You didn't want to call him back but you couldn't not either. It was like a watching a train wreck when you hit the button and held the phone to your ear, you wanted to stop yourself but you couldn't.

He picked up immediately.

"(Y/n)." Deep, stern baritone. He wasn't angry, but definitely not happy.

"Kata." You almost choked on his name.

"What're you doing?"

"Well I was going to get lunch..." Right. Casual.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"I couldn't stay."

"You left without saying a word to anyone."

"I left notes."

"They didn't explain anything and you know it."

"I didn't feel obligated to explain myself." Your voice shook ever so slightly as you raised your voice.

Your damn neighbor was peeking through a window at you. She stopped coming out when you were so friendly every time the guys were over. You didn't like being watched so you headed back inside for some privacy.

"Not even to your own family?" He asked.

"None of you could understand."

"Try me. I've just about heard it all from the rest of our siblings."

This was why you could never ignore Katakuri. He wasn't just your big brother, he was one of the only siblings that actually cared enough to push for answers, even when you didn't want him to. But you couldn't give him the truth. At least not all of it.

"I-he and I weren't going to work out. Everything was just...."

"I know." He growled. "It was a bad match from the beginning but you know how mama is."

And that was why Katakuri was also hard to confide in. What mama says goes and he was a very firm believer in that. You had always been a bit more on the rebellious end of things.

"I shouldn't have to live with that just because she wants me to. It's my life Kata, not hers."

"It was supposed to benefit the family."

"What? So I give up myself so everyone else can live the easy life? That's a bit selfish isn't it?"

"Watch it (Y/n)...."

"No. I'm tired of giving up literally everything for other people. I left because it's about damn time I started living for myself. You wouldn't understand that Kata, all of you older siblings never had to give up so much. Mama left that job for the rest of us."

"That's not-"

"Ask Pudding how she feels about about already having a fiancee at 16. She's set to get married the day she turns 18 to a man she's literally never even met." You felt tears welling up and your voice waver. "She doesn't get a single day of freedom but that's okay as long as you can continue on with your happy little life."

"...Pudding is doing what she needs to for the family and you will too. He's agreed to make things work if you will."

Katakuri usually wasn't so cold, so adamant about things like this. Even if he sided with mama, he was usually kind enough to offer some form of comfort. Apparently not today.

"He can go fuck himself." You spat. Now you were getting angry. So much for being a caring big brother.

"You're not making this any easier for any of us."

"You wouldn't have to be the one living with him. If you want me to come back, you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming. I will be the poster child for the worst of the Charlottes and I'm fine with that, the question is are you?"

"We'll find you and come to some sort of agreement."

"Do yourself a favor and don't. I'm fine where I'm at, happy actually and I'd like to stay that way."

You hung up, choking back anger and hurt. He had no right to tell you what to do, mama either. She may be your mother but you were a grown ass woman with your own agenda.

You were smart when you left. Careful. A couple written notes saying you'd left but not where. Hell, you didn't even know where until you'd spent a couple days on the road. It was a little more stressful for you, but easier to throw your family off in the long run. You had a nagging feeling from the get go that they wouldn't let you off the hook so easy. It was never so simple in the Charlotte family.

Besides the notes, nothing telling was left behind. Accounts on computers or other devices were logged out of. You pulled cash, and a lot of it, for this trip. What was left was stored in a shoe box in your room now. That meant they had no way to trail you by card purchases. And you didn't have the car anymore. So even if they somehow came to this town in particular, they couldn't recognize you by your vehicle.

You'd went through great lengths to disappear and planned to keep things this way. At least until mama dropped her arrangement she had made for you. But that could take years. Or maybe she'd never let it go. Who knew.

The one thing you knew for sure was this was the last thing you wanted them to do. If you played your cards right, they wouldn't know where to begin looking for you. But your family had money and that meant they had quite the reach too. Maybe you wouldn't be so hard to find.

----

"We're here to fix...the shed roof..."

The tall brunette standing in front of you started strong but he quickly trailed off as he eyed your frame. The two men behind him seemed to roll their eyes in sync. The first was a blonde man, older than you but still seemingly in his prime. His gaze was lazy, almost bored. The second looked to be the youngest of the trio. Long, wavy black hair framed a handsome, freckled face. He looked positively esctatic to see you for some reason.

"You must be Thatch then." You addressed the brunette without skipping a beat.

"Um, yes." He cleared his throat, instantly throwing off his funk as he beamed at you. "And these are my brothers, Marco and Ace." He motioned to the first and second respectively.

You waved at them casually.

"I'm sorry." He continued. "Pops never told us it was such a pretty lady renting the place."

Ah, there it was. He was hung up on your appearance. And as nice of a guy as he seemed to be, you weren't interested in sad attempts at flirting from anyone today. The call yesterday still had you jittery and you were in no mood to humor him or his brothers. Gotta shut things down early.

"You're the guy that lived here last right?" You asked, innocent as could be.

"Yeah, it was actually me and a couple of my brothers."

"Ohhhhh okay. So you're the one that left those movies too then, right?"

