Lux stared at Sing's contact on her phone. Her conscience was saying to warn him about the situation but she remembered that Shorter told her otherwise. "You ignored my call last night." Oz said, "Was everything alright?"

"Yeah. I was seeing a movie with Shorter. It was a bad time." Lux responded.

"Oh. So I'm guessing things with Yuji didn't work out?" Oz had heard a few whispers about Lux spending time with her lab partner. That they even went on a "date" after school.

"Huh? Oh-" Lux laughed off the question, "We're just friends. That's it. I've told you a hundred times not to believe gossip."

Oz couldn't help but feel that his friend was slipping away again. There were times that he felt close to her and times where they felt like complete strangers. He was the last person on her priority list and he didn't like it. "Well you should tell him." Oz nudged Lux to look behind her to see Yuji walking towards them.

"Hey, Oz. Could you give us a moment?" Lux asked, receiving an eye roll as a response. "Hey."

Yuji rubbed his arm to calm his nerves. Ever since the incident, he couldn't help but feel weird around Lux. Like she secretly hated him for what happened. "Hey, I uh. You doing okay?"

Lux gave a soft smile, "I've told you already. Everything's fine. Stop beating yourself up over it. I'm not mad at you."

"Right." He nodded, still being filled with guilt. "Just sucks that your probably never wanna hang out again."

That wasn't true at all. These past few days after being so pissed at Shorter, Lux was looking for someone else to put her attention towards. Yuji was tall, funny, cute. Personality wise he had all the things she liked about Shorter and none of the things she hated about him. "That's not true." She smiled coyly, placing a tender hand on the boys bicep. Lux bit her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes, "Wanna get lunch later?"

Yuji felt his face heat up at Lux's advances. He was usually the one to have girls hook, line and sinker but when Lux decided to make the first move, it had thrown him off of his game. "Uh- yeah. Sure." He stammered nervously. "Just meet me by my car. You know where I park."

Lux gave a wink before walking away to her next class. Shorter had wanted to meet up during lunch hour for something so Lux took this as an opportunity for Shorter to see her leave with another guy. "Let's see how he likes it."
____________________

Lux spotted Shorter's car across the street and met him inside. "Lemme see your phone." He said, holding out a demanding hand.

"What why?"

"Just do it. Both of them." Lux rolled her eyes, pulling out both phones from her purse for Shorter to check. He scrolled through her call logs and texts, finding nothing that was to Sing. "Sorry." He said, handing the phones back. "Just making sure."

"Whatever." Lux rolled her eyes, "Good to know that you don't trust me."

"That's not it." Shorter shook his head. He could feel the tension radiating off of Lux. Part of him wanted her to get back to her business but the other half wanted to make things right. "Now that you're here, wanna get something to eat?"

"No thanks. I'm going to have lunch with a friend." She said, opening up the car door.

"Oz?"

"No."

Shorter watched Lux walk back onto campus. She was approached by a blonde guy who was about his size. He squinted, trying to get a better look. "Huh, she has a type." Shorter sat back, getting this unfamiliar feeling in his chest. It was an almost burning sensation that felt heavy. There was no way he was feeling jealous. He couldn't be. After all, he said they weren't a couple...
_____________________
Shorter laid down in his bed, staring at the cracked white ceiling. He rolled over to his side, catching sight of the alley painting that Lux let him keep. It would make him smile every time he saw it hanging up on the wall in a picture frame that he had swiped from Nadia's house. The picture was so beautiful just like Lux. It took him back to that innocent day that they first hung out.

He was pulled from his thoughts when there was a knocking at his door. Shorter groaned as he dragged himself out of bed to see who was bothering him this late at night. "Sing?"

"Hey, Boss." He held up a hand as a greeting. "Were you asleep?"

"Nah." Shorter held open the door for Sing to come inside. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Sing breathed out, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his navy hoodie. "I've been thinking about what you said the other night. And maybe you're right. I should try talking to Lux again to clear out the air."

Shorter felt a sudden surge of anxiety rush through his veins. He couldn't risk Lux and Sing having a private conversation. There was too much of an opportunity for Lux to warn him about everything going on. "I don't know, Sing. I think it's a bad idea."

"Huh? But you were the one that said-"

"I talked to Lux the other day. She told me she's still upset about what went down between the two of you." Shorter lied in order to keep them away from each other. He was sure Lux would either understand or eventually get over it. "Yeah. Sorry. I just don't think she's interested in a conversation or apology right now."

"Oh." Sing looked down at his feet. He personally felt like enough time had passed and that this talk was long overdue. It hurt knowing that Lux didn't feel the same way. "Never mind then. When you see her again... Can you say how sorry I am? And that I'm ready to talk whenever she is. If she ever wants to that is." Shorter gave a nod. "Thanks, Boss. You're a good friend."

"Thanks."

"How did the buy go?" Sing asked. He hadn't heard anything about meeting up with Ash's gang to sell the drugs, and got curious.

Shorter found the question suspicious. Why would Sing care if he wasn't involved? Unless he was asking to gather any sensitive information. "Fine. Everything's good." Sing nodded in response. "What about you? Are you good?"

Sing sighed, "I've been better." Those words did the boy no favors. He had no idea how bad he was making himself look.

"Why's that?" Shorter went over to the fridge and offered a beer to Sing who accepted.

"The whole Lux thing. Then there's my brother."

