❝ love is pain ❞

            "Cojame... Can you stop that?" Cataleya laughed as she swat Seth's hand away from her face, trying her best to return to her sketching before he interrupted again.

"Why?" Seth teased, bringing his finger back up to the tip of her nose with one hand while the other steered them into the large mall parking lot.

"I'm," she scrunched up her nose as she swat his hand away again, "trying to finish this drawing."

"Oh, but I love being a distractio–" Seth swiftly braked as a car backed out from a parking spot in front of them, the other driver sending Seth a very colorful gesture out their side window before speeding away.

"Nice one, hot shot."

"Shut up," Seth chuckled, pulling into the now empty spot before leading them into the building.

The pages of the Spanish bible she shoved back into her bag were riddled with the sketches and research she'd compiled over the last few months. Seth never really asked questions, instead occasionally peeking at the strange line-work that completely covered the text. When he did ask about it, she would never give him a straight answer.

"What are we here for again?" Cataleya questioned, easily falling into step beside Seth.

"Somebody named Sonja at La Casa de Los Tatu..." Seth gestured as he spoke, slightly slowing his pace so she could walk beside him.

"Tatuajes."

"Yeah that. Word on the street is that tattoos ain't the only ink she's good for."

Passports. Cataleya started to nod before recalling their current lack of cash. Only a few nights ago they were struggling to pay for a longer stay, now passports? How the hell were they going to afford that? "Hold on. Where are we getting the money for this from?"

Seth sighed, awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck before replying. "Does it really matter?" Seth knew exactly what would follow him actually telling her, and he wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"Uh, yeah. A little," Cataleya lightly laughed.

"I may have pulled off another job a few nights ago," Seth sighed. Here we go...

Cataleya stopped walking and stared at him, her eyes conveying the very same message she soon spoke. "Are you kidding me? What happened to ' laying low ' ?"

For a straight four days after the cash checking store incident, he'd warned her to lie low, almost on the verge of practically forbidding her from leaving the room. Of course, she didn't listen, but she was careful when she did go out. No attempts at jobs, no unnecessary attention drawn, and no waves in the otherwise calm that came between moving towns.

Him attempting another job so soon, and so close, to the last was risky; not only for him, but for her too. Too many waves. More attention meant a higher possibility of her being found, and she would do anything to keep that from happening.

Seth groaned. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you."

Scoffing, Cataleya shook her head and began walking toward the tattoo parlor. "No, I know exactly why you didn't tell me. You didn't want me to tag along and nag you about needing a partner. Which you do. You're too scared to let me help because you'll think I'll screw it up."

He couldn't deny the first part. Her constant ushering of him needing a partner grated at his nerves from time to time, but he knew she meant well. In all honesty, she was right, he did need a partner. He just didn't want her to have to live like that again. But the second part of her statement couldn't be further from the truth. "Sweetheart, let's just talk about this later, alright?"

As they stepped into the tattoo parlor Cataleya had no choice but to shut up. The woman she assumed was Sonja looked up from a magazine after the two entered. Her gaze quickly flicked away from Cataleya to rest on Seth.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Seth nodded. He pushed up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the black flames that traveled along his arm. "I wanna add to this."

Sonja stood and walked over to the chair sat in the middle of the room, motioning for Seth to sit as she readied the tattoo gun.

"Come get me when you're done," Cataleya spoke, starting to walk off into the market as Seth shrugged off his jacket and white shirt.

"Cat," Seth called after her, waiting for her to turn and face him before continuing, "remember what I told you back in the room."

Low profile.

What'd he think she would do? Start a riot? Dance on tables? All she wanted was some damn food and a few moments to herself. After all, she wasn't the one who pulled a job that could've gotten them caught.

Cataleya mockingly saluted, sarcastically replying, "You got it, jefe," as she backed out of the shop.

Sonja smirked in amusement, sitting down on a stool beside Seth and readying her needle. "Who's the girl?"

