My friend, Demise

Chapter 22

Demise laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a rather gloomy look on his face. "He cried, huh?"

"I don't think he meant to. As soon as he realized he was crying, he turned away from me..."

"Enough about my family." He sat up and turned to me, dangling his legs off the edge of the bed. "There's something a lot more important that I have to talk to you about."

"Oh god....who died?"

"Wha- no! Nobody died!"

"Thank god." I sighed and held a hand to my head, pushing my hair back with a few fingers. "Then it can't be that bad."

"I'm leaving."

"What?" My heart stopped for a moment, speeding up immensely when his eyes began to glare my way.

"Azriel, don't give me that look. I can't stay here."

"Where would you go? Are you leaving me?"

He looked away from me. "You're safer when you're not around me." I watched him fidget, picking at the dried blood beneath his fingernails.

Blood? "But that's not fair! You can protect me, you have up until now. You don't have to go anywhere."

"Azriel-"

"You're not leaving me."

Unlike usual, Demise wore a suit today. The dress shirt beneath it was a striped white and grey. "I knew you'd say something like that." He stood up and pulled his tie loose. "But I did get a job today, so I might actually be leaving sooner than you think."

"What part of NO don't you understand?"

"Is that a trick question?" He winked at me and smiled, his eyes trailing down to my feet before back to my own.

"Now is not the time." I scoffed.

"You can come with me if you answer yes to the following question. Have you noticed the men following me lately?"

"Wait what?"

"That's what I thought. You don't pay attention to your surroundings and it could get you killed just because you're always with me."

"What kind of job did you get." I eyed the blood in the beds of his nails, which made him step closer to me and hold his hand out in front of me.

"Since you're so interested in them that you won't look me in the eyes when you speak, have a look."

"You're not answering my question."

"You won't like my answer."

"I'm worried about you....you've got blood on your hands, suddenly you want to leave, and men are following you. You're even fighting with your dad over something you wouldn't dare tell me about."

He scowled in disgust. "Like you're any better. Nice bruise you've got on your eye, get it at school or your dad's hotel room?"

"You're on drugs."

"My job is to sell them." He pulled his hand to his hip. "I'm working for some really scary people and I don't think that's good for you."

"What happened to the guy who didn't want to be like his family?"

"He faced reality. Nobody's gonna hire someone with three felony charges!"

"Maybe they would if you didn't show up with blood on your hands!"

"Don't lecture me."

"Why? Nobody else knows how so I might as well take one for the team, right?"

He grabbed my throat and pulled me to my feet, slamming my back against the wall without his expression changing. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to?"

"My boyfriend, a returning gangster, I don't know. How about you tell me?"

He loosened his grip on me. "Trust me. Just this once, can you do that? Can you trust me?"

"Not alone. I'm not letting you leave. I can stand you selling drugs and hurting other people but leaving me is where I draw the line."

"Wow, you've set the bar a tad low don't you think?"

"Please."

He let go and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Come with me, just start paying attention and be careful."

"Be careful?"

He pulled a familiar gun from his hip and shoved it in my hand, repeating his words. "Yes. Be careful."