Elliot Jacob Fernández always entered a room with an overwhelming presence. Whether he has his bodyguards or not, the 6-foot man raised your nerves to such a level that the only thing keeping you steady is the fact that you wouldn't want to embarrass yourself in front of him.

When he first approached me at the park, I thought he'd take me into his car and drop my lifeless body in the middle of nowhere. Instead, he sat down beside me, appealed to my struggles as a Longwood and offered me a job.

He was nice, in a scary way. Like you could go up to him and hug him but you couldn't steal food from his plate and expect him to understand it as a joke. He was funny too, very funny. Funny in the sense that if you didn't laugh at his joke he was guaranteed to shoot you in the foot.

I liked him though. If it wasn't for him I'd be under a mountain of debt, and for that I'm grateful. I try to prove it to him by staying out of his way and never bothering him.

Well, until today. Clearly, with his piercing eyes still trained on me, he was bothered by me. I mean, after all, I didn't inform him that I and his daughter have gotten so close to the point that I'm seeking shelter in her safe house.

All I've told him is that she was at her safe house, by herself.

Michael leans forward, to get a better look at the man standing in front of us, "Isn't that Elliot Fernández? The mafia boss?"

He looks at me to answer him but I open the door instead, "I'll see what he wants. Divine, keep the doors locked until I say otherwise."

"You want me to stay in the car because of my father?" Her warm eyes widen in disbelief but I knew she understood why.

If one of us-- mainly Michael to be honest-- said something to piss him off, well, he'd have a head pinned on his wall.

"Your father?! How is he your father? And why is my brother getting out of the car into his death?" Mickey grabs my forearm in urgency, "Mason, get in the car."

I pull my arm away from him and try to smile. It's not like I'm going to die. "I'll be right back. Stay here." As I get out and shut the door, the atmosphere thickens.

I look at Tim and Drake, his regular bodyguards that stood a head taller than me and a shoulder wider too. Their presence made my throat dry, especially since they didn't have their easy-going smiles that usually appeared when I'm near.

Just cold stares and scowls.

Elliot spreads his chubby arms open for me, "Masey. Come, come."

Swallowing my nerves, I walk up to the rage-filled man I call my boss and let his arms engulf me in a hug.

He laughs, false delight laced in his voice. "Don't be so afraid, son. I'm only here to offer my condolences." He looks back at the car, a gleam in his iced eyes, "And well, to get back my daughter."

I step away from him, "I told you everything I could. She just--"

"Yes yes, she just needs a little time to come to terms with the marriage." He waves me away dismissively, "I know. I know I can trust you, my boy, you've told me everything. You've done your job so well too. Even if you lied to me about who she was staying with."

Guilt eats at my stomach and I turn my head away, his smile was so misleading. He isn't pleased with me not telling him that Pete and I were staying with Dee. But he'll forgive it, he'll see it as a little lie.

However, my guilt and shame stem from the fact that Divine put her sacred trust in me to not report her movements to her father but... I need this job. And frankly, I'm more afraid of her dad than I am of her.

"You told me I have no reason to worry about Peter, right?" I look at him and the vein pumping through his neck makes me panic. "She still looks at him fondly, even though he broke her heart. No one would miss him, I believe. Not even her."

Something evil flashes in his eyes and by dumb instinct I tilt my head into his line of vision.

"Divine values their friendship, sir, she wouldn't be happy with you if he went missing." I clench my jaw, "I wouldn't allow it."

His eyes widen and he grins at me, "Allow it? Masey, I know you care for my daughter but not so much so that you'd threaten me."

"I'm not." A shiver runs down my spine and I turn to look at the people in the car. I lock eyes with the one person I love deeply. "I'm not saying this for her sake. I'm saying it for mine."

He clicks his tongue at me and I'm somewhat offended, "Please, you told me you didn't want him around you anymore. Why would you now-"

"I love him." I stare at Elliot as the words leave my mouth, unwavering.

I give Tim and Drake a glance, their stone faces haven't changed but at least I'm not getting scowled at anymore.

