OKAY LET ME START OFF BY SAYING I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT I WROTE IN THIS, I WROTE A WHILE AGO BUT NEVER POSTED IT BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO CHANGE IT— but I ended up not changing it so whatever I'm posting it. Enjoy, I love you.
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Thalia Lively
I stared at the clock hung up above the teachers desk tiredly, waiting for the bell to ring. It's been four days without Nathan and I couldn't help but feel like a part of me was missing. I felt the urge to call him countless times last night but I keep being reminded that his phone doesn't work.
The past few days, weather wise, have been gloomy; coincidentally matching the situation we were dealing with. The frosty winter days just keep getting colder and I'm frankly beginning to miss the warm sun.
Suddenly startled by the bell, I gathered my belongings and walked out of the classroom only to be met with an equally tired Ethan.
"Hi," I greeted him. "Where are we going for lunch?" I asked him and he shrugged.
"It'd be better if we stayed here, it's cold outside anyway." He answered, and I hated how alert he was at all times now. We walked through the main hall, avoiding people that were going the opposite way. The winter air escaped into the hall as people exited the school, making me shiver as I turned into the corner where my locker was.
"You can loosen up you know," I said to him as we reached my locker. "I doubt anything's going to happen at school..." I trailed off as I looked over at Megan's smirk towards me. "— except Megan's bullshit." I shoved my stuff into my locker then slammed it shut. "Hey, E. I have a question." I said to him, catching his attention as his eyes flickered away from looking at Megan to looking at me.
"Megan has a 'crush' or whatever on Nathan, right?" I asked and he nodded slowly. "Yet she hangs with James, Nathan's enemy." I continued making him nod slowly again. "Why is she so close to James, do you think she could be playing a part in their plan?" I pondered.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she was, she's two faced and selfish. Perfect for James now that I think about it. Even if she does play a role, what role would she be playing? Nathan's gone, so what purpose does she have now? You know what I mean?" Ethan noted.
"Maybe her role is targeted more towards Thalia." Riley's voice came from behind me, making me jump. She chuckled then hugged Ethan and I as a greeting since we didn't see her all morning.
"Me? What does she have to do with me?" I questioned. I reopened my locker as the shivers continued, making me pull out a hoodie I had saved in my locker.
"I don't know but she's always messing with you, and tries to get you away from Nathan." Riley shrugged, then her eyes lit up. "What if her job is to get you away from Nathan? Isolate you?" Riley spoke quickly making Ethan and I become more alert. I looked over at Ethan who was watching Megan closely.
"If that's the case, their plan is working since Nathan's gone." Ethan spoke up then sighed, looking down at us. "Cafeteria?"
I shook my head. "Too many people there, I don't feel like being around anyone." I sighed. My emotions have been drained and all I feel is anxiety and stress. "I hate feeling like this, fuck." I groaned, running my hands through my hair as I paced slightly. "Can't he just come back already," I muttered. Riley softly rubbed my arm as a form of comfort, sympathy raving through her eyes. "What sucks even more is we didn't end off on a good note before he left, we had an argument then he dropped me off. He couldn't even look me in the eyes." I added, feeling the need to expressed my feelings before I bottled up my thoughts too much and they end up consuming me.
"He's probably in the same boat, if that makes you feel any better." Ethan said softly. "I mean imagine having to be the reason danger is following your loved ones and the only way to keep them safe is by leaving them and letting the danger follow you directly. No matter what he can't be with us and it hurts on both sides.That's what I think about at least." Ethan continued and I looked down.
"I wonder what he's doing right now or thinking right now while we're here," Riley thought out loud. I slid down against my locker and found a seat in the hallway where barely anyone was around. Ethan and Riley copied my action and we sat silently next to each other as we were pulled into our own train of thoughts.
"I failed my Chemistry test," Ethan said completely out of the blue. I looked over at him as he continued to stare at the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I'm so going to catch a beating from my aunt if I fail that class." He added, fear striking his features making Riley and I chuckle at him.
He zoned back in and then looked at us with a faint smile on his face. "Your aunt?" I questioned, wondering it was his aunt and not his mom or something.
"Yeah, I live with my aunt and uncle in a condo just outside of the city so it's kind of close to here. My family moved to New York during sophomore year. I didn't want to leave so they let me stay with my aunt and uncle, who are workaholics and are never home— so I think I'll get away with hiding my report card." He let Riley and I more into his life and I was grateful that we were becoming closer as friends.
