Chapter Six

(Axel)

What did I get myself into? I just wanted to make sure that those two kids were alright.

Honestly, they're probably only a little younger than me, but they're too small. I felt bad for them. There's no way that they could've fought off three guys as big as Henri, Lucian, and Winston.

I don't like it here. Well, it's not that bad, but… I always seem to get stuck with Lucian. There's really no reason for him to be such a dick all the time. Trust me, I know plenty about having a bad past, but whatever happened to him is no excuse for him to be rude.

"So what exactly are we supposed to be getting?" I ask, putting my hands in the pockets of my ripped black jeans.

He shrugs pulls out Winston's wallet and starts counting the cash. It doesn't look like we have much to spend.

"Hell if I know. Just grab what you think looks good and throw it in there. Damn, might have to pay for everything after all…" he grumbles to himself, shoving Winston's wallet in the back pocket of his pants.

"I'm a fatass, Lucy. If you leave it up to me then you'll end up buying the whole store." I mumble, rolling my eyes in annoyance.

"It's Lucian, so stop calling me 'Lucy.' Just pick what you want, I'll tell you when enough is enough." He gestures for me to start moving, his eyes scanning the store after he does so.

I reach out quickly, grabbing the collar of his shirt. I pull him closer and glare daggers at him.

"Look, I don't know why you act like such a dick, but I really don't like it. Cut the fucking attitude or I'll take the money and just buy what I want… and I'm not one to share." I snap at him, pushing him back.

I know that he didn't do much, but from the time I got here, he's been rude to everyone. I just want to know why he has such a bad attitude. I'm quite irritable, and I like to fight with people. As of right now… he's basically asking for me to hit him.

"Sorry, forgot I was dealing with someone who fakes who they are on the outside because they can't deal with who they are on the inside. Don't wanna trigger anything, right?" He says, straightening out the collar of his shirt.

"Excuse you? Oh please, the only person here that's faking it is you. You honestly expect me to believe that you're just uptight and rude for no reason? Come on, Lucy, don't you want to tell me what scarred you so badly that you have to act like an asshole to everyone? Actually… I don't give a shit, and neither does anyone else. So keep it locked away if you want to, but don't take it out on everyone else unless you plan on explaining it."

He closes his eyes for a moment before pulling out his wallet, pulling out a one hundred dollar bill and holding it out for me to take. "Buy what you want, keep the change, go home by yourself. No one's forcing you to stick by my side, and no one's forcing you to talk with me. I'd actually be more pleased if you didn't. So in the end, it's a win-win for the both of us."

I scoff and snatch the money out of his hand. "Fine. I don't care… but don't wallow in self-pity. Life sucks for more people than just you."

"What, are you referring to yourself when you say that? Just looking at what you wear… how you act… I get it. Did someone have 'daddy issues' in their past? You're doing the same shit as me, so say what you want, just know you're a major hypocrite for doing so."

How can he just say that to me? How is he so quick to judge me?

"You have no fucking clue what you're talking about! I hate you. I'll sleep on the floor tonight. I'm sure that would make you happy." I snap, lowering my voice after people looked over to us.

He knows nothing about me. So what if I act a bit rebellious? That doesn't mean that I have 'daddy issues'… although I do. Either way, he can't just make that assumption and then state it like it's a fact.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve?" He starts, but as soon as he goes to say something else, two feminine hands trail up and rest on his chest, a dark haired and green eyed woman pressing up against his back.

"Lucian… long time no see. You're here with your… little brother?"

He snorts softly and turns, roughly grabbing her waist and yanking her closer. "No need to worry about him. Just what do you need?"

She smirks and slowly slips a few bills of money in his pants, trailing a finger down his chest. "A good time. Think you can do that for me?"

He smirks and pats her hip, leaning down to suck a spot onto her neck. She moans softly, her fingers curling over his shoulders before she lets out a small breath of air when he pulls away.

"You know the place. Tonight, anytime."