"Somethin' special."

Seth watched Cataleya walk away through the large glass window of the shop, her hands shoved into the pockets of the dark overalls he couldn't fathom how she wore in this heat. A bandana Seth vaguely remembered using as a mask once pushed back her brown hair.

He was lost in looking at her from afar. She fit right in amongst the many locals who frequented this place, but she also managed to stand out somehow. Maybe it was just him. To him, she'd always stand out.

"So, what's your story?" Sonja inquired, interrupting his musing as her hand expertly moved along his neck to fill in the black outlines she made. "Trying to remember somebody?"

"The opposite," Seth groaned.

Sonja hummed in response as her eyes followed his gaze to a small table Cataleya sat at. The girl had a thick bible placed in front of her as she scratched away at the pages with her pen. Sonja raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Wow. Religious I'm guessing."

Seth couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at the woman's comment. "No." His girl couldn't be any further from religious if she tried. "The only bearded man in her life is me."

Cataleya noticed the woman laugh through the large window, presumably at something Seth said. She looked into the small parlor for a few moments longer, only turning away after noticing Seth looking out at her. She sighed as she stared down at the graffitied pages of the beat up bible in front of her.

In the few weeks after the Twister incident, her nightmares returned full force. The constantly interrupted sleep and terrible conditions left her feeling down and anxious. Some days she could barely function, staying in the musty motel bed simply because she couldn't bring herself to get out of it. Despite the obvious low the incident at the bar left Seth, he helped her. Slowly but surely she crawled out of bed and into his passenger seat. Now it was her turn to help him.

The messy scribbles that riddled the pages of the motel bible were in a multitude of languages; English, Spanish, Mayan... Any lore she could find was quickly written down with mediocre sketches to match. Cataleya focused on finding out as much about herself, and Santanico, as she could. Not only would it help her understand what was wrong with her, it would lead her to Richie.

Seth needed his brother. No matter how deep he shoved down his memory, or how many syringes he used to numb himself, or how many bottles he downed to forget. Seth missed Richie. And so did Cataleya.

She fought so hard to forget the younger brother. She really did. But there was this deep-seated need within her for him, to at least see him, that she'd been harboring for weeks.

Just like heroin.

Cataleya groaned as she placed her face in her hands, her thoughts racing a mile a minute.

Month one with Seth was a disaster. Between her semi-catatonic state and his chronic irritability, the two were at each other's throats almost daily. Even the smallest things would throw the two into an all out verbal brawl. She'd lie awake at night, sometimes too afraid to sleep, and Seth would pretend not to notice.

Month two with him was better. Cataleya slowly willed herself to function normally, and by that time Seth must've found his outlet. The heroin. Numbness replaced his anger and the outright hatred he spoke about feeling for his brother and that monster Santanico for stealing him away.

But this third month had to be the worst of them all.

Their money was running low, the Corvette had been stolen weeks ago, and quite possibly the worse thing to happen yet: Seth.

She didn't know if it was his change of mood or the strange amount of attention he'd been paying her lately. Hell, maybe it was just the longer hair and grown out stubble that sent the butterflies fluttering. But there was something, a feeling, growing in her that she couldn't quite decipher.

Cataleya threw the bible back into her bag as she pushed herself away from the table, the chair making an audible screech even in the loud hum of the marketplace. She needed a drink. A strong one. No way in hell was she going to realize she was falling for another Gecko in a goddamn Mexican mall.

"There, finito." Sonja lifted the tattoo gun from Seth's neck to survey her work. When Seth only distractedly hummed in response, she looked up at him, again following his gaze.

The girl pulled the bandana from her hair as she passed the shop window, revealing a scar on her arm almost identical to the one the man previously under her needle bore. Cataleya turned towards them, sending both Sonja and Seth a casual smile before disappearing again.