"I can't hide anything from Nonna, especially my report card. The only class I'm not doing good in is English because of Nathan, he always gets me in trouble by doing something stupid." I chuckled. "I guess now I have time to bring my mark up, with him gone and all." I shrugged, drawing my attention to playing with the rings on my fingers. "Did Emmett and Austin find any new information?" I asked Ethan, partly changing the subject.
"No. They followed Colt and his boys last night to one of Darren's clubs and Colt didn't find anything so neither did Emmett and Austin. I think they've both spent the night at the warehouse, they're still searching through Darren's things right now I'm pretty sure." Ethan answered.
"Let's take a break from talking about things that stress us out," Riley piped up and shuffled to sit in front of Ethan and I. "I almost blew up the kitchen last night, my life literally flashed before my eyes. If Mason and Axel weren't home I would've so set the house on fire— accidentally." Riley told us which made Ethan and I sit up straighter.
Ethan was more amused while I was more concerned. "How? What did you do?" I questioned her, my tone sounding like a parent scolding a child.
She smiled at me sheepishly. "I was trying to make chicken nuggets like in the pan with oil and I honestly don't know what happened but the oil splattered everywhere and the worst part was the chicken nuggets were burned. All that for nothing." Riley pouted, making me shake my head at her.
Before we could continue the conversation, all of our phones buzzed, indicating we got a message.
Fuck Bitchez Get Money
Emmett changed the group chat name to "Mission Nate & Carter."
Mission Nate & Carter
Emmett
WE FOUND SOMETHING
Austin
Do you think our messages will still send to Nathan and Carter? What if they see this, I mean they still have a their phones right?
Emmett
Who cares, let them see
Emmett
Anyways, we found a file filled more places Darren's owns. We also found blueprints for his future plans, and there's one in particular that seems more recent than the rest. It looks like he's creating some huge ass building.
Austin
But get this, Blake's name is signed on the contract dealing with the building.
I looked over at Riley and Ethan who also finished reading the text messages. "Do you think Nathan's dad has something to do with... well anything?" I asked.
"Blake owns a lot of buildings and shit like that, maybe he was selling one to Darren?" Ethan thought out loud, trying to make sense of the new information.
"If that's the case, Blake must know where Darren is if they've been communicating for business— which means that's most likely where Nathan is too." Riley added.
Ethan
Is there a location on it?
Austin
No, they keep shit like that top secret so I doubt we'll be able to find any locations or other names.
Ethan
Keep looking for other shit, we'll go by Blake's later today
Austin
Aye aye, captain!
"Well, who wants to visit the Reyes household with me after school?" Ethan looked over at Riley and I while shoving his phone into his pocket.
"Not me, Blake is scary you two can deal with that." Riley declined the idea of having a talk with Blake later, and quite frankly, I doubt he'd tell us of all people anything.
"Do you really think he'd even say anything?" I asked Ethan who thought about it for a second.
"I don't know but we have to try at least," Ethan shrugged. "Nathan could be getting himself into something stupid and I know he wants us to stay out of it for our safety but fuck that." He looked away angrily.
"I'll come with," I piped up.
From then, all I could think about during the rest of my classes was if Nathan was thinking about us as much as we were with him.
• • •
A wave of an unsettling feeling coursed through my body as Ethan and I got out of our cars and looked up at the Reyes Mansion. The last time I was here was the same night I last saw Nathan, and also the time I saw Blake and Nathan have a fight. It seemed a lot more unsettling without having Nathan's presence around.
"Is he even home?" I asked Ethan as we walked up the gated driveway and to the front door. The gloomy sky casted a grey filter over the house as my eyes scanned the place before entering.
"Yeah, I texted Bethany earlier and asked her." Ethan said while opening the door and heading in without a warning.
"What are you—" I stopped myself as I realized this was probably like a second home to him so the unannounced visit wasn't an issue. I closed the door behind me and followed him through the house as he looked around for a sign of life— because my god was it deadly silent.
While Ethan walked off into an unknown hallway, I paused in my steps and looked through a cracked open door, seeing Maya and Emery play together silently. I pushed open the door and they both looked up at me, shocked but happy.
"Hey princesses," I said while reaching down to give them both a hug. "How are you guys?" I asked them and they both shrugged.
"Could be better." Emery mumbled and I looked at seriously.
"And why do you say that?" I asked, knowing partly what she meant.
"Nathan's gone, moms always working, dads always in his office, I don't know these days just suck." Emery explained, sighing afterwards. I felt bad for them both, they're probably so confused and alone.
I spotted a notebook to my right so I took it along with a pen and wrote down my number, then ripped the paper and handed it to Emery. "Call me whenever you need someone, I could only imagine how lonely it gets in this huge house with no one here. I'll come by whenever you want." I told them with a smile and Emery's eyes lit up as she took the paper and gave me a quick hug.
