Chapter 50: We've got company

"So you're telling me that you're Haze?" Chase's dropped jaw fails to close.

"Yep." I answer for the tenth time.

"The undefeated champion?" Jordan asks. Again.

"Yes." I sigh.

"But you're... you. The nerd and good girl of the school." Chase states.

"Guys! She already answered your questions. Now can we move on?" Tristan demands.

"I still don't approve of you having a boyfriend, Hailey." Conner scoffs at me.

"And I don't approve of you leaving me, but guess what? No one got what they wanted." Sarcasm drips heavily out of my angry voice.

"I had to leave!" He raises his voice.

"Yeah, to protect me. Henry told me." I roll my eyes.

"He's not lying H-bear." Mason defends him.

"Don't call me that! Not anymore." I warn them. The nickname sounds so distant now, wrapped in a peculiar tone, hiding as a shadow in my memories. It used to love it once. A name that only my ex-brothers could call me. Now it sounds so empty.

Then out of the blue, a gun shot is heard above the loud party racket. We all ducked our heads incase a bullet passes by.

"Sh*t! They know we found her." Nick shouts.

"Found who?" Tristan asks.

More gun shots, and terrified screams of the party clearing out.

"I can't believe this! You were sent to get me." Anger seethes out of my red skin.

"We had to! Luther was going to kill us." James protests.

"You have to come with us, Hailey." Conner grabs my arm in a hurtful manner and I winced at the action.

"She's not going anywhere with you!" Tristan growls in anger, liberating me from my brother's iron grip. He gives Jordan and Chase a strange signal and they nod in response before going out of the kitchen. 

"Don't get involved in this, man. It's not up to you." Mason huffs his chest to seem threatening but Tristan's height still tops his.

"Run on the count of three." Tristan whispers in my ear and I nod.

"1..."

"2..."

"3..."

Tristan grabs my hand and we hurriedly slip through the kitchen doors and into the lessened crowd. Three men in suites with guns firmly gripped in their hands spot us and I recognise two of them as Henry's men.

"We have to lose them." I shout so that my voice reaches Tristan's ears.

"Closet!" He exclaims as an idea just sprang into his mind. "Follow me."

Like I actually have a choice.

He pulls me into a nearby closet blending in with the white walls supporting the roof. He quickly shuts the door and pulls a light switch to scare away the surrounding darkness.

"This is not how I imagined seven minutes of heaven with you." He tries to brighten up the mood.

"Only you, Tristan." I shake my head.

"Can I at least get a kiss while we're in here?" He sneaks his arms around my waist and a smirk steals his lips.

"Not now, Tristan." I whine while trying to push him away but fail.

"I'll let you go after giving me what I want."

"Fine." I sigh and wrap my arms around his neck, bringing his lips closer and closer to mine. His lips are now about a centimetre away from mine, but suddenly, a loud opening door pulls us off each other and two grinning Cheshire cats, named Jordan and Chase, stare back at us.

"Even death can't break you guys apart?" Chase winks.

"You guys are pure idiots." Tristan groans while running a hand through his brown locks.

"Thank goodness you saved me." I sigh dramatically.

"Hey!" Tristan whines. "I'm still gonna get that kiss." He mutters.

"We got the guns." Jordan states.

"Guns? Do I get one as well?" I grin happily.

Sue me. I love guns.

Don't own guns, kids!

"You?" Chase questions. "Do you even know how to handle one?"

"Just give it to her." Tristan groans at them.

They hand my a black gun and I proudly grin at my now grumpy boyfriend, standing on my toes to give him a lingering kiss on his lips.

"That's what it took to have you kiss me?" He asks incredulously.

"Nope. Still would've, they interrupted." I point at two of the three stooges.

"Not to interrupt, but WE HAVE TO GO!" Jordan reminds us.

We snap back to reality and we leave the closet. The sound of bullets fly above our heads and we continue running towards the doors. The three guys fire a few shots to remove Conner and his gang, as well as the men in suites, from our trail. We finally to escape the house unharmed and Tristan and I spring to his mustang, while Jordan and Chase run to Chase's car.

"Wood House!" Tristan yells at the two guys before we plung into the car and driving off to safety.

"Wood house?" I ask Tristan after catching my breath.

"Its safe there." He responds, not removing his eyes off the road. He's increasing the speed with each word he utters.

"Okay." I nod. "Is it your parents'?"

"Not really, they built it for me." He explains.

"Cool." I nod again.

"We've got company." Tristan fills the few seconds of silence after glancing at his side and rear mirrors. "You have to drive." He commands me.

"Drive? There's no way I'm doing that." I shake my head profusely in denial.

"Do you want to shoot them while in a moving car?" He asks.

"Fair point."

Let me tell you, swapping seats with the driver while being chased by people who are probably trying to give you your last breath is not easy.

Once the wheel is firmly in my hands' grip, I increase the speed and manoeuvre our way through traffic while Tristan tries to irk them away by shooting at them. I quickly ask Tristan for directions but he answers immediately by telling me to just focus on losing them.

I take a sharp right turn, earning a few hoots from screeching cars and an 'ouch!' from Tristan. "We lost them for now, but don't slow down." He says.

"Wasn't planning to." I mutter sarcastically.

After almost an hour of trying to lose them ( they kept on finding us ) we eventually found a temporary hiding place in an alley.

"That was fun." I say to break the breath filled silence.

"Not going to comment." Tristan shakes his head.

"But you just did." I wink at him knowing how well I stole his words.

"Whatever." His eye roll doesn't stop the creeping smile on his face.

"Thought so." I smirk in victory.

"What do we do now?" I ask him.

"Wait for a few minutes then go to the hideout."

"Okay."

.........

A/N: Finally! Chapter 50! At long last.

Short chapter--like always.

Thanks guys for the amazing support throughout this, and yes, our journey is almost ending.

*wipes fake tear*

I'm glad this book is about to finish, since that means I can focus on my second book, 12 Reasons Why. You can check it out if you want *wink wink*.

Who agrees with me that Conner is an idiot?

Comment. Vote.

See ya after a hundred more years!  Just kidding

Love ya!