F I F T Y - S I X
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Thomas was shooting questions at the girl as we walked through the building, warm lights now surrounding us.
Turned out the building wasn't abandoned at all. Women and men sat everywhere, staring at us like we were weirdos while they were the ones with ripped clothes and greasy hair.
"What brings you here?" The girl turned to us. She had buzzed, black hair, doe eyes, but somehow she seemed dangerous too.
Thomas looked at me before he spoke, "We were just walking through the woods, then we saw this building."
"And you just go in here?"
"Pretty much." He stared at the ground now. "But hey, we don't mind leaving and—."
"Jorge wants to meet you." She interrupted him. "Would like to see if you two are... valuable."
"Valuable? For what? Who's Jorge?"
The girl never replied. A few minutes later, she stopped walking, a man's back in front of us. "Jorge."
He turned around slowly, revealing his darker skin, and short, curly hair. The man, Jorge, held up his hands in a welcoming. "Hermano, Hermana!"
Thomas gave me another suspicious glance before he turned to Jorge, not talking anymore.
"What brings you here?" He asked as he poured a cup full with some kind of drink. "Stealing? Curious eyes?"
"Curious eyes." Thomas muttered.
"Ah, I see." He rubbed his forehead. "Two more questions. Where are you from, who are you?"
"We're from the US. On a holiday." I said. "Who are you?"
"I suppose I asked first, Hermana. Brenda, check 'em."
The girl opened a laptop and started typing as Thomas only frowned more at Jorge.
"Who are you?" The girl who I supposed was Brenda now asked. "Names."
It took us a long time to reply.
"Thomas Edison and Quinn Parker."
She typed something in. "Family members, Noah and Claudia Edison. Erica and Dante Parker. Seventeen and nineteen. From the US, indeed."
With wide eyes, I stared at Brenda. How the hell did she know all this information?
"You're staying in that hut on the others side, aren't you?" Jorge took a sip of his drink. "All alone."
"Yes." Thomas lied. Whatever this was, we wouldn't betray our friends. We barely knew these people. "Who are you?"
"Let's call it a... station for the homeless. I lead this place along with Brenda. Try to catch as much homeless people to find out why they are homeless. If the reason is bad, we... handle them, if they have a good reason, they stay here."
"Why?"
"Gotta make money somewhere." Brenda rested her head on her palm. "Anything better than stealing, right... Thomas?"
I could feel his body tense beside me. Did they really know everything?
"One of our men is close enough to the police to get some of their files." Jorge explained at our confused faces. "We do know everything."
"And I don't believe you're on a holiday all alone." Brenda let go of a breath. "Newton Isaacs. Family members, Sonya Isaacs. Jessica Isaacs is married to Frank Isaacs."
Thomas' jaw clenched. His hand tightened around mine, and suddenly his behavior from confused changed to protective.
"Who else?" Jorge looked at Brenda.
"Minho Lee. Nari Lee, Raphael Lee, and Jennifer Lee."
My body tensed at hearing them knowing Minho's name and his family. I swallowed, holding back any words I wanted to yell.
"Teresa Agnes, Aris Jones, Siggy Egmund, Winston Churchill, and Harriet Tubman."
Thomas' mouth had dropped open. "How do you know all that?"
"You think your father will let you leave the continent without making sure all his colleagues know where you are?"
"He's watching me?"
"Pretty sure he is, Hermano."
"Fuck." He muttered, knowing he had gotten arrested two times and that his father was a cop.
Oh, well.
"How much do you know about us?"
"More than you would want." Jorge sat down now.
"Thomas Edison, arrested by underage drinking and accused of robbing." Brenda raised an eyebrow. "Quinn Parker, arrested by being part of an illegal party and also accused of robbing. Called 911 on the second of January, six months ago."
I bit my lip, not daring to make eye contact with anyone as Brenda continued to talk.
"Said she needed an ambulance."
That wasn't me, I wanted to say. That was Aiden with my phone, telling them to get an ambulance because I had tripped and accidentally cut myself on a sharp part of a building, I wanted to say. But that's not the true story.
