Chapter 72.

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CHAPTER 72: worry

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In the end, Owen decided it was better to bring backup with him knowing I'd would be weighing on his conscience the whole time he was there. He couldn't afford to get distracted especially when we all know it's going to get dangerous when we're there.

That morning, I sat down at the table in Owen's house because mom was busy with work today. Fingers grazing against the roads and paths on the map, I tried to find quick exit roots or places that could lead us to a trap. It wasn't simple work, but I wanted to try my very best so Owen would at least get out of there alive.

My mother was going away for a few weeks which means I'll be at the house by myself and even though that doesn't sound bad, I hated being alone. Something in the back of my mind always told me something bad was going to happen even when nothing did, but hey, that's trauma for you.

My mind had run through every possibly I could think of and I was starting to realise my possibilities were beginning to sound far fetched, but this was Liam we were talking about. He's not exactly the most sane person we've ever met, but to be honest, I felt sorry for the guy. His whole life has revolved on being at least acknowledged as his father's equal yet with little success. I could tell nearly all his motives for hurting people was based upon his father's orders and it seemed like he hardly made decisions for himself.

Regardless, he was still a danger to Owen especially under the influence of drugs or alcohol. His actions were erratic so he's more likely going to hurt him without us expecting. I really didn't like this idea, but at least he's decided to bring support with him because I wouldn't know what to do if he just up and left suddenly.

"Blondie, what're you doing here?" I paused and turned around to see Owen stood in the doorway wearing a pair of the school's physical education shorts. He ran the damp towel over his hair as my eyes ran down from his broad shoulders to his glistening abs and all the way down to the waistline of his shorts, hanging low enough that the V shape on his hips showed.

As I struggled to get the words out, I was in surprise at what I was seeing. Yes, I've seen him naked before, but that doesn't mean I'll ever get used to the sight. He's gorgeous and he fucking knows it. The way he's looking at me now and the way he looks with limited clothing is making me want to jump his bones.

Horny bitch, my conscience told me.

"Brielle." when I met his eyes, they shone with a devilish gleam that matched the smirk playing upon his lips. Crap, I thought, he must've noticed me practically drooling over him, "is something wrong?"

His question was innocent enough, but I knew in everything he said, there was some kind of hidden meaning to it. This one was just of those unfortunate things I would be too embarrassed to answer and he knew it, but he never asked nor did he tease.

"Words, girl." a sudden voice behind me made me snap my head in the direction which sounds terrible for my neck, but if people didn't keep surprising me then I wouldn't be risking snapping my neck. However, when I turned, Jaxon was stood there mirroring his brother's exact same features with the same smirk and glint in his eyes.

"You dick," I muttered as Owen sat himself next to me, his arm around my chair as he leaned back to admire my hard work for today. My eyes remained glued onto Jaxon with a hard glare before I settled slightly, "anyway, I'm almost finished with everything so is there anything else you want me to do?"

Owen shook his head and sighed. He didn't want me to keep stressing myself out anyway and wanted me to relax away from the stress, but obviously, my pretty ass just can't sit still when I'm stressed. Also, Owen's whipped for me so that's how I'm here with map work.

"No, I want you to relax, for goodness sake. You'll stress yourself out more," he told me as he reached up to brush his fingers through my knotted blonde hair that I haven't brushed yet this morning. I winced suddenly as he tugged too hard and paused, settling for stroking my head instead, "stop working."

"Come on, bro. She loves working for you," Jaxon said as he grabbed his water bottle from the fridge and kept himself busy in the kitchen, his turned from us. Me and Owe shared a glance before his lips twisted up into a small smile, "you should keep her around more often so you wouldn't be so busy."

"Stop using my girl as work, dumbass," Owen snapped and the air suddenly went silent. Jaxon had dropped his fork onto his plate and suddenly turned in our direction with an arched brow. My girl...oh my fucking--well, that's awkward, I thought, "what? Why are you two looking at me like that?"

Is he serious? So are we going to ignore the fact he just called me his girl? I wasn't imagining it, was I?

