Bulletproof Love

"Mom? Mom?" I faintly hear. I raise my head slowly, but it was pounding. Raising my head, I realized I didn't know where I was. I begin looking around and realize this place looked familiar. This was my old bedroom in my old house. I look to where the voice was coming from and I feel my heart break.

"Rowan?! Liam?!" I try getting to them, but something was holding me back - I was chained to the wall. I look at my boys helplessly.

"Mom, wh-where are we?"

"I-I - my old house, baby."

Before they could respond, I hear crying. And I feel myself pale immensely as I knew who's cry that was. "Cope?!" I see him enter with my baby girl who was crying in his arms. "Cope, Cope, baby." She looks to me and starts making grabby hands.

"Mamamama." My uncle shakes her roughly.

"Don't hurt her!"

"Well, if she would just shut up, I wouldn't have to hit her." And that's when I see the bruise on her small cheek.

"You bastard!" He glares and smacks her again making her cry out. "No!" I yell helplessly. "Leave her alone." I cry at seeing her in pain. I hear him laugh. "You sick bastard!"

"Ha! That's exactly what you're husband said." Husband? I'm not married, all I have is a - Oh!

"You have Vic?!"

"Yeah, and I hit the little brat in front of him too, he yelled out the same things you did."

"Mom. I'm scared." Liam, bless his heart.

"D-Don't be, baby. Things will be alright." My uncle chuckles again. He walks to Liam and kicks him in the gut. "No! Stop, please!"

"Ha! Watch as I beat up your precious husband!" Then Vic appears out of nowhere. And my uncle starts beating him and beating and beating. "Watch, Kellin! Kellin!

Kellin!"

"Kellin!"

I sit up violently and see Vic at my side. I wrap my arms around him and pull him close. I don't care how sweaty or gross I was right now, I needed the comfort. I feel myself shivering and tears gather in my eyes. "Baby, what happened," he asked me softly, wrapping his arms around me.

"It - It was horrible, Vic. He had hit Cope, and the boys, and he was beating you up. And just because he wants me to suffer. I'm scared, I'm so scared and not for me, but for you. What if - What if he hurts any of you?"

"Hey, hey. Shh, shh. Don't speak like that. That's not going to happen, 'kay? Don't let your heart be broken. You don't have to be alone."

"I-I - okay."

"Good, now. I'd offer a bath for you to relax, but it's late and you don't like me seeing you naked - "

"No, no. A bath sounds wonderful." He looked shocked, but smiled. "I'll start filling the tub, you stay here." I nod. He walks into the bathroom and I get out of bed and walk to Cope's crib. I stroke her cheek gently. "Oh, Cope. I love you so much. I won't let anything happen to you or the boys. I don't care if that means I have to die. I just don't want any of you getting hurt." I lean down and peck her forehead.

Then I feel someone wrap their arms around me and from the gentle touch, I know who it is. "Come on, bath's almost ready." I nod against him and he picks me up carrying me into our bathroom. He stands me up on the floor and begins taking off my shirt. I was left in my underwear and I feel a light blush form onto my cheeks.

But he didn't even care as he pulled them down. He didn't tease, or stare. He just pecked my lips and carried me into the tub. He sets me down gently into the warm water and then he begins taking off his underwear since that's all he fell asleep in and I look away. I feel and hear him get in behind me and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me close.

We just sat there in the hot water, the water relaxing me instantly. "You're not going to die," his voice pierces through. I turn my head and my body a bit to look at him confusedly.

"I heard what you said to Cope, and none of you are going to get hurt. I've sent some of my men out to find him already. They'll have him before he can even get to you." My eyes widen.

"I - Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, Kellin. I would do this and more for you and our kids. You all are my life." And he leans down to kiss me. I kiss back immediately. He brings one hand to my cheek and another to my hip. Then he pulls back and lifts me up and turns my body so that I'm facing him. He begins kissing me again and I kiss back, bringing my hands to his strong shoulders, letting one slide down to his bicep.

He slides his tongue against my bottom lip and I open my mouth, giving him access. His tongue slides into my mouth and mine peaks out bashfully, meeting with his confident one. I let a small moan escape my throat, only to pull away, blushing shyly. "I - I'm sorry. I just - I've - "

"Shh, Kellin. It's okay. Come on, we should be going back to bed. You feel better?"

"Much. Thank you." He gets out, wrapping himself in a towel and then he hands me one and I do the same. I put on my underwear and shirt, him doing the same. And he carries me back to our bed, laying me down, getting in beside me. He holds his head in one hand and the other was on my abdomen. "You deserve much more." And I blush.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. Kellin, you deserve so much more than the world can offer. I can't give you everything, but I'll give until I'm all gone because you deserve much more."

