"Grey" Fezco O'Neill x black fem reader

17- Stirring the pot

You weren't sure the last time this many people had been blowing up your phone. Especially when it wasn't about Rue. Whether it was Instagram, text messages, or Snapchat, everyone suddenly had something to say to you. And you were ignoring them all. Even Maddy, which was honestly a struggle. Her singular text was much more impactful than anything from everyone else's. This was personal to her, not just some fight that went down at a party. She wasn't spamming you with questions or, even worse, accusations. Calling you a bad friend because you "Set up Maddy's ex to get beat up by yours." as if that made any sense.

But Maddy's Text wasn't the only one that had you overthinking.

𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛

𝚢𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚎𝚣 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍

You didn't want to think much of it at first. But what if there was really something to worry about there. You were sure there had to be some logical reason for Fezco to have a girl staying with him. But still you found it suspicious that Ashtray was the one to tell you and not Fezco himself. You tried your best not to think about it, but after a while, jealousy got the best of you. On top of that, your mind was still a bit hung up on the way Lexi and Fezco talked on New Year's Eve. You weren't sure the last time you saw someone Fezco didn't really hang out with make him laugh, smile, and even blush.

*just a quick talk.* You told yourself as you made your way to the O'Neill gas station.

Just a quick talk with Fezco to clear the air about his new house guest. And if the conversation lead that way, maybe, hopefully, the two of you could talk a lil about Lexi. But before any of that could happen, you needed to get all the details from Ashtray. Still being a kid, he had a natural way of exaggerating situations. Jumping to the worst possibilities and planning his actions based on that. With the life that he lived, it was understandable but extremely reckless at times. Thankfully, this wasn't one of them.

Although you'd like to think that everything Ash was telling you was farfetched, ultimately you believed him. Which on the bright side was good, Faye was just staying with Fezco's as a favor for her boyfriend. On the not so bright definitely not bright at all side, Faye was apparently a drug addict, murder, and her boyfriend was in some drug shit with Fezco. And there it was the logical reason for Fezco to have a girl staying with him, but with it came an entire set of new unanswered question that would most likely would stay that way.

Shifting your focus beyond the reach-in refrigerators and sodas, your eyes watching Fezco as your mind lingered back to New Year's Eve. And just like that, speak of the devil Lexi Howard showed up. Not needing gas or drugs or anything from the gas station at all. Well, that's not completely true. It was obvious that she was here for something, she was here for Fezco.

"What's up?" Ashtray ask, noticing your sudden concentration beyond the glass.

"Nothing." You lie too focused to come up with some excuse.

The conversation started on an honestly good note, Lexi walked in confidently you couldn't see her face, but you were sure Fezco and her were smiling. But quickly there's a change in the mood, Lexi's confidence is suddenly lacking. Faye waves to her, and for a split second you almost feel bad for Lexi, knowing that you and her had the same idea about Fezco and Faye's situation.

"You think I should go talk to them?"

Ash's response is instant.

"No."

Ashtray already knew about your concerns, and he assured you that beside Faye, his grandma and Rue, you were the only girl in Fezco's and his life. With that in mind, you ignore Ashtray and decided to do what you want. You knew now would be a bad time to bring something like this up, but you rather get it out of the way, than let it become some silent thing between the three of you.

"Imma go talk to them."

Walking into the main side of the gas station, you were met with a completely different atmosphere. It wasn't a small shift, like Lexi noticing Fay and feeling awkward. This was different. You'd been in tense situations before, dangerous ones even, and just like in those right now you knew you needed to stay calm.

"Good evening." Cal Jacobs called, as if his presence wasn't already felt.

"What's up man." Fezco is the only one to speak to him.

You, Fezco, and Astray share a look as Cal begins to roam around. You stand closer to Lexi, who now seems frozen, her eyes either on Cal or forced straight ahead into the rows of soda.

"You go any spearmint gum?"

"I don't know, man. The gum's right here." Fezco says, keeping a nonchalant demeanor.

"This your store?" Cal asks, picking up the gum and following Lexi to where she'd moved by the chips.

"It's a family business."

He follows her like prey, stalking her down and intimidating her.

"Do your parents own it?" Cal tries again for an answer, but Fezco shoots him down.

"You usually ask this many questions, man?"

"Just you. She tells you who I am?"

He looks to Lexi for a brief second before returning to Fez

"Nah, man."

"Are you a cop?" Faye speaks up, the only person beside Cal and Fezco to talk during this whole thing.

"No." Is all he says, and although you know it's the truth, you still struggled to believe it.

A silence falls over all of you. The only sound besides quickening heart beats is the ruffle of something in Cal's pocket. Gun is the first thing you think, how quickly things could escalate and go bad is the second thing. The shifting of cereal comes next, you think gun again, but this time you're sure. After what feels like the longest seconds of your life, casually, Cal pulled out a twenty dollar bill, placing it on the register.

"Just a concerned father."

And with that he left. Before now, you never knew Cal Jacobs to be dangerous, well not entirely. You had a suspicion that there had to be something wrong with the Jacobs family as a whole to create someone like Nate. Clearly, you were onto something.