Guns & Roses (Larry Stylinson)

Paulie's Bar

I am super nervous/excited for you guys to read this chapter because everything sort of shifts and things come into perspective here in certain ways. With that being said...

WARNING: This chapter gets pretty violent. If you are not comfortable with violence, please skip over this chapter. Message me if you just want minor details. It also gets pretty emotional near the end, so it's a bit of a roller coaster here.

I LOVE writing this story for you all, so I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 25:

"One case to end a nation," Zander said to the doorman. He was a big, burly guy who stood guard at the door. He asked for the password, and I had to trust that Zander knew what he was doing. He was my ticket inside, after all.

"You may enter," The guard said, moving aside and unhooking the red rope from the front door.

"Thank you," Zander smirked before leaning closer to the guy. I listened closely to what was being said, trying not to seem interested at the same time. "Is Marco here tonight?"

"In the back room. Talk to Ramona. She's the only one who can get you in," The guard said, then his gaze shifted to me. "Who's this?"

"Just a friend. Don't worry, he's cool." The guard must know Zander pretty well because he just nodded, taking his word for it, before he finally let us through.

The inside of the bar was dark and dingy. There were fluorescent lights that created yellow tints throughout the place, illuminating the darkness and giving it an almost homely feel-- at least, that's what I assumed they were going for. To me, it just seemed like a place that was struggling to make ends meet, even if it wasn't. There were brown tables and booth chairs that were a dark red lined up along the walls, billiard tables lining the back wall. The bar was in the center of the whole place, wrapping around so they could serve guests on all sides. There were red curtains that hung near one of the back walls, and I assumed that was where the back rooms were located.

There were tons of people inside, talking, laughing, and dancing with drinks in their hands. They seemed oblivious to any sort of gang or system being run at the bar. It smelled like sweat and alcohol, making me wrinkle my nose for a moment. It was highly unpleasant compared to the sweet scent that seemed to linger around me the more time I spent with Harry, which was an unusual thing to notice.

Zander led us over to the bar where a blonde girl was just finishing giving drinks to a young couple who would not stop snogging for one moment to even notice that she had set them down in front of them.

"Hey, Sydney. Have you seen Ramona?" Zander questioned, making the girl turn to look at us. She gave Zander a flirtatious smile, and I wanted to scoff at her. She needed to really raise her standards if he was doing it for her.

"Depends. What's in it for me, Zander?" She wondered. Her voice was so high-pitched and loud. She was yelling over the music, but it didn't exactly do her any favors. It just made her voice sound so goddamn shrill and annoying.

"I've got some pearl on me tonight. Extra that Marco gave me last time. I can give you half," He offered. The blonde smiled before nodding.

"Deal. As long as you do it with me," She said, and Zander nodded before digging in his pocket and pulling out a small pouch full of white powder. I knew what it was, and I remember Liam saying that it was some of the purest cocaine the scientists on our team had ever seen. It was the same grade, the same type of purity, that was found in Harry's father's system when the autopsy was performed after his death. It didn't make any sense to me. I didn't understand the connection.