"So, what's her story? That animal bite her too?" The woman rolled her stool over to the counter to write out a receipt as she spoke. Her back was turned to him, so she didn't notice the way his jaw clenched before replying.

"Yeah," Seth deadpanned, pulling the white button up and jacket back on, "same animal."

"Wild..." Sonja stared at him skeptically after handing him the piece of paper with the two-digit scribbled price. Her eyes widened at the wad of cash the man pulled from his jacket pocket. "That's way too much."

Seth motioned to his newly tattooed neck, eyebrow raised. "This ain't the only ink I want."

° ° °

"I seriously cannot believe you did a job this close to where we pulled off the other one. And without me!" Cataleya threw her hands up in exasperation. "So much for laying low."

Seth shut the door with a groan. "Sweets, it was a small job that didn't call for your help. And it got us the cash we needed for the passports."

Cataleya crossed her arms as she watched him throw his jacket over the back of a chair and walk over to sit on the bed, seemingly without a care in the world. She was beyond annoyed with his nonchalance. He could've gotten caught, or hurt, or worse. "Every job should call for my help." She stepped closer, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at him. "If I remember correctly, the last score you tried to do solo landed you in the slammer."

"That's low, Cat," Seth sighed, looking up at her.

"I'm sorry, but I had to go there. You needed a little reminder of what could happen doing things alone. You need a partner, you need me. I can help. You'd think the fact that I've actually done this before would be reason enough–"

"Cataleya–"

She continued her rant as Seth stood up. "–for you to let me help. But no, your pinche ego won't let you."

Seth sighed, taking a step closer to her as she continued berating him. "Cat–"

"I can take care of myself just–"

"I know."

"–fine. You don't have to keep trying t–"

"But I don't want you to."

Cataleya stopped speaking, her eyebrows knitting together ever so slightly as he looked down at her. "What?"

Seth took the last few steps that separated them before bringing his hands up to the sides of her face. He held her there, staring into her eyes to ensure she understood that he meant every word he was about to speak.

"Sweetheart. Trust me when I say I know you can take care of yourself. Hell, you could probably kick my ass," he let out a soft laugh before continuing. "But you don't need to."

Cataleya brought her hands up to his wrists, almost timid with her touch as she held onto them. The way he looked down at her, like she was this treasure, made her feel strange. Only one other person looked at her that way, and Seth just happened to be related to him.

"I didn't ask for your help because I didn't want you to have to do another job. It kept you in the room, hidden from cameras and whoever could be looking for you. I don't want you to have to take care of yourself anymore. You've done it alone for long enough, so let someone else do it for a change." Seth noticed her eyebrows slightly knit in confusion, her eyes searching his face.

He never tired of looking into her eyes, his mind lingering on how their deep color always reminded him of hot coals. Those eyes could've set the sky on fire, but he guessed she decided to burn him instead.

He let his gaze flick down to her lips, wanting so badly to kiss her. But he couldn't. Not right now. Finding that knife made him think that she didn't feel much for him. She was still hung up on his goddamn brother.

Seth leaned forward to press a chaste kiss to her forehead before dropping his hands to his sides. His veins screamed, and his eyes fell on the small black bag he'd become so attached to. Seth thought she should know why he disappeared all those nights, if she hadn't already figured it out. And this time he didn't think he could wait to feel the numbness fill him. Not wanting her to see him like that was what drove him to leave before getting high, but right now he couldn't care less.

The younger girl stood speechless as he stepped away from her, grabbing the bag from the table and shuffling back towards the bed. He'd already stuck himself multiple times, and Cataleya figured the idiot would collapse his veins if he didn't get help.

"My God, are you trying to kill yourself?" Cataleya spoke up for the first time since he'd finished his confession before walking over and taking the syringe from his hand. Seth watched as she ran her fingers along his forearm to find a suitable vein, and he wondered how she so easily handled the drug.

