Holy crud I FINALLY finished. It's so long- I really hope you guys enjoy it.

Also thanks again for your comments- they're seriously great.

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When my mother came home late that evening, she thanked us for the groceries and asked what we bought with the rest of the money. She was really surprised to find that I bought prune juice and laughed, asking if I was having any laxation problems. Shawn laughed with her. She used the groceries that we bought to cook a huge batch of lasagna, using half of it for our dinner and put the other half in the fridge for her coworker... Leo or something.

After our late dinner, my mother announced that she was 'absolutely pooped' and left to go to bed. Shawn and I shortly followed suit and went up to my room. After we chatted a bit about what we were going to do before the dinner party, I took out my phone to text my friends and he started typing away on his laptop again. As usual, I fell asleep to the sound of him typing.

I awoke the next morning because I felt extremely warm. That was weird, considering the fucking window had been smashed through by a brick and it was still winter (though we were in California). Eyes still closed, I attempted to kick of the covers, only to find that I couldn't move my feet. In fact, I felt abnormally heavy...

My eyes flew open to see what the hell was going on. Good news, I was still in my room. Bad news, the one keeping me warm as fuck was Shawn.

His body was pressed flat up against mine; his front pressing against my back. One of his arms was wrapped tightly around my waist, while he had somehow gotten the other arm under my head for me to use as a pillow. The reason that I wasn't able to kick off the covers was because his legs were entangled with mine.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. This was a major leap away from holding my hand in my sleep. "Shawn?" I called out behind me. No answer.

After a couple of moments, I realized that he was still asleep. I could feel his slow and steady breaths against the back of my head and his heartbeat was steady against my back.

I rolled my eyes with a sigh. Did he only sleep in when it was fucking awkward for me?! I opened my mouth to yell at him, but then paused; the guy hardly ever slept, and judging from our current situation, he probably didn't sleep that much last night either. Also, if we were going get out of tonight's event unscathed, having him at top energy would be ideal (though it didn't sound like he depended much on sleep... because he was a fucking vampire or something).

I sighed again, this time to myself. Was I seriously fucking thinking about letting him continue to spoon me!? Augh, well, it could just make up for the consensual kiss I didn't end up giving him yesterday. That way Shawn couldn't force me to pay up later with a french or some shit. Yeah.

I slowly reached my arm to the bedside table and picked up my phone. I unlocked it with one hand and looked to the time on the home screen. It was almost seven in the morning. I usually slept till later, but Shawn's hot body woke me up... -and fuck, by hot I meant warm body temperature!

To get my mind off of the uncomfortable situation I was in (and why I was letting it happen) I started playing around on my phone and texting. It didn't really work, and before long, I was speculating why the fuck I was letting Shawn cuddle with me and why I so calm about it. The last time I found him in bed with me I freaked out! Why not this time? In fact... recently I'd been a lot more comfortable with him. Eh, it was probably just because this time we had a common enemy, instead of our previous situation where he was always the damn enemy. But... that didn't fucking explain why I was letting him fucking cuddle with me! Fucking shit. I decided to do the unhealthy thing and buried those dangerous questions into the back of my mind. There, problem avoided.

At around 7:20, I was still on my phone when I heard a tired mutter from close behind me. "What the fuck?"

"G'morning." I replied.

There was a long pause. "Okay, I'm dreaming." There was a yawn. "See you in the morning when you freak the fuck out and thrash around then." He said, pulling me closer and placing his head down again.

I sighed in exasperation and placed my phone back on the nightstand. I twisted around so that I was more or less facing Shawn. "Shawn, would you mind waking up?" I asked in annoyance, flicking his face.

He opened his eyes and gave me a perplexed look. "Not that I'm not ecstatic about this... but what's gotten into you?" He asked. Great, that was exactly what I didn't want to think about at the moment.

"...I don't know. Are you complaining?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He cracked a smile. "You know I'm not." He chuckled.

"So... mind letting go now so that I can get up?" I asked, futilely trying to move out of his grip.

"Yes, I do mind." He replied frankly, ignoring my attempts.

I groaned. "Come on Shawn, I'm fucking hot."

"I've noticed." He replied suggestively.

It was only then that I realized how fucking pressed together we were. There wasn't even four inches of space between our faces. "Sh-Shawn, do we really have time for this?" I asked, leaning back a bit. In less than 12 hours, we were going to leave for a fancy ass, high class, and most probably rigged party.

