"Just one more week until we can move into our new house. Are you excited?"

"Yeah, it'll be great to finally have my own space." I don't tell Mom about how much i'll miss sleeping with Alex.

"You won't miss being with Alex every night?"

"How did you know-"

"I'm not stupid, Amelia. Neither is Isabella. We know what's going on with you two." Well I hope they don't know everything that's been going on.

"Well, uh, what did Isabella say about it?"

"She thinks it's great that you both are together, but she's even more protective of Alex than your Dad and I are of you." Mom smiles and I silently pray they didn't talk about us having sex like Isabella did with Alex.

"What do you think about Alex?"

"He's great, A. I think he really cares about you and I'm glad to see you so happy. I hope it works out with him – I'd hate to see you upset over another boy."

"Alex won't hurt me."

"I hope not."

"Dinner!" Yasmin screams through the house and the sounds of doors opening and Val shouting 'no one take my favourite chair!' is heard from Mom's room. I laugh and we go downstairs together.

Mom sits beside Isabella and Dad, and I sit with Yasmin. "Is Alex here?" I ask her.

"No idea."

"Your fucktoy is indeed in his bedroom," Val says with his chin held high. Dad's eyes widen and Isabella yells at Val, while most of the guys laugh.

Alex comes into the kitchen with Marco and everyone looks at him. "Su papá va a matarte," Max says.

Alex looks at me. "Por qué?"

"Boys, stop being rude," Isabella looks at Mom and Dad then me. "I'm sorry about them."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Mom assures her with a smile. Alex and Marco sit down, Alex next to me.

"What did I miss?" He asks me quietly.

"No es importante," I smirk, impressed with myself.

"Amelia!" Isabella almost chokes on her food and looks at her son proudly. "Has Alex been teaching you spanish?"

Alex snorts. "As if." Isabella's smile drops and is replaced with annoyance.

"I'm learning it at school. Santiago helps with my homework though."

"No, Santiago does your homework," 'Tiago says, giving me a look.

"Amelia," Mom mutters disappointedly, shaking her head.

"Santiago is a total narc," Val comments. "Now I know why he asks me so many questions about where I get-"

"So you guys found a house?" Yasmin interrupts and Val narrows his eyes.

"Yeah, it's not far from here, actually. Just a ten minute drive," Dad says, happy to change the topic of conversation.

Alex slips his hand onto my leg under the table, sliding it up to my thigh. "I'll miss havin' you here," he whispers into my ear, causing goosebumps to spread down my neck and I shiver. His hand moves up to my crotch and I push it away while he smirks, his face just an inch from mine.

"You're insane." His Mom and my parents are literally sitting right across from us and he's trying to do that? What is it with teenage boys?

"Wish we were alone," he whispers so quietly I can barely make it out, then he kisses my cheek slowly. I blush, hoping Dad didn't see.

Val starts fake gagging. "Stop, i'm gonna puke."

"Shut up, weirdo."

I nudge Alex. "Stop being mean." Val smiles at Alex.

"He's mean," he whines.

"He's hard work, isn't he?" Isabella says. "I don't know how you voluntarily put up with him."

"Wow, thanks." Alex scowls and Val, Max and I laugh. I take his hand under the table and see him fight a smile.

+++

"¿A dónde vas?" Mom asks before I can get out the door.

"I need to work."

"Alex, its late, and it's a school night. You can't be doing this all the time-"

"I don't have any choice, alright? So stop bugging me about it."

"Why are you giving me attitude?"

"Because I'm sick of everyone always having something to say about it! As if i'm the bad guy for it."

"Who is saying things? Who else knows, Alex?"

I sigh. "I need to go."

"Hey, kid," Deans says when I get out of my car. Deans is the only guy here who I can tolerate. He's doing the job for his family too – for his wife who's sick.

"How's Avery?"

"She looks a hell of a lot healthier, so I guess these doctor people are doing shit right at least."

"That's great, dude." We walk into the warehouse together, walking down until I see Cal standing in a section holding a bunch of paper in his hands. He passes the bundle to a guy when he sees us.

"Fuentes, you can be kinda scary, can't you?"

"So?"

"There's a crazy drug bitch I need you to get for me. She owes me thousands."

I run a hand through my messy hair. "What if she won't come with me?"

"Hurt her."

"I-" I stop myself. "If she's a crazy drug bitch then won't she try to hurt me too? Or fucking kill me?"

"Yes, course she will, Fuentes. That's why you take this." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gun. "Kill her if you've not got her sittin' in your car within five minutes."

My heart skips a beat and my palms start to sweat as I process what he just said. Kill her. I can't kill her but I doubt she will willingly come to a dangerous man who wants thousands of dollars that she doesn't have and who will just kill her for that.

"Are you mad? He's a kid," Deans says, making Cal look at him with something in his eyes that would creep anyone out.

"Why don't you just head back to packaging, Deans," Cal says calmly.

"You can't make him do that. I'll do it instead," he says and Cal laughs, the sound sinister.

"No, man. It's fine," I lie.

