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Today, Monday 5th.

Roméo slowly wakes up by the ringing of his phone, Michael is still asleep next to him, holding his hand. Reluctantly, Roméo detaches his hand from Michael's and grab his phone on the living room table. An unknown number is calling him.

- Hello?..

- Tommy. Emergency meeting at 10 AM, Monday 5th. Do not bring anything.

The call ends by itself. It wasn't a human voice, it was a robotic one, as if this message was recorded in advance. It was the same number of gave the information about his first mission, this message was from David Martinez, Roméo panics.

He receives some seconds later an address; David's villa. He starts to imagine the worse.

Michael yawns quietly but Roméo startles at the sound of his mouth, he gets up quickly and head to his suitcase to dress up.

- So you gotta go to David's villa huh?

- Huh? You-you.. you heard the voice message?

- Of course. You played it right next to my ear, how could I not hear it?

- Sorry for that, I woke you up..

- That's fine. You're leaving now?

- Y-yeah I think.. don't wanna be late. It seems very serious.

- I get it. Do you want me to come with you?

- Nah, that's okay. I can manage it! I'll text you if something goes wrong.

- 'kay.

Michael gets up and walks to the kitchen where he pours cold milk from the fridge in his mug. Roméo puts on a clean jean and a black t-shirt, puts his phone deep in his pants' pocket and walks out of the apartment as quickly as he can. Michael stares at him leaving his house and sighs deeply.

"I hope he's not going to get in serious trouble, I don't know if I'll be able to control myself if something terrible were to happen to him there.." is what he thought.

Roméo rushes to David's villa while texting Carter on his way but when he arrived in front of the house, he saw a crowd of armed bodyguards protecting the entrance. When they saw Roméo confused in front of them, two bodyguards walked up to him to escort him inside the villa.

They lead him to the top floor, in the same room as the last time Roméo went to meet his future partners. They open the doors and let Roméo walk alone to the center of the room next to Alexandra and Philip, two of the chosen ones. However, Stella wasn't by their side; she is standing in front of them, next to David, with a guilty face.

David clears his throat and stares at the three of them facing him.

- Well then. Now that we have all of my little workers, we can start this emergency meeting. Last night, this charming lady Lyra went wild on one of our targets, George Dawkers, resulting in his death. I must be honest, it wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't part of the plan. The medias got their hand full on this case and is searching for suspects.

"Did he brought us here to show us what he'll do if we fail a mission? Oh god no, Stella.." is what he thought.

- However..

David puts his hand on Stella's shoulder, she seems to despise his touch.

- I'm not saying this is a bad behavior, on the contrary! I'm even cheering you to be a lil' violent with your future targets. George was a dick and deserve to die, actually, I don't care much about his case. In the end, Lyra still brought us the money he owed me and in exchange, I covered her on this crime. So kids, if you ever feel like committing a crime or even a murder, go for it. The people you are charged to kill are never Angels.

David pushes a little Stella to her comrades, he indirectly indicates her to walk back in line next to them. She nods and fakes a smile and then walks to Roméo's side.

He whispers,

- S-stella, are you okay? W-what happened?

She whispers,

- Shush, not now.

She hits his arm softly to make him react and face David instead of talking quietly to her. David smirks devilishly and sits on his desk while holding a glass of alcohol.

- Today is a big day! I didn't call you here just to cheer for your comrade no, I called you to welcome a newcomer in your gang, the winner of my tournament! Come on pretty, you can come in.

The doors slowly open behind them and a short but amazingly cute girl arrives in the room. They all turn around to discover this mysterious winner but Stella's face decomposes when she sees that girl walking proudly in the room. Her fist clenches and the rage on her face is indescribable but Roméo places his hand on hers' in time to make her calm down. The cute girl walks to David's side and smiles with no shame.

- Here she is, my sweet pie! This girl sent waltzing damn brawny men and fierce women in no time. She is a true legend, thanks for joining us Sonny.

- Oh no, that's a true pleasure to join you guys, being able to fight by your side is a honor, I mean it!

- How cute of you. Now walk to your new friends, I'll explain what will come next.

Sonny smiles sweetly to David and walks to Stella's side in the line. "She looks way too happy and sweet to be with us.. did David.. no, he wouldn't have touched that girl.. would he?" is what he thought. Stella is boiling with anger. When David turned around to take a look at his files, she pinches Sonny's arm.

