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I felt my eyes widening up as I looked at a very much surprised Marleen standing in front of us, just outside the kitchen.

Judging by the look on her face, I had no idea if she was surprised by the mess around Luca and I, or if she was surprised by what both of us had been doing just few seconds ago.

If she had witnessed it, that is.

I hadn't even known she was here in the house. I thought she was at work already. But she wasn't wearing her work clothes. That meant she probably wasn't going at the hospital today.

A bigger part of me really hoped that she hadn't seen us kissing as I stood there, frozen at my spot with words stuck in my throat. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know if I was supposed to say anything.

It was all silent around the three of us for the next few seconds. I could only make out Frost's faint barks from somewhere outside.

I watched as Marleen opened her mouth then closed it shut, raising her brows as if she didn't know what to say either. I felt myself wanting to shrink away at that.

She had most definitely seen us kissing. What if she doesn't react properly? Why the hell had I even kissed him?

This was all Frost's fault.

"What is this mess?" She finally spoke up, her eyes moving from Luca to me. Then she eyed me carefully and I felt myself taking a small step back. "What–Why are you covered in flour, Grace?"

I gulped, trying to force out some words.

"She banged her head on the cabinet behind her." Luca spoke up as he leaned back against the kitchen counter, not looking flustered at all. "And that bag of flour fell over her."

Marleen responded with few inaudible words under her breath, fussing over me instead of the mess I had caused in her kitchen.

"I'm so sorry. I can clean this mess." I said when I finally found my voice.

But then Marleen had frowned and pushed me out of the kitchen saying something along the lines of, "You kids really shouldn't be left alone." and, "God knows what you were even planning to do."

"Mom," Luca interrupted with something that looked a lot like a smirk to me. "We weren't planning to do anything."

My face heated up involuntarily as I focused on anything but their faces.

"It didn't seem like nothing when I came here." Marleen gave him a pointed look before picking up the empty bag of flour. I really wished I hadn't seen the slight twitch at the corner of her lips.

I cleared my throat lightly, truly horrified by their words. How the hell was I supposed to react?

"Well, you see–" Luca started but was cut off by Marleen.

"Gracie, are you okay?" She wasn't smiling now, rather looking at me with concern. I think I must've gone pale.

I nodded meekly, forcing a small reassuring smile on my face.

As if knowing how much I was lying, Luca let out a snort only to receive a stern look from Marleen. "Stop playing around, Luc." And then she looked at me. "Come with me, dear. You can take a shower and get out of those ruined clothes."

She motioned at me before leaving the kitchen. I stayed put even if I knew that she was expecting me to follow.

"Don't worry too much, Rose." I heard Luca's voice behind me as he went back in the lounge. "She's totally fine with you kissing me."

I opened my mouth in disbelief and shock but thought otherwise and shut it close. At the same time, I heard one of Frost's excited barks.

This really was all Frost's fault.

•••••

Later that day, I had taken Dad's laptop back to my house with Frost trailing behind me.

Really, I was kind of getting used to living with him. The house didn't feel so lonely anymore. He spent his time either roaming around the house or curling up at my side just so that I'd pay attention to him. I made sure to give him food at times and he sometimes slept in bed with me, or below the window in my room.

All in all, I was getting used to his presence.

"This is taking too much time." I grumbled, looking at the laptop screen with slight frustration. Even though Luca had managed to somehow break the encryption, it was still taking time to finish the process.

I watched the black screen, at the green loading bar, waiting.

At one point –sometime around the evening– Alice came by my house with two huge shopping bags in her hands.

"What is this supposed to mean?" I had questioned her.

She had just widened her eyes as if I had asked her something really offensive. "The soccer match, Gracie! The after-match party!"

Still, I didn't understand why she needed my help with this. I sucked at doing makeup. I sucked at styling hair, for that matter. Why was she here then?

"I don't have any decent jewelry." She had answered my unspoken question, closing the front door and glancing at the wall clock. "And I can't decide between these two short dresses. Also," She added, holding up her index finger. "I want you to style my hair like yours."

"Like mine?" I had asked her with a funny look. Did she really think that I bothered to style my hair?

