The Delinquent

Chapter 16: Back to the Begining

Previously:

"You're welcome," Luke whispered, but his words sounded faint and faraway as Alex began falling asleep. She fought to stay awake, wanting to savor this moment with Luke, but she was falling further and further into the darkness. Still, Alex was barely conscious when Luke spoke up once more.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, almost inaudibly, and then just like that, Alex fell asleep in Luke's arms for the first time.

~~~

The sun was shining brightly through the windows when Alex awoke, gently caressing her face with its warm rays. She fluttered her eyelashes open, blinking against the harsh light as her eyes began to adjust. Glancing around the room, Alex noticed that Luke wasn't with her. She felt a small pang in her chest as she stared down at the rumpled sheets next to her.

Attempting to sit up, Alex immediately gasped in pain and had to lean against the headboard for support. Her shoulder was on fire, but not nearly as bad as it had been yesterday. Ryder had done a really good job bandaging her arm, the wrap still holding tight. This time carefully, Alex moved to stand up, extremely cautious not to move her shoulder in any way.

Succeeding after a couple of seconds, she felt the blankets fall of her shoulders and back onto the bed. The cold air pierced her skin like knives, but she paid it no attention as hushed voices could be heard outside her door. Alex heard snippets of their heated conversation from where she stood.

"...what are we going to tell her parents? Huh? What will they think? And what about the rest of us? The police are already suspicious from the time you got arrested with her, and now they've got a murder on their hands that they can link back to us. A bullet wound right now is practically incriminating yourself. And don't even get me started on your street fighting career. How does she fit into all of that?" That was definitely Ashton's voice, his frustrated tone easily identifiable.

Alex knew they were talking about her, but that fact didn't really bother her so much as what Ashton had said, because he was right. How on earth was she going to explain this to Jackson, or her parents? Oh hey, my shoulder just hurts because I got shot, but no big deal, it was by the same person who killed that gas station employee. You know, the one that is probably on the news right about now.

Yeah, that would be a fun conversation.

It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about being linked back to the man's shooting. Still, what Ashton had said wasn't just about her. It was about Luke and the rest of his friends, too. They were just as much at risk as her, if not more because they were also street fighters. Alex felt her stomach drop painfully to her feet at the thought of Luke being taken to jail for something he didn't do.

Or him going anywhere for that matter.

She knew he was dangerous, but Luke had somehow managed to wedge himself into her heart, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to kick him out.

His response startled Alex from her thoughts, his voice sounding agitated.

"Do you think that I don't know the risks of this life, Ashton? Because I do. I lived long enough to know what could happen if we got caught - and I don't care. Look, I know that things with Alex are complicated, but just don't worry about her. I will take care of everything, I promise," Luke was slightly exasperated, even though he meant to be reassuring Ashton.

Ashton just sighed, the defeated noise echoing off the walls and into Alex's awaiting ears.

"Okay, but I'm blaming you if we get caught," he said simply, before footsteps could be heard, getting fainter by the second as Ashton stomped away. Moments afterwards, a loud thump could be heard along with some faint swearing, the sound making Alex start, but immediately regretting it as pain shot up her shoulder. She winced, her eyes shutting briefly, however the opened almost as immediately as they had closed once Alex heard the door opening.