Tattoos and Scars | Completed, Unedited

17 | We're Still Friends

"No, it's fine, I wouldn't want you to burn yourself," I tell him.

He takes my right hand, when he notices the burn mark from a few years ago. His frown deepens, almost as if he's about to murder someone. His thumb grazes another scar from a deep cut, and I pull my hand away. "This is why I wear sweatshirts," I tell him bitterly.

I mix the pancake batter, as he just stands there. The pan is heated by now, and I pour the batter onto the pan. He shuffles uncomfortably.

"You make good pancakes."

"Thanks. I work at a pancake restaurant. Or at least I used to."

I flip the pancake, and then put it onto his plate. I place many strawberries on the side, and hand it to him. I flip three more and put them all on his plate.

"What about you?"

"No, I'm fine."

"I can't be the only one eating. That's bad manners," He says, as he gives me two of his pancakes.

"Are you sure?" I ask him and he nods without a second thought. "I'll only take one. You know I don't eat two."

"One for you and one for me, which makes two," He says, as he gives me two pancakes.

"If you only eat one, then I'm going to think that you didn't eat the one that I gave you," He says, almost sounding like one of those moms.

"Okay," I say and stare at the two pancakes on my plate.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

After eating the pancakes, it's now 4AM. I'm currently laying on my stomach, on the sofa that can be converted to a bed. Adrian is sprawled out with one leg about the sofa's backrest and one dangling off the edge.

"I'm getting bored," Adrian complains.

"Then go to sleep," I tell him.

"But then you'll be up alone."

"Like every night."

"But I'm already up with you, it would be rude if I fell asleep," He tells me.

"You need your sleep."

"Well so do you," He argues back.

"But I'm used to it. You're not."

"You have no idea what I'm used to and what I'm not!" He yells, clearly aggravated.

"Oh... I'm sorry," I mumble quietly as I get up and head over to my room. At least he'll go to sleep if he thinks I'm asleep.

"I'm going to bed. You should too."

But that's when a loud sound breaks the silence. I hear windows breaking and I see Adrian quickly and alertly get up onto his feet and grabs a gun from the TV stand.

"What's happening?!" I yell across the loud noise. Anna and Blake both rush out of the same room which makes me wonder what they were doing.

"Blake, grab a gun. Anna, you take Bailey and head to the basement!" Adrian orders, as Anna grabs my hand, and runs toward a hallway I never knew existed. She opens a door that leads to a staircase.

"What was happening?" I question.

"It's a shoot out."

"A what?"

"You know how Adrian's a gang leader and all that, well this is a part of being in a gang. It's normal, but he always turns out fine though, so we're good," She explains, as she leads me into the basement.

It's another paradise down here. With glistening white tiles, and a comfortable couch with a kitchen and TV. Someone could live down here.

"I know, fancy. What do you want to do, when Adrian and Blake sort it all out?" She asks. Her hair is messy, and lipstick looks smeared. There are purple marks on her neck, which means that Blake and Anna weren't exactly sleeping. "Hey, you're wearing a shirt!"

"Yeah, it was getting hot, and Adrian coaxed me into it," I tell her.

"So... what were you both doing up... at night... together?" She waggles her eyebrows at me.

"I made pancakes for him."

She looks a little disappointed. "That's it?"

"Yeah."

"No... um... cute stuff?"

"We went to the beach," I tell her while leaving out the holding hands part and all.

"So... how are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you cuts healed? Does it still hurt?"

I'm starting to hate it when they ask me about it, because I know they're there, but I really want to try and forget that they are for a while.

"No, not yet, but it doesn't really hurt much," I tell her casually, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"I'm sorry, I should probably stop talking about it. I'm guessing you don't like that," She tells me, guiltily.

"Yeah, kind of. But it's okay."

"Hey, you wanna see the dungeons?" She asks excitedly.

"The what?!"

"The place where Adrian keep prisoners."

What?! He keeps prisoners? This just got a little more dangerous.

"Sure," I say, because curiosity gets the best of me. She moves aside a bookshelf to reveal a passageway. The hall is dim lit, and there are ten cells on each side.

"Be careful though, some are really a sight," She shudders. "The ones at the end are the ones that Adrian hates most. The ones here are the people that Adrian just... dislikes."

"Why are they in here?"

"Caught off territory and trying to steal our things."

"Oh."

She heads towards the end of the hallway and nearly shrieks at someone. "Damn son, what are you here for?"

Like I said curiosity gets the best of me and I join her too see a terrible... terrible sight. His face is covered in bruises, and his mouth is bleeding like crazy. Where are his teeth?

"Um... Anna... What the hell happened to him?" I gasp. He looks so tired out, and is curled up in a corner, moaning every now and then. I look closer, and his facial features get a little clearer.

He looks around his mid-twenties. He has blonde hair, and he's a little less than seven feet tall.

I look around all the other cells, to see a brunette, and two others.

Oh. My. God.

These are the guys from that night.

Adrian has them in here.

And they're very badly beaten up.

But the first thing in my mind that comes up is... who the hell told him?

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and oh my gawd, get me a guy like Adrian.