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Andrew's POV:
I smirked at her reddened cheeks, amused by how she kept on trying so hard to hide them from me. I pick up the keys from the living room table and yell goodbye, my smirk dropping as I remembered what I had to do. Living in the Heights was never going to be easy for me - despite my father's reputation, people still messed with me. More than once, my apartment had been broken into. Of course, no one dared to steal anything as soon as they figured out whose house they had broken into but it still aggravated me to see that my door was wide open.
"Andrew." I hear as soon as I push the door open. I sigh, "Adam, look, I know that you said -" "That you'd get her involved and that they're going to find her? You're in too fucking deep and you don't even know it." I shake my head, "There's nothing between us! She -" "Saved you twice and let you stay over at her house. Let me ask you this, Andrew, doesn't it hurt you to think that you're going to be the reason for her death?" Adam asks coldly, ignoring my flinch and plowing on; "Because that's what's gonna happen. They're never going to stop, Andrew. They'll kill her and then they'll continue to try to kill you." "They're not going to get to her!" I snap, angry. Adam opens his mouth and I shoot him a glare, knowing exactly what he was gonna say next. Resignation passes over his face and sits back on my couch. "You know, Lacey said that she saw you guys together and that you called her your girlfriend? Who is this girl, Andrew?" "Is it any of your business?" Adam's mouth opens and then snaps shut. "That's what I thought." "What are you doing tonight?" I shake my head, "I finished the job last week - I just came back to get a bag." Adam shakes his head, smiling sadly. "When will you stop lying to everyone that cares about you?"
* * *
"Why did you send someone after her?" I ask, my arm pressing tightly onto their trachea. The person shook their head furiously and I muttered a curse. "Don't make me do it - you know how I hate it when they scream." But he's still shaking his head and whimpering. I sigh. I really did hate doing this - it was always my least favorite job but business was business. I push him away from me, shaking my head. I lean forward, a snarl on my lips. "If I find out that even one more of your goons goes after her -" I say menacingly, my teeth clenched together. He stumbles backward, choking as the oxygen rushed back into his lungs. He shakes his head furiously, "No, I'd never. No one is ever gonna bother her again - don't worry about it, Mr. Wayne."
I didn't necessarily have to go chase this creep down but after threatening Lena's life, I knew that I had no choice. In the Heights, someone's position is determined by the fear factor that they have when someone says their name. I knew that my last name, Wayne, stopped the hearts of too many creeps in the Heights and I also knew that my father's name was something that sent even the most intimidating drug lords into cardiac arrest. Names are a big deal in the Heights and I was going to make sure that Lena's name was known so that if she ever made the mistake of coming to the Heights alone, just telling someone her name would cause someone to run away in fear. There's an undeniable sexual tension that runs between us. Even though I had to mentally grow up, it didn't mean that my body had grown up as well. Being around Lena made me feel aroused - something that Lacey couldn't ever do for me. I let my mind drift of to Lena's smiling face, thinking of all the dirty things that could happen between us...and then I hit myself in the face. What kind of person had I become? I was fantasizing about I girl that I swore is only my friend? She's only your friend, Andrew. Only your friend.
I push my way into her house and my heart begins to beat furiously - I couldn't stand the thought that someone had come to her and stolen her while I was gone.
Andrew -
This is your dinner. Heat it up for 2 minutes and there's soda in the fridge. See you tomorrow.
Lena xx
A smile stretches across my face at the sight of the dish on the table. I contemplate eating before checking on her but I push the thought away, instead turning towards the stairs to walk towards her room. "Lay?" I walk towards her bed and notice that she had rolled over at the sound of my voice and a goofy smile was now on her face. My lips twitch as she pulls herself up into a sitting position, groggily patting the spot next to her on her bed. "Come, we need to talk." I freeze, but sit next to her anyways, seeking her warmth in the air-conditioned room.
