Running ✔️ [UNEDITED]

Chapter 25: After School

AN: here's Chapter 25. Enjoy people!
Thanks for the 20k+ reads!!

Lila's POV:

After school, I stood in the parking lot, shivering slightly from the cold. I looked around and saw my least favourite brother walk up to me. I mentally groaned- I was in no mood to be interrogated.

Xander's POV:

I saw my sister standing alone in the parking lot, looking like she was waiting for someone. I walked over go her, wanting to know what she was doing.

"Hey," I said and stood next to her, "who are you waiting for?"

"Some friends," she said vaguely, "I asked Drake for permission."

"Listen," I said, my voice becoming serious, "stay away from Ashton and Alex, okay? They're not good company."

She looked at me like I'd grown a third head and began laughing humourlessly, "Okay, first of all, they're my old step siblings. Second of all, why would I listen to you? You've been nothing but mean to me since I've come here and don't even try to use the 'this is new for me' excuse. I've been wanting to get closer to you but you've just been pushing me away! I don't even know what to do anymore. So forgive me for not listening to you because you don't have any right to tell me what to do or what not to do!" She turned around and walked away from me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but a black car cut me off. The driver- Ashton- stepped out and smiled at Lila, saying something that I was too far away to hear.

Lila grinned and hugged him, sitting in the car, but not before giving me one last glare.

Watching the car speed away, I realised what a horrible human being and brother I've been. All this time, I thought I was protecting Lila by distancing myself from her; in reality, I was 'protecting' myself. Well, it's time for me to not be selfish and be a good brother. Lila deserves everything and I would do anything for her.

Lila's POV:

In the car, Ash and I were talking, catching up on the past few years. However, something had changed. Ash has changed. He was more rude and didn't care about his future or about his work. I even spotted some cigarettes in his car.

Soon, we reached a cute little shop tucked in a the end of the street called 'Celines Cafe'. Inside, there were round tables dotted around in front of a large counter with a smiling brunette behind it.

"Hi, welcome to Celines! What can I get you?" He said in a slightly bubbly voice.

"Yeah, we're looking for our friends, about 4 people?" Ash said and the brunette pointed to our group of friends.

"Lila!" Alex gave me a quick hug, shocking me slightly.

"Erm, hi?" I said, waving my hand awkwardly.

Fortunately, they ignored the awkward tension in the air and continued talking, giving me the inside information on how to survive school- it was very helpful. Then, we played Truth or Dare which took an interesting turn.

Noah had been dared to walk up to a random person, drink their coffee, pat them on the back and walk off. Surprisingly, he actually did it. The person was so shocked that they didn't have time to react and ended up laughing it off rather than blow up- something we were all thankful for.

After that, I decided to leave. I bid goodbye to my friends and began my walk home. I relished the cool air and gazed happily at my surroundings. For once, I didn't want to run.

If only I'd been paying attention. I'd have noticed the figure creep up behind me. I'd have seen the metal bar before I felt it strike across the back of my head. The world tilted and everything went black.

Drake's POV:

She should've been back by now. I glanced anxiously at my watch, hoping that at one point Lila would enter the room and apologise for being late.

However, the minutes ticked by and there was no sight of our sorella. I could tell that the rest of my brothers were getting worried too.

After a while, Alessandro's computer pinged and we rushed to it; a notification usually meant gang business. However, the picture that was displayed on the screen made my blood boil and Xander punch a wall. Even Olly looked ready to kill someone. Vito's and Alessandro's jaws were clenched and they glared daggers at the screen.

It was Lila. Bound to a chair and gagged. Her eyes were wide and there was blood trickling down her head. The message underneath read:

Give me what I want or watch your treasure die. Mr X.

End of chapter 25.

Yeah I'm evil 😈

I hope you guys liked this chapter!