"I could be strapped to a time-bomb and still have time for this." He replied with conviction, starting to use the hand by my head to play with my hair.

"W-what are you doing?" I stuttered. My head was sensitive, and the only direction to lean my head away from the touching was in the direction of his face. And that was completely out of the question.

Shawn looked surprised for a moment, then narrowed his eyes into a smirk. "Huh, that's a nice reaction." He said, tugging at some more strands of my hair.

I shuddered involuntarily. My scalp wasn't usually this sensitive... "I... I didn't let you fucking cuddle with me, just to be ha-harassed." I stammered out.

Shawn continued twirling his fingers through my hair. "Then why did you?" He asked.

"Lately Y-you haven't been sleeping at all, a-and with tonight's party, I figured that you should." I said, trying to sound composed. "Now get your hand off of my hair before I ripe yours out at the root." I threatened sharply.

He laughed. "Alright, alright." He patted my head and drew his hand away.

"Okay, so will you let me get up now?" I asked, trying to tug my legs away from under his. He didn't budge. "Shawn." A groaned. "We still have to come up with an excuse to tell my mom why we need to be gone this evening. And with the 'murderer' on the loose, I don't think it'll be easy to convince her." I said, pushing against him with both hands.

He sighed. "I guess you're right." He agreed, letting go of my torso and legs. I quickly rolled out of bed and stood up before he could change his mind.

"Okay, so the only way to convince her would probably be to say that we're going somewhere filled with people we know." I pondered. "And it should also be out of this neighborhood, since this is where people have been getting killed."

"We'll tell her one of my rich friends is having a huge birthday party and that he lives in San Francisco." Shawn suggested immediately.

I paused for a moment, thinking it over. "...That's actually a really good idea." I said. I was surprised that he thought it up so quickly.

"Good enough to deserve another hour of spooning?" He asked with a smirk, patting the spot next to him on my bed.

"No." I replied bluntly. "Now get your ass up off my bed."

"Fine." He grumbled, stretching before he hopped off the bed.

Afterwards, we both went downstairs for breakfast. Mom was already dressed for work and was staring at her laptop, leaving her cereal to get soggy. Her face lit up as she saw both of us enter the room. "Good morning boys! Did you two sleep alright?" She asked, shutting her laptop to give us her full attention. Shawn and I both nodded yes.

"Hey, mom, do you think it'd be alright if Sh-Astly and I went out this evening?" I asked, testing to see how she felt about the idea in general.

She frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know Jake... I'm not sure if I feel okay with you two going out by yourselves right now." She said. Okay good, so she wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

"Well, we won't be by ourselves; Astly's friend is having a big birthday party up in San Francisco." I added.

She thought for a moment. "Will it be supervised?" She asked.

"Yes." Shawn cut in. "Derek's parents don't like having strangers in their home if they're not around." He explained. "And since I don't know many of Derek's friends, it'd be more fun if I could bring Jake along with me." He added smoothly, with the usual shit-eating smile he gave my mom.

She smiled back. "Well, in that case, it should be alright. How late does he party run?" She asked. Thank god my mom didn't know a lot about parties; because the very notion of a huge high-school party with 'adult supervision' screamed bullshit.

"Until eleven or twelve at the latest." Shawn replied.

"Is that how late parties usually run these days?" Mom asked with a frown. Well, definitely not ones with ' adult supervision'.

"Yeah." I said. It was smart of Shawn to put the end date so late, that way if any shit happened tonight (which was bound to happen) we would have extra time to deal with it.

"My goodness, no wonder kids are so sleep deprived!" My mom exclaimed. "Do you two need to stay there so late?" She asked.

"We'll try to come back earlier, don't worry." I said. Seriously, the earlier we could come back, the better.

She sighed. "Alright, you two can go- as long as I'm allowed to call you if I get worried."

I swallowed. "Sure thing!" I said. Hopefully that wouldn't complicate anything...

"All right." She said. "What time does the party start?" She asked.

I looked to Shawn, indicating for him to answer. "At about seven, so we should start driving there by between six and six-thirty." He said.

She nodded. "Then you two will be leaving before I get home. I'll give you a call to make sure you get there safely." She said. She didn't normally ask to call me to make sure I got anywhere safely- but with a serial killer on the loose (and also right next to me...) I couldn't blame her.

