17. What Happened To Wesley Anderson?

*LUCA POV*

'YoU CaNt EsCaPe Me WeSlEy"

My entire body seizes as George Anderson hovers above me with his strangled hands like buzzsaws tingling against my throat as he chokes me to the point where I can no longer breath. I struggle to get him off me but my arms are so heavy, I can't move and the room is a shade of red I don't remember it being when I went to sleep.

I choked as I reached up and tried to pull him off me but it was impossible while I was frozen in fear with his soul piercing icy blue eyes trained on mine. I feel the energy to fight leave my body with every passing second his demonic figure chokes me.

"yOu FiRsT,"

He whispers in that shaky horrifying breath and my body reacts for me as I manage to pick up my arms which felt like pillars of lead, reaching his face with my thumbs touching his eyes.

He could kill me without a problem.

But he had another thing coming if he thought he could lay a finger on my husbands.

The dream comes to a crashing halt and when the weight is released I instantly sit up smacking my head against something and crying out in pain.

"Ow fuck, Luca," Thomas groaned and I laid back taking in massive breaths of air feeling like my lungs were pressured underwater and I couldn't breathe for the longest time.

"Luca? Hey calm down for me baby, deep breath in through your nose out through your mouth. You're hyperventilating," Thomas reminds me and I close my eyes, doing as he says while my heart was pounding against my chest.

After a few shaky breaths, I felt my stress finally release and opened my eyes again to find Thomas sitting up in front of me in the light coming from the dim lamp. He was also catching his breath with concern written all over his face.

"Better?" He asked our precious safe word and I nodded. After my PTSD attacks, we had learned from trial, error, and a lot of bruises that it was best not to touch me immediately after I had one even though Matthias and Thomas wanted to comfort me as soon as possible, they waited for me to give the signal.

"Better," I confirmed and he finally touched me, cupping my face in his hands.

"That looked like it was a really bad one sweetheart," He said as his thumbs gently caressed my cheek. I let out a small sigh of relief and he kissed my forehead.

"No, not really. I'm okay love," I lied, hating it when I woke them up during my attacks. I looked over and saw that thankfully Matthias was still asleep so I wasn't thrashing around too much this time.

"You were choking in your sleep and it sounded like you couldn't breathe. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you looked possessed. I thought I was going to have to do the Heimlich maneuver on you or something," He yawns and I sit up, rubbing my eyes as my heart still pounded against my chest and I was dripping in a cold sweat.

His hands slipped from my cheeks to my bare chest so he could feel my heart and I slid my hand over his.

"I'm okay," I repeated myself, but he shook his head. Getting out of bed with an angry scowl on his face.

"I know when you're lying Luca and let me tell you, you suck at it," he says and walks over to the bathroom. I gripped the place on my chest where my heart had been pounding against his hand and sighed, quickly missing his gentle touch.

I looked over at my beautiful Matthias, who was still sound asleep and even snoring a little bit with his perfect lips opened for maximum airflow which usually only happened when he went to sleep exhausted. I always thought his snores were cute though and leaned over, raking my hand through his soft light brown hair and laying a soft kiss on his muscular shoulder and turning off the lamp so he could continue sleeping in peace.

The white light from the bathroom flooded the room as Thomas opened the door and I could hear the water running,"

"Come here," He whispers, now wearing a pair of briefs as he scratched the back of his head and yawned. I didn't question it until I walked into the bathroom and saw the large bathtub was now a beautiful shade of light blue.

"What's this, my love?" I asked him and he closed the door so we wouldn't wake our recovering husband.

"Get in, I know you're not going to be able to go back to sleep unless you relax and I really don't want you pacing all three floors to tire yourself out like you do at home sometimes. So I got a few bath bombs from Lush the other day. This one is called a bottle of calm and it reminded me of you so-"

I ended his sweet explanation with a kiss and I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, feeling each of his hard muscles pressing against my chest as his hands circled my waist. I pulled his head close to mine and melted into his plump lips, taking them in mine and slipping my tongue over his sweet lips wanting him to kiss me harder and he does.

I pulled away first, gently caressing his cheek as he looked a little less worried now.

"You're so sweet without even thinking twice about it, I feel like the luckiest man alive to have you by my side as one of my husbands," I tell him and he gently pecks my lips.

"Mmm, I can't really help it when I love you so much. I just want to take care of you two in the best way I can," He says and I released him from my grip and he edges me toward the tub.

