"Have you two gone mad?" Indigo said, sending us a serious look from where she was sitting on the couch. "That has to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard."
"We don't have a better option" I replied. I was all too aware it sounded bad - and it was - but what else could we have done? We were stuck, and that was the only way out I could see.
She raised an eyebrow, not seeming impressed in the slightest. "So the best one is to ask someone who murdered multiple people?"
I glanced at Harry at her words just to discover that he was already looking at me, and I rolled my eyes at the sarcastic glance he sent my way.
"If there was an other option, we'd go for it. But there isn't" I said, moving my gaze to Indigo again, knowing that I had to be the one to convince her. Harry already thought it was a bad idea, he wouldn't have lifted a finger to get her on board. Sometimes I wondered if he had any instinct of survival at all.
"I repeat, you are crazy" Indigo told me, shaking her head.
I felt a little nervousness wash over me. There was no way Harry would've let me go alone, I knew that. "So are you not going to help us?"
"I didn't say that" she replied, "we can work something out."
"Good" I said with a nod, not wasting any time in standing up. "Let's go."
She gave me a weird glance. "Now?"
"We only have a week" I told her in reply. It wasn't a long time, and we had to have time to work something else out if Joel would've said no. We had to be prepared and find a way to pay that money back, because would've been in danger otherwise.
"True" she said, standing up as well. She didn't seem to completely agree with my idea, but she agreed enough to help me out, so I really couldn't have complained.
I frowned in the second Harry stood up. "Uh, no. You stay here" I told him. I had no intention of letting him go close to Joel ever again.
He sent me an unimpressed glance. "Excuse me?"
"He literally wants to kill you. You aren't getting any close to him" I let him know. I didn't know if he'd supposed I'd only been kidding for all that time, but I was indeed very serious. I didn't want him to put himself in harm's way.
Harry sighed. "Let me at least drive you" he said, "you don't know what will happen. You might need someone to drive away quickly."
I bit the inside of my cheek, considering his offer. It would've indeed been a good thing to drive there as we would've been able to leave quicker if something had happened, but I really didn't like the idea of Harry waiting in front of Joel's house alone.
"He has a point" Indigo interjected, giving me a little shrug and making me wonder whose side she was on.
I sighed, giving up. I really didn't like it, but I knew it was a good idea. "Okay" I said, giving him a serious look. "But you stay in the car! Okay?"
It was clear that he found the boundaries I was putting around him annoying, but he went with it anyway, seeming to understand that it wasn't the right time to start having a discussion about it. "Okay."
The car ride wasn't particularly long, but it was way silent than I would've preferred. In the silence, it was impossible not to think of what was about to happen.
I hadn't seen Joel since the day he'd threatened Harry with that broken bottle. Only about a week had gone by since then, but it felt like a century. Way too many things had happened since that night, to the point that it almost felt like it belonged to another life.
It was also a week in which I hadn't gone to work and attended only some of my classes. I knew I would've had to get back on track soon, since I could only call in sick so much before they started wondering how much of it was true. It would've been fun to convince Harry to let me go alone, that I knew for sure.
I wasn't necessarily scared of seeing Joel again. Indigo would've been with me as well, I was sure nothing too bad could've happened. I could only hope I was right.
When Harry parked the car, the atmosphere inside the vehicle suddenly changed.
My palms were a bit sweaty and my heartbeat a bit quicker, and I started rethinking my decision to let Harry come with us. What if something would've happened to him, while we were inside and not aware? I knew I shouldn't have worried about it considering Joel was the issue and he would've been with us, but I couldn't help it. If it'd been up to me, I would've never allowed Harry to come.
"Here we are" Harry said, sending me a little glance as he removed the key from the ignition and started to nervously play with it. It wasn't like him to be nervous, and that knowledge only stressed me out a bit more.
"We'll be quick" I told him, trying my best to seem way more cheerful and less worried than I was, leaning forward and leaving a quick kiss on his lips before I could stop myself, a quite good indicator of the worry I was feeling. I just hoped nothing would've happened, to him especially.
He didn't seem to mind it, though. "I hope so" he murmured, glancing at me as I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"Stay here, I mean it Harry" I reminded him one last time before opening the door and getting out of the car, not giving myself any time to become even more antsy.
I opened my coat as soon as I stepped out, finding the afternoon air warmer than I'd expected. I didn't even know how I hadn't noticed it earlier. It made sense though, since we were already in April. I didn't know how to feel about that.
"So... you and Harry?" Indigo asked all of a sudden, walking next to me.
I turned my head to look at her, frowning. "What?"
She shrugged. "I thought you found him annoying?"
"He is" I replied quickly, sighing before adding something else. "He's also kind of cute though, I guess." There was no point in lying, I knew she knew.
