❝ tears like rain ❞

            Seth dropped the metal doorknobs onto the wooden table in front of Cataleya with a single key protruding from the lock of one end. If she planned on working this job with him, he needed to know she had the means to do it.

The man looked down at his wristwatch, the second hand passing the twelve before telling her to begin. "Fast as you can, go."

Cataleya picked the knobs up, turning them over in her hands and inspecting them. She pulled the key out to find the bottom edge jagged and difficult to place back into the lock.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You're joking, right?" Seth didn't wait for her response before answering the question himself. "You're joking," he nodded, "You gotta be."

The girl shook her head while fumbling with the knobs, still attempting to place the key into the lock. "The hell are you on about," she mumbled, a frustrated groan leaving her mouth after another failed attempt.

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed – and highly surprised – with the girl sitting in front of him. Considering her years of living as a criminal, he assumed she'd be able to unlock it, or at least know what it was that he placed in front her. "The criminal mastermind doesn't know what a bump key is. Amazing."

"Criminal mastermind. I like the sound of that," Cataleya joked. Her smirk soon faded to a frown after she realized the key refused to go into the lock.

Seth leaned over the table to pluck the door knobs from her grip. "Watch me." His hand hovered over the key halfway out of the lock, glancing over at Cataleya to make sure she watched as he shoved the key all the way in. He handed it back to her, trying his best to hide the growing grin in response to her amazement. "It's all in the reflexes."

"This criminal mastermind never had to pick locks," Cataleya drew her hand back and sent it toward the key, slamming the metal into the lock just as Seth demonstrated, "she just busted them." She raised her eyebrows, a proud smile on her face as she held the door knobs in front of him before grimacing and inspecting the indention the key left on her palm.

"Well, my line of work requires a little more finesse than you're used to." He crossed his arms, observing her movements carefully. "Again." He watched Cataleya remove the key and easily press it back in, nodding in approval.

"So, details. Talk to me." Cataleya placed the door knobs aside and folded her arms on the table in front of her. "Did you see the safe?"

Seth hummed in response, swallowing the scotch he'd taken a sip of before verbally responding. "I did. And I also saw the direct-to-DVD bodyguard beauty school drop-out has watching the front of her place."

"Yeah, that's Tocayo." The girl leaned over the table and snagged the glass from his hand to take a sip. "The collector's supposed to have another guy with him tomorrow."

"Splendid," the man sighed. He reached for Cataleya to take the glass back and finish off what little she left. "Any more surprises?"

"Apparently they just sit in there waiting for the collector to do his thing. Or, at least, that's what Rafa told me."

"Um, sorry. Rafa?" Seth placed his hands on his hips, eyebrows raising in question.

"Yeah, Rafael. I thought I told you about him." Cataleya leaned back in the wooden chair, bringing her feet up and crossing them on the table.

"No, you definitely didn't."

Cataleya'd grown used to Seth's seemingly casual possessiveness, but that didn't mean it stopped annoying her. Maybe it was all the years of fending for herself, she thought. Letting someone else look out for her felt unnatural.

"Rafa's the one who kinda gave me the idea for this. Kid's gonna be our lookout."

"Next time, you might want to tell me about all parts of the plan. The last thing we need is another mouth to feed."

The Spanish mumbling coming from the tv caught Cataleya's attention, postponing her annoyed eye roll as she turn toward it. "Hey, it's Freddie." The girl grabbed the remote and pointed it at the flickering television, turning up the volume to better hear her brother's voice.

"–confirm without a doubt that these are the bodies of Seth and Richard Gecko..."

Cataleya set the remote down as she laughed, and turned back to the table to pick up the door knobs. "Looks like you're dead," she teased, "congrats." The only way for her laugh to sound anymore forced was if it were prerecorded, and she hoped Seth didn't pick up on it.

The smallest mention of Richie sent her mind spiraling, and seeing him pronounced dead on television did nothing to keep her strange feelings buried.

"It's Richard," Seth groaned, standing up straight and crossing his arms again, "he's throwing off the cops." He motioned towards the object in her hands. "Again."

She struggled with the key a while longer, grunting before finally pressing it in.

"Took too long. Now we're all dead." Seth sighed in frustration, making his way back to the bucket of ice.

"Wow," she mumbled, "no wonder he went with her." Cataleya knew he heard her. She didn't know why she said it, regretting it the moment it left her mouth, but there was no point in taking it back now.

"What did you just say?"

"I said," Cataleya tossed the knobs to the side, "I'm not surprised he drove you off a cliff. Maybe being getaway driver was the best thing because actually working with you is a mess."

His constant reworking of her plans immensely annoyed her. She knew, with his experience, that he'd know what to change here and there, but she didn't think he'd completely disregard anything she proposed to add. Thank god he's cute, she mused, or I would've throttled him without a single regret.

