These chapters need heavy editing please read and let me know what you think so far!!!

Aubrey

The last thing I expected was to go to work and see my family. I was in the back with Xavier when the counter bell rang. I went to take whoever's order and saw my sister standing with a man.

"Ashley?" She looked over me and I could practically hear her judging me.

"This is what you moved for?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked ignoring her comment.

"You wouldn't answer the phone and mom and dad were worried, looks like for good reason." She flipped her perfectly curled blonde hair.

"Are they here?"

"Yeah they're parking. Look they want you to come with us they are going to try and beat around the bush but..."

"Hello darling!" I looked past Ashley to see my parents. I walked around the counter to hug them.

"Hey mom, hey dad." Mom looked over the place.

"This is...cozy, very quaint." She said forcing a smile. "So you work here?" I nodded walking back to the other side of the counter. "Well when are you off we want you to show us around. I'd love to see your place!" She said too enthusiastic about it. I knew she was faking the pleasantries.

"I get off in about half an hour but umm.." I looked behind me. Xavier would never let me out of his sight and I didn't know how they'd get along.

"But what? We drove hours to see you." My dad spoke up his voice demanding as always.

"Yeah, I know I just was..."

"Angel," I turned to see Xavier looking at me questioningly. Great.

"Aubrey, who is this?" My dad asked sternly. Xavier glared at him moving closer to me.

"Dad, this is Xavier. Xavier this is my dad,mom, sister Ashley, and..." I pointed to the boy with her but didn't know him.

"Oh this is...um...Bryson." My sister said looking at Xavier in a daze.

"Who exactly are you?" My mom asked. I noticed Mr. West coming in to take over the shop.

"Look I'm about to clock out then we can go...catch up." I turned and headed towards the back pulling Xavier with me.

"Angel, are you okay?"

"Um." I wasn't sure how to answer. I was just caught off guard.

"It's just your parents. Why do they stress you out so much?" Xavier asked moving my hair out of my face. I sighed.

"You're right. I'm being ridiculous." I talked to Mr. West asking if I could clock out early. He was fine with it. I walked to the front where my parents waited.

"So, um, what do y'all want to do?" I asked them. They all were staring at Xavier behind me. My dad was glaring at him, my mom looked concerned and my sister look intrigued.

"Why don't you show us your place? I'm sure you want to change anyways, and a little makeup wouldn't kill you." My mom said looking over me. I looked down suddenly, feeling self conscience.

"Um, actually my stuff isn't at my house it's at his." I nodded towards Xavier. "But if you'd still like to see..."

"You are living with a man you haven't even known... six months?" My dad asked disapproving. My mom put a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should all go eat something." She decided, I agreed.

"There is a small restaurant down the street, we could walk from here." As we walked into the restaurant, heads turned, like usual when Xavier was around.

"H-how many?" The hostess stuttered.

"Six" Xavier answered. The girl walked us to the table and we all sat. I noticed Ashley grab the open seat on the other side of Xavier quickly.

"So you two are seeing each other?" My mom asked after the waitress took our drink orders. I nodded. "How did you meet?"

"She ran into me one day and after that we just kept seeing each other around." Xavier lied smoother than I ever could have.

"What are the Young Guns?" My dad asked he must have saw his jacket. "You're in a gang." Xavier's eyes darkened.

"No, it's a club."

"Exactly what I said." I ran my hand over Xavier's under the table trying to calm him down. "So my daughter is dating a gang member." My dad glared at me.

"Dad, it's not a gang it's just a club."

"Hm" He grunted. "Anyway, Aubrey, how are you doing after leaving a job you worked four years to get?" I sighed.

"I'm doing great I really love it here." I said ignoring the unnecessary reminder of my four years in college.

"I'm sure you do." Ashely said, looking over Xavier's tattoos. Her boyfriend, I guess, glared at her.

"Do you have your own place?" My mom asked sounding concerned.

"Yes I do."

"Oh good, I was worried you weren't able to afford it."

"How's everything at home." I asked changing the subject.

"It's fantastic! Regina has finally gotten engaged" Regina was my other sister, "and he is the VP of a large bank. Ashely and Bryson met a few months ago," she beamed towards them. "Bryson is an architect at his father's company, Smiths Architecture, one of the largest companies in the southeast." I smiled towards the boy. Mom frowned dramatically. "We miss you back home. I ran into your old boss he said he'd happily take you back as soon as you got settled back in." Xavier stiffened beside me. I frowned at her. "Honey, we know you love it here and needed a change but come on, what are you trying to prove?"

"I promise I have a good life here. I have a whole community of people that I love and we take care of each other."

"What about a family? How do you expect to have one here?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Xavier jumped in.

"I...um...I just mean...you know...eventually she might want to have a husband and kids of her own and I don't know if she can find that here. For one, you have to have a real income to have a family."

"She can have a family with me and she can work at the coffee shop as long as she wants and if she decides she doesn't want to work at all I'll take care of her." I could hear the anger building up in his voice.

"And what exactly is it you do?" My dad asked matching Xavier's tone as he leaned forward towards him.

"I'm an accounting consultant for major companies across the US." My dad looked over him. Xavier leaned on the table having a stare off with my dad. "In fact, last year I was hired by Smiths Architecture to fix what their accountant missed which could have cost them the company."

