Desperado

part 20

tomorrow is the masquerade ball and i couldn't be any more patient. i'm up early making breakfast for jeremiah and i

mads left early this morning without asking why a 13 year old boy is staying with us

i know she has a lot of questions and i really don't have any good excuses

i see a boy walk down the stairs rubbing his eyes, he pulls at the bottom of his shirt and looks at me

i look away and take the bread out the toaster putting it on the plate, he sits at the island table and looks at the food in my hand

"hungry?" i ask and he nods

i give him the plate of breakfast i made for him and watch him take the bread and spread butter on it

he's looking just like his father but he has lexis nose. he's just a perfect combination of them

i grab my strawberries and sit down next to him, "i know you have a lot of que-"

"i already know" he says before i could even finish my sentence

"what do you know so far?" i question

he sips his water before answering, "that jay and sophia were taken. you left joey and now he's going stupid. carter and them all left to another place to stay because joey can't control himself, i know everything"

i bite my bottom lip and look away from him, jeremiah is all new to this. he was way to young to remember joey going to prison for 2 years. the only thing he probably remembers is joey randomly showing up out of no where

he didn't believe joey was the father of the kids, he thought it was ethans. jeremiah is a very smart boy and has a lot of potential. he can rule a whole army with his mind

but he's still just a little boy to me. i never wanted him to be brought back into this. kids life's are being put to danger here

i cant believe some people are crazy to do such a thing. i should just turn myself in. i can save all of us

i'll die knowing my kids are safe and that's all that matters to me. joey will survive without me

no he can't

"what has joey been doing?" i look back at jeremiah

"elena i've never seen him like this and it really scares me. please talk to him. all he calls is for your name"

"i-"

"please elena. you know you can fix him so stop being so selfish. think about him too. he got his kids taken away from him and the love of his life" he says

i look at the table and think to myself for a little. i cant believe a 7th grader just made me look stupid

"i know but he wanted to kill me" i tell him

"you said he would never hurt you"

"but he was. he killed david right in front of me and dragged him out of the car" i take a deep breath, "i'm scared too"

jeremiah furrows his brows when i finish what i say but he doesn't say anything. i shouldn't have told him about david but it's too late now

"joey would never hurt you elena. please just do all of us a favor, it's the least you can do, seriously."

"i-i don't know jeremiah"

i hear a whimper and when i look at jeremiah he quickly wipes his tears, "jeremiah" i frown

he stands from the table and walks towards the bathroom as i follow behind him, "jeremiah please i'm sorry i just can't"

the door slams in my face and i hear it locking. i knock on it a couple of time but all i hear is his whimpers

"open the door jeremiah" i beg

i get no response from him

knock knock

i look at the front door and furrow my brows. i leave the hallway and make my way to the front door. i open it to see ethan with a small smile on his face

"hey" i open the door wider

"hey" he walks inside

"where's jeremiah?" he ask

"he locked himself in the bathroom" i close the door

"did you tell him?" he whispers and i shake my head

"just that joey shot david"

ethan nods and sits down on the couch, "did you check up on... lexi?"

i sit down next to him, "not yet"

we both take a deep breath and look at each other, "why did he lock himself up in the bathroom?"

"because i told him i don't want to talk to joey"

ethan sighs, "you should talk to him"

i tilt my head to the side, "weren't you telling me how dangerous he was?"

"yea" he breaths, "but i think it's for the best at this point. he shot 2 of our friends, who knows what he'll do next"

"okay maybe i should but not now. the ball is tomorrow and i should be more worried about that"

"you're right" he puts his hand on my thigh, "i have everything in my car"

"what?"

"your dress"

"my dress?" i furrow my brows

"yes, i bought you a dress" he stands from the couch

"why?"

"because you have to come dressed a certain way. so i bought you a black dress and a mask to fit in"

i nod slowly, "can you tell me some more information about all this? what are they gonna do at this ball?"

"a guy named spencer will be inside and will be getting a letter from giovanni. we just need to get that letter" he tells me

"and what is this letter?"

"everything you need to know about giovannis mafia. it has everything on it elena. updates on the kids, what there next plan is, what they want to do with you. it's everything"

"and how do we get it?"

"i'm going to attack giovanni"

my eyes widen, "what!"

"listen" he sits back down and holds my hand, "i'm going to attack him and that's when everyone's attention is going to us. that's when you head for spencer"

"ethan, that's way too dangerous" i say

"no it's not. once you get that letter leave"

"and what about you?" i ask

"i'll find my way back to you"

"i don't even know how he looks" i admit

"i'll point him out"

we hear the door opening and we both turn to see jeremiah walking out the bathroom

"jeremiah" i call him and he walks over to us

"i'm sorry" he speaks

"don't be sorry babe, i'm the one who's sorry" i frown

he shakes his head, "i just want to go back to how everything was"

i pull him into a hug on the couch and kiss his head, "everything will be okay"

i look up and ethan and he looks in my eyes for a couple of seconds

he mouth slightly opens to say something but he doesn't. his eyes stay glued to mine, "yea" is all he says

——-

:)