Bitches Shred In Pieces

09: I'm Always Watching!

Friday night, Tony and Andrew jog near the neighborhood, doing their every night cardio. There's a twist in Tony's gut while running through the dark streets. The feeling as if someone is watching him from behind doesn't leave him. Ever since he got those notes from XOXO, the fact that a stranger, or anyone, knows about his personal life scares him to death. It's like he's not safe anywhere he goes, including home.

  "I'm curious," Andrew says, ruffling his hair. "Why don't you run at the Hush Hush woods anymore?"

  Tony sighs, feeling a pressure in his chest. Obviously, he can't tell him because he buried a dead girl there. "Well, the woods remind me of Wyatt."

  "Right. I forgot you two ran together in those woods," mutters Andrew, flinching at Tony's ex's name.

  "Hey." Tony stops jogging and Andrew does the same.

  "What?" Andrew asks, looking at a dog sleeping on the grass.

  Tony grabs his neck, smiling. "I want you to know that I only want you without doubt. Wyatt is in the past and only there," he whispers, leaning closer to his eyes. "You are my present."

  Andrew chuckles, clapping his hands on his face. "I'm sorry for getting a little too jealous."

  Tony grins at him as Andrew's grayish, blue eyes focus on him. He leans in and gives Tony a peck before deepening the kiss.

  "Don't you want to... you know?" Andrew says quietly, like there's someone listening. He keeps his forehead mashed with Tony's as he speaks.

"You wouldn't be uncomfortable?" Tony asks. Andrew raises an eyebrow at his comment. "I mean, it is your first time having sex with a guy, right?"

"It is," he admits, holding Tony's hand as they walk down the sidewalk. "I've only been with girls."

Tony stops. "I thought you were gay?"

"No! I'm into guys and girls," he admits, saying it as if it is supposed to be obvious.

"Bisexual," Tony says. "I'll need to spy on you now that I know this."

Andrew opens his mouth, incapable of forming words.

"I'm just kidding." Tony laughs, squeezing Andrew's hand tighter.

"You scared me," Andrew says. "For a second, I believed that you were an obsessive boyfriend with jealousy problems."

Without realizing, Tony sees that they've arrived at his house. And that makes his heartbroken because he doesn't want to leave Andrew. Or maybe because his father is inside.

"Bye, I guess." Andrew kisses Tony and turns around to head home. Before he starts jogging away, Tony slaps his firm, round butt and laughs quietly.

His father's deep voice can already be heard from the doorsteps. He seems to be talking with Mrs. Sinclair.

"Hey, sweetie," she says as Tony passes by the kitchen.

Tony waves at her, ignoring his father's presence. But before he goes upstairs to his bedroom, his father yells, "Come here please."

Tony grips his hands into a fist, rolling his eyes, and goes back to the kitchen. His father and mother are holding a glass cup of water on their hands, sitting on front of each other in the table. There's a bitten piece of apple pie on front of Mr. Sinclair.

"What is it?" Tony stammers. For a reason, he gets anxiety whenever he's around his father. Probably due to the fact that he hurt him once—he can still do it again.

"I'll go to the restroom." Mrs. Sinclair pats Tony's shoulder and leaves the cold room. It's clear she wants to leave the two alone.

"Take a seat—"

"I'm fine," Tony interrupts him.

"Okay," Mr. Sinclair murmurs underneath his breath. "I just want to let you know that I'm not here to affect your life negatively. If you're happy, I'm happy. Learn that I care for you and your brother. And obviously, your mom."

  He swallow before continuing. "Allow me to prove my love towards this family, especially you. I hurt you, I know that for sure. And you know what? It's okay if you don't want to forgive me because I did fucked up. Hurting my son? When did I dare to allow myself to fail all of you?"

Tony doesn't react a bit, and Mr. Sinclair realizes that. He can't help but show that his words don't mean, neither prove, anything to him.

"The three of you mean the world to me. I don't want to loose my perfect family just because my son likes boys," he continues, repeating himself and pushing the cup of water away. His big, brown eyes face Tony, flashing his eyelashes. "Would you help me gain back my old life?"

His old life? Isn't all this about the family? Sniffing, Tony answers, "We'll see." Just like that, he heads to his bedroom.

Is he really trying to change? It seems too unbelievable since he was extremely furious the time Tony kissed their male neighbor. What made him change besides missing his family?

Closing the door behind him, Tony takes his sweaty, Nike jacket off. Then he scans through the closet for a shirt to sleep in and some shorts. As he does that, he catches the words written in the window near his closet, barely visible behind the thin, dark-blue curtains. He slides the blinds completely open. The words are written in red marker and with unrecognizable handwriting.

ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴇssᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ, ɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ sᴜғғᴇʀ. ɴᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ, ʙɪᴛᴄʜᴇs.

—xᴏxᴏ

Tony's focus fades from the threatening words and to his dark front yard. In the low light from the blinking street lamps, he stares at the hooded figure staring back at him in the sidewalk. It's wearing completely black—dark pants, shoes, gloves, and a hoodie. The only non-black thing is the white, plastic mask that covers the entire face underneath the hood. It also has a red kiss pasted on its right cheek, similar to the kiss from the notes he recently received.

   XOXO?

The hooded person blows a kiss at him.

Tony sprints out of his room and downstairs, slamming into his father close to the front door. He asks what's going on but Tony ignores him, slamming the door open. He runs to the same place the hooded person was and searches around. Gone. The only sound are the crickets and a few barking dogs.

"Tony?" Mr. Sinclair walks out.

A gush of wind passes by, reminding Tony that he's shirtless. He doesn't care though because out there, a person is planning on hurting him, Lena, and Michelle.

None of you expect what's coming, bitches. Those words give him goosebumps as he goes back inside, taking a final look outside.

~

A\N: First time meeting XOXO—great! Like and comment please! Your votes helps this story meet new people. 💋