His Badass Mute

Chapter 22: Spiteful Serpent

Even if he couldn't, I didn't want to take that chance. Rather be safe than sorry. "Give me your shoes."

"Give me your money," Zach joked.

"What?" I asked, incredulously. Was this really the time for Zach to be joking?! He must have been losing his mind along with Alec.

"What?" Zach played dumb, and I rolled my eyes.

"Hurry! I don't have time. The shoes will give me a couple of inches at most," I looked in the back seat and had found his bag. He had always carried extra items in my car. The windows were tinted beyond the legal limit, so I knew the outsiders couldn't see in.

I got his socks and folded them in half, putting them in both shoes. I got his tank top and put it in the right shoe and put it on. I put his boxers (I'm glad they were clean) in the left shoe and put that one on as well.

Zach put on his slippers that were in the back seat while I pulled my hood up and opened the door. Zach did the same, following me out. I wanted to tell him to stay in the car, but I knew it was no use. I needed him, and I knew he wouldn't be willing to let me go alone.

I walked next to Zach and stood straight while squaring my shoulders. Despite being in a life or death situation, I had to fight the urge to laugh because I was about an inch shorter than Zach. So this is what James felt like when he stood next to Zach.

Damien was standing under a light post next to his parked car, but I stopped before stepping into the light. I looked for his friends, but they weren't with him. It was just him and other guys I had never seen before. I stood in the darkness as he stood in the light. I was scared. I didn't want anything bad to happen between us.

James was right, I was trusting. And a lot more than I was willing to believe. I didn't want to lose Damien. The thought of never speaking to him again felt painful. I didn't want to lose him again. I lost him freshman year after I was starting trust.

I didn't want history to repeat itself, but history had a tendency to repeat when you didn't learn from it. Would it repeat this time? What was the lesson? Trust?

Zach stopped walking a little ahead of me so that half of his body was in the light and half was out in the darkness. I was worried the entire time. Damien was smart, he could figure out I'm the one under the hood.

At that moment, I wondered if it would have been such a bad thing for Damien to know the truth. The whole truth, everything. To know who was under the hood and to hear me speak. To know everything about me and not hold back from him, and if he didn't like it or couldn't handle the truth then oh well. That would have been a loss in him.

Ultimately I decided it was a very bad thing. He hated the King. He would only end up hating me as well.

"Zach?" Damien asked and held a look of shock. He was trying to figure out why Zach was with me and all I could do was hope he wouldn't figure it out. "What the hell?" He looked at me, but I knew he couldn't see me because my hoodie was too far extended outward. Damien gave up trying to see who was under the hood and looked back at Zach.

"We need you to call off the cops," Zach said.

"As much as I like you, Zach," Damien looked at me, curling his lip in anger and continued. "I don't think I can."

"You don't think you can? Or you don't think you want to?" Zach snapped. They were both angry and for the first time, Damien was having a hard time concealing his emotions.

"Everyone wants to know who's under the hood," Damien mocked.

Please don't do this, Damien. Please.