"Pierce..." I trailed off "That's you in the background."
My eyes focused on the background, clearly seeing Pierce in the back. "I'll see you soon." I read the caption aloud, beginning to put everything together as I watched the 3-second video play over and again. I was in disbelief, I could barely process it.
"What the fuck." June spoke aloud, her eyes wide and turning towards us with a look of confusion "Pierce why the fuck are you in the back of that photo." My heart began racing in my chest, my palms became sweaty and my breath became shallow.
"Holy shit." Pierce's eyes widened as he looked from the video to us "I remember where that was, it was at some party. I completely forgot but he was next to Mercury and me. He came up to us and asked for a lighter. Then he started complaining about his girlfriend, but he said her name was Jezzabelle."
"Jezzy..." I trailed off, doing everything possible to not break apart right now "That awful nickname. Jezzabelle is what people call prostitutes, and he used to call me Jezzy as his own personal prostitute. I couldn't stand it."
"Wait so you're telling me that Cayde went up to Pierce at a party almost three years ago and talked about you?" Triston put the words together, everyone trying to fit the last pieces into this neverending puzzle. I couldn't fathom it, I had no idea that Cayde had met Pierce prior to even knowing me.
"I can't fucking believe this. He didn't say his name was Cayde though, he said it was something else. I can't remember what it was though..." Pierce was in the same state of shock I was in "Get Mercury, she might remember. She was with me that entire night, she even talked to him a little bit before we left when the cops showed up."
"You're telling me we're going to use Mercury as a helpful source?" Triston stared at Pierce blankly with an Are-You-Serious expression written across her face. "What better idea do you have Triston?" Pierce snapped back at her and I turned to Triston and gave her a nod that it was okay.
Triston sighed and pushed herself up from the seat before walking over to the glass sliding door and pushing it open. "Mercury get your fake ass down here!" Triston screamed into the house, loud enough for everyone to hear "You can actually be of use for something rather than fucking married middle-aged men!"
It was moments later when Mercury came storming out with her arms crossed over his chest "You know if you want someone to come to you, insulting them is not a way to do that."
"Well it worked, didn't it?" Triston gave her a cocky smirk, earning an eye roll from Mercury. "Mercury we need you to look at this video and tell us if you know who this is." June insisted before playing the video in front of Mercury.
Mercury's eyes followed the video of Cayde before her eyes widened and her jaw had drop-down "Wait, holy shit! That's Cayde isn't it? And Pierce is in the background." Mercury looked up from the video, her eyes pondering over all of us as she began to put two and two together herself of exactly what was happening.
"Cayde was there that night of that party was in the Upper East Side, we talked to him and he was complaining about his girlfriend, Jezzabelle." Pierce recalled, reminding Mercury of their encounter that night "Although he said his named was something else, I can't remember what he said it had been."
"Jesus, what was it?" Mercury paced back and forth, her arms crossed over her chest "Beck...Beckham...Beckett! It was Beckett! He said he was visiting some family but that he was originally from Oregon."
"This means Cayde has known." I looked over to Pierce, trying to push down the anxiety that was rising within me "This means Cayde joined the Vipers shortly after we broke up, which means that he found out my mom was alive when I thought she had been dead for three years."
"Which means Cayde found out about Crestmont through the Vipers and your mom, he knew you'd find your way to Crestmont and began to close in on us. That's why he went to the party, he went to the party to meet Crestmont members...Pierce and Mercury." June shut the laptop closed, still sharing the wide eye looked.
"But how would he know she would join Crestmont?" Cypress spoke up, trying to find a plot hole within Cayde's scheme "I mean Aspen could've never joined, then his whole plan would have backfired."
"No, Cayde knew I was supposed to move to New York the following year." I closed my eyes shut, not believing that he planned this all out and we walked right into his trap "He found out I was moving to New York after we broke up, my dad wanted me to get a fresh start. He knew if I moved to New York that Crestmont would come after me to fill in my mom's legacy."
"I walked right into his plan..." I trailed off in disbelief "He scoped out Pierce that night knowing that Pierce was going to eventually meet me when I moved to New York. This isn't just revenged from the kidnapping, this is revenge for me breaking up with him three years ago and putting him on trial for all the things he did to me."
