Reid looked at him like he didn't believe him before starting to laugh. Aero and I both exchanged glances while Reid continued to laugh, I haven't heard him laugh this hard since he tripped me and made my iced coffee hit a girl he hated. 

"An assassin? Really?" he said while laughing. "Good one, Aero. Hey, you're starting to develop humor again."

Aero's face remained completely serious, making Reids laugh and smile slowly fade. He knitted his eyebrows together and asked, "Wait, are you serious?"

"Yes. I just killed the person who was shooting outside," he says extremely bluntly, which makes me widen my eyes at him and nudge his arm. He just shrugs as if it were no big deal, but I guess when it's been your life for years, you become desensitized to it. 

I asked him softly, "Who was it?"

"I have no idea, but Alessandro is the only person who knows where I live. I'm sure this was his doing, but I'm going to go and figure this shit out," Aero said while stroking my hair like it was supposed to calm him down. My scalp tingles at the feeling of his hands running through my hair. "Well, Tomas does too, but he's too cowardly to try something like this."

Reid piped up while shaking his head, "Wait - assassin? What the fuck?"

I placed my hand on Aeros and told him, "It's okay, you can go. I'll fill him in on everything."

He nodded and kissed me, holding me close to him. After a few moments of our lips moving, Reid awkwardly cleared his throat, making Aero pull away. He kissed me again one more time quickly before getting up to leave. 

Reid pushed himself off of the ground and dragged me up with him. He looked at the window with the mark from a bullet and said, "Yea. Fill me in."

I took a deep breath, grabbing him by his wrist and pulling him into the living room. I forced him to sit and I sat down beside him, "So. Aero has been an assassin since he was 21. He got involved in it because of another assassin named Alessandro, which was who he was just talking about."

"Why?" he asks. Right now just proves how much he loves his brother. Here he is, learning he's an assassin, but he doesn't run. He doesn't insult him. He just tries to understand. 

I just shrugged. I don't know why Aero kills people for a living. It always slips my mind, because he is always so kind and gentle around me. I don't know why he doesn't just stop or leave, but I'm also not in the mafia. I assume there's way more to it, and that it's not just that easy.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Jesus. I had no idea."

I gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that it was a lot to hear. He lay down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. I lay beside him and looked up also. He asked me, "Is he going to stop doing it?"

I'm silent for a moment.

"I hope so," I say quietly. 

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

A E R O

I held my sniper rifle in my hands, with my AR-15 slung on my back.

I'm even more deadly when I'm pissed off.

I looked into the window of the living room on the main floor. Alessandro sat there alone, sipping on a glass of whiskey. His father wasn't in there, which didn't surprise me. I pressed the sniper rifle against the window, knowing that it would go through the bulletproof glass when fired.

I aimed at his head, my finger resting on the trigger. Knowing that Hailey could've gotten hurt breaks my heart and makes me incredibly pissed off. And Reid - my little brother. He shouldn't get hurt because of the life that I live. I kept it aimed at his head, matching all of his movements. 

I fired the gun but at the last moment decided to aim directly above him, making the bullet miss him. I can't kill him before I get answers. The window shattered and he ducked onto the ground while covering his head. I entered through the window, replacing my AR-15 with my sniper. I held the AR in my hands and pointed it at his head as I walked closer to him, the glass crunching beneath my feet. 

He looked up at me with a pale face, "What the fuck Black?!"

"You getting other people to try and shoot up my house?" I snap. 

His eyebrows lowered and his voice is quieter this time, "The fuck are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I will not hesitate to kill you," I threatened while putting it against his forehead.

His hands were shaking slightly. I could tell he didn't have a gun on him, so he was completely at my mercy. 

But sadly for him, I'm not merciful.

"I didn't have anybody go to your house, I swear!" he shouts, his voice showing his desperation for me to save his life.

I looked him up and down, trying to figure out if he was lying to me or not. His body was trembling, knowing that these could be his very last moments. The don suddenly yelled from the stairs, "He didn't fucking send anyone. You seriously think we are your only enemies?"

I aimed the AR-15 at the don while my eyes moved with it. He weakly leans against the railing, looking even more pale than the last time I saw him. I asked, "Did you do it, old man? Dementia got you making irrational decisions and such?"

"Fuck no, I've been trying to track...." he trailed off realizing Alessandro was in the room, who was unaware of our last conversation. "Somebody down."

The Diaz family is far from being my only enemy. However, they were the only people I could think of right now that would be out to get me. 

"And have you tracked them down?"

The don weakly shook his head, "No, but we got extremely close today. If you come back tomorrow, we should have all of their information. But this time, no guns."

Like that'll fucking happen.

I brought the AR close to my chest, no longer aiming it. Besides Alessandro, there's nobody else that knows where I live that could've done something like that. That I'm aware of.

I exited the house through the front door. Tomorrow they better fucking have the name of the person threatening Hailey, it could be the same person that pulled that shit - it probably is. But I won't let anything happen to her, I'll protect her. No matter what. She might've liked me first, 

But I like her far more.

