Strong • W2S

XXXIII

Chapter Thirty-Three

You might remember a few weeks ago we were at a funeral and if you don't let me catch you up to speed. Our dearest and oldest friend Dylan was murdered, we were distraught when we heard the news and even more distraught when the funeral came around. It was honestly the saddest I'd ever felt in my life seeing the coffin and knowning that he was nothing but a memory now but... OH BUT! That was a lie, it was all just one big fucking lie because in reality Dylan wasn't dead infact he was standing in my living room looking very alive.

I opened my eyes and saw him standing in front of the window looking concerned and honestly a lot of different emotions. I had to blink a good three or four times to make sure I was actually awake.
"Huh? Wha... what happened, why are you—Dylan?" There was a million questions running through my mind, why aren't you dead? Why are you here? Are you dead and I've just lost my mind?
Ronnie and Layla were sat on the couch both of them with their heads in their hands and both of them crying. Harry and Cal were slowly helping me back up to my feet as I regained consciousness.
"I'm sorry Er-bear, I'm really fucking sorry." A single tear fell from Dylan's cheek as I looked him in the eye, I still didn't believe he was real and I couldn't because he was dead, he died. I slowly walked towards him leaving Harry and Cal behind me, I was silent as I walked over to the window. I stood directly infront of Dylan who was dead, he died and I lifted my hand up slowly and carefully.
It wasn't until my hand connected with his face that I truely believed he was real, that he wasn't dead and that's when the anger took over me. I slapped him so hard that the pain traveled straight up my arm and into my neck.
"Aye I deserved that." Was all he said.
"You're alive? How?" I struggled to find the words because I couldn't quite comprehend what was going on in front of me.

"He turned up at the door, I thought I was hallucinating so I called Layla and Freezy." Ronnie's voice cracked as he spoke and looked up at me. His eyes were red and there were tears streaming down his face, Layla was sitting beside him in the exact same state as he was while Harry and Cal stood side by side at the other end of the room in shock. They didn't know Dylan, they had only heard stories about him but they were still just as shook up as the rest of us were. What about Angie? Did she know her son had risen from the dead?
"I need to sit down." I took a deep breath and sat down beside Layla on the new couch, I hadn't even noticed that it had been delivered yet or that it had been put together and moved to exactly where I wanted it.
"Can I explain? Please Er, let me explain." Dylan made his way over to me and crouched down to my level, he held his hands and mine and squeezed them slightly. I said nothing, I looked at our hands that were intertwined and then looked at his face. Nodding my head slowly, Ronnie and Layla looked up at Dylan and waited for him to begin explaining himself.
"Right, here we go." He began saying as he stood up and walked back to where he once stood, he look several breaths before actually beginning to speak.

"They thought I was dead, fuck I thought I was dead. I was close but not close enough, in that moment I wanted to die actually it's all I thought about. They dragged me to the car, I don't remember much except from the blood but I remember a woman cleaning me up. She told me I'd been in and out for days and that they'd told everyone I was dead. They kept me in one of their stashes for two weeks and then they gave me a hundred grand to disappear." My eyes widened just as everyone elses in the room did, one fucking hundred thousand pounds and for what? To just disappear, something isn't adding up.
"Half of it's yours I hear though so here's your money Er-bear." He chucked me a duffel bag and when I opened it I was almost sick but Layla? Well she ran to the downstairs bathroom faster than I'd ever seen her run before. "We're just gonna go see if Layla's alright." Cal excused him and Harry as they both left the room and closed the door behind them.
"Why do I feel like you're missing something Dylan? As fucking if Gary Jackson is gonna hand over 100k for nothing." I shook my head not believing it for one fucking second. "Just take the fucking money Erin." Ronnie groaned lifting his his up and rolling his eyes.
"No fucking way, it's dirty money Ron! There is no way in hell I'm taking that, you can pay me back with your wages. I spent years, YEARS clearing my name and getting away from this shit!"
"The business was settled when I 'died', they didn't want any more blood on their hands so they let me go. Gary's already getting sent down, actually most of them are so they told me to get the fuck out of Glasgow and to never come back."
"Actually the business was settled when Ronnie gave them fifty grand, right Ron." He nodded in his head slowly in reply, probably too shocked to speak.
"I stayed in a hotel for a bit in New Castle before coming to London, it took me a while to find you but I met a girl in a coffee shop who knew you and she told me where I could find you."
"Who?" I asked, he shrugged his shoulders and continued looking out the window.
"Short girl, brown hair and kinda bitchy." Lets be the honest the description wasn't the best, I was completely clueless.