+Liam's POV+

      Raleigh stares at me, as if she's scared of me. But at the same time she looks like she's happy she's with me? I might need to get my eyes checked. I'm probably seeing things.

"What happened?" She asks, fidgeting with her hands. I shake my head and instantly I'm back when she almost died.

      Flashback

"No! Raleigh! Stay awake! Princess! Stay awake! Don't sleep yet!" I tell her, freaking the fuck out. She's drifting further and further into her tub and out of reality.

      "Princess! Wake up! Raleigh!" I yell at her as I shake her, trying to get her to wake up. I feel her drift off of consciousness. Fuck! She starts slipping into the tub me and I pick her up, taking her out before she drowns. I ignore her wet body against my dry one. I ignore how she's only in her bra and underwear. I set her on the floor and try to get her to wake up. I grab a towel and wrap it around her.

      "Raleigh! Come on! Wake up! Please be alright! Come on! Princess, please!" I yell at her as I keep trying to wake her up.Tears start to form in my eyes. IT IS NOT WORKING! NOTHING IS WORKING! Why won't she wake up?! What if she never wakes up? What if she-NO! She's alive! She's going to LIVE! I have to think positive thoughts. I'm not going to give up on her.

      "Liam?! What happened?!" Maya yells as she walks in and I don't answer her, just ball my eyes out and try to wake her up. I hear Maya talking on the phone but I don't know who she's talking to.

      "Liam, come with me." She orders me. Her voice is gentle but stern.

      "R-Raleigh?" I ask.

      "I'll watch her." Raleigh's father says as he walks in. I don't say anything as Maya drags me away from Raleigh.

      "It's going to be alright. She's going to be alright." Maya tells me as we sit in her and her husband's room. I didn't say anything, just say there crying and praying. If anything happens her, it'll be all my fault.

"You almost died." I tell Raleigh, coming back to the present. She was out for eleven hours. I don't even know most of it. It blurred together.

"How?" She asks and I shake my head.

"I decided to give you a bath since you've been drinking and you puked. But then you...you started to go into unconsciousness. You almost drowned. I thought...I thought you were going to die." I admit, taking a deep breath.

      "By the sound of it, you saved me." Raleigh says, her eyes locking with mine. For a moment, the world stops. All I can focus on is her. How her ocean blue eyes trap me and pull me in. Like the ocean.

"I was the one who put you there." I remind her, shaking my head.

      "I don't blame you and neither should you." Raleigh tells me, shaking her head. How can someone be so forgiving? I don't understand how. Maybe because I grew up without forgiveness.

      "Thank you." She says after a few seconds of silence. I want to ask her "for what?" But sometimes it's best not to ask questions.

      "You're welcome."

      "My mom said something about you and I want to know if she was...right." Maya said something about me? I hope it's good. I've always cared what Maya thought about me. After all, she's my mom. Though, she didn't give birth to me, she took care of me in ways that an actual mother would.

      "What did she say?" I ask and I see Raleigh's go into the distance, as if she's debating something in her head. She shakes her head and mumbles, "nothing". I know it's not nothing. Now, I'm extremely curious.

      "Don't worry about it." Raleigh snaps at me, looking around the room, (avoiding eye contact) because she has nothing else to do. I don't know where her phone went and there's nothing for her to look at. Should I bother her until I get an answer?

      "Princess." I say as I continue to debate about what I should do. She looks at me, as if she's annoyed but uncomfortable.

      "Do you want this magazine? Or this one?" I ask, holding up a sports one and a travel one.

      "There's also these two." I tell her, holding up a food one and a fashion/makeup/beauty thing.

    "Hand me the travel one, please." Raleigh says, grinning. I walk over to her and hand it to her. She grins and starts flipping through the pages. I watch as her eyes light up every so often. Must be great places in there.

"ARE Y'ALL DECENT?!" I hear one of Raleigh's uncles yell as there's a knock on the door.

"Oh my god! YES!" She yells, hiding her face in the magazine. I laugh at the situation and that's how everyone finds us as they walk in. Me laughing my ass off and Raleigh hiding behind a travel magazine.

