This ones long, I got carried away oops akksks
P.s. there's probably going to be a lot of mistakes but just overlook those, I'll edit this later I swear
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Thalia Lively
The rest of the night went by in a blur, but the only thing I kept noticing was Nathan's alerted and guarded stance. He stopped having fun once he found out James was here and that pissed me off because this was the one night he was supposed to have to just enjoy himself.
"You okay?" I asked Nathan as I met him at the bar. Everyone else didn't have a clue as to what was going on around them because they haven't stopped drinking nor dancing.
"Yeah, you?" He replied, looking over at me and scanning my face for any form of discomfort or worry.
"I would be if Megan would stop staring at me," I told him without having to look to my right, I knew she was at the back staring at me, I could feel it. This whole night she's been watching my every move like some creepy stalker, doesn't she have anything better to do with her life?
"Ignore her," Nathan said. "They're pissing me off too." He added and I sighed, then looked at the amount of drinks that were in front of him. Maybe he wasn't trying to stay alert, because if he was he'd stay sober.
I pushed the drink in front of him away and turned his chair so he'd be looking at me. "Wanna go somewhere else?" I asked, growing tired of the whole club scene. He looked back towards our group of friends then to where Megan stood.
"Yeah," he answered and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him as he went over to our friends. "We're leaving, do you guys need help getting home? You've all been drinking, you're not driving home." He said to everyone but Carter shook his head.
"I didn't drink anything tonight, I got this, you guys can go." Carters eyes flickered to mine then to Nathan nodding at him. Nathan nodded and then the typical guy handshake with him and the rest of the guys. I looked over at Riley as she stood snuggled up to Emmett, smiling at me.
"Bye, I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning, you have a lot to fill me in on." I said to her then nodded my head towards Emmett. She blushed then nodded, walking over to hug me.
"Same goes for you," She said back as she looked over at Nathan who was patiently waiting for me.
After bidding everyone goodbye, Nathan and I started heading out but was stopped by Ethan's loud voice that went over the music. "Bye, best friend!" He yelled making us turn around. "And Nathan." He added which made me laugh and made Nathan roll his eyes amusingly. Ethan rushed over to hug me and winked at Nathan on his way back.
"Let's go before we get stopped again," I said hurriedly, pulling him out of the club. I grabbed our jackets from the front of the club where they had a place for belongings. We, unfortunately, were stopped once again but this time by an unwanted face.
"What? No hi?" James spoke calmly as we walked towards him unwillingly. His car was parked before us so we had no choice but to encounter him on the way. "Hurts my feelings that you think so little of our friendship, I don't even get a greeting nowadays." He continued on and feigned hurt as he covered his heart.
Nathan just stared at him, and it confused me that both of them were equally as calm. Every time I've experienced seeing them come across each other, it always ended in a bloodbath. I observed Nathan as Nathan tried figuring out James.
"He called me last night," Nathan finally spoke, looking completely unsure of himself. "First time we've spoke since the accident." He continued and James nodded his head slowly.
James looked away from us and kept his gaze to the side of him. He leaned against his car with his arms in his front jean pockets, looking way more confident in himself than Nathan did right now. I wondered what Nathan was thinking about that was stressing him out so badly but I knew I couldn't ask him until later.
"14 more days," James informed him, keeping his gaze to the floor, not meeting Nathan's eyes.
Nathan was looking at him nonetheless. "It's almost your time for revenge, you couldn't possibly be getting cold feet now." Nathan teased him sarcastically.
"I'm not," James bit back and shuffled around in his spot. "You should just know that once he gets out, the situation isn't in my hands anymore." He muttered the last part. Nathan chuckled in disbelief, shaking his head as he looked away, rubbing his jaw while he took in James' words.
"So you are getting cold feet, why else would you feel the need to tell me that? You've had it out for me this whole time, what changed? Huh? All of sudden you're getting hesitant?" Nathan scoffed.
