~

A police siren is heard behind us, dragging us back to reality. With a sigh, Zyair drives slowly to the roadside and parks. He places both hands on the steering wheel and waits for the cops to get to us.

A police officer gets out of the car and walks up to Zyair's window. "Is there a reason you stopped in the middle of the road?" he asks, staring through the little window slit Zyair made.

Zyair shakes his head and swallows. "No. A mistake."

The cop nods and stares through the car window to look at me. He gives me a small wave, and I reply with a tight-lipped smile.

"Have you got any weapons?" he turns back to Zyair.

Zyair rolls his eyes hard and shakes his head. "No."

The officer points to me. "Is she someone you know?"

Zyair raises an annoyed brow and glares at the man in uniform. "Can you just write me a ticket like a proper officer should?"

The man glares at Zyair back before writing something down on a notepad. "Can I see your license?"

"Can I move my hand?" Zyair retorts.

"Look, child. I'm not a threat, " he raises both hands defensively.

"Neither am I. So can I reach for my license?" Zyair replies in a firm voice.

The officer thinks about his reply for a while before nodding his head. "Don't try anything funny."

"Don't worry. I haven't mastered the art of black magic left, " Zyair makes a sarcastic mutter to himself before pulling out his wallet to grab his licenses.

After the cops let us go, we get to Daze beach at the same time as Gray and Aaron. The sky was starting to get a lot darker, the wind more frisky than usual, signaling the coming of rain.

Ashley is seated on the sand, her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around herself. Zyair jumps from his car and runs over to her faster than I could say, wait.

Gray and Aaron get down from the car, staring at Zyair as he took off like a mad man. Gray walks over to me and entwines his hands with mine.

"What's wrong with him?" He asks, raising his brow as we watch Zyair pull Ashley into a tight hug.

I sigh as I watched them stay in each other's arms. "Guilt."

Gray stares at me with a confused expression but doesn't say anything. We walk over to them, still wrapped in each other's hands. Zyair is patting Ashley back while whispering soothing words in her ear.

Watching them be at peace in each other's arms made me realize whatever went on between the two of them is a lot deeper than I thought.

"So she's okay, yeah. Can we please get to the burial, " Aaron speaks, breaking the silence.

Zyair raises his head, Ashley's head still buried in the crooks of his neck. "I don't think she wants to go."

"Which is why we didn't ask you to think, " Aaron rolls his eyes.

Ashley sniffs and turns to look at us for the first time, her face a blotchy mess. "I don't want to go."

"You have to. It's your dad's funeral, " Aaron retorts.

"She said she doesn't want to go, " Zyair growls lowly, taking an unnecessary defensive stance.

Gray scratches the back of his neck, a bored expression on his face. "Ashley, are you sure you don't want to go?"

Ashley bites on her lower lips, her brows furrow in thoughts. Gray bends his knees, so he's crouching at her eye level.

" I mean, It's fair if you don't want to go. But, I hope you realize that this would be the last time you'd see your dad before he- Yunno, " Gray points at the sand and grabs a fistful of it.

"Gets buried and turns to this, " he lets the sand slips from his hand gently.

Ashley's lower lips quiver as she watches the sand slips from his hands. When there's no more sand left, Gray wipes off the dust and gives her a cheeky grin. "So, what's it going to be?"

Zyair draws Ashley from the ground, making her stand next to him. "You don't say things like that."

Gray stands up to look at Zyair. "I spoke the truth, " he shrugs.

"You're messing with her fucking mind, " Zyair yells, his body shaking slightly.

Slowly, I came to realize this wasn't about the burial. It was more about him. Zyair was angry with himself for not being there when she got pregnant, and he thinks that caring about her feelings now would somehow change that.

"Ashley, you and I both know that you'd regret it forever if you don't go and see your dad, " I say, stretching out my hands to her. "You are angry at your mom for making today his burial, but your dad had nothing to do with that."

She looks at me, then Gray and Aaron before Zyair. After taking a deep breath, she nods her head in defeat.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, " Zyair says.

She looks at him and gives him a small smile before rubbing the back of his hand with her thump. "I'll be fine."

Zyair lets his head drop in defeat, still holding on to her hands. "I'll drive you then, " he says and pulls her away from us like we're poisonous to her.

"What the fuck is going on with him?" Aaron turns to yell at me, angrily.

Gray hits Aaron's chest with the back of his hands before I could reply. "Don't yell at her."

"Well, she must know something."

"I got here at the same time you did. So what the hell would I know?" I lie, glaring at him.

"Well, something must have happened for him to suddenly go all Papa bear on us."