"I've been thinking," She starts awkwardly, her hand twitching in her lap. "ever since I've met you, I've been getting into a lot of...things." My mouth opens but she turns to me, her eyes surprisingly clear despite the fact that she had just woken up. "I've found you bleeding and injured. I've been confronted by rumors and psychos - and I'm not talking about the guy in the classroom - and being near you has gotten me stabbed in the side and I now have a twisted arm. And all through that," Her tone softens, "I still want to know you - as a person. Which is fucking crazy, if you ask Tessa, because even though you're super hot, I have a stab wound because of you. Jeez, what am I even thinking when I say this...but if you need help. I'll be there. But you need to tell me what's going on with you; please." I turn away from her hopeful face - a face hopeful that I would finally open up but I'm trying to conjure up reasons why I shouldn't.
"Andrew?" Her soft voice interrupts my train of thought and I turn back towards her and a look of apprehension flashes through her eyes.
"It would be better if you didn't know." I say darkly.
But she doesn't want to take 'no' for an answer - it figures, she's pretty head strong - instead plowing on with her speech.
"If you don't tell me, I'll tell everyone that you - that you...I'll think of something! But it'll be bad. So."
I chuckle at her weak threat and pat her on the thigh which brings her cheek to a pretty blush. "It's not something I can tell people."
Her eyes widen comically and her mouth opens but I sigh.
"I'm not an undercover agent..." Her mouth snaps shut and she blushes before opening her mouth again, her eyes lowered guiltily and her ears flaming. "And I'm not a stripper or a hooker or a pornstar."
Her cheeks flush even redder.
"I..."
She turns towards me, her eyes trained on my face. "You..." She says as I trail off, unsure.
"I'm...not who you think I am."
A small smile graces her lips and I wince at the sight of it.
"I knew that already," she says, still unsure. "what I don't know is who you are."
I open my mouth again but she beats me to the punch.
"And if you're going to lie then I don't think that I want to know who you are." She says, her gaze icy. My mouth shuts.
"So until you can tell me the truth, I don't want to hear anything about the person that you are. Until you can tell me why you showed up in my backyard bleeding, I don't want to know who you are."
My mouth drops open as she turns her back towards me and lays down, twitching at the pain in her stabbed side.
But it's not that I don't want to tell her - it's not that I wouldn't tell her. It's that I really can't tell her. How am I supposed to tell someone that I'm finally beginning to consider my friend that I'm a gangster? This isn't Grey's Anatomy or Arrow or one of those overrated Korean dramas - this is real life. If I tell her that I kill people to survive in the Heights, she'll turn around and never look back. A voice in my head whispered that she wasn't anything like Lacey - Lacey, who was now dating Stephen. Lacey, who had decided to skip town as soon as she found out the kind of person that I am. And, okay, maybe I didn't entirely expect her to stay and deal with my problems but I didn't expect her to never talk to me again. I didn't expect her to throw out a childhood of friendship and become some completely different person. But a voice whispers to me from the very back of my mind, a warning tone lacing the words. Tell her before it's too late, Andrew. She's going to run just like Lacey. Maybe if you had told Lace earlier...
* * *
"Andrew!" Lacey yells, a bright smile on her face as she pushes the door of my apartment in the Heights open. Even with the horrible reputation that the Heights had, Lacey had still trekked across the city to come see me while I was sick. "I brought you chicken so -" Her eyes fall on the gun on my coffee table and the decrepit couch and the grimy kitchen table. "Andrew?" She asks, her voice small.
My heart pounds and I can literally hear my blood rushing through my body. "Lace, I can explain." "Did you kill someone, Andrew?" I open my mouth, not sure whether or not I was could tell her that I was the son to the biggest gangster in the Heights. "Andrew!" She shrieks hysterically, her cheeks beginning to color. "I'm a Wayne." She pales and her bottom lip trembles. "You said -" "Lacey -" "You said that you're not a Wayne - you said..." She looks at the ground, and her shoulders begin to heave up and down. "I -" I begin, trying to find words to explain but I couldn't think. Lacey looks up, "We've been friends for 10 years, Andrew. Ten years - and in those 10 years you didn't think that it would be nice for me to know that you - that you're a Wayne?" She shakes her head, her face beginning to redden with fury. "Have you killed anyone, Wayne?" She says, her voice spitting out my last name like it was venom. I shake my head, unable to respond. "And I'm supposed to believe you? You're the liar here!" She yells. She throws the chicken soup at my couch and turns around, running out of my building.
