A/N- Please excuse all the mistakes, they will be edited soon. Also, Read A/N at bottom please!

P.S- This is the 20th chapter! Oh my freakin’ apple sauce! I can’t even… just… wow… thank you guys so much! I never thought I would get this far into this story, and it’s all because of you lovely readers!

*Warning- there is profanity used. Oh and note that they aren’t standing that far apart from each other, just a couple feet away, like a little more than an arm’s width away.

AHHHH guys, today is my birthday and I am officially 16, I can’t even cope with it :P But I hope you like this chapter! It’s my birthday present for all of you wonderful people who have stuck by me <3 I love you all!

|Favourite Comment: Aha... I couldn’t pick, they were all just so wonderful :3 Thank you so much for the amazing comments, they always inspire me! Each of you get a hug from Xavier, or whoever your favourite character is ;D|

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|Story Start|

|Shaylee Love|

Oh my god… did…did I hear that right?

Did this man, whom I have never seen in my life until today, just tell me that I was going to die?

I don’t… I can’t… I’m just so confused.

I unhooked my legs from Xavier’s waist and stood beside him, his arm didn’t leave my waist as he pulled me closer to his side and my heart raced faster. I felt Xavier lean down slightly so his lips brushed my ear “Don’t you dare leave my side” he breathed, it was so quiet that I almost didn’t hear what he said. I gave a slight nod of my head to show I understood but I didn’t take my eyes off the man standing a few feet in front of me. He had slightly tousled dirty blonde hair and he was close enough that I could see he had a five o’clock shadow to match, light blue-green eyes that seemed to pierce through me and I swear he was trying to murder me with his eyes. I would say he was either in his late teens or early twenty’s. For clothes he had on black slacks matched with a white dress shirt that had the first couple of buttons undone. The scariest thing about him was the expression he was giving us, his eyes were cold and dark while his facial expression showed off a dark amusement, something sinister was lingering in his gaze and I held onto Xavier’s leather jacket tighter.

“What’s with the hostile look? I was only playing with you…” he teased as he shot us a fake smile and me a wink. Despite that you could practically hear the silent ‘For now anyways’ that was added on at the end of his sentence and it caused a shiver to pass through my body. What I really wanted to know was who this man was and what ties he had with Xavier. I glanced up at Xavier and saw a hard expression on his face, the usual mirth that was in his eyes had vanished and something colder had replaced it. To be quite honest it sort of scared me, it wasn’t an expression I was familiar with on Xavier and I didn’t know what to think anymore. I was so overwhelmed with confusion, why were there so many people with this man? I glanced behind me and took a breath, the boys were standing behind us with a couple other unfamiliar faces and I felt a smidge better.

“What are you doing here Troy?” Xavier asked, breaking the long silence. I glanced around the parking lot and mentally sighed in relief when I saw the library area was vacant, I was glad no one was able to witness what I could only describe as a something that should have been in a mafia movie or something but I suppose it could have just looked like a couple of testosterone filled boys having an argument with some random girl there. I nervously shifted my weight and bit my lip, so his name was Troy… instantly my mind shifted towards high school musical and I began to imagine this Troy dancing and singing like they did in the movies and I couldn’t help but laugh silently to myself, this cold and scary guy dancing on lunchroom tables? Like that would ever happen.

“Oh come on Xavier, you know you’re happy to see me” Troy said as he stretched his arms out, as though Xavier would just run into them for a hug. I felt Xavier’s fists clench as he held me and I glanced up at him to see his jaw was clenched and he had such an angry look on his face that I knew I had to do something or else things would get out of hand. Instantly, as if it was a second nature to me, my hand slipped under Xavier’s leather jacket and I began to rub soothing circles and shapes on his back. As the moments passed by, Xavier slowly began to calm down. Soon both his fists and his jaw unclenched, I could finally let out a small breath of relief when his hands slackened their hold on my waist. Xavier began to lightly move his thumb over the exposed skin on my hip, my shirt had somehow ridden up and part of my stomach along with the edge of the bandage could be seen.

I stayed silent as Troy and Xavier had a conversation with their eyes. I looked behind me at Dominic and saw he had a bored expression on his face as he leant against Xavier’s car with Sam and Ryder next to him. I turned back to Troy and noticed that behind him people were starting to show up and gave all of us curious and suspicious glances. I bit my lip as nervousness came over me once again, Xavier’s hand didn’t stop its motions but he did press me closer to his person as he said “I asked you a question” spitefully.

