyes fill with tears as the redhead held his wrist with all his strength. Kai weakly tried to pull his arm away, to a delighted chuckle from Tala – the redhead loved playing these games with Kai. The bluenette may be smaller than him but Kai was put through even tougher training in the Abbey than the other Demolition Boys and it was only fear that stopped him from hurting the redhead. Tala loved the control he had. It was nice to know that after a day of such hard and occasionally unpredictable work he had something so solid and predictable to rely on.

"You're mine" he snarled at the bluenette. As a tremor ran through Kai's small body, his eyes filled with panic as Tala's grip tightened even more on his wrist.

"You aren't going anywhere" he growled and shoved Kai roughly to the floor before turning and locking the door.

Kai stared in horror as Tala turned to face him, holding the key tightly, his face twisted with rage, yet with a mocking grin on his face. Kai's favourite lopsided grin, turned into this horrible twisted smile that he hated so much, more than most things.

"Please, I didn't-" Tala's fist connected painfully with Kai's cheek, snapping Kai's head to the side and effectively cutting off his pitiful apology. He wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for, he hadn't done anything wrong but it was his first reaction when the redhead became violent, he seemed to get worse if Kai didn't repeatedly take the blame and apologize.

"I didn't ASK for you're pathetic excuses, you stupid little bitch!" Kai curled in on himself as Tala's shoe crashed into his ribs, snapping them with a loud crack and a loud cry of agony from Kai, as he tried to curl up further into himself but with a pained whimper loosened up as his ribs protested

The bluenette whimpered and sobbed as Tala roughly grabbed a handful of his soft slate bangs and pulled him to his feet forcefully and sneered in his face as he noticed tears rolling down the younger man's face

"No one wants you, you're a waste of space, none of them need you" Tala hissed into the petite teens ear, Kai had always thought that the others didn't want him around and it always hurt, every time he heard Tala tell him how much they hated him. Kai bit his lip till blood dribbled freely down his chin as Tala's grip tightened on his hair, the bluenette blinked away his tears of pain as his readheaded lover harshly tugged his head back to whisper in his ear

"You're mine" he whispered venomously, giving the shell of Kai's ear a soft lick, just to tease the hurt and confused young teen.

Kai closed his eyes and sucked in a breath before shoving his fist into the redheads stomach in an attempt to escape from the angry and taunting teen. The force of the punch knocked Tala from his feet, he crashed to the floor, pulling a fistful of slate hair from the young teens head. Kai's eyes watered in pain before he dashed for the door, grabbing the handle and yanking, forgetting that Tala had the key. The bluenette turned and looked at his boyfriend frantically who had rolled on to his side, groaning in pain. The younger of the two dashed over to his lover and grabbed his fist, trying to pry his fingers apart so he could get a hold of the key. When his fingers closed round the small piece of silver metal Kai sighed softly in relief as he jumped up and turned to dash for the door. He tried to get the key in the lock with shaking hands, eventually managing and unlocking the door.

He crashed to the floor with a yelp as a strong hand grabbed his ankle and pulled back suddenly and Kai cried out as his head collided with the wooden floor painfully, blood trickled down his face in thick, hot torrents and he whimpered bringing a shaking hand up to his forehead to touch the throbbing wound. Kai trembled as he pushed himself on to shaky hands and knees, Tala loomed over him with a sneer on his face, glancing down at Kai's fist which held the key tightly.

The redhead chuckled coldly before placing his booted foot over Kai's closed hand and slowly applied pressure. Kai closed his eyes in pain and bit his lip as the redhead continued to apply more of his weight to his foot, crushing Kai's hand.

Kai choked on a whimper as a the loud snap of his finger breaking filled his senses. Tears ran down his face, mixing with the blood as they dripped on to his other hand and the wooden flooring, which was already smeared with blood from his head

"Do I need to break another one?" Tala asked mockingly, to which Kai weakly shook his head, which was spinning from the smell of blood and the intense pain. Tala grinned toothily and crouched down and pried the key from Kai's weak hand. The bluenette dropped to the floor as his strength left him and he began to cry from the emotional stress and pain he had been through, heart breaking sobs filling the room as he struggled to take in breath between his cries. Tala froze in his place, his heart clenching painfully as he heard the boy he had fallen madly in love with cry like he hadn't in years, since the Abbey, and back then it was Tala who would comfort him, not cause the pain. Tala stared at the bruised, battered and bloody bluenette, he had done that. He had hurt his own boyfriend. He felt like a monster. Tears filled Tala's eyes as he watched his boyfriend cradle his hand against his chest and sob freely, blood, mucus and tears smeared across his hollow cheeks. Had Kai not been eating too? Tala wondered with a pang of guilt. He'd been hurting Kai for nearly 8 months, he'd been hurting him.

A sudden banging on the door silenced Kai's cries of pain, Tala's heart skipped a beat as the bangs became more frantic. Tala made to move over to Kai to pull him to his feet and get him to the bedroom where he could help him and promise him he'd never ever hurt him again.

