An Apocalyptic Invasion

i give someone money and more stuff happens

When I woke up the next morning, Marissa was gone.
Panicking, I launched out of bed and checked the bathroom. She wasn't there.
Then I went outside.
To my relief, she was near the hut, poking the ground with a stick.
She looked up when she saw me. "Good morning, honey."
"Do you know the fright you gave me when I realized that you weren't in bed?" I demanded.
"Well, I wanted to get some fresh air."
"I was worried you drowned, or got taken by something, or-"
"Carlos, I'm fine."
I assessed her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. The baby was kicking, so I decided to walk out here for a bit."
I sat down next to her. "What are you doing?"
"Just searching for bugs."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Dunno. Bored, I guess."
"Hm." I looked around and saw a figure flying in the sky. It seemed to be close to us.
"Is there like, a rock, nearby?"
"Uh... I think I saw one behind the hut. Why?"
"Thanks." I went to the back and grabbed the rock.
When I walked to her, she asked suspiciously: "What are you gonna do?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Carlos..."
I threw the rock at the Catwing with all my might. It yowled and whipped its head towards me.
I spotted different colored eyes and knew that it was Flicklitte.
He flew towards us, then thudded onto the ground in front of me. "That wasn't funny," he hissed.
"It was the only way to get your attention."
"So?" He flicked his tail. "It still hurt."
"Alright, I'm sorry."
"Hmph."
He scowled at me, but I knew that he accepted it. "What do you want?"
"Where have you been this whole time?"
His frown was replaced by nervousness. "Oh, uh... with Cloodhot."
"Really?"
"Fine. If you must know, she gave birth to our khits over there."
"Nice."
He shook his fur. "Anyway, what's up?"
"Nothing. Just wanted to say hi. Where are you heading?"
"I think back home. Cloodhot and the khtis are already over there."
"Okay. Good luck!"
"See ya!"
"Flicklitte has khits too?"
I sat down next to her. "Seems like it."
"Everyone's giving birth these days," she said.
"I know." I smiled at her. "Yours is in four months."
"If I don't give birth early, then yes."
She laced her fingers through mine. "It's really peaceful out here."
"I know. That's why I come here every now and then."
She looked up at me. "I love you."
"I love you too. Do you think Tommy will be happy?"
"With what?"
"Me proposing to you."
She traced a line down my shorts. "Knowing him, I'm positive that he'll be overjoyed to hear that his sister is engaged to his best buddy."
"I'll ask him another time. Right now, I'm just going to enjoy the view with my beautiful girlfriend."
She looked away. "Shut up."
"What? It's true."
"Carlos, you're lucky that I'm pregnant or else I would hit you right now."
I laughed. "Guess I'll have to go then."
"It's almost nighttime."
"Yeah. I better get going. See you later?"
"Okay. Bye!"
I left her sitting on the sand and headed towards the HQ.
The sky at the island was barely starting to get dark, but night already creeped up in the US.
As soon as I swooped through the doors, I saw Taylor sneaking down the stairs.
"Where you heading?"
"With my boyfriend."
"Why are you being sneaky? I don't think anyone cares."
She stopped. "It's just a habit."
"Come with me."
We went up the stairs and into my room.
"What is it?"
I dug through my drawers until I found an envelope. "Here."
She grabbed it. "An envelope?"
"Open it."
She lifted the flap, and almost screamed.
"Wha-" She looked up at me. "How much money is in this?"
"Uh... I think, around, a hundred-thousand?"
"A HUNDRED-"
"Shut up!" I hissed.
She took a few deep breaths. "Why- are you sure?"
"Taylor, I have plenty of money. This isn't even going to make a dent."
"I just..." Her expression turned worried. "I don't want to feel like I'm stealing money from you."
"I'm giving YOU the money," I pointed out. "You're receiving, not taking."
She flipped through the bucks, counting under her breath.
"There is a hundred-thousand in here," she murmured.
"Why would I lie to you?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm still in love with you."
She said it so suddenly that I couldn't come up with a response. She slid the envelope in her jeans pocket. Finally, I said: "Okay, you know what? Honestly, I still really find you as a wonderful girl. But..."
"You don't want to cheat on your girlfriend," she finished for me. "I get it. Can we still remain friends?"
"Yes. Of course; that's why I gave you the money."
"What do I do with it?"
"Buy a house or something. They cost twenty-thousand now, so you should be able to buy more stuff with the rest."
"Okay. I'm smart with money, so I probably won't spend a lot of it."
She hugged me. "Thank you," she whispered.
"We went through a pretty large war," I said. "I feel close to you. I hope you find a good house."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure swiftly sneak away outside my room.
"I don't mind if you don't come back."
"Really?"
"Tay, you literally have a BOYFRIEND. You being in the gang will strain your relationship with him."
"But... you're in a gang."
"Because my girlfriend lived in a similar situation and understands why," I shot back.
"Okay, that makes sense."
"It's pretty late. You should get going."
"I should. Um... do you still have my number?"
"Yes."
"Call me. Anytime."
