OFF-SIDE

𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞-𝖔𝖓𝖊

Nash
Screams and panic erupt throughout the whole place, smoke clouds our vision making it hard to breathe or see, "fuck." Adrian curses as he grabs Octavia and his brother out of the way while I hold Layla by my side, we somehow manage to get outside the bar alive.

"What the fuck was that!" Octavia chokes on her words coughing, "LAYLA!! NASH!" a yell from across the road catches my attention and we both turn around, to find mom running towards us, blood drained from her face and her whole body shivering, when she's close she pulls us against her chest, caressing our backs "oh my god oh my god, you're okay, you're okay." She says murmuring under her breath as she tries to calm herself, "we're okay mom." I say when she pulls away, she came for Layla.

"What happened?" She asks, scanning all of us, Damien runs a hand through his hair while Adrian stays still not saying a word, Octavia takes over when she realizes none of them is gonna talk "we don't really know, but there were gunshots, and smoke...like something was burning." She says, her chest rising with fast breaths as she stares at the floor.

"Oh I'm glad y'all are okay, we can all go stay at our house tonight come on." She says softly and smiles at us, "yeah I agree." Layla says and after a beat, Octavia nods and pulls Adrian with her, then turns around to look at Damien "you coming or what?" She asks raising a brow, he swallows "if that's okay." He says then looks at Helen, "of course honey." my mother replies immediately and he nods.

***

Layla joins us as she drops to her chair after she changed into a hoodie and sweatpants, everyone stays in silence until Octavia breaks it "I'll leave, we've been here for so long, my brothers are worried." She says and looks at me, my stomach clenches at the idea of letting her go "no stay, you're not safe." I immediately say and she sighs "I can't just stay here all night, Nash." She says, her eyelids barely opened and her face tired, "okay I'll drive you there." I say and she nods not fighting me.

"You coming or what?" She asks Adrian who seems like he's drowned in his thoughts, she snaps her fingers in front of his face and he looks at her "what were you saying?" He asks "I said, are you leaving with me or with Damien?" She says motioning to Adrian's brother, "I'll leave with him, you're leaving with Nash right?" He asks and she nods, she walks towards the door then turns around again mouthing something to Adrian and he smiles at her.

I walk towards the door putting my arms around her as we leave, when we're out of their side she turns to look at me, staring up with those big green eyes, she opens her mouth to say something but I don't give her a chance when I crash my lips into hers, she welcomes them as she wraps a hand around my neck to pull me down and another in my hair,

When we pull away, her lips are parted and her skin is glowing under the light, and her eyes shining with emotion, "can I ask you a question?" She asks and I nod "you can ask me anything." I say and she clears her throat, "is all of this still fake?" She asks and my breath hitches surprised by her boldness, that's the last thing I'd have expected her to say.

I clear my throat and decide to be honest with her and not hide anything, "you want me to be honest with you, sweetheart?" I ask raising my brows, she immediately nods "of course." I run a hand through my hair and look right into her eyes "all of this has stopped being fake a long time ago for me, it's stopped when you'd show up for me at my training wearing that big smile of yours, it stopped when you'd eat ice cream and try to convince me that chocolate is better, it stopped when you'd wake up in my arms and stay there telling me you feel safe and I've been praying since then that you feel the same, I've been wishing that you feel all of this like me because it's real, it's so real Octavia, it doesn't feel fake, it's anything but fake." I say and let out a breath, her lips part, and a joyful expression flashes across her face.

Seconds later she pulls me down and catches my lips into a rough shove, pulling me closer as she presses her body against mine, she pulls back and whispers on my lips "it's never been fake to me, I just realized it a little bit later." She says smiling, my stomach clenches and I fight the urge of picking her up, take her to my bed, and make love to her because this, this is everything.

***

The ride to her house is silent, but not the type of silence that's uncomfortable, nothing with her seems uncomfortable, I find her hand and link my fingers in hers, she looks up at me smiling, and every time I see that smile, it does something to my insides, a feeling I've never experienced before,

When we arrive she unlocks her seatbelt and lets out a breath, I squeeze her hand "you'll be okay, lenochka." I say reassuring her with something that could possibly be a lie, she sighs and I get out then unlock her door, I take her hand and gently move her, then touch her hair, her straight hair, "I'll bring it back." She says smiling and a grin spreads on my face "yes please." I say and she slightly nods, Octavia's hair was one of the things I adored the most about her, and the fact that she thought it wasn't beautiful genuinely broke my heart.

I watch her get inside and stay there for a moment, making sure she's safely home, I get in the car right when I feel my phone vibrating in my hand, the name flashing on the screen making my heart beats go crazy, it's Octavia's old number, the one that's stolen, I take a breath to embrace myself as I put the phone to my ears, "hello, punk." a voice says and it takes me a beat to realize who it belongs to.
Daniel Roberts.

Octavia
The house is dark, absolutely black, I can't even see a thing, I search my bag for the phone but I can't find anything, suddenly a hand wraps around my mouth and pulls me back, a scream erupts from my throat but it's muffled in his hand, I feel his hot breath on my neck as he leans closer and whispers in my ear "want to finally meet your master?"
That's the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

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