"Alright mom." I agreed. "What time do you need to get into work today?"

"Before nine." She sighed disdainfully. She checked her wristwatch. "Which means that I should get going. And with all the traffic that we get on the freeway, I should probably leave now." She added, putting her computer away into her bag.

"You didn't eat breakfast again." I remarked with a frown, pointing to the now soggy cereal. My mom had a bad habit of skipping meals because of work.

She waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'll just buy a big lunch." She said.

"Will you?" I asked suspiciously. Sometimes meetings ran so far into lunch that she didn't even have time to eat.

She grinned. "Have a good time at the party! And don't accept drinks from strangers!" She said quickly before exiting through the front door.

I sighed. "Well, I guess that at least we'll eat breakfast." I said. Turning to Shawn, who was smiling. "What?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking that you and your mom have a really good relationship." He said.

I shrugged, taking the soggy cereal and dumping it into the sink. "Death tends to bring people closer together." I said, indicating at my deceased father.

"Yeah, it does doesn't it?" Shawn agreed hintingly. Ugh, he was talking about us wasn't he?

"Sure does. Like me and Spike." I said, putting extra emphasis on Spike's name.

Shawn narrowed his eyes. "Watch it, I'm still irritated by that." He warned.

"Yeah, yeah." I said. I pulled open the cupboard. "Do you feel like having cereal today?" I asked.

"Sure, what kind do you have?" He asked.

"Cheerios and fruit-loops." I replied, taking out the cheerios for myself.

"I'll have some Cheerios then." He said, taking a seat at the table.

After making us both a bowl of cereal, I sat down at the table across from Shawn and started eating.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" I asked, taking a bite of my cereal.

"Well, first off, don't eat any of the food unless it's on a platter for everyone." He said. "Secondly, don't leave my side, not even for a moment. And I mean don't be further than a foot away from me at all times. We have to stay right by each other so Bobby can't get to you when I'm not there." Shawn explained strictly. "Third, if someone starts to hit on you, act like you're dating me and don't fucking flinch if I kiss you or hold your hand to show ownership. And if you're worried about them coming onto you later, don't be; they'll be dead by the end of the week. And if they-"

"Can we get back on the topic of things that might actually happen?" I asked, suppressing an eye roll.

Shawn glared at me. "Jake, if you look sexy right now in your sweats and a bedhead, imagine how attractive you'll be tonight cleaned up in a suit and nice hair with your mango scented shampoo!" He exclaimed.

"...My shampoo is mango scented?" I asked. Even I didn't know that shit. And could he really say that about me when he looked like he was fucking modeling his pajamas even when he'd just woken up? "Ugh, it doesn't matter, what's the next thing."

"Number five, if Bobby comes and tries to talk to us or take us to a secluded place, let me do all the talking. And if you see any guns getting pulled out, get behind me and duck, and get prepared to pull out a gun."

"Wait a minute; I'll have a gun?" I asked in concern.

"Yeah, because if we end up somehow getting separated, I want you to be able to defend yourself." Shawn said.

"I don't even know how to shoot a gun!" I said.

"I'll teach you." He said dismissively. "Lastly, make sure-"

"I can't fucking use a gun! I'll probably just end up shooting myself- or you!" I argued.

"Then I'll give you a knife too. But you still need a gun, just in case." Shawn said. "Lastly, make sure you have your phone at all times- that way I can track you if something happens and we get separated."

"Will Smiles have guessed that my phone is super fucking bugged?" I asked, a little resentful that Shawn did so much shit to my phone.

Shawn sighed. "We'll have to hope that he doesn't. And if he does, he might use it as a tool to get me to where you two are- which I guess is better than him getting rid of it."

I nodded. "Also, while I really doubt this- since that psycho seems to care about flare and pizzazz- but do you think that there's any chance that he'd just go and fill us with lead us as soon as we got there?" I asked.

Shawn scoffed. "Nah. Like you said; that bastard's always had a thing for putting on a show- he always drags shit out while he puts on a fucking play." He said, dropping his spoon into his empty bowl.

"...Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I questioned, picking up both of our empty bowls and taking them to the dishwasher.

"For us? It could go either way." He sighed. "But I don't plan on letting it get to that point." He added in a serious tone.