I had ruined all the chances with my best friend and the girl that I had fallen in love with in one fell sweep. It was as if I had taken a bulldozer and bulldozed our relationship.
* * *
That was just two years ago - sophomore year of high school. Now, we don't talk and that's why it's surprising to see Lacey in front of me before first period. "How do you know Lena - and don't tell me some bullshit story about your fucking relationship because I know as well as anyone in the fucking Heights that you don't get involved with girls!" "Why do you care?" I say dryly, stepping around her fuming 5'1 stature. I hear her snarling and suddenly she's blocking my path again. "God - I leave you for two fucking years and you go and start dating her? Of all people, you chose Elena?" I wince at Lacey's wanton pronunciation of Lena's full name. "It's not Ey-Lee-Na. It's Uh-Lay-Na." I mutter, irritated. "Two years ago -" I cut off her off, dropping my eyes to meet with hers. "I've changed a lot in two years, Lacey - and so have you. Two years ago, you wouldn't have gone for a guy like that douchebag Stephen. Two years ago, you would've stood by side no matter what. Two years ago -" "I didn't know that you were one of those Waynes. Two years ago, I didn't know any better."
Lacey steps away from my glare, unfazed. "Don't glare at me, Andrew Wayne. Don't you dare. You act like you can scare me away - well, guess again!" I send her another withering glare, "I've scared you away before. Don't lie to yourself, Lacey. You were scared shitless that day." Lacey presses her lips into a thin line. "I was angry. I wasn't scared. I knew that you would never..." "Rob you? Rape you? Kill you?" I deadpan, still glaring. She nods, not acknowledging my tone. "I miss you, Andrew. And I don't like Elena - I don't approve of her. She's too...good. It's fucking unnatural. She's hiding something." "Just because she's not a coward or a home wrecker it doesn't make her a fake. If anything, you're the fake one." Lacey blinks at me and steps towards me, her face a mask of fury.
"For your information, I saved Stephen. I saved him. He didn't love her and he wasn't fucking happy - and we're together now and we love each other. You don't know the things that she'd done to him - standing him up for dates, ignoring his texts...flirting with other guys? Lena is a whore and you - and you - you're dating her?" I stare at her flatly. "Please tell me you're not jealous." Lacey reddens and her eyes widen. "J - Jealous? Me? What? I -" "You're jealous." I say dryly, staring at her blankly. "I'm not! I'm just being a good friend - that's all. A good friend." She says, sounding like she was trying to reassure herself of her own actions. I smirk and sling an arm around her shoulders. "If it makes you feel any better, I feel absolutely nothing for her." Lacey opens her mouth to say something but a sweet voice interrupts her.
"Andrew?" "Speak of the devil and she shall appear." Lacey mutters under her breath, her shoulders slumping forward. I turn around, turning Lacey with me and my eyes meet with Lena's dark blue ones (which were currently narrowed). She watches us suspiciously and I can see a mysterious emotion flick across her face but I wasn't sure. I didn't think that I'd ever be sure around Lena. Lena's blue eyes shift to Lacey and they narrow slightly but she doesn't saying anything except a feeble 'hi' and an awkward wave.
"Stephen doesn't have sores on his...on his thing." Lacey blurts loudly. Lena blinks and then turns towards me, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never seen his thing. I think I'm late for 1st period. I'll see you later." I stare after her while Lacey elbows me rudely and says, "You look like a lovesick puppy." I clear my throat and reluctantly pull my gaze away from Lena's direction. "Don't call me a puppy." Lacey snorts and leans into me, shooting me a wicked glance. "What, do you want to be called; a man-dog?" "No. I want to be called my name." I say, shooting her a cold look. "Don't get snippy with me just because you have a ridiculous crush on a little slut." "I don't have a crush on her." "Yeah? Well prove it."
Lacey presses her lips against mines and I find myself kissing her back after a few moments of shock. My eyes snap open just in time to see Lena rounding the corner, limping and wincing.
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AND THAT'S A WRAP!
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