"You guys work at a fucking strip club?!" Schlatt shouted, sitting up as Noah parked the car behind the club.
Noah snickered. "Work at one? No, man. You got it all wrong. We own the club." He smiled as he turned the car and stepped out. "Come on, Travis is waiting for us in the back."
The six of you stepped out of the car and headed inside, Noah stretched as he walked ahead. "Fellas, welcome to the Lunch Club. First official restaurant combined strip club. That's in this state, at least from what I know."
As you entered you were hit with the loud sound of music as well as a faint smell a smoke. Not exactly cigarette smoke, but just.. smoke of some sort. Of course you all had entered through the back so the main club scene wasn't visible, it seemed to just be an employees room for now.
"Oh, you guys are back!" Travis perked up, a big smile on his face. "I was starting to get worried, it's been.. two hours?"
Cooper chuckled as he walked over, sitting down on a small bench. "It's a long drive, Travis. We had to get there earlier so these assholes wouldn't die."
Though a little confused, Travis seemed understanding. "Oh, okay! Was anyone hurt?"
Nodding slowly, Ted sat down and gave a sigh. "One of those fuckers stabbed me in the arm. Y/N fixed me up pretty good, though. I'll be okay."
While the others began to talk to each other, mainly about the situation, you couldn't help but notice that Charlie was quieter than usually. He sat away from everyone, his knees close to his chest.
"Something wrong?" You asked softly, walking over and taking a seat next to him. "You're being awfully quiet.."
He slowly looked up at you and gripped onto the sleeve of his shirt, before letting out a small sigh. "It's just.. I don't want to deal with him again.." Charlie said with a frown. "He's done so much bad stuff.."
You slowly moved your hand over and carefully rubbed his back. "How bad are we talking..?" You couldn't help but ask.
Staying quiet, Charlie leaned over and laid his head on his shoulder. "Awful.. he's.. he's done so much.. worse than us.." He gripped onto your arm, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
"Shh.." You shushed him softly, carefully resting your head on his. "I'm gonna stop you there. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
Carefully you ran your fingers through his hair, trying to relax him a bit. He just nodded slowly before cuddling closer to you, his face buried into your arm.
Finally you tuned back into the conversation the other boys were having, hearing Noah speak up. "It's pretty late anyway, we should settle down for the night. Cooper and I will go and get the club shut down. Travis, how about you show these guys to the guest rooms?"
"Guest rooms?" Ted asked as he raised an eyebrow. "You mean the rooms people fuck in?"
Laughing, Cooper turned and walked towards the door. "You guys figure that out!" He said with a smirk, before walking out, Noah following behind him.
Schlatt shivered a bit before standing up. "Fucking hell, those sheets better have been wash or I'm sleeping on the floor."
"Oh, don't worry!" Travis said with a small giggle. "We get them washed or replaced everyday. Just so there's no guest complaints." He hummed, before heading over to the door. "Follow me!"
As Ted and Schlatt followed, you looked over and gently nudged Charlie. "Come on, let's go.. I think all of us need some rest." You said softly.
Nodding slowly, he stood up but tightly held onto your hand. "Will you.. will you stay with me for a bit..? If it's not too much to ask.."
You held onto his hand and smiled. "Of course. I don't mind at all." You said softly. "I'll stay as long as you need me to."
"Thanks, Y/N.." He said with a small smile. "That means a lot.."
And soon, you two were following behind the others, ready to settle down for the night.
As Travis showed all of you the rooms you headed into Charlie's room with him. It was honestly awkward but you didn't mind to lay with him for a while, as long as he was being comforted.
He honestly seemed more cuddly than usually, as soon as you sat down he hugged onto you, his face burying into your back. You reached back and carefully rubbed his arm, shushing him softly.
"Hey.." You said softly, carefully turning and hugging him in your arms. "I'm here, okay? Everything is okay.. we're both here, together. We're safe and far away from that asshole. Got it?"
Though he was hesitant, he soon gave a slow nod, sniffling as his eyes grew glossy from tears. "G-Got it.."
It was awful seeing him like this, you couldn't help but frown and pull him closer. "Breathe, Charlie. Breathe and slowly count to ten."
Gripping onto your arms, Charlie eventually gave a slow nod. You could hear him take a deep breath, before quietly mumbling and counting to himself.
"Slower." You said softly, carefully beginning to run your fingers through his hair. "Focus on the numbers.."
His counting got slower as his breathing began to slow down a bit, after getting to 8 he went quiet, leaning against you. He had thankfully fallen asleep.
Smiling, you carefully removed his glassed and set them aside, before carefully laying him back and pulling the blanket over him.
While he slept you at least wanted to walk around a bit on your own, wanting to get a feel of the place. Sure, it was awkward to stay at a literal strip club. But at least the place was nice.
