It was finished. After months of hard work, you managed to finish building your dream workplace. You did it with less bruises than you thought you would have. But most of all, you did it faster than you ever thought you would have done it. And you had quite a lot of people to thank for that.

You stood in front of the counter of your bakery. You still remembered the rusted place it was before. Spiders and dust were the main inhabitants of this place but now you made it fully yours, winning the fight over them. You could not stop the smile on your face. You felt a hand on your shoulder and turned your head to see Soap there. He was one of the people who was there almost every day with Gaz.

"Hey, Bonnie. Getting emotional? Donnae start cryin' now! Got ta save those tears for the party tonight," he made fun of you, a chuckle following his words.

You could not help the smile on your face. His cheerful behavior was contagious. It was hard not to smile or laugh when you were around this Scottish gremlin. You fully turned to face him and crossed your arms over your chest with a tilt of your head.

"Oh, yeah? Good luck making me cry. I don't cry easily, Soapy." You loved that nickname for him, even though he hated it - but that was what made it so funny.

He laughed again. He placed a hand on your shoulder and slowly slid it down your back until it rested on your lower back. "Know many ways I can make ye cry, baby."

You felt your cheeks heat up when you understood what he hinted on. Your reaction drew a smirk on the Scottish's face. He gently pulled you closer and used his other hand to cage you against the counter. Slowly, the man leaned down until his face was a few inches away from yours. His scent whiffed under your nose. There were hints of cigarettes but his perfume was stronger, masking the more unpleasant scent. Vanilla... Or cinnamon? Either way, you enjoyed it. Your breath caught in your throat when he leaned even closer, his nose almost touched yours. His eyes shone as he looked down at you. They were so gentle, loving and also teasing. This situation amused him a lot, it was easy to tell from the way the corners of his lips raised and his smile turned into a grin.

"What's wrong, Bonnie?" he whispered. He breathed against your face, fresh mint from the chewing gum he was chewing tickling your nose. "Cat got yer tongue?" His hand moved to your hip now while the other gripped the counter tightly. "Ye know, we 've some time before the party... We could disappear for an hour or two. Just ye n' me." His tone was suggestive. The man knew what he wanted and he did not hide it.

You were at loss for words. You could not peel your eyes away, his blue irises were too captivating. Your lips were slightly parted and your throat dry. How could someone be so bold in the open like this? Soap was clearly afraid of nothing.

A knock on the front door caught both of your attention. There stood Roach who was staring at both of you. Soap finally looked up from you to look at his friend. His smile dropped into a frown. Clearly, he was unhappy to have been stopped. You did not even dare to look back as you were too flustered to have been caught this way. The silence in the room felt heavy and unbearable. You had no idea what the two men were doing since you were currently staring at the floor, studying the patterns as if you had never seen them before, but this silent conversation felt way too long.

Eventually, the Scottish man pulled away from you. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go," he finally said after that long silence.

Your eyes moved from the floor to him. You could notice the annoyed face he was making and the slight pout he had. It was almost cute... You nodded and followed him and Roach.

After locking the shop, Roach drove the three of you to an unknown place. When you tried to ask, they both told you you would see soon enough. You huffed, giving up on trying to get information out of them. All of those gangsters were too stubborn and you never managed to get information out of them... Even the simplest ones. Sometimes, you wished they trusted you slightly more.

The car stopped after a few minutes. Roach was the first one to step out of the car and you noticed him hurrying over to your side. He opened the door for you and held out a hand. A small giggle left your mouth and you took his hand, accepting his help.

"Thank you, my gentleman," you thanked him, bowing your head in an old-fashioned way to match that gentleman-like behavior.

Roach chuckled as well and mimicked you, bowing his head then placing a kiss on the back of your hand. He gave you a playful wink then pulled away. You couldn't stop smiling. He was such an adorable man. Your eyes moved from the bug boy to look where he had just driven you. To say you were surprised would be an understatement. Before you stood a large luxury store. You glanced back at Roach then Soap as the man held the door open for you.

"The fuck we're doing here?" you questioned with an eyebrow quirked. You would not move before getting answers this time and they understood it because Soap answered right away.

"Boss told us ta bring ye here. Ye need ta dress up for tonight, or so he says." The Scot shrugged his shoulders.

You were visibly more confused now. You had decent clothes for a formal party. They might not be as expensive as any of those men's wardrobe but they were enough to look proper and mix in with the crowd. "Is he ever going to ask my opinion for anything? I don't have the money to buy that."

Roach fetched something in his pocket before showing it to you. It was a gold credit card. You never saw one in real life before. "That's the Boss'," Soap explained. "Now, better nae get Price mad or he'll drag ye there himself. Jus' get in. 'm gettin' tired holdin' the door for ye."

