98 | Oud

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Shoutout to the detectives who actually noticed that MillieRIpley and AustinUntaylored are real IG accounts haha

Amazing poster @sana_rashidx - thank you!

@judily's review on the last chapter: I love their love it's filled with warmth, growth, anger, friendship and love. You can tell they like each other which to me is greater than love. Also to her and Austin friendship, Oma too, it feels as if they too found growth through Millie. Isn't it funny how the person you least expect is the one to bring clarity to your life 

~Please remember to vote~

Chapter 98: Oud

Living in the fear but I'm still here.
Wishing I had a life to steer, but I'm still here.

Jake's voice gently faded with the music, as he raised his hand away from his guitar. He was standing so close to the mic, his other hand brushed up against it, sleeve rolled up to his elbow showing the dark lines of his tattoos. Jake's eyes were closed as he poured his heart out.

Here.

The room was crowded but the crowd was silent. The spotlight on Jake made him look vulnerable and empowered at the same time. He was handsome, and even though he and Luke were so insanely different, I could see the family resemblance.

We listened to the song fade, and immediately after the music ended, I sat up on the bar stool and clapped loudly. There was an echo and a bit of a time lag before the wider applause joined in, but I went with it. Jake opened his brown eyes, almost like he was surprised people listened, and spoke into the microphone.

His voice sounded nervous, so different to the way he had just sung. "Uh, thank you."

The applause got louder, with some wolf whistles thrown in. Jake looked down at his guitar and the pick in his fingers. He clutched it tightly before exiting the stage.

I searched for Luke's reaction. Jake had sung about me once before, and that didn't go down well with Luke.

I couldn't be sure this song was about me, but some of his lyrics felt very close to our situation.

"Where's Luke?" I asked, scanning the area where I saw him last.

Luke stands out in a crowd; it usually takes me a couple seconds to spot him. Last I saw him, he was by the door with his sophomore friend. They had been talking before Jake started singing, but...

I couldn't see either of them now.

"Do you know where Luke is?" I asked Austin, who'd been sitting next to me during the song.

Austin was asking the bartender for another round of water. On the rocks. The bartender playfully rolled her eyes but obliged, adding a cherry in there for visual effect. Austin cheekily grinned and raised his glass to her.

He then answered me, "Luke's not here? He's probably crying outside over Jake's song."

"That's exactly the kind of thing Luke would do," I replied sarcastically.

"Wasn't it just a few months ago that Jake sang about you?" Austin asked, trying to rack his memory for that last time, "We haven't come far since then. At least Jakey improved his songwriting."

My phone buzzed and I looked down, hoping it was Luke. Unknown number.

It's Cearra, don't reply to this number. I stole my dad's phone and I'll delete this message so he doesn't see. 007 vibes over here. I'm sorry for what I said to you. You know how passionate I get about things and my words can come across harsh. Best friends need to stay honest with each other, but what I said to you wasn't right. I've done some thinking here in groundland and I realize that my HARMLESS crush on Luke has totally blinded me to any wrong he can do

Her paragraph spilled into another text.

You not idolizing him and not bowing down to his every action is what makes you a good girlfriend. I still think he is the hottest guy I've ever seen and I ship you both together. I'd probably go into mourning if your ship sinks, and sail off in a lifeboat, but I'm here for you no matter what. You're my friend and I should support that more. It's your call. And I won't judge it. I'll support it. Love you.

I re-read the message and felt a wave of emotion at the last words. Love you. Cearra's friendship meant so much to me.

I really wanted to text back, to send her a big virtual hug, but she told me not to. It was her dad's number anyway, which would be weird. I looked up to see Austin flirting with the bartender. The bartender had offered him the entire jar of olives, which was the most direct way to Austin's heart.

I couldn't help but wonder about Austerra. Was there a chance?

Someone called out for a drink on the other end of the bar. The bartender apologized to Austin and went to the customer.

I glanced over at him a couple times. Maybe now's the time.

"Austin? Can I ask you something personal?"

"Sure."

