After weighing the pros and cons for the umpteenth time, I eventually decided to meet up with Blake.

What was the worst that could happen? I found myself asking every time I started pacing in front of the living room couch.

Chicken meowed loudly from the couch, fixing me with her stare. I think my cat could sense my stupidity even from afar.

"I'll be fine," I told Chicken, before pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. "I need answers. Blake might be the only one willing to give me answers until my parents come back."

I walked to my room, picked up a large cardigan, and shrugged it on.

"Or, I might get successfully shot in the head this time," I added, once again having a one-sided conversation with my cat.

I could've waited for my parents to come back. I could've even called Mom or Dad and asked them what this whole Blake thing was about. But I knew my parents. They wouldn't speak of anything unless they were here in front of me. Unless I forced it out of them.

I sent a quick text to Caden, letting him know that I was leaving to see Blake (just in case), right before locking the doors behind me. Then I ventured off to the almost empty, dark streets behind my house.

What if I didn't make it back? I thought, right as my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I stopped by one corner of the street, saw it was just Alex sending me a picture of some Calculus problem he couldn't bother solving alone, and slid it back in my pocket once again.

Caden hadn't texted back yet. But he'd be there if I speed-dialled him, right?

Before I could've further chickened out, I pulled both ends of my cardigan closer against myself and started making my way towards the abandoned apartment Blake had mentioned in his text.

It took me a few minutes to finally come across said apartment and I stopped as I neared it, looking up at the tall building. The dark and old exterior did make it look abandoned. I went closer towards the entrance and noticed the chipped off paint on the crumbling walls. The few orange cones flipped across the entrance told me that it had once been a nice construction spot. Long, long ago.

After a few more minutes of searching around for an entrance route, I saw an old rusty staircase at one corner, basking in the moon's glow.

Cautiously, I started making my way upstairs, not sure where I was going. It was so dark that I had to keep myself from stumbling on my own feet again and again. When I finally reached the last stair, I saw how up I actually was. The spiral staircase below was enveloped in complete darkness.

A shudder went through me.

I might just be walking into hell.

Taking in a large, encouraging breath, I pushed past a metal door that was left open, leading to the roof. In just a few seconds, I found myself looking at the dark, night sky all around. The entire roof was empty safe for a boy, just around my age, sitting along one edge.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket.

I squinted my eyes and noticed that his back was towards me, his hands on either side of him as he leaned back and looked ahead at the city line.

Blake. It was Blake, with his dishevelled blond hair and the wind whipping against his denim jacket. He looked harmless--as harmless as a guy like him could look.

I decided that I should definitely not back off now. Crossing my arms protectively against myself, I slowly edged towards him.

Or I could just push him off.

Sighing, I quietly sat down beside him, but not before making sure to place a noticeable amount of space between us. And now that I could take a peek below, I realised that if I fell, they'd probably not even find my bones fully intact.

Just one little push.

"Took you quite some time to show up." He acknowledged me with a sideways glance, and I noticed the smirk tugging at one corner of his lips.

My eyes strayed to the edge once again and I carefully tried not to move my legs too much.

"I can think of a million decent places in this town." I frowned at him. "Have you got a thing for heights?"

His smirk stretched into a grin. "Have you got a thing against heights?"

I continued frowning at him. "You sent me that letter. The one that was addressed from BM." Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You told me to go to that godforsaken creepy playground. Why in the world did you do that?" I asked.

He didn't look surprised. Not that I expected him to. This should've been the first question he was expecting from me.

"I needed to see if you were stupid enough to take the bait." He said.

I gave him a really bad look, which he laughed at. "Well, you were stupid enough. But that wasn't just it."

"So you thought to just mail that letter to a random girl to quench your thirst for entertainment. Is that it?"

"No." He finally looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "I needed to make sure it was you. And it was you."

A beat of silence passed by.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I wrapped my arms around myself when a sudden gust of cold air hit me.

Blake didn't say anything.

A little more frustrated now, I added in, "Those gunshots. I could've died. What did I even do to you?"

"You're acquainted with my brother." He shrugged. "That's a reason enough."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm not acquainted with your brother."

"Aren't you?" He looked ahead at the night sky. "He's using you. You're using him."

My heart almost thudded to a stop. "I'm not using him. He's not--" Well, he was kind of using me.

Blake grinned. "Poor Sky. Do you think he'd want anything to do with you other than use you?"

"No." I gripped the ledge on either side of me. "I don't know where your thoughts are heading, but I never expected him to. I need to be done with this, with you and with him, and go back to living my life peacefully."

That's all I want.

Another buzz vibrated from my phone, and I nearly took it out until Blake spoke up.

"That incident at the playground was an unfortunate accident." He said. "Wrong person, wrong timing."

Unfortunate accident, my ass.

"You think I'll believe that?"

"I know you will." He huffed a laugh. A knowing, cruel laugh. "Isn't that what you've been doing all your life? Your old folks tell you to believe in something, and you do. Can't make them disappointed in you, can you? I'd say you've got real nice experience with believing in lies."

I stayed silent, staring at one particular spot down below, clenching my jaw.

Blake knew. He knew a lot. How was that possible?

"Isn't it a bit surreal, though? I almost accidentally killed you, yet you're still here sitting beside me. So desperate for answers."

I was starting to really hate him.

"You asked me to come here." I snapped. "You were the one who texted me. You don't know how it's like to be in the unknown all the fucking time."

Blake looked my way. "I don't. Because I like to be a little ahead of what's going on around me."

