Hold My Hand [Tag Helena]

Helena giggled once more when he nuzzled her nose. "Mmm..." She hums before reaching for his shirt and slipping it on. She cuddles close to him. "I'm a bit tired... Just enough for a small nap... Is that alright with you?" She says and asks him, looking up at him.

Liam smiled softly and pulled on his boxers. He reached up and closed up the roof of the bed, though it was translucent to allow them to look through. It would keep the bugs out, though. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled softly. "A nap sounds nice..." He smiled a bit. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes.

Helena smiled before cuddling to him close. "With you... everything sounds nice... and dangerous..." She teases him at the last part, kissing his nose playfully. She buries her head in his shoulder and closes her eyes. "I love you Li..." She whispers before drifting off to sleep easily.

---

Isadora appeared in the woods, her head tilting slightly. She was far away and hidden enough to not be caught if the girl were to wake earlier than usual but she was close enough to the truck so that the boy didn't get lost. Isadora turned and sat on the ground, her knees tucked in and her face buried in her arms. She starts crying, loud enough for his ears to hear.

Liam smiled gently to her words and kissed her forehead softly. She was soft to touch and easy to cuddle to cuddle up to. He nuzzled his nose to her temple and yawned softly, easily drifting off to sleep beside her. However, he was a light sleeper. So, when he heard the crying, he was quick to stir. It wasn't Helena who was crying...

He sat up and crawled from the bed without disturbing Helena. He didn't want to wake her up. He pulled on his hoodie and looked around for the sound. He grabbed his flash light and looked towards Helena once before following the sound. He came across the dark haired girl and furrowed his brows. He walked over to her and knelt down. "Hey... Are you okay?" He asked, gently touching her arm comfortingly, his brows knit in concern. She reminded him of Liz, distantly.

Isadora continued to cry until she felt his touch on her arm. She turned her face towards him, looking up. Her eyes turned completely white as she smirked and she placed her fingertips on his temples. She watched as he fell to the ground in a sleep.

---

"Merry Christmas Eve!" Everyone chimed at the Rider's cabin home. A huge Christmas party was being thrown, hosted by Lizzy for the very first time. Liam found himself in one of the plastic chairs placed around for the guests. Everyone was there. The Riders, Storms, Rolfes, De Chambords, Olympes, and even friends from each family.

There was a mini stage in the middle of the living room, all the furniture moved to a different room. Elizabeth was on stage with a microphone attached to a speaker. "Welcome everyone! To the Rider's Christmas Party! Now we would have the Christmas party on the day of Christmas, but as a collective family, we wanted to celebrate since today is a very special occasion." Elizabeth chimed into the mic before placing her hand on her hip.

"Now what is this special occasion you ask? Oh you know! We wanted to celebrate the Birthdays of Rose-Anne and Jasper Rider! My two amazing and only siblings on this planet that I would never replace! Come up on the stage for your Merry, Merry Birthday presents!"

Liam watched the girl, a bit of uneasiness coming over him. He gasped, seeing her white eyes. However, he did not move away as he should. Instead, he only became a bit startled before falling over into the sleep he found himself slipping into.

--

When he awoke, he stirred slightly, blinking himself awake. Where was he? He looked around, taking note that they were in his house with everyone there. He smiled a bit, seeing that it was Christmas Eve. His birthday. Were they celebrating his birthday? It was usually just a small, family event. Never anything this big. He was actually feeling a bit excited. He grinned over at Lizzy, his eyes beaming happily.

However, the second he heard that this was to celebrate the twins birthdays, he felt a lump catch in his throat. He laughed nervously and rolled his eyes. "Oh, very funny, Elizabeth," He muttered, figuring she was joking. But, seeing Rose get up and tug Jasper up to the stage, he felt uneasy again. They were all kidding, right?

He got up and moved towards the stage, going to Lizzy. "Liz, what's going on?" He asked, kneeling down near her. "It's my birthday... no theirs," He mumbled, a pout in his voice.

Elizabeth completely ignored Liam, passing by him and grabbing two big presents for Rose and Jasper. She hopped back on stage and handed them to both of them. "Merry Christmas from ME! I made them myselves! Open open!" Elizabeth chimes, a smile beaming on her face. Jasper chuckled a bit before complying to her wishes. As they both open their gifts, two big scrapbooks were in their hands, a blue one for Jasper and a red one for Rosie.

