• Give up •

Sinn's POV

I was in the middle of breaking someone's finger when she called me.

When I saw it was her, I picked up the phone immediately and placed it against my ear with my hand which didn't have blood on it.

"Hello," I spoke on the phone and heard her say my name in a defeated voice.

"Sinn."

Every nerve in my body was on alert when I heard her voice. Something doesn't seem right.

"Where are you?" I asked her immediately as I twisted the guy's finger hearing the sound of bone cracking and the muffled sound of his scream.

"At my father's." I stopped when I heard her words. I took out my car keys from my pocket and strode out to my car not sparring another glance at the guy.

Yuri and Leonardo were outside conversing and looked at me when I came out.

"Are you done? Wait why are you in a hurry?" Leonardo questioned and I looked at him as my frustration was on my face.

"You both take care of the rest." I didn't let any of them utter another word and sat in my car and sped off.

I placed her call on the car Bluetooth and opened her location from the tracker every member of our division has in their phone as per the requirement of the mafia so we could track their whereabouts easily.

"Stay with me on the call. I'll be there in 10." I told her and hit the accelerator.

I heard her scoff. "I didn't even tell you the address." She said and I sighed.

"I tracked you through your phone," I told her simply and she didn't ask me any further.

I took a sharp turn as the GPS told me when I heard her again.

"He killed my Mom."

I gripped the steering wheel tighter hearing the pain in her voice. I hit the speed and within the next 10 seconds, I arrived at the destination.

I took my phone with me and when I got out of the car I saw a house on fire. I scanned my eyes and saw her on the ground at a distance from the house.

I took long steps towards her placing my phone back in my pocket as I reached her.

When she felt me hovering over her, she looked up from the ground and met my gaze. The phone was still by her ear as she looked at me with a sullen look.

I saw the splash of blood on her face and hands as the dagger in her other hand was dripping blood.

She put down the phone from her ear and I kneeled before her. I scanned her looking for any injury and saw one on her knuckles which made me clench my jaw as rage surged into my blood.

I tried to get her up on her feet but she stumbled and I noticed the injury on her ankle which made me even more furious.

I wanted to ask what happened and who did this but she wasn't in the condition to be asked questions so I took a breath trying to calm my anger and picked her up in my arms.

She wrapped her arm around my neck and rested her head in the crook of my neck. I pulled her closer to me and walked to my car taking her away from the smoke that was around the burning house.

I placed her down carefully on the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt for her.

She sat quietly the whole ride and didn't say a word to me. Her last words to me being her father killed her mother.

I checked on her from time to time while I drove. I didn't speed off this time cause I didn't want to put any harm to her.

I pulled up in the mansion and got off. She didn't move and I unbuckled her seatbelt and carried her into the mansion cause she was in no shape to even stand on her own.

I looked down at her while I climbed the stairs to my floor and saw her staring at nothing.

I took her to my room and stopped by the bathroom door. "You want to fresh up?" I asked her and she just nodded her head once.

I opened the door and placed her down on the bathtub. She didn't move and I took off her bloodied top and pants leaving her underwear and bra so she doesn't feel exposed or taken advantage of.

I cleaned her body where some of the blood was on her and washed her face carefully with my fingers so I'm not hard on her skin.

I saw her gripping her dagger the whole time and I tried to get it from her but she gripped it tighter. I held her wrist and tried to get the blood off from the dagger while it was still in her grip and she let me clean it that way.

She sat there without uttering a word and I didn't say anything making the sound of water running the only sound between us.

When I was done cleaning her up I got her a towel to help her dry and got some fresh pairs of clothes for her to wear. I had some of her clothes in my room cause she was spending most of her time here and I wanted her to.

I gave her a new pair of clothes and helped her get out of the tub. She held my arm while I helped her in a new sweatshirt.

Her underwear got wet when I was cleaning her so I gave her a new one and she looked at it and took it from my hand. I closed my eyes and turned my head away from her so I'll give her privacy cause she can't stand without someone supporting her.

I held her arm while she changed into new underwear and wore her pajamas on her own. Once she was done, she tapped my arm twice and I opened my eyes turning my face to look at her again.

She had also gotten out of her bra leaving on her sweatshirt and I picked her up again and got out of the bathroom to lay her down on the bed.

I walked back into the bathroom and placed her bloodied clothes and her underwear and bra in the laundry and got the first aid kit.

I went back to her and saw she was laying on the bed and staring at the corner of the ceiling. I sat beside her on the edge of the bed and got out the ointment and applied it on her knuckles which seemed like she had punched something hard with.

I bandaged her hand and then moved to apply ointment to her injured ankle. All the while I did it she didn't wince or even flinch cause I know it might've hurt no matter how carefully I was treating it.

She lay motionless on the bed while I bandaged her ankle. When I was done I went to wash my hands and came back giving her painkillers. I helped her take it and gave her water and she drank it, swallowing it.