"That's not the case, you dick. Yeah, I've had it out for you and still do, that didn't change. But I know the damage he's willing to cause and he's going to go farther than I would've ever gone." James replied back quickly, explaining himself. "I'm not going to be the one to stop him, but I'm warning you now, watch yourself. I wouldn't try anything stupid with him." James warned Nathan but Nathan didn't seem to care the slightest bit.
"Thanks for the advice, but I don't need it. I know what's going to happen and I'll be damned if you think I'm going to step down and let a murderer get away with what he's caused. Your family's money may have lessened his sentence but he's going to end up straight back in that same place and I'm going to make sure he's going to rot there as long as I'm alive." Nathan's drunken words spat out towards James who's jaw was tightening as he tried holding himself back. This was a whole new dynamic that I've seen with James and Nathan, and I was beginning to worry about the outcome.
"I'm trying to help you, asshole." James raised his voice at Nathan, getting frustrated that his message isn't going through Nathan's head.
"I don't need your fucking help! If anything you're the one who caused this mess in the first place, you did this! You've ruined my fucking life, and now you suddenly want to help me? Yeah fucking right." Nathan's voice cut through the thick tension in the air, and I winced as I could hear the hurt and stress in his voice.
"Fuck you," James said in a lower tone but anger crossed his features quicker than the lightening rumbled in the sky. "You ruined my life just as much I did yours, and I'm sure your little girlfriend here doesn't even know the full story. I already know you only told her a tiny snippet of that night, but we both know you aren't some saint that saved her that night. You were equally as involved in that night as I was." James laid down some new information and I looked over at Nathan for confirmation if it was true or not. Nathan didn't look at me but rather kept his gaze to the floor.
"You knew I wasn't in the right state of mind that night, you purposefully set me up." Nathan said quietly then his tone changed within seconds, and neither of us were expecting it. "YOU SET ME UP! You fucking set me up that night, you did it! You fucking did it." Nathan charged towards James but I raced to stand in between them. His voice held so much emotion and I could see tears racing up at the brim of his eyes. I didn't want this night to get any worse for him, and the last he needs is a physical fight. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back.
"Nathan! Stop!" I said loudly, and hoped that his actions wouldn't trigger James to act out wildly as well. "Nathan!" I repeated his name but he wouldn't look down at me and continued to push forward. "Nathan, look at me! Fucking look at me!" I yelled at him, my voice making him stop immediately. He looked down at me helplessly, and worn out. I knew he was still intoxicated and the drinks were influencing his actions but it's also told that drunken words bring out the truth.
"What's done is done and he's already made you his target. You know what he's capable of, and although I hate you as much as you hate me, I'm telling you one last time. Be careful, otherwise it won't just end up only you getting hurt in the end." James concluded then got into his car and drove off. I've never seen James act like that before so I was stunned, to say the least.
"Let's go," I said calmly, grabbing his hand gently and pulling him to his car. "Keys." I said while holding my hand out for his keys, now I'll be damned if he thinks he's going to be the one driving. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, setting them into my hand and walking over to the passenger side. I started up his car and waited for it to heat up before driving off.
"Any place you want to go in particular?" I asked him softly and he sat there silently as he looked off into the distance, deep in thought.
"Yeah." He answered after a moment of thinking to himself. He looked over at me and gave me the location. "Wetherby Creek. There's a cliff thing people go to when there's fireworks but I go there sometimes to clear my head. You get a perfect view of the sky." I didn't question him as I started the car and drove off to a place I hoped would allow him to get a clear mind.
• • •
After around twenty minutes and a few directions from Nathan, we drove into Wetherby Creek. There was a parking area just before you walked up a path to the cliff I assume. We silently left the car and he led the way to the spot he always came to.
"People go there to watch the fireworks," Nathan pointed out an open area that had a few big rocks scattered around. "My mom would sometimes bring me here late when she got off work to see the last minute fireworks." He explained then continued walking ahead. "Too many people go there so I found another area that barely anyone knows about." He said while walking in between a few trees, going off the trail completely. I stared at his back weirdly, wondering where the hell he was going and how he even found this place anyway.
After a minute or so of walking through the trees, a more open area cleared up in my view. It was smaller than the other cliff but this one had a better view. I stared up at the clear dark blue sky, admiring the tiny suns that shined, although they were so far away.
