Never Going Back/NOT EDITED

Chapter 11

     I had woken up earlier than usual. Today was a busy day. We had three deals going on and Nathan and I had to make a run to the stash house, but even with all that going on I couldn't stop thinking about Nathan. I know we've only known each other for a short amount of time, but I wanted to know everything about him. My heart yearned to be around him.

     "Good morning", I saw Nathan in the kitchen as I poured myself a coffee. It was weird not hearing Layton's usual complaints about the smell of it. I poured the cup out. It just didn't feel right.

     "Everything okay?", Nathan looked up from making his plate.

     "Yeah, I'm just not in the mood for coffee", Nathan raised his eyebrow. I made up an excuse to leave before he asked anymore questions. I loved being around him, but I didn't want to be a burden. "I probably should go check on Hunter. Having your twin get kicked out of the gang must suck and we've got too much of a busy day for his head not to be on straight."

     I walked out of the kitchen and up to Hunter's room. Before I opened the curtain, I froze. Layton was my best friend and all the good memories outweighed the bad, but then again I always looked past how toxic she really was. How could I face Hunter after all that's happened?

     "Hey, can we talk?", I opened the curtain to see Hunter sitting on his bed holding his head in his hands.

     "Yeah...sure", Hunter looked up at me and motioned for me to sit next to him.

     "Look Hunter. I think you should take the day off. No one's gonna blame you not even the boss. You've been through a lot, we all have. I just hope we can still have each other's back."

     "Cleo, I don't blame you. Layton could be a bitch, I'll be the first one to acknowledge that. I didn't know why you were friends with her in the first place, but I know you cared about her. No matter how rude she could be, you brought out the best in her. I know you didn't make the decision to kick her out. We're good", Hunter held out his pinky. Our team's 'thing' was pinky promises. It might sound weird especially because we're in a gang, but no one's ever broken a pinky promise in our group.

     "Good", I accepted his pinky promised and wrapped my arm around him, giving him a side hug. "Honestly though, take the day off and take care of yourself. You're not gonna get a girlfriend looking like that", Hunter started laughing as he punched me on the arm.

     "Thanks,  Cleo."

     "For what?", I raised an eyebrow as I stood up.

     "For making me laugh", I gave him a slight smile as I walked out of his room.

     I took a shower, brushed my hair and teeth, and got dressed. After that I helped Micheal and Isa load up the SUV's. I let Micheal drive this time as long as he agreed to take orders from me. Micheal and Isa hopped in the front seat while Nathan and I hopped in back.

     Micheal and I got out for the first deal while Nathan and Isa got out for the second. I liked to keep feelings out of work, so I separated Micheal from his girlfriend, and honestly me from Nathan. When we arrived to the last deal of the day we were all a bit tired and decided we should all get out just in case we weren't 100% on our game.

     "Let's see some dough", I asked as the buyer reached for a bag. Once he did a truck pulled up. They started shooting.

     The buyers went down first. I grabbed my gun trying to fire back, but I was knocked down. Everything went black.

                                                                                          ***

     I learned how to put makeup on when I was five. My dad had taken his anger out on me yet again, and I couldn't keep skipping kindergarten. It was winter so there wasn't much I had to cover up except for the cuts and bruises on my face.

     I remember my mom crying as she packed my crayons and lunch into my backpack. She felt guilty, and I didn't know why. At the time she told me we were playing dress up and that's why I was so content putting on the makeup. It wasn't until I got older that I realized why I had to put it on.

     My whole class looked at me weird. Even though we were so little they could tell something was off. My teachers acted like they didn't notice, but they did. I spent the whole day embarrassed until my mom picked me up. She told me she was taking me out for lunch. Those were the good memories with my mom. The ones where we were free to be mother and daughter without the fear of getting beaten. We'd always have the best time as long as Dad wasn't around. I can still see her smile.

                                                                                           *** 

     My ears were ringing. The bullet didn't go through my vest, but it did knock the wind out of me. My head was bleeding from the fall, but that's not what I was worried about.

     As I sat up I saw Micheal and Isa. They were fine, but they were hovered over Nathan as he laid on the concrete.

~A/N

     Hope you liked this chapter! Tuesday's and Thursday's I will be posting later because my dance practices are in-person again! I'll post updates and reminders on my instagram story -jayxupstead! Thanks for reading!!