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Millie, I'm flattered. But you're-"

"No, no, noohoo!" I exclaimed, almost falling off my chair, "I didn't mean it in that way. I was just asking because I'm curious. Maybe you're not interested in anyone or maybe you're seeing someone," I said, rambling now that I was nervous, "And maybe I am really regretting ever bringing this up. I'm sorry."

I can't believe I just asked Austin. I should take it back. Take it all back!

Austin watched me nearly hyperventilate and said, "Millie, you're dating my best friend. You can ask me anything."

"Ok."

He smiled and answered the question, "I'm not in the headspace for a committed relationship. I'm keeping everything casual."

Everything? As in, plural?

I tried to find hope for my Austerra ship. "Maybe if you find someone you really like?"

"Unlikely," he answered, rejecting that idea, "Now's not the time."

When is? I can set a reminder on my phone.

"I get it," I said, "You don't want to take on someone else's problems when you're still trying to go through your own."

Though I joke about it, I definitely understood what he meant. It was something Luke and I were also facing. We both had our issues and trying to juggle them along with each other's... was extremely difficult.

Austin shook his head, "More like I don't want to give anyone else my problems. How can you help someone else when you can't even help yourself?"

Maybe I should ask myself that. Maybe that's what Luke already has.

**

~Luke's POV~

"Why can't you trace it?" I asked him.

Roneal had come here just to give me disappointing news. He looked around the bar, trying to soak in his surroundings while thinking about how to phrase this next part.

I don't have all day.

"It's a burner phone number," he admitted.

"Track it," I replied, "Your dad's a police officer. Can't you use localization?"

Roneal nervously replied, "But then I'd have to get my dad involved."

Why else does he think I tasked him with this?

I've gone out of my way to befriend the worst sophomore player on our team because his dad's a police officer - and I need help finding a criminal. If Roneal thinks we've become friends out of the goodness of my heart, I don't know what basketball hit him in the head.

Seems to be a recurring theme lately.

He plucked at his braces nervously before saying, "Ok, I'll try again."

"You do that."

Roneal pointed at the stage, "Can I stay to watch the..."

His words trailed off as I shook my head. I didn't need to say more. He understood and left. If Roneal doesn't pull through, I'll have to ask his dad, Officer Patel, instead.

I thought today was the day I'd get the blackmailer's name. Maybe I needed to have a more serious conversation with that Julia girl. Just when I thought this day couldn't get worse, I watched Jake step onto the stage. My ears were about to be assaulted by another one of his screeching lullabies.

I should've brought ear plugs.

I don't know why people give that watermelon head any airtime.

I looked over at Millie just as the lights dimmed and Jake started to strum his guitar. I wanted to hear her ordering me to be nicer to my brother. I wanted to feel her hand in mine. She was at the bar with Austin. Their backs were towards me as they ordered drinks.

The only reason I came here was for her. So we could finally talk. But then, Jake decided to sing.

Coming home but I don't want you here,
All you do is bring back the fear,
Forced into your world,
Thought it's already starting to tear.

This is more painful than being punched in the face. I'd rather fight that Alpine gang than listen to this.

Has no one taught this guy that songs don't need to rhyme?

Jake has family issues. What's new? The verse has my dad's name on it. Maybe mom and I can take some credit for "bringing back the fear". We're all just so well loved by Jakey.

It could've been different, but different doesn't mean better
She made a mistake, but I stood by and let her
Took my heart and gave it to the weather
If only she knew how much of her I treasure.

And killing you, Jake, would be my pleasure.

A bad rhyme doesn't make a verse good. Doesn't he sit in English class with Minnie? What are they learning?

That Malik kid from summer camp wrote a better love poem than this - and his inspiration was Stacey. Jake's here talking about Millie and this is all he comes up with? Weather and treasure?

The weasel is still singing about Millie. He can't say it to her face, so he goes around spreading his feelings by song. Some things are better kept private.

There's a pain in my soul as I break from a whole,
And lose control of the mind that they stole:
I'm still here.
Living in the fear but I'm still here.

