𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚊𝚢 𝙳𝚒𝚎 | The Goonies

Chapter Nine | Blackmail

Recap:

"Brand, who- oh, hi Lacey," Mikey said, stopping just behind the older boy.

"I brought the file," she said, and Mikey looked to where Brand held it. Brand looked down at it, then looked at Mikey with a smirk.

"So, little brother, are you gonna tell me why you're suddenly so interested in the Fratellis?"

Mikey glanced quickly at Lacey, clearly screaming for help, and she understood that Brand wasn't meant to know about the threats.

"I was talking to him about it in English," Lacey said. "He offered to help me sort them into some kind of order so I could use them for my law essay."

Brand pursed his lips and leaned closer to his brother's ear.

"Hey Mikey," he whispered loudly. "If you want to date a girl you just ask, don't pussyfoot around with offering to help-"

Mikey recoiled and hit Brand's shoulder, who burst out laughing. Lacey's cheeks flushed and she became quite interested in Mrs Walsh's pink climbing rose.

"No! It's not like that!" Mikey protested, pushing Brand back inside the house.

"Come inside," Brand invited. Catching Mikey in a headlock, he led the way into the house without giving her a chance to say no.

She lingered on the doorstep for only a few moments before deciding that it would be rude to just disappear.

The inside of the Walsh home was just as Lacey expected: homey and warm. Although it looked as though Mrs Walsh tried her best to keep it clean, two sons (not to mention the three other boys who seemed to be there permanently) and her week-long absence meant it was messy. What Lacey didn't expect, however, were the two girls sitting on cushions on the floor, playing some kind of fast-paced card game.

The boys, unsurprising, were sitting in the same seating arrangement as before; they obviously had their preferred spots. Mikey had managed to free himself of Brand's hold, and was now wrestling him for the folder.

Chunk was the first to notice her, his face breaking out into a smile. "Lacey!" He exclaimed. "I thought you weren't coming today?"

"I-I didn't mean to," she said. "I'll only stay for a few minutes."

"Won't anyone introduce us?"

Lacey startled as one of the girls - the shorter one with curly brown hair - seemed to appear out of nowhere at her shoulder.

"I'm Andy," the girl said, "Brand's girlfriend. And that's Stef." She pointed at the other girl, who wore large glasses and had a pixie-cut. The girl wiggled her fingers at Lacey in a wave.

"I'm Lacey," Lacey said, curling her nails into her palm to try to keep her cool in the presence of so many older teens.

"She's Mikey's girlfriend!" Brand teased, managing to knock his brother over with a toe-tap to the back of his knee.

"I'm not," Lacey reassured Andy hurriedly.

"Oh, ignore him. He likes to wind Mikey up. Would you like a drink? I'm not sure what we've got, I mean because I don't live here, but I'm sure there'll be coffee somewhere, squash, water-"

Lacey smiled but shook her head. "Thank you, but I only came to drop something off. I should go."

"No, stay," Data said earnestly, pointing at an empty dining chair. "You can tell us about that folder."

She blinked. "Um..."

"Folder?" Andy asked. "What folder?"

"It's about the Fratellis," Lacey said, biting her cheek.

Andy's eyes widened. "Oh god, I never want to hear that name again." She shivered and returned to the game with Stef.

Mouth rose to his feet and grabbed Lacey's hand. "Can we talk?" he said in a low voice.

Bewildered and overwhelmed by all the new people, she followed him questionlessly out onto the porch.

That was when he turned around and glowered at her. "Look, I tried to tell you nicely, but I don't know what part of 'don't get involved' you didn't understand! You obviously didn't get something, or else you wouldn't be here."

She crossed her arms defensively over her chest. "What is your problem with me, Clarke? You suggested I ask you about the Fratellis, and you were so forthcoming with your story, I thought we were all getting along fine. And now you're just being..." she trailed off and sighed. "Look. I know what I'll be getting into, and I want to help. Why won't you let me?"

He looked away from her. "Because it's dangerous, alright? I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"Which is honourable and all, but I think I can make my own choices. I'm not a damsel in distress." She leaned back on the railing and huffed.

"Lacey-" he said, reaching out for her arm.

She narrowed her eyes, ignoring his alarmed expression. "So you just need to-"

She was cut off by her own yelp as the railing cracked and buckled. Her body only just tilted backwards, however, before Mouth caught her hand and yanked her towards him. She ended up stumbling into his chest, breathing hard, so shocked that it was a few seconds after what could be expected before she stepped away from his warmth.

"The rail's rotten," he supplied. "I didn't think you'd be falling for your knight in shining armour that quickly."

She didn't know what to say to that, so she just looked back to see half of the wooden railing on the floor, five feet below. She cringed. "I'll have to get that fixed."

Mouth waved her off. "It needed fixing anyway. I'm surprised it didn't crumble on its own."

"So... I'd best get going," she said after a brief pause.

"Yeah. And the damsel shouldn't come back," he said, the tease outweighed by the warning in his tone.

"Yeah," she muttered. "Whatever you say."

He was satisfied when she finally left, and he watched and waited for her to cycle out of sight before he made a move to go back inside.

His way, however, was blocked by Stef, who had a sly smirk on her lips. He paled.

"That was interesting," she commented, coming to stand next to him.

"Yeah?"

His relationship with Stef was an odd one. There had definitely been mutual attraction - that much was certain - but neither had acted on it more than exchanging teasing words. Once Stef had left for University, a little of that spark had gotten colder, especially since she currently had a boyfriend. Truthfully, he didn't know what to make of it all.

"What are you protecting her from? Mikey's twisted ways?" She probed.

"I'm not protecting her from anything," he objected.

"What's so dangerous that you've gotta push her away then?"

"Nothing. I just don't want her pushing in here and ruining things."

Stef glanced sidelong at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that little show of heroics was planned. Very smooth."

"Why would I-"

"And that hug lasted a bit longer than necessary," she observed lightly.

"Stef-"

"'Course, I wouldn't mention it to anyone if you told me what was so dangerous that you've got to threaten your crush..."

WORD COUNT: 1,101

PUBLISHED: 20/03/19