"What's up with your brother?"

"I don't know. He's been acting all jumpy lately. Think it's cuz he's laying off the dope." Lao would shoot up every now and then. The stress of the job took a toll so he needed a way to numb his nerves. Viper and Hook knew that about him which was why they thought he was unfit to be Shorter's right hand man. If you need to rely on drugs to live the life then maybe you weren't fit for it in the first place.

"Getting clean isn't pretty." Shorter added, taking a swig out of his own bottle. "Believe me, I'd know."

Sing looked up from the stained counter top. He thought Shorter only smoked weed. If he had a problem with hard drugs in the past, then it was definitely something that wasn't talked about amongst the gang. "Really?"

Shorter shrugged, chugging the rest of the bottle and leaving it on the counter. "That's a story for another day." He watched Sing finish his drink and drop it into the trash bin. Usually Shorter was great at reading people but he couldn't tell if Sing was hiding something from him or not. He had to find out before Hook and Viper did. "Let's go for a walk."

Shorter went to the bedroom to grab his hoodie and shoes. Sing followed behind him, "You sure? It's 3am."

"Yeah. I need some air."

The two walked around Chinatown talking about nonsense. Sharing stories about girls, Shorter telling Sing about his first time in juvie, even Sing admitting he's never gone all the way with a girl before. "Seriously?"

The boy felt his face heat up. The most he's ever received from a girl was a blow job and the most he's ever done with one is finger her. Other than that, he had been too nervous to go further regardless of the girls trying to convince him that it was okay. "Don't tell any of the guys." Sing asked, "Some of them already hate me. The last thing I need is for anybody else knowing that I'm a-"

"Secrets safe with me." Shorter promised.

"Thanks, Boss. I hope you know you could trust me with anything too."

Shorter's gut was telling him that Sing would never betray him. Not once during this long walk did he ever get the feeling that he was being played. Sing Soo Ling wasn't a rat. He'd never talk to the cops. Only thing left to do was to get him to prove it.

Somehow...

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't even had sex with Lux yet." Shorter admitted. "She's the type that wants her first time to be special or whatever."

"A lot of people are like that."

"Yeah I guess."

"Does it bother you that she's making you wait?"

Shorter chuckled, "No way. When Lux is ready she'll let me know. In the mean time I'll-"

"Fuck other girls." Sing finished his sentence.

Hearing someone else point out the obvious made Shorter feel so... dirty. In his mind, what he was doing wasn't a big deal but maybe he was just downplaying the situation. "Not you judging me too."

"I'm not."

"We're not a couple."

"You sure she'd even want you to be her first if that's the case?"

Shorter rolled his eyes. "You're acting like that's the only reason I'm keeping her around."

"Then why do you keep her around?" Shorter didn't like all of these questions. It was getting too personal. The only person in his life he'd ever share things like this with was Ash. To make things worse, Sing was already on thin ice.

"None of your business." Shorter shot back to avoid the question. Truth was, he didn't even have an answer that wouldn't come out sounding selfish. He liked that he could go to Lux whenever the gang life would become overwhelming and having her close to him was all the comfort he needed. Then once he got that, he'd leave again and come crawling back to continue the cycle.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Boss." Sing felt his palms start to sweat. He didn't want to offend Shorter but he felt like he needed to get this off his chest. "I don't like how you treat Lux." Shorter cocked his head to the side which made Sing's heart rate spike. Am I crossing a line, he thought. "You say you care about her and then do things that show you don't. She's a nice girl and you can't even consider her feelings before you go and- and" Sing stammered as he began to become angry during his confession. "Seriously, Boss. How would you feel if Lux was out with other guys while knowing that she has feelings for you too?"

Shorter thought back to earlier when he saw Lux get into a car with some guy that went to her school. He was okay looking by Shorter's standards. Tall too. Wouldn't have been surprised if he had already caught Lux's eyes. That burning feeling in his chest came back just thinking about another guy having their hands on his Lux. Did he make her giggle? Did she have that twinkle in her eyes while looking up at him? Was he someone that Lux felt safe with? Could he be someone that she'd allow herself to be vulnerable around? Were his hands gentle enough to caress her body? He hoped not. "I wouldn't like it."

"Then why do you do it to her?" Shorter remained quiet. "Lux may hate me right now, but she's still my friend regardless. I won't let you keep stringing her along, Shorter." Sing felt his eyes start to burn. He remembered back when he had a crush on Lux, and how sad he'd feel whenever she'd go on and on about how much she liked Shorter. It made him realize that those feelings ran deep and it wasn't just some little school girl crush. Sing eventually moved on, but he still cared about her. Someone who couldn't decide if they even wanted Lux didn't deserve her at all.

Shorter couldn't help but respect how upfront Sing was with him. Talking back to his Boss was a no go, but Sing knew it was something that he needed to hear. He didn't care if Shorter were to punch him afterwards or kick him out of the gang, he just wanted to try and mend his friendship with Lux. In order to do that, he'd have to call out the person that was causing her the most pain. "I'm not trying to-" Shorter stopped himself before he could speak another excuse. He grew tired of repeating the same damn thing to make himself not feel guilty. He thought that if he said it enough that it'd become true. If only it were that easy. "You're right. I don't wanna be tied down but there's more to it than that, Sing."

"Then tell her that."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Figure it out, Boss. You owe Lux that much."