Every cell in her body yelled out at her. It's there. It's right there. All you have to do is turn it around and stick yourself and everything will be okay. Cataleya let out a trembling breath at the thoughts, trying to push them down to the deepest parts of her mind. She steadied her hand as she slid the needle into his healed scar, checking that she hit a vein before pushing the liquid into his system. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

"Your brother found the best vein."

Seth groaned as she pressed the needle in, turning his head to give her better access. "Hilarious..."

"At least he didn't turn you." Cataleya hoped he couldn't hear the waver in her voice as she stared down at the leftover powder that dusted the edge of the little bag.

Seth grunted as he laid back and sprawled out on the small motel bed. "Yeah, he can keep that venom shit to himself."

"Looks like you found your own venom anyways, Gecko."

Cataleya could feel the cold sweat coating her hands as she wrung them together. She needed to get out of here, away from the sickening temptation the drug made her feel. Two steps toward the door was as far as she got before Seth's hand shot out and grabbed at her overalls.

Sometimes, when he took a dose a little too strong, he'd see her. Even though he was getting high somewhere else, she was with him, right there, promising that she'd never leave him. Now, more than ever, he didn't want to be alone. And he really hoped she'd keep the promise she didn't even know she made.

"Don't go." His words were slurred as he slowly succumbed to the numbing effects of the toxic thing running through his body.

"Seth, I can't– I need to go, I'm sorry." He didn't know how dangerous it was for her to be there; how tempted she was to treat herself like a human pincushion and give in to the nagging little voice inside her head. She didn't want to leave him alone, but she had to.

Cataleya didn't even think he heard her as his hand dropped from her overalls, lying still over the edge of the bed. She grit her teeth as she moved his arm and laid pillows around him, willing herself not to look down at the leftover liquid that could so easily be administered.

With her bag slung over her shoulder, she opened the door, looking back one last time to mutter a sad, "idiot," before shutting it behind her.

The entire drive back to the market Cataleya couldn't stop thinking about the condition she left Seth in and the words he said to her before self-medicating. She wanted so badly to pretend that he didn't care about her, that she was just someone he let tag along. Another annoying mouth to feed. It would've made determining her own feelings so much easier. But the way he looked at her told a completely different story.

She rubbed at her temples in frustration as she stared down at the steering wheel. "Fuck..." She slammed her hand against it, muttering, "fuck, fuck, fuck," before taking a deep breath and getting out.

Level head, Cataleya, level head.

The market seemed busier than it had only a few hours ago, a larger crowd of people now pushing their way around the separate stalls and small bodegas. Cataleya's eyes fell on a specific one, the sign reading ' Botanica: Esoterica y Hierbas. '

She pulled the bible from her bag and clutched it close to her before walking up. The prayer candles on the counter caught her attention as she neared, picking one up and glancing over the unfamiliar imagery. "Qué significan estas piezas?"

"Para ti?" The boy spoke, "fifty pesos. Five dollars, U.S."

Cataleya placed the bible down on the counter before she let out a small chuckle. "Do I look like a tourist to you?"

The boy shrugged, eyes flicking down to the thick book before he looked back to her. " ' Si alguien viene a vosotros y no trae esta enseñanza, no la recibáis. Quien lo saluda se une a sus malas obras. ' "

"What's with the Scripture?"

"You're here to convert me. I mean, isn't that what you people do?" The boy leaned onto the counter, his stare challenging.

"You people?"

"You're a missionary. You came down here to help the little brown people so it'll look good on your college application," he replied, his smirk condescending. "Wanna take a selfie?"

"Híjole..." Cataleya emptily laughed to herself. "Last time I checked, I am ' the little brown people, ' and I'm not here to convert you." She opened the bible on the counter to reveal her personal drawings and text.

The smug smile dropped from his face as he stared down at it. "That's not the King James Version."

"Not exactly."

Sighing, he stood up straight and motioned for her to follow him back. Cataleya took a careful glance over her shoulder before walking around the counter to follow behind him. He pulled a curtain back to reveal a small group of people praying to an image; an image that vaguely resembled Santanico.