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

H A I L E Y

Reid left, needing some time to think, leaving me alone on the couch. Aeros bulletproof windows and 3 locks on his front door made me feel safer, but I still didn't feel completely safe after what happened.

I instantly sat up when I heard the front door open, Aero walking inside. I felt my heart lift seeing him and he walked over to me, sitting down on the cushion beside me. I asked, "What happened?"

"It wasn't Alessandro, but don't worry. I'll find out who it was," he said while resting his hand on my back, his tone sounding sure.

His black hair was slightly messed up now, some strands falling onto his forehead. I pushed it back into place and asked him, "Things get physical?"

He shrugged, "Not really."

I smiled slightly and he did too, like he wasn't allowing himself to smile until I did. He asked, "Did you eat while I was gone?"

I shook my head no and a frown formed on his face. He got up and walked to the kitchen, and I followed close behind him. He turned on the stove and threw the cut-up food into the pan. I told him, "It's okay, you don't have to cook for-"

"I'm going to cook for you for as long as you allow me to."

My eyebrows went down, as I didn't really understand what he meant. He turned away from the food and pulled me into his chest, hugging me tightly. He asked, "What time should we leave on the 19th?"

It was about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive, but I also didn't really want to wake up that early since it's the weekend. I responded, "2pm?"

If we leave at 2, we'll get there at 4:30 and still have a bunch of time to do stuff. I'm so excited to see the hotel that we're going to be staying in. I sadly have class tomorrow, but it's a shorter day so theres still time for Aero and I to do something after. Hopefully Reid and him can do something together soon, since tonight went to shit. They also need to talk about things.

He nodded his head at the time I said and continued to cook the food. I sat at the table and once it was done, he brought both of the plates over and sat beside me. After what happened tonight, there was something that I really wanted to ask him.

"Aero?" 

He looked up from his plate and said, "Yea?"

"When do you think you'll be done? Being an assassin, I mean."

He didn't reply for a second, taking a bite of his food. He looked like he was deep in thought. His tongue ran along his lips before asking, "Do you want me to be done?"

This time, it was my turn to not reply for a second. Aero is an adult, I don't dictate any decisions that he makes. However, if our relationship goes further, I don't want to be scared every day that I'm going to lose him as his enemies continue to grow and grow. 

"Yes," I responded quietly.

I didn't really know the reaction that I was expecting. But his face remained neutral, his tongue running along his top teeth. He responded, "Maybe after this month."

My eyebrows went up, "Really?"

He placed his fork down on his plate, "Maybe, Hailey. I can't make any promises. But after this month, if I've tied up all of my loose ends, then maybe I'll be done."

My mouth went up in a smile. I know that my relationship with Aero is fresh, and I know that he doesn't really owe me anything. But the fact that he's considering stepping out of his world of crime makes me feel like this relationship may be more serious than others.

I ate my dinner in the freaking happiest mood that I'd been in for a long time. Tomorrow I'm spending the night here, and then we're going to Philadelphia for the weekend. Once we're back I'm going to spend a night at Reids house. I love Aeros house and being around him, but I don't want to feel like I'm forcing myself into living with him when we haven't been dating for too long and I haven't started my career yet to be able to contribute financially. Not that he even needs the help.

Once we were done eating, I helped him with the dishes. It was now getting close to when I had to sleep in order to be able to stay awake during class tomorrow. We went into his bedroom and I looked around, imagining how some decorations could match his black and white room very well. 

I changed into one of his T-shirts and a pair of my black shorts. I got in bed beside him, turning a random channel on. He sat with his back against the headboard and rested one of his hands on my thigh. 

He asked me, "Do you think you'll talk to your dad again?"

I thought for a second. There are some things that it doesn't matter how much time has passed, you will never forget them. And I think that what my dad has said to me is one of those things. I don't see how I could forgive or forget the things he has said to me. My mom hasn't done anything wrong, she's amazing. But unfortunately, she is always with my dad. 

"I don't think so."

He nodded his head, his fingers gently tracing circles against my skin. I don't think I could ever have a relationship with my dad again, which is okay. Because I have better people in my life.

I asked him, "Can I drive us on the 19th?"

"You're funny."

"Hey! You saw me drive, you know I'm good at it," a smirk formed on my face. "Actually I might be better than you."

He raised his eyebrows, "Really?"

"Yup."

"What makes you think that?"

"You drive like a grandpa who lost their glasses."

I laughed as he got on top of me, pinning my arms over my head. He stared down at me with a slight smile, his black hair and chain dangling. He asked, "Do I, darling?"

I laughed while shaking my head no and he said through a laugh, "Not so confident now, huh?"

I continued to laugh until he bent down and kissed my lips, both of us smiling. He let my arms go and laid down beside me, pulling me into his chest. I smiled to myself as I shut my eyes, breathing in the intoxicating scent of his cologne. 

This is what pure happiness feels like. 

Word Count: 2222