He turned three different shades of red as his brothers snickered behind him. Perfect.

"Yeah," You continued. "I had some people over the other day and they just so happened to find them too. Now that I think about it, they seemed to know you."

"Th-those movies aren't mine, I have no idea what you're talking about." He backpedaled, waving his hands and head about frantically in denial.

"Are you sure? I remember talking with a real sweet kid on the phone, one of your brothers I think. Now what was his name....."

"Luffy." The freckled man, Ace, offered up, tears in his eyes from barely contained laughter.

"Yep! That was it! Luffy was kind enough to remind you about them."

Thatch gave you a look of absolute defeat. He'd be sure to behave himself now.

"If you want them, they're in the same place I found them." You opened the door a little more, making room for him to step in.

"Um, thanks..." He mumbled, head drooping as he did his walk of shame to the living room.

"(Y/n), right-yoi?" Marco asked, offering a friendly hand for you to shake.

"Yep, pleasure meeting you guys."

"Sorry the shed is in such a state-yoi. Thatch can take care of a home no problem, but he has no idea on how to handle anything else outside of it."

"I can't give him a hard time about that." You giggled. "Yard work isn't my forte either."

"Really? It looks pretty good though." Ace took to inspecting the freshly trimmed hedges.

"Oh I didn't do it. Found some local handy men to tend to it for me."

"Who's that-yoi?" Marco asked as Thatch dipped past, doing everything he could to hide his offending stack of movies as he fast walked back to their truck and threw them in the back seat.

"The guys down at the repair shop, Wire and friends."

"Wire?" Thatch looked a little confused, like the name wasn't ringing a bell.

"Yeah, him, Heat, Killer and Kid."

At the mention of Kid they all seemed to understand at once. First with nodding heads and then their eyes widened in understanding.

"Wait, Kid and his friends are doing your yard work?" Ace asked, alarmed.

"Well I'm paying them for it if that's what you're worried about. The yard's not exactly small but they do a damn good job."

"That's not exactly..." Thatch trailed off.

You frowned, making your displeasure in what they were insinuating well known. "They're good guys. Everyone here seems to have it out for them but they've been some of the nicest people since I moved in."

Marco seemed to be the first to relax at that. "Well if you're comfortable with them and they haven't done anything suspicious there's not really much to worry about then-yoi."

His level of understanding was very much appreciated.

"They've been nothing but good to me." You said as you stepped out of the doorway and led them around back to the shed.

"What about everyone else?" Ace chirped, genuinely curious.

"They've been alright. I got a job at the police station working the front desk and all the cops are pretty great. Some of the neighbors are a little nosey though." You pointed back to the neighbor across the street. "She's pretty bad about trying to stick her nose in other people's business."

"I didn't like her much either." Thatch chuckled. "Have you figured out how to make her leave you alone? It was something I could never do."

"She's easy, just invite her over a lot."

They all burst into laughter.

"That easy huh-yoi? Kill them with kindness."

"I don't know what I'd do if she actually agreed one day." You giggled.

The boys started poking around in the shed, noting what damages they'd have to repair. Thatch ended up getting chewed out by Marco the entire time and it only got worse the more problems he saw. The wood floors were beginning to rot along with the shelves from water damage. The roof actually dipped in around the middle, hardly able to hold its own weight. Not to mention half it's shingles were completely ruined or missing all together. Long story short, it was beyond saving, much like the old lawnmower it once housed.

"Pops is so going to kill you for this Thatch." Ace giggled away gleefully at his brother's expense.

"Indeed he will-yoi." Marco smirked and then turned to you. "We're going to have to tear this down and get you a new one. We can do the demolition and clean up today but it may take a little while to get the new one in. Is that going to be a bother?"

"Nah." You shrugged. "It is what it is. I can just toss a cover over that and find a place to store everything else." You pointed to your new lawnmower.

It'd be fine without shelter for a little while with a tarp over it. As for your small collection of gardening tools, they could all fit in the trunk of your car. It was hardly an inconvenience.

"Sounds good-yoi. Ace, keys." He barked and his brother tossed him the keys to the vehicle. As soon as he'd brought the truck around, he was smiling at you. "Ever tore something down before-yoi?"

"Nope." You couldn't help but smile back.

"Wanna try?"

You'd heard people say it but hot damn were they right. Nothing, absolutely nothing was more stress relieving than tearing shit down. Busting holes in walls with heavy hammers and mallets, ripping off roofing, tossing around old, rotted shelving. It was one hell of a good time and the Newgate boys were a blast to spend time with.

Thatch had learned early on you weren't going to flirt with him so he behaved himself. Ace caught on from his brother's mistake. And Marco was a decent enough guy to know better than to try that with a tenant. They all caught on fast and kept it friendly with you.

It took a few trips to the dump to get rid of everything but by the time the sun had started going down, you were left with the concrete slab the shed stood on and that was it. You were more sore than you'd ever been but it was the good kind of sore. The kind you got after a day of hard work. It'd leave you sleeping like a baby and you were glad that'd be the case. You could forget about your brother's warning, at least for a little bit.