NATALIE, LETTY, AND JAH returned to Shaw's base, and caught the attention of the rest of crew members. Owen assessed them as they walked in, taking in their injuries - Letty sported a nasty cut on her right eyebrow, which was given to her by Riley, and Jah was seemingly uninjured, despite fighting with both Han and Roman.

What concerned him most was the blood that ran down the side of his sister-in-law's face, all the way to her neck. She didn't seem affected by the wound, though, as she simply made her way over to one of the far tables, where her phone and car keys were.

Natalie just wanted to go home, have a nice shower, and relax - she almost regretted agreeing to help Owen, as she could be in Italy with her husband right now and helping him with his job. But she knew, deep down, that if she hadn't helped her brother-in-law, Natalie wouldn't have known Letty was alive, and that simple fact was enough for her to stay. For now.

As she was grabbing her things, Letty and Owen spoke behind her.

"We lost Ivory - he's gone." Letty said, informing Shaw of the death of one of his crew.

"Thanks." Owen said nonchalantly, as if unbothered by it, and looked back down to the plans he was working on. His response shocked Letty - she was expecting to see at least a glimpse of compassion from him, but no.

"That's it?" The Ortiz woman asked incredulously, disbelief evident in her tone.

"If Ivory's dead, he made a mistake." Owen looked back up to Letty, "If you make a mistake, you pay the price."

"That's a nice eulogy, Shaw." Letty remarked sarcastically, "You gonna give the same speech for the rest of us when we go out?"

Not waiting to hear his reply, the woman walked towards Natalie, whose gaze softened almost undetectably at the sight of her.

"You heading out?" Letty asked, her tone tinged with sadness at the thought of having to be there without 'Quinn'.

Natalie noticed her best friend's disappointment, which caused a little twinge in her chest.

"Yeah, but I'll be back in a few hours - I promise." Natalie spoke, voice quiet and soft, so that Letty was the only one who could hear her rare show of vulnerability.

"I'll hold you to that." Letty joked, before she gently placed a hand on Natalie's upper arm and squeezed, "See you later, Quinn."

"Bye, Letty." Natalie's lips twitched with a smile, before she walked back out of the warehouse and towards her car.

Unfortunately, the woman didn't make it to her car before a familiar (and rage-inducing) voice called out her name from behind her.

Natalie couldn't help but clench her jaw as she turned around to face Owen, who was just a few steps behind her and wearing the most regretful face the woman had ever seen. She didn't let that falter her glare though.

"If you've come out here to try and — I don't know — reconcile things between us, it's not gonna work, Owen." Natalie spoke, sarcasm and anger practically dripping from her words.

"I just- I need you to know why I kept her from you." Owen sighed, just hoping that Natalie would hear him out, and to his relief, the woman didn't protest, so he continued. "When I first found her in that hospital in Mexico, I couldn't wait to tell you the good news."

"But then the doctor began asking her questions about the accident, and her life from before, but she couldn't remember a single thing." Owen chuckled dryly, finding no humour in the situation, but the situation was just so strange.

Natalie couldn't fight the sting that pricked her eyes, and she knew that her eyes had glossed over with fresh tears.

"The doctor thought the amnesia would be temporary and only last a few weeks, so I planned to wait to tell you until Letty's memories returned." Owen paused as the first tear trickled down his sister-in-law's cheek, but ultimately chose to continue.

"The weeks turned to months, which then turned to years, and by that point, I- I figured that telling you would do more harm than good." Owen sighed, knowing that his initial decision was, in fact, the wrong decision to make.

"There was no sign of her remembering, and it had been four years since her alleged death. You were getting better, and moving on... I just didn't want to cause you even more pain, Natalie."

A sob tried to burst through her lips, causing Natalie to cover her mouth with her hand. Owen tried to step forward to comfort her, but she just held up her other hand, telling him to stop.

"Look," Natalie sniffed, trying to keep her voice steady, "I- thank you for telling me the truth, but I'm not ready to forgive you. Not just yet, okay?"

It broke Owen's heart to see his sister-in-law so upset because of something he'd done - hell, it felt like someone had stuck their hand in his chest and squeezed the life out of his heart. But, despite that, he respected Natalie's wishes and took a step back.

The woman didn't waste a moment in climbing into her car and speeding away. Away from Owen. Away from the job. Away from her problems.

