After the incident in Chinatown, Lux insisted on driving back to the school and taking another peak at the student files. This time, typing the name "Shorter Wong" into the system. His school picture popped up where he must have been around 16 at the time. His head was shaved and he didn't have his eyebrow piercing yet either. In a way he looked kind of innocent in the photo. Lux scrolled down past all of his old high school report cards, not caring for the grades he was making. What she was on the hunt for was much more important.

Status: Drop Out. Grade 11

Lux leaned back in her chair and exhaled in disbelief. "He lied to me..."

"I'm sorry, Lux."

She turned to face her best friend, "Did you know?"

He nodded his head, "I was curious." From the second Shorter introduced himself, Oz knew there was something off about him. Everything that Shorter shared about himself sounded either too planned out or not thought out enough. Especially the part where he said he went to an early finishing school. That lie alone was what drove Oz to fact check what was said and everything unraveled itself from there.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Oz looked down then drifted his eyes towards the computer screen where it read DROP OUT in bold letters. "I was going to. But then you looked so happy when talking about him and I didn't want to come off as the jealous best friend. I didn't want you to think I was trying to sabotage whatever friendship you guys had." He explained, "And at that I didn't even know if he had already told you or not."

"I get it. You didn't want to cause a rift between us."

"I should have taken that risk." Oz bowed his head, "I'm really really sorry I kept this from you."

Lux held his hand and gave a forgiving smile, "I was bound to find out eventually. So don't feel bad." She looked back at the screen with tear filled eyes and wiped them away with the back of her hand. "He was so convincing, Oz. I liked him... He got me to actually fall for him and it was all just a facade. I don't know that boy at all and I was stupid enough to let him into my life. Him and Sing both. They took me for an idiot." She sniffled, "Jokes on me I guess."

Oz leaned forward and wrapped his arms around a crying Lux. Growing up she was always the one to comfort him and she always knew the right things to say to make him feel better. Now it was his turn to do the same for her. "Don't say that. Nobody would ever think you're an idiot." He held up a fist, "And if they do, they'll have to deal with me."

Lux laughed as she held his hand, "Soft palms. Soft boy." She jokingly teased.

Oz cracked up at the insult, "Wow, where'd this sense of humor come from? Haven't heard something like that from you since we were kids."

"Get used to it." She smiled.
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After Oz had dropped Lux off at home, she wanted to do nothing more than shower and go to bed. The thought of studying to distract herself didn't seem too comforting either.

Her irritated reflection stared back at her in the mirror. She leaned in to get a closer look at herself and noticed a small red mark on the right side of her forehead. "Is that a hive??" Lux scratched at it gently, "I haven't had a stress hive since I hit puberty." She said to herself. The events from the day were taking a toll on her mental state.

Lux decided to light a lavender candle and do an extended skin care routine as a form of self care to get herself to relax. It was working up until there was a knocking at her balcony door. She opened it up to see Shorter. He stepped forward to enter but Lux held her hand out, placing it on his chest.

Shorter looked down, getting the hint that she didn't want him in her room. "Alright. We can talk out here." He agreed. Lux shut the door behind her and stepped out onto the balcony. "Sing told me what happened between you two." Lux leaned against the door, not having anything to say. "He's sorry about what he said." Shorter was hoping for a response but Lux didn't waste her breath. "You don't have to worry about him." The girl smacked her lips and turned to head back inside. Shorter rushed over and closed the door, "Hey, don't do that to me. I came here to check in on you."

"I don't want you to come here anymore."

"Lux, I-"

"Save it, Shorter." Her voice was quiet and filled with hurt. Lux had even lost that glimmer in her eyes whenever she'd see him. That cute blush on her cheeks was also gone. She really wanted nothing to do with Shorter anymore. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of the lying. After I tried to open myself up to you, all you did was lie to my face and now you want to act like you're worried about me? You shouldn't have even came."

"What are you talking about, Lux?" He asked.

"Oz and I checked the student files. That's how we found that apartment. And we also looked into you." Shorter looked down knowing he was guilty. Lux had finally found out. "You've only ever lied to me since the day we met."

"I didn't want you to know." He admitted, taking a step back to give Lux her space.

"How did you and Ash really meet?" Shorter looked up through his sunglasses. "No more lies."

