Morgan's POV
As consciousness begins to filter back to me I become aware of two things that confuse and terrify me. Firstly, my head hurt, a lot. I felt as though a herd of elephants were currently trampling through it over and over again. Secondly, I was being held protectively against someone's body. I immediately begin to struggle but the voice that begins to urgently speak to me stills me instantly.
"Morgan, please you have to stay still," Nate's voice, I would recognise it anywhere, even if it had only been directed at me a few times. One of the perks to being in love with him I guess. For a while I merely try to breathe through the foggy mess that is my head and the pain that seemed to be flowing through my entire body at the moment.
"What… where am I? What's going on?" I ask, still unable to open my eyes as I grit my teeth against a fresh wave of pain that pulses through me.
"We're on our way to the emergency room, it's okay you're safe now," he says quietly and I automatically struggle again causing his arms to tighten around me and a groan of pain to escape me as the movement forces a pain to rush through me so suddenly that I almost vomit.
"I can't," I gasp out after I have regained control of my voice, "I can't afford it," I continue and for a moment there is silence.
"Money isn't an issue princess," the voice makes me stiffen. Of course I recognise it, for a second I do nothing, thoughts rushing through my head too fast, adding to the pain there already. Eventually though I force my eyes open and another whimper of pain and embarrassment as I see Blair and Serena sitting opposite me with Chuck between them.
"Why did you come to my house?" I ask after another pause and they glance at one another before Blair finally speaks up.
"Nate and Chuck were worried about you and Serena and I decided to investigate," she says simply before glancing down and swallowing, "then we saw… I… we couldn't let…" she trails off swallowing again as Chuck takes her hand in his and gives it a squeeze.
"I'm not a charity case," I grind out through gritted teeth and hear a sigh behind me, unable to turn and see Nate's face, the pain in my body still too strong.
"That's not what this is," he sounds frustrated and something else too but I can't place it so merely shake my head slightly.
"What else is it then? You hate me," I say looking towards the three opposite me, "you barely acknowledge my existence unless it is to mock me or humiliate me. I don't… I can't owe you this too, please just let me go," I finish in a whisper, angry when I feel tears making tracks down my heated and swollen cheeks.
"You think we want to hold this over you?" Chuck smirks and I stiffen slightly again, "we just want to help, you're one of us after all," he continues and I laugh bitterly at this.
"I'm not one of you, you don't know the first thing about my life," I retort and then instantly flinch at the growl that emanates from the teen billionaire.
"Get off your soap box Morgan," he bites out, "You think we don't know what it's like to have shits for parents, Serena's mum spends her life chasing billionaires to marry and constantly undermines and underestimates her while her dad wants nothing to do with her. Blair's dad ran off with a male model while her mum ran away and left her to deal with things alone, not before giving her an eating disorder first and my dad spent my entire life blaming me for my mum's death and hating me for it. Oh, and Nate's dad embezzled millions before stealing his mother's money and his money and trying to go on the run, and he was a junkie to boot. We've all had our fair share of shit to deal with, although we've managed to keep most of what I've just told you out of the public domain. You are one of us Morgan and I'm sorry but things have changed now whether you wanted them to or not," he is breathing fairly heavily when he finishes and the girls are both looking at their hands, Nate's fingers twitching against the skin of my arms.
"What do I do?" I whisper the question sensing that they would rather have a change of subject, I know I would if someone had just been told my family secrets.
"Well, we get you patched up to start with," Nate murmurs from behind me and I sigh a tiny amount as the reality of my situation sinks in.
"He's going to kill me, I… I can't go back but if I don't I don't have anywhere… and what about school?" I can feel myself panicking, the panic causing pain to rush through me again and I can't quite contain the yelp that escapes me as it begins to overwhelm my senses.
"You're not going back there Princess," Chuck starts simply and I can sense that there is tension radiating through everyone in the car, "and before you say anything, it is not charity its called friendship and yes okay we've not treated you as friends before but we consider you one of us now, like we said and I own half the bloody hotels in Manhatten so you'll move into a suite and that's the end of it," he is so stern and void of his usual sarcasm that for once I see a glimpse of the vulnerability beneath it. He is right, they've all suffered, they behave the way they do because of the way they've been treated and I needed to stop being so stubborn, it wasn't charity so much as it was help.
"Okay," I whisper quietly with a nod which causes another whimper of pain to escape my mouth.
"It's okay, we'll be at the emergency room soon," Nate whispers to me gently his arms shifting around me slightly and for the first time I see his face, the worry, the concern, the… blood. His shirt had bright red blood all over it and that sends a whole new panic rocketing through me.
"Oh God Nate, you're bleeding, are you okay?" I murmur trying to reach up to him but finding that one of my arms isn't properly working.
"I'm fine, it's… it's your blood Morgan," he replies after a moment and I relax slightly into his grip and sigh.
"Oh thank god," the words slip out before I can stop them and I feel them all stiffen around me once more.
"How… how many times?" Serena asks eventually, her voice seeming to echo in the silence of the car.
"It doesn't matter, not now, please, I'll… I'll tell you later just don't make me," I am not quite sure what I am asking for, just that I can't talk about this, not right now.
"Okay, we're here, come on let's get you sorted out," Chuck says to defuse the situation and I can't help but notice that the usual biting sarcasm and malicious undertones were missing and he grins as he looks at me, "very few people get to see the nicer side of me, I guess, now, you're one of them," he smiles and the others do too as they climb out and Nate carries me in towards the emergency room.
I sit silently through the tests and questions, allowing Chuck and Nate to answer everything for me, except when they ask about whether I had been sexually assaulted, I tense then and the boys look like they are ready to go back and see my foster father again, that's when the girls step in and I tell them that I hadn't. Whispering afterwards that they had saved me just in time. Eventually, the doctors leave me alone after telling me that I was to stay in overnight under observation but that I could be released to a guardian after that.
"What am I going to do?" I whisper tearfully as I pick at the drip in my arm until Nate's fingers still my hand gently, the warmth from them burning through me as I fight not to blush.
"Everything will be okay I promise," Blair says and I look over to see her sitting beside Serena on the other side of the bed.
"But… but she… she said that I could only be released to… oh God he's going to come back for me," I gasp out the last words unable to stop the tears that are gathering as my emotions once again get the better of me.
"That's why Chuck is on the phone to child services right now M," Serena states simply and I struggle to breathe as she use a new nickname that makes me sound remarkably like them, the fact that they were genuinely trying to help me, the fact that I have just stepped into an alternate reality of some kind.
"Money really can buy you pretty much anything you know," Chuck comments with a smirk as he comes back into the room and we all look at him expectantly.
"What's going on?" I ask anxiously and he simply smirks more widely as he walks over to me, stopping to whisper something in Serena's ear, who promptly leaves with Blair in tow.
"Welcome to the family," he replies and I raise an eyebrow at him in utter confusion, glancing at Nate but seeing him looking equally perplexed.
"I pulled some strings, used my name, I am officially your legal guardian now, well as soon as Serena gets her mum to co-sign a couple legal agreements that is," I choke as he says it my hands shaking as I stare up at him in shock.