♛Cameron Dawson ♛

The minute I open my car door, the deafening shout of my name from the crowd can be heard.

"Cameron! Cameron!" The crowd cheers with excitement. Numerous faces look back at me as I smile at another victory.  The car of my opponent pulls up and the people part for him. He climbs out, running a hand through his mop of curly hair before the tall guy walks up to me and smiles widely.

The crowd quietens down slightly, eager to hear what he has to say.
"You sure know how to knock a guy's self-esteem." The tanned man- seemingly my age- says in amusement.

I find my lips twitching upwards, "You race well. Definitely put up a decent fight." I compliment truthfully. Today's victory was not as easy to attain as usual.

He smiles, his green eyes twinkling. "This won't be the last you'll see of me." He grins and I chuckle.

"I hope not." I stick my hand out and he looks down at it before gripping it and giving it a firm shake to which the crowd cheers at. I'm expecting Emery to walk to me and announce my victory but instead it's Ben, another man, who does it.

"Your winner! Cameron!" He shouts and the crowd cheers more. As the crowd bustles about, I catch a glimpse of her between the crowd where I see Emery standing beside her. I frown and when Ben drops my arm, I push my way through the crowd in their direction, not heading straight to Clark like I usually do.

Emery's face is contorted into a deeply frustrated scowl but the balding man in front of Harley that seems to be seething with anger is what catches my attention. Harley's lips, however, curl up into a smirk just as she says something to the man who starts pointing an accusing finger at her.

"You're a little-"

"What's going on here?" I enquire as I approach and they all turn to me. Harley's face immediately breaks into a smile.

"Oh fucking great," the man mutters, "You're here now."

Emery cuts in before I can say anything. "You made a bet on a racer with her and she won. Simple as that."

"She knows the damn bastard! That isn't allowed! You of all people should know that Emery. Bets are on racers you don't know."

"This is an illegal racetrack, stop acting like nobody here breaks the rules." Harley pipes up, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Her voice is confident, challenging.

The man's eyes widen in anger and he clenches his fist before I step between him and Harley. Whether Harley is wrong or right, I will not let the man hurt her.

"You should go."

He looks up at me in amusement, dark brown eyes narrowing."And why the fuck do you have any authority over me? I ain't going to listen to some racer,"

"Leave her alone or get off my property." Emery pitches in. Emery's tone is final, authoritative, leaving no room for arguing. The man's eyes turn to him and surprise lights up his wrinkled features.

"You're serious?"

Emery's face hardens. "One hundred percent." His voice is cold and the man clenches his jaw in anger before looking at me and then Harley over my shoulder.

"Fuck all of you." He spits before stalking off angrily. When he's no longer in my line of sight, I turn around to Harley with a frown. However, the irritation etched onto my features is no match for that of Emery's.

"This is the third time you've done this this week." Emery voices tersely and Harley shrugs.

"I've only been caught three times." Harley clarifies smugly. "And yet I've done it every night." Her tone is cheeky, cocky nearly, and I purse my lips. No matter how much Emery likes her, she's still threading on dangerous grounds.

"I can't keep defending you Harley. Next time this happens, you're on your own. I can't afford losing service because you seem to find enjoyment out of conning people." Emery responds and Harley smiles, one that shows how insignificant this is.

"Don't worry Emery. It won't happen again." Harley's voice sounds innocent and she smiles at him. He stares at her intently before looking at me and I know exactly what he wants me to do- talk to her. For what feels like the hundredth time.

He sighs. "Alright." He then looks at me. "Congratulations on another win Cameron. I'll see you both tomorrow."

I give him a grateful smile before he stalks off and I avert my attention back to Harley. My lips are turned down in frustration as I watch her.

"When is this going to stop?" I press and she shrugs. This is probably the millionth time she's caused drama for Emery since she's started betting on racers and if Emery didn't have a soft spot for her, she would have being kicked off of the track long ago. Emery doesn't even take this amount of shit from his racers.

"It's not my fault I know my way around the rules." She tries to defend herself and I sigh.

"You're causing trouble for Emery."

She rolls her eyes and wraps her arms around me instead. "Can we quit arguing about this so that I can congratulate you?"

I let out a defeated breath and she smiles at me in victory. "Well done on another win Cameron. You helped me score twenty grand."

I look down at the girl in front of me and think about how different she is. Gone is her long brown hair that used to hang in long curls and present is blonde hair, cut to just above her shoulders. She had cut it and dyed it herself just before we went on our trip to Miami and to say I was surprised is an understatement. No longer is her lips twitched up into that innocent smile of hers, now it curls up in mischief, and the crystal in her nose ring sparkles in the light.

"Glad I could bring in some cash." I smirk at her and she laughs. I find my arms winding themselves around her waist and she smiles deviously.

"I'm down for celebrating." She grins and I laugh, pecking her lips quickly.

"C'mon. I think we should head home."