"No! I meant, like when your hair was longer. You used to keep them down, didn't you? That whole glossy waves vibe."

And that's how I got stuck in my bedroom, in front of the big wall mirror as I tried taming her freshly shower-dried curls. Really, it was no easy thing.

"I really wish you were coming, Grace." She mumbled, scrolling through her phone as I eyed her hair with a small frown. I had somehow managed to make them look less frizzy. A little help from hair spray and coconut oil, something I used on my hair all the time—back when my hair were longer.

"I've got...stuff to do." I said with a small shrug, curling up a strand of her hair. "Really, parties aren't my thing. But you should enjoy, yeah?"

She merely hummed at that.

"Be careful, though." I murmured. "The drinks at such parties are pretty strong." Such parties mostly ended up with a trip to the police station.

"I'll be." She nodded before looking at me in the mirror. "But if I do get wasted, be ready to save my ass."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

She was all ready almost around 8 and I was more than glad when she left. Making sure that the front door was closed, I practically ran back to my bedroom and opened up Dad's laptop.

I clicked on the black screen only to see numerous code numbers flashing on it. It kept on going on until another bar popped up.

Unauthorized Access.

Please Enter The Password.

With an irritated sigh, I spent the next few minutes typing in everything that I could've guessed at that moment. Dad's birthday. Mom's birthday. The years Jack and I were born in. The day when Dad got his job in Manhattan, how happy he was back then. I tried everything.

But each time all I got was a red flash on the screen. Each guess was wrong.

I frowned and raked my hands through my hair in clear irritation.

What was the goddamn password?

How was I supposed to know it? How would I even know what Burner's after?

I closed my eyes and breathed heavily.

They'll come after me.

I knew that. Me escaping from that place would not go unnoticed. I didn't know why Burner's men weren't after me yet. What was he planning to do?

God, what if they hurt Jack?

Hastily, I pulled out my phone and switched it on before calling Luca. I didn't want to think twice about such things. I didn't want to waste any more time.

I didn't want to risk Jack's life anymore.

"Grace?" He picked up on the third ring, sounding confused.

"Hey, um...where are you?" I asked, trying my best not to sound too direct.

"Why? Are you all right?" He asked instead, sounding a bit too alarmed this time.

I gulped and leaned back against the couch. Did he thought I was calling him just because I was in some sort of trouble?

Of course he thought that.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just...I opened the laptop and it's not letting me access it without a password." I replied.

He was silent for a while, and then I heard some shuffling from his end. "Oh." He said. "Do you think you know what it could be?"

I looked back at the laptop screen, still asking me for a password.

"No. All my guesses are coming out wrong." I spoke up, still frowning. "What am I supposed to do? I...I can't waste any more time."

I heard him sigh heavily. "I'll come by your place and take a look at it." And before I could've replied, or said anything at all, he ended the call.

•••••

It took him more than three hours to get to my house. I didn't complain, though. Eventually, I heard the doorbell ring.

Of course, I wanted to know why he hadn't come earlier, or what took him so long, and where he had been. But I forced all the questions at the back of my head as I opened the door, only to widen my eyes in surprise.

"What happened to you?" I spoke up loudly, utterly surprised as my eyes raked over his white T-shirt. Which looked nowhere near white with all the big red smudges on it.

Spots that looked like blood.

"Is that–"

"It's not my blood." He cut me off in a somewhat plain tone.

I moved my eyes from his battered shirt and jacket and looked up at him, his brown curls disheveled over his head. I could even make out a slight scratch on his right cheek.

"What happened? Are you fine? Did you–"

He cut me off once again, this time with a short, exasperated laugh. "I'm fine, Rose." He said. "And no, I didn't kill anyone."

I frowned at that, clearly not believing it. "Lucius–"

"Can you not call me that?" He asked, sounding even more exasperated now before dragging a hand through his hair. My eyes followed his hand and it took me a little squinting to notice the bruised knuckles.

"No, you answer me first." I hissed at him. "You need to tell me what the fuck happened with you." Why was he always dodging off my questions? Why did he never answer truthfully?

He looked taken aback but came over it just as quick, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Can I come inside first?"

