Bad Desire: New Beginnings - Fast Forward

Chapter 123

The Aftermath...

"Finally you're here, I thought-" Lauren stopped herself as she fully took notice of who was stood outside her front door. "Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Jay Gibson?" The woman asked causing Lauren to frown.

"How do you know him?"

"I'm Jazmine... a friend."

As Jazmine pushed her hair off her right shoulder, she was being watched intently. Lauren was confused why this stranger was standing at her door and Jazmine wasn't in any rush to explain herself.

"Oh okay, well he's not here right now... sorry."

"I know he's not." Jazmine sighed before looking past Lauren at the suitcase that was packed and waiting in the hallway. "I'm not sure how to explain this so hopefully this will help."

Passing over an envelope, Jazmine watched as Lauren cautiously took it from her hand. She didn't make an attempt to open it and instead just stared down at the scruffy lettering on the front.

"What is it?"

"Just read it."

Jazmine's clipped tone took Lauren a little by surprise but she decided not to argue. This woman didn't look like she was up for talking so she wasn't going to push her luck on it.

"Okay... thank you." Lauren replied softly, brushing the blonde hair from her face, as she wasn't quite sure what to do at this point.

Jazmine was still standing there watching her, yet Lauren didn't want to open this envelope in front of someone she didn't know. She wasn't sure what was going to be inside but she'd rather use some privacy to figure that out.

"It was nice meeting you Jazmine. I'll let Jay know that you were looking for him."

Pursing her lips, Jazmine looked blankly back at the blonde before just nodding her head and walking away. She was watched the whole way down the path until she disappeared into her car and it was only then that Lauren closed the door behind her.

*

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Matt asked as a breathless looking Cole and Naomi appeared at Juliet's door.

"Haven't you heard?!" Cole looked back at him in shock as he cradled his wounded arm to his body. "Buddy's warehouse was blown to pieces and-"

"What?"

Matt was looking back at Cole in a state of confusion, unable to make sense of this.

"Someone got there before us?"

"No." Cole began shaking his head before turning it into a nod. "Well yeah, it was-"

He paused because he was unable to get his words out. He was still in a state of shock and numbness due to the news that had been passed onto him.

Cole didn't know how to react, his whole body had gone into a state of shock and he was in complete denial.

"How is that possible?" Matt continued to throw questions at him, not even giving Cole chance to finish speaking. "Who else is after him?"

"It was Jay, Russle. Jay was the one who did it."

Cole's whole body fell into a slouch as he finally spoke those words. It was as if speaking them out loud suddenly made this whole thing so real.

None of it made sense to him. It didn't make sense why Jay would go ahead and do that without even letting them know. That man was all for teamwork yet he had broken that trait for the sake of this gangs lives and Cole couldn't comprehend such selflessness in his mind.

"What?" Matt breathed, confused at where Cole was going with this. "What do you mean, Jay did it?"

"Jay was at the fucking warehouse you idiot." Naomi bit in, throwing her arms out in aggravation at having to explain this to Matt. "He blew it up and he was in there. He killed Buddy but he also fucking killed himself in the process. Does that make sense now?!"

It was clear the news had caused heightened emotions that everyone was dealing with differently. While Cole had turned them into complete numbness, Naomi was the complete opposite, powering them out through lack of patience.

Matt on the other hand, just remained silent. He stood before Cole and Naomi and didn't say a word. He stood there with shaking hands as the information processed in his brain and the reality of this situation truly sunk into him.

Jay was gone.

His best friend, his brother, his support was gone and he hadn't seen any of this coming.

...

Just as Lauren was about to tear open the envelope she had just been given by Jay's so called 'friend', there was another knock at the door. Her excitement sparked up once again as looked down to her suitcase ready and waiting to go yet she was disappointed once again when Jay wasn't stood the other side.

"Lauren." Juliet practically whispered as her heart was already breaking over what she was about to say.

"Is everything okay?" Lauren looked back at her with concern as she reached out to take her hand and guide her inside.

She looked scared and like she had been crying, sending slight worry through the blonde who had a natural instinct to try and make things better.

"I need to speak to you about something... can we sit down?"

Juliet took hold of Lauren's hands and gave them a squeeze as she tried to head them into another room. Allowing it to happen, Lauren headed for the living room where they both took a seat on the sofa.

"You look like you've been crying Juliet. What's happened?"

"I'm so sorry Lauren..." Juliet began, knowing she couldn't stall this whole thing any longer. She needed to get it out, she had to be honest before news travelled in from anywhere else yet little did Juliet know that Jazmine had already stopped by. "It's about Jay..."

"Is he okay?" Lauren asked as panic suddenly striked over her face. She felt her body heating up as the nerves began to kick in over the unknown of where this was heading.

"No." Juliet began shaking her head as a tear fell down her face. "He's not. He's... he got into an accident doing gang stuff and-"

Juliet paused as she watched Lauren's facial expression completely change as tears instantly welled up in her eyes too. Lauren already knew where she was going with this, Juliet didn't need to say it out loud.

"He was-"

"Don't say it." Lauren began shaking her head over and over, not wanting to hear it. "Please don't say it."

Nodding her head, Juliet reached out to pull Lauren into her arms. The embrace was allowed as Juliet tried to provide Lauren with comfort yet it didn't work as the only comfort she could think of was Jay's.

He was supposed to be here with her right now. They were supposed to be loading their packed suitcases into a car and leaving this town for good. Jay was supposed to be leaving behind a world that had screwed him over one too many times but instead, he had been caught up in it that little bit longer and it had ended up causing his death.

The man Lauren had quickly fallen head over heels in love with, had suddenly disappeared from her life without warning. He had disappeared and left behind many people who loved and cared about him yet not been aware of the impact it would have on any of them.

He had known how much he loved and cared for them but he hadn't been quite aware of how much they loved him back.

*