Troy grinned “I just came here to talk–” Xavier cut him off with a snide laugh “Last time we talked I ended up with bruises and if I can remember you had a busted lip” he said and I turned to give him a wide eyed look. Troy ignored him and continued talking “And I wanted to meet Miss. Shaylee Love as well. I’ve heard many… interesting things about her” he said, speaking as if I wasn’t here and I cringed as his eyes trailed up and down my form. What the hell has he heard about me? Who would have told him about me?

Then it dawned on me.

Troy must have been the ‘he’ Jace and Xavier were talking about that one day when I eavesdropped on their conversation, instantly the memory came back to me.

|Flashback|

I made my way down the hall and was beginning to get annoyed, where the hell are they? I passed the stairwell and stopped. Two voices were talking well more like arguing and they sounded pretty familiar…

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Xavier.

“Well I was having a nice lunch with our hot little tour guide, but you dragged me out here”

Jace.

I opened the door and quietly slipped inside. Pressing myself behind one of the walls so I wouldn’t be seen as I eavesdropped, they were on the actual stairs but if they decided to go down then I would most definitely be screwed.

“Don’t talk about her like that” Xavier seethed. I heard Jace laugh, in a somewhat sarcastic tone. “Oh Xavier, still as funny as ever” he mocked. So they really did know each other I mused. I heard Xavier grunt “Seriously Wesley I’m not in the mood for your shit, tell me why the fuck you’re here. I’ve got places to be and people to see” Xavier spat out angrily. I could imagine his fists were clenched tightly, and he was giving a hard angry glare to Jace. But why did he call him Wesley?

Jace tutted “Now don’t go calling me by my name East, I go by Jace Greenwood around here.” Jace told him, sounding completely calm. My eyes widened, his real name isn’t actually Jace? Why would he be going by an alias? My brain was starting to hurt with all this new information that was being thrust at me.

“I left, for good. There is no reason you should be here” Xavier muttered, suddenly sounding defeated. I heard Jace release a mocking laugh “You really think he’d let you go that easily? Think again East, this is far from over.” Jace said his voice suddenly hardening. It sent chills down my back, he didn’t sound so carefree anymore and it was slightly unnerving at how… scary his voice sounded. Nothing like the boy I had met at McDonalds or the boy from this morning who sent me a wink before going into his classroom.

“Dammit” Xavier muttered. I could picture Jace sending him a smug smile, “That’s right East. You know exactly what I’m talking about. He sent me here as eyes, you should be fine for now. But that Shaylee girl, well she’s a little hottie isn’t she? I’m sure he’d love to know about her…” Jace trailed off teasingly. I felt myself stiffen, who the hell was ‘he’ and why would he love to know about me?

*SMACK*

I jumped at the abrupt sound of someone being hit. I managed to keep my hand over my mouth before I let out a small yelp that would blow my hiding spot. “KEEP HER OUT OF THIS!” Xavier roared, making me flinch slightly at the power in his voice. “Dammit that hurt” Jace muttered, sounding a bit off. I was slightly relieved that it was him that got punched and not Xavier. “Shaylee isn’t part of this, this is between me and him. She doesn’t get involved” he stated. Jace laughed mockingly “You really think that little bitch is going to stay out of this? It’s too late East, she’s already part of this whether you like it or not” he spat out angrily.

I took in a sharp breath and wrapped my arms around myself, I was part of what exactly? None of this was making sense to me.

“Not if I have a say in it” Xavier said forcefully.

“You really think she is safe here? We’ve known about her for a while East, you need to get your shit together or I’m not the only one who you’re going to be seeing” Jace said, I heard footsteps and began to panic. I needed to get out of there quickly. I opened the door and quietly slipped out of the door before racing down the hallway. My head was swirling with so many thoughts, there was something going on. That I knew for sure, but the rest of it confused the hell out of me.

|End Flashback|

As I zoned back in, everything was beginning to click and slowly my temper was beginning to flame. But before I could dwell on the thought to much Troy let out a hearty laugh and I had to admit it scared me slightly since I didn’t see it coming and, embarrassingly, I jumped. Troy grinned at me “Sorry Shaylee, I didn’t mean to make you jump. You’re… boyfriend is just very amusing.” He apologized but instead of answering, I ignored him and turned towards Xavier with a questioning look on my face. What did I miss?  Xavier’s hard look melted away for a minute as he shook his head at me “It’s nothing Shaylee” he murmured quietly before the cold look came and he faced Troy. Shaylee? He never calls me by my full name unless something serious is going on. Why am I always kept out of the loop? My brows furrowed and a frown morphed its way onto my face, that’s enough of this crap. Once we get out of here Xavier is going to tell me his story whether he wants to or not. I’m sick of this and it’s time I took things into my own hands, screw what everyone else thinks is ‘best for me.’