"Get in baby, before it gets cold," He coaxes me and goes to leave but I pulled him with me.

"It would be warmer if you joined me," I attempted to flirt with him but he only giggled a bit and kissed my cheek.

"Okay whatever you want," He says and I sink into the warm water first, instantly feeling more relaxed than I did five minutes earlier as I let the warmth spread to my muscles. Holding my breath as I sunk in completely and ran the water over my face as the jets pushed the water against me, creating a bubbly oasis when I came back up and found Thomas now sitting across from me with an amused look on his face.

"I never knew I married a merman," he chuckles with his cheek rested against his hand as he watched me, a soft smile spreading across his lips.

"What do you mean? I'm pretty sure I have legs." I told him and raised on of my legs up for him to see, wiggling my toes for extra emphasis and he takes my foot in his hands. Kneading into the skin and massaging my toes.

"When we lived on the island, you were always in the water and it seemed like a second home to you. It made me think that maybe we should invest in a pool for the farm since you like it so much," He said and I leaned back, swirling the blue bubbly water with my finger.

"That would be awesome, especially for our little ones," I sigh as I pulled my feet away from him and we our gazes locked together.

I opened my arms and he nodded, shifting towards me and I wrapped my arms and legs around him so I could snuggle him from behind while he sat in between my legs. The back of his head rested against my shoulder.

"Are you okay love?" I asked him and he nodded, tilting his head up and kissing under my chin.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just...Luca, you were choking in your sleep and gasping for air. What were you thinking about? Sometimes I feel really lost and stupid because I don't even know what you have PTSD from," He mentions and I gave him a gentle squeeze as I wrapped my arms around him.

"You shouldn't feel stupid, I never told you or Matthias," I mention and he toys with the clouds of bubbles in the tub, quietly thinking of what to say or how to ask.

"If I told you the truth, I'm afraid you guys would look at me differently," I confessed and he gripped my arms with his hands. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was thinking hard.

"You should know that would never happen, what happened to you would never affect the way I look at you or how much I love you. I just want to be able to understand you better," He said and I closed my eyes as I clutched one of my lovers close. Thinking of what to say next.

"My parents were murdered when I was young and I was placed in an orphanage that was part of a fetish pedophile sex ring. When I was fifteen, I was sold to a man who used me as a slave to his every desire for ten years," I finally confessed a single piece of my dark past but Thomas stayed silent.

For a few moments, I thought I said all of it in my head, until I heard a heartbreaking sob.

"Thomas?" I said his name and my heart dropped when he didn't respond and instead, burried his head in his wet hands.

Shaking, I slowly retreated from him but he gripped my arms with his strong hands and whipped around.

The tears dripping from his sweet brown eyes were falling into the calming blue waters of lavender and his look was one I would never forget. It was like he understood everything all at once and his universe shattered before my eyes.

"Do you still think you can love me? Knowing that?" I asked, tilting my head slightly as his lips trembled and he shook his head before leaning into me and wrapping his arms around me, gripping me so tightly that it was almost as if he thought I would just disapear.

"L-L-Luca," He stuttered my name as he sobbed into my shoulder, confused I held him in my arms and gently rubbed his back.

"Sorry, I probably ruined everything," I nervously whispered as I kissed his bare skin and he squeezed me tight.

"I'm crying because someone hurt my baby! Some mother fucker bought my soulmate off the streets and took his sweet innocence and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't meet you any sooner and I couldn't protect you, fuck Luca. It hurts to know someone would treat you, the most genuinely beautiful human being alive, like...that," He cried and I shook my head.

"It's okay Thomas. I'm safe now. He's dead and I have you, Matthias, the little ones, and the rest of my life to look forward too," I reassured him and he pulled his head back. I used the water surrounding us to wipe his tears and gently kissed the tip of his nose.

"I love you so much Luca. I love you so fucking much and I didn't think it was possible but now that I understand everything, I love you more than I ever did before and I'm sure Matty will too when you decide to tell him," He says and I nod, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from my chest.

"I love you too and I would do it all over again if I knew it was the only way I would make it to you," I told him, gently caressing his soft cheek as we pressed our foreheads together. Enjoying each others presence for a moment longer before getting out of the little bottle of calm and I was finally able to sleep.

**************

We all knew this was coming at some point, but are you surprised he told Thomas first?

😭😭😭🧐