Victim

Skye stared out the window the whole ride home. She couldn't believe what Matt had asked her to do. At the same time however, she agreed with him. Their feelings for each other is what had gotten her into the hospital. Their feelings is also what kept Syn and the band alive. As much as she didn't want to, she was going to listen to Matt.
"What if he hates me?" Skye broke the silence by asking.
"What?" Matt asked.
"What if Syn hates me after."
"He won’t. I promise. He'll understand why." Matt said with a sad tone. He wanted them to be happy as much as they did.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence. When they got back to the house Matt told Skye to wait in the car with the doors locked. He rushed inside to make sure the guys were ready. They all jumped up when he entered the room.
"Are we ready?" Matt asked.
"All packed." Jimmy replied.
"Where is she?" Syn asked.
"In the car. Let's go." Matt said as he grabbed a couple bags and headed for the car. Syn rushed past him to talk to Skye. She unlocked the doors when she saw them coming. When Syn got to the car he opened her door and hugged her.
Skye winced in pain and half hugged him. "Hey."
"Are you okay?" He asked as he pulled away from the hug.
"I'm fine." She said with a fake smile. Really, her heart was breaking. She peaked over at Matt, who nodded at her, telling her to do it.
Syn kissed her forehead. "I love you."
Skye wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't want to say it back, just to end it all. Thankfully Matt cut in as he got into the driver’s side. "Get in."
Syn hopped in the back seat and they all headed for the airport. This drive as well was very quiet. Everyone was exhausted and wanted to relax. Matt wanted to call his wife and let her know what was going on, but for safety, couldn't inform her of where they were going.
When they got to the airport Matt parked the car and began giving orders. "Okay, you guys get the bags, Skye and I will go get the tickets."
"I'll take her." Syn protested.
"No," Matt growled. "Meet us inside with the bags." He proceeded to help Skye out of the car and rushed her inside without any other word.
"I can't do this Matt." Skye whispered to Matt as they made their way to the desk.
"You can, and you will."
"How can I help you?" A woman at the desk said.
"I need six tickets to Florida." Matt informed her.
"One moment." She said as she started searching the computer. "I'm sorry but all the seats are booked for this flight. You will need to wait ‘til the next one."
Matt sighed. "Look this is an emergen-" He was cut off by a man.
"I'm with the FBI. Six tickets for this flight please." Slade said to her as he flashed his badge.
The woman looked at them with wide eyes. "Let me go get my manager." She scuttled off through a door behind her.
"Thanks." Matt said to Slade.
"Anytime. How are you feeling Skye?"
She shrugged. She was too weak and tired to say anything, standing alone was difficult.
"Make sure she gets her rest. When you land I will give you the information of a doctor who works with us."
Matt nodded as the woman came back out with a taller man.
"Ah Slade." He said. "Was hoping I wouldn't see you around here again."
"You know how it is. Tickets please." He said as he held out his hand.
The man printed off six tickets and handed them over. "Anything else?"
Slade shook his head and motioned for Matt and Skye to follow him over to where the group was sitting. Slade handed out the tickets to everyone. "Okay, no more mistakes. No one is to know where you guys are. Understand?"
They all nodded.
"Good. I will not be traveling with you. So please, keep the girl safe." With that, he turned on his heels and left.
They only had to wait a few minutes before they were able to board the plane, luckily they had gotten there just in time. Matt didn’t want Skye and Syn sitting next to each other so he sat between them on the plane. Zacky, Johnny, and Jimmy said in the three seats directly behind them. The flight was only five hours.
When they landed they quickly claimed their bags and got a taxi van to fit all of them in. Matt gave the driver the address to their vacation home and they were on their way. Even with the circumstances, the guys were pretty happy to be at the vacation home. They always had a good time there, and they were sure no one even knew about it.
“Okay, let’s get Skye inside so she can rest. Syn, Jimmy you guys get the bags.” Matt said as he walked Skye into the house.”
Syn rolled his eyes. “He won’t let me near her.”