"I don't remember much about my past self, but I do remember my how fascinated I was with the galaxy and how much of the unknown it brings," I broke the silence, not tearing my eyes away from the sky once. "I mean, sure N.A.S.A did all their research about our solar system and we have an incredible amount of information about what that sky holds—" I ranged quickly then took a spot next to Nathan on a rather large flat rock. "But there's so much out there, there has to be. I wonder how many other worlds are out there or if there even are any. I wonder if there's way more species and planets and what they look like, it's just crazy how much we don't know." I continued to rant about my weird obsession with the sky and galaxy, then turned to look at Nathan who was already looking at me. "Sorry," I chuckled lightly.
"Don't apologize," he said right away. "It's been a while since I've seen someone's eyes lit up so much when they're talking about something they're passionate about. This whole town has so many secrets that all those fake smiles aren't fooling anyone anymore. There's nothing special here anymore, just a bunch of fake people that keep trying to bury the past with fake niceness and money." He spat out in disgust. I had the feeling he was talking about someone in particular.
"I'd have to disagree," I said in a softer tone making him look at me weirdly. "There is something special here." I went against one of his arguments. "You, your family, your friends. The most amazing people I've ever met—"
"Well to be fair you don't even remember the rest people you've met so is that point really valid?" He joked with a smile on his face and I smacked his arm lightly.
"Shut up," I laughed quietly. I looked back at the sky then shifted in my spot once I got the idea to talk to him about everything that happened today. "So, you and your dad don't have a good relationship." I said awkwardly and he sniffled a laugh.
"That was one way to bring that up," he said while resting his arms on his bent knees. "I might as well explain what you say today, starting with him." He started off and I turned my body towards him, eager to know more about his life. "My dad was my biggest role model in life, I would spend everyday with him. And sure we have a lot now and money is way easier but back then we weren't that wealthy. My mom was always working, she still works a lot but not as much as she used to. My dad was working on growing his own company but he struggled for years so he was home more often then my mom was." He briefly explained the beginning of his relationship with his father. "I knew my dad wasn't in a good place financially and he wasn't always the best person when he wasn't in the right state of mind. Even as a kid I noticed the little things about him that just didn't seem right. It started one night when he brought these two guys over and I've never seen these guys before, but as a kid I obviously didn't think much about it, they seemed like coworkers. But they would come over more often and they'd stay in a separate room at all times, so I'd get curious and go up to the door wanting to listen to them and I'd hear things that a seven year old shouldn't be hearing." He went on and I stayed silent as I listened to his story.
The wind blew around us but it wasn't as freezing cold as it was earlier which is odd since it's usually colder during the night— and we were at a higher height so I'd assume it'd be winder up here.
"My dad was caught up in business he shouldn't have brought himself into and I don't know if he did it all to get money for his company or for the family, I still don't even know. But he paid less attention to working harder on his company and more attention to these dangerous guys that dragged him into something he couldn't get out of. Before I knew it, he'd come home drunk and stressed out of his mind. I refused to believe that my dad was one the bad guys too, just because he was with them didn't mean he was one but I was a naive kid." He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the ground that was covered in soft snow. "Then the worst thing happened to me when I was a kid, I woke up to him gone." My heart sunk deep in my gut as I watched him reminisce about the past. I could see the hurt he went through back then through his eyes.
He finally looked up at the sky and took a moment to breath and calm his thoughts down. "He was just gone." He spoke again. "I thought I'd never see him again, and I waited for days and days hoping he'd return but he never did. As a kid I didn't know what to think so my immediate thought was to hate him for leaving me, my own father leaving me when I had no one else. I didn't get a goodbye or an explanation for two years. Two whole fucking years." He cursed angrily then scoffed, shaking his head. "It was only natural that my perspective on life changed completely, I learned to only depend on myself. My mom was pregnant with Emery before I knew it and I had to do everything I could to help her through that, and where was he? Who fucking knows." He rubbed his face while leaning back then looking over at me for a second. "He came back two years later thinking everything was going to go back to how it was, but man how wrong he was. I despised him with everything in me and he had the nerve to think that his new found wealth would fix everything. His company blew up quickly and he became a multi-millionaire but I didn't fucking care about the money and I still don't. I cared about having my dad around when I needed him. Having my dad around when I got into my first fight. Having my dad around when I joined a new sports team. Having my dad around when I got honours roll in school. Having my dad around when I fucking needed him." His broke down, the anger gone but the sadness remained. "And he was no where." He finished off by saying as a lone tear escaped his eye.
