Claimed By 'The BadBoy' {Complete}

CBTBB - Chapter 30 - Taylor

"Go Baby Go!" I shout as Greg jogs by, knowing full well that he might not even hear me over all the noise in the gymnasium. Clapping my hands as Greg's team scores another much needed point, Zach turns and grins at me. I was very surprised that he chose to sit beside me during Greg's game instead of beside Tiago.

"So you really like him huh?" I don't pretend that I have no clue about why he is asking me that question. I know full well that it's thanks to them that Greg survived into adulthood.

"Yeah I do." I admit as I press the tips of my pressed together hands to my lips as the opponent gives Greg's team a difficult ball. "He gives me some sort of peace. Whenever he looks at me, he looks at me with the kind of eyes that tells me he unlike a lot of others is able to look past the Mob, past the fiery temper. And he sees just me, plain me. Without all the things and problems and hardships that happened me to be who I am today." I sigh as Greg's team manages to get the ball over the net but only to have it blocked by the other team.

"And you'll never hurt him?" We both stand clapping as the game ends and Greg's team sadly loses.

"I can't promise that." I say after thinking it over for a while. For the corner of my eye I can see Zach still as he is about to place his for on the next stair as we make our way out of the gymnasium. "But what I can promise is to let him go if things get too much. For the both of us. I am willing to let him go if that is the best for him."

Walking outside to the parking lot, I text Greg that I will be with Syl at the mall since I promised him that we would go shopping today for some new clothes. The damn brat grows way too quickly. After some hesitation I send him a text that I will not be able to meet him until Sunday and explain that I am going to visit Julian at the mental hospital since he has been asking about me. And that I was pretty sure I would need some time to gather my thoughts after the visit and blow off some steam at the gym.

After I have Syl buckled up in his car seat and just turned the ignition on, Greg texted me back saying he understands since I told him about Julian and he said he would visit me at the gym. Syl's excited babble about Greg's game soothed me. He came along since Lo demanded that he too was going to bring a friend since Greg brought me and Nance brought Rafa.

Ignoring the curious stares, I slowly follow Syl around the ground floor of the mall. Unlike most people here at the mall, Syl knows exactly what shop he wants to visit and what he wants to buy. That is why I never mind taking Syl on a shopping trip. He, unlike Meredith and Rafa never really strays from what he needs to buy and doesn't enter shops that are quite popular with the rest of the people. Syl never really follows the on-going trend, whether it's clothes or toys. He reminds me a little of an old man. That reminds me that I should go and buy Syl that video game he has been dying to buy but Meredith wouldn't allow him.

"Syl, do you wanna..." I turn to face him as I look up from my phone but the spot where he was admiring the storefront of a new bookstore is empty. I frown a little; surely he hasn't gone in without telling me? I look through the shops window and only see a few people milling about. As I walk up to the door to open it, I hear Syl call out to me.

"Fratello! Fratello! You have to see this!" Syl comes running up to me with a big smile on his face. "Lo told me about this amazing thing fratello! Can we please do this?" He asks as he tugs me on my arm towards where there are a lot of parents and kids gathered.

Oh man, I really hate crowds like this. I winch as we reach the crowd of excited children milling about and making a lot of noise. The urge to turn around and walk away is huge, enormous even, but then I see Syl's excited face and cave in. It has been awhile since I saw him this excited or happy.

"I wanna be a pirate!!!" He chirps as he quickly runs over to the huge open trunk with all kinds of costumes spilling out. He looks sadly at the context of the trunk, as the small pirate costume is not there. There are tears in his eyes as he looks up at me as I place a soothing hand on his small hunched over shoulder.