"Owen...you just called me...your girl." that was when he was hit with the sudden realisation that he may have fucked up because even though it was clear we still loved each other, we weren't dating and were in what you would call 'dating but not dating'. His eyes had widened before he finally averted them from mine, preferring to deal with the embarrassment by himself.

"Uh...I...uh...I didn't--I mean." this wasn't the first time I've seen him stutter and he usually did so when he was embarrassed. I know him well enough that it was a simple slip of the tongue because we were so used to calling each other 'mine' when we were dating.

"Well, I think this is my time to leave," Jaxon quickly spoke as he walked out of the room with his food, leaving me and Owen in the awkward air. He felt further away now than he did before despite his arm still resting on the back of my chair, fingers grazing against my blonde locks. His eyes were no longer on mine and instead, focused on everything except me.

My fingers fiddled with each other as I tried to find the words I needed without making him run away because if I said the wrong thing, we were most likely going to fight again which is not what I wanted. When my eyes flickered over to him again, he was staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

"I know you didn't mean to call me that," I said softly, twisting myself around to face him. He looked down at me, eyes slightly...sad. I saw the wrinkle between his eyebrows that I knew he only got when he was stressed of worried, "it was just a mistake, don't worry."

"Doesn't mean what I said isn't true. I still act protective over you, I still put your well being before my own and I...I would never be able to imagine you with another man who makes you as happy as I did." by now, he had gripped onto my arm tightly to make sure I wouldn't run off, but I stayed and tightly squeezed his hand with my free one.

"Do you think I would ever let you go? I don't care if someone makes me happier than you did Owen. They're not you. I only love you so you need to stop worrying about me leaving," I told him, my voice quiet so only he could hear me, "seriously, after all this shit is over, we can talk about everything that happened, but you need to stop stressing yourself out otherwise, you won't be able to think straight."

Owen was very much capable of worrying just as any normal human being was, but he thought as it's his job being a leader, he has to deal with it. He's lacked having his parents around for help and advice so it explains why he doesn't usually ask for help, but he needs it sometimes even if I have to force it out of him.

I just hoped he wouldn't get so stressed out, he makes a mistake. Making a mistake during this mission was only going to make it more difficult and potentially go wrong so he needed to be at his best. Occasionally, I made him his usual dark coffee to give him an energy boost—that or Jaxon actually gave him vodka from Alfonso's alcohol cupboard.

Jaxon isn't meant to take alcohol from there, but apparently, his uncle never actually finds out and I'm not a snitch so I don't dare tell him myself. All I can say is that it definitely helps relieve his stress—not that he's completely chilled out after or anything.

For the remainder of the day, I did as I was told. I relaxed in the main room, sometimes flicking through my phone to see the plan that Jaxon helped out with through pictures he sent me. Owen was sat next to me, the weight of his head on my shoulder making me lean towards one side slightly. I didn't personally mind because if I attempted to move him, he would wake up and he's scary when someone wakes him up from his sleep. 


When I got home, I called Kelly to see how things were getting on with her. Now that mom was away on a business trip, I was alone in the house which is the opposite of what I like. Because mom has her own piano, she's either playing it or blasting music from the speakers when I return from school or next door. The sound of symphonies were what filled the house up with more energy and warmth that it was practically intoxicating, but now that it was quiet, it just seemed creepy to me.

"So he panicked?" she asked me as I ate my pasta in the kitchen that evening. I nodded at the camera and sighed. We were currently discussing the Owen issue because last time I remember, he had been more worried than usual and that's never good.

"Yeah? I don't know, but I'm worried about him, you know? I've never seen him this stressed before," I explained to her as I lifted my fork up to my mouth again and placed the pasta in my mouth, "I've tried talking to him and reassuring him, but he seems so sure something bad might happen. It's like he's stuck in that setting or something."

"Well, he did grow up like that. Remember the countless times he refused to let Jaxon be in another class to him because he was worried something bad might happen to him—mind you, this was in kindergarten?" Kelly spoke as I watched her make herself some dinner that evening. Her dad passed the screen swiftly, still in his beige button up shirt as he helped his daughter, "he's protective; he always has been and nothing much has actually changed since then. Plus, what's happening is actually pretty scary."