It was Elizabeth's specialty gift to give out scrapbooks as presents. She didn't believe in 'spending' money, instead of making stuff from scratch. In these scrapbooks, it compiled to all of the photos involving the twins in their own scrap book. Elizabeth also loved showing it off, so she made both put the scrapbooks enough for everyone to see. The first picture opened to the very first family picture that always appeared on the scrapbooks. "My favorite picture, really. See, lookie! There's our Daddy, looking tough, lovable, and smart! There's Mommie, looking as pretty and amazing as ever. Jasper with his puffy pouty face and Rosie with her toothy cutesy grin, and yours truly, the most beautiful baby of all!" Elizabeth points out, imitating each family member.

As the moved through each page, all of it showed everyone else with the twins. Everyone else except Liam.

Liam frowned when his sister did not look towards him. She always paid him more attention than the twins. She never ignored him. He didn't like this. He looked around uneasily and stood up, watching the twins. "Jasper...? Come on, this isn't funny," He said quietly. He looked at their scrapbooks, however, and felt his stomach twist. There was not a single picture of him. He shook his head.

He looked towards the guests and finally spotted Helena. She couldn't possibly be in on this joke. He went over to her quickly. "Lena... Baby, what's going on? Everyone's acting weird," He mumbled, frowning and reaching out for her hand.

Before he could grab her hand, someone else did and pulled her over. He twirled her before embracing her in his arms. She giggles and smiled, a blush creeping on her lips. "Oli~. We are supposed to be paying attention to Jas and Rosie." She whispers, pushing Oliver away playfully. Oliver pouted, "But you're too far away." She rolled her eyes before kissing his lips, deeply, passionately. She pulls away, needing air. "There... Better?" She asked, breathlessly. Oliver grinned and nodded. "You're adorable." She mumbled, poking his nose before turning in his arms, facing the front. They swayed a bit, Oliver's chin on her shoulder. "Love you..." He whispered. "I love you more." She whispered back, a soften, happy smile on her lips.

Liam stared blankly now as Helena moved into the arms of Oliver. His heart felt motionless. Empty. She didn't even look at him. He wasn't there. No one knew he was there. It wasn't that part that bothered him the most. It was the fact that no one even missed him. No one cared. Especially Helena. He felt his throat getting tighter with the tears trying to brim on his eyes. He held them back, refusing to let anything like this get to him. He was stronger than this. He looked to the ground and shook his head. "Helena...?" He whispered, his tone begging gently for her to just acknowledge his existence.

As Helena turned to look at him, her eyes went wide but she wasn't looking at him. Titus stormed into the house, his eyes filled with blood lust, and pushed down anyone in his way. Helena pushed Oliver away from her and blocked the hit to her face but wasn't fast enough to block his punch to her stomach. They may have been both born with Hercules strength but Helena rarely exercised her full strength while Titus trained to peak it, so she wasn't any match to him. Once he hit her stomach, she was sent flying out the back window to their backyard.

The room scattered away, some tried to help but only ended up in the wall or their necks snapped, as Titus moved to the backyard. Helena coughs, standing up and wincing at the glass lodged into her arm and leg. They didn't have time to fully heal before Titus came back towards her, initiating a full fledged fight between the two Demi-gods. However, Helena was heavily outmatched and slammed into the concrete, a sizable hole forming around her. Titus hand wrapped around her small neck, squeezing as hard as he could, gradually. She tried to claw away his hand, causing him to bleed, but she couldn't pry him away. She tried to take in short breaths of air, but her airways was now almost completely closed. Her struggle started to become less and less efficient.

Liam got a bit of hope when she looked towards him. But, that hope was crushed as soon as it had come. "No!" He gasped out, trying to grab Titus but finding his hands grabbed nothing. He was nothing. Air. His heart started to beat quickly -- too fast. He was dizzy as he watched, helpless. He ran outside, diving to Helena's side and trying to grab her. To take her away. To do anything. But, he couldn't. He couldn't feel her warmth or her soft skin.

