| VEXED |

chapter | sixteen

Alex's pov

"are you okay?" Theo asked as we stood in front of an oh so familiar place. "yeah. just reminiscing  I guess." I nodded walking into the coffee shop that I used to go to literally every day. 

we ordered our drinks and sat down at the window seat I always gravitate towards. "that so-called mission only took an hour." Theo mocked 'mission' in larce's voice. "yeah, well I guess we're just that good of team." I laughed and took a sip of my coffee.

"you being home seems to be bothering you more than It should. I figured you would have been ecstatic." he glanced out the window like he had a lot going on in his mind. 

"I don't know how to explain it. it's like as soon as I came back here I feel like such a different person. like this place for example. I used to come here every day. whether it was after a run or with my friends." I began and he nodded.

"The last time I was here, I sat over there." I pointed, "I was with the people I loved so much. the next day everything went to hell, and now im this person." I spoke quietly. 

"well Parker, if you want my two cents I like this version of you a lot better. I mean look at yourself, not just the new physical aspects of you. I mean as good as the physical changes are, your mental state has gotten better. when you first arrived in Cali you couldn't even leave your room, and now you're out here kicking ass on missions. not even mentioning the fact that you were literally so strong even coming back here." he finished smiling at me.

maybe he's right. "Thank you, Theo. but what about when school starts? what if I see them?" I asked. I felt my voice straining even mentioning them. 

"you're a new and improved badass mob queen. im sure seeing your ex in the hallway won't affect you as much as you expect. show them what they did doesn't mean shit to you besides helping you grow into the person you are now." he responded, making me laugh.

"that's if they even recognize you. I don't even think you realize how different you look from when you left. a good different." he added the last part when I looked at him weirdly. 

"you may just become my new therapist." I giggled standing up, and he stood up beside me. "Woah now, I didn't sign up for that." he laughed walking towards the exit. 

we walked out and I was met with the familiar warm air. "now what?" I asked. "well, larce asked us to pick up liquor, but I think he forgets we aren't 21." he laughed pointing at the store beside the shop. "yeah let's head home." I laughed.

Grayson's pov

we walked into the store beside our old coffee shop to get alcohol for our back to school party. a slight flash of pink caught my eye. a girl walking down the street had a little pink on the ends of her hair, it kind of looked dope. 

"come on before our dude leaves. I don't know many people who are gonna sell alcohol to 17-year-olds." Ethan laughed dragging me inside. 

-

we brought all the alcohol inside our house and set it on the counter. "when is jack going to be here?" I asked Ethan and he rolled his eyes as he stared at his phone. we haven't really seen jack in a while. haven't heard much from him since everything went down. he is going to have to get over it as Ethan and I did.