Wronged

• 34 •

QOC: Do you have any questions for me?

•••

- Anna's POV -

We've been driving for awhile now, but I notice that it isn't in the correct direction of the airport. Instead, we roll upon an all too familiar place.

Dakota's apartment.

To my surprise, he comes out with a duffle bag and a suitcase. He smiles at all of us, but is quickly taken attention to Lyma when she gets out to help put his suitcase in the back of the car.

And then he piles into the passenger seat of it.

I stare at Nico, Hayley, and Aiden all separately in shock. They ignore my gaze in their own ways. Nico taps the wheel with his pointer finger and releases an overdramatic long breath as he sinks down in his seat so I can't see his eyes in the mirror. Hayley pulls her phone out and acts like she's texting someone, even though I can see that her device is completely black. And Aiden slowly retracts his hand from my leg, dragging it along the seat until it's to himself. He looks out the opposite window, clicking his tongue.

Lyma begins driving again as if all is casual, and Nico starts too. But about two seconds of him pressing on the pedal, I throw my hands in the air.

"Are you guys serious?"

No one replies.

"You invited Dakota? Without telling me?" I continue. It's not like I'm mad at him anymore. I'm not holding a grudge to him. But it would've been nice to know that they invited my brother that saved my ass from the rain a few days back. It would've been kind of them to tell me so I could prepare to speak to him and not have my trip more complicated than it already is.

Hayley sighs and turns around, being the bravest of the three of them to admit it. "Look, Anna. We just wanted you two to maybe get some bonding done. Aside from you and Aiden. If you're looking for someone to blame, blame him." Her French-tipped pointer finger aims toward Aiden.

She turns back around and I cross my arms, turning my attention to Aiden. Nico mutters something along the lines of, "Shortie's about to grow a big pair." We all ignore him, as usual.

"You invited Dakota, the guy you have beef with?" I scoff. I don't want two guys fighting this whole trip. I'm trying to actually connect with people. I'm trying to - dare I say it - become a part of the family. I've never done this before: set myself up for potential emotional damage with families. And actually, I'm set up for double since I'm trusting Aiden alone as well. But I'll be damned if Aiden and Dakota's arguing is the thing that ruins bonding for this next week and a half.

"I swear to you that I'm not going to hit him, okay?" Aiden says, holding out his pinky. "I only wanted you to reconnect with your brother. I figured maybe there's still some family for you. It's not completely gone."

I sigh, grabbing his pinky with mine. He smiles. "Fine. But that goes for not hitting him with words either. I'm hoping this whole gang business is over and done with."

He chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm working on it, Dimples. Trying to solve this mess."

I nod. "I can always help too, you know. I'm the one that-"

"You're not getting involved," he says sternly, protective side coming out again. "We've already gone over this."

I sigh. "Yeah yeah. But it's still out there, my help, if you need it."

~

It doesn't take too long before we've gotten all of our bags onto the plane along with ourselves. Although, we did get held up a bit in security when the beeper caught went red and loud with me going through it. My phone was in my pocket. And even when I took it out, the guard was feeling up my arms, legs, and the rest of my body. I felt violated, to say the least. And Aiden wasn't too happy about him touching me either.