Seth bitterly chuckled, taking a small swig from the newly filled glass before turning towards her. "Okay. No mas."

"No mas?" Cataleya challenged.

"I'm calling the whole thing off. We're not doing this." Seth didn't want to do this job with her in the first place. It was too dangerous. She knew it, and he definitely knew it. But seeing as she brought him the gig, he sort of felt obligated to let her help. That didn't stop him from trying everything to dissuade her, but not even the idea of getting shot again would knock the idea from her head. He normally found her hard-headedness amusing, but lately it'd gotten downright frustrating.

"What do you mean you're– you can't just call it off! Everything's already in place," Cataleya retorted, her hands gesturing wildly in annoyance.

Seth shrugged. "I can. And I just did."

The girl took a deep breath before running her trembling fingers through her hair. They needed to find Richie, so she planned to get the money one way or another, whether it was with Seth, or without him.

"Seth, I have contacts everywhere," she spoke calmly, "that's one of the pros of being in a gang. You make a lot of... friends."

Seth stared back at her as she talked, his back leaned against the small counter behind him. His eyebrows were raised as he watched her lean forward onto the table, having a pretty good idea about where she was going with this. "Oh, right. Friends."

"Yeah, friends. There's a few of 'em in town, actually. I make it a point to know things like that. So this is what's going to happen," Cataleya sneered, "we're going to go through with this job, we're going to get the cash, and we're gonna get the hell outta dodge. Or," she shrugged, "I'll pay one of my old friends a visit and get the cash myself. Claro?"

He had to give it to her; she was damn near convincing. But in this game she insisted on playing, Seth had way too many years on her to lose. "No you're not," Seth stated, staring back at Cataleya with a smug look. His quick response seemed to piss her off, and it took everything in him not to laugh at the scowl she sent him.

"You can't stop me."

"Believe me, I can."

"I'd like to see you try."

Seth thought he'd gotten used to her stubbornness over the last few months he spent with her, but she always found a new way to press his buttons.

After setting down the half empty glass, he stalked over to the chair she sat in and stared down at her. "I know you have this little problem with following directions, so I'll try to make this as simple as possible. You're not going see your old 'amigos'. They'd just rat you out the moment they saw you to save their own skin. You're not doing it and that's final, sweetheart. Claro?"

The chair flew back from the force of Cataleya's movement. Seth took a step back as she stood, his glare easily being returned as she stared up into his eyes. "I'm not a child, so you will not order me around like one."

Cataleya refused to be intimidated, not by Seth or anyone else. His constant commands got old a long time ago, especially since he never felt the need to obey his own damn directions.

Seth would be lying if he said she didn't make him a little nervous right then. Something about the way her eyes darkened, or the force with which she spoke. He wasn't scared of a lot of things, but getting Cat angry enough would definitely make the list.

The man sighed, running a hand over his face before replying. "Look. We're just gonna wait."

"Wait for what, Seth? Go get matching tattoos? Shoot up a little bit?" Cataleya threw her hands up. "We can't wait. We can't afford to wait. Anymore waiting and we're just sitting ducks."

Seth stayed silent, looking back at the stressed girl pacing the length of the room as she ranted.

"You're just gonna have to get over Richie leaving because keeping that all bottled up inside is making you make some pretty shitty choices." You're such a hypocrite, Cataleya.

"He didn't leave, sweetheart, he was taken," Seth grumbled, "by something nasty and unholy."

"Yeah, I get it, Seth. You hate the bitch. I've tried to. But after seeing her every night, be abused and thrown around by..." She stared at the floor, not even wanting to utter Malvado's name. "It's kinda hard not to feel a little sympathetic, since I know what it's like." Cataleya didn't even know if those dreams really happened. Maybe they were just Santanico's way of tricking her. "You don't see me sticking myself with syringes to forget." Not anymore.

° ° °

Droplets of the light rain that passed speckled the windshield, slightly obscuring Cataleya's view out of it. The girl took a deep breath, brushing her hair off of her shoulders before stuffing Richie's knife into the pocket of her jacket.

"Cat?"

Cataleya looked towards Seth who still stared out through the windshield.

"I know I didn't make any of this easy for you," Seth turned to face her, "so, I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for putting up with my shit."

"Eh, it was payback. Surprised you put up with my ass for this long."

"That's because you've got a great one," Seth chuckled. "You ready, partner?"

Cataleya smiled. "I've been ready for the past three months, nene."

"Alright. Let's go."

The two nodded at each other after stepping into the mercado before parting ways at the door. Cataleya weaved through the crowd, making her way back to the beauty parlor she'd been inside only a few days ago.

