Elites✔️

Chapter 26

"Gabriel! What happened?" I yelled out while helping him onto my bed.

"You know. Business stuff." Gabriel replies while wincing.

"What business on earth would require such violence?" I replied.

I walked into my bathroom and opened the cupboard under my sink. Then, I took out the first aid kit and ran back to Gabriel.

"Lean back," I ordered.

I first cleaned up his face with water. Then, I put the medicine on the cotton pad and gently applied it to his face. Such a pretty face destroyed.

"Gabriel, I'm going to ask you again. And I want the whole truth this time. What happened?" I asked more sternly.

Gabriel sighed and looked down. When he looked back up, I saw guilt swimming in his eyes.

"I-I was very mad when Jarrett tried to take you away. During the ride back to your house, I went to his place alone and tried to make them pay." He explained.

"Oh, Gabriel. You know it's the right thing to do. What matters is that we stopped him. Why didn't you take the boys with you?" I asked.

"I didn't want them to know. I wanted the job done fast and clean. No need to make it a big thing." He replied.

I then continued to tend to his wounds, thinking about what he said. Since we were little, Gabriel always had a problem with his anger issues. He tends to hide them in front of me but I knew he took it out somewhere.

"Gabriel...tell me the truth. Who have you been taking out your anger on these past weeks? And don't...don't lie to me this time." I begged.

Gabriel sucked in a breath and looked straight into my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Talia. I couldn't keep your promise about hurting other people. When I get angry...I've been fighting with other people." He admitted.

"What..." I whispered surprised.

"After I went to Jarrett's place, I went to the club and took out my anger there too." He says.

"Then, then why did you come here?" I asked.

"I was ashamed. This night while I was fighting, all I could think of was how I promised you I would not turn to violence and how I broke our promise. I came to you to apologize." He caressed my face.

He took my hand in his and came closer to me.

"Talia. Can you forgive me?" He begged.

"I-I um-"

"Please Talia. I don't know how I'll live without your forgiveness. I can't even seem to imagine how I'll move forward if you don't talk to me anymore." Gabriel pleads.

When I look up at his face, I saw tears forming in his eyes. This boy, guilt was eating him from inside, I could tell. How cruel would I be to not give him a second chance?

"If I forgive you, will you promise to not do it again?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes, I promise." Gabriel replied with hope.

"Okay then. I forgive you." I smiled.

He gave me a huge grin and hugged me. He took in the scent of my hair and whispered near my ear, "Thank you, princess."

_______________________________

Students filled the hallways of Willson Prep in fresh, crisp uniforms.

The boys were, surprisingly, early and standing in front of the lockers.

It seemed like they were discussing something serious.

I decided to go over there.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" I asked.

They looked back and forth at each other and then Gabriel sighed.

"I told them about the anger issues." He replied.

My face softened and I grabbed his arms and said, "Well, let's not ruin this day. Winter Formal is in 2 days and I'm going shopping after school so you guys are coming with me."

We all went down and sat in our first period.

When school was over, I decided to get in with Gabriel in his car as we drove to the mall.

The other three were already waiting for us inside as we made our way over to them.

We all decided to get drinks and food first as we were all very hungry after a day of school.

After we finished our sodas and burgers, we made our way to our first store.

It sold both clothes for females and males. While the boys were busy picking out their suits, I was busy picking out my dress.

In the end, I decided to go in a short formal white dress with blue flowers.

I walked over to the boys to see them trying their suits on.

I smiled and went over to Alex to help him get his suit jacket on.

They all looked great in it and got a mix of black, grey, blue, and white suits.

After they dropped me back home, I stumbled into my house with bags in hand.

What I didn't expect was the two figures sitting on the couches in the living room.

"Grandma!"