"For now, I'm going to let you go." Jorge touched his chin. "But don't be surprised if we'll meet again."
Five minutes later, Thomas and I were walking back to the hut.
"Where'd you call the ambulance for?" He asked.
I didn't respond.
"Quinn." Thomas stopped walking, forcing me to do the same. "Why?"
I lifted a part of my shirt, showing the white scar where Aiden had slashed the knife, then continued walking with my lips pressed together.
Whenever I thought about that moment, I got goosebumps and felt sick, especially because now, I knew none of it was normal.
"What's that from?" He sped up his walk to catch up with me. "It looks painful. Where is it from?"
"Can we just go back?" I mumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Sorry." He pinched the bridge of his nose. A few minutes of silence, then, "Is it from him? The ex boyfriend?"
I just nodded.
"Does Minho know?"
I shrugged. "He definitely saw the scar."
"But he doesn't know what it's from?"
"He knows." I said. "But not exactly. I never told him. He just realized. But he never got the details."
"It's so awful." Thomas looked down. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's over now, anyway." I lied. "He's out of my life."
"Good that."
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We got back on the right time, and no one questioned what happened because they all thought it was still a walk we went on.
Minho was the first to meet me again, his arms wrapping around my body as he whispered he missed me in just the hour I had been gone.
"Minho?" I watched him once we sat down on the couch. "Teresa invited me to a sleepover with the girls. Can I go?"
"Sure, of course." He smiled. "Need anything for it?"
"No." I smiled back, appreciating he let me go. "Just gotta bring a pillow, but we're staying in Sonya and Harriet their room."
"I will miss you, though." With a sigh, Minho lay his head on my lap.
"I'll miss you too." I chuckled.
He tapped me on my nose. "No, you won't. You'll have too much fun to miss me."
"Maybe you and all the boys can have a sleepover too." I suggested, still smiling. "And thanks for letting me go."
"Mhm." He got off me again, then patted on his lap. "Come here for a sec."
I, kind of shamelessly, sat down on his lap, facing him. "Yeah?"
"I've got something planned." He intertwined his fingers with mine. "Tomorrow night."
I moved my eyebrows up, giving him a sign that he could continue.
"After swimming tomorrow, I'm going to take you on a date. A real date. 5:30, flowers, and my beautiful girl. We get dinner at a nice beach club, then go watch a movie, but not in a cinema. On a beach, you know? With the screen and everything. Then ice cream, and we sit down somewhere and talk... maybe a little bit of kissing. Or a lot of kissing. Then, back here, late night snack, and cuddling... maybe something else. We'll see about that." He gave me a big smile. One where his dimples appeared. "What does my lady think?"
"I think that that's a very lovely idea." I pressed my forehead to his. "And I'll gladly go on a date with you."
"I was hoping that." He murmured before connecting my lips with his, immediately straightening his back to reach me easier.
I hummed and cupped his face, my heartbeat going faster than usually when he caressed his hands from my waist to lower back over and over again.
He kissed softly, yet his lips seemed to press right through mine. His breaths tickled the skin above my lips while I felt mine speed up. At some point, I used my hands to guide his hands lower than my back, placing them exactly where I wanted them to be before my fingers slid into his hair again.
"EW!"
"GET A ROOM!"
"Gross!"
Exhaling deeply, I pulled away from Minho and stared at Frypan, Teresa, Sonya, and Aris.
"We have a room, we're just not in it." Minho's hands never left my body. "Any problems with it?"
"You're literally making out in the living room!"
There was a triumphant look on Minho's face when he made eye contact with me again. He took my chin, smashing his lips onto mine and then proceeding to kiss like he had been a starving man, just to tease the others.
"Oh my gosh!"
"You're disgusting!"
"Stop this. I'm gonna go blind!"
"You could also just not look." Breathless, Minho stopped kissing for a second time. My whole face had turned red through it all. "But sure, we'll stop now. I'll make dinner."
I nearly fell off his lap.
What couldn't that man do?
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A/n: AAH, dates & sleepovers 🤭
Hope you enjoyed!! x Vera