I sighed; this whole dilemma was nerve-wracking as hell. And even if we survived tonight, it didn't mean that Smiles wouldn't come up with more shit to try on us later... It looked like the only way this feud would end was if they worked out their problems or one of them died. And by the looks of it, they weren't ever going to work it out, given that one of them was stabbed in the stomach and tossed out a window...

"So, what should we do first? Teach me how to shoot a gun or buy suits?" I asked.

"Buy the suits- I found a good tailor in Mountain View, but it only stays open till 3:00pm. And we having suits custom fit takes time." He said, leaning back in his chair.

I frowned. "Couldn't we just go to H&M or something?" I asked. They had OK suits, right?

He raised both eyebrows. "No way; the only way that we're fitting in at that party is if we have high quality clothes. Anything less and we'll stick out like sore thumbs- and we already have our younger age to worry about, we don't need to worry about appearances too." He explained.

I nodded; he had a point. "So, what's first? The guns or the suits?" I asked.

"Suits; and we should get going soon so that I have time to teach you how to use a gun..." He replied with a thoughtful expression; probably wondering how everything was going to fit in before seven.

"So, do you want to shower first or should I?" I asked.

"You know, it's save time if we showered together." HE suggested with a smirk.

"I'll be back in ten minutes Shawn." I said, ignoring his statement and walking up the stairs.

"Don't go out the window!" He yelled jokingly.

"I won't!" I yelled back, rolling my eyes.

Before I entered the shower, I brought my clothes inside the bathroom as well (I didn't want a repeat of last time I took a shower...). And as I expected, as soon as I got out, Shawn was standing at the door with a barely noticeable expression of disappointment.

"I'll be out in a few minutes." He said nonchalantly, moving past me to walk into the bathroom (as if he was waiting to go inside and not just waiting to see me half naked).

After about seven minutes, Shawn came downstairs dressed in a T-shirt and jeans but still looking like he belonged in a men's clothing catalog (but what else was fucking new?). "Ready to leave?" He asked.

"Yeah, guess so" I replied.

We stepped outside the house, and after I locked the door, walked to the car... as in Shawn's Porsche.

"We're taking the Porsche?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what other car is there?" He asked, opening the driver's door.

"None I guess..." I replied, opening the shotgun door and sitting in the expensive leather seat. We were going to drag way too much attention to ourselves in this luxurious-ass thing. Though it was probably better for appearances once we drove to the party...

"Don't worry Jake, you look good with Porsches." He said, giving me a reassuring grin.

I frowned. "Not exactly what I was worried about... but thanks?" I replied.

After the long car ride to Mountain View (filled with radio music and awkward silence) we reached a small but neat building named Bareli's Tailors. Shawn parked smoothly into the customer-only space, and as we stepped out of the car I felt the curious stares of strangers who were walking on the sidewalks. Just as I expected. I guess it didn't help that Shawn was tall, tan and looked like a model...

Shawn locked the car and peered down at his watch. "Alright... so it'll take a few hours for the suits to be finished, and we have to be ready to go in seven hours... I'd say we're on a good schedule so far." He said. I couldn't tell if he was talking to himself or me.

We stepped into the small tailor shop. The inside was overcrowded with suits and other clothing items, but it was organized and spotless; even I could tell it was a high caliber store. As soon as the bell above the door rang, a 50-something year old man came to greet us. "Hello..." He gave us a brief once over, focusing more on Shawn, before he continued. "I would like to inform you that my suits are... pricy. But if you have an appointment, I can help you in any way I can." He said in a vague accent. He probably judged from our ages and casual clothes that we had just wandered in here on a whim.

"Yes, I scheduled an appointment. Is a Sean Pillory on your list?" Shawn asked formally, showing no reaction to the man's doubtful words. It looked like he'd been in similar situations before.

The man blinked in surprise before quickly recovering his salesman-smile. "I apologize Mr. Pillory, we do not normally receive customers your age in our establishment." He said politely. "What can I do for you today?"

"We need help buying suits fit for a high-class formal dinner." Shawn explained curtly.

The man nodded. "Of course, of course. When is the event?" He asked.

"Tonight." Shawn replied bluntly.

The middle-aged man frowned deeply. "...I am sorry sir, but we need at least three days to finish the suits."

"I'll pay in cash." Shawn said. Did he just carry a giant ass wad of cash around? Well, he did own a Porsche...

The store employee looked a little surprised, but still shook his head. "I am very sorry sir, but we still need more time." He apologized.