The teen sighed, lifting his sunglasses to the top of his head, "Juvie." He finally said. "I had already been in for a few months. Then that's when Ash showed up and we've been best friends ever since." Shorter looked at Lux's face for any signs of expression but there wasn't one.

"Goodbye, Shorter."

He pulled Lux back by the crook of her arm, "Will you stop?"

"No. Thanks for telling me the truth but I can't be around you anymore." Those words were hard to speak and setting up the boundary wasn't any easier but it had to be done.

"See?" Shorter scoffed, "This is exactly why I didn't tell you. You're cutting me off."

"You really think that me being judgmental is the reason I'm doing this?" Lux shook her head, "Because that's not it. I feel like I don't even know you. And how am I supposed to believe anything you say when you lie to me so easily?"

Shorter couldn't help but to feel guilty. He buried his hands in his pockets and bowed his head. He couldn't even look Lux in the eyes. "I was afraid that if you knew about the drop out thing and all this other crap in my life that you wouldn't have even given me a chance to talk to you."

"You may be right. But you could have also been wrong. You never gave me the chance to decide for myself." Lux walked forward and stared out past her balcony. It was a windy night with a full moon hailing up high. Not even a gorgeous sight like this was enough to lighten the mood. "There's more to you than being a drop out. So are you going to tell me the real reason why the cops showed up to my house?"

"If you're cutting me out of your life then I don't see a reason to tell you that." Shorter joined Lux on staring out into the open. She'd rather look at anything that wasn't him right now.

"I liked you a lot. And regardless of the lies I still want to believe that not everything between us was fake." Lux nervously picked at her chipped nail polish that was always well maintained until now. "You made me feel worth something more than someone who had to live up to expectations to be accepted. Then out of no where you pretty much push me to the side without an explanation. And I still want to know why."

"I wanted to protect you." Shorter turned his attention over to Lux who still wouldn't look at him. "You saw what I'm around. What Sing's around. That's who we are. You can't fix that."

"I knew there was something off about the two of you. I figured there was more than what you both were leading me to believe. The way he calls you Boss and does what you tell him. How Sing would ditch school for days at a time because he was with you. He'd come back with bruised knuckles and would try to hide them underneath his gloves forgetting that I could also see his busted lip. And you know what I did?" Lux finally turned to face Shorter, "I ignored all of it. Every sign."

"That doesn't sound like something you'd usually do."

"It's not." Lux wanted to trick herself into believing that there wasn't anything under the surface when it came to Sing and Shorter. They were both obviously a little troubled but she could live with that. "And even though I should be scared to be around you both... I'm not. And I think there's a reason for that."

"My life's dangerous, Lux. Sing's is too... I won't let you get hurt because of us." Neither knew exactly what they wanted out of the other. Lux desperately wanted Shorter to be hers. She'd wake up thinking about him and fall asleep doing the same. She yearned for closeness and his affection in ways she didn't quite understand yet. Meanwhile Shorter wanted to keep her at a distance and still have the girl be those small, rare sparks of joy and comfort in his life that was bombarded in chaos. Lux was a constant reminder that not everything and everyone in the world was out to hurt him. And when he would be scathed, she'd wrap him up and make everything better again.

"I trust you to keep me safe." Lux slowly slid her hand over the white rail of her balcony and interlaced her fingers with Shorter's. It's been so long since a girl got him flustered. He was so thankful it was dark out because if not he was sure Lux could spot the redness in his cheeks.

"Lux..." Shorter leaned his head down and sighed, bringing his free hand up to caress Lux's cheek. "You don't know what you're doing... You still don't know everything."

"Then say it." She said above a whisper, staring up with hopeful doughy eyes. "You won't scare me." Shorter had his eyes squeezed shut, having a million thoughts yelling at him in his head. Not one leading to a good outcome. Lux tiptoed and planted a soft kiss just mere centimeters away from the corner of Shorter's mouth. "Please tell me."

Shorter's eyes popped open and he began to follow Lux as she guided him by the hand to her room. Everyone told Shorter to be careful. Ash advised him to leave Lux in the dark. And Shorter did what he does best. Making decisions based on emotion and listening to his heart. He sat down beside Lux on the bed and finally spoke the truth. Shorter told her about the gang, why the cops showed up to the house, and explained how that all lead to him distancing himself from her and having to act like she was just someone he went to in order to waste time.

