GHOST OF YOU | BWS

twenty.

It takes me a few seconds to move from my spot and finally go in the shower. I stand under the piping hot water until my skin is bright red and the fog in the bathroom is too thick for me to breathe in before stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel. I don't bother checking if it's clean or not and dry myself up with it before looking at the clothes Brad brought me: a pair of grey sweatpants, a white shirt and a pair of boxers. Despite how hot my skin is after the shower, I can feel it burn even more at the thought of wearing his underwear. I decide to pretend I didn't see them and slip on my own panties that are not as soaked as I expected before putting on his sweatpants and shirt. I make sure to tie the sweatpants' chord tightly around my wait to avoid them slipping down and make my way out of the bathroom and onto the living room expecting to see Brad, but the room is empty. I follow the sound of a kettle to the kitchen where I find Brad, a cup in each hand.

"Tea?", he offers when he sees me.

My eyebrows furrow. Are we going to ignore the fact that Joaquin or his guys beat him up? Or the fact that Joaquin is onto me now? And that therefore Isaac will soon be too?

"I didn't take you for a tea kind of guy", I answer while he pours boiling water in the cups, making him smile.

"And I didn't take you for a killer kind of girl", he answers as he hands me the cup and starts walking towards the living room.

Fair enough. I guess that makes two of us then. Before Charlie's death, I would never have even hurt a fly. And I still wouldn't. But Reggie doesn't deserve compassion or kindness. He's a murderer, and deserves to die for what he's done to my family, and the families of God knows how many other people. Will I be capable of killing him when given the opportunity? You'd asked that a few weeks ago I would have said yes without the shadow of a doubt. Today, I'm not so sure anymore. I'm way above my head here, and it's scaring me to no extent.

I follow him to the next room and sit next to him on the sofa, my back against the armrest so that I can face him, holding the steaming hot cup in my hands. I stare at the water progressively turning a darker shade of brown until Brad breaks the silence.

"Tell me what happened", he says and I bring my attention up from the cup and meet his eyes.

He is looking at me intently, nervous as to my answer.

"I'm so sorry", I say for probably the tenth time tonight.

His eyebrows furrow again, as if he doesn't understand why I am apologizing.

"Why do you keep saying that?", he asks, genuinely surprised. "What are you apologizing for?"

This time it's my turn to look at him confused.

"If I hadn't told Joaquin I know you, him or his guys wouldn't have—", I start to say before marking a quick pause. "They wouldn't have done this to you"

Brad is looking at me with an even more confused face than before.

"What?", he says, putting his cup on the coffee table. "Joaquin and his baboons have nothing to do with this. Wait—", he continues, his face suddenly turning white. "He knows you're with us? Why the fuck would you tell him you know me?'", he adds, suddenly sounding furious.

"He didn't leave me any choice!", I defend myself. "He said one of his guys saw us talking on the street and he asked how I knew you and what you wanted"

How can he think I'd just tell Joaquin about him? How about telling him my plans of getting Isaac his drugs back while we're at it? Then what he just said hits me.

"If it isn't Joaquin or his guys who did that to you, who was it?"

Knowing him, he might lose it on me and tell me it's none of my business. Which would only be fair. I don't know him. Actually I don't know anything at all about him except for the fact that he is in a gang, works for Reggie and knew my brother.