Lux had gone to the pharmacy to pick up her birth control and other things like some sweets to refill her desk drawer with at work, as well as eyedrops for Shorter. She found it cute how a tough guy like him struggled putting drops in his eyes and always asked her to do it because he was scared to do it himself.

"Alright this one's for three months and in order to refill it we just need a new prescription sent in by your medical provider." The pharmacist scrolled through her computer and had Lux answer some questions on the keypad before ringing up her medication. "Alright you're all set Miss.Bautista. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Lux almost said her routined "no" but there was a question that she felt the need to have an answer to. "Can you check the status of a prescription for a Mei Sung?"

"Certainly." The woman checked the system to see that the prescription of Clobazam to treat seizures had never been picked up. Same with the inhaler that was also listed. Among with a few other pills to treat Mei's list of illnesses. "We held them for the full two weeks and they were never picked up."

Lux felt her stomach form a knot. Something must have happened between when Mei was discharged and now. That would explain why June never picked up the medications.

On Lux's way to the apartment, she had bumped into Sing who was closing the door behind him. They shared an awkward stare, not knowing what to say to each other. He had been so distant lately. She noticed that he had built up some more muscle on his arms, that she recalled being more on the scrawny side when they had first met. He also had a new addition of minor scaring on his knuckles, as well as a now healed cut on his bottom lip.

"Hi." Lux finally said.

"Hey." Sing looked at the floor and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Lux shot her arm out, "That's it? I don't see or hear from you in weeks and you just say hey?" Sing shrugged. "Shorter told me that you were fine and for me not to reach out but-"

"Listen Lux." Sing stood with his hands buried in the pockets of his baggy jeans. "I moved on. I just needed some time alone to process all of this shit. I lost my brother. And I don't mean like someone in the gang, my actual brother." He patted his chest with an open palm. "I was betrayed by people that I loved. That I cared about. Now I see why the guys used to always call me soft. I'm not like that anymore. I don't- I don't care. Whether I like it or not this gang is all I have now. This is the line I have to follow because what the hell else am I meant to do?"

"Sing... I've always told you there's so much that you're capa-"

"Save it." He cut her off. "That means nothing to me now. You mean nothing to me now."

Lux felt her eyes start to burn and her chest felt heavy all of the sudden. She couldn't tell if her heart was swelling or breaking. What she did know was that Sing considered her to be someone that turned their backs on him. "Sing..." her voice cracked, "Please don't say that."

Sing noticed Lux's glossed lip quiver and looked away. He always did hate seeing her cry. "I gotta go."

"Wait." She called out only for Sing to keep walking in the opposite direction. Her feet stayed glued to the floor even though she wanted to run after him. Lux's body betrayed her once again as her legs lost feeling and she stumbled back into the wall, sliding slowly to the floor. Her knees curled up close into her chest while tears streamed down her cheeks. "I keep disappointing people." She cried into her hands, "Damn it!" She kicked her legs out, forgetting that the pharmacy bag had fallen in front of her, resulting in an energy drink bursting when it hit the wall. The sticky beverage rained down and ruined Lux's morning even more.

"That sucks."

Lux looked up from her sitting position to see Viper smoking a cigarette. She didn't have the energy to even scowl. She simply sulked on the floor and stared ahead at the mess she had made.

Viper blew out the smoke and stuck the still sizzling cigarette behind his ear. To Lux's surprise he grabbed her now sticky items and put them back in the plastic bag, along with her birth control. "That's important." Was all he said before setting the bag beside her. "Yuh just gonna sit there or?"

"Can you just leave me alone for a minute?" Lux's voice was quiet and hurt. Completely different from their last interaction.

If there was one thing Viper hated to see it was girls cry. Not because he felt bad for them, it just made things awkward for the most part. He'd usually just walk away, but since Lux was the bosses girlfriend he figured it wouldn't hurt to show her some special treatment.

"Alright get up." He lifted Lux to her feet by the crook of her arm and grabbed the plastic bag. "Can't have you just cryin out here. At least do it inside."

Lux sniffed and unlocked the door, Viper followed closely behind and set her items on the counter. "Thanks." She said in such a mousy tone.

Viper looked around the apartment which he didn't get the chance to really do last time with all things considered. He noticed pink placemats and matching coasters on the table, with a vibrant bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece. On the coffee table, he discovered a few more coasters and a spot in the middle where there were small succulents and a set of pink candles that filled the room with a delightful scent of pink lemonade. "Wow. Shorter really let you girl the place up." He said flicking a fallen flower pedal to the floor. "He must reaaaaaaallly like you."

Lux didn't pay attention to what Viper had to say and just focused on getting herself cleaned up. She then pulled a water out of the fridge and swallowed her first pill for the month. "Thirsty?" Lux held a second bottle in her hand that Viper passed on. After, she then grabbed some leftover takeout from the fridge and heated it up.

The humming of the microwave filled the awkward silence in the space. Lux wondered why he didn't just see himself out instead of watching her prepare lunch.