He started gasping for air alongside her, not able to make his body function as he saw her there in pain. "Helena... No... Titus! Stop! Please!" He pleaded, despite knowing his pleads were falling on deaf ears. "Please...." He whimpered, seeing how Helena was paling and her attempts to get free were failing. He didn't want to watch her die. There were dead people in that house. People he cared about. But, he didn't care about anyone as much as the blonde he was useless to save. "Helena... I'm sorry..." He whispered brokenly.

Helena gasped in one last breathe, her airways now completely closed. Her head moved slowly over to the side and her other hand that wasn't on Titus's reached out. "L-li..." She whimpered, gasping out the words. "P-please...help...me...Li." Her hand tried to reach him but before it could, it dropped on the ground. Her lifeless eyes stared at him as her last air escaped her body. Titus removed his hand from her neck, a smug, winning look on his face, and he stood, disappearing into the darkness.

Liam looked over at her quickly, his eyes going wide. He scrambled over to try and reach her hand. But, as he watched it fall to the ground and saw her lifeless eyes looking into his, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't function. He moved over to her and pulled her close to him. "No... no, no, no," He pleaded, crying now. Liam did not cry. He held her tightly in his arms and sobbed, kissing her face and whispering to her that he was sorry.

He laid her down after a few moments and brushed her hair from her face, gently closing her eyes. He back up, then until his back was against a tree. He looked ahead of himself, blank and shaking. He then started to jerk his head backwards, crashing it back against the tree in pain. He was repeating things like, "I'm so sorry, Helena," and "I'm useless." His head was bleeding, but he kept doing it. There was no life in his eyes.

Isadora walked out from the shadows, watching the scene right behind Liam's back.



She watched as he kept continuously banged his head against the tree. Unlike her sister, she enjoyed the actions more than the expressions. She continued to let him do it, almost amused by it, before she tapped her finger against his temple once more.

---

They were back in the forest, Isadora's hands behind her back as she looked down at Liam, watching him awake. "Li...? Where'd you go?" Helena's voice called, Isadora looking back at the truck before looking back Liam. Isadora knew that he wouldn't forget the events during his 'nap' but just to be safe, she disappeared and lurked in the shadows.

Liam awoke to find himself hitting his fist against his head where he laid there. He was disorientated and his hand was bleeding. Was his head bleeding, too? He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure he cared, either. He wanted to get that image from his head. The image of Helena's lifeless body in his arms. Of how he couldn't help her. Of how no one had cared that he wasn't there. How only the twins were praised. How they did no wrong. Everything was wrong.

He heard Helena's voice distantly. But he made no attempt to move towards it. He didn't believe it. It was just a cruel joke his mind was playing. He had seen her die. Now it was on repeat in his head. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He was shaking and sobbing, ignoring the blood on his hand and head as he tried to beat the vision from his head.

Helena frowned when she entered the forest, a flashlight in her hand. Normally, she'd think he was playing a trick on her, forcing her to come out to the forest. However, her stomach clenched, something that happened only when there was something severely wrong. A 'godly intuition' her mother defined it, both her and Hercules having the feeling.

Helena heard crying and she knew the voice attached to it. The instant she shined the light on him, she ran over quickly dropping the light when she dropped down to her knees. "Liam? What are you doing?! Stop!" She says, first placing her hand on his cheek before forcibly stopping his hand from pounding his head in. She gasped seeing the blood on his hand and on his head before looking back at him. "Liam! Look at me! What's going on, what's wrong, talk to me!" She placed her other hand under his chin, making him face turn towards her.

Liam's frame was shaking so roughly that it hurt him. But, he couldn't stop. He was empty. He didn't know what was real and what was not. Even as she came over to him and touch him, making him stop his fists movement, he couldn't make himself believe she was really there. He shook his head, his eyes empty as he looked at her. "Broken... Useless... Dead," He whispered, repeatedly. "Can't save... Couldn't save you... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm useless... Broken... Dead," He kept whispering, his voice shaking and his body shaking with it. "I'm so sorry... So sorry, Helena," He whimpered, curling in on himself. "My fault... It's my fault..."

Helena looked at him, her expression filled with concerned. She stroked his cheek with her free hand, afraid what might happened if she let go of his wrist. "W-what? What do you mean you couldn't save me? I'm right here, look. Liam!" She tries talking to him but not reaching through.

