"For fuck's sakes, Maureen, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for a cab."

"It's the middle of the goddamn night!" Levi's dull blue eyes lock onto the suitcase near my feet, then back up to me. The temper within him swells more than any raging storm—a gene I've met face-to-face when with Thomas. "Don't tell me you're sleeping on the street. Are you selling yourself for sex?"

Behind Levi, the passenger door opens up. Another familiar face appears. Dane: another one of Thomas' men. What are they doing here at this time in the night, let alone lecturing me on why I'm here?

Dane grabs Levi by his collar. "Would you stop fucking yelling at her?"

Levi settles down, but keeps his hostile blue eyes locked on me. I can tell he's holding some sort of grudge towards me. The last time we spoke, he made it very clear that his brother was downright miserable without me around. It's been a couple weeks, let alone a few months, since I last encountered Thomas.

Dane switches his attention from Levi to myself. He sighs as he takes in the sight of me, alone with a suitcase. It's obvious that I'm not staying with Cato anymore, because I'm certainly not the type of girl to take a spontaneous vacation, let alone afford one.

"Get in the car," Dane finally says. "We'll take you somewhere safe."

I shake my head. "I have a cab coming."

"I can't leave you on the fucking street," Dane hisses, then points to the back of the car. "Get in the car. We'll deal with this at the bar—"

"No!" Both men eye me with such a scrutinizing curiosity. "Not the bar. Anywhere but there."

Levi shakes his head at this. "C'mon. You know Thomas won't mind it if you stay—"

"I can't go back to Thomas."

"You know he can't say no to you. Look, we have spare rooms. You wouldn't even have to share with that jackass—"

"I'm pregnant."

Those words silence those two men, and they seem to never be soundless. Right now, the only noise to be heard is my heartbeat against my ribs.

The silence drawls out longer, and I swear we'll be here until daylight as neither of them appear to be moving. Both men remain frozen. Levi almost looks pale.

"Is it Thomas'?" Levi finally asks.

"Cato's."

"Fuck..." he mutters.

Both men look at each other, then back at me. Dane gestures to the passenger's door anyway. "Get in. We'll take you somewhere where Thomas isn't."

"What about the cab I called...?"

"We won't charge you a damn thing if you get in the car," Dane clarifies.

How can I say no to a free ride?

Dane throws my suitcase in the back, while Levi reoccupies the driver's seat. I sit in the back behind both men. In the rearview mirror, all I see are two pairs of tense eyes observing me like I'm some sort of prey. It's clear they'll side with Thomas on the matter, but the last I need is for Thomas to discover I'm pregnant, let alone with Cato's child.

The men refuse to say a word as the motor of the car hums in the ambience.

"How did you guys find me?" I finally ask. "Are you... stalking me?"

Levi grunts. "Who do you think I am? My brother?"

"Is he...?"

"Thomas is stalking nobody," Dane hisses, raising his eyes to meet mine in the reflection of the mirror. "There was business to take care of on this end of New Aberdeen, and we thought we were fucked up on something when we saw you on the bench."

"So it's just a coincidence?" I clarify.

Both men look at each other briefly, before Dane orders Levi to pay attention to the road.

"Yeah, a big fucking coincidence," Levi mutters.

Levi drives as the streets become ever so familiar. I recognize these buildings as the ones that Thomas comes to own. Each golden light that flickers through the windows belongs to someone like me, someone who was once displaced from their home and have no place to go.

Maybe I'd have ended up here at some point in the future. Perhaps, coming back to Smyth Street, Thomas' neighborhood, was already written in my books long ago. Getting escorted by Levi and Dane just accelerated it.

Levi pulls off to the side of the road, and I look up at the small shop in front of me. Larona's hair salon. I haven't been here since before the gala at Cato's estate.

It was the first time Thomas ever kissed me, but a kiss was hardly where that all ended.

Levi opens up the door for me as Dane carries my few things inside. It's long past closing, but both Larona and Rina wait patiently at the front counters of the salon for me to arrive. Either Dane or Levi must've tipped them off about my arrival, because they seem awfully chipper despite being disturbed this early in the morning.

"There she is!" Larona beams, engulfing me in her arms. "The next time we met, I thought it'd be because of a hair appointment."

Rina cackles at this. "I thought it'd be because of a certain wedding."

"Yeah, or elopement."

My stomach turns at the comments. Thomas and I won't ever be together, at least, that's what I said the last time I saw him. I told him goodbye. We parted ways. Right now, I feel like I'm taking tiny steps backwards on that deal. Each door that opens seems to be dragging me back towards him.

"Can I sit down?" my voice shakes at the request. So much keeps happening to me. Seeing old faces I thought I'd never have to see again paralyzes every nerve inside me.

Rina rushes over and pulls up a chair. With wobbling legs, I take a seat, burying my face into my palms to avoid their curious gazes. This almost feels worse than being alone on the streets.