"I'll pay double in cash." Shawn said, looking at the man uninterestedly. I sent him a shocked look out of the corner of my eye. How much cash did this fucker have on him?!!

The store employee must have been thinking the same thing, because his next words came out in a shocked stutter. "A-ah... well then, I am sure we can make an exception." He said.

Shawn nodded. "Good." He said, sauntering forward into the shop.

"Thank you for doing this on such short notice." I told the shopkeeper. If Shawn was going to be a money-throwing douche, I had to at least let the man know that his work was appreciated. I followed Shawn into the store as he looked at different styles of suits (which I couldn't really tell apart...).

The store employee followed Shawn around as he looked at suits, answering simple questions Shawn had. Shawn hummed thoughtfully. "What cloths and colors does this one come in?" He asked, pointing towards a black suit.

"Ah yes, I shall go to the back bring samples for you to choose from." The clerk replied, walking to the back.

Shawn turned to stare at me once the man turned the corner. After a few moments he furrowed his eyebrows, biting his lip thoughtfully.

"...What?" I asked uncomfortably.

"I'm trying to figure out what would look good on you... well, what would look best on you anyways; since you'd look good in anything." He said with a perplexed frown.

I shrugged, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. I'd normally be even more uncomfortable and retort, but I didn't know fuckin shit about suits, so I decided to leave it to him...

Shawn then nodded to himself. "A trim fit would do fine... but what color?"

The store clerk came back with a few different swatches of cloth. "These are the colors that this one comes in, Sir." He said.

Shawn looked over different shades and types of cloth. "Which do you think would suit me best?" He asked the clerk.

The man looked at the swatches carefully before picking two up. A dark grey and a diluted cerulean. "I would say that the coat and pants could be this cerulean, as it matches your eyes, and the vest would be good in this shade of charcoal grey.

Shawn nodded in agreement. "Yes, and pair it with a grey shirt and tie that matches the coat and pants."

The man nodded. "A good choice, Sir." He agreed. "Would you like your measurements taken?" He asked, gesturing towards the store's measuring area.

Shawn shook his head. "No, I have my measurements." He said, handing the man a slip of paper. He then glanced at me. "But he will need his taken." He said.

The clerk nodded. "If you would step this way Sir." He said to me.

I followed him to the measuring area and followed his instructions to outstretch my arms and stand tall. Meanwhile, Shawn looked around the store. I felt relief that he wasn't freaking out that the clerk was touching me as he made measurements (since I wouldn't put it past Shawn to get unreasonably possessive over that crap).

After about five minutes the measurements were complete. Shawn was also done looking at suits by that time as well. "The measurements are complete. What style of suit would you like?" The clerk asked me.

"...Uh-"

"Trim style, dark navy blue pants vest and coat, white shirt, with a dark red tie." Shawn interrupted. For once I wasn't irritated about him making decisions for me; since I didn't know jack shit about suits.

The man nodded, looking a little unnerved about Shawn's forwardness. He then lead us to the register and inputted a few numbers. He adjusted his glasses on his face as he looked up uncomfortably. "Um, the suits themselves are $865 each without tax... and if you insist on paying double for each, the total would come to... $3,529.6."

HOLY FUCK. I whipped my head around to look at Shawn. He had an unsurprised expression on his face.

"Sure. Should I pay when we come by later to pick the suits up?" He asked.

The store clerk nodded. "Um, when you come to retrieve them later is our policy... but because this is a special case, I would appreciate it if you paid some of it up front."

Shawn nodded understandingly and whipped out his wallet. He took out two crisp 500-dollar-bills and handed them to the man, who gratefully took them both. "... the suits may take a while to prepare. Would it be alright if you came by at five to pick them up?" He asked. "We will keep the store open for you as long as needed."

"Sure, we'll be back at 5:00." He said briskly, turning to leave. I stopped to thank the clerk for all his trouble before following Shawn out of the store.

As soon as we both got in the car, I spun around to face Shawn. "How much money do you fucking have on you!?" I exclaimed.

He silently handed me his wallet. I opened it and counted at least ten 500-dollar-bills (and some platinum credit cards).

"Who the fuck carries $5,000 dollars cash around in their wallet!?" I yelled, taking one out to look at. "I've never even seen a 500-dollar-bill before." I muttered, squinting at it.

"You can have it if you want." He said, starting up the car.

"No fucking thanks." I said, putting the money back and handing Shawn back his wallet. "You need to stop trying to give me money." I added.

