It Starts With Him

30

The only thing I have to keep me company is the chitter of grasshoppers, the idle rumbling of my engine, and the glittering stars that peak their heads in through my sunroof.

My hands nervously twist around each other like two rattlesnakes in battle, and my stomach does neverending flips. If I didn't have my light-up clock on my dashboard, I would have no sense of time. If I had to guess, I've been sitting in my car down the street awaiting Ace's return anxiously for hours. Three to four, to be specific. But my clock assures me it's only been 47 minutes.

I sigh for what seems like the hundredth time and lean my head against the headrest, staring up at the stars.

Why would Ace go back in there? Why? What could have possibly compelled him to make such a choice?

I'm still in shock about everything. Mom's letter, being in the same cramped room as the Outlaws yet again, reuniting with Ace, and him actually forgiving me. It seems impossible it all happened on the same day. Just this morning I was moping back at home, and now I'm sitting in the pitch blackness as a getaway car for the boy I love.

Home... The thought makes me grab my phone and hastily text dad and Lucas to let them know I won't be back until later. And just as I'm pressing send, a sound cuts through the open windows. I left them rolled all the way down so that I could hear when Ace was coming.

A door slam. Then rushing footsteps and hushed whispering. Ace... isn't alone?

I turn around in my seat and stick my head out the window to get a glimpse, and through the darkness, I can make out two shapes. One is obviously Ace due to the physique, but the other, I'm unsure of. He's smaller than Ace, no doubt, but still strong. They're still speaking in hasty voices, their sharp whispers making their way all the way to me. Soon, I can make out their faces as they near my truck. It's Max, the youngest Outlaw. He always was the best one out of all of them, never anything but kind to me.

As the passenger door of my truck and the back one fly open, I buckle my seatbelt as quickly as I can. Ace is next to me, his breaths quick and sharp and I look over him for any injuries. None are there - none that are obvious at least, and I lean over and wrap my arms around his neck. He's trembling, and whether it's from adrenaline or nerves, I'm not so sure. I hold him tight, and he leans into me as if he needed the embrace just as much as I did.

I pull back to look at Max. His face is white as the house he just emerged from, his eyes wide and lips pale. His hands are shaking so much that I reach forward and grab one of them. His eyes meet mine, his lips parted with short, jagged breaths coming out of them.

"You needed to go back for him," I confirm to Ace, leaving my hand on Max's. Ace nods, leaning against the door.

"If I was leaving, I couldn't go without him. He deserves better, he isn't... He's not like the rest of them."

I nod. "I know." I glance at Max who looks so shocked that it seems he may pass out.

"And you're okay with this? Leaving your brother? This is what you want, right?" I ask him. I need to be sure before I drive away that this is something he wants, too.

His gaze leaves mine as he turns around in his seat to look back at the trees as if he can see the house through them. I give him a moment. To take it all in. To truly think about this.

"They're my family," he mumbles, still looking back. I glance sideways at Ace. "They're my family. Diesel was all I had after my parents went to jail, and then he formed his group. Ever since then, they've been the only family I know." There's a moment of silence before he turns back around in his seat, his features solid as stone. While no color has returned to his cheeks, his eyes now hold something in them so icy and cold that it makes my heart nearly drop.