"Who is she?"

"No one knows her real name. Many believe she was called Kisa by the ancients. It means–"

"–Sunlight."

The boy looked between the icon and the older girl. "She's our savior. She consumes our sins," he continued.

"Los pecados no son lo único que ella consume, eso es seguro," Cataleya whispered to herself. These people considered Santanico a goddess, but she couldn't quite get the image of the death the woman wrought out of her mind.

"What did you say?"

"She is not your savior."

The boy walked closer, looking down at her threateningly. "Who made you the expert?"

Cataleya remained unfazed by his attempt at intimidating her. "People like you. Culebras..." The word rolled off of her tongue as he stepped closer to try and tower over her. "Part snake, part vampire, super annoying as a whole."

She crossed her arms defensively to keep him from getting any closer as she looked up at him, practically daring him to try something. "You like throwing a couple O Neg back and can stand in the sun, but it hurts. Like holding your breath underwater."

Another culebra walked into the room, slowly making his way to stand behind Cataleya in yet another attempt to scare her. But she knew what she was capable of, or rather, what her blood was capable of. "And if either you, or your friend, try to bite me," Cataleya looked back to glare at the man behind her, "let's just say the result won't be too pretty."

"Why don't I test that theory?" The boy's eyes flickered yellow as he all but lunged for her, mouth almost to her neck. He gasped as he inhaled her scent, slowly pulling his head away to meet her dark eyes.

"Unless you want to end up as a pile of ash," Cataleya held her hand out to keep him from coming any closer, "I wouldn't."

"Your scent, you–"

"Smell delicious? So I've been told. But don't."

"No... What are you?" The boy's eyes widened as he took a step back.

Cataleya stuttered her words, shocked by his reaction. "I-I don't know. I was kind of hoping you could help me out with that." She shook her head as she looked down, only looking up again to address him. "Just forget it. I need help finding someone. A friend. And I need cash to do it."

The boy blinked, surprised at her sudden subject change. He sighed, walking over to the curtain and slightly pulling it aside. "He exhorts everyone in the mercado." He gestured to a man speaking to two merchants, hand outstretched in wait of money. "He and his matrona," the boy pointed over to a small hair salon, " make a lot of money off our backs."

"Is he–?"

The boy nodded.

"Then why don't you just kill him?" Cataleya shrugged, asking as if it was the simplest solution. "Or at least scare him off or something."

"I pick my battles." The boy turned to face her. "You should learn to pick yours."

Cataleya watched the man walk away from the frowning merchants, flipping through the small stack of bills he'd coaxed from them. "Trust me, I know a little something about picking battles." Considering five years of my life consisted of it. "And I'm thinking about picking this one..."

° ° °

The keys jingled in her hand as she twirled them around her finger and walked up the steps to the second floor of the dingy motel. Their room was close to the stairs, so the walk to find the door was relatively short. She found the room key and placed it in the lock only to realize that it was already unlocked.

Her heart jumped at glass shattering, evidence of a struggle happening inside. She barged into the room to meet Seth's back with a growling figure pinned against the table. The figure let out one last screech before Seth shoved the stake he held into its chest.

Seth breathed heavily as he surveyed the ash riddled table, the creaking of the door closing making him quickly spin around. "Hey," he breathed, "you're home early."

"Yeah," Cataleya uttered, watching with eyebrows raised as Seth discreetly tried to cross his arms and hide the night manager's glasses in his hands. "Why are trying to hide those?"

"Got you extra towels for your h– hey, your hair." Seth ignored her question, instead choosing to stuff the glasses in his pocket before he walked over to her and picked up a strand of the now black hair between his fingers.

"Just felt like a change, I guess," she muttered. She figured it wasn't worth bringing the night manager back up. Seth wouldn't give her an answer anyway.

"I like it. Looks good on you."

