Settle Down (Matt Espinosa)

Ch. 24

"hey oh, never let go of me, hold tight, its gonna get hard to breathe. and i will never let you drown, even if we're going down, hey oh, never let go of me"

MADISON'S POV

 "You're kidding me, right?" I whispered back, sitting still in shock.

Russell probably would've replied to me if he wasn't busy answering John's question.

"We stopped by to say hi to our friend..."

"Matt." I whispered again, so only he could hear.

"Matt." Russell finished, grinning.

I was about to call John out on keeping such big information from me, but I quickly stopped myself, taking in the details.

Will was a gang leader for so long, and I had no idea. But when Russell became said gang's leader, I knew about it. Will didn't want me to know about his involvment with gangs. If they want to keep something from you, you'll never find out about it.

So in conclusion John must really not want me to know. He's probably looking for that damned machete too.

I looked up and saw Matt about to reject what Russell had just told John, but I met his gaze and gave him a stern 'don't even think about it' look.

I turned my attention back to John and gave the sweetest smile I could manage. "So, how do you two know eachother?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and offered a slight smile back. "We, uh, we play soccer together sometimes."

Russell laughed. "Really? I don't play soccer." He replied, cocking his head and smirking.

"I, um, I..."

"This is too much, I can't do this." I said quietly in Russell's direction, lifting myself off the couch and brushing past everyone to go upstairs to process all of this new found information.

Locking the door behind me, I laid on my stomach across my bed and held my face in my hands.

Will was in a gang. Will was leader of said gang. Will was killed by leader of rival gang. John is part of said rival gang.

I want to break up with John more than anything now, he practically killed my brother... But they were best friends? This doesn't make sense. There has to be something they're not telling me.

Either way, if I break up with him without a solid reason, then he'll be suspicious, and especially with Russell being around he might catch on that I know. And that would be the opposite of what I need right now.

Game plan: Pretend to be unaware, and continue dating John. Let Matt in on what the fuck is going on, eventually. Get Russell to spill more information.

"Madison, open the door." I heard Matt's voice outside my room.

"Madison, open the door!"

"Madi open the goddamn door!" He yelled louder as I swung the door open. "I'm not leaving until all of them are gone, and then I need to talk to you."

"They all are gone, they left a few minutes ago after I practically kicked them all out." Matt said with a laugh.

I opened the door and closed it behind him as he walked in. "Sit down, we have a lot to talk about."

He did as I asked and I sat in front of him on my bed, sighing. "Well, here goes nothing. Those three guys, Russell, Isaac and Blake, are in a gang. Russell is the leader, and Will was the previous leader." I watched as Matt's face twisted in confusion. "And John and Russell know each other because John is in their rival gang, the gang that killed my brother."