She whispers,

- Sonny, what the hell are you doing here?!

Sonny whispers,

- What? Get off my back, I do what I want, I chose this path!

Stella whispers,

- You must be kidding me, fucking brat!

Roméo whispers,

- Hey? What the hell? Do you know each other?

Stella whispers,

- Of course!

Sonny and Stella whisper altogether,

- SHE'S MY FUCKING SISTER!

Roméo whispers,

- WHAT?!

David scoffs and turns back to his five workers who are waiting for his next orders.

- Anyway! I'm leaving you three days to send me all the information you gathered on your targets and for the time being, you'll have to get ready for your next mission; vandalism! My direct opponent is making too much money for my liking, go fuck his business. This fucker may be young and all kind with his customers, have no mercy! Oh and, if you can kill him in the process, his death would be very welcome.

"Vandalism? Now we have to demolish his business? My god, what will we do if the police find us?!" is what he thought.

- I know some of you are freaking out 'ohh, what will happen if we're captured by the police?~ouuh' well let me tell you what, fear not my kids, if you ever get busted by the police, I'll handle it for ya, you just have to call my number and I'll break you out.

David takes a paper of his table and shows them a picture of a young man.

- This guy is Alban Carruci, he's the guy you need to fuck the business of. I'll send you more details later, the big operation is Sunday, stay tuned kids. Now get the fuck out of my office, I've got a party tonight.

The five of them act obediently and nod they heads simultaneously before walking out quickly of David's office. On their way out of his villa, Stella catches violently Sonny's arm and leads her and Roméo far from David's place, close to the warehouse they use for training. Stella brings them in a park nearby, in a place hidden by bushes.

- Seriously Sonny, what the fuck you have in mind?! You chose to join the tournament and ON TOP OF THAT you joined David's messed-up missions to save his ass?! WHY THE FUCK?!

- Huh! I'm over the age of majority, I am legally free of doing what I want BITCH, if I chose to get tangled with him, that's my own issues. Actually, I should ask YOU why did you chose to be in this fucked up story huh?!

- Grr, IMBECILE, at least change your real name and choose a fake name on the ring, like us! My god, what did I do to get such a stubborn little sister..

Roméo stares at them quarreling with big eyes and mouth shut.

- By the way Stel', who the hell is that guy? You dragged him with us here but..

- Him? That's Roméo, a friend-- hey! Don't try to change the subject here young girl! I still have plenty of things to tell you!

- A friend? Huh, you don't have FRIENDS, they're whether dealers or fuck buddies, are you one of them Roméo? I must warn you, if you want to screw my sister, go for it, she's always open for--

Stella puts her hand on Sonny's mouth and presses with all the strength she got to silence her one and for all.

- Don't listen to that crappy kid. She's.. urgh, she's something else. Here I thought I would never have to present my sister to you but here we are; this is Sonny, my little sister. She's like two years younger than me so she's even younger than you. This miss-y here left home months ago for God knows why and gave NO NEWS. Dad was damn worried about you!

Sonny bites Stella's fingers to make her release her mouth.

- Ouch! Bitch!

Sonny clears her throat and smiles happily.

- Well well! I think I must introduce myself instead of letting my sister taking care of my presentation. Hello! I am Sonny Johnson, a young and cute girl who is a martial arts master and a total genius, when we moved in Boston, I must say I was quite lost because I lost my friends all of a sudden but--

"And here she goes.. I didn't think Stella had a sister.. moreover a very talkative and stubborn one.. that said, they do look alike in some ways. Well, that's normal, they're sisters but.." is what he thought. Roméo suddenly receives a text from Michael, he almost jumps of happiness to have an excuse to sneak out of this delicate situation.

-...and then we came back here after our lunch break to kick Daisy's ass and-- HEY! Tell me if I'm bothering you! How impolite to stick out your phone while I'm talking to you!

- Eh? Ah, ow, sorry Sonny, I have to go, somebody's waiting for me, see ya!

- W-what, hey! I haven't--

Roméo almost rushes out of the park and leaves the two sisters behind him. Right when Sonny tried to pursue him, Stella forcefully grabbed her arm and pulled Sonny to her in order to not let her follow Roméo, no matter where he's heading. Sonny sighs profoundly, she is forced to face Stella and has no excuses anymore to avoid this talk.