"You like him" she said, and I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up."
"You so like him."
"What about it?" I snapped, sending her a look.
"Just saying!" She exclaimed as we walked up the few steps that brought to the front door.
"Quiet" I told her in a whisper, ringing the doorbell. I had no intention of letting Joel hear that conversation, especially since it involved Harry.
A few seconds went by in silence, and I was about to ring the doorbell again when I heard steps coming towards us.
The door opened right after to reveal Joel on the other side, and I automatically held my breath. "Raine? And Indie" he said, seeming surprised. "Well, if this isn't a new... I hadn't seen the both of you in a while."
Indigo rolled her eyes at his words. "Can we come in?" She said, not seeming to have any intention to waste time.
"Sure, why not?" He replied with a shrug, opening the door wider, and I found myself hoping that Harry had thought about concealing his presence in some way to avoid being seen by Joel.
I took a deep breath, and then I walked into the house. I truly hoped that my suppositions were right and he wouldn't have done anything to us.
"So, what's up? Have you finally decided to stop being ridiculous?" Joel asked us, closing the door as soon as we'd got in, and I suddenly got more nervous. We were alone with him, in his house. It didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.
"Have you?" Indigo snapped at him, and he raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
"Fake money, really?" She hissed at him, crossing her arms and giving him a glare.
A little smile curved Joel's lips as he finally understood what she was talking about. "Oh, it looks like he found out. Took him a while."
"What's wrong with you?" I chimed in, Indigo's behaviour giving me some of my courage back. "You have more than enough money. Why would you steal from others?"
He shrugged. "It's fun."
"It isn't fun, it's fucked up" I told him. I would've never understood what had brought him to act like that in the first place. It was as if he'd completely lost his mind in the last year or so.
"It's also fucked up to turn your back to your best friend and run away with some guy you just met."
"Did you really think I would've agreed with your actions? Because if you did then you're fucking crazy."
He scoffed. "I'm not crazy. I just understand now, how the world works."
"The world doesn't work like this" I replied quickly. He'd completely gone mad if he thought murdering and scamming people was the way to go in life. It was crazy to think about.
Joel gave me a condescending smile. "And that's where you're wrong."
"You had everything" I said, refusing to let him take control of the conversation. "Why did you have to ruin your life?"
"I'm not ruining my life, I'm making it better."
"Hurting others won't make your life better" I replied, not believing his words. There was no way that he thought it was true, simply no way. Nobody could've thought he was making the right decisions.
He glared at me. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, Raine, with your moral compass high up above everyone else" he started, "but guess what? You aren't. In life, people like me win. People like you, on the other hand... your best option is to stay by my side."
"That's an idiotic option, I'll stay by the side of who I know is right" I bit back, "and it isn't you."
Joel let out a chuckle, that didn't do anything to ease the tension between us. "You're funny, Raine."
"Cut the shit, Joel" Indigo said suddenly, interrupting the conversation to get back on the issue. "You owe us some money."
He raised an eyebrow. "Money?"
"One thousand dollars, to be exact" Indigo specified, sending him a stern look.
He laughed. "Did you really think I would've given them to you?" He asked. "What is it, is Harry in trouble? How upsetting. I don't think I can help you."
"Fuck you, Joel" I spat, but he just looked at me as if he was finding the whole situation funny.
"Sure. Now, do you mind leaving? I'm organising a little party for some friends here later tonight. It's going to be very upscale" he replied, "unless you want to stick around?"
"As if we'd ever" I replied, glaring at him and going back to the door.
"Say hi to Harry from me!" Joel said from behind me as I opened it and I just raised my middle finger at him and got out, not wasting any more of my time inside that house.
"So what now?" Indigo asked as soon as the door was closed behind us, and I went down the few steps.
I stopped to wait for her. "I don't know, fuck. We have to find that money somehow." I didn't even want to think about what would've happened if we hadn't managed to get it.
"I hope we will" she replied, but I could see she wasn't as convinced as before.
I just sighed and shook my head, walking towards the car and getting in without saying a word, turning my head to look at Harry.
"So?" He asked, even though I was sure it was quite clear from the look on my face that it hadn't been a success.
"It didn't work out" I replied quietly.
"I told you."
I rolled my eyes, leaning my back against the headrest. "Shut up" I mumbled, not feeling like dealing with him in that moment.
"Are you done? Sitting in front of Joel's house doesn't seem like the smartest idea" Indigo reminded us from the backseat, and Harry started the car and sped away without needing to be told twice.
I turned to look out of the window. We were so screwed. There was no way we would've managed to find a thousand dollars in just a few days. At the same time, though, I knew I couldn't let anything happen to Harry. It wasn't even his fault, after all. He'd ended up being stuck in the middle of that mess, with the two opposing parties on each side. It was a disaster.