She giggles softly and turns to leave, and the moment she does he smacks her ass and makes her jump but blush and wink at him suggestively. The moment she's out of the sight, his smirk immediately turns into a bored expression, and he looks down to me with a shrug.

"Good thing you'll be sleeping on the floor, huh?"

"Hell no! I'm not sleeping on the floor while you have sex with some tramp who probably has too many STDs to count. Is that what you do, Lucy? You're a prostitute? Maybe I'm not the only one with Daddy issues."

He reaches into his pants and pulls out the one hundred dollar bill, followed by two twenties. He grabs the collar of my shirt, yanking me forward before stuffing the money down the front of my pants and letting me go. "Guess you could say that. Gets the bills paid, and the people back at home fed. Try not to waste it all in one go, yeah?"

I scoff, reaching down my pants to pull out the money. I debate taking it, but eventually decide that I want to know the terms of the agreement.

"What do you want from me?" I demand, not putting the money in my pocket until he answers. Unlike Lucian, I wouldn't sell my body to pay bills. I'm special, and I'm worth something. I wouldn't let someone use me just for some extra cash. I still have some self respect left.

"I don't want anything. Just get what you want, and get stuff for everyone else. That's what I do these kinds of things for even if they aren't the most respectable. And get me a pack of gummy bears while you're at it, might as well judge me for that too."

"I'm not judging you. I just wouldn't do anything like that… and you can't lie to me either. Nothing comes for free. Just ask me for something so that I don't owe you anything." I answer.

That's what my father used to say to me. 'In a world where everyone is greedy, nothing will come free.' I don't want to owe anyone anything. Especially not someone who's so comfortable with sex. I don't know what I'd do if he asked me for that.

"I don't want anything from you. You don't have anything I want, so just consider you buying everything for everyone what I want. Then you don't have to 'owe' me anything."

He takes a seat in one of the chairs at the front of the store, a sigh leaving his lips as he lets his eyes fall closed, something he always seems to do whenever he's sitting down.

"Fine, but don't ask me for anything after this." I mumble, patting his chest, and walking away towards the baskets.

I grab one, and quickly moving through the aisles to throw random things in the basket. I even get a few sweets for Ace and Lorenzo who both seem to like sweet things. Once I grab everything that I want, I go to get gummy bears for Lucian. Afterwards, I go to the checkout line. It takes forever for the cashier to ring up all of the items, but as I go to walk out, I see Lucian talking with that lady again. I walk closer, listening in on their conversation.

"What do you mean you want to cancel? You don't wanna have fun with me?"

"Look, I'm just not in the mood tonight. I got someone else staying with me already. They already got pissed at me and said they were gonna sleep on the floor and I really don't feel like adding anything to it. Just gonna let him sleep in the bed while I go somewhere else and leave him be. Maybe another time, okay?"

"Okay… well, I'll see you some other time, Lucy." She says flirtatiously, and I can see the immediate irritation across his face as she walks off and leaves him standing there.

I smile genuinely, finally walking out, and acting like I didn't hear anything.

"Here's your candy you big baby." I mutter, throwing the bag of gummy bears at him.

I hand him some of the bags from on my arms, and lead the way back to the house. I haven't been back to my apartment in a while, but there isn't really anything important there… aside from my clothes.

Lucian rips the bag open, causing a few gummy bears to jump out and fall to the ground, and I swear I see him pout for a quick second before he shrugs it off and plops a green gummy bear in his mouth. "Want one?"

"That's fucking disgusting. I'm not a toddler. I don't eat sweets." I say, shaking my head.

I actually don't know if I like candy or not, but… I haven't had it since I was really young. I clear my head before past thoughts can flood into my mind, and shrug. "I prefer bitter things."

"No wonder you act so salty all the damn time. Well I don't know what sweet foods did to you, but I'm sure they don't like you either." He eats a few more before placing them in one of the bags.

"Oh, also, the girl canceled, so fortunately enough for you, you won't have to deal with us. And I have something to do tonight… so you can sleep in the bed. I won't be there."