I let out a small irritated huff but stepped back nonetheless, letting him enter. And when he was inside and I had closed the front door, I realized that he was coming in here for the first time actually, since I left for Manhattan.

Judging by the way he was clenching his jaw, I think he wasn't comfortable with that thought either.

"Go ahead. Start talking." I stopped in front of the lounge and crossed my arms, waiting.

His eyes trailed across the surroundings before coming back at me. Now that he wasn't in the dark, I noticed how much worse he actually looked. His black jacket was doing its obvious job to hide the ruined shirt, his sneakers all battered and muddy.

"I got in a fight." He started.

I waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't, I spoke up, "With whom?"

"With few guys." He replied before sitting down on the couch.

"Why did you get in a fight?"

He leaned his head back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling. He looked tired. I really wished he would tell me whatever that was going on with him. There were things, secrets that he wasn't telling me. I knew that.

"I do the drug dealing stuff for Ryder. Some people get on his bad side and he sends me to take care of them." He said.

"Why you?" I was still at the same spot. Dad's laptop was left discarded on the small glass table.

"I owe him."

"You kill them and get away so easily?" I didn't try to hide the uneasiness from my voice. I didn't even want to believe that he killed people.

"I don't kill them, Rose." He rolled his eyes at that. "Well, sometimes. I just threaten them. It's my job, you know."

I gulped, feeling a small lump in my throat. I really didn't want to believe this. How could I? The Luca I knew would never...he would never threaten people. He was all smiles and gentleness.

"Why do you owe him?" I asked after a while.

I saw him frown at that. Few silent seconds passed by with him not saying anything at all. And then my phone rang, interrupting the tense silence.

He lifted his head and looked over at my phone.

I tried hiding my irritation before circling around the couch and picking up my phone from the small glass table, right beside the laptop.

It was Alice.

I answered it with a small huff, "Alice, look I'm busy right now. Can I call you later please?"

All I could hear was loud music and cheers from the other end. And then came Alice's high pitched voice. "Gracie! Oh my God, this is so fun. You should've come! It's so amazing and I'm dancing and–" She hiccupped and I realized that she was probably drunk.

"Alice, try staying in the clear." I said carefully. "Stay with your friends."

She giggled and didn't stop for the next few seconds. "No no no! I'm gonna drink more! I'm so gonna get wasted, Gracie! And hey, Noah even asked me for a dance. He's so fucking cute, lord!"

I scrunched up my nose at that.

"But that's not the point." She laughed some more. "I-I saw some men. I think they were three of them. I thought they were the police at first but then I realized that they were all dressed in black. Funny, right?"

It didn't seem funny to me.

"I went over towards them thinking they were probably some guys from the rival school and shit. I tried starting a conversation but they all seemed so ru–de." She hiccupped again. "They asked me about you, though. And even about Fraser. You think Fraser knew those guys? Were those guys from the rival school? And you know them? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Alice–"

"They even asked me about a guy named Burner. Who the heck is he? Is he one of Noah's friends?" She continued rambling.

"Alice. Alice! Listen to me. Are you listening to me?" I must've sounded frantic judging by the way Luca opened his eyes and regarded me with a curious look.

"Yup." She cheered loudly. "Yup."

"Alice, please stay away from them. Go over towards someone else, someone safe. Ask Noah for another dance. Stay with him." I could hear my heartbeat which was way louder than the music blasting from Alice's end.

"What? Why? I wanna drink more."

"No, please. Just stay in the crowd. Stay away from those guys. I'll be there to pick you up." I added.

"Okay, Gracie." She said, stretching my name at the end as I ended the call in a sudden rush.

"What happened?" Luca spoke up slowly.

I rubbed my face with both of my hands. I was tired and I was scared and I was so freaking angry. "I-I have to go. I need to pick up Alice from a party."

He seemed to look more confused at that.

"And why are you freaking out?" He asked, furrowing his brows as he stood up from the couch, right in front of me.

I swallowed thickly as sudden dread clawed my insides.

They were here. Burner was here. Alice wasn't safe. I wasn't safe.

"They're at that party." I spoke up. "Burner's men."

_______________________________________________________________________

Crystal 🌿