Or was it?
"I really need to use the restroom" I said all of a sudden, turning towards the inside of the vehicle.
Harry sent me a little look. "Can't you wait?"
"No" I said, shaking my head. "I need it now." I glanced at the rear view mirror, hoping to catch Indigo's gaze to make her understand I was up to something, but she wasn't looking ahead, to my disappointment. I could just hope she would've gone along with it anyway.
Harry sent me a weird glance, but decided to accept my answer. "Okay."
A few minutes after, he stopped the car in front of a café of some kind. "Be quick" he said, and I nodded.
"Come with me, Indie?" I asked, turning around to look at her.
She gave me a weird glance. "Why?"
"Indie" I only said, hoping that she would've understood what I was trying to silently tell her.
She raised her eyebrows, finally seeming to understand what was going on. "Oh, sure" she replied, and I gave her a little nod before getting out of the car, shortly followed by her.
We walked inside that bar and I ordered a glass of water, drinking it before walking towards the toilet with Indigo.
"What is it?" She asked me as soon as we closed the door after us, and I gave her a shrug.
"I needed to talk to you away from Harry."
"Couldn't it wait?" She said, seeming to be a bit confused and annoyed - understandably so, considering we were standing in the middle of a random toilet. But it would've been suspicious for us not to go there after I'd told Harry I needed a restroom.
"No" I said, shaking my head. "I have an idea."
She took a deep breath, seeming to read into my behaviour what I was yet to tell her. "What kind of idea?"
"An awful one" I replied honestly, "but it just might work."
She gave me a solemn nod, preparing herself for what was about to come. "What is it?"
I sighed, trying my best to think of the best way to put my thoughts into words. The idea itself was crazy, so how could I have managed to make it sound decent enough to be considered? It was a mess, but then again, the whole situation was a mess, so maybe that would've been just the perfect way to solve it.
"I was thinking, we're kind of in the middle of a bad situation right now" I started, stopping to see what Indigo would've said about that.
"Of course we are?" She asked, not seeming to understand where I was trying to go with that.
"We have Ryan, that wants money on one side, and Joel, that owes him money on the other" I continued, feeling a bit nervous. Why was it that it was starting to sound a thousand times worse than it was?
"And?"
I shrugged, trying to appear more nonchalant than I was. "That seems like a waste of time. We have no reason to be between them."
"Oh no, Ray" Indigo said, suddenly understanding what I was suggesting.
"It might be the best thing to do" I told her, "if we put the two parties in contact, they can solve their issue themselves."
It seemed to be the perfect idea, after all. Harry was about to pay for something he hadn't done - he was just the intermediary between Joel and Ryan. What was the point in that? Joel owed Ryan money, Joel had that money, and Joel hadn't given Ryan said money. Why did Harry have to be in a dangerous situation because of that? It didn't make any sense.
If Joel didn't want to give Ryan money, it wasn't Harry's fault. He wasn't responsible for his actions. So why should he have been the one in danger? It didn't make any sense. Threatening Harry or hurting him wouldn't have made that money come up, because he couldn't have given away something he didn't possess.
Putting Joel on the other end of the threat, though, would've been way more convenient, not only for Harry, but also for Ryan, because he had more than enough money to pay what he owed.
"That's an awful idea."
"How else are we going to find a thousand dollars in less than a week?" I told her. "Joel has that money."
She sighed. "It could be dangerous."
"It already is! Why would Harry need to be in danger because of something he hasn't done? Joel has more than enough money. It's his issue to solve."
If there was one thing I knew, it was that Joel wasn't stupid. He wouldn't have risked to be harmed not to give away a quantity of money that to him was laughable - which was what made my idea so good. It would've solved the issue completely, and saved Harry from Carter.
"True" Indigo said, agreeing with me on that one. "How do we get a hold of Ryan though? Is Harry close to him?"
"Harry mustn't know about this. You know he wouldn't agree and wouldn't let us" I told her quickly. It had to stay between us. "He has his phone number" I added, answering the question.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please, tell me you aren't planning to steal the number from Harry's phone."
"I might be" I admitted, biting my lower lip, and she sighed again.
"And then what? Talk to Ryan directly?" She asked, seeming to understand that there was no way I would've changed my mind at that point.
"I think so."
"This is the stupidest idea you've ever had, Ray" she admitted, "but it just might work."
I nodded and pushed the restroom door open. "Let's hope it will."
Sorry for the delay! If you follow me on twitter you know I've had some things going on lately. Aside from that, thank you so much for the 200k reads! I hope you enjoyed this chapter x
Miki