"What a sick fuck!" Triston scoffed, "Who does something like this anyways? I mean you guys were teenagers, he didn't seriously think that you would be together forever."
That was the thing though, Cayde did think we would be together forever. He knew that he could manipulate me into doing anything he wanted-so why wouldn't he want to be together forever. I just couldn't believe he's been one step ahead of me, he had been waiting for this since the day we had broken up.
"We need to tell Xander, I mean this adds so much to this shit show. God knows how long he's been at this considering he scoped Pierce out when we were only sixteen." Juniper let out a deep sigh, running a hand through her thick blonde hair "I mean does he ever take a break? He knew of us before we knew Aspen."
"But that's the thing." Pierce spoke up, turning his head to June "We all knew about Aspen because of Ashlynn, he knew we knew of herm even if we didn't know her directly." I hated the thought that Cayde knew about all of this before me, I hated he was always ahead of me no matter what I had tried. I was just a pawn in his game.
"Mercury-" A voice approached, all of us turning around to see Greyson come to a stop in the doorway and cross her arms over her chest "Did I the freshman orientation meeting or what? I mean what the hell are you all even doing."
"Keep it short, but Cayde has been scoping us all out since we were 16." Mercury blurted, and I immediately cursed her out for telling Greyson. We had enough people involved, the last thing I needed was more people especially when more meant Greyson Crawford.
"So what you're telling me is Aspen is once again the problem?" Greyson uncrossed her arms and stood up straight as she tore her body from the side of the doorframe. "Should of let her burn like the rest of them and then we wouldn't be here or on the run from her psycho ex-boyfriend."
I clenched my jaw, the entirety of my body becoming tense at Greyson's words. I was not about to sit here and argue with her, expecting her to understand the horror that Cayde had pushed onto me. She was selfish and stuck up, only concerned about herself. I bit my tongue back and told myself she wasn't worth my breath.
"It's not too late now. We could always drown her in the ocean." Greyson continued and I could no longer bite my tongue back. I stood up from my seat and turned to face Greyson, ready to wipe the smug look off her face.
"I'm so sick of hearing you speak, can you please open your mouth once and something come out that isn't so conceded. You're stuck up and a selfish bitch, and I don't know what your problem is with me but you better fix your attitude before I fix it for you." I snapped at her, watching as her face changed from smug to angry.
Greyson three-step closer to me, her face only inches from mine. Our eyes both held a glare, not one of us backing down to each other's stances. Our bodies matched each other, our height being about the same with only an inch or two difference.
"I hope he breaks your heart and you never show your face around here again." Greyson gritted the words through her pearly white teeth, her lips being pressed together in a thin line as she took another step forward.
"He won't."
"Why wouldn't he? Who wants a pussy that's been raped over and over again?" She spat the words out and before I could even fully process my fist was clutched at my side. Her lips tugged up into a smirk, her cockiness putting my anger into overload. Within a matter of seconds, I raised my fist and sent a punch flying to the center of Greyson's face.
I heard gasps from behind me as I watched Greyson stumble back, making her lose her balance. She placed her fingers up to her nose, lifting them to her eyesight and seeing the tips of her fingers covered in blood. Greyson looked up to me, her nose bleeding profusely.
It was at that moment I knew I would face the wrath of Greyson. It has been her mission to make me miserable since I had joined Crestmont. She knew exactly how to get under my skin with every word she said, both she and Mercury knew exactly had. I could handle Mercury, but Greyson was different. She was a lot more headstrong and had a lot of built-up frustration.
Greyson forced her body up from the balcony floor and lunged her body toward me. She sent a punch right back to me as fast as she could, her fist swinging through the air. The knuckles of her fist came in contact with my cheek, making my head swing to the side as the punch made the skin of my cheek begin to sting.
I wasted no time, throwing her off of me with all the force I could exert. Greyson's body hit the deck once more, her back followed by her head smacking against the wooden floor. I made my way over to her, my body falling on top of her as my legs straddled each side of her. I lifted my fist once again and sent another punch, followed by another one, and another one.