I wiped my own eyes, not even noticing I was crying at his story. I leaned over and dig my head into his neck, hugging him tightly. He responded the hug and held onto me for a moment before I pulled away and he wiped away the rest of my tears.
"Don't cry for me, it's different now anyways. I don't talk to him anymore, we've went out separate ways and chose to stay out of each other's lives. It's better this way. I used to get into trouble almost everyday as a kid once he came back and he'd bail me out of it each other but I guess that was my way of secretly wanting to get his attention. Now he's still bailing me out of shit I don't want him to anymore, I'm over waiting for my own father to come back. This new Blake isn't the father I remembered him to be, now he's some stuck up, stubborn, hardheaded son of a bitch that thinks he can throw money at something to make it go away." He stated and I couldn't feel worse right now. He just wanted his father to be there for him and he wasn't, and that breaks my heart.
"I'm sorry—"
"Don't apologize, it's okay now." He shrugged but I knew it still bothered him deep down. "Now onto the whole James situation." He huffed, taking a deep breath before diving into another story. "James wasn't always the guy he is today, I've known him since we were kids and he was always a pretty cool and calm guy. Until his mom passed away and his dad left him and his older brother, which I guess means we have something in common. Once that happened, he relied on his brother like no other, he grew up to follow his brothers ways and that didn't turn out well for anyone. His brother, Victor, was always messing with the wrong shit like drugs, violence, you name it. When he grew older he started working for Darren Romano, who is another millionaire around here. He owns his own company but he's known to be one of the worst people to mess with, he had armed guys on every block working for him and they'd do anything he told them to. They were like trained dogs and his brother was one of them." Nathan explained and I got a mental picture of a mafia leader for some reason, which gave me chills.
"How do you know all of this?" I asked him, growing more and more curious as he told the story.
"I know all of this because I also worked for him." He admitted, looking over at me and a hard expression crossed his features. "I got into a fight one night in this alleyway after going home from work and this older guy tried jumping me. I was already training myself in the gym before this so I knew how to handle myself, and needless to say the other guy ended up being the one unconscious on the floor. I turned around to leave and I saw Darren standing there with Victor and another one of his men. He was just watching me then he offered me a job, the job being I fought in one of his underground boxing arenas. I refused at first but then he talked about money and I needed all the money I could get back then, so eventually I agreed." He seemed disappointed in himself as he relived the moment. "I would fight every Friday and Saturday and the more I fought, the better I got. Eventually I was the best fighter he had and I got paid more and more for each fight. He then offered me another job, but this time it involved cars. He was building this race track just outside of the town and he needed racers to start off the event so he said he'd pay me double if I was one of the racers. I, again, agreed and stupidly enough, got the boys into it too." He mentioned Ethan, Carter, Emmett and Austin.
"Did James race too?" I asked him.
"Not at first and neither did Victor, they knew how to fight but not how to race cars. I knew a lot about cars because of my job at the garage and so did the boys. At first we were the best racers he had and we'd put on one hell of a show. His event grew more and more popular and I guess simple racing wasn't enough for him so he would ask me to do more dangerous things to entertain the crowd. I'd drive the car backwards and shit like that, but it wasn't a problem for me since I knew how to do stunts like that. Then he'd have people make bets on racers and it's started getting serious. Victor grew an interest in me and he would try going behind Darren's back and get me to follow him and shit but I didn't care about his personal interests. Darren found out about it and he was pissed, then Victor thought I was the one who told Darren and grew to hate me. He made James join Darren and he made him learn to race, but back then James and I were still young and we didn't know any better. James would do anything for Victor and he'd listen to anything he said but I could tell he also feared him. Feared to disobey him. So he learned and would go against me in racing every day, then eventually we became rivals. But James never truly hated me until that night." He confessed.
