How do you leave someone in the past? How do you move on from a life you can't stop thinking about? Fuck, my thoughts were always occupied with 'what if's' these days. I sat in the front seat of our old, crappy car, staring out the window. Masson had sent us the address, and we were heading down to the docks. 

For a year, it had been just me, Dominic, and Alexander. No one else—just us. After Clocksworth left, I packed my bag and took off too. I couldn't stay in the castle with Lumiere and all the memories. 

 Alex had found me half-dead with the note clenched in my hand, lying on the bed, completely knocked out after shoving a mix of pills into my system in doses way too high for my body to handle. Without him and Nico, I wouldn't have survived, and I knew it. Without asking a single question, they'd followed me to the airport and booked the first flight out—away from the mess, away from France. 

I picked Noxwood for the simple reason that I'd been happy here once and, in the back of my mind, because I thought I'd look for Conor. Part of me knew I should leave him alone; he probably had a new life by now. But another part of me longed for him. 

 I glanced at Nico out of the corner of my eye. He had been a source of light this past year, but something was different lately. These past few days, he'd seemed irritable and short-tempered. "You okay?" 

 He shot me a questioning look before focusing on the road again. "Why wouldn't I be?" he muttered. 

 I shrugged. "You just seem a bit off, that's all." 

 "Oh, so now it's okay to talk? When it's about me?" he snapped back. 

 Shaking my head, I tapped my fingers restlessly on my knee. "I just can't stand it when you're pissed off." 

 "But I'm supposed to deal with your moods?" He turned on the radio, and the speakers blared some old song with way too much treble. 

 I thought about what he'd said this morning—that Clocksworth wasn't worth my thoughts anymore. But something kept gnawing at me. No matter how much I turned the scenarios over in my head, it didn't seem like he would just leave and abandon everyone he cared about. The bond between us pulled at me, wearing me down. He was my creator, and something deep inside me wanted to be with him. 

 "He wouldn't just leave without a reason," I whispered, knowing his vampiric hearing caught my words through the noise. 

 "Why not?" he muttered irritably. "Maybe he was just tired of it all." 

 I ran a hand through my hair and leaned my head back against the dusty, gray, worn-out headrest. "Then wouldn't he have said something?" I burst out, frustrated. "'I'm tired of this life! I'm leaving now, don't look for me!'" 

 He glanced at me for a moment. "So, you want to go looking for him?" 

 "No," I sighed. "It's not him I want. I haven't had feelings for him in a long time." 

 "Sure," he scoffed sarcastically. 

 I sighed again, thinking for a moment. "It's just so damn hard to move on when you've got a thousand unanswered questions spinning in your head." 

 He turned down the music and pulled over to the side of the road. "If he'd told you where he was going, would you have let him leave?"

 "Probably." 

 Nico sighed. "So, what could he have done differently?" 

 "Given me an explanation."

 He raised an eyebrow. "And then what?"

 "I don't know," I admitted with a sigh. "Life has always been so damn complicated with him. Last time, I was the one who left because I couldn't handle his shit, but it was different back then, Nic. We talked about it through." 

 He sighed and lit a cigarette. "Do you think he's coming back?" 

 I shook my head. I knew he wouldn't. It was different this time, and maybe that's why I couldn't stop thinking about him. I felt alone and abandoned. Who was going to teach me everything I needed to know now that he was gone? Who would help me when I got into trouble? He'd always been my savior. 

 "Then why the hell are you still waiting for him?!" 

 "I'm not!" My voice cracked, and it didn't sound convincing at all. 

 "Stop lying to me Belmont!" he snapped back, but then his tone softened slightly. "Stop lying to yourself." 

 I turned my face away and stared out the passenger window. He was right. I was lying—lying to him and to myself. Every day, I waited for a text, expecting him to be around every corner I turned. But he never was. So why did I keep waiting? Maybe because he'd always shown up before. Maybe because I'd never gotten the chance to move on. Eventually, I felt his eyes on me, and his voice was soft but tired. 

"Belmont." 

 "Mm?" 

 He was quiet for a moment before looking away. He twisted the key, starting the car. "...Never mind."  

Masson was already waiting for us when we turned onto the narrow street lined with warehouses and workshops. For a few seconds, I was pulled back into memories of my dad's workshop, where he and I had spent countless hours on the floor since I was just a little kid. I was practically born in that place; after Mom passed away, there wasn't really any other option. I remembered those sweaty, stale cheese sandwiches he'd toss me for dinner with a smile. He'd always eat on the go, swapping out brake pads or spark plugs on some beat-up Opel, the sandwich on the ground beside him while I did my homework in the back seat. Damn, I should call him soon.

"Over here," Alex whispered, waving us closer. We crept through the shadows. "Behind Warehouse 2, there's a small office building. That's where the keys should be."

"Keys?" I laughed quietly. "No crowbar today?"

He grimaced into a grin and shook his head. "I don't want to trigger any alarms if I don't have to."

Nicko gave him a skeptical look. "Since when do you care about that?"

"Cut it out," Alex sighed. "I don't want Susie to get in trouble."

