So upon editing this chapter, things got really fucking dark. Like really fucking dark. Don't worry, no one dies or anything but damn.

Also, sorry for going MIA for almost a month. It's finals week right now and I've been super busy. Plus, I got distracted writing drabbles because I didn't feel like writing heavy stuff like this so yeah.

Also fucking RECOMMENDATION! Listen to "Mess is Mine" by Vance Joy on repeat while reading this chapter. That's what I did while editing and it's just so good. Or maybe it's not because I'm just obsessed with the song right now. Idk you do what you wanna do.

Oh yeah. There's only one chapter left and then an epilogue chapter thing. Holy crap.

But as always my Sweets, please enjoy and like/comment/review/whatever.

Even though he was absolutely exhausted, there was no way that Nathan was going to be able to go to sleep. It was past four in the morning but his brain couldn't calm down. He hated it. He should've felt fine, great even. His father was dead. He was cleared because with the tape, even if Nathan had intentionally shot his father it was obvious that it was done in self-defense. In fact, that's what it was labeled as. Nathan swore that it was an accident, and it really was, but it was quicker and easier to close the case with it being done by out of the need to protect himself instead of trying to prove that it wasn't done on purpose.

As Nathan was let go and his mother drove him and Warren away, Nathan felt numb. He barely processed his mother asking him where he wanted to go. He couldn't bear to go to the Prescott Estate and she couldn't either. He wanted to go to the Graham's house, to Warren's room and Warren's bed because for some reason he felt safe there. He didn't know why he felt so terrified when the one person who wanted to hurt him was gone.

The fear was suffocating but it was the anger that sent him over the edge into hyperventilation. Warren did his best to calm him, guiding him through the square breathing technique that he'd taught Warren months before. It still left an angry pit in his stomach and a tight feeling in his chest. His father was dead and that meant there was so much he couldn't do.

No matter how long he lived, Nathan would never know what it was like to be loved by his father. He'd never know what it felt like to hug him, to talk to him like a normal father and son. His father could never come around, change into something better and try to make up for all that lost time. Nathan knew that would never have happened anyways but not it was impossible and he hated himself for it.

"I should've been the one to die." Nathan didn't know why he said that, why he felt that way but he did. He hadn't been doing fine before but he'd never had anything so quickly make him and his mental health plummet. At a later time, he'd look back and appreciate how Warren maintained his calm composure despite the fact that he was physically and mentally exhausted as well.

"Don't say things like that," Warren said, gently reaching out to squeeze his boyfriend's shoulder. He was sitting beside Nathan on the bed, who was laying down. He reached up, tracing Nathan's cheek, his forehead, down to his nose, trying to memorize every aspect of Nathan's face. "I don't know what I would've done if I lost you last night."

"You'd have been just fine." Damn right, because he doesn't need you. No one does.

Warren shook his head. He didn't want to say anything. He didn't want Nathan to know how close he was to losing it himself. He had to be strong while Nathan was breaking but he didn't know how long he could keep it up.

"I don't know how my mom's going to handle this. Yeah, she has a fucking degree in business but she's never used it. And she loved my father and I just… I took him away from her…" Which is why you should've just surrendered and let it all be over with.

Warren didn't know what to say or how to react, so he said something he thought might just help, "I love you, Nathan." He leaned over, kissing Nathan on the forehead. "I love you so fucking much."

He was surprised when Nathan burst into tears and said, "But my dad will never love me!" Again, Warren didn't know what to do. He was tired and couldn't think clearly. He was afraid that he'd say something wrong and just make matters worse. Still, he knew he needed to say something, to help Nathan calm down so he could go to sleep.

"I know it has to be hard to know that but there's so many other people that love you." Warren rubbed Nathan's back as he continued to speak. "Your mom loves you, and so does Victoria or they wouldn't be here. Your sister loves you or she wouldn't be on her way. Rachel, and even Chloe and Max, and Hayden, and probably even Taylor and Courtney. And my parents."

Nathan looked up at him through teary eyes, intrigued. "Your parents?"

Warren nodded. "My mom and dad love the shit outta you, Nate. They were so freaked out when you didn't show up last night. My dad didn't go to bed until I texted him that I found you last night even though his shift starts at 5 am. My dad doesn't lose sleep for just anybody."

Somehow, that had worked. Nathan's face was a mess, his hair greasy and sticking every which way. His face was red and the stress was showing in the form of the beginning stages of pimples. His lips were dry and cracked, eyes red and bloodshot.

"You still love me, right?" Nathan asked as Warren again ran a thumb over his cheek.

"Of course I do. I love you with all of my heart."

"How's he doing?" Victoria asked Warren as he entered the dining room. She held a cup of coffee in her hands, made by Warren's father when he woke up to get ready for work a little earlier in the morning. The summer sun was barely starting to rise and the three people in the small dining room hard barely slept and all looked horrible.