"Disculpe," Cataleya called out, but the loud hair dryer drowned out her voice. "Disculpe!"

The woman shut off the dryer, setting it aside before noticing Cataleya standing a few feet away. "Ah, de nuevo?"

Cataleya smiled as she nod in reply. "Sí. El quince de mi prima más tarde. I wasn't sure what to do with my hair," the girl smoothly lied.

"I'll fix you up, mija. Have a seat, I'm almost finished."

"Actually, could I use the restroom? I had some mango con chile and got it all over me."

The woman motioned toward the door, eyebrow raised as her gaze followed the girl through it.

"Gracias," Cataleya nodded before all but running into the small stall. She turned the water on and set herself a mental timer. The girl knew she only had about two minutes until the woman got suspicious. Not gonna need that long. Cataleya smirked before mentally scolding herself. Don't get cocky.

"It's all in the reflexes..." She'd done it almost a hundred times back in the room, and she hoped to whoever it was up there that it would go just as smooth now.

Cataleya fumbled with the key and groaned at finding it didn't fit. "No, no, no..." She couldn't afford to mess this up. It needed to go perfectly; for Seth, for Rafa, and for her pride.

Her mental timer ran down quick, and she scrambled around the small bathroom to find something, anything, she could use to bust the lock. A screwdriver under the sink caught her eye and she silently celebrated before grabbing it and shoving it into the crack of the door. She rammed her palm against it and shoved it past the lock, sighing in relief when the door finally opened.

"Señorita? Que esta pasando?"

Cataleya tossed the screwdriver aside and jumped up to shut the water off. The woman walked in to catch the girl wiping her hands on her shirt. "Ese chile estaba en todas partes," she lightly laughed, walking past the skeptical woman to take her place in an empty chair.

Three men, the collector and his guards, walked into the parlor and stared down the girl in the chair. She offered a small smile, ignoring the way their eyes raked over her despite the jeans and jacket she wore.

"You know," one of them spoke to the other in Spanish, "I'd definitely hit that."

The other man laughed. "Yeah, she looks good, doesn't she?"

Cataleya rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling you know I can hear you. So, cállate antes de que lo haga por ti."

The men grumbled, but before they could reply Seth barged through the shop doors.

"No time for curls, we got a bus to catch. Come on, let's go."

Cataleya jumped from her seat to follow after Seth. He turned back toward the others with his gun raised to stop them from pulling out their own weapons. "Don't do that," he scolded, "not a good idea."

He turned his gun back to the woman, her fingernails tapping against the counter in annoyance.

"Let me tell you something. And I know that you habla inglés, so don't even give me that," he shook his gun, "look, alright? I am not your enemy. And I am not your friend. I am simply here for what is mine."

The men's hands itched dangerously close to their weapons again, taking advantage of Seth's inattention to them. Cataleya pulled the gun Seth stashed from his waistband before stepping to the side of him and pointing it toward the guards.

"I understand that it was yours, but due to the unwritten rules of this life that you chose, it now belongs to us. So we're gonna take it, and there's not a thing you or Menudo here are gonna do about it." Seth reached for Cataleya's hand and wrapped it in his own. "This is who we are. This is what we do. Thank you for your cooperation. Adíos."

The two slowly backed out of the shop and into the throng of people passing by, hoping to disappear into the crowd. Cataleya spotted Rafa sending a wave. She raised her hand to return it only to be covered in his blood as a bullet ripped through his throat.

"Get down," Seth shouted, ducking down with the girl to shoot at the man standing in front of them. The bullets did nothing to impede his steps toward them.

Cataleya jumped up and dragged Seth after her, knocking over tables and shoving people out of the way to try and get away from the man pursuing them. Shots still rang out as Seth turned to aim his gun again.

More bullets buzzed past them as the two guards from the shop burst from the doors. Cataleya raised her gun to shoot, but she hesitated. Even in the midst of all this chaos, she couldn't bring herself to kill another human being.

Seth picked up where she left off, his bullets planting themselves in the guards before the two ducked away from the other man.

"Long way from Kansas City, Mr. Gecko," the man drawled, accented voice dripping with malice.

"Go fuck yourself," Seth spat.

"I want your brother. And the whore. You're gonna help me find them!" The man's smoking gun drifted from Seth to Cataleya. "This one, I don't–"

Her eyes widened as he stared, nose lifting into the air and inhaling before returning his gaze to her. "What's your kind doing up here?"

Seth glanced between their mysterious attacker and the girl huddled next to him before a bestial shriek broke through the mercado. The man yelled out as Rafa ripped into him, giving Seth time to pull Cataleya up and run with her out the doors.