"What, are you in love?" I teased, only to get a sour glare in return.

"I'm just being decent," he muttered under his breath.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Too bad. You need someone."

He frowned, looking unusually serious. "Are we going to talk, or are we going to steal weapons?"

Nicko moved ahead and picked the lock. "And how do we know there aren't alarms in this building?"

Masson pointed up toward a camera. "That's why."

"I hope you've cut the cables to that," I sighed.

"Of course, Boss," he said, flashing that ever-confident smirk.

"All right, after you," I replied with a grin.

Masson eased the door open and slipped inside. I stood in the doorway, motioning Nicko to follow, and as he brushed past me in the narrow passage, I felt his hand slip under my shirt. His fingertips teased just above the waistband of my boxers.

"Found them yet?" I murmured toward Masson, my lips moving closer to Nicko's.

"Yeah, got 'em!" Masson whispered, stuffing the keys into his pocket as he rummaged for something else.

"You should be keeping watch, Boss," Nicko teased, smirking, before I silenced him with my lips, pulling him tightly against me.

"Can you two get it together?" Masson groaned from the darkness, shoving past us. "Why are you always so fucking horny when we're working?!"

"Because we love to annoy you," I laughed, reluctantly pulling away from Nicko. 

I made sure we didn't leave a trace as I closed the door behind us.We quickly made our way to the warehouse Masson had pointed out. He was convinced it was packed with crates of highly sought-after automatic weapons—gear that would earn us enough to lay low for a good while.

But I couldn't help but glance around skeptically. The neighborhood was eerily deserted and silent. "Shouldn't a place like this have security guards?" 

 Mass shrugged at my question. "Yeah, but I haven't seen any." 

 I scanned the area systematically. "Have you taken out all the cameras?"

 "Eh, just stay in the shadows," he grinned and hurried ahead. 

 "I've got a feeling there are idiots watching us on a screen somewhere," I muttered, throwing a glance at Dominic. 

 "Probably," Nico muttered, and I could see he was just as uneasy as I was. 

 "Look around a bit. We'll meet over there." 

He nodded and disappeared quickly into the shadows of the nearby buildings. 

 Masson had already made his way to the warehouse. He was peering through a barred window and tossed the key to me as soon as I got close. "It's clear." 

 "Are you sure?" 

 "Oh, knock it off!" he whined in a tone that could've belonged to a three-year-old. The lock slid open, and Mass stepped in first. 

I lingered in the doorway for a moment, keeping an eye on the shadows. Finally. Dominic came running between the buildings and reached me quickly. I raised an eyebrow as I looked him over. "How many?" 

 "Three," he muttered, licking the blood splatter off his forearm. 

 "Damn, there might be more." 

 "Probably." Suddenly, an ear-piercing alarm blared from the building—a loud, monotonous wail. "He set off the alarm," Nico groaned and rushed inside to grab him. 

 I shook my head but couldn't help laughing. It was always chaos when Masson planned something, and it never went smoothly. I stayed back to keep watch, but I didn't have to wait long. Two large bags flew out the door, followed by the two of them, gasping for breath. 

 "Let's go! They're coming!" Nico barked, grabbing one of the bags. I snatched the other and started running. 

Behind us, the distant barking of a pack of guard dogs grew louder, clearly hot on our trail. "Mass, you with us?!" I glanced back and finally caught a glimpse of him. "What the hell took you so long?"

 "I was looking for something," he replied cryptically but with a wide grin on his face. 

 The dogs were closing in, but we were almost at the car. We tossed the heavy bags full of weapons into the trunk and piled into the car. Adrenaline coursed through us. Damn, we'd pulled it off! Masson started the engine and sped off with a screech of tires. 

 "Mass, you're such an idiot," I laughed, leaning back in the passenger seat as he drove out of the port. He grinned smugly, turned on the radio, and started drumming on the steering wheel in time with the music. Before long, all three of us were singing along at the top of our lungs. The faster he drove, the louder we shouted the lyrics, high on adrenaline and exhilaration. We're completely out of our minds, I thought, laughing. 

 "Where to, Boss?" Mass asked when we finally hit one of the larger roads. 

 "Home," I replied curtly. "And drop the 'Boss' stuff, Alex. We're equals now—we're family. You know that."

His face lit up with one of those enormous smiles that was so uniquely his. "Sure thing, bro, sure thing." 

 Amused, I ruffled his hair. "That's better." 

 It took us ten minutes to drive home. The music had gone silent, and the seriousness of the situation had set in. Our tiny apartment was in one of the rougher neighborhoods, but we were fine with the cheap rent, and the neighbors would never question what we were up to. 

 We had two flights left to climb before we reached our apartment door when I grabbed Dominic's hand and stopped him in the dimly lit stairwell of the building we lived in. He turned around, raising an eyebrow, but I didn't feel like talking anymore. Instead, I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back against the wall. 

 "I'm going to stop," I whispered in his ear, moving so that my lips almost touched his.

With a sudden move, he grabbed the front of my jacket and pulled me closer, forcing me to brace myself against the wall with my palms. "Good," he smiled, parting his lips and pressing his tongue into my mouth.