"I love him, and if you ever hurt him then I won't hesitate to tell Divine what really happened to her mother." I take a step closer to him, my eyes never leaving his. "You will leave Peter out of this, sir."

He doesn't flinch but I see a furrow on his eyebrow before it could disappear. He wouldn't do anything to ruin the little relationship he has with Dee.

"I knew there was a fire in you that I loved. You're a survivor, I want that in my mafia." He smiles at me, slyly, "A pity you didn't take up my offer in marrying Elloise. But now I guess," he looks over my shoulder, "it makes sense."

His brittle voice causes my heart to stop, he didn't sound sincere at all. I fake a cough to catch his attention, "What can we do for you, sir--"

He cuts me off with a sinister smile, "You shouldn't trust her so easily; she's my daughter after all. Anyway, I'm assuming you've learned about Madison still being alive."

My eyes widen in horror, he knew.

I'm not sure if I'm shocked at all, he's powerful enough to find shit out. I'm more surprised he didn't find a way to hold it over my head, in any way.

Did...did Divine know? No. She would have told me, right?

"You knew?"

He leans his face closer to mine, and places a hand on my shoulder, "I know everything."

The colour flushes out of my face, "Did she know?" I lick my dry lips. She couldn't have.

He shrugs his shoulders, and a part of me cried out in betrayal. "I think she might have suspected it because she did ask me to look into it."

I try to take a step away from him, but I lose my footing. I barely manage to not fall flat on my ass. My lips turn into a frown when I remember how she randomly invited Seth to sit with us,

"You don't have to talk to him but I feel if we leave him alone he'll do something bad."

I remember the glint in her eyes when she said, "And it has something to do with someone you know."

She fucking knew. She knew that Seth was still with Madison, and when I told her about the emerald-eyed girl that Seth sat with while I worked at the cafe-- she knew it was Madison.

That fucking bitch.

Now it makes sense why she didn't say anything when Madison showed up today. Normally, Divine would have been the first one to call out bullshit but she knew. And she let me choke on tears instead of warning me.

When the car door opens, I turn to look at her.

I wasn't sad or angry, just greatly disappointed. I trusted her. Despite everything that has happened in my life I trusted her and she still stood on the rooftop with me and demanded I share my secrets with her.

"You two-faced bitch!" I yell as walk up to her, "you fucking knew!"

She tightens her grip on the car door handle before closing it, "Mason, I wasn't sure. I wanted to be certain when I told--"

"You should have told me anyway!" I throw my arms up in desperation.

When I see a figure move in the car I point my index finger at him, "You sit right there, both of you."

She rolls her eyes at me and my jaw sets, "Don't act like I'm the only one keeping secrets here. You didn't think I'd know you've been telling my dad everything? Even after I warned you not to?" She took a few steps closer to me and whispered, "You're even lying to Peter about your feelings for him."

My mouth goes agape and I try to find something to defend myself with but there's none. "Whatever is going on between Peter and me, it's our issue. You don't need to get involved."

But she was right. I'm not different from her. Hell, I'm even hiding the truth about her mother's death from her.

"I'll involve myself where I see fit, especially when my best friend keeps crying over your lies!"

I blink, surprised. He's still crying.

She pokes her emerald-coloured index finger at my chest, "You can't always pretend like you're the only one getting hurt in this, Mason."

She smiles sweetly at me but something about it sends moths into my stomach. I should be scared of her, she has her father's blood running through her veins after all.

"Elloise," His voice calls out for her and just like that her smile fades. "Come, give me a welcoming hug."

He holds out his hand towards her and I watch her hesitate. Nonetheless, she walks away from me and hugs him with little effort and affection.

"I told you to stay away, pa." I've never heard such a hate-filled voice that was sugar-coated too.

He chuckles at her, "I can never."

Despite my warning, Peter and Michael step out of the car.

"Hello, Mr Fernández."

"Peter. Are you well?"

"Yes, sir. I'm fine."

Elliot hums, "And you must be Michael. I've heard so much about you." Not from me, obviously.

Mickey hides behind me, anxious. "Is my brother really working for you? Sir."