Xavier rolled his eyes “It’s hardly amusing, I’m just saying it how I see it. You’re just desperate.” He said, a taunting hint to his voice. Troy’s smile slipped from his face “You better watch your mouth East, remember what happened last time you did something I wasn’t… happy about” Troy warned as he pointed a finger at him while his eyes flickered over to me. Xavier’s posture stiffened “I will get you back for that. No one touches my girl without getting something back in return” Xavier threatened, the malice in his voice made me flinch slightly. Xavier could be really scary if he wanted to be, he’s never shown me this side of him before and to be honest I was afraid of it. What other secrets has he been keeping from me? …What about personality traits? Is the Xavier I know now… the real Xavier or is it all an act?

My heart clenched at the thought of Xavier being fake with me.

No… he couldn’t have been acting fake, every smile, every laugh, every kiss… it was all so genuine and he always seemed like himself when we were together. When he apologized, told me he liked me and asked me to be his girlfriend… that was real too wasn’t it? He wouldn’t lie to me…

Would he?

I… I didn’t know anymore.

Troy snapped me from my thoughts, “That reminds me… Shaylee, how are you darling? I’m sorry for the little present I had Chris and Jack give you, but I’m sure it looks lovely.” he said, shooting me a fake apologetic expression. I froze “Err…” I mumbled, not knowing what to do or say. Xavier tightened his grip on me and I winced slightly. “Leave her alone” Xavier growled and Troy waved him off “I wasn’t talking to you East, so shut the fuck up” he spat. I narrowed my eyes at Troy, he wasn’t allowed to talk to Xavier like that. A burst of courage shot through me “I wouldn’t know, it’s still covered by a bandage with how bad it is.” I said as I glared at Troy. I felt Xavier shoot me a look and I knew it said ‘What the hell are you thinking’ and I had no idea what I was doing! Why did I just say that? Troy gave me an amused smile “Is it now? Well that’s too bad, maybe another time then” he mused as his eyes trailed towards my hip.

On reflex my hand moved up to cover my hip but I forgot Xavier’s hand was already placed there and mine landed on top of his. Despite the situation, I still managed to blush at the close contact. Especially when he quickly interlaced our fingers together, I looked up and Xavier and saw his gaze was still on Troy, but there was a faint smile on his lips. I looked back at Troy and saw he was giving me an amused look and I blushed a deeper colour. “How… cute” Troy commented as he watched the two of us, but you could hear the disgust that was evident in his voice. I bit my lip nervously and suddenly Dominic was standing beside me. “This has gone on long enough. You’re wasting my time. What the hell do you want Rivera? Get off of my territory.” He said, his voice coming out cold and emotionless. I shivered, I had never seen Dominic like this and what did he mean about this being ‘his territory’?

Troy sighed and crossed his arms, immediately he changed personalities from scary and amusing to just cruel and scary. He narrowed his eyes and his jaw clenched “You know exactly what I want Hastings, don’t even try that with me” he shot, voice cold as ice as he glared at Dominic. Dominic scoffed “And you already know my answer, so why don’t you take you’re little ‘members’ and get the fuck out of here. You’re outnumbered anyways, what the fuck do you think you’re going to accomplish?” he asked, a ring of authority sounded in his voice. Troy smirked cruelly, “I may be outnumbered but I’m not an idiot” he said, with a nod of his head, everyone behind him was holding a gun.

Holy hell… they had guns!

Immediately my heart started to pound a million miles a minute and I looked at Jack and Chris who had giant smiles on their faces as they held the guns in their hands. I gulped, that means they had those guns on them when they attacked me in the library and they could have killed me if they really wanted to. I shivered at the thought and I felt Xavier and Dominic stiffen, “Shit” someone from behind us swore. I looked at Xavier and he gave me a reassuring look before turning to Troy “You know the rules Rivera, you can’t do that here. Besides, there’s an innocent with us. You know for a fact that it goes against the rules.” He stated, Troy’s eyes wandered to me for a moment and he frowned before grinning. “Ah but that’s not entirely true is it?” he commented as his eyes roamed down to Xavier and my interlaced fingers.

I heard Xavier curse.

What is he talking about?

An innocent? What hell did that mean?

I was utterly confused and on the brink of screaming in frustration.

