𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐚 ⇀ 𝗆𝗂𝖽𝟫𝟢𝗌

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

"Nah, we're not a thing," He assured, passing the joint, "We only had sex twice." I grimaced as he pulled me into his arms, rubbing my head harshly before I shoved at him to get off.

When he let go, I fixed my hair as Ray spoke, rolling another joint for me, "I didn't know Liv even liked you."

"Yeah, I think she really likes me," He told Ray, "Like last night, I tried to sneak out of her crib, but she was holding me down and cuddling afterwards."

"That's some weird shit."

I rolled my eyes at Ruben, "No, that's something people like to call affection. Liv isn't the kind of person you can just fuck and dip out on, so be nice to her, Shawn."

"Yeah, yeah," He huffed out as Ray placed the joint in my hands, "I'll be sure not to break your little bestie's heart, alright?" I shook my head and sparked up, hoping that Fuckshit would stick to his word. Liv deserved better than a heartbreak.

"Estee is throwing a get together tonight," Ruben told us, "She told me to let you know, Lava."

I hummed, inhaling deeply before letting out a cloud of smoke, "Who's going to be there?"

"Apparently, us, the girls and your lover boy and his friends," Ruben smirked, "I heard he's the one that told her to have this."

"Seems like lover boy misses you," Fuckshit playfully poked out his bottom lip.

"Shut the fuck up, he's not my 'lover boy'," I grunted, pushing up from the couch to stand and walk back over to the counter, "What time is the damn thing?"

"10," Ruben responded, causing me to curse underneath my breath, "What?"

"I won't be able to go, my dad will fucking kill me," I told them, meeting Ray's gaze.

"Man, come on, you can't stay home," Fuckshit groaned, "Just sneak out or something."

"I can just chill with you guys tomorrow," I shrugged, "It's no big deal."

Fuckshit then slouched back into the couch, "Fine, but you gonna miss out." I hummed, glad that he didn't put up a fight because my only reason of staying would be for the benefit of my baby brother.

Ray then got up from the couch and came up to me, "Don't stay home just because Vincent is going to be there. I knew I shouldn't have said anything-"

"Raymond, I'm not staying home because of that," I chuckled, "I need to watch after Matt." He hesitantly nodded, finding my answer to be better than what he thought. When I checked the time, I let out a sigh, "I got to go, but just do me a favor and keep an eye on everyone, okay? And figure out how you're gonna get home, I don't want any of you getting pulled over for illegally drunk driving."

Ray rolled his eyes, but smiled widely as I threw my bag onto my shoulder, "Will do, Captain." He gave a simple salute as I walked over to the boys, doing handshakes that I specifically practiced with them.

"Later," I then walked up to Ray again, holding out my hand, "If you guys finish up early at the party, I should still be up to chill."

He took my hand, performing our handshake, "Okay, cool. I'll stop by." I nodded and left Motor to go to the bus stop. I grabbed my headphones and Walkman from my bag, playing my music when the bus arrived. The route home wasn't long, so by time I was walking into my house, my dad was heading out.

"Remember the rules, alright?" He told me, "No friends over, no parties and both of you in bed before I get back."

I looked past him and at my little brother who was on the couch, watching tv and stuffing his face, "Okay, no problem."

He eyed me for a second, seeing if I meant nothing to my words, but I kept my face emotionless, "I'll be back and fix your face, I don't need Matthew picking up on your attitude problem."

I refrained from rolling my eyes, choosing to go over to Matt and sit next to him, his snacks in between us. Neither of us respond to our dad when he told us goodbye, and he didn't seem to care since he left the house seconds later. He was going out to do what he always did and that was drink- though, this time, he wasn't going to do it alone.

"Is Ray coming?" Matt asked, breaking attention from his show to look over at me.

I shrugged, "Maybe, he's going to a little party tonight."

"We were supposed to play Superheroes," He frowned, crossing his arms over his little chest.

I rustled his hair and get up from the couch, "If you want, we can play until it's time for bed. How does that sound?" He immediately perked up, now standing in the couch before leaping onto me, "Come on, Master Matt, let's go to the lair!"

I ran around the house with him on my back, playing his game and many more until he grew tired hours later. He dosed off on the couch as I was preparing us something to drink, so I took him to his bed before I went to my room. I stretched out my arms, a loud yawn escaping me as I headed towards my closet to grab a regular t-shirt.

I got changed and put my hair in a scarf before I heard a knock on my window, causing me to look up and meet Ray's eyes. He smiled as I opened the window, letting him crawl through, "Did the party end early?"

"No, it just got boring," Ray huffed out placing his skateboard against my wall, "They forgot to buy drinks so all we had was weed and I wasn't sharing my shit, so I left."

I laughed a little as I grabbed my pajama shorts, putting them on so I didn't feel completely naked. When I finished, I watched Ray's head immediately dropped, digging into the pocket of his jeans, "Want to go smoke up on the roof?"

"Yeah, let's go while Matt is sleep," I motioned out the window and he climbed back out, though crawled up the ladder besides my window to the roof. I followed after him, glad it was still warm outside despite it being autumn.

I let my legs rest out in front of me as I laid down on the roof, staring up at the sky, noticing that Ray was done rolling when he laid down next to me. He took a long pull from the joint as I turned to him, "What's on your mind?"

After another pull, he handed it to me, meeting my eyes, "What makes you think there is?"

"You have this look where you're really concentrated on something," I remarked, rolling onto my stomach so ashes didn't fall on my shirt, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

For a moment he sat quietly, looking back at the sky as he sighed, "My mom is filing for a divorce." I quickly sat up, crossing my feet to look down at him. He rolled his eyes, "It's not a big deal, Drew."

"What the fuck are you talking about? It is a big deal, Ray!" I furrowed my brows, "Why did you have me in the shop earlier just discussing my problems when you're going through something way more difficult?"

"Because it's not a big deal," He repeated, sitting up also, so our knees touched each other, "My mom's been talking about divorce for a long time, it's not a surprise to me."

I stared at him, handing back the blunt after my share, "So what's going to happen? Are you going to live with her or your dad?"

"Have no fucking clue," He scoffed, looking around the roof, "She's already looking at apartments... out in Compton, though since our family lives there." He then stared down at his hands, letting me see that they were trembling, "Fuck, not again."

Raymond may seem like the most relaxed person you'll ever meet, but he suffers with more anxiety than I do. He handles it well enough to not be noticeable to everyone else, but his hands were a pure giveaway.

"Shit, Ray," I mumbled, pulling him into a hug. He began to make a fuss about it, but when I made no intent of letting go, he hugged me back, "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Please, Drew, don't start getting all soft on on me," He laughed, rubbing my back as his chin rested on my shoulder, "I love you, too." I held him tighter in my arms, feeling that if I'd let him go, he wouldn't know I really meant it. I really do love him.

(a/n:: Ray got a lot more
vote than any other character
in the book to be with Drew,
so I made this chapter "their"
chapter :)