Paralyzed on the spot, unable to even move her eyes to try and look around her, Lulu could only feel her heart beating in her chest at the speed of light as the man standing a few feet away with a deadly weapon pointed at her didn't budge, standing perfectly still.

The world vanished inside the house, annihilated by the danger that created a suffocating atmosphere.

Lulu caught herself looking for air when the man took a few steps in her direction, "You think the cops are gonna save your mom?"

She opened her eyes even wider, her entire body shaking as she let out a terrified whimper. She couldn't even process the words she had just heard and wondered, for a second, if she wasn't hallucinating.

"Cause they're snooping around my business," the man said, "And I don't like that."

Lulu took a large breath, squinting her eyes out of fear, shooting a quick look at the kitchen window, where she could vaguely catch a glimpse of Fezco's house. And, in all honesty, at that specific moment, she would have done anything to go back in time and walk right into his house instead of trying to cover up the fact that she had been drinking at Maddy's birthday party.

Slowly, she slided her hand in her back pocket and grabbed her phone, willing to try anything to get herself out of this situation. She knew it was absolutely idiotic to do something like this. But the man was harmed and Lulu stood powerless, unaware of what his next action would be.

As carefully as possible, she unlocked it as the man kept talking, "So you gonna take them off this trail, real motherfuckin' quick."

But the man obviously noticed the faint light coming from the phone and discovered Lulu trying to call Fezco, reacting immediately, "What the fuck're you doing, you fuckin' bitch!"

He slammed the gun against Lulu's temple strongly, earning a pained scream from the girl as she dropped her phone. Using his other hand, he wrapped it around her neck and smashed her into the front door, "You tryin' to call the cops?"

Desperately, Lulu shook her head from left to right, gasping for air whenever he slightly released the pressure on her neck.

"So, if the gun ain't scaring you enough," the man seethed with anger, "Might as well show you what your mom'll go through if the cops don't stop sniffing around."

In a second, the man had pulled his gun away and grabbed a handful of Lulu's hair, throwing her against the nearest wall. The impact had been so violent that Lulu passed out for a second, brought back to reality when she received another hit on her ribcage.

That was also the moment when Lulu dissociated with her body entirely. Maybe it had something to do with the violence of what she was currently experiencing — receiving hit after hit in her own home, a place where she had such amazing memories, a place where she had always felt pretty safe — or maybe it was a way for her to survive the moment altogether.

Nonetheless, Lulu was absent and her brain drifted away as she started mixing up the realness of what was actually happening to her with a scene she had to shoot on the set of Godly.

In the blink of an eye, Lulu pictured some spotlights all over her house, a camera hovering over her and the man and she could even feel a piece of the tape used to place actors on set actually sticking on her back. From the corner of her eye, she saw a sound recording boom and felt the camera moving over them, trying to shoot from the best angle.

Just like that night at Laurie's, before the New Years' party, Lulu extracted herself from reality in order to escape into a shaped-reality where she could have perfect control of the situation. Where she wasn't experiencing the actual act of removing her clothes in front of strangers or of being physically assaulted in her own home.

This coping mechanism was dangerous —as Lulu was still being violently assaulted, but it was the only way for her to survive traumatic moments. And it all traced back to the night her father had walked out of her life forever.

When the man's outburst finally ended, he walked out of her house and she found herself stuck in this alternate reality, feeling the heat coming from her imaginary spotlights burning her skin. She could taste the blood slowly dripping from her face to her mouth but ignored the feeling —as it reminded her that the blood was real, therefore, the assault was too.

The faint sound of an engine roaring outside could be heard until it vanished. Softly, all of the things she had created to protect herself started to undraw themselves, disappearing entirely when she heard someone calling out her name in the distance.

Lulu could hear a few footsteps coming closer but she was too weak to even move her head and she finally reconnected with reality when she saw Fezco above her. She swore she could see him moving his lips but a buzzing sound made it impossible to hear anything.

Delicately, he lifted her off the ground and she saw Ashtray, carrying his rifle, walking down the corridor with the weapon pointed ahead, as if he was making sure that no one else was inside the house.

When they made it to Fezco's house, Lulu was unconscious and her boyfriend was quick to drop her carefully on the couch, under the dumbfounded stares of Faye and Custer.

Zahia, on the other hand, was absolutely livid at the sight of her sister covered in blood, her white top now crimson. White dots started covering her eyesight and she had to lean on the nearest counter not to crash and faint.

"W-What happened to her?" Zahia asked with a trembling voice.

"Ion know," Fezco replied, "Ash, go get me the first aid kit."

Ashtray disappeared upstairs as Zahia started hyperventilating, feeling like her heart was about to explode at any moment. Fezco looked up at the younger girl, "Yo, Z... Z, look at me."

The young girl had tears threatening to spill out but made eye contact with Fezco, even though he appeared all blurry.

"She's gon' be fine, I fucking promise," Fezco said reassuringly, "Okay? Hey, take a deep breath, jus' like me."

Ashtray sprinted down the stairs, carrying a big box, right when Zahia copied Fezco's action, taking a large breath through her shaky limbs.

"Ash, give Z some clothes," Fezco said, "There's no fucking way they going back there."

Ashtray nodded, quickly glancing at Lulu who was slowly fluttering her eyelashes, before turning around to face Zahia who had unconsciously gotten closer to him.

Fezco made eye contact with Zahia, "You two are stayin' here, I don't care for how long."

And it seemed to lift a weight off of Zahia's shoulders, she released a long breath she had been holding in and gave Fezco a small smile, "Thank you, Fez..."

"My home's your home, kid."

Ashtray softly tugged on Zahia's arm and they made eye contact before silently going upstairs, leaving Fezco with Lulu in the living room.

The drug dealer let out a shaky breath at the sight of the woman he was falling for a little more each day and he started taking care of her, earning a few pained whimpers here and there.

... ... ...

, well..... i really dont know what to say about this chapter except that i'm really anxious about you guys opinions on it!! like i promise i'm FREAKING out about posting it i'm so scared you guys are going to hate it akdjajsjaj