Warning: Mentions of violence and swear words



Clarke POV

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

This was bad.

"Wait, so what happened?" I heard Amelia ask, but I was too caught up in my own thoughts to pay attention.

"I met a really bad person when I lived in Chicago, and it was really my fault. I shouldn't have considered them my friend for so long." Leah dragged a hand down her face. She was sitting on her bed with Mary next to her, an arm wrapped around her shoulder whilst Amelia and I sat on the bed opposite them. I would say I was jealous, but Mary told me that they had been friends for a really long time and that it wasn't anything like that.

"Where does he live? I just want to talk to him." Amelia demanded with a friendly smile, but the context of the situation made it obvious about what she really wanted to do.

Leah and Mary let out a small laugh. I could see that they were talking, but I didn't hear them anymore. All I could focus on was the scars.

Leah had put on a proper shirt, but you could still see the faint lines. There were very little and very few scratches along her arm, but an obvious one was on her right eyebrow. I don't know how she managed to hide it for so long, but props to her. She should do my make-up.

"Why didn't you tell us?" The question came out before I could stop it. All conversation stopped as they looked at me.

Leah let out an awkward chuckle. "Well, it's not exactly something you would announce to the world."

I tilted my head slightly and nodded. That made sense. I don't exactly go announcing to everyone I meet that I'm involved with the mafia.

Even though I want to tell some people, I thought as I peered at Mary before quickly looking back at Leah.

"Wait, if you've been friends for so long, did they do anything to you too, Mary?" My head immediately whipped to Mary at that statement. My eyes scanned her body anxiously.

"No no no no," Mary waved her hands in front of her. "I didn't really involve myself with him." I felt myself let out a breath of relief. Thank god.

"But you guys can't tell anyone." My eyebrows furrowed.

"Why not? Don't they deserve to know?" I questioned.

Leah looked to the side for a moment as her head tilted. "Yes, but I want to be the one to tell them."

I shook my head and leaned a little bit closer to the two opposite me. "They should know now."

"Clarke," I gazed at Mary. "Please..." She gave me a pleading look, and before I knew it, I found myself giving in. I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about what to do.

Eventually, I straightened my back. "I don't like this." There was a smile on their faces once I spoke, and even though I tried not to, I couldn't help but smile.

"Obviously, I won't tell anyone either." Amelia chimed in. After that, we moved onto happier conversations that we all could relate to.

* * * * *

I paced back and forth in my room, biting the nail of my thumb nervously as I found myself asking a familiar question.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

I have to tell Vlado, right? He's in charge, he'll know what to do. But then I wouldn't only be breaking Leah's trust; but also Mary's. My fingers found their way to my hair and tugged on it harshly.

"Shit," I muttered.

"What's poppin', my favourite girl?" The door swung open and Theo strode in with his hands in the air. His cheerfulness helped me momentarily forget about what I was thinking about. But only for a moment.

"Not now, Theo." I began pacing again but was stopped quickly by a hand on my arm.

"Ok, first; chill out. Second; do you want to talk about it, or would you rather gorge yourself on junk food and watch trash T.V?" Theo still had a smile on his face, but he lead me to my bed and sat me down.

I chuckled. "As good as the second option sounds, I probably shouldn't right now. It would just distract me from an important decision I should make sooner rather than later."

He sat down next to me. "Woah, I've never heard you sound so serious. What's up?" I felt my eyebrows furrow.

"I can't tell you." My fingers wrung together. I didn't like keeping things from my family, especially from Theo. We had been through a lot together as children, and we always told each other what was going on, but I had told them that I wouldn't tell anyone.

"You know how much you've done for me, so please let me do the same for you." He grabbed my hands and looked at me with a serious expression. I couldn't help it.

I sighed.

"Ok..."

I'm sorry, Mary.

