"I don't care about myself," she insisted, still gripping the front of his shirt. "You know Tatum is going to feel alone, your her best friend. Please, she's lost so much this year already. I can't let her feel like she's been abandoned."

Perhaps she wasn't giving her girlfriend enough credit, she knew that Tatum was one of the strongest people she'd ever met. It worried her though, the poor girl had been through so much already this year. Her life had already been turned on it's head. Tatum had barely gotten comfortable with being out, how was this going to effect her now? Neither of them were a life choice.

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He only held her tighter, attempting to control the sobs that were trying to escape from his chest. "But I do Mackenzie," he said lightly. "I can't risk taking you away from her too."

Tatum had already been having one a shitty year, surely one to go down in the history books and here he was, just making it even harder for her. Would changing Mack really help though? Or would it make things worse? And what if he lost control? He didn't know what had stopped him from ripping Tatum apart but something had done it. He couldn't be sure the same thing would happen again.

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Mackenzie wanted to hit Sam again. It tugged at her heart that he cared about her that much and she wasn't used to the feeling. It made her incredibly uncomfortable. She was able to keep herself from pulling away angrily however, and instead, let go of Sam's shirt.

"You're an ass Sam Ruiz," she said, her voice watery from crying. She snaked her arms around his torso and hugged him back tightly. It wasn't something she had ever done for anyone but her sister and Tatum, but it felt good. It was nice to have someone else on her side now, someone who understood. "You're going to take care of her, right? Don't let her slip away."

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"I know," he said with a sad, little laugh. "A terrible, horrible ass," he just held her for a while before forcing himself to look at her. He needed her to know how sincere he was when he said it.

"I promise," he nodded. "I won't let anything else bad happen to her," he knew he had already fucked up. "We'll all get through this together. I'm gonna be better and I'll be there with her the whole time," he nodded. He might have been a monster but there something about being in the pack that made them all softer, gentler.

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"You better fuckin' promise," she warned, giving him a stern look. "I'll come shoot you with a silver bullet myself if anything happens to Tatum."

She pulled away from him, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. She felt embarrassed now for breaking down on Sam. It wasn't something she had ever let anyone see, save for Hunter and Kia. Mackenzie pulled her crumpled cigarette pack out of her jacket pocket and put one in her mouth. She lit the small white stick and gave it a few puffs before feeling calm enough to talk.

"Y'all better not tell anyone I cried," she informed him, scowling a bit. "Or that I hugged ya, or...I'll beat you up again!"

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He nodded solemnly. He had gotten them both into this mess, he wasn't about to let her go it on her own. He stepped back once she let go of him and wiped his own eyes on his sleeve. He then wiped the blood from his face, covering a bit of his sleeve in bright red.

"Secret's safe with me," he said patting his chest. "I wouldn't dream 'a rattin' you out to no one," he wiped his face again. It was a kind of relief that the fighting was over, that they had come to some sort of understanding.

He wiped his hands on his jeans, smearing blood on his shorts. He would probably have to fix that up eventually. "Y'all can't tell no one I cried either," he grinned.

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