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Chapter 17

9:20A.M.

"What do you mean 'I quit their gang'?" Steven says looking at me the back to Jacob. He got off of the stairs and him and Brody stand in front of me in the living room.

"Well, its a long..." Jacob starts to say.

"I need to have some coffee before you explain." I say putting a hand up. I walk to the kitchen and right to the coffee pot. After a few seconds I hear everyone come into the kitchen.

"How about I make coffee and you upstairs and change?" Steven asks coming up next to me. I nod then realize I am the only one still not changed. I'm wearing a big baggy shirt and shorts that you can't even see. Steven found them in his cousins closet and gave it to me.

"That sounds great." I say kissing his cheek then turn around and everyone's looking. "What?"

"Nothing." James says, being the first to speak. Jacobs head goes down as he focuses the floor which is what he does when he is angry or uncomfortable. I look around but don't see Brody. I walk up the stairs to the room I slept in last night. Brody stands looking out the window, not even turning to look at me. I pick my clothes up from the floor.

"Hey." I say and he smiles. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He says looking back out the window. I quick change then walk over to him.

"Tell me the truth." I say and he looks at me.

"I just...I like you. It obvious but yet you still choose Jacob and Steven over me. You give Jacob a chance after what he did to you. You give Steven a chance after he stopped being your friend. But you won't give me a chance when we just became friends and I have done nothing to hurt you?" He says then scowls.

"I'm sorry Brody, I didn't know you..."

"Yes you did." He says looking me dead in the eye. "Everyone did. You just didn't want it to be true."

"What do you..."

"You know what I mean." He walks out of the room. I look down. How do I tell him that I just want to be friends. He is one of my only friends an di dint want to loos him like this. I knew he liked me, I just didn't want to do anything about it because I liked Steven... and maybe Jacob. But lets not get into that right now. I sit there for a few minutes then go downstairs when I realize how loud it was getting.

"You are a asshole!" Someone screams.

"Your just mad because she doesn't want..." Someone else yells but grunts, not finishing his sentence.

"Hey!" I scream walking into the kitchen to see Steven and Brody fighting. I pull Brody by his shirt trying to break them up I don't see anyone else. Where did they go? After a couple minutes, the other guys finally run into the room and help.

"I'm okay." Steven says when I try to help him up.

"What is going on in here?" I scream at them. Jacob comes out of the bathroom and looks around.

"What did I miss?" He asks then lays his eyes on me.

"Everyone get into the living room and sit down like normal people for once!" I scream and everyone moves but Jacob and Steven. They look at me as I walk to the coffee pot and pour myself a cup of coffee. The front door opens then slams shut as Brody leaves. I don't even have to look to know its him.

"What was his problem?" Jacob asks crossing his arms next to me.

"I'll tell you later. Lets go sit down so you can explain." I say and they nod then we walk to the living room and sit down on the couch. We sat for a few minutes then Brody came back, sitting down without saying a word. I look at Jacob, telling him I'm ready to listen.

"Okay, so...what do I say?" Jacob asks as we all look at him.

"How did you get into the gang? What gang? Why did they go to MY house and not yours? Why are they so angry" I say looking at him.

"Okay. Uhm, I was friends with someone last year like a month after we started to date and he asked me if I wanted to be in his gang. Of course I thought he was joking because I knew him pretty well and didn't think he was the kind of person to be in a actual gang. I said yes jokingly and he said to get in I had to do something. He told me next time I talked to you, to just get really angry and hit you." A flashback of the first time he hit me comes into mind and I cringe. "I said no and he said if I didn't that he would go do it himself. And they are even more angry now because I quit their gang for you. I have been trying to quit ever since I started because I couldn't keep watching people get hurt anymore. They made me get back together with you then do it again. But, I called my friend and told him I quit a couple days ago.

"He didn't take it lightly. Then I made the mistake of trying to go to his house to talk to him about it. I didn't want him shooting my family or anything so I drove by his house. I tired to park but got too close to his car and scratched it..."

"That's what that scratch was from." I say looking at him. I remember when I got into his yesterday he had a huge scratch on the side.

"Ya." He says.

"Why did he go to Laura's house and not yours?" Brody asks looking at Jacob and nobody else.

"Because he knew I loved her. He hurts anyone you love and if he is in a worse mood then usual, he will make you do it." Jacob says. "And I am so sorry Laura."

"Its okay. You had no choice. But why didn't you just tell me?" I ask.

"I didn't know what he would do if he found out you knew." He says. "I was scared for you and me..."

"What about the people you jumped?" Steven asked. I look at him and can tell he is trying to put the pieces together in his head. We all are.

"He was the brother of the lead member. All of the members were trying to kill me because of what I did to his car. So when I saw him, he started to all his brother. We did what we had to." He says looking down.

"But the girl.." I say.

"She was in the gang too." Jacobs says and I don't believe that part. She was a good person, how could she be in a gang?

"She was." Steven said and I look at him. "When we went to see them in the hospital, they both had the symbol tattooed on their necks.

"So, if they knew I wasn't at home.." I say after a couple minutes of quiet.

"They knew we broke up." Jacob says interrupting me. "So, if they did something to your mom, they knew you would blame me."

We all sit in silence for about half a hour.

"What now?" I ask.

"Nothing." Jacob says. "There's nothing you can do. I have to go back to his house..."

"He will kill you. That's a no." I say then look down. "We are all staying here until we figure out what to do."

"I'm not going to stay here with him." Brody says looking at Steven.

"We can bring you back home. The only friend he knows about is Steven so your safe." One of Jacobs friends say. "He doesn't know who we are either."

"I don't know how I feel about leaving you with these two. But, you love both of them so I guess you are surrounded by your loved ones." Brody says standing up. "Laura, stay safe. When I'm back home I will go visit your mom then will call you so you can talk to her."

"Thank you." I say standing up and hugging him. "I will be here if anything happens."

"Okay." He says then walks to the door as James, and the other two guys walk to the door.

"Bye." I say.

"Bye." he says then they leave. What now?