Want to talk about pain to the soul? This song is pain enough. And I'm still here.

When you're eighteen but you don't know what your dream is,
When you're broken but you get broken again,
Watch those parts get turned into art,
And they give medication to make the healing start.

That feels personal. I've taken a lot of pills to heal my knee and keep going down a path I wasn't sure I wanted. I haven't talked about that much, except with Millie, when I took her to my physio center. It was one of our less conventional dates.

I glanced over at her again, still next to Austin. This time she was sitting on a bar stool with a glass in her hand, staring at Jake with her adorably trusting expression, while he continued to screech.

I couldn't believe all the pain she'd gone through. I guess we all had. And the medication to heal...

I froze as my mind started to turn back and piece together a part of the puzzle I had missed before.

Mother f*cker.

**

I drove away from the bar, keeping my anger under control. I gripped the steering wheel, trying to think of the shortest route. I left without saying goodbye to anyone.

I picked up speed on an empty road and the cold air rushed in through an open window.

My phone automatically connected to Bluetooth and Millie's UK grime playlist blasted out of the speaker. I didn't understand half the words they were saying and turned it off at the next red light.

It's been right before my eyes this whole time. With so many distractions, it's easy to miss the details. But I shouldn't have missed this. I've been replaying those incidents over and over to catch something we've missed.

I cursed, "Medication, it's the f*cking medication."

I swerved onto private property and the tires crunched over pebbles. I parked next to a row of three cars and slammed the door loudly as I got out.

I approached the entrance, rang the doorbell three times while knocking aggressively on the front door.

The door opened, and a man asked, "Are you in a rush, young man?"

"I'm here to see Chad."

The man took a deep breath that felt like an hour and said, "Mr Chadwick Junior is currently unavailable. May I take a name?"

"You know my name, Irvin."

I walked past him, ignoring his objections, and into Chad's parlor. I looked around, up at the staircase and yelled, "Chad! CHAD!"

Irvin hurried after me, "Mr Dawson, I must object to you yelling in-"

"CHADWICK!"

"Please keep your voice down. You will cause a great deal of stress to the staff-"

"Where is he, Irvin?" I asked him.

"I can't lead you to Mr Chadwick. You look out of your mind, Mr Dawson. If you're here to threaten the-"

"I'm not a threat," I said, though I had to admit that didn't sound very convincing, "I need to speak with Chad."

Irvin was not going to budge. I sighed and pulled out my phone, dialing Chad's number. It rang for a couple minutes before going to voicemail. I dialed the number again.

Irvin asked politely, "Would you like some tea while you wait?"

I glared at him. He raised his hands and stepped back, keeping a watchful eye on me.

I texted Chad: call me now

No response. I tried one more time, keeping an eye on Irvin who was keeping an eye on me.

"Where is he?" I sighed, getting tired of this.

"I told you sir, he's unavailable."

I wanted to punch something and, if breaking any object here wouldn't put me into debt for 50 years, I probably would've.

But then, I saw a housekeeper walk up the stairs with a bathtub tray of snacks.

I clocked. "He's taking a bath, isn't he?"

Irvin's bushy eyebrows raised in surprise, which told me I was right. Before he could stop me, I bolted up the stairs and past the housekeeper.

"Is he in his room or a different bathtub?" I called out to her as I passed, not knowing how many absurd baths were in this house.

Knowing Chad, he probably had a different bath for every mood.

"His bedroom," she squeaked back, stepping against the wall to stay out of our way.

"Keep up Irvin," I said, looking down at Irvin trying to chase after me.

I ran the next flight and went straight for Chad's bedroom. It was unlocked and I jumped over his couch, directly to the doors of his bathroom.

I knocked and said, "Cover yourself."

And opened the door.

**

A zen atmosphere greeted me with warm, humid air. It felt like I was stepping into a sauna. Music was playing nature sounds and I smelt perfume in the air. Through the mist, I saw Chad, lying in his bubble bath with an eye mask.

"Thank you, Melinda-" he pulled up one side of the mask and saw me, "LUKE?!"