* * * * *

Leah POV

I had offered to pack up the table alone so Amelia and Mary could do whatever they were planning on doing. I was almost finished packing away the dishes until I heard the kitchen door open. I looked over my shoulder and saw Theo. I gave him a smile, but he didn't return it. He kept his face blank as he walked over to me. I lowered myself onto the balls of my feet from setting a stack of plates down on a shelf above the counter and turned to him.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" I folded my arms in front of my chest and gave him a small smile. But again, he didn't smile back. Instead, he leaned against the kitchen island and mimicked my folded arms.

"I learned something new today." I raised an eyebrow, insinuating for him to continue. "I found out that you haven't been entirely honest with everyone here." I fidgeted nervously on the spot.

"What do you mean?" I asked. There's no way Clarke would tell anyone.

Right?

"Apparently, you a quite a few marks that you hide on the daily."

Wrong.

I didn't bother trying to lie. It would just make it worse. I didn't know what to say, so I just kept quiet. We both did. The two of us just looked at each other and around the room. Well, I looked around the room. A lot. I just couldn't look at him.

"Well?" I peered up at him as he stood a few feet away from me. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Now was the perfect time to get back to unpacking the dishes.

I turned around to grab a small stack of plates and put them in the cupboard hovering just above me. "I didn't think it was necessary."

"You didn't think it was necessary to tell us that you had been abused by an old friend?!" I cringed. I never liked the word 'abused'. It just didn't sit right with me.

"It's not like I'm going to walk up to everybody and say, 'oh, hi! Did you know I had an abusive boyfr-'" I stopped myself immediately. I did not just say that.

It was quiet for a long moment, and I knew that he had put together what I was about to say.

"What did you say?"

I unfroze myself and set the plates on top of another stack. "Nothing."

"No, that wasn't nothing. It sounded like you were going to say 'abusive boyfrie-'" He cut himself off quickly, seeming to have put the puzzle together.

"The ex-boyfriend you told me about..." He spoke quietly as if he was talking to himself. He looked off to the side in thought until he snapped his head back to me. "He did that." My silence answered his question, well, statement.

"Please don't tell anyone..." I said softly. I was looking at the floor as I hugged myself, something I found myself doing very often recently. I heard his footsteps make their way over to me, and I felt his arms wrap around me. My hands stayed at my sides for a moment before I returned the gesture. We stood there for a few minutes in silence.

"Don't worry, I won't if you don't want me to." I hugged him a little bit tighter after that. I was so glad that I had finally found my happy place, surrounded by incredible friends.

* * * * *

Unknown POV

I sat in the dimly lit room at my desk, spinning the pistol in my hand. It's always nice to have a little toy around.

"Please, I have a family!" A tied-up man kneeled in the corner of the room pleaded.

I rolled my eyes. "You should've thought about that before you decided to steal from me." I stood up from my chair and walked over to him, slowly. I only stopped when I was towering over him. I emptied the magazine and let it fall to the floor by my feet, and loaded a full one into the gun. Once I heard the 'click' of the magazine, I turned it in my hands to get a better look at it as the man pleaded.

"Any last words?" I cut off his pleading and kept the pistol in the air and looked down at the man. His scruffy goatee was drenched in blood as well as the rest of his clothes and body. He cowered under my gaze, and I felt a smirk cross my features.

"Please-" The loud bang of my gun releasing a bullet into his head stopped him. His now lifeless body stayed kneeling for a moment before it crumpled to the hard ground below me.

"Pathetic," I muttered. I was interrupted by a knocking at the door of the room.

"Come in," I grumbled and walked over to my desk. The door opened and I smiled at the person who entered.

"Boss."

I smiled. "Ahh, I see you have come with some information, then?" The person in front of me nodded. "Well, come on then, out with it." I gestured at him with my gun.

"We found her, boss. And we are certain that it is her." I felt the smile on my face grow bigger, and turn into a toothy grin.

"Perfect." I turned in my chair. "Let everyone know that we make our move in a week." I heard the door close behind me, and somehow, my smile grew even wider and stretched across my face.

"Well, my love," I said to myself, unable to contain my smile.

"We shall see each other soon."

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Hello readers!

I hope you're not mad at me for how I ended this chapter, because there are a lot more like this to come. >:)

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