*** COMPLETED *** Until the World Explodes (Han Seoul-Oh)

Chapter 24: "I'm always gonna be your family, kid."

Way more people than I had expected showed up to Han's service - even people that I didn't recognize. By any means, I wasn't saying that he wasn't popular or had little friends, he was just always careful about who he allowed himself to get close to and preferred to keep his circle small.

Even though it didn't surprise me, it still stung when I looked over where my mom was supposed to be and the chair was empty. I knew I fractured our relationship when I took off to Tokyo in the middle of the night, but she was still my mom. I still needed her.

After the service ended, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and be left alone. I wanted to disappear so I didn't have to face anyone anymore. Being stared at in public was worse than not being talked to at all. What do you say to somebody whose boyfriend was just murdered?

A soft knock on the bedroom door brought me back to reality, and I pulled one of the pillows over my head, hoping that whoever was bothering me would get the message that I didn't want to talk, but when they started talking, I knew that wasn't true.

"Hey, kid," Dom said quietly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, watching me as I slowly pulled the pillow off my face. "How are you?"

"Not good, obviously," I muttered as I watched him. "How would you feel if Lety was murdered?"

"About as bad as you're feeling, probably worse," He said as I moved to sit up next to him. I'd been laying there for so long that the sudden movement made me dizzy for a second. "We're gonna take care of it."

I laid my head on his shoulder, and he didn't hesitate to put his arm around me as he kissed the side of my head. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat because I never wanted Dom to see me cry, but I couldn't hold it back this time.

"What do you mean? I don't want them coming after you, too. What if they hurt you? Or kill you? I can't imagine being without the both of you," I sniffled as he sat there in silence listening to me. "Please don't."

"I just can't sit here and watch you eat yourself alive because Han's dead. We know Takashi and his men were behind this, and I'm gonna do what it takes to make it right. He has no idea who he's fucking with," Dom said quietly as he hugged me a little tighter. "I'll always have your back, Audrey."

"Please be careful."

Xoxox

Trying to find time that lined up with my mom's schedule to come see Lucas and I was damn near impossible, at least she was making it that way. Every time she had a couple days set in stone, she'd change it at the last minute and say something came up at work or my dad wasn't going to be able to come, and it wasn't fair for her to meet her grandson and not him. I was getting pretty tired of the excuses to the point where I didn't message her back anymore.

Instead of being sad about my mom giving the same old excuses, I decided to move on and ask Dom when he wanted to come meet Lucas since he was a few weeks old now. He responded within minutes and said he and the others could be out there in a few days, so I went to go see if Han was alright with it.

"I think daddy's out here in the garage," I said as I picked Lucas up out of the crib when he woke up from his nap. "Let's go see. Your daddy really likes cars."

Sure enough, when I got out to the garage, I found Han bent over another car he'd bought - this one needed a new engine and he wanted to rebuild it from scratch. When we weren't busy with Lucas or spending time together, he was out here.

"Hey, baby," he smiled as he walked over to us while wiping his hands off with a rag. "Everything alright?"

"Yes," I grinned as I stood up on my toes when he kissed me before he said hi to Lucas, who had started to get sleepy on my shoulder. "I came out here to ask if you'd want Dom and the others to come visit in a couple of days. I gave up on my mom because she's giving so many excuses."