"Haven't heard from my ex have you?" He finally spoke.

"No."

Viper raised a brow at the hesitant response. He could tell by the way Lux's body stiffened that something must have happened today with the way she had been acting. Viper helped himself to get comfortable on the couch and threw his feet up onto the coffee table, almost knocking over one of the candles. He did it on purpose to see if he could get a rise out of Lux but she seemed to not even care. His eyes then shifted between her and the birth control and snapped to what the problem was. "Ah I see. June never picked up the meds did she?"

Lux placed her fork on the table and tossed out the rest of the food that she had only picked at after losing her appetite. "If you're going to tell me I told you so then please get it over with already."

Viper sat up, "Do I look like the type to gloat? Especially when I didn't wanna be right." Lux felt herself about to cry again and grabbed a napkin to dry her tears before they fell. Viper sighed and motioned her over to the couch, scooting over some to give Lux space. "I owe you a favor." She stared up confused. "I went to the pawn shop the other day to get your bracelet back but it wasn't there anymore. You tried doing something for someone in my life and got burned for it, so the least I can do is pay you back somehow."

"There's nothing you can do for me."

"Yeah well just know the offers there in case anything ever comes up." There was absolutely nothing in the world that someone like Viper could ever offer Lux but she did nod just so they could move past the conversation.

"That bracelet didn't mean much to me anyways." Lux sniffled.

"We both know you're not crying about the bracelet."

Lux couldn't help but break out in tears again. Everything that was upsetting her flooded to the forefront. Someone took advantage of her kindness, she cut Oz out of her life, Sing doesn't care about her anymore, and everyone in Shorter's gang didn't want her around. She couldn't wrap her head around why this was happening when all she wanted to do was help people and be with the boy that she's in love with. "Everyone hates me." Her voice shook. "My best friend, Sing, all of you guys. I try to keep to myself and not interfere with what Shorter does but somehow I piss everyone off and I don't know how to fix that. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It feels like I don't have the answers for anything anymore and all I do is just disappoint people."

Viper sighed and scooted closer to Lux, letting his heavy hand fall onto her knee. "I don't know about all that other shit you're talking about, but let's get something clear here. We've all told Shorter that you staying was a bad idea. That you don't belong. But we've never said that because we don't like you."

"Yeah. Okay."

"Don't believe me?" Lux shook her head, "You're a sweet girl. You care a lot. Thats not a bad thing for someone like you." He explained dryly, "You mean too much to Shorter and we know it'll kill him if you got hurt again. We've all told him so many times after that accident to let you go but he won't. You're not supposed to be around people like us. Someone like him. We're bad for you."

"I wish people would stop trying to dictate what's best for me. I love Shorter. I want to be with him. I want to be here."

Viper closed his eyes and exhaled, "Do what you want. At the end of the day it's your life." He picked the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it before taking a hit. He held it between his fingers and offered it to Lux who put her hand up. "If you choose to screw it up that's your choice. Maybe then you'll finally fit in with the rest of us." Viper pushed himself up off the couch and blew smoke out into the open. "Anyways, imma head out. I got shit to do."

Lux sniffled, wiping away the rest of her tears.

"Stop crying."

"I can't help it." Her lip quivered. "I feel lost."

Viper scratched the back of his neck. He had no idea what else he was supposed to say. "I wasn't saying all that stuff to help you feel better or worse. I'm just being honest. And I'm not the person to confide in if you wanna be comforted, so if you're looking for a hug, sorry to disappoint."

"I don't want a hug." Her head hung low, "I want my friends back."

"Why'd you lose 'em?"

Lux knew the answer. The way she stared up at Viper revealed it too. Yet she still didn't want to sacrifice her love towards a boy to mend the bond with her friends. She stood up from the couch and walked Viper over to the front door. "Can you and I start over? I don't want to make anymore enemies."

Viper chuckled at the childish statement. He was amazed at how much she cared about people's views towards her when he couldn't give less of a shit how people thought of him. "We're good. And my offers still on the table. Need anything, you know where to find me."

After everything that had happened, Lux found it incredibly hard to concentrate on anything. She even started cleaning just to get her mind off of things. On the bright side she finally had time to answer all of Fang's missed calls and texts.

"Why's the floor all sticky?" Shorter and Sing both looked down at their shoes that stuck to the wooden boards.

Sing sniffed around, "Smells like Monster. The pink one." He watched Shorter chuckle and start to unlock the door. He shot his arm out, "Wait!" Shorter turned. "I'll wait out here."

"Scared to walk into my place now?" Sing stood silent and looked away. Shorter sighed. "Lux isn't home. She called me saying something about her job wanting her to go to another hospital in Albany or some shit. Students from her nursing school go up there to shadow. She couldn't say no to the opportunity."

Sing caught on to the displeasure in Shorter's voice and almost chuckled, "So you let her go?"

"I can't force her to stay with me." He quickly cleared his throat after hearing what he had just said. "Y'know. Being a nurse means a lot to Lux. I'm happy for her. Plus, it's only for a few days."