Cataleya jumped into the passenger seat, head turning back just in time to see Rafa burning in the sunlight. She held in the scream that gathered at the back of her throat and instead internalized it, along with the blame she'd already given herself for his death.

Just another tally added to the death toll. Emilia and the others Malvado killed in his search for her, Kate's brother and father, and now Rafa. She realized then that Santanico was right. Death did follow her.

The ride stayed silent for what felt like hours after their slim escape from the marketplace. Rain came down again, the dark sky letting out all it held back. Cataleya stared ahead out at the road blurred by rain, somewhat stunned.

"He came out of nowhere," she breathed, "I-I had no way of knowing he was going–"

"I knew it. I knew this was going to happen," Seth deadpanned, his eyes still trained out at the slick road.

"How the hell could you possibly know that–"

"Because," he interrupted, "because I'm a professional crook and I've lived long enough to know."

"Oh, and I haven't?" Cataleya defended.

"No. No, you haven't, Cat. Because you're just a little gangbanger who robbed stop and shops with your asshole boyfriend and you think that makes you a pro."

"Look who's the asshole now." A sad smile marked Cataleya's face as she looked at him; a look filled with hurt, disappointment, and pity. "I can't do this anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't deal with your shit anymore, Seth. One minute you're acting like I'm the best thing that ever happened to you and then the next I'm just some burden that you carry around. It's like I'm on a friggin rollercoaster and I just... can't do it anymore." She really couldn't stand to have her heart played with like that. She didn't think it could withstand anything else.

"You want out?" Seth laughed bitterly before slamming his brakes. He reached over, opening up the passenger door and gesturing out. "There you go. Run away again. That seems to be your specialty."

Cataleya stared back at him, her sadness hidden behind a wall of anger. She should've known this would happen. Who was she kidding? Seth didn't give two shits about what happened to her, and she should've realized that from the start.

"You said you wanted out. Go. Go run to Richie. I know about the knife and your little infatuation with him, so go. Have a nice life."

Seth practically waved her off after he finished ranting. He kept his eyes trained ahead out the windshield because he couldn't bring himself to look at her again, at the utter disappointment in her eyes. In a way, her leaving was for the best. He could forget about her a little easier if she resented him.

Cataleya scoffed, reaching back to take a wad of cash from the bag before stepping out into the cold Mexican rain. She flipped off his taillights while he sped away and thanked the water for hiding the small tears that fell down her cheeks. She really did like him, she realized, but it was like fighting fire with fire. She didn't know how long they'd last before they burned each other up.

The further he drove, the louder his mind became. He couldn't believe what a complete dick he'd been to her. His anger got the best of him, like most times, and his words came out like weapons.

Seth knew the job was dangerous. He knew, yet he still let her help. She could've been hurt, or worse, and it would've been all his fault.

But they made it out alive. She was safe, and he'd just left her standing on the side of the road in the pouring down rain.

"Shit," he groaned, throwing his hand against the steering wheel as he hit the brakes and threw the car into reverse.

He didn't care how into his brother he thought she was, or about the countless arguments they'd had over pointless things like food and what side of the bed they wanted. And he didn't care how soaking wet he got when he threw open the car door and marched toward her.

"You're not getting the damn money ba–"

"Just shut up."

He grabbed the sides of her face slick with rain and blood and slammed his lips against hers.

He wasn't sure what awaited them after her arms wound around his neck. He didn't know what words they'd exchange after his mouth ceased to move against hers. He just knew he needed to kiss her, and keep kissing her, like he'd wanted to in that motel room that night, and so many times before.

The memory of what she'd said to him, about finding his own venom, played on repeat in his mind as her fingers pulled at his hair.

"You found your own venom."

And she was right. Only it wasn't the sedating liquid that coursed through his veins. He could see that now, clearer than the feeling of her against him. No matter how many syringes he went through, his drug of choice would always be her.

°°°
a/n

once again updating early because i'm impatient and i need all the time i can get for making up homework

a few little updates from me you probably don't care about: my second week of college is turning out to be only two days bc classes were canceled for a while thanks to hurricane harvey, so now not only do i have to get a bunch of work made up, but i have to write like three chapters for this too lol. this is the last chapter i have prewritten, and i know i keep saying this, but updates might start coming slower. (meaning like every two weeks instead of once a week like normal)

but anyways onto more important matters, seth and cat kissed !!! 😱 what ?!1?!2 this is insane !! what's y'all's thoughts on that? 🤔 guess we'll see how things go...

the next chapter is gonna be dealing with some heavier stuff, but after that i'm planning on the story actually progressing meaning richie and santanico make an appearance :)

that's all for now. before i go, just wanna say i love you guys so much !!!! 7k already ??!? unheard of... thanks again.

tab, xoxo