"We have to talk to him," Natasha says, standing up.

I quickly grab her arm to pull her down but she pulls me up instead. "Blake, there's nothing to be scared about! We need answers, and we need them now."

"I know but we don't have a plan. What are we even going to say to him?"

Natasha rolls her eyes and starts to walk in the direction of the guy in the jacket. "Just follow my lead."

I gulp as we stand near his table. He isn't facing us which is probably a good thing because I'm really not ready to talk to this person. He's busy on his phone, and upon a closer look, he seems to be busy playing a game, swiping left and right continuously.

With one last look in my direction, Natasha reaches out the guy, a sheepish smile masks her face when he raises his head up and looks at her, and then slowly at me. I force a smile on my face and discreetly nudge Natasha so she speaks. 

"Um, hi, can I ask where you got that jacket from?"

The guy leans back and tilts his cap up, allowing us to see his face much more clearly. He's a got a light stubble but I don't miss the scar hiding under it. He rubs his face with his hand and lazily raises a brow at us. "Why do you want to know?"

I look at Natasha, waiting for a reply just as eagerly as the guy.

"Well, I'm trying to find Mike." Natasha shows him the jacket. "And he has the exact same jacket as you do."

The guy doesn't reply. He simply studies both of us. "How did you get his jacket?"

"I wouldn't really try to give it back to him if I stole it, now would I?"

The nameless guy nods his head as if he's deep in thought. Then he turns to look at something behind us. "That cop came in with you girls. Drop the act and get going, you really don't know what you're messing with here."

Natasha and I exchange a look and then we turn around to see who the guy was looking at. I gasp when I recognize the man in the brown suit, who was following us on our car not too long ago.

"How the fuck did he get here?" Natasha says a bit too loud.

"The real question is how long was he sitting behind us." I run a hand through my hair and turn back to the guy in the jacket.

"Look, we're not with him. He followed us inside."

"Exactly, we took the back roads so he would stop chasing us." Natasha huffs.

"You're familiar with the back roads?" The guy questions us, with an arched brow.

I nod my head. Of course, every shady person in town was familiar with the back roads. They were labelled as the messy parts of town and because people avoided using those roads, street racers made them their little circuit.

I tune back to the conversation Natasha is having with this strange guy, "Yeah, I met Mike there a few days ago." Natasha lies, bringing a hand up to her mouth as she giggles.

I have to tell myself to not cringe.

"Well, you can find him in the club down the street tonight. Just make sure you don't bring that cop in with you."

"Thanks a bunch!" Natasha smiles and I nod my head.

"What were your names again?" He asks.

"I'm Nat—"

"Oh my god, we're running late for practice!" I cut her off, not wanting to give away our names. I tug on Natasha's arm and give her the look.

"Oh no," She exasperates, and then turns towards the guy. "We really have to go now, thank you and goodbye!"

We don't want for a reply as we collect our donut boxes and hurry out of the donut shop and into the car.

"That was something!" Natasha remarks, putting the keys in ignition.

I shake my head at what we just did. "I can't believe you almost gave him our names! We don't need more people after us Nat."

"He was kinda cute," She giggles as she fixes her hair in the rear view mirror.

I roll my eyes at her. "Please don't."

"What?" Natasha drawls. "You can date the son of some gang leader but I can't even flirt a little with someone shady."

I sigh at the mention of that. My head dropping down as I pick the edges of my nails with my fingers.

"Oh, I don't mean it like that..."

I shake my head. "Nah, it's fine. You're right though, I am being a hypocrite."

"I wouldn't put it like that. You didn't know what you were getting yourself into."

"Oh, come on Nat. I knew damn well what I was walking into. I just chose to ignore it because I was so in love with him! And it sucks 'cause I'm still in love."

I fight back the tears in my eyes. Just how much longer am I supposed to cry? When will the pain go away?

Coming to this town meant that I could start fresh. It was the only chance I had to get to know my mom and sister and spend some time with them before college starts. Yet I spent most of my time defying my mom and keeping secrets from Brianna. And then Bellamy walked into my life and everything that I was running from came back into my life ruining the little peace I had.

"Blake, it isn't your fault. Not everything works in our favor. Sometimes, we fuck up and sometimes life fuck us up. You can still do the right thing, you still have a chance." Natasha says softly as she puts a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"What chance do I have?" I scoff in disbelief.