"Murder is serious shit. You really gonna make him do somethin' his Dad got locked up for?"

"I suggest you walk away right now," Cal warns, his grip around the gun tightening. I gulp.

"Look, why can't Johnny or Rosco do it?" Those are the toughest guys Cal has. He says that i'm his other best, which he learned when I was trying to get out of the two dudes' grips that time they took me to make Dad kill someone. I put up a pretty good fight and Cal was impressed.

"They're on deliveries. Won't be back will tomorrow, not that I need to explain anything to you. I tell you to do something and you do it, now go. Evans will text you the address."

I hesitantly step away, my mind racing with all the ideas on how I could get out of this, but all of them would end up in me and the people I care about dead.

"Wait," Deans grabs my arm. "You're not doing this, Fuentes."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Cal's voice is loud now, echoing through the warehouse.

"A decent human being. Something you are not if you're gonna get a kid to murder someone."

Cal looks away for a moment, scratching his chin. "Know what? I don't have time for this." He points the gun at Deans and before I can do anything the deafening noise of the gunshot sounds and Deans body falls to the floor like a bag of sand.

"No!" I get down beside Deans, my heart breaking apart and my eyes burning. The bullet is buried in his chest and blood is pouring out of the deep hole through his skin. He's dead.

"Go, Fuentes."

I stand up, tensing my jaw to stop myself from showing any pain on my face. "He was a good person."

Cal's head moves back, his lips pressing together. "Being the hero will get you killed. Remember that."

+++

As soon as my car is stopped in the driveway of my house, I'm opening the bottle of tequila I bought with my fake ID – something I haven't used in a while.

The thought of Deans's dead body runs through my mind and I close my eyes tight shut, forcing the thought out of my head. I drink until it goes away. My phone buzzes for the millionth time, and I think of Amelia; about how worried she is, and I've just been ignoring her. She deserves someone so much better – someone without my problems and the danger she faces from being in my life. She's just another person for Cal to threaten me with.

Stumbling out of my car, I head up to the front door, my eyes blurry. There is just one lamp on downstairs, and I sit down on the couch, drinking more as I stare at the wall.

Holy shit. Avery.

His sick wife. How will she know her husband has just been murdered? She wont know how or by who. Will people just think he's missing? Who will pay for her medical bills now? Shit. He's fucking dead.

I bury my head in my hands and groan. I want to fucking scream. Deans died trying to help me.

"Alex? What's wrong?"

Listening to Amelia's soft voice makes me want to cry. She's too precious, and I'm so fucked up.

"Why weren't you answering my texts? I was worried something-"

"Leave me alone."

"What?" Her voice is quiet and when I hear her walking over, I stand up.

"Leave. I don't want you here."

Her expression is hurt and surprised. "You don't mean that. What's wrong-"

"You don't know what I fucking mean. You don't know anything about me."

"Why are you saying this? Are you drunk?"

"So what if I am?"

"Why though?"

"Reasons."

"You can tell me."

"Don't want to. I don't feel like explaining everything that happens in my life to you. You don't get it and it's nothing to do with you."

"Why are you being so fucking mean?"

"Because I'm done with this shit."

"What shit?"

"Everything. People putting pressure on me to do something that would get them fucking killed." My voice goes loud out of anger, but I remember my family are upstairs so I quieten down. "I'm sick of shitty things happening to the people that care about me and it being my fault."

She moves towards me again and I step back, afraid that if we get too close I won't be able to help reaching out to her. "None of it's your fault. You're a good person, Alex."

"See, you don't know anything. Because it is my fault."

"How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me? I'm not a mind reader."

I shake my head and take a drink. "Leave me."

"I don't want to."

"I don't want you to be here. I'm not in the mood to fuck so why else would I want to be with you?"

She takes a moment, looking like she's on the verge of tears and I almost regret what I said. But pushing her away is the best thing to do. She deserves better, and I don't need the stress of worrying about her.

"All this time it's just been about sex?" Her voice sounds so broken and I hate myself for it.

"Yes."

"You don't mean it," she cries.

"Oh my god." I clench my jaw, needing something to hit. I'm angry not only at Cal and the whole situation and how much I want him dead, but at Amelia for being so fucking hard to push away. Can't she just accept i'm a dick and move on already? I throw the bottle of tequila and watch it smash all over the floor. Amelia recoils, looking at me in horror. "Go away, Amelia."

The hurt on her face makes me hate myself even more. My life is so fucked up. Why did I ever think she could be a part of this? I've already been making her life hard for her even at school – she gets shit from people because she's dating me and she just puts up with it. Getting Roofied was probably my fault too. Everything is so fucked up.

After giving me one last painful look, she spins and goes upstairs, and my weak body falls down on the couch. I'm done. I'm fucking done with everything. Cal can go fuck himself. I don't care anymore. Shit, I do. I care about my family.

I put my head in my hands again, finally allowing tears to fall from my eyes. This is fucking hell.

+++

it's so weird how u can be so so happy one day and literally a day later you're crying on the floor because everything just came crashing down. but the day before everything was perfect. does that happen to you?

teaser: santiagos POV

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