I heard a cock of a gun and my head whipped towards the sound, my face showed shock when I saw it was Sam who had his gun out and pointed it towards Troy. I was shocked to see the usual sweet and smiling Sam now glaring with a foreign mean look on his face. “This is getting ridiculous, incase you haven’t noticed we’re in a public place. People are beginning to stare and get suspicious” Sam stated as he gestured around us before slowly putting his gun away. I looked around and indeed people were glancing at us with confused and scared expressions, I saw a couple whispering and glancing at the guns in everyone’s hands. I bit my lip, what if someone decided to call the police? What would happen then?

That’s stupid, of course someone would call the police! There were guns out!

Troy chuckled in amusement and crossed his arms over his chest, his arms flexing as he did so. “Oh would you look at that, little Greene has finally grown a backbone” he mocked. Sam opened his mouth to retort but Dominic cut him off “Rivera I suggest you get going before the cops get here. We’ll finish this another time.” he stated before seemingly to have a silent conversation with Troy. Troy uncrossed his arms and nodded his head in agreement “You’ve got a point, alright fine. I’ll be seeing you and East later then” he said and I released a relived breath when I saw his friends putting their guns away and I turned my head to see Dominic’s friends doing the same.

They began to walk away but not before Troy turned around and walked back over to Xavier and me. He reached out and I flinched as he cold hand met my cheek “And Shaylee, it was lovely meeting you and I can guarantee I’ll be seeing you sooner or later. If you ever get bored of East, you’ll know where to find me” he said, giving me a wink. I gasped as Xavier’s hand shot out and punched him in the side of the face “Don’t touch her ever again.” Xavier bit out. Instead of looking angry Troy began to chuckle as he massaged his reddening cheek, “Wow, you’ve gotten a lot better Xavier. I’m impressed… oh and by the way there’s a little… gift coming your way” he said before walking away towards a car that was waiting for him. Once the car drove away Dominic swore and barked out orders to people and they began to disperse until it was just me Dom and Xavier.

What did Troy mean about a ‘surprise’ at home?

I sighed and pushed myself away from Xavier. Right now all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed with a warm cup of hot chocolate. I could feel a headache coming on as I stared at the two boys, neither one of us blinking until I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest “Well… are you going to take me home or what?” I questioned, my voice coming out sharp and cryptic. This wasn’t the place to talk things out, I wanted to be in the comfort of my bed with familiar things around me and my older brother with me. I watched as Xavier and Dominic shared a look and Dom nodded before he walked away to his car.

I was fully prepared to stay in my angry stance but as Xavier turned to me with an apologetic look on his face, my heart jumped as I looked at the bags under his eyes… they must have been recent since I hadn’t seen them today, along with the slight scratches along his face. Now that I think about it Dominic and the people behind him looked like they had a few scratches of their own. I bit my lip, Xavier looked absolutely exhausted and I felt… upset by it. His normally sparkling emerald eyes that were always full of joy and laughter weren’t as lively and instead I saw sadness and… regret?

For the moment I pushed my anger and frustration away.

I walked back towards Xavier and wrapped my arms around his middle, giving him the silent comfort I thought he needed. I was right since almost instantly his arms wound around my waist and brought me closer to his chest while his head rested on top of mine, I breathed in his intoxicating scent and smiled lightly. This was what I liked just Shaylee and Xavier, Xavier and Shaylee. No complications, just the two of us being together. My eyes closed when I felt his lips kiss the top of my head, I buried my head deeper into his chest while he murmured something against my head.

I’m so sorry.

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|At The East House|

The car ride home was a silent one, neither one of us had attempted to make conversation and I was completely fine with that. We sat in a comfortable silence with the radio playing in the background, my hands stayed clasped in my lap while Xavier’s had a hard grip on the steering wheel. I watched as the scenery passed us by and my mind whirled with so many emotions and questions. I went over what just happened in my head and everything else that has happened since Xavier got back and I had come to one conclusion.

Xavier was in a gang.

I also knew that Dominic, Ryder and Sam were also in on this and that whatever we were doing at the library today most definitely had something to do with their gang. What about Liam? Did he have anything to do with this gang? And what about Avery, did she know anything? How was Jace related to all of this and who the hell was Troy, my head began to hurt the more I thought about it. I took a glance at Xavier before I sighed and pressed my head against the cool glass of the window, when did things get so complicated?

I took my head off the glass and looked at my boyfriend, he was in a gang. I didn’t know how I felt about that, could I date a gang member? Gangs were one word: trouble, and I always hated being in trouble. But the boys, they were my best friends I could never just abandon them like that. If it was me I knew they would help me in a heartbeat and as I stared at Xavier I knew that I would do the exact same for all of them, I just needed some explanations first and giving them the silent treatment for a while wouldn’t hurt as well.