Shawn laughed. "Sorry, you're just so loveable... I can't help but want to shower you with money and buy you a yacht or some shit."

"What the fuck would I do with a yacht?" I asked in horror. I sighed. "Anyways, where are we going now?" I asked.

"Back to a shoe store, then your house." He replied.

"No time to teach me how to use a gun?" I asked hopefully.

"No, we'll do that at your house." He replied.

I blanched. "The guns won't be loaded, right?" I asked. I didn't exactly want to explain to my mom why there were bullet holes in the wall... or my face.

Shawn scoffed. "Obviously. Because of the state of shock your town is in right now, a single gunshot would mean ten 911 calls." He said.

"And whose fault is that?" I muttered.

"Mine fault, Kyle Wolice's fault, and mostly Bobby's fault." Shawn replied.

"Who's Kyle Wollice?" I asked, mind hitting a blank.

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "The mother-fucker who almost stabbed you to death in the park."

"Oh yeah..." I said. How the fuck did I forget that?

After we went to blow another $700 on shoes, we left for my house. Shawn made me wait so that he could check the surveillance of my house before we went inside. After we entered the house, Shawn went upstairs to retrieve two handguns.

He came back downstairs with two black guns in hand. "Here." He said, tossing one to me.

I scrambled to catch it. "Don't throw it at me!" I snapped, holding the gun out nervously.

Shawn chuckled. "Jakey, it's a gun, not a bomb."

"I know." I mumbled. "So, how do I use it?" I asked, trying to ignore my discomfort at being taught how to shoot from a serial killer...

"Alright, first let's talk grip. If you're gonna shoot the gun, don't have your hands anywhere near the slide." He said, pointing to the top piece. "Never have your hands anywhere near the front of the gun- because I kind of like your hands and don't want them mutilated." I rolled my eyes. "Hold the gun with your dominant hand onto the grip and keep your index finger straight against the ring." He explained, showing me as he held his gun.

I imitated how he held the gun. "What now?" I asked.

"To shoot, first disengage the safety with your thumb." He said, flipping some sort of lever with his thumb. I imitated him clumsily. "Then solidify your stance and expect a recoil... the last thing we need is for you to fall over while trying to shoot. Then pull the trigger." He said, pulling his trigger, making his gun snap. I copied what he did.

"...That's it?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not really, but it's the basics. Since I'm going to be the one loading them, you don't need to know about how to do that." He explained. "Now find something to practice shooting at."

"Uh... alright." I said, pointing the gun towards a vase on the table.

"...What the hell are you pointing at?" Shawn muttered, stepping behind me to get a better view.

"The vase."

"You're aimed to hit the microwave." He said. I moved my hand downwards. "Now the chair." I moved it back up. "Now the counter- Man, you have shit aim. Now I know why you never played a sport."

I was about to snap back at him before something came to me. "...I ran cross-country for a year." I said. How the fuck didn't he know that?

"In elementary school?" He asked, pressing his hand on my arm to help steady it at the vase.

"No, freshman year of high-school." I corrected. I'd expect that my stalker would know something like that...

Shawn's hand on my arm froze momentarily before he grabbed it and spun me around. "Are you fucking serious?" He hissed.

"Why the fuck would I risk Las Vegas's life over this?" I asked, trying to yank my arm away.

He frowned. "...You wouldn't." He said, letting go of my arm. "How the hell didn't I know about this!?" He yelled, more to himself than me. "I literally know your whole high school transcript, your exact blood type, the names and addresses of every acquaintance you've ever had, and even how many pairs of socks you own! How the fuck don't I know this!?" He asked, slapping his hand to his forehead. He suddenly glared at me. "And now you probably think that I'm a sub-par stalker."

"No, I think you're the most dangerous and obsessive stalking son of a bitch in the fucking world! You've threatened me into letting you live in my house!" I argued back. And I didn't say it to help his self esteem- but because I didn't go through all this shit just so he could label himself as a sub-par stalker. No fucking way. "Now what the fuck am I doing wrong?" I grumbled, angling the gun back towards the vase.

"You're aiming at the window. Try leveling the gun with your eyes." He instructed. "But I thought that you didn't like to be at school any longer than needed- why did you run cross country?"

"My Mom made me do it because she wanted me to start meeting new friends- since we moved out of Minnesota. And it worked, I met Celeste and Trent." I answered. "Now, am I doing this shit right?"