A headache was already coming. This man was getting on your nerves. Did he think he owned you or something? You rolled your eyes and gave up trying to fight. You stepped into the store and was overwhelmed by how different it looked from commoners' stores. Everything was so perfectly organized, nothing out of place – no shirts which were wrongly placed with pants and all the shoes were so organized. Primark looked straight up like an post-apocalyptic store next to this, zombies are always taking things and throwing them away anywhere they liked.

A salesperson approached you and greeted you three with false kindness and a smile. The aftertaste of hypocrisy in this environment left you sick in the stomach. You returned the smile with one of your own but you did not hide your uneasiness. Suddenly, you felt a hand on your back. You looked up to see Soap on your right then Roach on your left. Their presence somehow calmed your nerves and you felt more confident.

"Choose whatever ye want and try anythin'. 's a once-in-a-lifetime type of thin' so take yer time, aye?" he encouraged you with his kind and warm smile.

Your body felt warm and your heart fluttered. You admired his positive attitude. He had always had the words to cheer you up ever since he started to help around the bakery. He was such a great friend.

Just a friend... right?

Your cheeks flushed and you quickly looked away, shaking your head. You could not think this way. He was only a friend you had a lot of admiration for. Nothing more. There could not be anything more. Not with a gangster.

But the doubts he placed in your brain earlier. You swore the feeling of his hands on your body were burnt against your skin, the scent of his perfume filled your lungs and changed the smell of the air around you forever, and the simple boldness of his words and the sinful tone of his voice were being whispered again and again in your ears.

What did he do to you?

You were snapped out of your thoughts by a gentle tap on your shoulder from your left. You jumped slightly as the man pulled you out from your deepest fantasies. When you met his eyes, you noticed the worry in his eyes. You must have been spacing out for a while.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Roach. I was thinking about.. something," you finally said and gave him a smile.

Your eyes scanned your surroundings when one person was missing next to you. Then, you saw him. There he was, leaning against a counter and talking to someone else. He seemed to be enjoying this conversation. That person must be interesting. His hand slid on top of theirs and his grin grew when he got the reaction he wanted from that person.

Yeah.

Just friends.

Roach was aware of the sadness in your eyes, you could tell. And who was causing it. He placed a hand on your shoulder and offered some sort of comfort. He pointed to a section of the store where all the beautiful clothes were at. He wanted to help you clear your mind of unpleasant thoughts.

You quietly thanked him with your eyes and followed him through the store. Despite him being mute, he made your shopping much more pleasant and made you forget everything about Soap for the time being. You put on a show for him, showing out your outfits before you two got messy and tried the strangest combo. The staff did not look happy at first but Roach somehow convinced them to let you have your fun. You would never dare to damage the clothes anyway. The bug boy had such a natural charisma, he managed to convince them with his eyes, smiles and looks alone. A magician, you thought.

Finally, you settled on a navy blue outfit. Roach had confessed that it suited you the best. When you stepped out of the changing booth, you swore you saw stars in his eyes as they looked at you in detail up and down. There were no after thoughts, just pure admiration. A sigh followed his grin when he stood up from his chair. He offered you his hand with a small bow. At first, you were confused but followed his lead anyway. He made you twirl with his hand in yours then pulled you closer to him. Before you could realize it, you were in his arms, secured. In another scenario, you would push away the person for trying a move such as this on you, yet, you felt.. safe. You let his arms wrapped around your waist while his head lowered to rest by your ear. Your eyes closed on their own as your mind only focused on the way his arms felt around you. But then, something stirred you away from your thoughts.

"Forget about him. You deserve better."

This voice... You had never heard it before. It was sweet as honey and soft as a cloud, yet, it had a rough side to it. You knew who it was without even questioning it. It was Roach's. The mute boy who was holding you. However, he was mute, how could he speak? You were too shocked to speak and too hypnotized to think properly.

"You have plenty of options that are better than this scumbag." Despite how sweet his voice sounded, his words were as sharp as a knife. It gave you goosebumps along your arms.

It made you curious as to who he was referring to. "Like who..?" you questioned. Your voice sounded rough because of how dry your throat was. No one ever had such a strong grasp on you like this man had at this moment.

"Like me," he whispered in your ear.

Your heart fluttered and it beat loudly in your chest. You thought he was trying to end you and you were almost right when you felt his hand travel to the back of your hair. You should probably be scared. This man was dangerous. So was Soap and all of their friends who you call friends too. He sounded almost possessive over you. It should be the first red flag, the first sign that told you to run as far as you could. Yet, you stood there and embraced all of this.

Would he be the one to win your heart?

_____________________________________________________

Hey I'm back! Sorry for the very slow updates but work is keeping me super busy!Dividing this chapter into two parts because I've got so many ideas for this and so little time haha I hope second part won't be in 6 months again... But can't guarantee I'm so sorry! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. The boys are finally making a move on you (:

I hoped you enjoyed your holidays and if you celebrated Christmas, Merry (late) Christmas, and happy new year! I hope this year will bring you good things. We all need it in those difficult moments. Love you <3