She pulls back and nods, following me to my car after we make a quick stop at Clark to collect the money I won. Soon enough we're on our way home and when we eventually pull up outside out of the small house, I feel exhaustion creep up on me.

Our grey one-story house's porch light illuminates the neatly cut grass and bushes that make it seem like a family home. After the incident with Frank, Harley and I agreed it would be best to just start fresh which is exactly why we got rid of my old apartment and got this simple, two bedroom house in a quiet suburban area. I do, of course, miss my apartment but it held a lot of memories that neither Harley or I wanted to be constantly reminded of. Harley was supposed to move back with Audrey after everything blew over but now we we're both tied to each other in more ways than one and I know Harley needs me because I'm the only one- other than Mason- who knows what she's done.

But I don't think Audrey is too upset since Caleb has moved in with her. It's better this way after all- we're in completely different worlds.

Luckily, since Olivia and Mia moved to Nevada after Olivia got a better paying job there, we had nobody to interfere in the decision of getting a house together although Olivia definitely had a lot to say about it to Harley over the phone.

I park my car in the garage and when the door is locked behind us, I follow Harley into the house. The inside is as simple as the outside- grey, white and black. Hardly any personal possessions hang on the walls or rest on tables. However, it does at least give an airy feel with no clutter around.

The kitchen that looks out onto the small backyard connects to the living room while the passage leads to the rooms. Even after living here for four months, it is yet to feel like home.

I toss my keys onto the table and tug off my jacket as Harley heads for the room and I follow her. When she's no longer clad in jeans and a leather jacket, she slips into bed and I follow after.

The lamp that stays on beside her bedside table illuminates her face and she blinks up at me as I wrap an arm around her waist. The light catches all the corners of her features, giving her an almost ethereal glow and I'm stunned at how beautiful she is.

"I love you Danté." She whispers and I smile, pulling her closer. Even though we still need to talk about her constant conning at the track, I allow myself to forget it for a moment and flutter my eyes closed.

"Té amo, Harley."

****

I run a hand through my hair in frustration, my eyes scanning the scattered papers in front of me that have notes scrawled on them before I look up as Harley enters the kitchen in a black leather skirt and white shirt. I frown.

"Hey." She says, coming to kiss my lips quickly as she rounds the counter.

She leans up on her tippy-toes to reach for two mugs and I watch as her arms flex to do so.

The house ended up having a basement and even though Harley was apprehensive and hesitant about that part when we were contemplating getting the house, we decided not to let that deter our decision. Now the basement has being transformed into a mini gym where Harley spends a lot of her time and where I often help her with self defense. That's the reason for her now much more muscular and toned figure, making her that much more irresistible.

She puts a teabag in two mugs and pulls her hair forward as she does so, revealing her tattoo peeking out from the collar of her neck.

"Here you go." She announces, turning around and handing me a mug of tea and I take it with a grateful smile.

"Where are you going?" I ask, eyeing her attire and she shrugs, taking a sip of her own tea.

"Out,"

I scowl. "Let me guess- with Audrey?" I cannot seem to hide the disdain and annoyance at that fact and Harley most definitely notices as she straightens, eyes narrowing indefinitely.

Audrey has always being a party-goer, wild and reckless and all about 'living in the moment' which- once upon time- was something that Harley didn't support. Sure, Audrey dragged Harley to countless parties and to the track even, but Harley was never one to ditch class to go to a club and she definitely wasn't one to get drunk off of her ass. However, that can't really be said anymore because that's all that she does- party, drink and piss people off.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." She responds tersely, sipping from her tea. Her eyes hold my gaze over the rim of the mug, almost daring me to agree.

"Maybe because it is."

I see it then- the flame behind her eyes that lets me know I've hit a nerve and this can only go down in an argument or me just walking away.

"Well, I sincerely apologize for not stopping being friends with Audrey just because you don't like it." Sarcastically, she smiles.

"You know I like Audrey but maybe you could relax on the partying. When was the last Friday you actually, I don't know, just stayed in?" I remark and she rolls her eyes.

"Lighten up Danté. Just 'cause you don't want to party doesn't mean I shouldn't want to as well."

I purse my lips.

"You know, there's other ways of coping with the pain besides partying and..." my eyes trail to her wrists that are covered in jewelry.

"Don't." She hisses coldly, harshly. "Don't even think of going down that road."

I let out an aggravated sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Harley-"

"I'm going out Danté, whether you like it or not." Harley cuts me off sternly, placing her still full mug in the sink before grabbing her bag and leaving the house. The sound of the door shutting seems to resonate throughout the room for what seems like forever before it is silent and I realize I'm all alone in the empty house.

Again.

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Don't forget to drop a vote if you enjoyed this chapter!
So the sequel to Guns and Roses is finally up! Gahhhh! I'm so excited. I hope you're all ready for this *wiggles eyebrows*. I hope you can all already see that there is a big change in Harley's character... anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Updates will be every Saturday as per usual.

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