      "How are you feeling?" Raleigh and Randy's dad, Andy, asks.

      "Good." Raleigh responds. He smiles and hugs her.

      "Ry-Andy, it's okay." Maya says and I tilt my head, thinking. Andy gives her a glare and she returns one. Hmmm. "Ry"? That's strange. Wait a minute! My phone starts ringing and I groan when I look at the contact. Mother. How awful.

      "Excuse me." I tell no one in particular. I walk out the door as Randy, Ethan, Zaya and Zoey walk in. I walk past them to an empty hallway.

      "What?" I ask, answering the phone.

      "Don't take that tone of voice with me young man! Do you want me to whoop your ass?!" She yells at me.

      "No, ma'am."

      "THAN ACT LIKE A RESPECTFUL HUMAN BEING!" Unlike you.

      "Yes, ma'am."

       "Now, when are you getting home?"

      "In a week."

      "'A WEEK'?!"

      "Yes, ma'am."

      "GET YOUR FUCKING ASS HOME NOW!" She yells. Before I can answer, the phone is took out of my hands.

      "I'm sorry but he's busy helping my family so I suggest that you shut the fuck up! Thanks! Bye bitch!" Ellie yells at my mother and she hangs up, handing the phone back to me.

      "Thanks." I tell her and she nods, holding Emily's hand and Tillie stands behind them.

      "Emily, Tillie, can you go check on Raleigh? I'll be there in a minute. I just have to have a word with Liam." Ellie asks, looking at me and they nod walking away. I look at Ellie and try to guess what she has to talk to me about. Her hair is in a black beanie. She has a black leather jacket with silver studs that match her rings and piercings along with her black and silver chocker. Ellie is also wearing black high-waisted jeans and a camo crop too. She paired her outfit with black and silver combat boots. I take a look at my outfit. A red hoodie, jeans and black sneakers. Nothing fancy.

      "What do you have to talk to me about?" I ask and she lifts my hoodie up and over my head. Then she lifts and pulls my black T-shirt over my head and points to the Devil horns on the bottom of my neck. They represent the gang "Los Demonios de niños". They gang that I'm in. We all have to get a tattoo of the devil horns on us. They started that like ten years ago, if I'm right.

      "What about it?" I ask and she tosses my shirt and hoodie back. Then she grabs my wrist and looks around her, pulling me into an empty room.

       "Look, you can't fool me. You are a member of that gang." Ellie says, looking around. I stare at her, mouth dropped open.

      "Don't look so shocked. After all, don't you know who I am?" She asks and I don't answer because I don't know who she is.

      "I know more than you think. So we can help each other. How does that sound?"

      "How can you help me?" I ask and she smirks.

       "I happen to know that your gang is trying to fix the problems with Eva and Daisy's gang, am I right?"

       "Where did you find out this information?"

      "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm looking for someone who's been a problem for over eighteen years. Ria. I'm sure you've heard the story."

      "I have." I tell her, tensing up. If I was unsure about the truth before, I wouldn't guess it now. I can't believe it.

      "Well, I'm looking for her. I need your help though. You find her and I'll help you with your alliance issues." Ellie suggests, holding out her hand. I take it and shake. I don't know how I'm going to keep this a secret and what I'm going to do.

      "I agree." I tell her and she smiles.

       "Good. Just hurry up and find the bitch."

      "What makes you think that I know where she is?"

       "Because Liam, I'm not dumb." She says with a smirk. She walks away, leaving me confused and scared. What am I going to do? I can't tell her where Ria is but I need to help the gain and fix the alliance. What the fuck am I supposed to do?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                          +1,573 words+

       Hello everyone! I'm glad this update didn't take too long but I'm sorry it's short. I promise the next one will be longer. I promise I'll update as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience and support! I love you all!

       What do you think will happen next?

       Why didn't Raleigh ask Liam if he was in love with her?

       What's Raleigh going to tell Ethan?

        How do you feel about Ellie knowing about Liam being in a gang?

       How did she know that he was in a gang?

       What is Liam going to choose?

      What will the consequences of Liam's actions be?

       PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT!💓