Tears started to pool in her eyes by both frustration, confusion, sadness, and all the sorts. She didn't know what to do. She was never in this situation. He was always her rock, not this way around. But she didn't let that stop her from helping him. So, she did what she did best. Helena looked at his form and used her free hand to pry his legs away from his chest and opened them. She squeezed in between them, settling herself in the small circle, pressing her body against his. She placed both of his hands on her cheeks, not caring for the blood on the one.

Her violet eyes looks into his deeply, a pleading quality interlaced in them. "Liam, please. I'm begging you. Listen to my voice. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. You're not useless, broken, or dea!. And nothing is your fault! I love you Liam! I need you to come back to me. Please...!" She begged him, the tears in her eyes as she wiped away his from his cheeks.

Liam didn't respond when she laid with him, curling so close to him. He still shook and he still cried and he still whispered his repetitions. He only started to slowly respond to her as her warmth crept through her clothing to his skin. He could feel her warmth and that alone made her feel real to him. Not her voice nor her words. Just her warmth. He looked down to her, his eyes disorientated, but obviously trying to focus on her. "Don't.... cry," He said slowly, like he had forgotten how to speak clearly. "Don't... cry," He repeated, seeing the tears on the brims of her eyes. "My fault.... not yours.... don't cry," He whispered, his arms moving around her slowly and pulling her close to him. "You're not here... You're dead.... I saw you... Die... But... It's okay... I'm dreaming... If I... don't wake up.... I can stay with you.... And you wont... Be dead," He whispered, holding her closer now. He was still lost.

Helena nearly smiled when he responded to her but he didn't entirely. She shook her head when he said he was dreaming. She wrapped her arms around his middle, but not losing sight of his face though. She bit her lip before kissing his lips tenderly, softly, lovingly. "This is real." Helena whispered against his lips. She kisses his tears, his temples, his forehead, and his nose. "I am here. This isn't a dream. Li, I love you."

Liam closed his eyes when he felt her lips on his. That felt real. Dream kisses never felt that real. He leaned into the kiss a bit and furrowed his brows. He felt her lips on his skin and only became more confused. Was she real? He'd seen her die. Repeatedly in his mind. He'd heard her cry out for him in her last breath. Now, she was here, saying he was awake and that she was alive? He didn't know what to believe. But, the feeling of her there in his arms was something he didn't want to give up.

He held her close and kissed her lips slowly, unsure. "You were dead... Titus... Strangled you... I couldn't help... You didn't see me... You were with... Oliver... You said you... loved him... No one saw me... Just the twins... Not even Liz.... You didn't even... See me... You were dead.... I couldn't save you..." He started to mumble what had happened, still crying and shaking, but obviously trying to get himself back for her.

Helena listened to him, her eyes turning sad. She shook her head gently, placing her hands on his cheeks, brushing away the tears with her thumbs. She continued to kiss his face, seemingly finding that the only way she could get to him. "It was a bad dream. I'm alive, I see you, I love you Liam Rider, Everyone loves you, Liz loves you more than anything, I see you, I'm alive..." She whispers softly, trying to convince him it was just a dream.

Liam felt frail in her arms. He tried to make himself come back to her. To see that she was real and to stop wasting his time babbling. But, after what he had seen, he was scared to truly look at her. He didn't want to see her eyes so cold and lifeless. "Helena..." he whispered, unsure still. He ran his hand along her side. She was wearing his t-shirts. Why? They had been together. In the truck. Why had he wandered off? "There was... a girl. Crying... where is she? Is she.... okay?" He whimpered, opening his.wide, deer like eyes and looking around for the brunette.

Helena placed her forehead against his, her hands still caressing his cheeks. "I'm here..." She whispered back to him. Helena furrowed her eyebrows before also looking around. "There's no one here but us Li..." She tells him, looking at him with a confused look.

Isadora tilted her head from the shadow. So he remembered her? How bothersome. No matter, he would soon forget. Her eyes turned white as she started replaying the scene around them. "Merry Christmas Eve!" The voices echoed through the forest. Helena blinked before looking way from Liam, the images flashing.