"Nathan's going to come back right?" Maya asked softly as she touched my arm to get my attention.
My heart melted for her since she was probably so used to having Nathan around them. He always drops and picks them up from school. He always takes them out when he knows they're bored and have been home for too long. He's always around them and now he suddenly disappeared on them.
"Yes, he is. Don't worry, he just had to take a little trip with Carter but he'll be back soon." I gave my best comforting voice to try and convince them, even though I, myself, had no clue. I smiled at her and she smiled back at me, as if my words made her mood ease and relax. "I'm going to go find Ethan, he's talking to your dad I think but I promise I'm just a phone call away, okay? Call me anytime." I say with a genuine smile on my face then reach down to hug them both tightly. I leave the room shortly after then freeze in the hallway, not knowing where to go from here.
I listened closely for voices and after a few moments I could hear silencers mutters coming from down the hall. I follow the quiet voices as they grew louder and louder the more I got closer to them. I eventually stopped at two sleek, wooden double doors and pushed the slightly open one wider. I entered, making Blake and Ethan both look at me then back at each other.
"So you're telling me you have no idea where he is? You're doing business with him, how could you not know?" Ethan scoffed, making Blake roll his eyes. Blake leaned back in his large leather chair, looking up at an annoyed Ethan. I, however, was too busy being fascinated with his luxurious office, my eyes couldn't tear themselves away from scanning the room. My eyes trailed from the shelves on the wall, to the leather couch and chairs in the corner, to the picture frames that were sitting in the middle of a large table.
"Those papers were from a while ago, I haven't spoken to him in what feels like years. I don't know where he is." Blake answered cooly. I got the hint that they were talking about Darren rather than Nathan. I observed Blake as I stayed silent and let Ethan handle it, and my god, did Nathan look exactly like him. Nathan was a spitting image of him, just younger of course, and Nathan's eyes were more green while Blake's were more hazel.
"You know Darren more than most, where do you think he could be?" Ethan pushed for information and Blake shrugged, clearly not caring enough to actually answer properly.
"Why do you want to know? I think you know better than to be trying to trace Darren, have you gone mad? You won't find him." Blake sat up in his chair and lean against his desk in front of him, keeping his eyes in Ethan.
"I'm not looking for Darren," Ethan corrected and that sentence alone made Blake freeze slightly and within seconds I knew Blake understood what Ethan meant.
Annoyance and anger crossed Blake's features quickly but he controlled his emotions as he stood up and walked over to one of the shelves on the wall behind him. He looked through files then pulled out an almost empty black file, brining it to the desk while sitting back down. He opened it and turned the pages towards Ethan who sat down on a chair in front of his desk. I followed his actions and sat next to him.
"What's this?" Ethan asked as he looked down at a map and a paper that had cities written down.
"I've been trying to find Darren at the beginning of the year and found out he's been at these places," Blake said while pointing to the first list of cities. "Midway through the year I lost track of him, and left it alone but once my son decided to also disappear, I knew he'd try to find Darren so I tried locating him again— but I haven't had any luck. He's a pain in the ass to try and find." Blake said.
"Why were you looking for him?" Ethan asked.
"We were in business together so I needed to contact him, that and I swore to his father that I'd watch over him but he's making that annoyingly difficult." Blake answered easily. "The last place we found out he was in was New York, a month ago." Blake added.
"He's probably not there anymore," Ethan muttered.
"Nathan knows him better than anyone, Nathan's practically a miniature Darren— which I don't consider a good thing but that means they have the same mindset and that Nathan's either with him or is on his way to him still." Blake told us, but it seemed to be mainly pointed towards me, as if he knew about Nathan and I's... different relationship. "Did you speak to Nathan before he left?" Blake asked me and I froze under the pressure of his attention.
"Um, yeah, I was the last one with him before he and Carter left." I answered but then I realized I didn't really answer it properly. "But he didn't tell me anything about leaving and trying to find Darren." I added and Blake nodded slowly. "You don't seem worried." I pointed out then regretted it when Blake stared at me before answering.
"I'm not." He said before elaborating. "Nathan doesn't need my help in anything, he never did. He was probably the smartest kid I've ever seen, and he still is. Whatever he's up to, he has it under control. What I am unsure of is Darren's relationship with him." Blake answered me and I felt a little unsettled by the fact that he's unbothered by Nathan being gone— while Ethan and everyone else is worrying their asses off. At least he believes in his son enough to know he'll take care of himself just fine. "This number called the house two nights ago, the housekeeper said she picked it up and once she spoke the person on the other line didn't respond then ended the call." Blake said while pulling out a piece of paper from his desk and sliding it over to Ethan and I.