"Oh I wouldn't want to kick you out of your own bed. Maybe you'll curl up in a ball like last night. For a minute, I almost thought that you wanted me to cuddle with you, Lucy." I tease, smirking smugly at him. He rolls his eyes and kicks a rock along the sidewalk as we near the house.

"Don't use that against me, I can't control what I do in my sleep… plus it gets cold. I fucking hate being cold." He mutters honestly, not making any comments on the nickname I used. I smile and nudge him playfully.

"It wasn't that cold… if you wanted me to scoot closer… you could've just asked." I taunt more. Maybe there was a little bit of truth in that statement.

He turns and stares at me for a moment before darting his eyes to the side. "I'd rather freeze."

He holds the door open for me as we walk back in the house to see Ace straddling Winston's waist, making out shamelessly on the couch for anyone who walks in to see.

I shrug and walk right by them and into the kitchen to put the groceries away. When I decided to help him, I didn't expect him to be so… slutty. No offense to Ace, of course.

Sure, Winston is attractive, but honestly… it's been a day. I hear Winston groan and grumble something to Lucian as he walks into the kitchen, clenching and unclenching his hand before placing the rest of the bags on the counter.

"Honestly, that guy. Ah, I guess I have no right to say anything though…" he mumbles, helping me put everything away.

"Because you're a male prostitute? Yeah… I'd advise you to keep your judgements to a minimum." I respond sarcastically, rushing around the kitchen to put things away.

He mumbles something to himself, running a hand through his hair with a slight yawn once he's finished. "Fuck, I'm getting old… it's still light outside. Why am I so tired?"

"Oh shut up. You're younger than I am." I admit. I overheard Henri talking about how Lucian is the youngest of the three. He's only 21, the same age as Ace, and I'm 22.

"You are? You look like you're 19. How old are you really?" He asks, leaning against the counter.

"I am. I'm 22." I stare simply, waiting for him to completely freak out. It's kinda funny… thinking about how technically, I should have authority over him.

"Are you sure?" He walks over, pinching my cheeks with both hands as he examines my face.

"You seriously look like a teenager. I can't believe you're older than me, even if it's only by a year."

"Well teenagers wouldn't know how to ride a motorcycle. They wouldn't have this many tattoos… and my birth certificate says that I'm 22." I respond, lifting my shirt to show him the many tattoos scattered across my body.

He grins, running his hand over the tattoos as he crouches down to get a better look. "These are pretty cool. I've been meaning to get a tattoo on my chest and a few on my sides, I just have no idea what to get."

My hands start to shake as he runs his hand over my chest. I clench them into fists to hide my fear, and allow him to examine them further.

"Just get something that you want. A quote that makes you feel something… or a symbol that has significance to you." I suggest. That's what most of mine are.

He says nothing in response, but I notice him look to my hands then back up to me.

"If I'm too close for comfort, you can just tell me." He states, standing back up and pulling my shirt down.

I shake my head, trying to fight back all the memories that seem to be constantly running through my head.

"Y-you aren't… I just didn't expect you to touch me. It's fine though. I don't care what you do." I answer quickly. If I tell him that I don't want him to touch me like that then he'll ask me why. I've never told anyone about what happened when I was younger. Sure, there's a couple of people who found out about it, but… I never had to say it out loud. I don't want to.

"'I don't care what you do?' I hope you don't tell that to people often. I get it, you're brave, strong, nothing can break you or some shit, but if you're not comfortable with me doing something then just tell me. We might not like each other that much, but my goal isn't to make you feel uncomfortable around me."

"I don't! Just drop it, okay?" I demand, starting to get defensive.

I don't need to justify anything to him. I don't need to tell him how I feel, or confess that I shake every single time my skin makes contact with someone else's. It's none of his business. "I'm perfectly comfortable."

He stares at me skeptically before nodding and patting my arm gently. "Right, my bad. I'm gonna head to work early, if you need any clothes, feel free to use mine until you get yours over here."

He eyes me up and down before shaking his head and walking off and out the door with his car keys in hand.

"Bye." I mumble, not even sure if he heard me.