Warren's vision was starting to blur between the lack of sleep and the dryness of his eyes. He'd only managed to catch a very short nap while in the back of Candice Prescott's car as she drove them to the Graham's house. Victoria had managed to get some sleep on the plane and some in the car while the driver she hired drove her from the airport in Portland to Arcadia Bay. She looked the least put together that Warren had ever seen her. Her normally perfectly groomed hair was sticking out of place. She was still in her usual fancy attire, but things weren't neatly tucked in as they usually were. Sitting beside her was Candice Prescott.

Warren was surprised that Candice had even stuck around. She'd seemed like she just wanted to go home when the three of them got into her Mercedes-Benz, even asking Nathan if he wanted to go to the Estates. He wasn't ready to go back there. He didn't want to go back to the crime scene to spend the rest of the night stewing over what had happened. His mother didn't object when he asked if she'd take him to Warren's house. All she asked was how to get there.

It was strange how well she seemed to be handling the situation, especially considering she was now a widow. Warren couldn't help but wonder if maybe it wasn't Nathan that she never loved but maybe Sean Prescott. Or maybe she was numb. Maybe reality hadn't set in for her yet. Or maybe she, like Nathan, was now free of him. Of course, Warren couldn't ask her those things. He didn't want that matter to be brought up, not at that exact point in time anyway. That would be a conversation for when they were much more well-rested and not so emotionally raw.

"Nathan's alright, I guess, considering…" Warren eyed the coffee warily, wondering if it would be a good idea for him to have some. He'd been awake for almost twenty-four hours. He was surprised that during the past hour, when he was trying to calm Nathan down enough to go to sleep, that he didn't break down himself. Somehow, he stayed strong. He had to. Nathan needed him. He couldn't allow himself to be selfish at that point. He couldn't worry about how he'd almost lost the man he loved.

"So, what exactly happened?" Victoria asked hesitantly. She didn't know everything that happened. She'd spent the entirety of her plane ride wondering where Nathan was, if he was okay, or even alive. Rachel had texted her that Nathan was alright as soon as she'd dragged that information out of Mrs. Prescott but that was all that she knew.

"Maybe we should go talk somewhere else," Warren murmured, his eyes flickering toward Nathan's mother. He didn't want to risk upsetting her talking about what had happened.

"It's alright," Candice Prescott spoke, her eyes remaining focused on her own mug of black coffee.

"Are you sure, Mrs. Prescott?"

"You can call me Candice, and I'm sure. Avoiding hearing about it won't make it any less real, but it's sweet that you cared enough to think about that." Quietly, she added, "I can see why my son likes you so much."

Warren cleared his throat and he finally sat at the table. "Well, I… I don't know where to start."

"Sean had been suspicious of Nathan and Warren for a while," Candice began, her fingers nervously tapping at her coffee mug. "I think when Nate was on spring break. The staff mentioned to Sean that Nathan had brought some boy over and Sean always kept tabs on who our kids spent time with. So Sean found out who Warren was but didn't think much of it until we met him after the graduation ceremony. So he kept having the staff go through Nathan's room when he was gone. Apparently yesterday morning, they found a picture hidden in his room somewhere…"

Warren tensed. So that was how Sean had gotten a copy of that photo. Candice looked like she was done talking, so Warren filled Victoria in on what information he'd been told by Nathan. About how it was the photo that Max took, which prompted Sean to go through Nathan's phone records, his text messages, their instant messages. There was no denying what Warren was to Nathan. Victoria's eyes were almost impossibly wide when Warren told her what happened with Sean, and Nathan, and the gun.

"Are you fucking serious?" Victoria asked as if Warren was telling some sick joke. She knew he wasn't. She knew he'd never make such a thing up. Warren could have a warped sense of humor at times but he'd never make a joke about that kind of thing. She knew things between Nathan and his father weren't good. She knew Sean frequently beat the crap out of his own son but she never thought that Sean would actually try to kill Nathan.

Victoria's glared turned towards Candice. "Where the hell were you when this happened?" Victoria was furious. Someone should have known that things could escalate that way. Candice had to of known. Kristine had to of known. At least one member of the Prescott's staff had to of known. It seemed like Mrs. Prescott was the only one who had the power to change it.

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me. Where. Were. You. You had to have known that this was going to happen. You had to of known that Sean had found out. Or at least that he kept a fucking gun in your house."

"Victoria, you need to calm down." Warren was trying to stay calm himself in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Nathan's okay. He's alive."

"Barely, Warren!" Victoria snapped. "Look, I know you're normally mellow. And logical. And patient. And that's why you're so damn great for Nathan but you can't fucking tell me that you're not emotional over this! You're acting like you're fine but even you must be freaking out over how we almost lost Nathan to that fucker!"

