The Protected One

R e u n i o n s

Ben.
"Get rid of him," I finally say.

"Copy," Drake says.

I listen to the sound of Drake's car speeding up and the sounds of traffic behind him.

I hear the sound of various cars honking followed by tires screeching.

I bite my lip before I intervene.

"Wait, Drake stop. Don't touch him," I say.

I can tell Drake is shocked by my words when he takes a moment to respond.

"Are you sure? He asks.

"Yes. Don't question me," I say as I hang up angrily.

I run my hands over my face in frustration.

Frankie would never give me the time of day if I killed Leo. As much as I wanted him out of the picture, I wanted Frankie more.

FRANKIE.
"So I'm really sorry about the way I reacted towards you in Seattle. I just didn't know what to do and I lashed out on you," I explain.

"Frankie, it's okay. I already told you that I was over it," he chuckles as he takes a sip of his drink.

Claude and I were currently having lunch together at one of our favorite spots in Florida.

I decide to come down there for a few days to see him.

Since Seattle we haven't really communicated much nor did we hang out because of the way we left off.

It was really weird for us because we never stop talking to each other for days at a time.

"Well thank you. I was afraid we weren't going to talk nor see each other again," I say.

"And miss your graduation? No way," he smiles.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was graduating this Saturday. It was all surreal to me that I will finally be done with school.

"It's so bittersweet," I frown.

"I bet it is. High school graduation was like that. Especially since you moved and we had to graduate separately," he says.

"That was pretty sad. I was so convinced that we'd walk that stage together. Then that whole Ben thing happened and next thing I knew, California,"

"Yeah but that's all in the past. At least we see each other most of the time and Ben is.." he trails off.

I couldn't help but be curious.

"What did you guys do about Ben?" I ask.

He sighs.

"Well from what I know, your brothers are trying to find out how they knew to contact you. Especially with the notes," he points out.

"Most importantly they're trying to find him. He's pretty much been MIA since the whole thing and none of us can find a trace of him," he finishes.

I slowly nod my head.

"How do you feel about all of this?" He asks.

I sigh.

"I don't know honestly. I didn't really expect Ben to be back in our lives after all this time. It was very unexpected and now that it's happened, I don't know how I feel," I say honestly.

He nods his head in understanding as he takes a bite of his food.

Slowly chewing on mine, I internally debate on telling him what's on my mind.