Chris did as I had asked and stayed away. It was late now, and I was tired. I knew he was still hurt. I didn't wanna keep him from sleeping in his own bed.

I can't stay mad at him. I've been thinking about it more and I realized that it's not my place to get mad at him. He does what he has to do. It's not my concern. It shouldn't bother me. I'm lucky he lets me live here. I don't need to step in and get mad at him about things that aren't my problem.

I got out of bed and headed down stairs. I walked down to his office and knocked on the door.

"It's open."

I opened the door and entered the room.

He was leaning in his chair, his eyes half open. He looked like he was falling asleep.

"Hi." I spoke.

He didn't respond. He just motioned for me to come closer.

I stepped towards him and stopped in front of his desk. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. I know it's not my place. I just got scared and I-"

"You don't have to apologize. I understand. I didn't really expect you to hear the gunshot, but you did, and I don't blame you for getting upset." He explained. "I did what I had to do. And again, I don't expect you to understand completely why I did it."

"Oh."

"And it is your place to say something if you feel like it. If you're going to be in my life, and be my boyfriend; if that's what you want to be; the you have a right to speak up about things that concern you regarding my actions."

His boyfriend? I mean, it sounds so odd. I've never had a real boyfriend. But, we put it out in the open, we said that there were feelings, but we never said that. We never said out loud that it was official.

"I-I do want that." I whispered.

"You want to be my boyfriend. Officially? There's no pressure. If you say no, things stay how they are."

I nodded. "Yeah. I do."

He smiled. "Good."

He patted his leg. I walked around and sat on his lap.

"Let's put all of this behind us. Okay? You don't have to be upset anymore. Forget all of this happened."

I nodded again.

He kissed the top of my head, pulling me close to him. "Come on. I'm tired."

~~~~~~~~

We were sitting in the upstairs part of Chris's club. He said he wanted to come, but that he'd rather me stay up here with him instead of going downstairs since I'm already injured. He doesn't want anyone bumping into me or anything and fucking up the cast that was on my arm.

I could still hear the loud music playing and Chris was holding a bottle of vodka that we were passing back and forth.

"I have an idea. I want you opinion." He stated.

He stood up and walked over to the window that overlooked the club.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What if I put in a runway like thing with a pole in the middle of the floor? And like, hired a few dancers? Do you think that would boost business?"

I shrugged. "Well, everyone likes strippers, so you'd get a lot more customers. So I guess that's a good idea."

He nodded. He handed me the bottle and I took a sip.

"You look pretty." He said, pulling me down onto the couch

I raised an eyebrow. "I think you need glasses. I look disgusting."

"Shut up. You look amazin'." He slurred.

"Yeah. Not really but okay."

It's like everything that happened yesterday never happened at all. He's treating me like I'm his entire world. And it's weird. No ones ever done it before.

"Are you hungry? I want pizza."

"A little."

"I'm ordering pizza."

I nodded.

He pulled out his phone and called some place. I kinda tuned him out. I'm not really that hungry.

It's kinda strange, the way he's acting. I don't know if I like it. I'm not used to it. No one's ever treated me like I mattered and he's like spoiling me and giving me everything I want. It's kinda scary.

"It'll be here in a few."

I nodded.

There was a knock at the door.

"That's definitely not the pizza." He said.

He got up and answered the door. Ryan stood there. "Craig is here for you."

"What does he want?"

"He just said he has information."

He nodded. "Send him up."

Chris sat behind his desk and propped his feet up on the desk. He leaned back and crossed his arms behind is head.

"Who's Craig?" I asked.

"He's just a small time dealer who provides me with info."

The door opened and a man with long black hair and a mustache came in.

He stared at me as he sat down in front of Chris.

"What do you have for me?" Chris asked.

"The location of his right hand."

"Well?"

"It's good for me to talk with him in the room?" Craig asked, nodding towards me.

Chris nodded.

"How much am I getting?"

Chris sighed and pulled out his wallet. He counted out what looked to be a few twenties and threw them at the guy. "Where is he?"

"He runs a pawn shop in Philly. I don't know the name but it's on North Park Ave." The man said. "If you get him to talk, you're sure the find the one you're looking for."

"Good. Get out."

The man left with the money he was given.

I looked at Chris. "We're going to Philly?"

"I'm going to Philly."

"Why can't I come?" I asked.

He sighed. "Well, first of all, I'm sure you can guess what I'm going there to do. And second, It's too dangerous for you."

"What if you get hurt? What if you don't survive it? Like last time?"

"I almost died last time because I made a horrible mistake. I went after a man who keeps as many tabs on me as I do on him." He explained. "I should have planned everything out more carefully. I should have known that he was two steps ahead of me the entire time."

"Why did you go after him in the first place?"

"I wanted to finally be able to stop him from hurting the people I care about. I've been tracking him for a while. I had finally gotten a location on where he'd be on that day. But I didn't stop to think. I was so happy that I'd finally got somewhere, that I didn't realize that it was him who gave me the location, or that it was a real until it was too late." He told me. "The man who I'm going to see in Philadelphia works side by side with him. He's not dangerous though. He will have no idea what's coming because you and Ryan are the only ones who know my plans. But, if something does happen, you are the only one who knows exactly where I am."

"Oh. It's that guy. The one you told me about." I stated. "When are you going?"

"Probably in a week or so."

I nodded.

I got up and walked over to him. I sat down on his lap. "I really wish you'd let me come..."

He laughed and kissed me. "I see what you're trying to do. We'll see."

"Fine."

There was another knock at the door.

"What?" He groaned.

"You bought food?" Ryan said.

Ryan opened the door and handed Chris a few bags and 3 pizza boxes. He quickly left the room.

He put everything on the desk and took things out of the bag. "I didn't know what you liked so I just got a bunch of stuff. There's plain pizza, pepperoni pizza, and mushroom pizza, chicken fingers, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, spaghetti, and garlic bread. And soda."

"That's a lot of fucking food, Chris."

"I know." He said. "Someone will eat whatever's left. I just didn't know what to get you."

"You coulda just asked."

"I did. You were in another world."

"Oh."

"You can have whatever you want."

I nodded. 

He leaned in and kissed me.

"Enjoy."

——————-

do y'all like this story?? what do y'all wanna see? what predictions do y'all have?? comment!!

~xxLux