Meanwhile, Roméo runs in the streets to join Michael close to the police station in Roxbury district. In his message, he said to Roméo that he and his two colleagues were on their way to eat at a restaurant and invited him to join them. When Roméo finally sees them, he waves happily to them with a huge smile. He arrives next to them and directly walks beside Michael.

- Hey guys, happy to see you again! Alexander and.. Patland, was it?

Patland nods his head with joy whilst Quinn shows Roméo his brightest smile. Quinn puts his hand on Roméo's shoulder and shakes it gently.

- How was your day so far? I'm surprised to see that you're still staying at Michael's. He hasn't kick you out yet?

Michael suddenly bangs Quinn's arm and instead of getting mad, he just laughs.

- W-well my day was actually.. weird, I guess. I met my friend's sister today aand they don't seem to get along well but I'd like to keep it cool between them. Any advice?

Patland thinks while looking up to the sky and some seconds later, lowers his gaze back to Roméo.

- There was this case, last year. I had to calm this married couple during a fight, their neighbors called us. I am married myself and in order to relax them, I started to talk about my own relationship with my wife. They felt listened and understood by someone, actually, these two weren't mad folks, just a couple in need of therapy. So next day, I think they went to see one.

- I see. You believe my friend and her sister need someone to listen to them?

- Well, most of the issues, especially between siblings, started because of a lack of conversations. Y'know, for some people, having feelings and showing them is a sign of weakness and they don't want to be seen as weak so they don't speak.

- That's a great advice, thanks Patland!

Patland smiles to Roméo. Around fifteen minutes later, the group finally arrives in the restaurant mentioned in Michael's text. They enter the building, sit at comfortable chairs and order good meals. Their lunch break is going well, Patland tends to joke around, Michael remains his sarcastic self, Quinn likes to tease him and Roméo mostly stays silent and listen to their conversations carefully.

When their break finally ends, they give a tip to the waiter and leave the restaurant. Quinn and Patland have to hurry back to the police station because of a last-minute news on one of their cases so they leave Michael and Roméo behind them, close to the restaurant. They both start walking in the streets towards a police car, Michael's police car.

- Your friends are cool, Michael. I like them!

- Really.. well, glad they weren't too much of a bother to you.

- Not at all! I really enjoyed this lunch, I hope we could do it again next time.

- 'Next time'...

Michael looks annoyed. He frowns and clenches his teeth. "Michael doesn't seem so enchanted to hear that. Did I say something wrong? Or.. is he.. jealous? Is it what it is? Haha, it can't be right.. right?" is what he thought.

-... but well, next time, maybe we could change a few things.

- What do you mean?

- Instead of being four, we could be two. That's also cool I think, I wouldn't be bothered!

- Huh, asking me on a date?

- I'm asking you on a lunch, that's it. But okay, if you're not interested, I can invite someone els--

- I'll go.

- What a quick reply, looks like you don't want to leave your place to anybody!

Michael grunts and places his hand on Roméo's head. Then, he pats and shakes his head to bother him. Instead of grumbling, Roméo giggles in a very cute way, he seems relieved not to see Michael annoyed anymore. Moreover, he feels, in a way, glad to be special in his eyes and maybe happy to see him getting jealous over trivial things.

When they arrive to Michael's police car, he offers to Roméo to drive him back home and, since his shift is starting in a few minutes, he had to drive in the neighborhood anyway. During the ride, Michael turns on the radio and, while listening to his police station's live audio messages, he also puts musics from Spotify on his phone. Too tired and concentrated on the musics, Roméo does not say a word. He doesn't want to bother Michael while he's listening and replying to his police station's messages and he just wants to lean back in his seat and sink into the songs.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Michael drops off Roméo at his apartment, he says he'll probably be home late and orders Roméo not to close the door tonight in case he actually do come back home at a very late hour, later than the usual. Roméo understood and walks to the building's doors, he turns around one last time to see Michael, he too, was staring at Roméo walking away. For an instant, their eyes were staring in each other's but they got cut by a sudden call from the police station, Michael had to wave to Roméo and drive quickly to stop the incident.

