Chapter 28

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Jonathan groaned in pain at every bump in the road the van passed over, his leg lifting a few inches only to slam against the floor once more.

"Shit." He cursed aloud, trying to dull the pain by yelling. "Brock? Can't you work faster?"

"You know, me putting bandages on you isn't going to make the pain go away, so stop rushing me!" Brock snapped at the injured man, beads of sweat forming on the sides of his forehead. He was already stressed out by the gunshot wound, he didn't need to be rushed by his patient. He sighed as he continued to work. "Why did you have to shoot him at such a close range, Ev?" Brock spoke to himself as he tried to locate where exactly the bullet was.

"Any luck?" Craig asked from the front while Tyler drove back to the apartment. The plan was to drop off the injured member while the rest of them continued their search for Evan.

"I have an estimate about where the bullet should be..." Brock trailed off as he pulled out a pair tweezers, Tyler turned onto a smoother street to make things easier for the medic.

"An estimate isn't an exact location." Jonathan retorted under his breath, the pain he felt now making him angry. He exhaled in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Maybe if you would shut up and let me focus I could get an exact location!" Brock snaps, tired of his friend's attitude. "I know you're upset that your boyfriend shot you in the leg but why don't you keep the complaining to yourself? Unless you want to find the freaking bullet yourself? No? Thought so."

---

Evan winced at every crunch of debris that came from underneath his feet. His fingers curled into a fist, nails brushing against the soft flesh of his palm as he squeezed his fist tightly, only a few of them sinking into his hand. The small tingle of pain is enough to calm him and push him forward.

"Have to remember." He reassured himself, nodding and quickening his pace. After he had gathered his core memories of the group, where and how he had met each member, he knew that as he journeyed to this final destination more memories would appear to fill in the gaps.

Late-night trips to the convenience store, chugging countless cups of coffee on stakeouts and restless nights. Red Bull fueled impulsive buys that they were sure to regret later.

--

"Are you actually buying a hundred and fifty dollar pair of sunglasses?" Evan looks over to Tyler, who is studying himself in the mirror, blue-tinted glasses covering his sleep-deprived eyes.

"Don't judge me, you spend five hundred on that jacket five minutes ago." Tyler retorted, causing Evan to flush as he pulled the expensive jacket closer around him, the distressed white denim showing bits of the black graphic tee he wore underneath.

"Shut up." Evan mumbles as he walks away from Tyler and over to another part of the shop where his boyfriend was browsing. "What ridiculous purchase are you making?" He says, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist from behind, pressing a kiss against his neck.

"I don't know, maybe I'll get your name tattooed on my forehead." Jonathan jokes, turning around to give Evan a kiss. Before he can do so, Evan lightly hits him on the arm, laughing. Jonathan can't help but smile seeing Evan happy.

"What font would you get it in?" Evan speaks between laughs.

"Comic sans, definitely." Jonathan snakes an arm around his waist as Evan continues to laugh. "Nah, I was actually thinking about just getting my ears pierced." He explains once Evan calms his laughing.

Evan moves out of his grip, cupping Jonathan's face in his hands, staring at him analytically. "You'd look so great with them." He speaks softly, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Hey, love birds, lets go!" Tyler calls as he appears beside the couple, a shopping bag in hand, most likely carrying the sunglasses.

Pulling away from each other, the couple settles for holding hands as they follow Tyler out to the car.

"So, piercing shop next? Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation earlier." Tyler says as the trio reaches the car, Tyler getting into the driver's seat, Jonathan into the passenger, and Evan into the backseat.

"Yeah." Evan yawned, putting on his seatbelt and leaning against the car window. "I'm tired."

"Want a Red Bull?" Tyler asked, holding up an unopened can. Evan shook his head, letting out another yawn. "Alright, then just take a nap, we'll wake you when we get there."

Evan nods, closing his eyes with another small yawn. Almost instantly, his breathing begins to slow, evening out and sounding relaxed.

In the front seats, Jonathan and Tyler stayed silent, tensions still running high between the two, but they had grown to tolerate one another when Evan was with them. It was for his sake, otherwise Tyler would never hear the end of it.

"What do you think the others are doing?" Jonathan asks, and almost as if the universe was answering him, a ringing sound replaces the soft-playing music which was playing via Bluetooth.

"Speak of the devil." Tyler says, answering the call from the steering wheel. "Hello?" He asks with a quick glance at his sleeping friend in the backseat.

"Tyler, where are you guys?" Craig's voice sounds through the car, slightly frantic.

"Jon wanted to go to the piercing shop, we're driving there now, what's up? Something happen?" Muffled bangs sound in the background. "Are those-are those guns, Craig? What the hell did you get yourself into?"

"It's not my fault! Brock had too many drinks and pissed some people off!" Craig defends himself. "Anyway, are you coming or not?"

Tyler sighs. "Where are you guys?"

Craig hesitates on the other side of the phone. "Erm, well, we're on the south district."

Tyler slams onto the breaks, almost flinging Evan's body forward against the seat in front of him if it weren't for the locking of the seatbelt. Nonetheless, the belt still digs into his neck as the force of the car pushes against it. He groans in pain.

"Evan, are you okay?" Jonathan immediately asks, awkwardly turning in his seat to check on his boyfriend while Tyler made a U-turn.

"What happened?" Craig asked instantly.

"Tyler braked really hard and woke up Evan." Jonathan explained, looking as Evan unbuckled his seatbelt so that it would unlock before buckling back in. "You okay, babe?" Evan nodded.

"Sorry, Ev. Had to make a U-turn because the others are at the South District." Tyler explained as he pressed a little more on the gas.

"It's fine." Evan lets out another yawn. "Craig, what the hell were you doing in the South District in the first place? You know what I told you." He speaks to his team member through Bluetooth, obviously still tired. He nudges Jonathan's shoulder. "Can you hand me the Red Bull?" He asks, giving in to the energy drink and pretty much chugging the whole drink in one go.

"B-Brock wanted to get drinks, and Marcel said he knew a good place and we didn't know it was in the South District until we were there." Craig shakily explained, not wanting to upset his leader, especially since he had already woken him up.

"Whatever, we'll talk later. Bye." Evan grumbles, settling back into his previous position, knowing already that he couldn't go back to sleep.

To this day, Jonathan had yet to get those piercings.

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