Quietly exiting the room, you began to look around. Despite being closed a few lights stayed on, which lit the area up with different colors of purples and blues and pinks.
As you walked into the main area, you heard a small chuckle behind you. "Pretty cool, huh?"
You turned to see Cooper standing there, stretching a bit. "Don't worry, I wasn't following you or some shit. Noah forgot to put some of the drinks away so I came to do it for him." He said softly as he headed over to a bar area.
"Oh, no, you're fine.." You said softly, walking around a bit more. "This place is.. well, this is huge. How did you guys even manage this, if you don't mind me asking..?"
Cooper chuckled a bit as he headed over, climbing behind the bar and beginning to put a few of the drinks up. "When we broke away from Carson, we took a shit ton of money with us. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons he was so pissed, but yet he couldn't track our money down. We got away pretty easily."
Slowly walking over you sat at the bar, crossing your arms slightly as you watched him. "Seriously? So that's why he's pissed off?"
"That, and the fact we pretty much left him on his own. That's why he's after Schlatt and the others too." Cooper chuckled. "He's an ass, an absolute dickhead. The last straw was when he made Travis cry."
That made your eyes widen a bit. Travis seemed like such a sweet guy, what the hell could he have done to deserve something like that.
Resting your hands on the counter, you leaned forward slightly. "How did he make him cry..?"
He slowed down for a moment as if he was collecting his thoughts, he sat a bottle down before sighing. "We were going on a mission." He said softly. "Preparing for one, at least. Carson was rushing us. Travis, well, he doesn't do too good under pressure. He started panicking, dropping supplies and shit."
"Carson didn't like that too much, so he started yelling at him." Cooper continued on, continuing to put some bottles away. "He yelled at him a lot. But this time, it was different. He just didn't stop. He kept going on and on, insulting him, calling him 'useless' and 'a waste'. Noah and I tried not to get involved too often, but both of us snapped when he raised his hand and threatened to hit him."
Covering your mouth slightly, you gasped a bit. "He hit Travis..?"
Scoffing, Cooper shook his head and sat a bottle down. "Hell no. If he did we would've killed him." He chuckled softly, soon sitting down on a stool behind the bar. "As soon as he raised his hand Noah and I dropped everything and beat the shit out of him. While he was down he raided the place and ran. Took about $100k in the process."
You couldn't help but smile a bit. "You guys sure care about each other a lot, huh?"
"Of course. Travis is like- a younger brother to me. He didn't belong in the life of crime, and it showed. He seems happier here, which is all that matters to me, really." He chuckled slightly. "Noah's pretty cool. We've known each other for a while now. He's trustworthy, someone I can talk to."
That was honestly really sweet. You didn't expect it, especially from someone like Cooper. He always seemed so chill, it hardly ever seemed like he cared much for anything.
Chuckling a bit, Cooper soon stretched. "Well, that's enough about me. What about you, huh? I haven't heard much, despite about your father. He was a real dickhead, wasn't he?"
"Yeah. A huge dickhead." You said softly, nodding in agreement. "My mother died when I was still pretty young, so he was all I had to grow up with."
Cooper frowned slightly, leaned against the counter a bit. "Damn, I'm sorry to hear that. Ted lived with you for a bit though, didn't he?"
Tracing your fingers against the counter edge you nodded slowly. "Yeah. He was basically my only friend when I was younger. He ran away since my father was a prick, but I'm glad I found him again." You hummed quietly. "Charlie and Schlatt are amazing, too. If I didn't meet them I'd still be stuck with my father."
"Well, hey, that's a win win right there." Cooper smiled, before standing up and stretching once again. "I think I'm gonna head to bed. You got a room, right?"
Shaking your head slowly, you stood up as well. "Not of my own. Charlie needed comforting so I just went with him to his room."
"Hey, that's no problem. We've got tons of spares, you can take whatever empty room you want." He chuckled, before walking off. "Night, Y/N."
You gave a small wave as he headed off, leaving you standing there in silence for a moment.
In all honesty you were tired, heading to bed was probably the best thing to do right now.
Heading back to the area that had all the rooms, you looked around until you spotted a vacant room, heading inside and sitting on the bed.
But then you remembered Charlie. You worried about him, really. He seemed torn up over everything. Waking up without you could cause him to panic.
So, you stood back up, heading out of the room and back towards Charlie's. You'd hate to leave him alone, you didn't even want to picture it.
Walking into the room, you quietly turned the lights off and headed over, kicking your shoes off and laying next to him. He was still sound asleep, snuggled up under the covers, his eyes still slightly red and damp from crying.
Carefully you slid under the covers as well and gently dabbed your sleeve around his eyes, being careful not to wake him. Then, after giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead, you settled down as well, eventually falling asleep.