I laid her back down in bed and covered her with the duvet. But she didn't close her eyes and kept staring at the far corner. She didn't let go of her dagger the whole time and I didn't try to this time.

I just stayed by her side not saying a word.

I hope my presence would help her.

_____________________

I took the day off.

I informed them I won't be joining them for work today.

They were asking questions like what happened but I didn't feel the need to answer them.

My only concern was her.

She didn't sleep the whole night. I stayed by her side the whole night to be of use if she needs me, but she just laid there not moving.

The only movement she made was her breathing and blinking her eyes every then and there.

I cooked her breakfast and fed her. She wasn't willing to eat but I forced her to. I can allow anything but her neglecting her health.

I helped her to the bathroom and waited outside while she was done and then took her back to bed.

To make her feel better, I put on her favorite anime and the episode which had her favorite character Levi, that I figured out from last time, but she didn't react to it.

I was growing worried about her cause she was not saying or reacting to anything.

The whole day went by and it was almost midnight when I went to put back the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I washed my hands and went back into the room.

But when I walked in, my eyes widened at the sight in front of me which made me run to her.

She had her dagger pointing at herself.

Trigger warning; mention of self-harm.

Layla's POV

My body was no longer supporting me.

Sinn helped me out with everything and I hated myself for not even saying a thank you to him. But what can I do, I couldn't make my mouth say it.

It was like my body had given up on me.

I couldn't sleep the whole night and Sinn stayed awake by my side the whole night.

He even put on anime for me but I couldn't watch anything when the moment my father shot Mom kept on replaying in my head and the thought that it should've been me instead of her kept running in my head.

When Sinn finally left my side and went out with the dirty dishes from the morning and from the dinner he just made me eat, I tried to get up on my own.

It hurt a lot but I managed to stand up at least. But suddenly I was pulled back to the scene where my mother pushed me away and got shot by my father.

Her bleeding to death and being snatched from me and my father taking her away and burning his house with me in it.

My head started hurting and a voice rang in my head;

It should've been you! You should've died instead of your mother!

The voice was similar to my father's and I wanted to shut it off.

'You want to shut me off? Why don't you kill yourself if you don't want to hear it?'

His voice told me and I was losing my senses. I saw my dagger on the bed and picked it up in my hand.

I stared at it. It was the same dagger my mother gave me to protect myself but not hurt myself.

I closed my eyes and pointed it at myself. And I wanted to protect her but she died trying to save me.

Before I could even think of anything someone rushed over to me and grabbed my hand which held the dagger.

"Layla!" Sinn's voice called my name and I tried to get his hand away and just finish the ringing voice in my head once and for all when he snatched the dagger and threw it away.

He grabbed my arms and glared at me, "What the fuck are you doing?!" His voice was dangerous and if I weren't already out of it I would've been scared.

But right now I just wanted to get rid of the pain in my heart and my father's voice torturing me.

"Let me just finish everything! If I just kill myself he'll stop getting into my head and reminding me that she died because of me!" I finally got everything off my chest.

I was yelling but I had no control over my emotions. "If she didn't push me away it would've been me who took the bullet and died not her!"

"It should've been me not her!" I yelled and Sinn just looked at me and didn't utter a single word. He held me in a grip that didn't let me move.

"The only thing I wanted to do was get her away from that bastard. I wanted to be capable enough so that I'm able to stand against my father and finally free her. That's why I joined this fucking division in the first place! To get stronger and go against him."

I let out a bitter chuckle, "But now he fucking beat me to it. He took away the only person I came for all this way."

I met his gaze, "Do you know what her last words to me were? She told me to stay happy. But how can I when she's not even here with me? It's no use for me to stay alive!"

I tried to push him away and get my dagger from where it was laying in the far corner of the room but he steadied me and made me look at him.

"Listen to me Layla, you can't give up. You can't."

I looked up at him and saw the desperation in his eyes. It took me by surprise cause I'd never seen this look in his eyes.

"You can't give up when that man is free to do whatever the fuck he wants. She did it to protect you, you can't do this to yourself."

He held my face in his hands and made me look at him, "I'll help you. I'll do whatever the fuck it takes so you can take that man down and avenge your mother's death."

He looked at me like I was the only thing he cared about and if he let go, I'll go away.

"So please stay alive." He told me and I saw the desperation and pain in his voice that it made me wake up from whatever I was about to do.

His eyes were begging me to listen to him and I finally let go of my emotions which I have been suppressing all this time.

I finally let myself cry.

Tears drop from my eyes one after the other and Sinn looks at me taken aback but then he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me.

I cried so hard like I never have in my entire life and all the while Sinn held me close to him. He rubbed my back and I let go of the pain I was keeping in me of losing my mother and all I'd been through with my father.

I held him as if my life depends on him. My tears were probably wetting his shirt but he didn't care.

In this moment, Sinn Phoenix let me cry in the solace of his embrace.