Sing masked his sarcastic laugh with an exhale, "Yeah y'sound real happy."

It was obvious Shorter was trying to convince himself that he was more than happy for Lux. Truth was, he had a fear that she would never come back to him. What if she found someone else who had more in common with her? One that was good for her life. Someone who wasn't a good for nothing gangster with a death wish.

Shorter had been trying to keep Sing close. He wanted to avoid another Lao situation and also show that he appreciated everything Sing had done for the gang. He was starting to grow up and become a real man, but Shorter just needed a little more time to mold him into the perfect second in command.

The first thing the boys took note of when entering the apartment was a worn down backpack in the middle of the floor. "The hell?" Sing got closer to inspect it. What he found inside was a bunch of women's clothes. "Thought you said Lux left already."

"She did."

The sound of a toilet flushing and running water came from the bedroom. Both boys grabbed the guns from the back of their jeans and cocked them back. The bedroom door opened slightly and out walked a thin girl with long, slight greasy black hair and pale skin. Her eyes opened wide the second they laid on Shorter. The weight of her shock kept her grounded, preventing her from leaping into his arms like she did when they were together.

Shorter's skin flushed cold and mouth fell agape. "Kairi...."

"Shorter." His ex smiled, "It's been a while."
________________________

Fang threw her bag into the backseat of the car alongside the one Lux had packed. "Thank you again."

"Yeah," Lux messed with the GPS to get them to their destination. "Won't be surprised if rumors at work start circulating that I'm getting an abortion."

Fang had been calling Lux to ask her if there were any clinics that do abortions without having to sign any type of paper work and be entered into their system. None existed but Lux said she'd ask around at the hospital if there were any places that bent the rules. One place came up and that's where they were going.

"Does Arthur know where you are?"

Fang shook her head, "No. We both drop off the map here and there. It's nothing out of the ordinary."

"You never told me. Is it his?"

Fang looked down in guilt, "Business has been rough since that cop Shorter shot is back in the field. Hard to sell on the streets right now. Had to take up some legit business."

"Mm, what's this legit business consist of?"

"Arthur works for this old guy, Dino. He's a total creep but has connections. Arthur and his guys have been his personal security. And they're also selling dope under the table to Dino's "clients" from within these high end clubs. As you know, where there's high end clubs, there's escorts."

Lux raised an eyebrow, "Arthur's okay with you doing that?"

"He told Dino that I'm specifically off the table for the VIP experience. I'm just supposed to be arm candy for whatever lonely business man shows up. But, he can't keep his eyes on me all the time." Fang could see the disapproval on Lux's face. "He can't be soft with this man. Dino's dangerous. I might as well be okay with it myself before I'm forced to do it, whether Arthur likes it or not."

Lux sighed, "Well I'm glad you felt comfortable coming to me before trying to get rid of it on your own."

Fang gave a subtle smile and reached over to touch Lux's hand that rested on the wheel. "You're my best friend. I knew you wouldn't judge me if I came to you with this."

"I just want you to be safe, Fang." Lux couldn't help but release a harsh exhale as if she was trying to rid the words from leaving her throat. "I'm thinking about getting my own place. Y'know outside of Chinatown."

Fang looked over, shocked. "You're leaving Shorter?"

"No, no. Everyone's right. I don't belong there. At that place." She swallowed hard. "I don't fit in no matter how hard I try to, but that's not going to stop me from being with him. If he loves me he'll leave with me."

"Asking the dragon to leave his mountain of gold behind is quite the request."

"Well yeah, but-"

"Lux, can I ask you something?" Fang shifted around in the passenger seat so she'd be facing the naive girl. "I think it's great that you love Shorter. But what are you going to do if he tells you no?"

It was simple. Lux knew she'd stay. She'd make that sacrifice. She was willing to sacrifice everything for Shorter.

"I know I told you not to listen to what people say about you two being together. If he treats you right and takes care of you then nothing else should matter."

"Yeah? And?"

"And take Arthur and I for example. We both do really bad shit. And we both make sacrifices for each other. We're both fucked up, Lux." Fang wanted to bite her tongue and not tell her the truth but she needed to hear it, "Seems like there's only one fucked up person in your relationship and he's not the one making any sacrifices. You don't want to be one of those girls that's stuck in this life forever, do you?"

"Shorter loves me. He's just not ready to leave it all behind. I know he will though."

"How do you know that?"

"Because he has to!" Lux shouted, "I've left everything behind for him and he has to eventually do the same for me! That's how this works!" Tears streamed down her face, "He's not lying when he says he loves me..."

"I didn't say he was... I'm just saying, if he isn't ready to make any sort of sacrifice for you then maybe you should move on."

Lux remained silent, wiping her tears with the long sleeve that bunched over her wrist. "Right. I have to be the one to sacrifice my love too. That seems fair." She sarcastically mumbled.

"Nothing about this life is fair. And I'm sorry you have to learn that this way."

Lux stared at the road ahead that seemed endless, "Me too..."