My throat closes up and I hold his hand, "I told you to stay in the car."

"Mason is one of my favourite assets, my child. I'll miss him when he leaves." His eyes smile at me but I don't trust them.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me, Mason." He tugs his hand away from me and my heart drops.

I can't deal with this right now. "Mickey, please just go upstairs. I'll come to talk to you later, okay? I promise." He shakes his head in disbelief but runs to the house anyway.

Elliot watches him storm off and then turns to me, "Very spirited boy, he is."

"You stay away from him." Divine and I say at the same time. We lock eyes but don't acknowledge anything.

Divine's father whistles, "Wow. Didn't think you two would gang up against me."

"We're not, pa. Just leave the kid alone." She sounds so different next to him, almost as of she's being drowned; I can't see the usual flare she carried herself with.

He struggles, nonchalantly, "I don't know what you're so worried about, I'm not going to hurt a kid. I have morals you know." He pauses and looks at me, "And don't worry, Mason, I won't hurt Peter either."

The urge to look at the strong presence behind me washed over me but I fought it.

But first, before I can talk myself out of it, I reach for his forearm and squeeze it. Just to make sure he was there and somehow Elliot hadn't taken him from me.

Peter lets my hand wrap around his arm, too scared and confused to react. Even if his muscles are tensed underneath my palm, his biggest problem wasn't me touching him but the dangerous mob boss in front of him-- that confessed he had planned on hurting him.

Elliot always found time to remind Peter that he didn't like him; he was only alive out of grace and love for Divine. If Divine ever pissed her dad off to a breaking point, Peter would be the first person he'd use to set her back in line.

That's why I threatened to expose the truth about Dee's mom's death if anything ever happened to Peter. I'll put myself in harm's way just to keep him safe.

The look Elliot sends at my hand around Peter makes me pull Peter slightly behind me.

"Anything else we can do for you, sir?" I ask through gritted teeth. I want to leave; run into the cottage house and count heads. Making sure all of the people I love still had their heads attached.

Fuck, they should have stayed in the car!

He squints at me, displeased yet again with my attitude. "No, my boy, you can't do anything for me anymore. I just want some privacy to talk to my daughter."

Lucky for my anxiety, he turns around and gives Dee his full attention, but not before dismissing us.

With an obedient and grateful nod-- that he didn't even see-- I speed walk with my hand still around Peter's arm, just making sure he doesn't get snatched by Drake and Tim while we walk past them.

Surprisingly, as I nod nervously at them, Drake returns my greeting by winking at me, with no emotion at all. But Tim slightly lifts his left hand to wave at me, brows furrowed with an anxious smile.

As I shut the door behind me, I take a deep breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth.

This. This is why I avoid Elliot as much as possible, the man is nerve-wracking.

Peter stands behind me, my hand still holding his soft arm. I can feel his fear and anxiety as I turn to look at him.

"Jung?" I ask him, even though he meets my eyes he's not looking at me. There's a haze in his pupils that cause me to worry. "Peter? You okay?"

He slowly shakes his head, hazy eyes not leaving mine. "He's going to kill me."

I frown and let go of his arm, just to grab his shoulders. "He's not. He said he wouldn't, I made him promise. Okay?"

"You didn't see how he looked at me, Mason. So much hate; he'd pull the trigger on me without a blink." He wraps his hands around my wrists, grabbing tightly.

I forgot how easy he is to scare. Anything gets to him.

I take his hand into mine and rub his knuckles, "It's okay, Pete. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He closes his eyes and exhales deeply. "No one's going to hurt you, I'm here, and so is Divine. We've got you."

He nods; eyes still closed. He seems to have calmed down a bit. His fear is valid, painfully valid but I won't let it become reality. Elliot won't touch him, even if my body is cold and bloody, I won't let anyone hurt him.

I've proven it before; I took the blame for him hurting an old lady because I knew his parents would end him if they knew what he did. I'll put myself in danger just for him.

"Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm okay." He whispers before opening his beautiful brown eyes and giving me a shaky smile. Alright, I'll take what I can get.