"You need to make some serious decisions about your life. Starting with what you're gonna do when you get some answers from Mike." Natasha points out. "You need to keep an open mind about everything. Just like you shouldn't label yourself as the bad guy, you shouldn't label Bellamy as the good guy."

I snap my head towards Natasha. "What do you mean he isn't a good guy? He didn't mean to do all of this."

She leans away from me hesitantly. "I'm just saying..."

"You're telling me not to blame myself but you're blaming him without any evidence?"

"Wow," Natasha chuckles. "You literally just told me that his dad is a part of a gang. How can you not connect the dots Blake? His father kidnapped you and delivered the gun to him through you."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"How doesn't it make sense?" She retorts, looking at me with worry.

I crease my eyebrows as I focus on her. "Because that would mean Bellamy's been lying to me for months. It would make everything a lie!"

My thoughts spiral out of control as I admit all of this. It means that every time I asked him where he went, or what was wrong, he lied. Not only did I believe him every time, but most of the time I made up excuses for him too.

The sadness I felt before washes away and is replaced with nothing but anger. I clench my fists and huff out a breath.

"I'm sorry for making you say that Blake, but just think about it." Natasha turns the keys in ignition, revving up the engine of the car. "Stepping into a situation like this is easier than getting out of it. If you get the chance to run away from all of this shit then I suggest you don't think twice about it."

Natasha's gaze is focused on the steering wheel. Her tight grip on it made it clear that she was deep in thought and undoubtedly those thoughts weren't good ones as her knuckles turn white and her eyes narrow into slits.

I know she is speaking based on her experiences. She's seen the darkest of days and it amazes me how she managed to pick herself up and continue living her life. She's good at making decisions whereas I am too impatient to think anything through.

But now I know what I need to do.

"Thank you," I say, giving her the biggest smile I could muster at this very moment.

She turns to look at me, her black hair curtaining her face from me. She pushes her hair back, revealing a smile I sought comfort in more times than I could count.

"I thought we agreed on no thank-yous." I roll my eyes at her pointed look.

"I know but I suck at taking advice because I'm stubborn and you made me realize that I'm only lying to myself and making myself feel worse."

It was like everything around me was stuck together by a web of lies. I didn't notice it at first but now that see the lies, I wanted to take everything apart. I just needed to be clearful not to make a mess.

"Don't worry, things will get better soon." She said, starting up the car. She didn't sound so sure and I knew why. We could only hope for something good to happen.

* * * * * * *

"I know there's a bottle up here somewhere." Natasha rummages through the kitchen cabinets by balancing herself on a stool.

I stand beside her just in case she loses her balance. She hands me jars full of God knows what and I place him on the counter. I look back up to find her ass almost in my face.

I'm about to slap it when she screams. "What the hell?"

She leans away from the cabinet, clutching her chest. "It was just a spider," She says before returning into the cabinet.

I shudder in response and take another jar from her. I place it on the counter.

"Have you been working on your butt? It looks more toned." I ask as I wait for her to find the goddamn wine.

"I think it was from all the yoga I did." She says, "I can't wait to hit the beach. Oh, found it!"

I hear her push something heavy before she turns towards me with a tall bottle of wine. I grin as I carefully take it from her. "What was it even doing up there?"

Natasha takes the jars from me and arranges them in the cabinet like they were. "I hid it while helping mom clean out the cabinets. I honestly thought she'd find out but I guess not."

We chuckle as she places the last jar in the cabinet. Once she's satisfied with her arrangements, she places a hand on my shoulder and jumps down.

She goes to the sink to wash of her dusty hands and I follow behind with the wine that's covered in a fine layer of dust.

Natasha looks out the window as she applies soap to her hands. I notice her squinting and I look in the same direction.

"What's wrong?" I question when nothing looks suspicious.

She points to a car on the other side of the street, just a house away from Natasha's.

"Isn't that the same guy who was following us?"

I squint my eyes to focus on the guy. I can only see the side of his face as he appears to be using his phone. I notice the suit and I turn to Natasha and nod.

"The guy at the donut place said he's a cop. I hope he was wrong." She gives me a worried look.

I shrug and wash off the bottle. "I don't think so, I think I know who he is." Natasha's eyebrows shoot up, silently asking me who the heck that guy is. "I think my mom has something to do with this."

