Sold to Lovejoy | ᴸᵒᵛᵉʲᵒʸˣᴿᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

38 - Look

Y/N POV

I woke up with a bad headache. I sat up and saw the sun setting...or rising? Not sure. I glanced at the clock next to the bed. 6:56pm. Yup. Setting.

Was Will home? I slid off the bed and wandered around the house. No one was here. I scratched my head and went to open my phone. I raised an eyebrow. 15 missed calls from Ash, 11 missed calls from Joe, 22 missed calls from Will and many many many missed texts from the same three people. They were pretty recent too. Not even 10 minuets ago.

Before I could call back one of them, James called me. "James? Is Will with you? Or Joe? Ash?" I asked him. "Woah, slow down. Um, yeah. That's why I'm calling you" he said. My throat got dry and a lump started to form in the middle of my throat.

"Yeah? What's...um..." he could tell I was getting more and more scared as the call went on. "They aren't with me right now, but they want me to tell you to stay safe and hide" James told me, he sounded different. "James what's going on?" I asked him. "It's better if you didn't know for now" he said. I shook my head, "No."

"What?" James questioned. "I said no. My head hurts, I'm alone, confused, and scared. Tell me what the fuck is going on" I demanded.

The other line was quiet. "They got into a bar fight. Mark, Will, Ash, and Joe all did. "Mark was there? I didn't get any calls from him" I said. "Yeah, he started the fight but he didn't exactly end it." "Where are they? Who did they fight?" I asked James.

"Charles and his friends. Mark overheard them talking and clearly didn't like what he was hearing because he walked over to Charles and punched him square in the jaw." "Oh, my god. Are you hurt?!" I raised my voice. "No. I took Aria out when things started to get really intense" James explained. "James, can I talk to them?" "No." "Why not, James?" "Because they're missing."

I froze. "What do you mean?" I asked him, my voice quivering. "I don't know. Charles's friends ran out laughing and bolting down the street and then soon after they did. They were mumbling something about you getting hurt by the guys."

Great. My friends are missing and it's about me. When is it not?! "I'm going to look for them" I said, rushing over to the door where my shoes and coat was. "No! Y/n, they want you to stay there" James said. "Well, I'm not going to be alone! That's for sure! Is David there? Or anyone?" I was frantic. "Aria and I are on our way right now. We are going to search for Will, Mark, Joe, and Ash for a bit then we'll be taking you to our flat" James said.

TIME SKIP

I was terrified. It's been 30 minuets since James called and he's still not here. I laid on the floor next to the bed on the other side of the door. I curled up in a ball and shut my eyes trying to lie to myself. "They're okay...I'm okay...there was no fight...they are fine, just bar hopping with friends..." I whispered to myself.

I was a kid again. Hiding next to my bed waiting for my parents to stop yelling while I prayed they didn't come upstairs and toss me around like a rag doll. But I wasn't a kid. My parents are in a different country. Here's no way that can happen to me again.

I slowly sucked in my breath and let it all out. My eye closed. The doorbell rang. I slowly got up and trudged to the door, a hairbrush in my hand for self-defense. I opened the door and let out a breath when I saw James and Aria there. "Come on" Aria said, grabbing my hand.

While we drove, I couldn't help but blink a couple times and deny everything that's happened in the past 40 minuets. Everything was going by so quick. I didn't even know half the story and I was scared shitless. "This isn't real" I mumbled. "What was that?" James questioned, glancing at Aria who was driving and then behind at me. "This just doesn't feel real, James. I don't know what's going on but I do know so much has happened in such little time" I said.

"I know. And I'll explain everything to you when you are safe." "Safe?" I questioned. Aria said something incoherent to James and James nodded in response.

TIME SKIP

I sat on the couch. Aria next to me and James across from us in a chair. "Is this the part where you two tell me I'm adopted?" I cracked a joke, trying to make the tension disappear in the room. They didn't even crack a smile.

"Me, James, Mark, Joe, Ash, David, and Wilbur were all at a bar. Charles and a group of guys came in after a while and went to play pool and the pool table was right next to us and in earshot for their conversations" Aria started the story and set the scene for me. "Mark was one of the people at our table who could hear their conversation and it had something to do with you, and Will becoming soft" James explained.

I nodded, waiting for him to go on. "He called you something that made him and his friends go wild and that's when Mark stood up and punched him. It got really bad so Aria and I went outside after trying to pull the boys away from the fight but we couldn't do that without getting hurt."

"He called me a name? And that's why they got into a fight?" I questioned. "It was the r slur" Aria spoke. Her eyes were glued onto the carpet under us. I shook my head, "I don't think I understand. Mark is smarter than that! He would never just get into a fight with someone. He fucks people up mentally not physically" I said. "We don't understand either. But hopefully he'll explain himself when we see him again" James told me.

"If we see him again" I mumbled. James and Aria stared at me. "What? Oh, don't think I'm stupid, James! I lived with Charles enough to know that he knows people. Very big scary people who aren't afraid of prison. And I though you also knew that Charles is a whiney bitch of a man" I said.

"Y/n." Aria put her hand on mine. "Let's talk about this tomorrow. It's late" she spoke. I sighed and gave in.

TIME SKIP

I waited until I couldn't hear any creaks in the flat. Then I got up and silently put my shoes and coat on. I wrote a little note to Aria and James on a sticky note, and then opened the front door.

Wait. Should I really be doing this? Yes, my friends are missing but, Charles was talking about me. He knows my involvement with the boys and our relations to one another. He could be looking for me. And besides, what if Ash and them show up in the morning? Then they'd be looking for me!

My hand was frozen on the doorknob. I didn't know whether to close the door or leave before closing the door.

This is an automatic lock door. If I leave there is no going back. I looked behind me. The place was pitch black, just like the sky outside. It didn't feel like my friend's apartment, it felt like a bunker for the apocalypse. I couldn't stay safe knowing my boys aren't safe. I need to look for them.

And with that, I exited the house and closed the door behind me.