"Xavier Steel? I knew you looked familiar!" Bryson spoke up for the first time. "My dad tells everyone about you." Dad looked between them before leaning back and leaving Xavier alone.

"Fine, then maybe I misjudged you but, Aubrey, you need to grow up. You're not a teenager, I get you like small towns but it's been six months. It's time to come home."

"Da..."

"Are y'all ready to order?" The waitress said cutting me off. We ordered, then Ashely attempted to talk to Xavier. I noticed it was taking everything in him to stay calm as she asked about all his visible tattoos, tried asking about the club, then asked about how much he made. My mom started in on me, telling me that I was letting myself go and that I should cut my hair to make a more mature style, wear more makeup and dress like I wasn't poor.

After we ate, Xavier paid for everyone's throwing some cash in the book and got up waiting for me to follow. My family walked ahead of us outside.

"Angel, you are beautiful. Don't you dare listen to a thing they say." I smiled up at him.

"Thank you." He leaned down kissing me. We walked outside where they were waiting for us. They were looking wide eyed down the road where Eric, Blade, and Ace were walking towards us. I smiled at them before I noticed blood on Blade's shirt.

"Wait here." Xavier whispered before meeting them halfway.

"Not a gang, uh?" Dad muttered. I ignored him. I saw Xavier look back at me. I walked towards him but was grabbed. I turned seeing my dad. "I think you should come with us. He looks busy."

"Hold on, I just need to check on something." I jogged over to them before he could protest.

"Blade, are you okay?" He looked pissed off.

"It's not his blood." Xavier said looking at me worried. It had to be serious he never looked worried like this.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Aubrey, I need you to stay with your family and Eric, I have to go to the hospital."

"Tell me what happened." He looked at the guys.

"It's Clutch, he was shot on a run." I froze.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, Angel, I know how close you two are but please I promise I'll let you know if anything happens. I need you to stay here." I felt tears threatening my eyes.

"Aubrey, the sooner he goes the sooner we can see how he is." Eric said calmly. I nodded.

"Okay go but as soon as I can I want to see him." He nodded before hurrying off with the others.

"Wipe your face, love, your family is walking this way." I did as he said. "Just put on a smile and act like nothing's wrong no one needs to know about this."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Years of practice."

Xavier

We got to the hospital as soon as possible. As I got to the reception desk I told the woman I need to speak to Doctor Allen, He was the Doctor that helped Aubrey. The nurses fear at my urgency had her rushing to get the doctor out there.

"Xavier?"

"One of my guys is in the emergency room. I need you to treat him." He looked at me strangely.

"The ER doctors will take care of it."

"No I need you to do it, I don't need anyone running to the cops or asking too many questions."

"Fine, come on we will walk over." When we got to the ER, the doctor willingly handed over Clutch's charts and left. I sat in the waiting room with the rest of the guys for the doc. About two hours later, he came from the back. He looked concerned.

"Why the long face, Doc?"

"Listen, I'm not going to beat around the bush, his condition is critical. He is unconscious and we did have to operate and there is a chance that he will become stable but it is a slim chance."

"What does that mean? He might not make it?" Blade demanded. The doctor frowned.

"The surgery went as good as we could have hoped but it still doesn't mean everything will be..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll stay tonight in case anything happens."

"Thanks, Doc. When will we see him?"

"Well only family is allowed back but I'm sure the nurses aren't going to stop you."

"Blade, go ahead back I'll call Eric really fast." He nodded following the doctor. I called Eric and he answered on the first ring.

"How bad?"

"He has a chance but it's slim. Don't tell Aubrey, okay? She has enough to deal with, with her parents."

"No shit, I don't know how someone so sweet came from these people. I'm surprised you were able to hold your temper." It had been close.

"Is she okay?" I hated leaving her with them. If they hadn't been her family, I would have killed them for the way they were talking to her.

"Yeah, I think they are giving up on her coming home with them so we should be over there soon."

"Alright, bye."

"See ya," I walked back to find Clutch's room. Blade was in the chair beside him looking ready to explode. They were closer than best friends, they had been like brothers since I'd met them. I looked over Clutch they had him hooked up to two IVs and he was on oxygen.

"Blade, I need to know exactly what happened."

"We were doing a run for this family owned gas station. Apparently, this 1% club, Devil's Horsemen, has been trying to fuck with them. Anyways, they didn't seem shocked to see us, it's like they were prepared for it. It was civil at first they said mind our own business all that shit then one just pulled his gun as they were leaving he didn't even aim just fired and ran off to his bike. The president just laughed and said 'until next time'. Like what the fuck does that even mean?"

"They are going to be a problem."

"The gas station owners begged us to come back in three days for another run but I think we should take more guys."

"And me, I'm going on this next one. If we want to intimidate this club I need to be there."

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch." Blade sneered looking over Clutch.

"Be my guest." I heard footsteps running to the room and turned to see Aubrey. She froze seeing Clutch. "Angel," she moved towards his bed taking his hand. I walked behind her rubbing her arms.

"What did the doctor say?" She asked never taking her eyes off him. I hesitated.

"That you need to pray for him, Angel."