Seth dropped the lock of hair he held when she walked away from him, moving to put her bag on the table. She hesitated, and he watched her wipe away the remaining ash before dropping the small backpack, obviously not caring about him practically cremating the annoying man.

"I found our next hit. If we do our homework, it could be a good score. But we can talk about that later. First, a shower."

Seth picked up the towels and held them out in front of him for her to take, but as she walked closer, she pushed them back towards him.

"Not for me. For you." She brought her hand up to his cheek, gently running her thumb over his dark under-eye circles. "You look like you could use one."

Seth stared down at her, unsure of how he should react to her actions. He planned to reach up and grab hold of her hand, but she removed it before he could. Instead, he softly chuckled, trying to clear the air of its stolid silence and his mind of the image he swore he saw; Cataleya's eyes flicking down to his mouth. "A shower with actual hot water for once sounds nice."

Cataleya laughed. Her showers always did run a little long. She moved to the large duffle they managed to share, pulling out random articles of clothing and throwing them his way. "Use all the hot water you want."

Seth caught the clothes with the hand not holding the stack of towels before swiftly turning on his heel, calling out a quick, "I'm holding you to that," before disappearing behind the closed bathroom door.

The girl ran her fingers through her newly dyed hair, exhaling as she fell back onto the bed. She assumed she had a good twenty minutes before Seth made a reappearance, and she took that time to finally mull on the conversation the two shared earlier.

God, she was in way over her head. If only her heist in that hick-town liquor store had gone as planned, she'd be anywhere else but here. She might be on some white sandy beach instead of staring up at the water-stained ceiling of a cheap motel room thinking about how Seth's lips would feel against her skin.

Cataleya grabbed a pillow from beside her, bringing it over her face to let out a frustrated yell into the muffling fabric.

He'd taken care of her thus far, more than anyone else ever had, mostly because no one else bothered to. Something about her seemed to make him care enough to want to keep her around. Maybe that was why she slowly felt herself falling for the man's charms. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs because somehow, somewhere along the way, she'd managed to get her head and her heart tangled between a couple of Geckos.

After unhooking the clasps of her worn overalls, she let them drop to the floor before pulling her shirt over her head. She figured she had plenty of time to change before Seth finished, although she found herself wondering if she'd even care if he caught her.

She wiped the thought from her mind while pulling on a pair of boxers and a shirt she randomly grabbed from the duffle. Cataleya couldn't be bothered with determining his clothes from hers in her current state; exhausted, dazed, and utterly frustrated. The girl couldn't believe how complicated her life had become ever since the Geckos so kindly forced themselves into it. But in all honesty, she wasn't necessarily sure that that was a bad thing.

Seth emerged from the bathroom with steam billowing out from the open door, his wet hair a disheveled mess before he ran his hand through it. "Woo!" He called out. "I think that's the best shower I've had in months. Only thing that would've made it better is–" The man paused, noticing a still Cataleya sprawled face-down over the bed. "You awake?"

A muffled, "Mhm," soon came in reply.

"Alright, Sweetheart, spill it." Seth hopped onto the bed before leaning back against the headboard, the sudden movement making her small frame jolt.

She groaned before lifting her head up from the sheets to look back at him. "Spill what?"

"You got something. You have the look."

"The look?"

"Yeah, the look."

"I have a look?"

"You have lots of 'em," Seth confessed, placing his arms behind his head and leaning back. "Right now you got that... that ' there's something on my mind and I desperately need to figure it out ' look."

"That's, um..." Cataleya pushed herself up from her stomach to turn towards him. "That's a really specific look."

"Well, you're a pretty distinguishable person."

Cataleya stared back at Seth, their eyes both wandering over each other's features, studying the same face they'd looked at every day for the past three months. She wasn't sure how long it lasted – maybe as little only five seconds before he spoke again– but to her, it felt like forever.

Seth broke the short silence between them. "So, are you gonna tell me? Or am I going to have to get it out of you?"

