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"Say, have you all seen Kaden?" I ask Anna, or Blake. They both look like they're about to pass out any minute from sheer exhaustion.
"No," Anna drawls groggily. "We haven't been working with him at all. It's not like we're on good terms not either. I haven't seen him since forever. Nope. We weren't at his mansion just now," Anna rambles and I cock an eyebrow. It's not like her to talk like this. She's usually to-the-point about everything.
"Um, do you need sleep?"
"Yes! I fucking do need sleep! I've been working tirelessly, and this time, it's not spending the entire night fucking Blake," She rants.
"Um... yeah you can sleep on my bed. But only sleep, got it? I don't want to have to sanitize my entire apartment with holy water."
"Do I look like I can do shit in this state?" She growls out before making her way towards my bedroom. Blake looks at me and I nod, giving him permission to sleep as well. He looks at me like I just saved his life before speedily walking into my bedroom and throwing himself on my bed.
Easy there, fella! I bought that bed in IKEA, and it was the cheapest one there! It was also on sale! I don't want to have to assemble that shit again. This time, without the help of... I'M NOT GOING TO THINK ABOUT HIM!
"Wow, they were tired..." Dylan breathes.
"Um, I'll be right back, Dylan. I'm going to a local bookstore for those parenting books," Luna announces.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, it's fine. You relax, I'll be back in half an hour or something. I'll text you when I get there," She assures him. "Bye!" She waves at us before walking out of the apartment. I wave back, before turning to Dylan.
"It's just you and me. What do you want to do?"
"Eat."
"Smart. Well, Dylan. I'm leaving you in charge of the house, which I'll probably regret later, but I need to go over to Mr. Rodriguez's and my taxi is supposed to be here any minute."
"I'll try not to burn the house down," He jokes and I return him a serious expression. "I'm just kidding."
"Good," I narrow my eyes at him.
"Have fun!"
I don't know what'll be so fun about going back to the same neighborhood my childhood was in, but I guess he meant well. I wave, before grabbing my purse and heading out the door.
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"Here's the cash, pervert," I hiss at my taxi driver, who kept complimenting my ass the entire ride there. "I'm giving this a one-start review!"
"Don't be such a Karen," He scoffs and I resist the urge to remove my shoes and whack him with him. Cold feet are not a joke, people.
"I hope the next woman you drive has the time, unlike me, to beat you up!" I yell before walking into Mr. Rodriguez's store, trying my very best not to look around my neighborhood.
"There you are!" He exclaims excitedly, smiling from ear to ear. It was kind of hard to see though because he had a beard but that just made him look cuter. "I missed you, girl. How are you feeling?"
"Why is everyone asking me that question?" I find myself unintentionally snapping. "Sorry, I'm just... ugh. I can help you around the store for a while, if you want." I don't know why I was being so angry all of a sudden. Maybe it had to do something with the driver, or just the fact that I'm here and not away from here.
"No, no. It's fine. What brings you here?" He dismisses my help.
"I just wanted to visit you."
"I could have come to visit you instead. I know you don't like being here."
"It's fine," I grumble through gritted teeth. "It doesn't bother me at all." That was such a lie, but I didn't want to not visit Mr. Rodriguez. He'd done so much for me since I was born. I couldn't trouble him by asking him to drive over to my apartment.
"Well, you don't get nightmares anymore?"
"I don't get sleep anymore"
"You need to see a therapist."
"No, I don't." I don't need help from anyone. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I'm done relying on people, emotionally or physically. All they do in the end is hurt you anyway.
"Your knuckles seem to say otherwise. Did you hurt yourself?" He asks, clearly worried. "Was it because of Adrian?"
"Don't," I felt my heart begin to race, and I clenched my fists. So I change the subject. "Let's just talk about other things. Did you know that Dylan and Luna are expecting a baby in March?"
"Yeah. You've told me before."
"You're technically going to be a grandfather, because I treat you like a father and Luna's like my sister and she's having a baby which means that you're going to be a grandfather!" I do some lame jazz hands after my really dumb family tree explanation.
"You're changing the subject," He points out.
"That's a good thing."
"No it's not. I'm telling you that you need to see a therapist. I can see how much the past has been taking a toll on you. You look like a fucking zombie."
"That's not a very grandfatherly thing to say," I grumble.
"I'm not that old!" He defends. "Anyway, I'm not trying to force you to see one, but I'm just saying that it'll make you feel better."
"I'll think about it," I answer, hoping that he'll stop talking about that right about now. I'm doing a very good job keeping all the bad memories at bay. "Now here, let me help you with the register," I declare.
"It's a pretty slow day, you know."
"Yeah, and I'll have an excuse to play Subway Surf," I chuckle dryly. It was taking me every fiber in my body to keep me distracted. I pull out my phone, only for it to be opened to a background of me and Adrian taking a selfie. I was making a goofy double chin while Adrian was biting my nose.
A sharp pang went through my heart, and I immediately switched it off. For some reason, I couldn't bear to change my background. Fuck love! Why does it have to be so hard?! One-sided love sucked!
It hurts because you know you'd forget your pride that keeps your head held high and would be on your knees for someone who wouldn't even bother to lower their head for you.
Everything sucks ass. Sometimes, I really wish there was a way to eliminate all feelings in your body and just go numb. Feeling nothing is better than feeling everything. I would give up the beautiful feelings to stop feeling these ugly feelings.
I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths. In and out. In and out. "Oh, it's you," A snarky voice comments. Who the fuck is that? I internally groan, before opening my eyes. "How are you doing with the breakup?"
I STILL DON'T KNOW THEIR NAMES WHY ARE THEY HERE! "I told you black and white is a good combination."
"The fuck?" I felt my voice slightly quiver.
"Adrian Black's mafia and Ava's father's mafia," She replies as if it's the most obvious thing on Earth. "They'd make an excellent combination once they're married."
I scoff, ready to strangle these bitches. "Adrian left me for her?"
"We always knew he'd come back to her. You were just another notch on his bed. Ava just made him realize that," The redhead sneers. By now, Mr. Rodriguez is listening in too.
"Made him realize it?" I ask, slowly, dangerously. What the hell were they talking about? Sometimes, I really get concerned about the amount of crack running in their veins.
"He'll realize it soon enough."
"So he hasn't realized it?"
"You ask too many questions. No wonder your dad killed himself." Before I know it, my fist makes contact with the first girl I see, which happens to be the black-haired girl. Her jaw drops, and she grabs my hair, pulling me forward.
I wince when my stomach hits the edge of the counter, and this time, I scramble over the counter and kick her off of me, causing her to stumble backwards.
Before things can get good, Mr. Rodriguez runs up to me, pulling me off of the girl. "Ava was right in her decision to threaten Adrian into leaving you! You're no good for him anyway!"
I stop fighting against Mr. Rodriguez's grip at her words.
Threatened?
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a/n: ALKAFJLSDA bailey knowssssss!!! what do you think she's going to do now that she knows?
anyway, i just- i'm stressed out. i hope you liked this chapter! ♥️ make sure you vote and comment! comments always make my day and are very therapeutic to read 😭 unless they're hate comments.
but either way, i love youuu! (unless you're hating on me)