"Do you think it was..." I trailed off and looked towards Ethan who stared at the number. Hope fired up in the pit of my stomach as I thought about it possibly being Nathan who called.
"Have you called it back?" Ethan asked Blake who was laid back in his chair, lazily slouching on it.
"No, I tried to trace it though, and again no luck. It was most likely a disposable phone." Blake answered while Ethan took the sheet with the number on it and stuffed it in his pocket. "A word of advice," Blake spoke up once Ethan stood up getting ready to leave, which made Ethan turn to him once more. "Keep her out of it." He said, not looking at me but we knew he was talking about me. Ethan didn't respond as he exited the room silently, but not before giving Blake a curt nod.
As we walked to our cars, I looked over at Ethan who was deep in thought. "I hope you know I'm not staying out of it." I suddenly said, making Ethan stop in his tracks.
"I know you won't," he answered, sighing as he moved his hair out of his face. "Even though you should." He added, giving me a pointed look but I shrugged it off.
"Who even is Darren? All I know is he's some billionaire who owns a lot of businesses and hosts events such as racing and fighting— and that Nathan worked for him with Victor." I stated, leaning on my car and Ethan chuckled.
"The less you know the better," I glared at him until he continued. "— however, like you keep hearing he's dangerous. Yeah he's rich and shit, owns places, runs events, and he even used to be the best fighter the worlds ever seen. But when Nathan and Victor worked for him, they were apart of his secret business, I guess you could say without calling it a mafia gang."
"Mafia gang?" I exclaimed and Ethan shushed me quickly, looking around but it was apparent that we were the only ones outside in this location. "The fuck you mean mafia gang? This just keeps getting worse. So Nathan was apart of a mafia? Mafia Nathan my ass, no, give me that number, he's coming back home right now." I rambled quickly as my anxiety and rage grew the more I spoke.
"First of all, calm down." Ethan held up a hand to hold me back and I relaxed slightly. "I don't know the full details, Nathan's always kept us out of it. The only other person who was involved the most was Carter. Like Nathan told you I'm sure, Darren offered Nathan a job when he was really young because he needed it, and Nathan being young and naive he didn't think about what was being asked of him. Before he knew it, he was fighting and racing which at the time wasn't as bad as what Darren was hiding from him. Darren's always kept Nathan in the dark when he was younger— until Darren got into some beef with this other scary dude and Darren sent Nathan to hunt him to down— which is how Nathan officially became apart of his mafia." Ethan said quickly, trying to rush through the few details he knew about the situation.
"Did Nathan find him?" I asked, now fully invested in this story.
"Oh yeah, later that night. Which is how Darren's interest in Nathan peaked and he made him his little protégé. Nathan and everyone else involved are forced to not tell anyone about the 'mafia' and Darren, but I was never apart of it I just listened to their conversations a lot so technically I can tell you this." Ethan explained and I soaked all of the information in.
"Okay so, Victor is coming for Nathan because he put him in jail and whatever else he has against him. Victor has people on the outside doing his bidding until he gets out. Nathan and Carter are supposedly on their way to find Darren who disappeared off of the face of the earth two years ago. Darren is a deadly billionaire gang leader who had multiple enemies and Nathan is one of his gang members. This could all go very badly if Darren doesn't agree to whatever plan Nathan has, and we're currently left vulnerable here because all of Victor's little bitches are watching our every move. And not to mention the fact that Nathan is getting himself back into what he so desperately wanted to escape a few years ago." I recapped all of the major events I could remember. "Am I missing anything?" I asked Ethan who shook his head.
"I mean besides some smaller details, no yeah that was perfect." Ethan replied and I sighed.
"What the fuck is going on anymore? I'm going to kick Nathan in the balls the second I see him just for putting me through this much anxiety and stress." I crossed my arms while Ethan laughed at me.
"We'll be okay, all of us. We just have to start thinking like Nathan in order to find his bitch-ass." I laughed lightly at Ethan's way of trying to soothe my anxiety.
"That's going to be hard, his mind is complex." I answered him.
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{ not edited y'all know the dealio }
This book is a whole ass mess right now, I'm aware— there's a lot of information right now and too much to take in but don't worry I'm going to try my best to make it more understandable!!
If you have any questions about this chapter or the story in general— I'm answering all questions right here so ask away!!
Thank you all for reading, you mean the world to me!! ❤️
^ me because school starts in 3 days for me