"I'm coming in!" Ray shouted through the door before a loud thump was heard as Ray started to kick the door which swung open fairly easily as it was unlocked...perhaps the neko-jin should've checked before he thought to himself.

As the neko-jin and his fiancé raced through the door, Tala froze as Kai began to sob quietly again. The redhead wasn't aware what was going on until he crashed to the floor as Ray tackled him. Sending the pair sliding across the wooden flooring

Mariah rushed over to the bluenette and gasped as she helped the younger teen to try and stand. He stumbled as his head throbbed painfully, forcing a fresh wave of blood to pour down his cheek and run down his neck, soaking into Mariah's expensive t-shirt and jacket.

Ray had Tala pinned as the redhead frantically tried to reach his lover, to apologize and hold him. What was he thinking? He needed to make everything better and the neko-jin wouldn't let him anywhere near the love of his life.

Ray continued to pin the redhead down and after a few minutes of struggling he pushed down on a pressure point, effectively knocking the older teen out. He jumped up, leaving the redhead on the floor and grabbed a hold of the nearly unconscious Kai who's head lolled as he was jostled between Mariah and Ray.

The pair pulled the blue-haired teen out and headed towards the flat, knowing Kai wouldn't ever forgive them if they took him to the hospital. They hadn't been told why, but Kai had made it clear back in the days of the Bladebreakers that he wasn't a fan of doctors and especially surgeons – they imagined it had to be to do with the Abbey but neither of them had dared to ask. They began the walk and Ray cursed as Kai head dropped to stare at the ground, unable to keep his own head up and looking where he was going.

After a difficult trip in which Kai's legs had given out half way and the pair had to drag him the rest of the way, Ray kicked the door shut and pulled Kai over to the sofa bed, which was still pulled out and not made from the night before. Kai was fighting a losing battle against the blackness that was creeping into the edges of his vision and when he was placed gently on the soft mattress he welcomed the oblivion that had been threatening to overtake him

The bluenette began to stir nearly a full hour later and Ray smiled softly at him as he and Mariah continued to clean his wounds. Kai hissed as Mariah dabbed antiseptic ointment onto his forehead which had only recently stopped bleeding.

She placed a thick gauze pad onto the wound and secured it with surgical tape before the pair moved on to tightly wrapping Kai's ribs, they'd have to get him to a hospital but perhaps after Kai had had some sleep and calmed down. The bluenette probably hadn't even realised he was crying, tears streaming down his face, his nose running and his stuttering breaths filling the room.

Ray and Mariah exchanged a look when they had finished patching Kai up temporarily before they needed to take him to hospital, they hadn't yet properly wrapped his broken finger but they decided to leave as the bluenette's shoulders began to shake with his sobs as he wiped his face with the back of his hand, smearing mucus across his face.

XXX

It was dark when Kai stopped feigning sleep. Mariah and Ray were worried to leave him alone for too long so they had taken to sitting up with him and watching television, just to make sure he was ok. Eventually the bluenette had pretended to fall asleep to get them to leave him be. He cracked his eye open as he heard the bathroom light click off and presumably – by the heavy-ish footsteps – Ray stroll past the living room and into his and Mariah's bedroom, softly pushing the door closed after him.

As the flat fell silent, Kai blinked and looked around, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. That look in Tala's eyes, Kai knew it. He didn't meant to hurt him, and he loved him and the he was hurting now because Kai wasn't there, and it was all the bluenette's fault and he had to make things better. The bluenette pushed himself onto his unsteady feet and stumbled to the door, leaning against it momentarily as pain washed over him when he moved his injured finger to reach for the handle. He grabbed the handle with his good hand and quietly opened the door before slipping out and silently shutting it behind himself and taking off towards his and Tala's flat.

XXX

Kai pushed the door open quietly, obviously Ray had done more damage than intended as it wouldn't shut properly, and stepped inside before closing it with a soft click, which didn't last longer than a few seconds before it began to slowly swing back open, he glanced around the room, they had made a mess earlier during their fight, empty photo frames smashed and even the sofa had been knocked over somewhere in the commotion... The bluenette crept through the small, yet homely flat to his and Tala's room and pushed the door opening, smiling sadly at the familiar squeak that felt like it echoed through the silent flat... he was going to ask Tala to fix it months ago, but he had become used to it and changed his mind. The redhead wasn't there Kai noticed as he looked into the room. Kai sighed softly, realising that Tala had run, to get away from him. He cried softly before crawling on to the double bed he and Tala had shared for years before sleep washed over him and he fell into an exhausted slumber.

XXX

Tala stumbled down the road, he had consumed enough alcohol to help him deal with the days happenings, but unfortunately his past in the Abbey meant he was very well associated with alcohol and it would take a fair amount to get him drunk. He glared angrily at the pub. The landlord had chucked him out as is was closing time. And refused to even let him buy the bottle of Vodka he'd been making his way through.