"He said there was more to the story, what happened?" The word left my mouth before I could stop them, my eager mind wanted to know everything already.
"Victor did drugs and all of that but he got James on it too. Darren didn't accept non sober drivers or fighters because if anyone were to get hurt or be killed, it'd be on him. Victor would hide that from him and that night James and I got into a huge argument. His dad came back that day and tried taking James back into his custody but Victor had Jace deal with it so his father never got James. That ruined James because I knew he wanted to go with his father then stay with Victor so he was drunk and high on different types of drugs that night. He blamed me for him getting involved because apparently his brother would've never made him join the stupid thing in the first place if I hadn't pissed him off. He was saying some stupid shit and I was easily angered back then— still am sometimes but I'm learning to deal with that more." He sidetracked. "But yeah, so I got mad and then Victor got involved. The guy Sam told you about, Ryan, was with me that night. I went to the tracks to pick up my earnings when I ran into James. Victor started picking on Ryan and I was protective over him so I started fighting with Victor and the guys came just in time to break up the fight."
"Did Victor scare you?" I questioned, wanting to know if Nathan was intimidated by Victor since the mental picture I'm getting of him isn't exactly family friendly.
"No, he was intimidating as fuck but that didn't effect me. One thing led to another that same night and one of Darren's best friends organized a higher bet on racers that night and chose James and I to race. I wasn't planning on racing that night but I wanted to piss off Victor even more for going after Ryan like that. Victor hates losing, like hates it with a passion so I knew it would piss him off I embarrassed him and James altogether. Everyone knew about or feud so they'd be embarrassed in front of everyone if I won. With James being intoxicated with multiple substances that night, he couldn't even think straight and he agreed to the race immediately." He continued then looked down shamefully. "But like he said, I was equally as involved in the situation. I had drank a lot that night because I got a phone call from my dad and my emotions got the best of me and I guess I wanted to drown my thoughts away. So we were both intoxicated and that wasn't apart of the contract but Jace wasn't there that night. I told Ryan and the boys to leave while I raced but they didn't want to, and they tried telling me not to do it but I wasn't listening to them. Victor decided to add more to the bet and said that if James wins they get my earnings from my last race and that one but I needed the money to pay for Ryan's rent and stuff because his family wasn't doing well. I took the bet because that also meant I'd be getting triple the money if I won." The story kept getting more and more interesting.
"So you guys did race, you and James?" I asked, like a little kid paying close attention to a bedtime story.
"It started off with it just being James and I but when Victor saw James was losing, he already had the bet rigged because he had people parked on the sidelines ready to interfere. Like I said they set me up. Victor had guys mess with my car ahead of time so my car started going crazy in the middle of the race and that gave Victor time to get into James' car and drive for him. The track was being renovated in one of the corners so there was a an opening to a road near the end. The guys could tell something was wrong and they got into their own cars and raced after us trying to get us to stop before someone got hurt. Victor pulled out a gun and started firing it in the air then at my car, taking advantage of the fact that Darren wasn't there. Near the end I needed to get away from him so I drove into the road opening and I couldn't control the car anymore, it was wired differently and wouldn't slow down. The guys caught up and so did Victor and James." His voice grew quieter as he told the story.
"Mills road." I commented, acknowledging the fact that he was getting to the part where all of our lives changed forever.
"The road was dead silent and completely empty so we didn't think we had anything to worry about, other than our own safety. In a blink of an eye I saw a car pulling out of the gas station driveway and I never acted so fast, I started driving to the side of the road quickly and so did the rest of the boys but I could see Victor's car wasn't stopping and neither was Carter's with Ryan. I had to watch Victor's car spiral out of control and crash straight into your car, with Carter and Ryan behind them. The impact caused Ryan to fly out of the passenger seat and he died immediately. Carter was badly injured but he was okay in the end. I got out of my car and ran to the accident, my heart racing faster than ever. Once I saw what happened to Ryan and Carter I ran to your car and saw it upside down. Your car spun down the road for a while. I called 911 and noticed that Victor was trying to get out of his car, but I jammed his door back in so he couldn't leave. I couldn't let him get away." He explained in detail.