He didn't go all Papa bear on us. He went boyfriend bear on us.

~~~~~~~~~~

It has been two days since Garry's burial, and I haven't spoken to Ashley since. She has gone incommunicado, refusing to talk to anyone, but she posts a white picture every day to let everyone know she's okay, but just wants to be alone.

Fawn and Elliot are seated on my bed, and we're having another one of Fawn's lesson sessions. This time, she's helping us learn new words, although we didn't ask for her help.

"What's the meaning of the word ephemeral, " She asks and lets her eyes shift between Elliot and I. "Elliot."

Elliot sighs and strokes his chin, deep in thoughts. His eyes lit up after a while. "Isn't that like a gemstone or something, " He beams.

"That's an emerald, " Fawn deadpans.

"Are you sure?" Elliot raises his brows.

Fawn lets out a frustrated sigh and runs her hand through her hair. "Didn't you guys go to preschool?"

"They didn't teach us that, " Elliot shakes his head.

"Then what did they teach you?" She rolls her eyes in response.

"One plus one equals two?" Elliot smiles mischievously.

My phone rings from the basket where Fawn made us drop our phones. She nods, signaling for me to go and get it.

The call ends before I could click on it, and a message from Zyair comes in.

I stare down at the message and look at Fawn. I didn't know what was going on between her and Zyair at the moment, but I knew things weren't going great between them.

"Who was that?" Fawn asks, turning her head over her shoulder to look at me.

"Err...Gray. He said he needed my help with something, " I lie.

I'm so great at lying, and when I was younger, dad used to joke that I'd make a great lawyer because of how good I was at lying with ease.

"What's the deal between you and Gray, " She asks.

"What's the deal between you and Zyair, " I ask her back with a tight-lipped smile.

Before Fawn could reply, my room door swings open, and Gray saunters in.

"Why didn't you just come here first, rather than calling her, " Fawn raises a brow at him.

"I didn't ca.., " Gray looks at me, and when he sees me shaking my head stiffly, he changes his words quickly. "Yes. Yes, I did."

Fawn raises a confused brow. "I needed her help with something, " he adds and grabs my hand before pulling me out of the room.

"Did Zyair text you?" he asks when we are out of my room and in his.

"Yeah. Zyair said he needed help with something but didn't say what, " I shake my head.

"He wants us to help him throw Ashley a surprise birthday party tomorrow, talking about how he doesn't want her 18th birthday to be a bad memory for her." Gray explains and sits on his bed.

"Did something happen between them, or did he suddenly realize that he's in love with her?" Gray raises a questioning brow at me.

"I don't know, " I shrug.

"I know you're lying, Kelch. You have a tell," he points at my lips.

I stare down at my pursed lips before tucking them in my mouth.

When he keeps staring at me, I sigh and sit next to him, crossing my feet. "Look, I want to tell you, but it's not my story to tell, " I lower my gaze to the floor.

"But must it be tomorrow. We have a date tomorrow, " I wince.

Gray chuckles and kisses my cheeks again. "We can go next tomorrow, " he whispers in my ear huskily.

"And the day after next tomorrow, " he teases with a soft next under my earlobes.

"And the day after that, " he turns my face, locking our gazes.

"And forever, " he adds before letting his gaze drop to my lips and embracing my lips in his warm minty one.

~~~~~~~~~~

After hours of shopping for birthday supplies the next day, Fawn and I retreat to Starbucks for hot cocoa supplies.

Gray had enlisted Fawn, Aaron, Elliot, and a few others to help with planning the birthday surprise. Most people agreed to help because they all know what Ashley has been through these last few days.

I bring out my phone to cross out all the things we've bought while we wait for my coffee. While going through my notes, a text from Amy pops up.

I chuckle and text her my location. The waiter brings our coffee, and I raise my head to thank him only to end up frozen in the spot.

I watch as Luca places our drinks on the table. It has been weeks since I've spoken to him. I had decided to pull away from him and give him space and time to get over me.

Meeting him in Starbucks wasn't part of the plan. "Hey, " I smiled, trying to get rid of the awkwardness I felt.

He gives me a small tight-lipped smile but refuses to meet my eye. "Hi. I hope you enjoy your coffee."

I knew I should have ended the conversation there, but I felt too guilty for avoiding him the past few weeks, so I spoke again. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, my dad wants me to learn the value of money or so, " he trails off, hugging the tray in his arms.

"Look. I really need to get back to work, so I'll see you, girls, later, " he says, looking everywhere but my face.

When he leaves, I groan and bury my face in my hand. He definitely hates me.

"Can we leave?" I ask fawn, rubbing my temple with my index finger.

"Why?" She asks and gazes at Luca. "Because of him?"

"Don't look at him, " I groan, when she keeps staring his way.

She giggles and rests her face on her hands. "Funny how we are barely talking to the people we were with at the beginning of the semester, " She stares down at her drink.

I wasn't really with Luca. But, It was obvious she wasn't talking about me. "How are things with Zyair?" I ask her.

She shrugs and grabs her bag, holding her coffee in one hand. "I don't know why I thought, someone like Zyair would want to be with someone like me, " She laughs bitterly.

She opens the door, and we step out into the freezing streets.

We cross the street to reach her car, and she opens her bag to bring out her car keys.

"Fawn, there are plenty of other Zyair's in the world, " I place my hand on her shoulder as she searches for her keys.

She sniffs and nods. "Yeah, I know, but I want this Zyair, " She adds.

I stare at her, not knowing what to say because I knew exactly how she felt.

She sniffs and runs a hand through her hair. "I think I left my keys back in Starbucks. I'll be back, " She says and runs back into the shop.

When I stand and wait for her, I feel an ominous presence behind me, almost as if someone had been following me.

We all have eyes at our backs in times of fear, and mine was working tenfolds harder as I feel someone creeping up from behind me.

When I feel the presence get closer, I bring up my elbow to nudge whoever it was, but my hands are suddenly kept in place, locked behind me.

The person raises my shirt slowly from behind, and just when I'm about to scream for help, that's when I feel it.

The cold heavy metal scraping against my spinal cord, making my heartbeat louder than the whooshing sound of the wind.

A black van pulls up to my front, and the door opens. The person behind me leans to whisper in my ear. "Get in."

Frozen to the spot, I'm unable to think about anything with the gun at my back. With the tears threatening to spill, I look to my side and see Amy's car.

She's sitting at the driver's seat, her eyes wide open with horror as she watches the scene unfold.

"Move, or I shoot you dead, " The guy behind me threatens, his voice thick and angry.

My legs begin to move towards the van slowly, terrified of being gunned down to death. I turn to Amy and mouth two words to her as silently as I could, hoping she'd catch on.

LICENSE PLATE.

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