"It's nothing. I'm just... tired," Cataleya lied. As much as he wanted her to share with him, she couldn't tell him that she was angry with herself over him and Richie. There would never be an easy way to confess the strange mixture of feelings the two seemed to stir within her.

Cataleya ignored Seth's disbelieving gaze and instead trained her eyes on the black ink that marked his arm. She often found herself admiring it when it wasn't covered by a button up or jacket, much like right now. "How about you spill instead," she offered, looking away from his tattoo and up to his face.

Seth raised his eyebrows in questioning before Cataleya pointed at the flames that engulfed the entirety of his arm. The man sighed. Each time he looked down at the dark fire that crawled up his arm, it reminded him of that tragic night. The night he and Richard lost the only other parent they had. The story of it was a sad one, and with that story came baggage he wasn't ready to drop on her. "It's not important."

"Then why get it?" Cataleya asked with raised eyebrows.

Seth shrugged at her question, brushing off the curious look in her eye. "I don't know. Why would you get one?" Deflection: a particular trait he must've picked up from her.

"One of mine's for my mom," Cataleya replied. She didn't really expect to share this with him, instead wanting to hear the story of his own tattoo. But much like herself, he couldn't be pushed to give answers he already decided not to tell.

Seth's eyebrows knit together in curiosity. He'd seen plenty enough of her to assume that she didn't have ink marking her skin, let alone in multiple places. "I didn't know you had tattoos."

"Because you never asked," Cataleya quipped, a smirk planting itself on her face at Seth's eye roll.

"Well, I'm asking now," Seth spoke, "what's the one for your mom?"

Cataleya pushed herself up to her knees and turned so that her back faced him. The girl gathered her dark hair and moved it aside to reveal a small, intricate rose positioned on the back of her neck. "Her name's Rosa. I thought it was fitting."

Seth admired the details of the miniature flower before she dropped her hair and turned back around to face him. "That's sweet."

"I got it about a year ago, I think," Cataleya recalled, fidgeting with her silver ring as she spoke.

Seth hummed in response before quickly noticing her sudden silence. He stared at the girl expectantly, wanting her to continue her explanations of the various tattoos he never knew she had.

Cataleya noticed the way he raised his eyebrow at her, the motion practically urging her to continue her little body art show and tell. But the only other tattoo she carried was deeply embarrassing, and she wasn't sure how he'd react to it. "Oh, no. You don't get to see the other one."

"Aw, come on," Seth laughed, "I showed you mine now show me yours."

Cataleya rolled her eyes at his comparison, seeing as his was almost always on show and hers rarely ever saw the light of day. "Nope. You'll laugh."

"I won't. Promise." Seth exaggerated his words with the motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

She couldn't help the soft chuckle that left her lips. Cataleya groaned, mumbling, "por Dios," to herself as she turned to the side. "Fine. But you have to close your eyes."

"Well, now I'm excited."

"Shut up," Cataleya laughed. She waited for Seth to shut his eyes and pulled the hem of her shirt up to reveal the jagged ink that curved along her ribs. She studied the word, internally groaning at her stupidity for getting it. Her hand carefully held the pulled up shirt in place to ensure it wouldn't ride up any further. "Ok, you can look now."

At first, he didn't notice the scrawled name partially covered by the girl's shirt. Seth's eyes were too busy studying the light tinted scars that peppered her tan skin. He could feel his fists involuntarily tightening behind his head. He swore to himself right then that if he ever found the person who'd left her marked that way, he wouldn't leave much time for last words.

The girl grew self-conscious in his silence, his eyes seemingly boring holes into the bare skin of her side. She gulped when she noticed his eyes travel down, away from the tattoo and no doubt towards the many scars Amancio had riddled her with. She'd use anything to draw his attention from them, even the ridiculous stick-n-poke tattoo of her ex-boyfriend's name.

