Chapter fifty-three: "Night Ride"

After buying tokens at the cashier so we could all play, me and Caramia knew immediately that we were followed

Unlike the rest of my sisters, me and Caramia we're just a bit sensitive when being followed

I handed the tokens to Brie so she and the rest could play with Benjamin at the arcade games

Natalie looked at me "But what about you and Cara?" she glanced at the both of us

Cara shook her head and I replied "You guys go ahead, me and Cara have been eyeing a cute dress at that shop over there" my index finger pointed to the shop that was a few stores to the right from the arcade

"Ok, I'll be at the claw machine game if you need me," she said before heading to the game with Adeline

As their backs became smaller me and Cara looked at each other before nodding
Time to act

I hooked my arms with Cara "Let's go or else someone might take it first"

She nodded before we pass a huge arcade mascot
Alright!

Right after we passed the mascot, we were now aware that we were followed. Cara abruptly stopped walking and I followed her
It seems like the followers stopped walking too

"Hey, Pen can I use my pellet gun right now?" she asked me discreetly
If anybody is wondering, Cara always has a toy pellet gun with her. Its color is pink and quite smaller than a normal pistol

Even though it is a toy gun the toy pistol still hurts when it hits somebody

"Go ahead but I'm not gonna be involved with a walking lawsuit like you sis" I laughed

She smirked before carefully putting her hand inside her purse and pulling out the pink small pistol then pointing it at the stalker

With dead eyes and a monotone voice, I said "Really?"

Cloud, Noah, and Dustin had their hands up

"Don't shoot Cara" Dustin pleaded to Cara whose finger was near to pulling the trigger

She rolled her eyes "If I shoot it there" the pistol was pointed to Dustin's lower region "Procreation is the least of your worries from now on" her lips formed a sadistic smirk
Where the hell did Cara even acquire her personality?!

Dustin swallowed his spit with nervousness "H-hey let's think rationally"

Cloud laughed at his brother "Calm down Dust it's not like the pellet would hu-GAH!" he yelled out in pain when Cara hit his thigh region with the pellet toy gun

I snorted a bit and did my best to try and hide it from my boyfriend who saw my reaction after soothing the pain

Cara pouted "Aw, I missed" she sighed sadly

It was good that there were not many people or stores at this part of the mall or else there would be a lot of audiences right now

While Cara was still pointing the toy gun at Cloud, Noah took the chance and grabbed her toy gun before she could shoot it at him

"Mommy look!" a child and a mother that happens to pass by saw Noah holding the pink toy gun at Cara

The mother gasped and covered her daughter's eyes "Young man that is not nice" she scolded Noah whose face turned red from embarrassment, her dirty stares never ended until she and her daughter walked right around the corner

Cara cackled at Noah that she has her hand on my shoulder to support herself from falling because her stomach hurts from laughing too much, her laugh was contagious that I started to laugh alongside her

"Sadistic bitches" Dustin mumbled while helping Cloud out

"Perverted stalkers" I narrowed my eyes at all three of them, Cara has finally calmed down and was doing her best to catch her breath

Cloud gave me a middle finger and I returned it with a wink and mouthing him "Love you" to mock him
I like the passive-aggressive affection we are exchanging right now

Before I dragged Cara away I kissed Cloud's cheek then we returned to the arcade with the others, leaving the three there to rethink their life choices

Benji did have fun and he did reconcile with at least half of his brothers which was good
The bad part is Cloud hasn't apologized for what he said to his little brother

Even after we all spent our entire day at the mall, not once did he try to apologize. After we watched a movie, all of us were heading straight to the parking lot so we could go home and I haven't seen Cloud anywhere right after the movie ended

I stopped walking and asked, "Has anyone seen Cloud?"

Nobody and not even his brothers knew where he went
Whereon earth would that rascal go now at this time?

The mall was closing and everybody was starting to exit through the doors, the shops were turning off the lights as the main guards do their rounds to check if everything is in place
Maybe he went home first?

Of course being the scaredy-cat myself for having a fear of shut down malls, I ran to join the others in the parking lot

That's where we saw Cloud who was standing next to the car that he brought

With both hands in his pocket, he walked up to Benji who was confused while looking up at him. Cloud glanced at the others with his face like he wanted some privacy with his little brother for a moment

Everybody obliged and hopped on their respective cars before leaving the parking lot, I volunteered to be left behind with Cloud and Benji while my sisters were with the other brothers

"Hey bud"

"Yeah?" Benji glanced up at his tall big brother who stood beside him as they watch the cars leave

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier"

I smiled as I watch his ears turn red from being shy about it. Benji crossed his arms "I thought you are gonna be happy that I won't be your brother anymore"

Cloud patted Benji's small head "I'm not, I can't afford to lose another sibling, not you, not Mason, not Oliver, or even the other three" he gave out a slight chuckle "You must be frustrated and asked yourself why were you even a Marshall, did you?"

Benji nodded with Cloud's hand still rested on top of his head "I am very jealous of my classmates who could go everywhere without having to worry even a single bit about their life or family"
Inheriting the Marshall name must've been already a heavy burden on 8-year-old Benji's shoulders

"You are here now and we can't change that, I'm sorry if I couldn't give you what you wish for" Cloud was speaking from personal experience

"I'm sure Big Sis Meghan would know what to do" Benji answered sadly

"You're right, she always knows what to do even if she has to go against Dad for all of us" Cloud and Benji together reminisce about their sister

"So! Enough with this gloomy atmosphere, here," Cloud said abruptly and pulled out something from behind the car, Benji's eyes lit up once he saw that it was a toy fighter jet plane

"Shh don't tell Mom about this"

Benji nodded eagerly and hugged Cloud before hopping into his car while hugging the toy box with a huge grin spread across his face

Me and Cloud soon hopped in then he started the car engine before driving out of the parking lot, it was quiet inside the car since Benji fell asleep and Cloud was focused on the road

He stopped the car at a red light

"Are you okay? About what happened at the parking lot I mean"

Cloud didn't answer but his body language said otherwise, his hand slowly crept to hold mine, and together our fingers intertwined with our hands resting on my thigh as I enjoy his big warm hand on this night ride back home