Despite all of the thoughts and emotions spiralling within her, Natalie could only form one coherent thought.

I need a drink.

NATALIE PASSED BAR AFTER bar, but there was only one place she wanted to go at that moment - home.

Her car pulled up outside of the King's lavish estate, screeching to a stop on the gravel. It wasn't parked for a moment before a blotchy-faced Natalie climbed from the vehicle and made her way to the front door.

Before the woman could even knock, Nora, one of the housemaids, opened the grand front door and grinned at the sight of the honorary King.

"Miss King! Welcome home, ma'am." Nora greeted, standing to the side so that Natalie could enter the foyer.

Despite her clearly dishevelled state, the maid's smile remained glued to her face and never wavered, which Natalie appreciated.

Even though she was upset, the Shaw woman still found it within herself to joke with her favourite of the King's household staff.

"Nora, we've talked about this - call me Natalie. There's no need to be so formal." Natalie spoke, humour poking through into her tone.

"Right! Apologies ma'a- Natalie." Nora replied, before leading her to the lounge, which was currently empty of any of her family. The thing that caught her eye, though, was the bartop in the far corner that was stocked with nearly every kind of alcohol.

She immediately made a beeline for it, causing Nora to furrow her eyebrows in concern.

"Shall I let your mother know that you're here, Miss Natalie?" Nora asked.

Natalie hummed in agreement as she picked up a glass, before replying, "Yes, that would be great. Thank you, Nora."

The maid nodded before leaving the large room, allowing Natalie to grab a bottle of tequila and make her way to the leather couch.

She poured a shot's worth of alcohol into her glass before immediately knocking it back. Natalie immediately winced at the familiar burn of one of her favourite alcoholic drinks, before pouring another and quickly knocking that back too.

She knew that drinking was not gonna solve anything, but Natalie just needed to feel kind of numb for a while, and she didn't want the numbness to be from her 'shutting down'.

So, she took control of herself and her actions (in a strange way) by choosing to do a few too many shots.

Just after she had finished that second shot, the woman heard delicate steps descending the staircase and headed towards the lounge.

Andromeda King had been ecstatic to hear that one of her daughters had come to visit, and quickly made her way to the doors of the lounge. Upon opening them, she found her 'youngest' daughter (who was only considered the youngest because she was welcomed to the family last out of all four children) with red-rimmed eyes, blotchy cheeks, and a tequila bottle in her right hand, which was ready to pour the next shot.

"Oh, darling, what happened?" Andy asked gently, making her way over to sit beside Natalie, who turned to look at her mother.

"Owen is making it so damn hard to stay mad at him." Natalie admitted, "He did something that tore me apart, but also had my best interests at heart the whole time, which just does not make any damn sense!"

The Shaw woman poured another tequila shot before she knocked it back, giving her the satisfaction of the burn as it was poured down her throat.

"He just had to get all poetic about what he did, and it makes me so angry that I technically don't have a reason to be angry anymore! Especially since Letty is remembering things." Natalie fumed, placing the bottle and glass onto the coffee table in front of her before running her hands through her hair.

She hissed in pain as she accidentally grazed her finger over the cut on her forehead, and by moving her hair, Natalie unintentionally revealed the wound to her mother.

Andy's eyes widened at the sight, and quickly called for Nora to bring them the First Aid kit. Natalie tried to convince her that it was nothing, but her mother wasn't having any of it.

Thankfully, it didn't need stitches - it just needed cleaning up and some wound strips to keep it closed. As Andy cleaned the wound, she reassured Natalie that her feelings were completely valid, and that forgiveness was earned with time, which allowed the Shaw woman to relax slightly.

Andromeda brought the woman into a hug, and allowed Natalie's head to rest on her chest. The sound of her mother's rhythmic heartbeat nearly sent Natalie to sleep. It didn't help that Andy was gently running her fingers through her soft brown curls.

All that Natalie could feel was comfort that could only come from one specific person, and it was then that Natalie realised that it wasn't the alcohol that she needed, it was her mom.

HAYLEY WRITES...
sorry for the wait on this
chapter! a levels have been
kicking my ass this week :/

is there anything specific that
you guys would wanna see in
this book? it can be moments
between certain characters, or
just any ideas that you want me
to toy around with!

let me know what you think of
this chapter, and don't forget to
vote and comment!

until next time :)