not in the same way || c.h.

16

After a very long drive spent talking and singing to the music on the radio, we pulled up to a nice lookin motel. He checked in under a name that wasn't his which left me confused. I don't understand why he wouldn't use his name but I didn't ask just yet. Maybe it would make sense once he tells me everything else.

He took me up to the room that we were sharing, which only had one bed. So this was making me a little nervous already.

"There's only one bed." I stated and sat down on the soft mattress.

"I'm glad you're able to notice the amount of furniture in a room." He said sarcastically which made me roll my eyes.

"So where are you gonna sleep?" I asked after a few seconds.

"On the bed." He said in a duh tone.

"That's where I'm sleeping." I said in the same tone.

"Well then it looks like we're sleeping together." He said with a smirk. I could practically read the dirty thoughts in his head which made me scoff.

"Fine but you better stick to your side." I said and pointed a finger at him.

"Or what?" He asked with a smirk and the quirk of an eyebrow.

"You don't want to know." I said with a threatening look.

"What's a girl like you gonna do to a guy like me?" He asked and stepped closer to me.

"I'll figure something out." I said and tried not to get too intimidated by his large figure towering over me.

"How come you didn't use your name?" I asked after a few seconds. He gave me a look that I couldn't really read and then let out a sigh. He gestured to the bed for us to sit on so he could start explaining. The two of us sat shoulder to shoulder with our backs rested against the headboard. His legs were a lot longer than mine which was pretty distracting not gonna lie.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me when I tell you this." He said softly and looked down at his lap.

"You killed someone Calum." I stated.

"And were you afraid of me then?" He asked.

"I mean a little yeah, but now I'm getting to know you." I said and heard him let out a heavy sigh.

"My dad is a uh... a leader in this gang sorta thing. It's nasty and it's horrible, I was born into it and had no choice but to be a part of it. My mum died because of it after I was born. I don't know the real story but I've heard a bunch of different things. The one I hear the most is that she didn't want me and my sister to have anything to do with it so he argued with her and eventually killed her, but I don't know." He said and took a really long pause and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He's watching over me like a hawk, he always has. He doesn't want me to screw anything up and if I don't do what he says then shit happens. He takes it seriously, like really seriously. He has henchmen that I don't even know watching me every second of the day. He has me kill people for him or finish off his drug deals and gives me half of whatever money he gets just to persuade me to do it more. He has me do so much fucked up shit for him, along with tons of other guys too. That guy from that night was one of us but he was just terrible and shitty. My dad was gonna kill him anyway, so he wasn't that mad when he found out I killed him. He was just mad that I did it in front of you in case you went to the police or something. And when I didn't come into the coffee shop for those few weeks it was because he was punishing me for doing it for you, so he made me do all of his errands." He said slowly so that I could take in all of this information.

I didn't exactly know what to say or how I was supposed to react. Well I guess I should be scared, which I kind of was honestly but I didn't want him to know that. I was just frozen and had nothing to say.

"That's why I couldn't tell you anything back home, in case anyone was listening. Because if they know you know then they'll kill you, and they'll either kill me or make me wish they did. That's why I didn't use my car, and that's why I didn't use my own name. And I know that every second I'm around you is threatening for both of us, but I'm too selfish. I guess it's one thing if you're too afraid to be around me now, and I understand if that's the case. But I can't bring myself to be the one to walk away from you." He said softly and twirled his rings around his fingers and stared down at his lap.

"They'll kill me if they see us together? We're together all the time, how have they not gotten suspicious or anything?" I asked nervously.

"I just tell them I spend my time at a coffee shop in the city and you just happen to work there everyday. They've gotten suspicious but I've gotten pretty good at covering shit up and lying to them. They don't see me walk you to your car because we're all supposed to be at the warehouse by nine, which is why I can't see or talk to you past nine. And usually during the night his most trusted people are out doing shit for him, and those are the people he has follow me and make sure I'm not doing shit I'm not supposed to be doing. They're slowly backing off because he's trusting me more, but they're still there." He said which made me let out a heavy sigh and just think.

"What if they find out? They just kill us both and that's it? He's gonna kill his own son?" I asked in disbelief.

"He'll do anything as long as his name doesn't get exposed. He killed my mom, she was the love of his life apparently. If he can kill her he can kill anyone." He said monotonously.

"What happened to your sister? How old is she?" I asked curiously.

"She's 27 or 28 now. He didn't need her so he let her go, but he has people watching her so she doesn't say anything. No one knows where she is other than him and his few henchmen. I've asked so many times if I can see her of even just have her phone number, but he doesn't let me. She was my best friend growing up. Then once she turned 18 he sent her off." He said sadly which made me really sad for him.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we can find her." I said and put my hand on his arm.

"I don't think we'll be able to." He said with a sigh.

"Maybe there's something we can do. Is this tattoo for her?" I asked and traced over the tattoo on his arm that I'm assuming was for her or his mom.

"Yeah." He said and looked down at his arm as I lightly traced the tattoo.

"Her names beautiful, I bet she is too, and your mom." I said and looked up at him.

"They are." He said with a small smile.

"Do you have a picture?" I asked just because I was curious.

"I'm sure I can find one." He said and pulled out his phone and looked through his photos. He found the most recent picture of his sister that he had, which was about ten years ago but I'm sure she couldn't have changed that much. She was stunning, it made sense though. Considering Calum was pretty stunning too.

"She's beautiful." I said in awe and looked at the picture.

"She gets it from our mother." He said and found an old picture of him and his mom from when he was a baby. He wasn't kidding, she was gorgeous. He had the most beautiful family.

"She's also beautiful wow." I said.

"She was yeah." He said and locked his phone and put it on the bed.

"She is. She may not be here but she's still around." I said which made him smile a bit.