"Yeah, good job." Shawn replied. "Try aiming at something else."

For about a half hour, Shawn told me to try and aim at things. In the end, he concluded that I shouldn't rely on my aim in the end, and not to shoot unless they were right in front of me.

"Okay, that's good enough." He sighed. He checked the clock on the microwave. "We should probably leave soon to get the suits."

"Alright." I replied, running a hand through my hair, which made me think of something. "Hey, should I put gel in my hair or something?" I asked. My hair was sort of... unkempt and fluffy sometimes. Slicking it back would probably make me look more 'refined.'

He frowned. "But I like it fluffy..."

"Too bad." I replied, running upstairs to the bathroom.

A came back downstairs a couple minutes later with 20% more peripheral vision. "Alright, let's go." I said, grabbing my phone and shoving it into my jean pockets.

Shawn frowned in disapproval. "Nope. Not happening. Now on top of smelling like mangoes you look like a high-end male prostitute or some shit."

I glared at him. "No I don't, calm down." I said, opening the front door to leave. Seriously, my hair was just styled back- there wasn't any significant change.

Shawn picked up a bag and followed me out the door with a scowl. "I don't want assholes trying to buy what belongs to me." He grumbled.

I ignored his comment and locked the door. I just had to remain focused on surviving the night without being abducted; I would deal with Shawn's ludicrous possessive paranoia later.

Once we got to the tailors again, the man from before came out carrying two bundles of clothes. "Ah, it's good to see you back. We just finished preparing the clothing, but we will need to make final adjustments as you wear the garments." He explained, handing us each a bundle. "Our dressing rooms are this way."

"Thanks a lot for staying open and working so much longer for us." I told the man.

He smiled. "With your generous offer, it's our pleasure." He chuckled, leading me to the room. "If you need any help, just ask."

"Thank you." I replied, shutting the dressing room door. I unfolded the suit and placed it in front of me.... How the fuck did this work?

After struggling for a while with each piece, I finally got the whole thing on. Save the tie, I wasn't exactly sure how that worked...

I stepped out of the room to see that Shawn was already getting the finishing touches on his suit. And what the fucking hell I wanted to punch him in his stupid fucking attractive face because he looked really attractive and it made me hate him. The blue suit really did match his eyes, and the pleated pants made his legs look longer. It fucking pissed me off.

I decided to ignore Shawn's newly suave attractiveness. "Uh, I'm finished... but I don't know how to tie a tie." I said in embarrassment.

Shawn heard my voice and immediately spun his head eagerly in my direction, looking me over.

"Oh, of course, here you go." The clerk said, moving away from Shawn to fix my tie. While the man's back was turned, Shawn mouthed something to me. And while I wasn't good at reading lips, there was definitely the word 'fuck' in there. In other words, something about how fuckable I was...

I averted my eyes away from Shawn and waited for the man to be done sewing and hemming or whatever he needed to do. I was about halfway through my hemming when I decided to glance towards Shawn again. The motherfucker was taking pictures with his phone. When Shawn noticed that I saw him he just gave me a remorseless shrug.

It was about 5:45 by the time everything was finished. We both placed our normal clothes in a bag so we wouldn't have to change into the suits later. Shawn then wordlessly slapped the rest of the money onto the table as the clerk gave him his receipt. "I hope you young men have a good party tonight." He said politely.

"Yeah, we do too." I laughed, looking to Shawn, who'd apparently already left the store. I sighed; this guy didn't have any fucking manners when he didn't feel like it. "Sorry about him, and thanks again for staying so late to prepare these- they're great." I said. "Have a good evening." I waved as I left the store.

Shawn was leaning against the wall of the shop waiting for me (and unsurprisingly was getting stared at by many bystanders). "You ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." I replied, getting into the car. "Also, delete all those pictures." I demanded.

Shawn shook his head. "No way, I've never seen you in a suit... and you look really fucking delectable." He said, gripping the steering wheel more tightly.

I shifted a little closer to the window in discomfort. I was lucky that Shawn couldn't do anything while driving...

"Honestly, seeing you like this almost makes all this trouble worth it." He sighed. "The trim fit really looks good on you... and the navy blue... and the red tie. But I swear to god if someone mistakes you for a fucking escort I'm gonna lose it."

"Shawn, keep your eyes on the fucking road." I said, trying not to seem too flustered.