"Screw you," I whispered, looking down at the abandoned construction zone, then back up at the sky. "You know, you both are so much alike."

He didn't ask me who I was talking about. "Are we?"

"Yes," I said. "No wonder you hate each other so much. If I had a brother like you or like Caden, I'd have rather killed my own self."

"See?" He tipped his head up to the sky and laughed. It was a strangely cheerful sound. "You do understand it now. Labels, darling. They're just labels."

"You're awful."

"And my brother isn't?"

"At least he's forward with what he wants." I retorted.

Blake's gaze was on mine again and for a brief moment, I thought maybe I fucked up. Badmouthing the enemy on top of an abandoned building.

"You don't know him, darling." He said. "You don't know him at all."

"I know him enough to know he's the good one here."

Blake smiled. "I see."

Fidgeting with my cardigan sleeves, I breathed out a sigh. "Look, you promised me answers."

"I didn't exactly promise you." He said. "But sure, go ahead. What do you want to know?"

I eyed him suspiciously.

"What have you got with my parents?"

Blake shrugged. "My parents know your parents. I'd say it's a business relationship?"

"I wasn't talking about your parents," I said. "I meant you. What have you got against my parents?"

"I have got something against them?" Blake made a face. "I wasn't aware of that."

Oh God, I thought. Was he always this annoying?

As if hearing my inner thoughts, Blake grinned. "Any more questions?"

"Why do you both hate each other so much? Caden and you? The different gangs, I mean."

He hummed in thought. "Well, you see, darling...that's a rather direct question."

I pursed my lips and followed his gaze, looking down at the busy streets and lively houses. Now that I paid more attention, it did kind of look beautiful from up here. You could almost see the entire town.

"You know what? You need to stop calling me that." I glared at him then. "And yes, I can ask direct questions. That's why you asked me to meet you here."

Blake ran a hand through his blond locks. "Isn't that so generous of me?"

"Of course, it is."

"You'll owe me something for this generosity of mine."

I gave him a look. "What? No way!"

"Yes way." He nodded. "I don't recall my brother ever being patient enough and answering all those questions in that pretty little head of yours."

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Don't you know the manners of a conversation?"

I shifted in my position. "I don't know what that is supposed to mean."

He leaned back and stared at me curiously, his blue eyes raking my whole form in a way that left me feeling a whole lot self-conscious.

"Manners of a conversation states that you do not get to know your part of the information until you, yourself do not give something in return." He said.

"Are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" He asked with a smirk. It did look like he was joking.

"You promised you won't come anywhere near me." My voice raised a pitch higher and I think I was starting to freak out now. "You promised you wouldn't kill me." Heck, I didn't even bring that stupid knife. I looked at the door which was left open a bit; my only escape.

"I didn't say I would touch you." He said. "Even if that thought is tempting."

An involuntary blush crept up my neck.

"Listen here, Blake. I trusted you on your word and came here without telling anyone. Don't make me regret it." I said that with a glare, though deep inside I was scared like shit.

His eyes shone with amusement. "Tell me honestly," He started. "You didn't tell anyone that you were coming here?"

I looked away from him. "I didn't."

"I know you're not that stupid," Blake smirked. "Is he down there? Waiting for you to come back? Or is he behind that door," he nudged his head towards the roof door. "Waiting for you to shout for help so he can bust in?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Caden."

"He's not here," I spoke up in clear frustration. "I didn't tell him."

As if on cue, my phone started ringing.

Blake's eyes fell to my pocket. "The universe is against you lying, darling."

I took it out because it wouldn't stop ringing. Once I saw the screen, I realised it really was Caden. Fuck, I thought. I wish I could tell him how bad his timings were.

"It's not Caden." I lied.

"'Course it isn't." He smiled. "Why don't you answer him? Put him out of his misery?"

Gritting my teeth, I glared at Blake, then at my phone, before declining the call.

"What's going on between you two anyway?" Blake asked, still with that stupid smile.

"Nothing that should concern you."

"You told him you were coming here. He just called you. I sense a connection."

I switched off my phone and contemplated whether I should just get up and leave, or push him over the roof first.

"You know, I'll let you in on a secret." Blake sat up straight. "He never lets himself be close to anyone. Courtesy of me, of course."

I stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I made some mistakes." He beamed. "Purposefully. Mistakes that make him who he is now."

"Why would you do that?"

Blake shrugged. "Why do we do half of the things we do, Sky?"

I remained silent.

"You shouldn't trust him either." He glanced at me. "I believe trust is a very strong word. Especially if you don't know someone."

I didn't know him. I didn't know Caden. But I knew, deep down, that he'd be there if I was ever in danger. Or maybe I was trusting him too much.

Blake's gaze was still fixed on me and it was getting unnerving, making me a bit uncomfortable. He was giving me that analyzing look as if looking into all of my secrets.

I didn't even have any secrets.

"As for your question earlier," I heard him inhale deeply as he looked ahead, avoiding my gaze this time. "Let's just say things between the both of us were never...admirable."

"Why not?" I asked him. "What about Caden's parents? Your parents?"

He was silent for a while before running a hand through his hair, ruffling it over his forehead. "Stepbrothers. We're stepbrothers. And something happened. It ruined everything into bits."

He wasn't lying, I realised. Even if there were traces of a smirk still left on his lips, the almost hidden frustration in his voice told otherwise.

"Something?" I asked, hoping he'd elaborate more.

He was silent for a while as if thinking whether telling me would be worth it or not.

"Death."

_____

Crystal 🌿