It was when I raised my fist for the fourth time that arms had engulfed my body. I have torn away, my body being pushed up against Pierce's chest. I watched Mercury rush over to Greyson, kneeling down to her side as she helped her sit up. My breathing was heavy, the rise and fall of my chest being accelerated.
The adrenaline was pumping through my body as I looked down at Greyson who was bleeding in more places besides her nose. Greyson looked directly at me, her light blue eyes sending daggers to me. "You bitch!" She shouted at me as she pushed Mercury's hand away and kept her attention on me "I hope you know he's going to leave you, just like how he left us. Then you'll just be another one of Pierce Gunner's sex toys."
I went to lunge back at her but was pulled back by Pierce. I fought to get out of his grip, trying to pull away so I could silence the insults that came from her lips. "Let me go!" I shouted, still attempting to pull away from his arms "Let go of me!"
Pierce let go of me momentarily only to grab me at the waist and throw me over his shoulder. His arm held onto my waist tightly as he began to leave the balcony. I kicked and squirmed, slamming my hands onto his back as I demanded he put me down. I took one last look at Greyson who was being cradled by Mercury. Everyone else stood in shock at what had just happened.
I stopped squirming under Pierce's grip once we had reached our bedroom, managing to slip past everyone else. Pierce put me down onto my feet and shut the door behind him. I stood up straight, running a hand through my long brown hair.
"Aspen, what's going on?" Pierce said defeated, but he knew exactly what was going on "Greyson always says shit to you, why go after her now? I'm not saying you're in the wrong, it's just not like you."
"Just couldn't take it," I admitted, looking off to the side to avoid eye contact. Pierce was right, I normally didn't let them get to me, and if it was any other day I would not have gone after her like that. But Greyson knew she had it coming.
Between everything with Cayde, and seeing the photos-It brought back a lot of unwanted memories. I spent all of last year running from the Coinstons and now I was spending my freshman year of college running from my ex and his plan of revenge. I felt like I had spent my whole life running, and I wasn't sure that was ever going to settle.
"You're bleeding," Pierce cupped the side of my face, his thumb touching my bottom lip that had been busted open from when Greyson took a swing at me. I raised my hand, placing my fingertips on the open gash and seeing the dark red blood that was coming from it.
Pierce grabbed my hand and pulled me into the nearby bathroom, picking my body up and sliding me onto the marble bathroom counter. "Pierce, I'm fine." I sighed, knowing I didn't exactly sound convincing "It's small, I'm ok."
Pierce ransacked through the bathroom cabinets, ignoring my comments and continuing to search. I stared down at the ground, the shadows of my feet swinging as they appeared on the floor. The lights had been blinding, making the both of us avoid eye contact with the ceiling where they had been built-in.
Pierce managed to find a first aid kit, searching through it where he found a small towelette that had been soaking in alcohol. He placed it to the side of my list, wiping up the blood and making me hiss at the sting from the contact of the open cut with the alcohol.
"You okay?" Pierce stopped for a moment, his gray eyes softening as he looked into my eyes. I nodded and he continued to finish, cleaning up all the blood that had arisen from the small gash in my bottom lip. He threw away the towelette, making his way back over to me and placing his forehead against mine.
Pierce's hands laid flat on my thighs, running up and down slowly. I kept my forehead placed against his, staring down at the ground as my mind raced. I didn't know what was happening anymore, I felt like my whole life was a lie and it was unfolding directly in front of me.
First, my mom was alive all this time, and now my ex-boyfriend has been planning out my future step by step. I told myself I was unpredictable, but that was proven wrong. I thought no one would be able to predict me joining Crestmont, I mean I hadn't even ever had a speeding ticket let alone join a gang.
But Cayde knew I would.
"Talk to me baby, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." I lied, not wanting to get Pierce anymore worried than he already was. I couldn't help but blame myself, I knew that Greyson was right and this was all my fault. Pierce and the rest of the gang were in trouble because of me. If I left Crestmont now they could all go back to living in peace, and I would become a distant memory.
