'We can do anything if we put our minds to it

Take your whole life then you put a line through it

My love is yours if you're willing to take it

Give me your heart 'cause I ain't gonna break it

So come away, starting today

Start a new life, together in a different place

We know that love is how these ideas came to be

So baby, run away, away with me'

╰(*'︶'*)╯♡

The next morning I woke up to the sound of birds, that I don't experience in New York, and found out that Ace has already left the bed somewhere and that it was ten in the morning.

I get up to take a shower only to realize this wasn't our hotel room and that's when this morning's encounters flooded in. At that same second, a knock on the door brought me back to reality.

"Yes?" I say, running my hand through my hair.

"Oh you're awake, breakfast is ready," I hear Noah's voice quietly from outside.

"I'll be down in a minute," I inform and wait for his footsteps as they go farther away.

I look down at my pajamas that I slept in which belong to a woman that I don't know and head to the bathroom to change and look more like a human.

"Good morning!" Noah says cheerfully, flipping a pancake.

"Morning," I say with a small smile, being as polite as I can. "Do you know where Ace went to?"

"He asked if there's anything he can do for breakfast and went to get the pancake mix that you like," he says, still smiling.

"So where is he now?" I push.

"I think he got a call and had to leave an hour ago," Noah shrugs and I gape at him.

Did Ace really leave me all alone in a stranger's house?

"Right, well I should get going as well," I stumble a little on my feet, suddenly losing all my confidence without Ace or the mallows being here.

"No, please. He said he'll only be gone a few then he'll be back. He didn't want to wake you up or bring you back to the hotel so he thought this would be the safest place," Noah explains.

"Do you have any Nutella?" I ask.

"Uhm, in the storage I think? I'll go look for it," he says, confused.

I take that time to gather my belongings and zoomed through to the front door. After unlocking the door, I walk outside to the bright environment but I don't recognize the street.

I gasp as my eyes land on a familiar figure.

Did I leave Ray all alone at a stranger's house? No, I would think that 45 chapters into this book, y'all would know me better.

Sure I didn't wake her up because I want her to connect with her long lost father, but I did leave some guards behind and instructed them to stay at a distance.

"Mr. King, are you paying attention?" A voice asks, reminding me that I am in no place to be thinking about Ray right now.

"Yes, please continue," I say with a monotone voice.

"From what we've heard, Antonio is willing to let everything behind us if you give him what he wants," the man with the accent says.

"And that is?" I challenge.

"I think you know what he wants King," he leans back in his chair.

I sighed quietly, thinking of a quick strategy since I knew that Tonio was really close by and that all the mallows were waiting for my signal.

"I think it's better to put an end to this. However, to do that, I must meet with Antonio himself, don't I?" I lean forward.

"Mister King, we're not as stupid as you think," he laughs dryly.

I get tired of taking the easy way and tippy toeing around Tony, I signal to the others as a result.

Suddenly, people I don't recognized popped up from behind buildings, some on top of buildings, and point at me and the mallows that are on the ground floor where I am sitting inside this garage.

"As I said, we're not that stupid," the Aussie says.

"I'm getting a sense this isn't a peace offer," I say sarcastically.

"You're not wrong about that," Antonio comes out dressed in an overcoat that looks like from the song Thrift Store.

"What are you wearing?" I say in mockery, accidentally. Ray would've said something like that.

"Pardon?" He asks.

"What on earth is that? Where do you even find coats like that?" I ask, genuinely disturbed.

Suddenly having a thought, I started laughing my butt off.

"Don't tell me you were planning to come out looking edgy, surprise me, then kill me with that outfit," I don't even know why I'm still on the coat subject. Maybe I've been too happy in my life lately that I find humor in a stupid fluffy coat.

"Okay, enough. What are you, a schoolgirl bully?" He rolls his eyes, taking the coat off not so subtly.

After calming down, wiping away my tears, I stand up and walk towards Tonio and see him cower back slightly and his men step closer to us.

"I'm telling you to leave my family alone," I say.

"If you give me that stupid program, I will," he smiles.

"Funnily enough, I don't have whatever you're talking about," I shrug.

"Then there's really no use for you or your stupid girlfriend, no?" He smirks even wider and I mock his actions before I elbow him in the nose and chaos erupts.

"I thought Ace suspended you!" I say, pulling Blake into a hug.

"He did, but I stuck around in case anyone needed my help," he pats my back before letting me go.

"Well, we have to go now before Noah comes back," I remember.

"Noah? Is he targeting you?" His face turns serious.

"No! I'll explain on the way," I take his hand and start running towards the other houses in hopes an exit will appear.

"Boss Lady!" I hear a familiar voice call out and look at the junior mallow.

"Kev, what are you doing here?" I ask Kevin.

"Boss positioned us here before he left," he explains. "What are you doing here?" He directs that towards Blake.

"You're telling me you can't use me in any way?" Blake challenges. "Isn't that's why you approached us?"

Kevin fidgets around before he sighs and leads us to the Marshmallow Van.

"I'm guessing by this time, Antonio and Ace have started?" Blake asks and Kevin reluctantly nods.

"We can take care of Lady Ray and you can go help the others," he says to which I shake my head.

"Oh no, I'm coming," I declare.

"Nope, no, you're not," Blake laughs.

"You can't tell me what to do," I cross my arms. "Kevin, lead the way."

"No, Kevin, don't move a muscle," Blake crosses his hands as well.