Disappointed I'm not Melinda?

He splashed around in shock and I averted my eyes until he covered himself under the water again. With all the floating petals and bubbles, he didn't need to worry.

I faced him, "What is going on in here, Chad?"

"I am in the bath, Luke. Why are you invading my privacy?!" he exclaimed.

Someone cleared their throat on the other side of the door. I opened the door for them and saw Melinda and Irvin standing politely on the other side.

"I'm sorry sir," Irvin apologized to Chad, keeping his gaze averted, "I tried to stop him."

"That's ok," Chad grumbled, "He's hard to stop."

Melinda quietly stepped in, keeping her head down to avoid getting involved in our heated conversation. She placed the tray of snacks on the bath so that it balanced across the two sides.

This must be meditative for him. I peered over at a burning stick and picked it up.

I sniffed it, "This is for the smell?"

There was an earthy, woody smell in the room.

Chad sighed, "You look like you're in a zoo. Put the incense down. It's an oud fragrance and it's very manly."

"Sure."

"Are you going to tell me why you rudely barged in or is this your way of saying you miss me?"

I deserved that.

"Remember the fight we had in Alpine when we went to pick up those stuffed animals for Millie?" I asked.

"Yeah, because you had some weird idea of putting notes on stuffed animals and hiding them in the grass as your first date. I'm really surprised there was even a second date," Chad remembered, cupping some foam in his hands and blowing bubbles in his bath.

"Yeahh," I said, resisting the urge to point out how ridiculous he looked right now, "We drove there in your car. I need the keys to the car."

"Why?"

"I think there's a clue in there," I said.

"Well, Miss Marple, it went to the repair shop," Chad replied, though I had no idea who Miss Marple was. "And then it got cleaned, so if you're looking for fingerprints-"

"I'm not looking for fingerprints," I said, wondering how Chad thought I would know how to collect fingerprints.

I'm in high school ffs.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Jake's concert right now? Austin texted me that you guys were there..."

"It's not a concert. More like a karaoke night," I said, not wanting to inflate Jake's already large head even more.

Then, I just waited for Chad to get the picture and help me. I needed Chad to cooperate, but the guy moves at his own pace.

"So if you're not there now," Chad continued to deduce the chain of events in the slowest way possible, "And you're here in my bathroom... then I'm guessing whatever you're looking for is urgent?"

I tried so hard not to ring his neck. "Yes."

Chad sighed, "Look away. I will come out."

The emperor has spoken. I very willingly turned away and waited for the sound of water splashing as Chad got out of his bathtub.

He said, "My-"

I handed him a towel from the rack next to me, almost hitting him with it.

"Thank you," he said, "And my robe?"

I gritted my teeth and handed him the purple robe with the letters RCIII woven in white on the back.

"And my slippers?"

"Get them yourself," I snapped.

"I thought I was pushing my luck," he admitted, padding towards his matching purple slippers.

I couldn't believe we were about to walk into daylight together like this.

"You may want to, uh," I pointed at his face.

He looked like an Avatar with blue paint all over his face.

"Oh! My facial mask," he exclaimed and went to the sink to scrub the paint off.

This was taking much longer than I thought. I didn't expect Chad to be having a spa day.

**

Finally, Chad and I went down to the basement where his cars were parked in their garage. He flicked a switch and the metallic lights came on with a 'zoom' sound.

I stared at the incredible line up of sports cars. A blue Chevrolet Corvette, a black Mercedes-Benz SL550, a Tesla next to its charging station...

"Stop drooling," Chad told me, "Do you remember which car it was?"

I pointed at the one. Chad looked at a dashboard of all the keys and plucked an orange key. He handed it to me, and I walked straight to the car, hearing it beep open as I unlocked it.

"Seriously man, there's a strong chance what you're looking for won't be in there," Chad reminded me, "They cleaned out the whole thing. I don't want your hopes to get too high. You look like a man on a mission."

I scanned the area under the driver and passenger seats. It was sparkling clean. I leant my knee on the

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