“He is just freaked out. We have all had a rough day.” Jimmy said.
"I don't care; I need to see her." Syn said as he shut the trunk of the taxi.
Skye when upstairs so she could get some rest while the guys all gathered downstairs to talk about the day’s events and their plans to keep Skye safe.
"Maybe we should have her change her hair again?" Zacky asked
"I don't think changing what any of us look like is going to help. It didn't last time." Matt sighed.
"Are we sure that no one knows where we are?" Jimmy asked. "Does anyone know about our vacation home?"
"I don't think any fans know. So these guys shouldn't either." Syn said.
"We need to do everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen. I don't want them to slip through the cracks. So, no social media, no contacting family or friends, in fact, let’s turn off our cell phones."
"What about Skye's? The one Slade gave her. We have to keep in contact with him." Johnny chimed in.
Matt nodded. "We will leave that one on." There was a brief silence. "It might also be best to have her moved somewhere else."
"What? What do you mean?" Syn stood up, knowing what was coming next.
"You mean like go stay with different people?" Jimmy asked.
"That's exactly what I mean." Matt said.
"No, no chance in hell. She is staying here; she is staying with us." Syn argued.
"Sit down. I call the shots. She almost died Brian! Protecting you. It's our job to protect her not hers to protect us. Your feelings for each other has gotten in the way. She needs to go."
"Look man, I kind of agree with you on that, but we can't just ship her off somewhere else. The benefit of their feelings is that she trusts him, all of us. To keep her safe, she needs that trust." Zacky said.
"I will discuss this further with Slade." Matt said.
"Are you kidding me!" Syn shouted.
"Calm down man." Johnny said, trying to defuse the situation.
Syn shook his head and left the room, making his way to Skye's. There was no way he was going to let Matt make her leave. He wanted her here, with him where he knew she was safe. When he got to her room he sat at the edge of the bed, softly and quietly, trying not to wake her.
Skye stirred moments later and looked over at him with a tired look on her face. "Hey."
"Hey there. How are you feeling?" He asked with a loving tone.
She shrugged. "Tired and sore."
"I'm sorry this happened. I promise we won't let it happen again."
"Don't be sorry. You aren't the one who shot me." She said with a half-smile.
"Skye." He put a hand on her leg. "Why did you jump in front of me like that?"
Skye sighed. She really didn't want to have to go through this, and ending it with him was only going to make everything harder on her. "Because I care about this band, and there are millions of fans out there who would have been devastated if you were killed." She wanted to tell him she loved him, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Don't ever do that again okay. I'm here to protect you. I will do everything in my power to do that."
Skye simply nodded, not knowing what to say next. With her silence Syn leaned forward, closed his eyes and puckered his lips.
This was it, Skye had to do it, no matter how much it was going to hurt him, she had to. She put an arm up and pushed him away from her face. "Don't."
Syn pulled away with a shocked look on his face. "What?"
"You shouldn't do that." Skye leaned up in the bed. "We can't do this."
"What are you talking about? Did Matt get to you?" Syn began getting angry and the thought of Matt trying to control their feelings.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Matt. I'm not good for you. You can do some much better than me."
"Don't talk like that. You are an amazing young woman and so beautiful. You are perfect."
Skye looked away. "I really appreciate that, but this isn't going to work."
"Oh come on Skye. I love you." Syn's heart was breaking, yet again.
Those words absolutely killed Skye. She wished he hadn't said that, it was just going to make this so much harder. She knew what she had to do, she had to break his heart, she had to hurt him and push him away. "Brian. I don't love you. I can't be with you and I don't want to be with you. I want to go home. That's it."
That was it. Syn looked at her with eyes that made her want to hold him and tell him it would all be okay, but she couldn't. "This isn't you."
"Yes it is. Please just, go patrol the house or something." Skye refused to look at him.
"Bitch." Syn said as he stood up and left the room. He was so hurt, hurt that she would say that to him, hurt that Matt would make her do this. He was angry, and he was going to show it. He headed back into the living room where all the guys were sitting in silence. He raced for Matt and when he got to him, pulled him up off the seat and punched him.