Seth's eyes traveled back up to Cataleya's, taking in the anxiety they held. He decided breaking the silence would probably put her at ease, and it wasn't difficult to when his gaze finally trailed down to the messy black ink. His hand muffling a laugh that threatened to come out caused most of the worry to drain from her eyes.

"I told you not to laugh!" Cataleya smiled, internally sighing in relief as his attention diverted from the marks of her ugly past.

"I'm sorry... but really?" Seth scooted closer to her, hand hovering halfway between himself and her exposed skin. He ultimately let it drop, afraid of what her reaction might be if he were to touch her.

Cataleya noticed his hand move towards her before he pulled it back, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Why there?"

"Tyler, my ex, he's the one that did it," Cataleya explained. "He said he wanted to do it close to my heart," Cataleya stared past Seth, lips pursed in thought, " but looking back he probably just wanted to touch my boob." She let the shirt drop back down before she moved to lean back against the headboard.

"Smart guy," Seth teased.

"Wow," Cataleya rolled her eyes as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

Seth took note of how small she looked then. At times, he forgot how small she really was on account of her larger than life personality. She carried herself boldly and rarely ever let anyone past her hard exterior. But now, while speaking and, probably thinking, about her past, she looked smaller than she ever had.

"I hope he's rotting in jail," Cataleya blurted. Although, after all the mess he'd put her through, she'd settle for just rotting. "Man, I hate him so much," she breathed. He really was why almost all of her problems began, but she couldn't help but slightly blame herself for putting herself in that situation. He was older, and she should've known better. Yet she fell for him and hung on to his every word.

"Can I ask..." Seth's sentence trailed off. When she turned to face him, he hoped she knew what he meant to say.

"Tyler," the girl bitterly spat the name, "is the one that dragged me into Las Visiones in the first place. I fell for him. Hard. He had sweet, naive little Cataleya wrapped around his finger. So when he told me about this group he was in..." She weakly shrugged. "What else could I do but join?" She shook her head. "He screwed me over so many times. Tyler got me into messes before I ran away from home, he dragged me into a mess after, and when I stupidly enlisted his help to get away from Amancio? Well, let's just say I shouldn't have been surprised when he let me down again."

Seth reached over and placed a hand on her knee. Right now no words seem to come to him, so he tried his luck with physically comforting her as best as he could. Aside from her after nightmare episodes, this was the most vulnerable he'd ever seen the girl. And he didn't like the way the sadness so obviously showed itself in her expressions. Anger was something he'd seen on her before, but sadness? It showed itself to him even less than the number of nights the girl woke from good dreams.

Cataleya still let the ugly thought of Tyler permeate her mind. She couldn't understand why she'd forced herself to stay with him so long. He treated her like shit, something even she could see she didn't deserve.

Maybe she stayed simply because she had no other place to go. Much like why she'd decided to stay with the Geckos when fighting against them went against her best interests.

Cataleya looked down at Seth's hand, sighing before she moved to place hers on top of it.

History sure had a funny way of repeating itself that way.

°°°
a/n

wow! i feel like i haven't done anything in forever... this chapter (to me at least) seems a little choppy. part two really takes off in the next chapter, so i wanted all this out of the way to kind of better focus on that.

side note: i made a playlist on my spotify called ' cat's playlist ' that has a few of her favorite tunes if you wanted to check it out :)

i also haven't written anything for this in a good minute because this week was my first week of college. (ps. god bless i didn't get lost on campus can i get an amen) i've been so exhausted from that i haven't really had a chance to write, so updates may start coming slower in the upcoming weeks. last night i deadass fell asleep on the floor at like seven...

anyways, i tried to fill in a few holes and answer some questions you may have had about their months together with little comments and such in the chapter. the beginning so far is very strong on the sleya front lol. but don't worry, catchie shippers. richie makes an appearance soon...

i'm rambling, so that's all for now. love y'all lots and thanks for 6k !!!!

tab, xoxo