"I'm really not into the whole 'Daddy' thing. To be honest, it creeps me out." Tate whispered into my ear.

"No!" I said too loudly. "That is my father." I lowered my voice, but it was too late.

The men below stopped talking. "Who else is here?" My father demanded.

"There's a guard out front." Sal told him.

"That didn't come from outside, moron. Search this place top to bottom and bring me whoever that was." The man who raised me up until I was fifteen reached behind him and pulled out a handgun. His goons followed his lead.

They all took off into different directions through the maze of crates.

"Split up." Tate said urgently. "I'll take Luna. Josh and Jackson find out what is in those crates. Conner get the car and drive it down towards the park. They need to think they were hearing things. Don't be seen." Before I even had time to process what he said, Tate grabbed my arm and started tugging me towards the broken window we entered through.

My eyes didn't have enough time to adjust to the darkness outside before we were jumping off the crate. Well, Tate was jumping. I was falling.

I landed on the ground, hard. Tate's grip on my arm didn't loosen at all. He was up and running as soon as his feet hit the ground, dragging me along with him.

He must have gotten annoyed at having to pull me along and suddenly stopped. I don't know exactly what I was expecting. Maybe he was stopping to give me a little bit a breather so I could run with him.

He turned at faced me. With a single, confusing wink, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like some barbarian. He took off running again.

I couldn't even find the energy to be angry at the way he manhandled me.

I closed my eyes and just let Tate figure everything out.

Ten minutes later, he set me on my feet.

I plopped down, ungracefully, onto the cold concrete floor. We're in a cold dark rundown room. It must be one of the neighboring warehouses.

Where I am and the danger that I may or may not be in is the furthest thing from my mind.

My father is in town.

Not only that, he owns a gun.

He's obviously involved in Sal's gang somehow.

Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

There's no way that the man that abandoned his family would be in town. There just isn't a reason. Men who run from their families are cowards and cowards don't face their problems.

I tried to convinced myself, but I know what I saw. No matter how much I wish it wasn't true, he's here.

He's home and he didn't even bother to visit me. He never sent child support. He never even called me on my birthday. I could be dead and he would have no idea.

My eyes started tearing up involuntary.

"Hey." Tate said softly, "Don't cry."

"Don't look at me." I growled at him.

He sighed and sat down next to me. "We'll get through this, Luna. We'll meet up with the guys in a few hours and find out what we are supposed to do about all this."

"Just stop." I snapped back at him and sniffled, unattractively. I turned and faced the wall.

I don't like to cry in front of people. It makes me vulnerable.

I felt Tate's hand on my back and resisted the urge to lean back into it.

I don't need Tate. I don't need his comfort. He'll just shove it in my face later. There is no way that I can trust Tate with my friendship. He will definitely leave me.

"Maybe you should take a nap. We're going to have wait it out here for a couple hours. We'll meet the guys at the park just after day break." His voice seemed less threatening and more soothing. I have never really seen this side of him before.

I took a deep breath and leaned against him. He was a better pillow that the concrete floor at least.

We sat in silence for what felt like hours, but was probably only ten minutes. Somehow my head ended up on his lap as his fingers ran through my hair.

The only thing that I have to say about that is that it is quite relaxing.

"Can I ask you a question?" Tate said softly.

"Go for it."

He was silent for a full minute. It seemed like he was deciding whether or not to continue with this conversation. Eventually, he muttered, "Why did you call Josh when you saw Sal outside your window?"

"I probably should have called the cops, huh?" The thought hadn't even crossed my mind at the time.

"That's not what I meant." Tate sighed and he pulled his hands away from my hair. I resisted the urge to protest. This is Tate we're talking about. He's a jerk.

So why did I crave his touch?

I mentally shook the thoughts from my head. "Spit it out, Marks."

"Out of all of us, why him?"

Why kind of question was that? "I don't know." I answered honestly. "But according to the rumor mill, I'm sleeping with him." I joked.

Tate didn't laugh. In fact, he didn't say anything for a good five minutes. Finally, he spoke. "Are you?" His voice was expressionless.

I am not a sugary-sweet naïve girl. I can see the signs, but Tate has no right to be jealous. He's been nothing but rude to me since I met him. This last hour or so, he's had a complete personality turnaround, but that doesn't change anything. The whole 'being mean to the person you are attracted to' is so elementary and I don't have time for games.

I sat up and moved away from him. "What I do or don't do in my spare time is not your business."

Tate clenched his jaw. "What if I want it to be my business?"

"Stop."

"Luna," He said my name in a breathy whisper. "You don't think about the kiss at all?"

It took me half a second to even figure out what he was talking about; the meaningless kiss I planted on him after he called me a prude. In all honestly, I hadn't put much thought into it. Don't get me wrong, Tate is hot and the kiss was definitely the best I've had, but as great as it was, it didn't mean anything. We weren't dating or anywhere near it. We didn't have any kind of deep connection. It was just an amazing kiss fueled by pride and arrogance.

When I didn't say anything, Tate's eyes narrowed. "You can't tell me it didn't affect you at all. You may act like a cold-hearted bitch most of the time, but I know it is just a cover. Remember that day in homeroom when you said that I can't read your mind? I was right about most of what I said. I know you, Luna. You like to pretend that no one and nothing matters to you, but I know you care. You can't say that you wouldn't care if I just dropped dead."

"I would care if anyone dropped dead! It doesn't mean that they really mean anything to me. You've been a complete jerk to me since the day you got the name Wall-e! You can't just turn around one day and act like none of that matters because of one measly kiss that was over a month ago." I snapped at him. "I don't know if it is the whole danger aspect that is getting you off, but stop. In case you don't remember, we're hiding from a freaking gang. So, sit down and shut up until we can get the hell out of here."

Tate just stared at me, silently.

I decided to ignore him. I leaned back against a brick wall and let my eyes drift closed, wishing I was back in my comfortable bed.