Just Hold On // L.T. ✓

4

~‪Where do you go when your story's done?,‬

‪You can be who you were or who you'll become~

Mark, Jay, and Dan had a tough time coming up with what to do with the money. It was $5,000 to start with, which converted into pounds was still a lot. About $3,000 of it was set aside for rent, food, and utilities. Then, with the other $2,000, they went on a bit of a spree. Lottie and Fizz both got phones, a new outfit, and new backpacks. The twins got new school uniforms, new backpacks, and some new shoes. The smaller twins got some new play toys for the backyard, and Dan got the whole family a trampoline and a new microwave. They were really grateful to Louis, though, even for this small of an amount of money. Louis promised them that there would be more.

Louis was still having a tough time emotionally, as he began training at Simon's training center. He got a physical trainer, started taking driving classes, and learning how to operate a gun. All of this distracted him from the fact that his mum was dying.

But what also distracted him was his boyfriend. But, in reality, Evan was more like a sugar daddy.

"You have a beautiful accent." Evan would tell Louis over dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown, and then would buy him gifts. Louis got new Adidas everything. Trackies, trainers, jumpers.

Louis was distracted by money, love, and training. He didn't call his family that much, although him and Lottie facetimed once a day, at least.

The training was going pretty well, Simon told him, whenever he checked in on him. Louis was excelling in gun training and driving, and was getting to the advanced stage of the latter.

Whenever Simon came by, the two of them usually smoked out back and talked about his training. Louis had picked up the habit from Evan, which goes to show that nothing positive had happened to Louis in his time in New York. "Smoke?" Simon asked, this particular day, and Louis took a break from the weights, headed outside.

Simon had his lighter out, but didn't offer Louis a cigarette. "I've got a job for you." He said instead. "Kind of a last minute thing. They need a driver, therefore I need you to go get my money."

"Sounds cool." Louis said, crossing his arms. "When do I meet them? What's all the details?"

Simon's phone rang, and he glanced up at Louis quickly. "I'll have a car pick you up tomorrow at ten. See you later."

Louis waved to Simon, excited to do the job and then head home - he had been in New York way too long.

---

"Hi, we're with the NYPD, would you please come down to the station with us? We have some questions about your boyfriend Evan?"

"Of course." The bleary-eyed Louis said, rubbing his eyes and pulling on his Adidas trainers. His stomach was alight with butterflies, but he knew that they knew nothing about Simon and the job. This was just about Evan. But what had he done? He was just a sweet guy who bought Louis nice things, took him out for dinner, and then made out with him in his penthouse apartment.

"Did you know that Evan, your boyfriend, was a drug dealer?" Louis' inner self laughed himself to death, but the outer version of him had no idea what to say.

"No? I just knew that he had money and he bought me all these things."

"So, you never knew about anything related to drugs? Marijuana? Cocaine?"

Damn, Evan, Louis thought. "No, I didn't. But I am disgusted to hear about that."

"Normally we would be suspicious about the fact that you're from England, and he could be making deals overseas, but from your body language, it's easy to tell that you didn't know anything. Thank you for your time, Louis."

"Thank you, sir." Louis stood up, shaking the detective's hand. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."

"We will." The detective said, and Louis politely excused himself, walking out of the building to go find a cab. It was now 9:30 A.M. and he was definitely going to be late for this meeting.

But in the cab, he called Lottie, who was just getting out of school. "I love New York." He laughed.

"Why?" Lottie said, disgusted. "It seems terrible."

"I love the drama. My boyfriend was just arrested for being a drug dealer, and I'm going to be a getaway driver. America is just like the movies."

"I'm hanging up, Louis." Lottie said, shaking her head. "Have fun."

"Love you, Lotts." Lottie flipped him off and ended the call. "I love New York." He giggled again. "I can't wait to see what else happens here."