Hi. This chapter was not, in fact, written by Brandon. It was written by me: Lachlan, the boss. Brandon requested I write this chapter as he was not there for this event but he wanted to include it in the book anyway.

    It had been a day since Choco and Brandon left to assassinate Ashley. I wasn't worried about them - Choco disappeared all the time and I trusted him enough to take care of Brandon. But now I had a contract, and it was a contract I was not looking forward to carrying out.

    I walked to the edge of town and towards the mountains where his headquarters was. He was the main producer of nearly everything in the country, or at least, his factories were. He was perhaps the most famous president of any company in the whole country, perhaps even the whole world, and I used to be his best friend.

    The building comes into view. It's large, and made up of stone bricks, with his symbol made from stained glass on one of the top floors. Vikk Towers.

    Vikkstar Industries manufactured and farmed everything from armor to flowers. I remember when it started, back before Five Seasons had even crossed my mind. It was just a cow farm in his basement. And then it grew and grew. Vikk Towers wasn't even the only location anymore - he built factories, hired employees, even set up other locations around the world. I should have been proud of him.

    But I wasn't.

    I wasn't jealous of him. I didn't want to own a corporation that ground up cows. I wanted him to be a part of Five Seasons. He was one of the best PvPers I knew - and I told him the risks, that since he was, technically, working for the government, a contract could end up on his head one day. He still refused.

    As I approached the tower, I turned invisible. I also turned my clothes invisible. The only restriction I had on turning things invisible is that they would still be visible so long as they were made primarily of metal. Good thing I brought a diamond sword.

    Now, the only issue was getting into Vikk towers. The security was high, and there was no way I'd be able to break a window without him hearing me. He was the only resident of the tower (aside from occasional visitors, but I was counting against that), so it would be easy to catch him off guard once I was inside, but getting inside...

    I walked around the building and observed it. I knew he had a basement, maybe I could punch my way through the ground?

    I attempted it, and I ended up near the cow farm. I tried to shake away any nostalgic memories I had that involved the machine before I went up the stairs. I couldn't let my own emotions interfere with this.

    I went up to the main floor and then up the ladders to the chest room. There he was: rummaging through a chest, a pickaxe in his right hand. I had to be very careful not to disturb any objects in the room. Vikk had a power, like me - but instead of turning invisible he had a 360-degree view of everything.

    I had to be quick. I gripped the handle of my diamond sword and tip-toed close to him, pausing behind him, raising my weapon. I paused. I hadn't been this close to him in a long time.
   
    I paused. My heart was beating quickly. Was I really about to kill my ex-best friend?

    I must have fucked up while I was standing there because in a flash, I was being pressed up against the wall, the handle of Vikk's pickaxe up against my neck and restricting my breath. His face was close to mine and he didn't look particularly happy. I turned visible again.

    "What the fuck are you doing here?" Vikk growled at me.

    "Hello to you to," I struggled to speak with the handle at my throat. "There was a contract on your head. Finally. I decided to carry it out personally."

    "Are you sure about that?" Vikk raised his eyebrows and loosened the pressure he was putting on my neck.

    "Yeah, of course I am," I replied, "by the way, how did you see me?"

    "You're not as smooth as you think you are."

    "Care to elaborate?"

    "I never told you this when we used to be friends, but when you're high on emotions you tend to lose control of your invisibility. You only flickered for a second, but it was enough."

    "Ah, damn, I should have known."

    "That's why I'm not sure you're actually going to kill me."

    "We're not friends anymore, Vikk."

    "That doesn't mean you don't still like me."

    I paused and sighed. He was right. I couldn't kill him. I was too weak.

    "I'm sorry about this, Lachy." All I remember after he said that was the handle of his pickaxe coming at my head.

~~~

The first thing I was aware of when I woke up was the throbbing in my temple. The second thing I was aware of was that I was in Vikk's bed.

His bedroom hadn't changed much. It was still messy, but in a clean way, if that made any sense. It still smelled the same. The walls were the same color.

Vikk was sitting on a chair in the corner, reading something. I coughed to grab his attention. He turned to me and smiled, but it wasn't a smile like he used to have; it was cold.

"Good morning," Vikk greeted, setting his book down and walking over to the bed, sitting next to me. "How's your head?"

"Hurts," I said casually. "Got any painkillers?"

"Sadly, no," Vikk replied.

I sighed. "Great."

"So, tell me," Vikk began, "how's life as an assassin?"

"Well, I made more friends than I expected to."

"Yeah? They as good as me?"

"Better than you. They don't work for the government, and they'll stick with me through anything."

"Harsh," Vikk scoffed. He looked down at my hand on the bedspread and seemed to be internally debating something.

"You know, I used to have a crush on you," I said suddenly. I didn't know where it came from. I guess...I had always wanted to tell him, and I didn't like him anymore, so it seemed appropriate as I might never get another chance to say it.

"Really?" Vikk's gaze snapped up to meet mine. "That explains a lot, actually."

I laughed. "I'm sure it does."

"To be honest, I had a bit of a crush on you, too."

I stopped. What!? I suddenly became painfully aware that so much would be different if I had just confessed to him when we were still friends. Maybe things would be better, even.

"You...you did?"

"Yeah," Vikk said with a laugh. "I thought I was totally over it but...seeing you, older, rougher, stronger...I think I still have a crush on you."

"I..." I was speechless. I stared down at my hands, baffled. I had just attempted to literally murder this guy and he was confessing his love for me.

"I know you hate me, don't worry. I won't try anything."

"HATE you!?" I exclaimed suddenly. "Fudge no, I don't hate you."

I did something wild and grabbed his hand. It was rougher and more calloused than I remembered.

I stared blankly in front of my as Vikk squeezed my hand.

"Are you okay?" Vikk asked. I could feel tears well in my eyes.

"What have I been doing?" I said quietly. "I-I could h-have been here, w-with you, this wh-whole time."

Vikk rubbed his thumb along the back of my hand. I turned towards him and looked him straight in the eye.

How could I have not realized how much I missed those eyes? How much I missed him?

The tears spilled. Vikk pulled me into an embrace, which I gladly returned.

"Lachl..."

I cut Vikk off. "I'm so sorry. For everything. Especially that fight we had before Ieft. I didn't realize how much I've missed you."

"Aww, Lachy," Vikk pulled away from the embrace, smiling. For some reason, I couldn't stop staring at his lips.

"You know what?" I said. "I think...maybe...I might still have a crush on you too."

My eyes were still on his lips. He seemed to take the hint, and was the first one to lean in.

Our lips met, and it seemed like I'd been waiting for it my whole life. The kiss was quick, but still nice, and I leaned my forehead on his afterwards, feeling breathless.

"Mm," I said, "you taste like carrots."

"You taste like bad decisions."

"Ha ha."

And from then on, I was a much different person.

~~~

HA!! I bet you didn't expect THAT!

Ciao!