Chapter Twelve:

The sun had gone down by the time they left the Library, yet it didn't seem that they were out that long. The day seemed to have slipped by, and Lotus didn't even know what time it was.

Luther kept the pace up, even with a drunk Five held in his arms. Diego and Lotus stood on either side of him, trying to avoid the line of fire if Five ever decided to lean over and vomit. They were far away from the library, and she supposed one of the employees would've discarded the empty liquor bottle by now. Five was still muttering about odd things as he cradled the other bottle to his chest, letting out soft burps.

"Well, we can't go back to the house. It's not secure." Luther sighed, trying to avoid breathing in any of the air that escaped Five's lungs. "Those psychopaths could come back at any minute."

"My place is closer. No one will look for him there." Diego whipped a knife from his shirt and began fidgeting it with it. Five let out a loud burp and then giggles, Lotus tried not to laugh. Luther cringed, "If you vomit on me—"

"You know what's funny?" Five giggled again, "Aah! I'm going through puberty. Again."

Luther huffed staring down at his brother, but Five beat him in the race to say something next.

"Twice." The boy shook his head, a hiccup escaped his lips. "And I drank the whole bottle didn't I? That's what you do when the world you love goes bye-bye." He paused and than raised his hands, extending his fingers in an explosion type way. "Poof, it's gone."

"What are you talkin' about?"

Diego whirled around and glared at his brother, "Two masked intruders attacked the Academy last night. They came looking for you. So I need you to focus." He told him, "What did they want?"

"Hazel and Cha-Cha." He replied, "The best of the best."

"Who?"

"Besides me of course." Five carried on.

"The best of what?"

"You know, Delores always hated when I drink. You should've made me a Shirley—"

"Hey!" Diego spat, "I need you to focus! What do these Hazel and Cha-Cha want? We just want to protect you."

"Protect me?" Five sneered, "I don't need your protection Diego. Do you have any idea how many people I've killed? No."

"Five—" Lotus began but he cut her off, another hiccup leaving his lips.

"I'm the four freakin' horsemen!" He laughed, "And the apocalypse is coming" and with that, Five leaned his head over the side and vomited right next to her.

"That's enough." She grumbled stopping Luther, "Put him down."

"What?"

"If you want him to focus, put him down." She snapped, "If he can't even focus on walking, how if he going to focus on spilling the damn details to this plan of his?"

Luther paused but when he looked at Diego, the other brother shrugged. Five tumbled to the ground, Delores went down with him but he still managed to grip that damned bottle.

"Give me the bottle, Five."

"No."

Lotus rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand as he went to pull away, her hand latched around his wrist and she knew he was to drunk to try anything. Instead, he went to grab her by the shoulder but she was faster. Lotus pinched his neck and hooked her leg around his and threw him to the ground. The bottle smashed against the concrete next to him and he groaned holding his stomach.

"What the hell are you doing?" Luther questioned, though he didn't seem as angry as she thought he would've been or even tried to stop her. Diego just looked amused.

"Putting him in his place." She shrugged hauling him up, "Even though he's not in the correct state of mind."

"I'm fine." Five grumbled balancing himself, he looked over at Delores who was now gripped in Luther's hands. "Let's just go."

Lotus watched as Luther and Diego took off, and so did Five but he was slower and appeared to have a limp. She pursed her lips but rushed up to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder so he could walk properly.

"Here." She mumbled, expecting for him to refuse but he didn't. He used her weight to favour one of his legs and leaned into her side. "You're still an ass, you know."

"You're finally standing up for yourself."

She rolled her eyes, "And you're going to give everyone answers when we get to your brothers place."

His usual glare was back as he shot it at her, "I should've let you bled out that night."

"I should've left you wallowing in that shitty library."

He shrugged, "Is your shoulder all right?"

"What? After you crashed me into a cement wall?" A chuckle escaped her lips, "Ya, I'm fine. Pogo patched me up."

Five nodded slowly, still clutching his upset stomach. "I'm sorry for leaving you."

Her brows raised, "Two apologies coming from Number Five? Did I break a record."

He groaned, "Screw off, Ingrid."

"What?"

"Hm?"

Lotus frowned, "I don't recall giving you my last name."

"I have sources." He grinned, and she couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her own face. "And no, I'm not revealing those secrets."

"You have a lot of secrets."

He looked her at her, a grim expression on his face. The smile slipped from hers as well, and that's when she knew he hadn't been lying about the whole end of days thing. The fear and hurt buried in his eyes was visible with the growing dark, she couldn't help a spark of fear ignite within her. His blue eyes locked on her green ones and he sighed, "That's what's been keeping me alive."