Warren almost always tried to see the good in people. Nathan's mother was no exception. She couldn't have been a complete monster, unlike the man she'd been married to. She was there, after all, sitting at the Graham's table while her son rested in his boyfriend's room. She went to the police station and handled the legal matters herself. She wasn't the best mother in the world. Maybe she wasn't even a good mother. But she at least she was there at the moment when her son needed her trying to do what was right.

"Of course I'm freaking out, Victoria," Warren admitted, hoping it would appease her a bit, "…but I think there's some things we don't understand and we don't know."

The Prescott Widow was thankful that Warren was playing Devil's advocate because she didn't have the energy nor the will to defend herself. Besides, Victoria wouldn't want to hear about how Sean demanded control not only of his children but also of his wife. No one needed to know what had happened the only time she'd tried to stop Sean from going after their son. It not only made things worse for her but also the child she was powerless to protect. Of course she worried that things would escalate but once Nathan graduated she didn't think they would. In a few short months, Nathan would be out of the house and she thought he'd find his way out like Kristine had. Then Sean would only have her to take his aggressions out on but she was okay with that. As long as both of her children were safe, she'd be okay with that.

But then she heard the gunshot from her husband's office and she was worried. When she heard from the staff that Nathan was the one who was in the office with Sean, she was panicked. She couldn't remember the last time she'd run. She didn't need to ask if it was an accident because she knew her son was no murderer. She also knew of the top-of-the-line security tapes that were all over the office that was always running. She paid the investigators to hurry up and go through them so her son would be released. She had to admit to herself that she was a little heartbroken that Nathan wanted Warren's comfort instead of hers but she couldn't blame him. She'd never been that great of a mother and, from what little she'd seen, it looked like Warren was a great boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Prescott," Victoria murmured, irritation still evident in her voice. "Warren was right. It's not fair of me to blame you for things Mr. Prescott did. It's just…" she sighed and brought up a hand to massage her forehead, "I'm so worried and tired…"

"I can set up the couch bed for you, Victoria," Warren offered. "I'm sure it's not as comfortable as you're used to…"

"Someone can sleep on my bed," Warren's mother offered as she walked into the kitchen to get her own cup of coffee. She took the few steps toward the entry frame that divided the kitchen from the dining room and lingered there. She was still in her pajamas and looked as if she hadn't slept much. "I can move the things I need to the master bathroom so one of you can go to bed now if you'd like."

Upon Victoria and Warren's insistence, Candice agreed to stay at the Graham house and sleep a few hours until Nathan woke up. Victoria insisted that she'd pull the couch bed out herself as long as Warren got her the things needed so that she could comfortably sleep on it. After he grabbed all that, he went to his parent's room because his mother wanted to speak to him. She hadn't really got to talk to Warren since before he'd left the night before. It was only a few hours really but it felt like a lifetime ago.

"Are you okay, Warren?" Aubrey asked as she pulled some of her work clothes out of the closet to bring into the bathroom with her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom."

"You don't have to lie and be strong for me, Hun. You know that, right?"

"I know, but I'm fine. I really am."

Aubrey set the clothes on the bed, deciding it would be best to ignore the immediate task and instead put her full attention on her son. She knew him well enough to know that, no, he was not fine. Hell, who would be fine after a night like that? He needed someone to lean on, even if it was only for a moment. She remained quiet and just looked at her son expectantly.

Warren sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. There was no point in lying to either of his parents when they could read him like a book. Plus, he was just too tired and knew he wasn't going to hold on much longer.

"It's just…" Warren's voice quavered, "I thought I lost him." He looked down at his mother, whom he towered over in height. There were fresh, stinging tears in his eyes that threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry, Warren."

"I really, really love him, Mom."

"I know you do, Son."

"I… I don't know what I would've done if I lost him." And finally, Warren was crying. Sobbing, and being pulled into his mother's arms. It felt strange; she hadn't held him in some time. The last time she had, he was about her height or maybe shorter. Scrawny. Wasn't half a foot taller than her and covered in lean muscle. Even so, being in his mother's arms was still so comforting. It reminded him of simpler times when he was younger and all it took was a kiss or a Band-Aid to make his problems go away. If only the solution to this problem were that easy.

Aubrey smiled sadly at her son as she pulled away, wiping away the tears from his cheeks as she said, "Go be with him."

Warren nodded and scurried to his bedroom. The light was trickling in through the split in the curtains at his window. Before he adjusted the curtain to completely darken the room, his eyes drifted to Nathan and lingered there. His boyfriend was asleep, looking peaceful like he normally did when slumber overtook him. It was a contrast with the various distraught looks Warren had seen on his face during the past night.

Eventually, Warren shut the curtain, trying to get the room as dark as possible because it would soon be too bright outside to sleep through. It didn't occur to him until he got on the bed how in need of a shower he was. His hair was a greasy mess due to his job and the stress of the evening. His whole body felt dirty. He was too tired to actually do anything about it, though. Besides, there were more important things he had to deal with, like holding Nathan in his arms and never letting go.