Guns and Roses

Forty Four ~ Rya

"Are you going to tell me where the hell you've been?" Liam asks me when the bar quietens slightly.

I continue to clean the glass I'm holding and shrug "Shit hit the fan." I say.

He scoffs "So you disappear for two weeks and then show up at two in the morning in your best clothes, but your face looking like its been driven over," he shakes his head "but all you can tell me is that shit hit the fan"

I roll my eyes "Do you not read the news? My family's been front page."

He sighs and then turns away. I've known him for years and he always does this every now and again. He worries about me too much.

"You know that I dont read the news. I work in here so I usually get the unfiltered truth. But nothing about you for weeks. No one would even mention your name." He pours a shot and then leans against the bar to face me.

I look down at the glass in my hands. I've been cleaning it for a while now and it's still not clean. Nothing in here is.

"The Petrovs nearly killed Mum, drove Dad out of the country and then tortured me. I spent two weeks recovering." I tell him and hold up my scarred arm and bruised fingers. "They killed Alexander and pinned it all on Dad."

Liam goes quiet. He's probably not shocked. I mean, he hears all sorts of stories in here. Everyone who walks through the doors has a fucked up past.

"You look exhausted." He says finally. "Go upstairs and sleep. When was the last time you had a proper sleep?"

I think back. The last time I slept through the night would probably be the night before Alexander died. Not even half a bottle of vodka kept away the night terrors.

I shake my head. I have to keep doing things to take my mind off of everything. To take my mind off of Quinn.

I've barely known him a month but hes the only person I've been able to be completely open with. He stayed with me when I was at my lowest and has helped me create at least some happy memories from the past few weeks.

I've spent every day with him and now I have to leave without saying goodbye. I cant risk getting him tangled up in my life so this morning I used Liams laptop to book him and his grandfather plane tickets back to Belfast for tonight. He'll already have them by now and will probably be on his way to the airport.

It's so stupid that even though I might die tomorow, I'm getting upset over a boy. After tomorrow everything will be different. The Petrovs and the Guerreiros will never work together so only one family will be left standing.

I'm not confident that it's going to be us.

I rub my healing ribs and curse myself for over exerting myself with Rafa. I got over confident and decided to add a little bit of flair to the fight and now I'm paying the price. I'm not sure that my body can take another fight. One well placed punch and I'll be on the ground.

The smash of glass makes me jump and I look up to see two men going at each others throats in the middle of the room. Others have cleared then a space as they roll around on the ground. I spot Matthew in the crowd, his eyes are watching the fight but hes edging his way towards the bar.

I spot the blade far too late.

The man on top slides it out from his jacket and stabs down on the other man's throat before anyone can react. Blood sprays up onto his face as he removes the knife.

He gets to his feet and people start to scurry back. These people are all criminals but even some of them aren't used to seeing such brutality.

I jump over the bar and grab a gun from the belt of someone brave enough to stand their ground. "Hey!" I shout at the winner of the fight. I point the gun right at his head and pull the trigger. I cant aim but it's pretty hard to miss when someone's two feet in front of you.

His head cracks back and his body crumples. The two bodies lie at my feet and I hear a scream as a girl is knocked to the floor in the rush to escape.

"Everyone out!" Liam shouts, "Bar's closed!"

This always happens when theres a fatality. We clear out the bar because it's so much easier to clean when the blood's still wet.

I go to wait by the bar as Matthew pushes out the last few people who are reluctant to leave so early.

Once they're away, Liam disappears behind the bar into Crow's office to get the mop and bucket. I sigh, I hate this bit.

"You didn't even give him a chance." Matthew says as he looks down at the two bodies. "You're lucky that you did though. He had a gun too."

I nod and then crouch down to take the gun from the dead man. I prise the knife from his hand too and then dump them to the side. I'll deal with them later.

"How's Bella?" He asks me.

I nod again "She's good. Shes alive which is better than I had expected"

A soft sigh comes from him. "I'm sorry I couldn't step up and be a better boyfriend. I just forget sometimes that this is the only life you know."

"I know you do." I say. "I'm not mad at you. It doesn't even matter anymore"

He crosses the room and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Friends?"

I smile. Maybe a friend wouldn't be so bad if I'm going to die tomorrow. "Friends"