"I just want him to be okay for the day because he could so easily get hurt," I told her as I finished up the last of my pasta and walked over to the sink before placing my plate in it, "anyway, how are things between you and Darren?"

When I returned, I could hear her dad in the distance complaining about someone whilst she retaliated. I knew right away they were on about Darren. It wasn't rocket science, to be honest and most of their petty arguments were about him.

"The guy is a douche," her father said as I sensed him rolling his eyes, "lord bless my soul if you end up marrying the guy."

"How mean," Kelly muttered jokingly before averting her attention back to me, "we're doing good and sometimes, I catch dad him talking so that's also alright—come on, father dearest, you think he's like the son you never had."

"That's because your mother was an ungrateful cow, that's why." I felt my jaw go slack and my eyes widen as I stared at Kelly—who as well as me—was lost for words. So now I know who Kelly got her personality from, "oh, don't look at me like that, love. I've heard worst things coming out of that mouth of yours."

"Dad!" Kelly scolded as I noticed her face morph into one of embarrassment, hands reaching up to hide her face. I've heard Kelly talk about her mother and trust me, a lot of what she says should be censored, "stop it. Not in front of Brielle."

"Oh, is she still on? Apologies."

"No shit, Sherlock," Kelly joked back as I could imagine her father's mocking offended face, a hand to his chest in retaliation, "anyhow, back to Owen. We grew up with him and we know he's one of those people who's like 'me, myself and I', but he has a lot of supportive friends now—more than he did before. He doesn't need to deal with all this by himself. If I were you, I'd talk to him because it seems like he needs it."

That was true. Before, it was just us four, but after we split, it was Owen, his brother and Darren. He didn't have many friends and he chose to keep the ones he had very close. Even when I was around a few years back, he struggled to get to grips on me sacrificing a bit for him to be okay.

Owen was living the same cycle he had been his whole life. He hated when his brother involved himself in shit that he did everything for him without one complaint. The same was with me and it seemed this was just uncharted territory for him.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but once we wrap up this plan, I'll talk to him and make sure he's doing okay." our conversation soon switched to something else, helping to ease my nerves ever so slightly about the upcoming battle between Liam and Owen. Although, I know for a fact that nothing would prepare me for what was in store.


"So, that's a wrap, guys. You all know your rolls, right? Don't forget this Sunday we'll be out and I don't want to hear any complaints, got it?" we all nodded at the table before Owen finished up and went over to his fridge to get a glass of juice.

When I walked over, he gave me a small smile, lighting up the room and my day in the process before drinking some of the juice in his glass.

I could tell I was the one thing that kept him from going insane and I provided a sense of a 'normal' life. If he wasn't a gang leader, he would've had a life like mine—minus the toxic father. His problems wouldn't be who might get shot next, but if he'll get this assignment in on time if he chose to play basketball that Wednesday evening.

"How do you like it?" he asked me when I relaxed against the island, a small grin on my face. Arching a brow at him, I tilted my head to one side in slight confusion.

"Like what?"

"The plan, of course. I know it's a bit rough and ready, but it's a pretty good one, don't you think?" I can't believe he's asking me this as if he was explaining a school project to me although, I should've expected as much seeing as this was as normal as it gets.

"Of course, the plan's good, but..."

"...but you still don't like me going in there and fighting the guy. Yeah, I expected as much," he told me as he reeled me in with an arm over my shoulders. I knew that all I had to do was to get through that day as much as I could and whatever happens, happens. That nagging feeling in the back of my mind was only going to stress me out more, but if there was only a true way out of this, it would be this final fight, "don't worry. Once this is all over, I'll take you out for a proper dinner because I will most definitely come back alive."

"You better. Otherwise, I won't forgive you," I spoke, releasing a slightly forced chuckle. Of course, he's going to say that, though. It practically his job to make me feel better, but I know how it really might be...

...and Owen isn't going to come out of there unscratched.

END OF CHAPTER 72

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[shorter chapter than usual, but next chapter is coming very soon—maybe this evening or tonight (British time)

- J]

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