"Wow..." Lux brought her legs in cross cross style. "The gang thing I somewhat suspected if I'm being honest. Not King of Chinatown type of stuff but I figured you were the leader of whatever you had going on." She admitted, the tranquility of her voice lifted a weight off of Shorter's chest. He was thankful Lux didn't freak out on him like he thought she would.

"When we first started talking, I told you that I took care of the kids in my family." Lux recalled that conversation. Shorter said he had a lot of cousins and friends of family members that he and his sister watched over. "There was some truth to that. Those guys aren't my cousins but we might as well be family with what we've been through together. It's on me to keep my guys safe and they know they could always count on me."

Lux couldn't help but think back to what Fang had told her. How people might tell you that someone's dangerous but you know they'd never hurt you. This must have been what she meant. After learning the truth about Shorter's life, Lux still feels as safe with him as she did when they first became friends.

Shorter was a red flag, and Lux knew it. Yet here she was following this handsome devil into the underworld. She yearned for adventure, especially after enjoying the little things she did to express herself. Now she had Shorter to show her more. Wether that be a good or bad thing, Lux would find out herself. Was listening to her heart over her head worth what was to come?

"You're more reliable than I gave you credit for."

Shorter chuckled, "Thanks." He stared at Lux and she gave him a small smile. "I need you to promise me one thing okay?" Lux leaned closer, "No matter what you might see me do... please don't be afraid of me."

He's done bad things. Unspeakable things. But he's never hurt me. He's always done everything in his power to protect me. Fang's words about her boyfriend repeated in Lux's mind. After all that, she still refrained from being scared. That was all Lux needed to convince herself that everything would be okay. "I promise." Shorter smiled back at Lux and threw a heavy arm around her shoulders. She lost balance and tilted into his side for a tighter hug. "Ouch, let me up." She giggled softly, pushing herself back up to a seated position.

Shorter was still so close to her. Lux thought back to earlier when she kissed him on the cheek and how she wanted to do it again. Now that the idea was in her head, it was all she could think about. After mentally preparing to do it again, Lux started to lean forward. This time Shorter did the same thing.

Lux closed her eyes and allowed her hand to wander up to Shorter's face to gently pull him in closer. She then felt his fingers push strands of hair behind her ear as his lips tenderly met hers. A warmth ran through Lux's body when they finally kissed. It was better than she had imagined. His lips were soft and gentle against hers, parting slowly to take in each others scent and taste. Lux's free hand rested against Shorter's chest until her fingers slowly curled to grip his white t shirt.

Shorter pulled away and took ahold of Lux's hand that was almost tugging at his clothes. He smiled saying, "Really want me to be your first for the second time tonight?" He coyly joked.

Lux quickly took notice on what she was doing and pulled away. "No-no that wasn't what I was trying to get at." She denied in self defense. "I was just-"

"I'm joking." Shorter licked his lips and leaned in for another kiss that Lux eagerly accepted. She liked this feeling of being held and kissed. She didn't want Shorter to let her go.

After these past few weeks of exploring herself sexually, Lux learned a few things. One, she liked the touching to be gentle. Two, she did want Shorter in that way eventually. And three, she was curious about how her body would react if she took control of a situation. Lux shifted her weight, still cupping Shorter's cheeks and carefully adjusted her legs around his waist.

Shorter placed a hand behind himself and slowly led them both down onto the mattress. His fingers traced up the sides of Lux's thighs and firmly gripped her hips. The strong sensation caused Lux to embarrassingly whimper against Shorter's lips and blush at the motion of feeling him smile.

Lux broke the kiss and watched Shorter sit up from underneath her. She remained in her straddling position and tried to comprehend what just happened. "Wow." Was all she could say, making Shorter laugh. That reaction from her was a real stroke to his ego.

"Better than you imagined?"

"Be quiet." Lux rolled her eyes.

"One more before I go?"

Lux nodded, kissing Shorter again. "Come by tomorrow?"

"Only if we get to do this again."

"Promise."
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A/N: welp secrets out and Lux accepted Shorter for who he was. Only time will tell how this part of his life will affect their relationship as well as Lux's personal life and choices. What do you guys think could happen?

Also I created a playlist on Spotify with a list of songs that reminded me of this story and songs that I listened to while writing it. Just type in "Beware The Water" and the icon will be of the book cover. Hope you guys enjoy :)