Roméo spent the last hours of the day on his laptop, writing a full summary of all the information he collected on his targets during his first mission. He didn't see the Sun leaving it's place up in the sky and the Moon replacing it by it's cold yet beautiful presence. Later that night, he hears the door creaking and opening slowly, it's Michael, coming back from his work. He walks quietly to the kitchen counter, willing to make the less noises he can, but Roméo's cute giggle makes him startle a bit. He turns around and sees him, sat on the couch with his laptop on his laps, watching in the same direction as him.

- Huh, so you're still awake kid?

- Yup, I had to finish this report, it's for David.

- Is it about your mission?

- Yea, it is. And you, how was work today?

- Urgh, tough day. We had no breaks, the cases were coming on to us non-stop, it was hell.

- Oh.. I'm sorry about that. Is there something I can do for you?

Michael slightly opens his mouth but right when he was about to say a few words, his reserved self takes over his courage to affirm his wills. He sighs deeply and sadly for some seconds and looks away, he can't handle Roméo's gaze on him at the moment.

- ..Nothing. So how did it go this morning? I didn't ask you yet about your meeting.

- U-uh well, David gave us our next mission.

- And what is it?

- Uhm.. vandalism?

- Come again?

- His uh.. his biggest opponent is making more and more money than him and he's jealous so we have to vandalize his business to get him out of the running.

Michael mumbles quietly,

- Typical.

- Huh? What did you say?

- Nothing. This mission is gonna be dangerous. When?

- Sunday..

- How soon, he wastes no time. Well then I see. How about I order a pizza for tonight?

- Woah-- really? We can?

- Yeah? Why not?

- God, I heard American pizzas were extra huge! I don't think I'll be able to finish one myself.

- Huh, I'll help you finish.

- Ehh~, if you do, I bet there won't be any slices left! I can't wait to see one though, I'll text my sister about it. I'm predicting she's going to lecture me about not eating too much American junk food because it's too caloric aaand my metabolism isn't ready for that much-- sounds more like a mother than a sister, right?

Roméo chuckles a little, he closes and puts his laptop on the living room table. Michael nods his head and stares at him."Roméo is really.. something else. How can he allow himself to be so innocent and optimistic even though he is currently in a very tight and dangerous position? That guy is.. my god.. I just.. want him." is what he thought.

Michael takes out his phone of his pocket and composes a pizza delivery number. After a while, the two pizzas Michael ordered finally arrived at his place. Michael gives a tip to the pizza delivery driver and closes the door quickly. He puts the two pizzas on the living room table and both start eating. During their late dinner, Michael could see very innocent feelings in Roméo's eyes which, somehow, made him happy and glad to be the only one to see them.

When they both finished eating, Michael stores the remaining slices of pizza in the fridge while Roméo tidies the living room. He turns off the lights, prepares the couch for the night, puts his law school sheets away in one of his suitcases and walks up to Michael to wish him a good night.

- Thanks for tonight, I didn't think I'd eat one of these enormous pizzas I tend to see on YouTube videos so often! Well then, have a good night!

- Yeah..

Michael grabs Roméo's hand softly and raises it to his face.

- Have a good night too, kid.

Michael delicately places his lips on Romeo's still innocent and snow-white hand but his cute reaction made him want to do even more than just brush his tender skin with the tip of his lips. Roméo's whole face turned red, his so coveted hand became shaky, as if he were robbed from a little part of his innocence. But he's not disgusted nor afraid, he gave this part of his essence willingly, maybe hoping for something more too. Scared of each other's reaction, of each other's wills, they take a step away. Michael smiles for a quick instant in Roméo's direction and walks fast to his room.

He opens the door, enters the room and locks the door behind him. He leans his back against one of the walls of his room and sighs deeply. "God. What was that? That was.. awkward as fuck.. I shouldn't have.. done that. Goodness.." is what he thought.

On the other side of the apartment, Roméo walks to the couch with a confused yet still red face and sits on the couch. "H-he really did it.. I-I.. my god. My god.." is what he thought.

The darkness of the night embraces the whole apartment and the light of the Moon illuminates the faces of Roméo and Michael as if this night was the beginning of a great and long story.

"I wonder.. if I had gone further, would he be okay with that..?" is what they both thought.

Next Chapter: Nice Nice Days