I nod, "As long as you're not panicking anymore." I squeeze his hand in assurance.

We stare at each other for what felt like hours. My dull green eyes glance into his darling brown ones, and I get lost in them; almost like I am melting in warm chocolate. I could wake up every day looking into them without ever getting bored.

His long bangs brush lightly his eye lashes and he rapidly blinks in annoyance.

I don't understand why he wouldn't get a haircut when it's clear he didn't like his hair touching him constantly.

The back of his hair is slowly growing past his neck, he made a joke days ago about growing a mullet and in distress, I pushed him off the bed.

His cheeks tint red and I'm not sure if it's because of the previous crying session he had, or because I brushed his bangs away from his face. He's so easy to make blush.

The urge to kiss him blooms in me and I glance at his pink, plump lips. The windy weather has caused the skin to crack slightly, something I can fix with my tongue.

I jump in shook when he snatches his hand away from mine, his face is twisted in conflict and minor rage. Right. I 'broke' his heart not even two hours ago. He's still angry at me.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, "Jung."

"No." He shakes his head in protest, but I haven't even said anything.  "I know this seems silly to you, Mason, but please give me some space. I need to process everything right now." I raise my eyebrow at him,

"Because I rejected you?"

He sharply turns his head at me, "Yes," he hisses out, "You didn't just reject me, you invalidated my feelings. Not even that, Madison is still alive and is transgender. It's a lot."

I look away from him; he's right. A lot has happened today.

"Not to mention, I find out that my life has most likely been in danger the whole time--"

"I told you, nothing is going to happen. "

"Yes! I get that but fuck sakes, it's still a scary thing to find out. You wouldn't understand, Mason. Unlike you, I'm very afraid of death."

Oh.

I scratch the back of my neck, ashamed. Or rather, guilty. I forget not everyone handles shit as I do.

I bite my lip in thought, "I don't want to lose your friendship, Pete. We've lost so many years due to misunderstandings, I'd like us to... to continue--"

He cocks his brow and tilts his head in a cute but infuriating way. "Continue being fuck buddies?"

"What?" My eyes widen in horror and embarrassment. "No, that's not what I meant."

He crosses his arms, "So you didn't mean you want us to continue with our sexual adventures, but without you committing to me?"

I take a step back. Where's all this raw misinformation coming from? "Dude, when have I suggested that? I just want to be friends."

He watches me carefully before stepping forward. "So you don't want to fuck me?"

"I-" What am I supposed to say to that? His tone implies there's more to the question like it's a trick. I shake my head, "No."

"Oh? So not only am I not good enough to love but also not enough to fuck?" My brows shoot up, "Tell me, Mason, do you believe you're all that?"

I gulp down the saliva struck in my throat. "Listen. I'd love to fu-- I mean, have sexual activities with you but--"

He shoots his arms up in disbelief, "Ooooh, so you wanna fuck me but not commit? What do you take me for?"

I squeeze my eyes shut, and my face burns. "What do you want from me?!" I yell in frustration.

I'm used to Peter teasing me but this is merciless bullying.

I open an eye to see that he has an unimpressed look on his face. His lips are in a line and his eyes are squinted, "I want you to figure out what the fuck you want from this; our relationship. Because if you want me, Mason, all of me, then you have to love me first."

Damn, he's so handsome and he knows it.

Wait. Not the important thing right now. Blinking for whole five seconds I try to find something to say. "Love you?"

He laughs sadly, "Don't make it sound like it's impossible." There's devastation in his eyes and I want to clear it away.

He squares his shoulders nonetheless, "I'm not a toy you can use and dismiss at your will, Mase. I do want to be friends with you, that I'll accept, but if you want to hold me as lovers do then you'll have to love me as lovers do. Think about what you want, Longwood, before it's too late."

Before he can fully turn his back to me, in a panic I ask, "When will it be too late?"

He smiles over his shoulder, "Whenever I'm done waiting, love."

And just like that, he's gone up the stairs, leaving me with more questions and conflict.

Love him as lovers do? Why does that confuse me more? Why don't I know the difference between what we were doing, and what lovers do?