Austin’s POV

“Alan, have you called Phil and Tino yet?” I asked him. As soon as Kynder had drifted off, I went to go find my friend. He was out in the hospital lobby with Balz and Anarchy. Both sat in the corner, tissues divided amongst the crying forms. I had gotten a little backstory on Anarchy and Amity, but from what I had heard, they were basically like brother and sister. According to Ghost, Balz had fallen head over heels for the girl.

Ricky, Ryan, Ghost, and Chris were all surrounding Balz, patting him on the back and giving him silent actions of comfort. Alan and I were talking near the nurse’s desk.

“No, I haven’t. Do you want me to?” He asked sleepily. It was Sunday afternoon, but Alan and I had stayed up since we got to this building. Aaron had made coffee runs on the occasion for everybody.

“I can do it.” I took out my phone and dialed in the number. Aaron walked in just as I found myself a quiet corner. The dial tone rang three times before Tino picked the phone.

“Hello?” He asked sleepily. They must’ve been sleeping in.

“Hey Tino, it’s Austin.” I glanced over at Anarchy, head in his hands.

“Oh hey! You must’ve finally found Kynder.” It was apparent he was smiling through the other line. Phil’s voice picked up in the background, complaining that he wanted to talk to Kyn.

“She’s sleeping right now.” I responded.

“Oh, so you’re in the car back home?” Tino asked. Nope, definitely not the car.

“Actually, we’re in the hospital.”

“WHAT?!?!” Both screamed. Alan and Aaron looked over in surprise. I clamped my hand down over the speakers to avoid arousing too much attention.

“Yeah, well here’s what happened…” I started to explain the group effort and giant mass we had aroused from the streets. Now that I look back at it, the effort was large and impressive. As soon as I got to Kynder being attacked and hurt, Tino and Phil gasped.

“Not again!” Phil groaned in the background. I sighed. Kynder had a knack for getting hurt very frequently. I mean, it wasn’t her fault, but it just happened to fall on her!

“Yeah, but she’s being released tomorrow. They said the wounds weren’t bad, just painful.”

“Okay, we’ll expect the four of you to come back by Tuesday, how about?” Phil asked from the other side. Once again I had to shake my head.

“I gave her to option to stay in Denver. She might choose that. Kynder will give her answer tomorrow after she’s released.” I looked around through the windows. We were in a large hospital just outside of Denver. Kynder could probably walk the twenty minutes back to her house…or the ruins of her house.

“Oh.” The single word hung heavy in the air.

“It’s her choice. I’m not going to be the cruel owner and force her to come with us. I’m done with all of that.” I spat angrily. The two didn’t answer for a long minute.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to either. Once you get home, we have to discuss some things.” Phil sighed wearily. After that we traded farewells and I went to sit down with the other two in my group.

“Austin, I have something to tell you.” Alan asked me, eyes pleading for ears to listen. Aaron and I perked up.

“What is it?” I approached warily. He took a sip of coffee and shook his head.

“I’m done with being an owner. I’m sorry, but after seeing what Miles did, I don’t want to be part of this anymore.” The ginger dropped his gaze to the floor and I looked out the window, processing this. It looks like both of us were on the same page.

“If you guys are still going to do this, cool and all, but I want out. I can go get my stuff from the house and find some place to live-“ Alan stuttered out of lack of sleep before I broke in.

“Alan, I wanted to tell you the same thing. I’m going to talk to Phil and Tino once we get home and tell them the same thing.” I patted my best friend’s shoulder. He looked at me gratefully. Aaron laughed quietly.

“Ditto.” He laughed. Looks like we all had the same thoughts. If giving up our entire lifestyle meant that I could keep Kynder by my side, then I was more than willing to do that.

This was meant for the better.

Notes

Hey guys! So first off, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Maybe things will be for the better???

Second order of business: I've had some people ask, "Chaos'sWolf, I'm stuck with writers block! How do I get past it?" or "Help me! I want to write a story but I don't know how to start!"

I'd like to make a video explaining my thoughts and processes on writing fanfiction/any story and tips on how to get past writers block. If I make this, would you watch it and critique me on how the video went? Please comment yes/no if you would watch this! It's okay if you don't want to watch, but I do need to know if there's enough people who would watch this to make it worth while!

So please comment about the video, but don't forget to drop a note if you liked the story so far!!!!

Thanks everyone, and stay beautiful!