"Vic?"

"Hmm?"

"Lay me down and tell me everything will be alright."

"Things will be alright," he says. "Let's go to sleep." And I do, again, in his warm and safe arms.

~~~

"I love you, Kellin."

"I love you, Vic," I say from my place in Vic's embrace. When we had woken up this morning, I just clutched onto Vic, willing his warm touch to scare away my demons. And for the most part, it was working. I felt safe in Vic's arms. He pecked my forehead.

"You know we're going to have to move when the kids wake up."

"Shh, I know, just hold me until then." He chuckles softly, but tightens his grip on me. His arms were around my waist and my back was to his chest. His legs were on either side of me and a blanket was encasing us. I sigh in content.

He begins rubbing small circles into my hip bones, and I hum. "That feels wonderful." He places his face in my neck, and we just stay like that. That is until someone bursts into the room, and it wasn't my sons. "Did you finally lose your virginity?!"

I roll my eyes. "No, Jesse. I'm still a virgin." He pouts. "Why not? I would have thought you'd lose it by now. Come on, Kells. You're a 23 year old virgin."

I sigh. "Jesse, I will lose it when I'm ready."

"Fine. Anyway, just want you to know that everyone is up, Alan, Phil, Tony, and Jaime have started breakfast. The boys are watching tv, we made sure they brushed first. Austin is watching them. Justin, Gabe, and Jack are still sleeping, I'm going to wake them up next. Shay, Aaron, Phil, and Tino are with Austin and the boys. Oh, and Mike says he needs to talk to Vic about someone they're after." And I frown knowing who it was about.

"Alright, thank you, Jesse. You can leave now," Vic says, trying to be civil. Jesse rolls his eyes, but leaves. I turn my head to look at Vic, "I guess it's time to get up."

"Ugh, but I don't want to let you go." I chuckle, but move out of his grip and begin putting on some shorts and changing into one of Vic's t-shirts. I walk to the bathroom and brush my teeth before moving to Cope's crib and seeing as she was still asleep, I place the baby monitor beside her. I didn't want to bother her.

Vic comes up behind me and places a kiss on my neck. Then we begin walking down the stairs. We see everyone at the table, helping out, or in the living room watching tv with Liam and Rowan. I walk into the kitchen to see Alan, Tony, Phil, and Jaime hastily trying to cook for a full house, until they see me at least. "Kellin! Thank God! We need you to pull out the biscuits from the oven and begin placing the egg, ham, and cheese into them."

I do as Alan said and begin doing that as I see he was making a stack of pancakes. I use all twenty biscuits and begin placing one on each plate, the extras I placed in the middle of the table. I then ran into the fridge and then began pouring juice into all the cups on the table.

I walk back into the kitchen to see Alan finishing the last pancake and I take the plate full of them to the table, placing it beside the plate of extra biscuits. I walk back into the kitchen again and see the plate of bacon Tony was working on, taking that to the table as well. They were both panting by the end, but smiling. I call out to everyone to come eat, placing my baby monitor beside my plate.

Everyone begins grabbing food after Rowan and Liam did, and I waited until everyone had some before grabbing some myself. Everyone was chatting animatedly, and I just made small talk with Alan. But Vic and Mike weren't here. Everything was calm. That is until Cope's crying pierces through the monitor. I excuse myself and walk out of the kitchen only to see Vic and Mike in the living room.

Then Vic freezes, "Something's wrong." He shoots up from the couch he was on with Mike and runs up stairs. I follow after him.

He burst into our room and I follow only to see my baby standing up in her crib. Once she sees me, she makes grabby hands and I do as she wishes. She clutches onto my neck and I feel her trembling. I see Vic looking around and I see him tense when he looks at our open balcony window.

"Oh, my God. He was here."

Vic looks at me and nods. "What's wrong with Cope," he asks, walking over to us.

"I-I don't know. She seemed spooked. He must have scared her." His eyes harden and I hum softly to calm Cope down. "Have you talked to Mike," I ask him. "Not yet. I might do it now." He walks back into the living room and appears with Mike. "We're going to my study."

"Can I come?"

He nods and follow them with Cope in my arm. She had calmed a bit, but she was still clutching my neck. Vic holds the door open for me and I smile at him. I take a seat on one of the couches. I remove her arms from around me softly to which she whines about, but I hand her her bottle instead and she holds it happily. I coo at her and then look up at Mike and Vic. Mike was chuckling softly and Vic had a small smile, a look of adoration plastered on his face. "Well," I trail off.