Natasha asks me a billion questions as we walk back to her room with our glasses and wine.

We open the bottle of wine and as we begin to get drunk, I tell her about the phone call my mom was on a few days ago.

"If his dad escaped jail, it means he's a lot more dangerous than we think he is." She comments and I nod my head.

"No wonder Mom hated seeing him with me." I chuckle.

"I wonder how Ms. Davis feels about all of this." Natasha ponders as I drift off as I think about Julie, Bellamy's mother.

She worked so hard to raise him and Rosy. I could only imagine how hurt she would be by everything that was happening. I feel like I owe her an apology but I'm too scared about how she'll react when she sees me, the girl who led her son to do dangerous things.

I take a long sip of the wine, hoping it burns my insides but it does little to nothing. I can only hope that I get drunk from the wine so my mind feels a little numb.

I sigh and look at Natasha who is tapping away on her phone. "We have to do something about that cop outside." She finally says, looking away from her phone. She drops it on the bed, letting it bounce once before settling in the space between us.

I stretch my legs, my knees tired from sitting crossed legged. I play with a string of a ripped part of my jeans. "I'll call a cab to the previous street and head out out from the backyard. I doubt that noob will notice."

"You don't need to call a cab. I know someone who will take us there." Natasha smirks as she stares off into the distance.

I shake my head. "No, you're not going there and neither is anyone else. I'll take a cab there and then come back for my car so I can go home." I explain.

"You can't leave me behind!" Natasha pouts. "It's too dangerous, Blake. There's no way I'm sending you there alone. We don't even know this Mike person, he could be—"

"Nat," I cut her off her rant. "I'm not risking anything. It's a club, what if his people do something? Less people means less damage."

There is no way I am taking her me and don't care how bad I have to fight for my decision. Nothing could compel me.

"Fine, we'll take Keith with us." She says stubbornly. I click my tongue.

"That's the worst idea ever!" I exclaim, laughing at her ridiculous idea. "He's going to fight everyone in the club. You know his overprotectiveness will get us killed."

Natasha nods in agreement but then looks at me with pleading eyes. "I really don't think you should go in there alone."

"I need to do this alone. You need to trust me. I'll go in, find Mike, get as much information from him as possible and then I'll be right out." I lay out the plan in front of her and hope that she agrees with me.

"Fine then," She says, the worried look on her face is replaced with a bright smile. "I'll wait in the car. You can't fight me on that."

Feeling defeated, I nod my head and sip my wine. The car was safe enough.

* * * * * * *

I check the time on my phone as Natasha lies to her parents about going out for ice cream. It's 9pm, and according to Natasha, this was an appropriate time to go to the club.

Natasha barely spent a minute talking to her parents before she exits their room. "Told you they'll be too distracted to care."

They were apparently watching some show they were really into these days and their kids were strictly told to not disturb them.

Luckily, our next hurdle is out of the way already. The door of Keith's room is closed which means we can easily leave. As we pass by, I hear him sing a song completely off pitch. I stifle a giggle and make a mental note to inquire about this later.

We exit the house and make our way through the small backyard. We climb over the fence which isn't that tall but still a hassle to climb over even in jeans. We make it to another backyard through which we rush, hoping to not get caught by the neighbours.

Natasha gives me a high-five as we make it to the street. "Bet surveillance didn't catch that."

My laughter dies down as I think of what's ahead. I shiver runs down my spine but I put on a confident face as Natasha gazes at me. She must have sensed that I was scared because she wraps an arm around my shoulders, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Did you forget to call a cab?" I ask as we stand on the sidewalk. She said she had everything under control.

A bright yellow light shines from the end of the street. I cover my eyes and look at Natasha who has a big grin on her face. She stands on the road facing the car.

"Right on time!" She says as a familiar sports car stops inches away from her.

"Hello ladies," Luke grins as he rolls down the window. He comfortably rests his elbow on the door.

"Why would you ask him to pick us up?" I say, causing Luke to gasp dramatically.

"Why would you go to the club without me?" He asks in response.

Natasha walks over to the passenger side. "He's a good driver and this is the perfect getaway car." She tells me, opening the door and sitting inside.

I bite my lip and sit in the backseat. I take out my phone and text her as she directs Luke. I pull out my phone to send her a message.