"I will," I promised. I smiled at her. "Bye, Tay."
She smirked back. "See ya, Carlos."
I made sure that she exited the building, then went downstairs.
Then someone tackled me to the ground, which caused us both to roll down the stairs and crash outside.
It was dark, but the street lights traced out a person with long black hair and furious eyes.
Oh, no. I forgot that she didn't know about Taylor and me; this is one of the times where I'll just probably not fight back.
She was wearing her pajamas: gray tanktop and baggy blue pants.
"Who were you talking to?" Riley demanded.
"Uh... a member."
"Really? I don't recall you giving your members money."
"I've done it before."
"Carlos, this is serious!"
I sighed. "Fine. I was talking to a girl that I met during the war."
"By 'met', do you mean you cheated on Marissa?"
"Can't we talk about this in the morning? It's nighttime!"
To my surprise, she nodded. "Fine. But you're gonna have to explain yourself."
"Okay."
She got off of me and stomped inside, with me following her.
Fast forward to the next morning, where someone angrily knocked on my door.
I rubbed my forehead and sighed. "Come in," I called.
Riley marched in and stood in front of me. "Get up."
I looked at the clock. "It's 10:00 in the morning."
"So? It's never too early for what I saw last night."
I shot up. "You were watching us?"
"I wasn't planning to, but I'm glad I did."
"One small thing happened between us, but nothing else."
"How can I be sure you're not lying?"
With impeccable timing, Sam came walking down the hallway.
When she saw us, she asked: "What's going on?"
"I caught Carlos talking with a girl last night."
"Oh!" She turned to me. "Did you give her the money?"
"Yeah. I basically excused her from the gang."
"Sam!"
"What?"
"How are you not reacting badly to this?"
Sam shrugged. "I already knew about it."
"HUH?" Riley turned to me. "Does Marissa know?"
"She knew for a long time," I replied.
"How has she not broken up with you?"
"Hey, I was just as surprised as you are, but she went through something similar."
She shook her head. "How come either of you never told me?"
"Probably because of the way you're reacting right now," Sam admitted.
"Like what?"
Sam and I glanced at each other. "Uh... how can I put this lightly?"
"You have anger issues," Sam said.
"I don't!"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?"
"Fine, yes, I do. But this time, it's for a good reason."
"You have a point." I sighed. "I'll just tell you."
"Carlos, you sure?"
"Sam, it was going to be revealed anyways."
"I was gonna try to change your mind, but I can see that you're determined to tell her."
I turned back to Riley. "After the war ended, all of us got drunk. We were so intoxicated that me and Taylor did the DEED after we finished drinking."
"So you were DRUNK?"
"Basically, yeah."
"Carlos, how many times have I told you to stop drinking?"
"It was after a huge victory, okay?" I protested.
"If it helps, this is the last time that he was going to give her something," Sam chimed in.
"I'm disappointed in you, Carlos. I didn't think you would cheat on Marissa."
I threw my hands in the air. "Riley, what part are you not understanding? It was thousands of years ago! Marissa left it behind and I forgot it as well."
"Still, it's wrong to cheat."
"You're right. I'm sorry; it was just... in the moment."
"Hmph."
"I can go buy you some jewelry," I said.
"Fine. But I want to know about something beforehand."
"Deal."
I looked at Sam. "Do you want to come with us?"
"Sure. But I'm buying it with my own money- I don't feel good using yours."
"I would say the same, except I have nothing," Riley agreed.
"Alright, let's go."
The nearest mall was ten minutes away, so it wasn't a long trip.
When we parked, people were swarming like bees to the entrance.
I asked a random woman who was running by: "What's going on?"
"There's a massive discount at the jewelry store," she replied. "150% off."
"It's basically a steal," a man added. "It will be a perfect gift for my wife." They hurried off.
The entrance was so packed that it took us a few minutes to get to the store.
Nobody was going for the quartz, which was the crystal Riley wanted.
"Alright, pick what you want and I'll check it out."
She chose a cool looking bracelet with an amethyst charm on it.
I decided to get a sapphire necklace for Marissa, who would definitely want jewelry.
Sam, being a simple person, chose jade earrings.
I paid for the bracelet and necklace, and the total was only three-hundred dollars. Wow. It IS a steal, I thought.
Riley bounced happily like she was six again. The cashier gave us the bags and we left.
The crowd was a lot smaller now that everyone got what they wanted.
"Those are some nice earrings," I commented.
Sam nodded. "True. I like them a lot."
"Carlos, thank you for buying this for me!" Riley gave me a fierce hug.
I always love seeing her happy. It brings memories of when we were kids.
We drove back home to see Todd and Avery come back running.
They had sweat pouring down their faces, and Avery had a streak of blood on his right arm.
"What in the world happened?" I asked as I closed the door.
Todd placed his hands on his knees, panting. "Catwings... back there... tried to... kill us."
"Well, that's not new."
Avery shook his head. "This was different. Two of them were in a tussle, and another two were snapping at us."
A yowl behind the building rang out.
"That's concerning," Riley said.
"Indeed," I agreed. "Let's go check it out."