"That's what they meant by you were the reason he's in prison, cause he got caught." I concluded, putting the piece together.
"Yeah, and James hated from then on because now he really didn't have anyone and I took away the last person he had. His dad was rich, and he left money for James since he was younger so he used the money to finesse the corrupt system and they lessened Victor's sentence by years. James' life was ruined because of that, my life was ruined because I had to live with the fact that I was the reason a perfectly innocent life was taken that night, and more than one in that case. I should've just walked away and never taken the deal." He said in frustration. "That would've never happened if I just would've walked away, why didn't I walk away?" He yelled and got up from the rock.
"Hey, it's not your fault. How would you have known that was going to happen?" I got up from the rock too, following him.
"If I hadn't driven off into the road I wouldn't have hurt you or your family or Ryan." He choked on his words as he tried blaming himself.
"It wasn't your fault Nathan! You were trying to get away from someone who was trying to shoot you! What could have you done?" I argued with him, not wanting to see him hate himself.
"I'll always live with that guilt and pain, it never went away and it lives on with me everyday. I wish it never happened, I wish I wasn't so stupid!" He yelled and punched a nearby tree which made me wince at the impact. He didn't even care that his hand was now bleeding.
"And now Victor's coming back and he's going to stop at nothing until he gets back at me. He's fucking psychotic and has friends that kill for a living. I'm not scared of them coming after me but I am scared of them coming after you and the boys. The boys I know for a fact won't leave my side but you can't be with me when he comes," he told me and I shook my head immediately.
"No, absolutely not. I'm not leaving you." I denied his request.
"Thalia, they're going to stop at nothing until they ruin everything I have left which isn't much. But you're important to me now and James knows that, and if he still holds that night against me he'll tell Victor all about you. He'll come after you the second he hears about you which means you can't be anywhere near me. I'm not letting him get to you, whether you like the idea or not." He argues back.
"Nathan what if something happens to you? Huh? I can't just hide away not knowing if you're okay or not. If he's as dangerous as everyone makes him out to be then you shouldn't be going against him!" I raised my voice, getting worried for him.
"I don't have a choice!" He yelled back but then backed away after he raised his voice. "Thalia, I can't be with you, no matter how much I want to be. I'm not good for you and everything around me gets ruined one way or another and I refuse to make your life even harder than it already is. You deserve happiness and to live life not worrying about a single thing but you can't have that with me." He said and his words went through one ear and straight out the other.
"I'm not leaving you," I said back confidently.
"Yes you are, I'm not staying with you if it means you're going to get hurt, why can't you understand that?" He said hopelessly.
"You're the first good things that's happened to me in a while and I'm not going to let go of you that easily. I don't want to live life without worries, I want to live life with you. And everything that comes with you." I stepped towards him but he backed away.
"I shouldn't have gotten involved with you in the first place," he said so sure of himself and continued to walk away. I followed back to the parking lot silently as I tried gathering my thoughts but I didn't know what to say. "I'm going to drive you home, let's go." He said.
"No, you drank." I went against him.
"I'm fine now, I grew sober a while ago." He went back against me and sneakily took the keys out of my pocket and went into the drivers seat. I went into the passenger seat and we drove off in complete silence.
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{ not edited cause ya girl is too lazy }
Hi, I'm tired so I ended it there, my apologies. I hope you guys liked this one, it's once again late af and I'm up writing cause I'm tryna stay dedicated to this daily updating thing— BUT THATS CAUSE I WANT TO DO SO DONT COMMENT "no get your sleep it's okay!" Cause 1; we both know you guys want these frequent updates and 2; I'm always sleep deprived so why not do something productive during this time instead of binge watching shows. I don't know where I'm going with this okay bye love you all.
P.s. don't comment about Nathan driving and say he still drank so that's wrong/dangerous and yada yada— it's a fictional book just go with it open minded folks.
Thank you for reading! ❤️