I was numb when I woke up. The stitches in my back and abdomen were sore, and I was afraid to move. I looked to my left; Vic wasn’t there. It must have been late in the morning.

I slowly moved my head back against the headboard, closing my eyes. My head was throbbing.
I heard a noise, and, figuring it was Vic, I opened my eyes.

But it was not Vic.

I couldn’t speak; my fast beating heart was suddenly in my throat.

“Hello, again,” Jake said.

I still couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. Even if I had the physical capability of moving, Jake was blocking the door. And even worse, he was holding a distinguishable object in his right hand.

Mike and Vic immediately flashed into my head. Oh, God, that could be their blood on that knife.
What have I done? My past was coming back to haunt me, ruining their lives in the process. I felt physically sick. If they weren’t already dead, and I didn’t die—two things that seemed unlikely—I would leave. I needed to leave. All I have done here was create problems, and now the biggest problem in my life was inches away from my face.

He breathed into my face. He was drunk and high, the worst combination for a person like him.
“I’ve still never gotten what I wanted,” he growled, groping me with his lanky hands.

“No,” I pushed him away. Well, I tried.

Right before his bony fist made contact with my face, I woke up.

“Hey, hey, shh, it was just a nightmare,” Vic smoothed out my hair, softly rubbing my back.

“A nightmare,” I repeated in a whisper. I sat up suddenly, forgetting about the pulling pain in my back. “I have to tell you something,” I said quietly, sniffing back my tears and wiping my eyes.

“What is it?”

“I know who it was. It was Jake, he’s the one that shot me and Tony,” I said.

Vic scowled. “I figured as much,” he said lowly.

“But there’s more,” I continued. “He’s very, very dangerous,” I warned.

“I can tell,” he said, rubbing my arm.

“No, it’s worse than you think,” I said gravely.

“He almost killed me, once,” I continued. After a moment’s reflection, I added: “Well, twice, now, I guess.”

“What happened?” Vic asked very quietly.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to relive it. I did, however, pull back my hair to show him the white scar just above my temple. “Brain bleed, an absolute nightmare,” I half-explained. He kissed the scar. “But my point is that even you guys aren’t safe.”

“He’s in jail,” Vic reassured. I shook my head again.

“He can easily escape. He’s done it before,” I said. “He’s everywhere,” I added. I thought about my nightmare. I didn’t want that to become a reality. I didn’t want Vic or Mike or Tony or Jaime’s life in danger.

“We’ll be okay,” he said. “But thanks for telling me.” I nodded, but I still wasn’t convinced. I think he could sense my flightiness. He looked at me sternly. “Don’t try and remove yourself from us, bear, because we want you here to stay. And we all have problems and pasts, but you can’t let that ruin your future. You can’t let that ruin your future with us.” He said firmly. That convinced me, for now, at least.




“Hola,” Tony said in a deep voice, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed. He and Jaime had come over to hang out.

“How are you feeling today?” Mike asked, putting his chin on top of my head. He was over a foot taller than me.

“Fabulous,” I said. I always felt happier when all of us were together. Everything was more goofy and relaxed, and I could forget the bad stuff and focus on having fun with the guys.

“Hey, Claire! Look what I got for us for when you have to lay low!” Tony said, showing me a game. That was exactly what I meant; they were all so thoughtful. “Lego Star Wars for the Wii,” he gleamed. “It’s a three player game, though, so who else wants to play?” Tony turned to the rest of the guys.

“HI-MEEEE DOES!” Jaime exclaimed. I poked his dimples that formed so distinctively when he smiled.

“I think I’m going to do some writing,” Vic said.

“Okay,” I smiled.

The Wii was set up in the basement, so that’s where we went after Vic turned towards his room. We
started playing the game, and then Mike floated over to us.

“So, Claire,” he started. I looked up.

“What’s up?”

“Not now, Mike!” Tony groaned.

“Not now, what?” I asked.

Tony grunted. “We were all wondering about something,” he said.

I paused the game. “Will you just tell me?”

“We were all wondering if you had a thing with Vic,” Jaime blurted out.

I felt my cheeks grow very warm. I was sure they were a deep red.

“That means yes!” Mike said, smiling wide. It was obvious he wanted to tackle me in excitement, but my stitches were glad that he didn’t.

“Guys, I don't know,” I blushed even more, hiding my face in Jaime’s shoulder.

“It’s pretty obvious, bear,” Tony nudged my arm. They all looked happy.

“No comment,” I said, my words muffling against Jaime’s shirt.

“Someone’s a little embarrassed,” Jaime said in a high-pitched voice.

“You know what!” I punched him in the arm.

“We support you one-hundred-percent,” Tony smiled genuinely.

“Besides, we can’t have you because you’ve already friend-zoned us so bad,” Jaime added.

“Hi-me!” I punched him in the arm again.

“Relax, buddy, I’m just playing,” he said, patting my head.

Mike stood up in front of me, and then he bowed. “I grant you my blessing to date my brother.”

“Gee, thanks,” I rolled me eyes, laughing. “Can we just get back to the game, please?” I looked up and made a huge smile with all of my teeth.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said. “But we are watching you, missy,” he said in a creepy, fatherly voice.

I laughed, and then I wondered what Vic was writing about.

Notes

chapter 8! another short one, i think.
I've been writing a lot and have many many ideas flowing through my head, i just wish i could write it all down at once!

Thanks for the views, subscriptions, comments, and suggestions. I'm so excited to keep going with this, and a lot more is going to happed :D