"Why on earth does she need to stay here?" Larona whispers to Dane and Levi. "You know that Thomas would be better off accommodating her—"

"No," I spit out. If one more person mentions Thomas, I might vomit all over the salon floors. "Thomas is better off that I'm not in the picture. He wouldn't want me anyways."

Larona shakes her head. "That man is in love with you."

"I'm pregnant with Cato's child," I spit back. "Thomas won't love me."

Another wave of painful silence, one that mirrors the silence I felt when I told Dane and Levi. I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be on my way to Clotilde's brother's inn. Clotilde will never sleep again if she discovers I never arrived.

"Is that why you left?" Rina finally asks. "Because you're pregnant?"

Yes, but it's as if the pregnancy only shortened the time of Cato and I's romance. One day, I probably would've left Cato, even if he promised that everything would work out in our favour.

"What you see broadcasted about Cato's marriage to Gemma isn't real," I whisper. "It's all a charade. Cato managed to make our love work, but this child doesn't. I don't—" I sob, tears stinging my eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore."

It's like I opened up pandora's box. Everyone in the room suddenly has an opinion on the child, on what to do with them, on what to do about Cato and Thomas. It's enough to give me a headache. Yet, they all make logical sense... or maybe the pregnancy hormones are really messing with my mind.

Rina sets her hands on her hips, her voice dominating over the men and her wife. "If the man loves you, then why the hell did you leave him?" She's team Cato, despite knowing nothing about our relationship. "He's got money to spare to take care of you, plus he's the father."

"And he's a dick," Levi retorts. "Look, my brother may be a complete asshole sometimes, but fuck it, he can help you. We can find spare space somewhere for you on the street, and Thomas can babysit the baby when you need it." I almost laugh as Levi auctions off his own brother for babysitting duty before himself. "I'm pretty sure you're the first person Thomas has ever cared about."

"It's not Thomas' child!" Rina seethes. "Thomas won't go near that child when he discovers she's pregnant and it belongs to Cato." Would Thomas ever do that?

"And the better option is Cato? The same guy who wants to treat her like a fucking mistress instead of a wife?"

"I don't see why you need men," Larona scoffs, rolling her eyes. "What if you didn't go to either of them?"

It's like staring straight into the light. Her suggestion brings a clarity that I never knew I needed. I have a choice to do this all on my own. I always knew I did. How I do it... now that's the bigger question.

Larona steps closer, her presence calming down the storm inside my veins. "We could use salon assistance around here, and I'm sure Levi can find an open spot for an apartment somewhere in the area. We can all keep our mouths shut about you around Thomas."

I hold my stomach as another wave of unease washes through me. "He'll find out about me one way or another."

Levi gives a stiff nod. "She ain't wrong. He'll have a bullet in all our heads if he finds out we've been hiding her from him."

I try not to think about Thomas and guns. The last time he pulled the trigger, the bullet pierced straight into Evelyn. I lost a piece of my heart that day when Evelyn died. I also began to lose Thomas, despite still being madly in love with him. When he returned, those wildfire feelings crept back inside of me.

"Thomas hasn't shot his gun in months," Dane leans back against the wall, acting as a shadow or fly on the wall to the whole chaos unraveling. I nearly forgot about him. "Even tells us to take shooting as a last resort. He's grown so fucking soft."

Larona kneels in front of me, taking my hands in her own. "Either way, honey, whatever you choose, you know that your child will be taken care of."

The pressures to return to Thomas or Cato overwhelm me, but if I truly want to run, then I need to get away from both of them. Yes, there is the opportunity to take life by the reins and guide myself through this. I don't need their money or wealth to live another day.

What if for the first time ever, I chose no man?

I try to convince myself that not relying on either of them is the best option, but my heart remains a little weak. I'm suddenly weighing in one direction.

Every option I see in front of me has a roadblock that I need to pass. Both of them deserve some clarity regarding my future. Can I live in a world where Cato doesn't know that the child is his? Can I live only blocks away from Thomas, who would be at my side in a heartbeat?

Exhaustion settles in on me, and Larona tells Dane and Levi to not mention a word about this to anyone else involved in Smyth family business. I fall asleep in the spare bedroom above the salon, but my dreams hone constant reminders of my fate.

Everything I do now, I do it for my child.

When I wake up, everything appears lucid. It's like fate gave me a map on which road to take. I've already reached the bottom tiers of New Aberdeen, and it's time to dig myself out.

My heart has swayed me in a direction that I refused to take prior, and yet I know I need to act on it.

I'm going to tell him.

-----

Friendly reminder that this is only the first draft of Fallen, and will be re-edited once completely finished. Hence why this chapter is just a little scattered.

So who is Maureen off to tell?

vote & comment & share & eat waffles for breakfast