"Oh, right! We lost him."

"What?!" And I feel Cope jump, the bottle leaving her lips. I bring it back to her lips before turning to Vic. "Vic," I say softly. "You're scaring Cope." He turns to look at me and sighs, nodding.

"Where did you lose him?"

"He left our lands. And that's the last anyone's seen him." Vic runs a hand through his hair. "Okay, okay. Stop searching, but I want men up all around until he is found and in my custody. Have two at each gate." Mike nods and sends me a smile before leaving. I wave before getting up.

I walk to Vic and place a hand on his arm, "Vic, it'll be okay."

"I know it will, but I don't know how it'll be after I get him." I move to stand in front of him.

"What do you mean?"

"Kellin, I have done so many horrible things in the past that I don't regret. And I'm scared as to how you will look at me when I get your uncle."

"Vic, I love you. I may not agree with what you do, but me loving you means that I will tolerate it. It's a part of you, same way my uncle is a part of me. I know you've done horrible, terrible things, and that's okay because who we were will make us who we are today. It's good - everything works out the way it should."

He wraps his arms around my waist and pecks my lips. "God, I love you."

I blush, but chuckle. "That's good because I've got you going up, down and around again."

He pulls back and leans down to kiss Cope's forehead, but she drops her bottle and makes a grab for his hair. I laugh as he takes her in his arms and gently takes her pried hands off his hair. He places her on his hip and I pick up her bottle.

We walk downstairs and Vic places her on the floor to walk around which she does enthusiastically while everyone just coos at her. Shayley tries catching her, but she runs away - well tries since she only has her baby legs, but Shayley lets her get away - giggling and shrieking. When he does "manage" to catch her, he picks her up high and pecks her cheek causing her to shriek happily.

I chuckle, but turn to Vic. "I'm going out for a walk, watch Cope?"

"Yeah."

"Great." I peck his cheek and get up walking to the front door, putting on my shoes. I wave bye to everyone before leaving. Looking out, I see the sky was cloudy and I set my mouth in a straight line. I really hope it doesn't rain while I'm out.

I would have usually gone out of HQ, but with my uncle out there - I just couldn't. I walk around the fence, seeing just how big HQ was. On the other side of HQ is when it starts raining. "Shit," I hiss and begin running back to my house.

I lean against the fence, catching my breath. When I look up, I see him on the other side and I back away. He had his signature smirk and I feel tears building up. Then lightning strikes and he disappears. I begin running again, my tears making it hard to see. But I reach home and I run inside, a sob escapes.

"Kellin, what's wrong?" I hear someone ask, I think it was Vic.

"I-I s-saw him. I saw him." I think actually seeing him brought back memories. I clench my eyes shut and pull my knees close. I can't do this. I can't do this. Someone touches my shoulder and I jump away. "D-Don't touch me, please."

"Mama," I see Liam and I run to him, pulling him close. "Liam, go play with Austin, Alan and the others. I need to talk to your mother." He looks at his dad and nods reluctantly. "Kellin, baby, let's go to our room, okay?" I nod hesitantly and begin walking up the stairs.

We enter our room and I was still shaking from the fear and partially from the cold. And I let out a sneeze. Then another, and another, and another. Vic rushes to my side. He feels my forehead before frowning. "Oh, baby, I think you're sick." And I groan. "Ugh, no. I hate being sick." He chuckles and leads me to the bed.

He leaves me standing and walks to his drawers only to pull some of the warmest looking clothes I've seen. He lays them on the bed and begins pulling me to the bathroom. He turns on the bath with hot water. "Okay, once it's full, get in and bathe. Call me when you're done and I'll bring the clothes. Okay?"

"Okay," I mumble and he pecks my forehead walking out. I do as he says with sneezing and coughing slowing me down. I manage to finish and I call Vic, my voice cracking. Oh, God, I sound like a fourteen year old that just hit puberty. He walks in and hands me the clothes helping me change into the them.

Once we finish, he lays me in bed and covers me up in blankets. He touches my forehead and frowns. "You're temperature's rising. I'll get some soup and a wet cloth. For now, you just rest." He locks all the windows and pulls the blinds down. He places the baby monitor right beside me. And I knew why.

He walks out of our bedroom and I fall asleep, shivering a bit.

