DRAG - [h.s. au]

40

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You are stuck with me

So I guess I'll be

Sticking with you

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BENTLEY

"Benny, what's wrong?" Rumer asks when I walk in.

"Harry just left."

"So early?" Allie adds, face confused.

"No, he- Harry's going to Buenos Aires. He's going after Luna." I say, voice wavering a bit but I'm okay... I'm trying to convince myself that I'm okay.

"Is he like waiting for you or something?" Apollo throws in.

"No."

"What the fuck?" Z says, hopping off the top bunk. "Why not?"

"I have to stay here, guys. What's with the confusion?" I say quickly, walking behind the counter and grabbing a bowl from the cabinet, only to have it knocked out of my hands and shattered on the ground by Dorian Scott.

"What the fuck?"

"Sorry Benny! I was just hyped up!" He cheers. "You have to go pack a bag."

"No, I don't. Clean this shit up." I tell him, but he steps in front of me every time I try to shuffle past him. "Dorian!"

"Bentley, you have to go. You need to be there to take her down." Apollo says. "You deserve that."

"I can't leave Oakland guys-"

"Why not?" Rumer interrupts, standing and walking towards me.

"What do you mean 'why not'? You know why, Rumer."

Dorian scrambles behind me, picking up the pieces of the bowl. He was like an excited puppy sometimes. I grip the spoon in my hand tightly as everyone watches me.

"Oakland isn't going anywhere. We aren't going anywhere unless it's with you. You need to go."

"But-"

"Do you remember when I told you that you need to do whatever makes you happy?"

"Yes, of course. I remember everything you tell me." I reply quickly, looking at Apollo, Z, and Allie sitting on the bottom bunk, watching Rumer lecture me.

"Well, then this is easy. How do you feel now?"

"Fine."

"Bentley..." he warns, and I huff.

"Not fine."

"How do you feel when you're with Harry?"

"Happy."

"Then what are you doing here?" He asks, as if it's so obvious.

"What he said." Z starts, standing and coming my way. "Don't do shit you'll regret later."

"The best way to guarantee your safety is to make sure the person compromising it doesn't have that power over you." Rumer adds, and I bite my lip, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'll be far from home... from my parents...."

I know it sounds crazy but I was doing anything to hold onto them at this point. After the repair shop burned I really lost them. The Pontiac was a car, and I learned that cars don't last forever... that shop... I would have laid down my life for it. I didn't even realize how much it kept me together until it was gone.