Thieves

Chapter 11

A few weeks later, Scar stood in the shadows at the bazaar, watching for his family. He couldn’t stand in the middle of it anymore. Not until all of the excitement went down. When things had gotten too out of hand with the police, he had run off. He couldn’t put his family in danger by telling the police anything. Instead, he had run off and spent a few days on the run before going in search of people he knew.

He spotted Dez moving through the crowds. He smiled slightly and managed to get through the crowd towards her. “Dez,” he said quietly behind her. He didn’t want to scare her but there was no other way to get her attention.

Dez jumped and made to run when she recognized the voice. She turned and jumped towards him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. “Scar!” she said happily. “Gloria said you would come back!” Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him.

Scar smiled slightly and knelt down to hug her back. “She was right. I would never leave you guys,” he said quietly. He pulled back and smiled gently at her. “Can you tell me where you guys are staying? I want to stop by.”

Dez smiled at him and nodded. “Yep!” she said happily. “We’re staying at the little shed. The one you told us to stay at.” Her little girl joy was easy to get wrapped up in. “Do you want me to take you there? Or do you know where it is?” She had completely forgotten that she was out here to find dinner or money for the family.

“No! I’m sure you were out here searching for dinner?” he said. When she nodded he couldn’t resist smirking slightly and ruffling her hair. “Get going then. You don’t want to make someone not have enough to eat. I can get there by myself. I will see you in a bit, short stuff.”

He stood up and watched her scamper off at his words. It was probably one of the proudest moments he had ever had. Watching that girl running off to help his family… It was nice to know she could take care of herself and others when he wasn’t around. The biggest worry he had had while he was locked up with the police was that they would have trouble providing for themselves. It was great that he didn’t have to worry about that after all.

He turned away after she was out of sight and made his way towards the old shed, thoughts of his family filling his head. He was going to have to break some hard news to Gloria and the others. It was better not to think about it for the moment. Thinking about it would mean that he had to act on it all the sooner.

Hiding in the shadows, he found his way to the shed. He opened the door quietly, hoping that if anyone was asleep he wouldn’t wake them.

A flurry of red came towards him, tackling him to the ground with a hug. “You’re back!” Gloria said happily as she hugged him. She hadn’t seen him in weeks and had missed him more than she could have possibly imagined.

Scar laughed as he hit the ground with a thud. “Yes. I am. Now can I get up? It’s been a while and I would like to see everyone else,” he said. He did hug her back with all his might though. He had missed her just as much as she had missed him.

When he was finally let up from the ground, Scar dusted himself off and smiled at Nath. Apparently, Gray was out or something. That made sense. They had always made sure that there were two people at home at once in their other houses. It was safer than being alone.

Nath glared at him for a moment before hugging him. “You shouldn’t stay away for so long. We missed you,” he said quietly. It was one of his rare moments that the boy showed any emotion. “Is everything ok now?”

Scar bit his lip as he hugged him back. The truth would have to come out sooner or later. “Everything is ok for you guys now,” he said, smiling gently as felt Gloria’s curious gaze on his back. “I promise.” He would just tell it to Gloria first.

“Good,” Nath said simply, stepping back from him. “Because if you every scare Gloria like that again, I’m gonna hurt you. I promise.” The look on his face was completely serious. It was funny to think of Nath protecting Gloria when he was always the one arguing with her.

Scar started to laugh but ended up getting hit by Nath. Pretty hard too. He stopped and looked down at the younger boy. “You want to fight? I was protecting all of you, you know,” he said, pressing his lips together in amusement.

Gloria stepped between them before they started fighting. “That’s enough. Back off,” she said, putting hands on both of their shoulders. “Nath, I appreciate your over protectiveness of me but I can handle myself. Scar, don’t provoke the boy. We don’t have enough room to fight in here anyway.” She sounded like a mother breaking up a fight between two children.

Nath huffed in slight annoyance. “The one time I’m nice to you,” he muttered. He shook his head before making his way towards the door. “Well I’m going to leave before you two start making kissy faces at each other.”

His statement of the obvious feelings between them left the two in shock as he walked out of the small shed. Gloria had blushed slightly at his words and Scar looked at the ceiling, seeking some sort of distraction so he didn’t have to admit anything about his feelings.

Gloria took a deep breath before breaking the silence. “Anyways,” she said awkwardly. “What did you mean that it’s going to be ok for ‘you guys’? What about being ok for you?” Her embarrassment went away as she started her list of questions on her. “It better be ok for you. Because you can be sure that if it’s not ok for you it won’t be ok for me or the others.”

Scar was surprised at her sudden change of the mood but was glad for it until he realized what she was leading up. He bit his lip worriedly.

“About that… Gloira, we need to talk.”

(I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please feel free to tell me what you think of it in the comments. Votes and fans are always loved too. ~Cajun)