~~~

Vic

"Hey, Alan, Kellin's sick, could you make him so soup," I ask Alan who was currently holding Cope in his lap while sitting in Austin's lap. "Yeah, of course." He hands Cope to his husband and leaves the living room. Then Jesse comes up to me and I scowl.

"Wait - did you say Kellin was sick?" I nod and he winces, confusing me.

"Ooh, you're in trouble. The thing with Kellin is that he doesn't get sick a lot, but when does, it's horrible. I'm surprised he hasn't died yet," and I glare at him. He coughs awkwardly. "Anyway, try not to leave his side too much because it gets bad. Once, he couldn't leave the bathroom with how much he was throwing up. Or another where he missed a whole month of school due to a fever that wouldn't break."

"Thank you for telling me."

And he smiles. "Anytime."

"Hey, Vic, Of Mice will be leaving tomorrow. Call us when you need us." I nod. "Alright, Austin."

"So are we, actually. But remember what I said," Jesse says and I nod. Alan finishes the soup and and carry it up stairs only to see Kellin trying to get out of bed. I rush to his side, setting the soup on the bedside table. "Just what do you think you are doing," I ask him.

"I need to get up," and his voice was already sounding stuffy.

"No, you need to stay in bed."

"But - "

"No, you are not leaving this bed." He sighs and allows me to place him back in bed. I sit beside him, helping him sit up a bit before grabbing the bowl of soup. I grab a spoon and blow on it before bringing it to his lips. He swallows tentatively.

He finally finishes the soup and I let him sleep. Right before I leave the room, I hear a soft voice call my name. I walk back to Kellin. "Yes, baby," I ask him, softly, cupping his warm cheek.

"Were you honest when you said I could never leave the bed?"

"Oh, baby, of course I was." He pouts, but lays back down, and he goes into a fit of coughing. I pat his back gently and grab him a glass of water. He swallows and his breathing calms down a bit. He goes to sleep and I walk out quietly making sure the windows are all locked with the blinds closed and the curtains down. No one should be able to see Kellin, especially not his uncle.

I walk down stairs and the boys tackle me down. "Dad, what happened to Mom? Why was he crying?" Liam asks.

I sigh and push them off me gently before standing and pulling them into my study. "Well, you see, guys, your mom has gone through a lot of awful things like you both, and the person who hurt him has found him. That's why he was crying."

They frowned and fear showed through their eyes. "But you'll protect him, right?" Liam asks.

"Of course, guys. I love your mother more than you'll ever imagine. Same thing with you and sister. I love you all so much, and I'm going to make sure none of you ever get hurt again." I kneel down and pull them to me, holding them close. They hug back just as tightly. "We love you, too, dad. And I'm sure if Cope could talk she would say the same," Rowan says, pulling back. I smile.

"Also, try not to make too much noise. Your mother's sick."

"What?! Oh, no! We need to watch him every second, every minute, every hour, and every day," Rowan begins and I laugh.

"Calm down, he's sleeping right now, but if you want, you can lay with him."

He nods excitedly and I follow him up to Kellin and my room. Rowan climbs into bed with Kellin making Kellin sit up and I peck his lips. He frowns, "You shouldn't be kissing me, Vic. I could be contagious." And I laugh.

"Oh, Kellin. I don't care if you're sick. I don't care if you're contagious. I would kiss you even if you were dead." He blushes, but pushes me away when I lean in again.

"Well, I care. So we aren't kissing until I'm better. Same for you, mister. I don't want you getting sick," he says, turning to Rowan, coughing a bit at the end.

"But, I want to be with you, Mom," he whimpers, looking up at Kellin. "Please," he asks, giving Kellin his signature puppy dog look. Kellin sighs, "Fine. You can stay."

"Yay! I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too," Kellin smiles. Rowan gets inbetween Kellin's arms and they both lay down. I peck both their foreheads before walking out of the room. I walk downstairs and see everyone just sitting and watching Tangled? "Dada," I hear Cope shriek and she begins to squirm around in Aaron's hold, so he sets her down and she begins walking to me.

I pick her up and take a seat beside Jesse. I take out my phone and get one of my "henchmen" to go buy coughing and cold medicine. "Esta bien, jefe," he responds. Then I put my phone away. "Who was that," Jesse asks.

"Just one of the gangmembers. I told him to go buy medicine."

He nods and goes back to watching the movie. Cope was cooing and making noises on my lap and patting my leg. She almost touched a place she shouldn't and I moved her hand away. "No, baby," I coo. Liam was at my feet, his head leaning against my knee.

For a while, there was silence and then it was broken with a knock on the door. "Tengo la medicina," I hear when I open the door. I nod, thanking him. I walk upstairs with a spoon and Cope in my arms. As soon as I open the door, I feel my blood run cold. Rowan was tied up on the floor.

Kellin was gone.

I rush to my son's side and untie him. Then I place Cope in her crib. Rowan hugs me and I feel wetness. "Rowan, what happened to your mom?"

"Some man took him. He-he looked evil." And I feel the world weigh on my shoulders. I look to my right and see the balcony window was open. I walk out, gently prying Rowan off of me and hoisting him up. He was heavier than Cope, but he needed comfort.

I look out. Then I hear a blood curdling scream come from the woods. I knew who's scream it was.