We pulled into Xavier’s driveway and I noticed that the boys’ cars were parked in my house’s driveway; I looked at the clock and saw it was around six thirty and my parent’s wouldn’t be home for a while. I got out of Xavier’s car and we began to walk towards his house with me trailing behind him, he got out his key and unlocked the door before gesturing for me to go first. I nodded my head in thanks and walked inside the familiar household. I took my shoes off and wrapped my cardigan tighter around myself, I felt a slight chill as Xavier closed the door behind me. We walked in silence as he followed me towards his living room where the rest of the boys probably were. I glanced behind me and Xavier’s expression was unreadable, I bit my lip in worry, that was never a good thing. Xavier’s expressions were always easy for me to read but now as he avoided eye contact with me, my heart clenched.

Was he going to break up with me? Was he going to do a cliché move and break up with me to protect me?

Once we reached the living room, just as I predicted, the boys were lounging about and looking completely bored as they waited for us. When I walked into the room all three of their heads snapped up and Sam gave me a small wave “Hey” he murmured, a small grin made my its way onto my face as I waved back. I walked over to the single sofa and sat down; I brought my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I looked at the boys and waited for one of them to begin talking, Xavier sat on the other single sofa next to me while the other three boys sat on the larger sofa each giving me a nervous look. I raised a brow and Dominic sighed “I’m sure you have a lot of questions…” he began and I rolled my eyes while giving him an unimpressed look; no kidding. “But before you decide on anything, you need to listen and hear us out alright?” Ryder piped up, and I nodded my head in agreement.

Dominic sighed “I can see it in your eyes, you’ve already figured it out, but to confirm your suspicion, yes we are all in a gang and before you ask I am the gang leader” he stated, not beating around the bush any longer. I sucked in a breath, actually knowing was so much more different than guessing. But I was right, they were all in a gang, but what I wanted to know was how did that even happen? And for how long? I mean I understand that everyone has their demons and I won’t judge them for it since I know the people they truly are but I just wanted to understand…

Xavier’s hand slithered over to mine and intertwined our fingers, I looked away from Dominic so my eyes could lock with my favourite emerald green ones.

“Shaylee, our pasts aren’t great ones. There are things that we won’t be able to tell you but you have to understand that what we can tell you is something of the past, we aren’t those people anymore but we are still apart of some of the situations. We’re telling you this because you have to know, it’s my own fault really, and I got you involved… I made a really stupid mistake.” he said, making me jump as his voice began to rise at the end of his sentence as his hand clenched against mine. “Would you stop with the self pity act? It’s not your fault and you know it” Sam exclaimed, clearly sounding fed up.

I guess they’ve had this conversation before then.

Ryder sighed and ran a hand through his hair “Shut up would you? We’re not here to bicker, and we’ve got a limited time before the oldest Love sibling gets home.” He reminded everyone. Trevor? I sighed, I felt a little better knowing my brother isn’t a part of this. “Don’t go looking too relieved, Trevor’s apart of this as well.” Ryder said once he caught my expression. I sighed and nodded my head in understanding, so even my own brother is keeping secrets from me?

We all went silent for a minute before I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.

“Well then we better get started.”

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Hey guys, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yes, next chapter all will be revealed! Think you can handle Xavier East’s past? I’m probably making it sound much more dramatic then it really is.

But anyways! I wanted to thank all you wonderful people who have stuck with me even though I said I would update weeks ago and never did. I’m sorry about that but it’s the age old excuse… school D:

But with this chapter, I hope some things have been cleared up :) Oh and Troy Rivera is played by the smexy Alex Pettyfer :D

Well… yeah I can’t really think of anything else to say… since I’ve got to get going, my family members are coming over soon to celebrate my birthday and I’m not even ready yet, but I’m just looking forward to having my lemon meringue pie :3 What’s your favourite pie? And if you don’t like pie, what’s your favourite food? Tell me in the comments! :D

So anyways, I’ll try to update as soon as I can but this next chapter might be long considering you get to know about Ryder, Dominic and Sam as well…

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I love you all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Vote? Comment? Follow? Please :3
Can we get… 120 votes and 100 comments please?

P.S- Special thank you/ dedication to my amazing friend Silvenna, who was the first to wish me a happy birthday, your message made my entire day :3

Stay Beautiful!

xoxo- a very happy Shar