"This is your fault! Why would you have her do that?" Syn was shouting two inches away from Matt's face.
All the guys were standing around them now with hands on either of them trying to break it up. Syn was not releasing hold of Matt, not until he made him hurt like he was hurting.
"I didn't do anything!" Matt shouted as he tried to push Syn away.
"You told her to do this! You got into her head and told her we can't be together!" Syn was hissing through his teeth now. There was a gasp from the other guys after he said that.
"Matt did you really?" Jimmy asked, confused.
"It's not my faults he doesn't love you!" Matt growled, driving the knife in further.
Syn's jaw dropped for a split second before speaking. "I should kill you!" He pushed Matt farther back and punched him in the chest.
"Stop!" Skye screamed from the door way.
Syn let one more punch fly before looking up at her. "Both of you stop. This isn't helping anything."
"She's right you guys. Stop fighting." Johnny said as he pulled Syn away. Matt's nose was bleeding and he wiped it on his shirt.
"Skye, tell me the truth, he told you to do this." Syn begged.
Skye sighed. "Just stop. Please."
"Tell me!" He shouted, making Skye jump in the process.
She just stood there looking at the floor. Everyone was staring at her.
"Fuck both of you." Syn said as he left the room, pushing past Skye and exiting the house with a door slam behind him.
"He'll be okay." Matt said to Skye.
She blinked away tears and headed back to her room. She just wanted to sleep until this was all over.
"I can't believe you Matt." Zacky said.
"Yea, dick move man." Jimmy agreed.
They all left the room, heading to their bedrooms, leaving Matt standing there alone with blood dripping down his chin.
***
Syn was very upset. He just wanted to do something to get his mind off of Skye and Matt. He called for a taxi and headed to get a rental car, which he knew they would end up needing. When he got to the rental agency they asked him for his id and a credit card to cover the funds. Without thinking, he handed both of them over. After getting the rental car he decided to go for a drive.
He wasn’t going anywhere specific, just driving. He drove for a while before deciding to pull over at a beach. He just sat in the car and watched as people ran around and swam. He so badly wanted to get out and go for a walk on the beach. He wanted to feel the sand against his bare feet and hear the relaxing sounds of the waves hitting the shore.
With a sigh he started the care and headed back to the house. By the time he got back with was pretty late. He didn’t see any cars in the drive way so he figured they knew he was going to get a rental. He parked the car in their garage and again, sat in it for a moment. He knew it was going to be awkward when he went back inside. Everyone was going to be upset with him for starting a fight with Matt.
When he got inside, Matt was the first to say anything. “Where have you been?”
“Out, trying to clear my head.” Syn said, heading for the kitchen.
“Are you serious? Did anyone see you?” Matt asked while following him.
“I don’t think so.” Syn said in an irritated tone. Matt was the last person he wanted to talk to right now.
“Well you better hope no one did. We are trying to lay low. We don’t need anyone knowing we are in Florida. Did you even stop to think about that?” Matt said in hushed tones.
“I’m not stupid Matt.”
Matt sighed. “I didn’t say you were. And why did you come through the garage?”
“I got a rental car. Figured we were going to need one.”
Matt’s eyes widened. “You did what?”
Syn glared at him. “I. Got. A. Rental. Car.”
“What did you use to get it? Slade was going to send us something.” Matt was worried.
“My credit card and id.” Syn said as he drank from a glass of water.
“Okay now I’m saying you are stupid. I swear to god Brian if they track us down because of you- “He was too frustrated to finish his sentence.
“I’m telling you, no one saw me.”
“You better hope so. If they find her it’s on you this time.” Matt said as he left the room and headed to bed.
Syn just stood there for a moment thinking. Matt was right, they could be smart enough to track their purchases somehow. Someone at the agency could have recognized him, or even the taxi driver. Syn was so upset with what had happened that he hadn’t thought about people recognizing him. If something happened, it would be entirely his fault.