do & die [h.s]

e i g h t e e n

Eve.

"How long have you and Jake been friends?" I yell over the music as a tipsy Louis stumbles through the faded crowd.

With a hand in mine and the other on the small of my back, he holds me cautiously close until we reach a dark corner. I'm not sure whether our proximity is so I don't lose him or so he doesn't lose me, but I can't say I mind either.

"As long as I can remember. Why?" He gives me a lazy smile as he drops my hand and sits on the floor, leaning his back against the wall.

"Why's Jake so scared of his drug dealer?" I try to slip it in casually as I mirror his actions, but even buzzed the boy isn't stupid.

"Unknown?" He quirks as he pulls out a little bag of white powder.

"Yeah him," I furrow my brows as I watch him take off his phone case with the ziplock now hanging between his teeth.

"I'll tell you-just-" he starts as he aligns the powder into rows, "-concentrate on what I'm doing."

I nod and he looks up at me with hooded eyes before continuing, "okay so when Jake got into this," he motioned around us, "one of his friends worked as one of Unknown's men and he showed Jake around the whole shitty business, right? Jake used to tolerate him and everything was good."

"Good," I repeated with a nod that pulled a chuckle out of Louis.

"It was, yeah. Now fast forward about three months when Jake came to understanding everything for himself and he started being-well-"

"Himself?"

"Exactly. He'd play mind games and do shit just to see how far he could take it and where and when lines were drawn y'know? He'd send fake money or not pay at all. He ran away with stuff once or twice, ran away for the fun of it constantly. His killing on accident turned into torment for sport."

I let out a gasp and Louis nodded through another chuckle as I watched his actions grow sloppier.

"The kid's mad, I'm tellin' ya. And stupid stuff like that is what got him on Unkown's blacklist. And nobody wants to be on that damned list."

"W-What happens when you're on his list?" I stutter and a bitter laugh spills from his lips.

"Well for one, he could report you to the cops which would fucking suck, but he usually chooses the easier way out...if you know what I mean," Louis shrugs, sliding his index finger across his neck before squeezing his eyes shut and sticking his tongue out. "Believe it or not, he's tried killing Storm on multiple occasions," he whispers and I gasp, placing a hand to my already racing heart.

"Why can't Jake just give him his money so he'll just leave him alone?"

"This is Jake we're talking about, babe. He and his stubborn ass aren't changing any time soon," he scoffs.

"Why would he even do any of this? Like what made him think pulling shit like that was a good idea?"

"Couple bad friends and a few not-so-great influences I guess. He wasn't always like this, you know? But once it started, poor guy couldn't stop. Dragged us all with him," Louis hangs his head low and I almost feel sorry for the boy sitting beside me along with everyone else here.

"Pete went to rehab last year. Got through it," he says nostalgically, a soft smile curling his lips in secondhand pride.

"Have you?"

He shakes his head, laughing in defeat. "If I'm being honest, I've thought about it, but then I started thinking about it, y'know? Learning to cope would mean facing reality and I don't know if I want to face such a messed up place. I don't want to meet a shitty version of myself and it's too bad really. The only thing that makes me happy is my girlfriend and she's miles and miles away. Besides, we're treading rough waters right now. I just-I can't...do that to myself," he trails off with a new pout to his lips.