"Okay, okay." Shawn said, turning his head back to the road.

Throughout the car ride, Shawn went over all the instruction that he gave me earlier that day, emphasizing the parts about sticking close to him and keeping my phone at all times. He instructed me to keep the gun in the back of my waistband- as most others there were bound to be doing the same thing.

The car ride was long, with the usual Friday night traffic. The sun had set before we reached the city. If it hadn't been dark out, we would have seen the large white South San Francisco the Industrial City sign that spanned an entire hillside. Instead the flickering lights of the city greeted us as we started to drive in. In other circumstances, I would have admired how beautiful the city looked, but since one of those flickering lights belonged to the hotel Smiles was waiting to trap us at, it didn't seem nearly as appealing.

I held Shawn's phone as a map as we started driving through winding complicated streets. "Take a left here, we're close." I said.

Shawn turned left. We were almost in the center of the city; where tall glass buildings as fancy-ass hotels were. Shawn's phone informed us that the hotel was on our left.

"Here it is." I said, looking up at the daunting building. The Layland Plaza Hotel had giant archways with a red carpet lined with palm trees leading inside. It was surrounded by security, and had valets standing outside ready to take the guest's fancy Mercedes, BMW's, and Porsches into parking.

I frowned when Shawn passed the valet's. "Aren't we going to get the car parked?" I asked.

"I'm not trusting the staff- they could have been bribed by Bobby into sabotaging our only way out of here." Shawn explained as he turned into the hotel parking lot.

"Huh." I muttered in reply. I didn't want to say it out loud, but it was probably a good thing that Shawn was such a paranoid motherfucker; he seriously thought of everything.

Shawn turned into a parking spot near enough to an entrance inside the hotel and an exit to the parking lot. That way, if we got into hot water, we could make a faster escape.

He shifted his gear into park and let out a sigh, turning to me. "Are you ready?" He asked.

I let out a humorless laugh. "As ready as I'll ever be I guess." I replied.

"...Aren't you scared?" Shawn asked. "You don't seem as freaked out as I'd expect."

I thought for a moment; he was right, a month ago I would be beside myself anxiousness and fear. "Yeah, I guess I'm not as freaked out as I should be..." I agreed. "But then again, I've been through serious shit to get to this point. I've had you kill and threaten to kill the ones I love while aggressively stalking me. I've also been held at knifepoint and sort of kidnapped by Spike. Then you kidnapped me and stuck me in that motherfucking fancy-ass basement. Then Spike came back again and kidnapped me from there at gunpoint. Now you're crazy ass is staying in my house and sleeping in my fucking room. A murderer threw a brick through my window. I've skyped with a serial killer -slash- drug lord. And now I'm about to go to a fancy dinner hosted by said drug lord with my homicidal stalker... I guess that all this bullshit has become relatively unsurprising to me." I shrugged. "But don't get me wrong; I'm still anxious as fuck."

Shawn chuckled. "You forgot when Kyle tried to kill you with a knife in the park. Again."

"...Oh yeah." I said with a sigh. What the fuck was my life becoming?

We sat in silence for a few more moments before Shawn spoke again. "Jake, I swear on my life that I wont let anything happen to you." He said, sending me a serious gaze.

"And if anything does you might slaughter everyone in the hotel." I scoffed, without sarcasm. I sighed and looked him in the eyes. "Don't worry. For this one night, I trust you. I'll follow your lead." I said.

Shawn looked at me in surprise. "...Thanks." He said, giving me a tender smile, inadvertently easing some stress that I had.

"And as soon as this shit is over, your ass is getting kicked out of my house." I added.

Shawn's tender smile fell into an amused smirk. "That'll only happen if Smiles dies." He said, knowing fully well that I- for the most part- didn't want anyone to die. Even a sleazy shit-stain like Smiles.

I sighed. "Let's focus on surviving the night first before you start trying to kill him." I said.

Shawn smiled. "Deal."

We both stepped out of the red Porsche, and walked into the entrance of the plaza hotel.

___________________________________________________________________________

Man, I wanted to get to the party by this chapter- but as you can see this long ass mofo of a chapter didn't let me (in other words, it's all my fault).

And now I know more about suits and guns because of this chapter (now I'm all ready to join the mafia).

I really hope that you guys enjoyed it-- and next time shit will actually start getting real.

Thanks for reading!!!