"Don't tell me nothing is wrong. I can see it on your face." Pierce placed two fingers underneath my chin and forced me to look up at him, his body hovering over mine in height. There was no use in lying to Pierce, he could read me like a book even though I wished at times he couldn't. I bit my lip, debating whether I should even begin to try and explain what was going on in my head.
"It's just..." I trailed off, letting out a sigh as I tried to find the words of what to say next "It's just that Greyson is right. This is all my fault, if you guys never would have met me then you wouldn't be in this right now. Maybe I should just leave Crestmont forever."
"What? Aspen, what are you talking about?" Pierce said in disbelief, almost as if the idea was absurd for him "This is not your fault, you had no idea this would happen. And you're not leaving Crestmont, you're not going to be unprotected like that."
"I shouldn't need protection..." I murmured under my breath, beginning to feel embarrassed that I needed a babysitter 24/7. I didn't want to be some damsel in distress, but that is exactly what I was- just constantly waiting to be saved. "I mean you were my bodyguard for crying out loud, I look pathetic."
"And look where it got us." Pierce reached for my hands, intertwining our fingers together "Without that there would have never been an us, Aspen. And frankly, no life is worth living without you in it. Crestmont needs you. We need you...I need YOU."
"I think the last thing you or Crestmont needs is a damsel in distress."
"Well, you're one hell of a damsel in distress with the punches you throw." Pierce's lips tugged up into a smile, making me let out a chuckle as I smiled sheepishly. I slid my body off the counter, Pierce pulling me into a tight hug as soon as I found my balance.
His arms wrapped around my body, cradling me to his chest. I wrapped my hands back around him and placed the side of my face flat against his chest. I took in the smell of his cologne and could hear the beat of his heart through his chest. The smile grew wider on my lips as I listened in, Pierce's heartbeat being very comforting to hear.
"We are going to get through to this together." He whispered softly pressing his lips to my forehead "Right at each other's side. I'll save you as much as you need, just as long as you promise to save me."
I pulled back slightly, looking up at Pierce's eyes that bored down into me. "I promise." The smile on my face did not fade as I continued to stare up at him. He placed a small peck on my lips before we both had broken away from one another.
"Do you know if we have any ibuprofen? I have a pounding headache." I kept my eyes averted from the bright bathroom light. My head felt heavy, a persistent pounding in the front. I knew the headache was from all the stress I was under, and I knew I had to stop stressing as much as I could but it was easier said than done.
"Uh yeah, I think there's some out here." Pierce walked out into the bedroom, as I followed shortly behind him. I sat on the edge of the bed, while Pierce searched through the dresser drawers. He pulled out a small white box filled with different types of medicine that I had packed prior to us leaving.
Pierce placed the box beside me on the bed, searching through the different pill bottles to find ibuprofen. I watched as he skipped through allergy medicine, Tylenol, and more. He eventually found the bottle before dumping three pills out into his hand and grabbing a water bottle that sat on a nearby dresser.
Pierce handed me the water bottle but I didn't avert my eyes from the box. A pit grew at the bottom of my stomach, the pounding in my head becoming more persistent. My hands gripped The water bottle, my nails digging into the side of the plastic while I couldn't tear my gaze away.
"What's wrong?"
"What's today?" I blurted the words out, looking from the box of tampons that sat in the small white box next to the medicine. Pierce furrowed his brows at me, still holding the pills of ibuprofen in the palm of his hands.
"Saturday," Pierce answered, his brows still furrowed as he looked at me with confusion. My lips parted in realization, my body becoming overridden with anxiety. I clutched the water bottle tighter, crushing the sides of it before looking back up to Pierce.
"I'm late." I forced the words out, "My period is late."
* * * * * *
Happy Saturday!
What do you guys think of this chapter?
Question time:
Why do you think Cayde has been scoping out Crestmont since they were 16?
Do you think Cayde has any plans regarding Pierce? Or just Aspen?
Thoughts on Greyson? Do you think she's still jealous of Aspen?
Do you think Aspen is going to leave Crestmont to avoid the rest of them getting pulled into this?
Thoughts on the end of the chapter?
How do you think Piercee is going to react next?
Guesses for the next chapter?
~Ash