Agony

10

Blake and I stayed up on the rooftop for almost two hours. We ordered two extra-large cheese pizzas. He offered me his ear, sensing that there was some drama. I briefly explained how I had a whole Stefan and Damon situation, avoiding talk of death, Venom and my family.

Blake listened intently but said nothing, precisely what I wanted. As we finished up the pizza, he invited me, Hayley and Stacy to the beach. I happily accepted. Some sunshine and beach hair was all I wanted.

He dropped me off to our floor before leaving for work.

I pulled on my apartment door to find it unlocked. I silently prayed that Ace and Dallas left so that I could go to sleep in peace before pushing the door open and making my way inside.

Nope.

The two of them were sitting on the couch watching Netflix. And they had the audacity to make themselves at home by eating ice cream and popcorn.

Hayley was passed out on the other couch, unaffected by the guys. Typical.

"What are you two ladies doing?" I scolded in way of greeting.

"Cher, finally. We need to discuss what we're going to do." Ace told me, turning away from the screen.

Dallas sent me a sidelong glance but didn't say anything. He looked upset. Good. I noticed that he was eating cookie dough.

I shut the television off and crossed my arms. 

The two of them didn't complain, simply turning to look at me, waiting.

"I'm giving the two of you boneheads, five minutes to get your stories straight and be completely honest about literally everything involving me."

I wanted to be clear about everything before I made any decisions.

I snatched the bowl of popcorn from them, laying back on the third couch to listen.

* * *

Five minutes soon became an hour but I finally understood the situation and against my better judgement believed they were telling me the truth.

Ace briefly covered the same information he'd given me about the necklace and why he did what he did. I was convinced by him easily, he had a motive, he had the threat against his sister too.

It was Dallas who really came through with a thorough explanation of everything.

He told me that the drug dealing was something he did three years before he met me. It was with Venom, they provided him with the product, he was responsible for getting loyal clients. Dallas knew it was a messed up business and gradually left it, but that meant his father shunning him. It was only when he offered to start dealing again that his father spoke to him. He assured me that he was only doing it half-assed, enough so that his father would be on speaking terms but not enough to bring in a large number of clients.

He proceeded to explain that what he said about needing a roommate was not a lie. He'd rejected my offer at first, afraid that I'd be nosy and figure everything out. But when Antonio was being a creep he realized that he was overreacting and decided to give it a try. Nothing ill-intended there.

Dallas also mentioned that he had no idea that I was the same girl that Ace was after. He didn't even associate me with Venom in the slightest. In his own words, I was his 'escape from that world' and he never wanted to scare or hurt me.

The two of them had also lied to their fathers, convincing them that I was dead when I left the rooftop, dragging Ellie with me. Meaning, if it came out that I was still walking and breathing, I wouldn't be the only one buried six feet under. I was convinced they were telling the truth about the roof as well, because I recalled that the handcuff chain had been easy to break Ellie out of. The escape had been way too simple, the more I thought about it.