"Kevin, I said move," I grit out, feeling a rush of annoyance towards Blake.

"Ace almost killed me when he found out I allowed you to come to Australia. I'm not sure how he would feel if he finds out I brought you to the battlefield of all this," Blake glares.

"I don't care, you don't have to be there the entire time and I won't ever mention you were here," I suggest.

"If you really think that's an option, you don't know me very well," he sighs.

"I'm going Blake," I declare. His eyes flicker from eye to eye until he sighs.

"Kevin, start driving," he slumps in defeat.

"And you are to stay with the security mallows at all times," Blake goes over the conditions of me being with them once more.

"Yes yes, we've been over this," I roll my eyes.

Hearing gunfire, Blake quickly pulls me behind him and talks to Kevin in a hushed tone.

"I'll be leaving now," that's when I start getting worried. "We'll be fine as long as you are safe, got it?"

I nod seriously, composing myself. "Good luck out there," he smiles back in response and sprints to where the others were.

"Okay, follow my lead," Kevin says, heading to the sidelines and I sigh but do as instructed.

On the way, we see some people fleeing for their lives while others take the opportunity to refill their weaponry.

From what I could see, both the Marshmallows and Antonio's guys were almost equal in power, but I only caught a glimpse of the inside as we were running.

So there we sit, under a tree, listening to the guns fire away into the cold air.

I have already taken down more than a dozen men and I'm sure Marshmallows have done the same thing. But as we finally get the upper hand, I watch as some guards escort Tonio from a back door. I call Jerry over to take my spot and grab a couple of mallows to go after Tony.

As we try to sneak out, I see a glimpse of what looks like Blake's shadow so I stop to take a clearer look and my suspicions were correct. I tell the others to go ahead so we don't lose track of where Tonio is since we're already in the middle of the forest.

"The hell are you doing here?" I storm towards him.

"I heard you need a hand," he tries to joke.

"We're handling it very well without your help," I say angrily. "Suspension means I don't want to see your face."

"Well, what's the point in dwelling over the past," he tries to change the subject.

"Blake," I glare.

"Okay, I got worried that you'll need my strategies then realize I'm not there so instead of going to the airport, I went hiking and took some time to medicate and keep true to myself," he says in one breath, being sarcastic.

"Just shut up," I sigh, feeling done with life.

"Can I stay?" He asks, unsure.

Giving it a little of thought, it would be nice to have someone who understands my mindset to aid in battle when I need it.

"But you're still on suspension," I declare but the smile on his face seems like he didn't hear me clearly.

He adjusts his weapon in his hands as we start sprinting to where the mallows ended up at.

Once we have caught up to the other mallows, we walk slowly and carefully until the others behind us stop. Once I look back, I remain my composure as I see a gun pressed to some of their heads.

"Drop the guns," one of the guys instructs.

As I'm about to do so, Ray comes into my view and for a second I'm wondering if my life is flashing before my eyes. But it seems the other see it too because their demeanor relaxes.

"Drop the guns," she mocks with a smug look on her face.

When they try to move, Kevin and the others back her up until we get them all tied up and send them back to the battle field.

"What are you doing here?" This seems a lot like deja vu, almost like everyone that's not supposed to be here is here.

"I don't know," she says honestly. "I'll leave now," she shrugs and tries to walk away, but I don't let her in case someone is watching through the woods.

"You can stay close enough for me to know where you are but far away so you don't get involved," I say, which is something she already knew.

"Okay, but we're going to have a long talk at home about you leaving me with a stranger," she says with a forced smile.

As she's turning around, I look over my shoulder for a split second to see Antonio aiming his gun directly at us, suddenly way closer than before. I quickly get my gun out as the guys catch on and fire before he could do anything. I hear a shriek from behind me, which I'm guessing is Ray.

People start to take cover but Ray stays glued to my back forcing me to drag us both behind the tree. Only then do I notice my bleeding ankle and the scrap I got on my shoulder.

Not worrying much about it, I quickly turn my attention to Ray and see that she remains uninjured which is the only thing that matters.

"You stay here, I'll distract them until some mallows come get you," I put my hand on her shaking shoulder. She could only managed to nod, holding onto the gun tighter than before.

After a couple of minutes shooting back and forth, some guys who are badly injured drag corpses and try to evacuate the area. I also start hearing shots coming from where Ray was only to see her accurately shooting at everyone I don't see. The look in her eyes can deceive people into thinking she's done this before but her shaky legs say otherwise.

Focusing back on what's happening as more and more of Tonio's guys retreat, the mallows spread out to where they're supposed to be. That's when Tony drops his gun and raises a white handkerchief in surrender.

The gunshots lessen as his guys drop their weapons and follow the mallows before the area we were fighting at was almost deserted.

"What's this supposed to mean?" I ask loudly.

"Well around 1377 and 1399, King Richard the Second was believed to ha-"

"I didn't come here for a history lesson," I say strictly.

"I mean, England might have used it to surrender while I just use it as a distraction," he says, and I immediately look back at Ray who is walking away with some mallows.

He, and two more people, aim the gun to her back and I take off running to make sure it doesn't hit her, and I hear the shot then fall to the ground.

*

y'all asked for a long chapter and i was starting to get tired of writing about Antonio so just thought there should be some closure happening soon.

Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for allowing me to take about a month to update. It was the holidays then it was school but I'm back! Also... we hit views which i'm still not sure if it happened. Thank you all so much !!!!! <33 Also.. happy (really late) new year!!!