[For offline readers, the image above is a screenshot of a text message conversation between Natasha and Blake. The image transcript is given below. Natasha's message are left aligned and Blake's are right aligned]:

Heard from him yet????

Nope

Bitch if you don't open the front door!!!!!

Does he know what we're doing??

No I just told him you had something important to do and that we can wait outside in the car

And he just agreed??

Yea

I put my phone back in my purse and lean back.

"How do you sing along to this?" He asks, a hint of a smile on his face as he glances at Natasha.

She fiddles with the music system until the song plays louder. It's a foreign language and just before I try to guess what it is, I hear the words 'BTS' and 'Chun-Li'. Natasha immediately starts to sing, she nails a few of the English parts but the rest sounds like gibberish.

Luke seems to be really enjoying it as his eyes settle on her more than they do on the road. I can't help but think about all the times I saw them together.

"Are you two dating?" I question as a quieter song plays.

A headlight flashes on us and I  noticed Luke biting down on his jaw. Simultaneously, Natasha turns in her seat completely to face me. "No."

I don't believe it and look at the side of Luke's face. "I thought you guys were making out on that new year's party we went to and I was honestly gonna ask if it weren't for Keith."

"There's nothing like that between us, I would've told you if there was." Natasha presses but I have yet to hear Luke reject the idea.

"You know I won't tell anyone right?" I say, looking at the two of them.

"We aren't together!" She whines, turning away from me.

For once Luke is focused on the road but I notice the smile has vanished from face. Good going, Blake.

No one's dares to speak after that. Natasha quietly hums to the songs that play and I stare out the window. It's another kind of rush hour in downtown. Everyone's dressed in their best party outfit and playing loud music. The restaurants are full, the cinemas have a crowd waiting outside and the clubs have long lines.

Everyone was out to party except for us. More nerves settled into the put of my stomach as we neared the club. Luke parks his car not too far from the entrance.

"I've heard about this place, are you sure you want to go in there alone?" He asks as I make sure I have my phone and pocket knife with me.

I nod my head as I put the strap of my purse over my head and through an arm. "I'll be in and out, don't worry."

"We're a phone call away." Natasha reminds me.

"Okay," I mumble and exit the car.

The air outside is warm but I still have goosebumps all over my arms making me wish I swapped my cap sleeves crop top for something with longer sleeves.

I notice entrance of this club is quiet compared to another we passed by. I walk up to the door and a tall man steps in between.

"ID," He asks firmly.

I tilt my head as I stare at him, "I'm hear to speak to Mike."

"ID," He repeats, sticking his hand out in front of me.

I roll my eyes and fish through my purse for my fake ID. I find it much quicker than I expected myself to and I hand to him with a smirk. Her eyes it clearful before stepping out of my way and handing it back to me.

"Thank you." He says with a curt nod.

I nod back and enter the club. The mood inside is a lot different than I expected it to be. I'm completely thrown off by the various poles inside and the scantily covered woman hanging off of them. There are a lot of men and women inside. Some in business suits while others are in semi-formal attire.

I watch as people cheer at the performances and throw money at the girls. Some even going as far as touching them. I shiver and turn away from them. I look around the club, wondering where the hell I could find Mike. Something sparkly catches my eyes and I make my way towards.

I'm quite shocked to find Darla at the bar, putting some a show of her own as she prepares drinks. She's wearing a sparkly pink dress that does little to hide the lingerie set under. Her curly locks fall down to her waist which is hidden under a tight bodice.

She sets the drinks down in front of a group of men when she sees me. "You look familiar. Are you here for a job or somethin'?"

I shake my head. I'm about to answer her when a gush of cold wind attacks me. The club, unlike others, was already properly ventilated which made me wonder why it was even more cold. I turn my head to the left to find the source. I read the sign that says VIP but what makes me gasp is who I see entering from that door.

It was none other than Bellamy Davis.

Author's Note:

Updates should be frequent from now on as I'm getting back into the habit of writing.
I also want to finish this book so I can focus on newer stories but that obviously doesn't mean that I will be rushing this story.

Also, I hope you liked the chapter! I wanted to get a lot more done in this but I'm trying to stick to a rough word limit so there's a tiny little cliffhanger.

Bellamy's been avoiding Blake ever since she was at the hospital but now he's finally here. What do you think is gonna happen?

Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote if you liked the chapter!