As he walked he began to get angry at himself for his own stupidity he loved Kai yet he had hurt him, just like Boris did, and just like Kai's own Grandfather did, the elderly man was supposed to love Kai and he hurt him, Tala was supposed to love Kai and he hurt him, he was no better than that old scumbag... Tala cursed his own stupidity and kicked an empty can along the street as he walked.

XXX

Kai coughed, and blinked, and coughed again. He tried to draw in breath but couldn't his eyes grew wide as his mind registered that he was awake, and the room was full of smoke and he couldn't breath. The acrid smoke stung his eyes and he coughed as he tried to see what was happening. He didn't know what to do and rolled off the side of the bed, crashing into the wooden floor with a thud, at least there was some air he could breath on the floor... He opened his eyes and groaned in pain as everything returned to him full force, before he became aware of heat, searing heat coming from the doorway, flames licked the wooden door, smoke poured in from underneath the wood.

'I'm gunna die' Kai's thoughts screamed at him to run, leave, do anything! He tried to push himself to his feet but cried out as he used to injured hand, he continued to push himself up ignoring thr white hot pain that shot up his arm in spikes and turned his vision white momentarily. He looked around the room frantically, pulling his t-shirt up to cover his mouth as coughs shook his frame. There was nowhere to go, they were at least 8 floors up so he couldn't jump out the window and the only other way out was through the door with fire the other side. Realising he was trapped Kai took a chance and ran at the door, pushing through and into the burning living room, the flames burnt his feet as he ran towards the broken front door. The bluenette lost his footing on the rug he had insisted they buy for the living room (Even though Tala was adamant it was a waste of money and a bad idea – which clearly was true) and crashed to his knees which a shout of pain, hitting his head on the coffee table and sending his vision spinning. Was that Tala? Or fire coming towards him?...

XXX

Ray and Mariah ran down the street in their pajamas after realising Kai was gone, knowing he would've gone back to Tala. Mariah screamed as she saw the flat up in flames and the pair ran even faster to reach it sooner pink hair streaming behind Mariah and she sprinted, seeing Tala who was watching the flat burn with a sad smile tugging his features.

"Where's Kai?" Mariah screamed as she got closer Tala looked at her for a moment in astonishment and raised an eyebrow, before realising what she had asked and opening his mouth...then closing it, before looking to the burning flat...

"SHIT!" The redhead shouted before taking off at a sprint for the flight of stairs up to his flat, he crashed through the door to see Kai fall to the ground a cough violently before focusing bleary eyes on him, a look of confusion passing over his features.

The redhead ran into the room, ignoring the flames that burned him as he grabbed Kai and hauled him from the room as the younger teen coughed and choked. Tala tripped and stumbled with Kai's dead weight in his arms, he lost his footing and tumbled down a flight of stairs, Kai landing on top of him and knocking the breath out of the older teen.

Ray and Mariah heard the noise of Tala falling and ran inside the burning building, pulling Kai off the redhead and helping them both outside. Tala fought his way past both Mariah and Ray to Kai and swept him into a tight embrace, buring his face into Kai's singed hair but not even caring about the acrid smell that filled his senses

"I'm so sorry, I love you so much, don't ever leave me please Kai, i'm so sorry I'll make it up to you I swear, I'll never do anything like it again" Tala rambled as he gently rocked Kai back and forth as Kai's hacking coughs subsided slightly but his raspy breathing worried the redhead.

"It's ok Tal" Kai breathed softly "I know" he smiled against the redhead's neck as he buried his face against the warmth. Tala smiled softly and kissed the top of Kai's head, wincing when he noticed a small patch of sparse hair where he himself had forcefully pulled it from his lovers head.

"I didn't know you were in there" Tala whispered to the bluenette "I thought you wouldn't ever want to see me again, I was going to try and forget, Kai I swear if I had known you were in there I'd have talked to you and everything would be fine" Tala began to sob as he held the petite teen tightly as coughs shook Kai's fragile frame.

Flashing lights filled Tala's view and everything passed in a blur, the paramedics pulling Kai away from him, the police questioning Ray, who lied, and told them someone must have broken in, attacked Kai before torching the place to burn the evidence. Tala sighed in relief. Kai was alive. He had forgiven him.

He would never hit him again.

Promise.

This is slightly depressing, originally it was going to be a death fic but I couldn't bear to kill of Kai or Tala so I tweaked it slightly.

Anyway I started this months ago, when I was in a bit of a bad place and I decided to finish it up...finally

I would also like to point out that I don't condone domestic violence. It's wrong, no one deserves it...please do not assume that I could ever think otherwise.

Please let me know what you think, for now this is a One shot and unless someone can give me a perfectly valid reason to change that then it will remain as just one chapter.

Thank you for reading

xflightofthephoenix