Recap: Val told Arsen's gang, the Ruthless Rebels, that she knows they killed Lionell. A pissed off Leo gave her 3 days to live. Ben joined Arsen's gang because he wasn't hot and tough (he thought that was the reason why Danie rejected him). Arsen told Val the only way out of the death wish and to get Ben back was to pretend to be his girlfriend and join the gang.

"The original bad boy . . . doesn't easily commit to girls."

22 - Don't Overact

The carbon dioxide escaping my lips form clouds in reaction to the cold. I stand, my hands shoved inside my black jacket, waiting for Arsen. For the last two days, I managed to avoid the rest of his gang members, however, I know I can't run away for long. As Leo's generous seventy two hour deadline edges closer, my anxiety worsens.

Worst of all, my friends and I lose Ben to the wrong crowd every second.

I stagger around slightly to allow my legs some movement. Just in time, I feel an arm slide around my waist. On instinct or from self defense training, I elbow the person, forcing him back.

"Geez Cruz, chill." Arsen stares at me with his typical annoyed expression.

"Don't creep up on my like that. You don't know how jumpy I've been since . . . " I trail off, allowing him to infer my changed attitude since Leo's threat.

"Well, you pushed it upon yourself." He shrugs. Rather than touching me again, he walks past me. I quickly fall in step with his stride to see where we are going. "So, what's your decision? You want to follow through my plan or run and hide like you've been doing the last few days?"

We take a turn down a narrow alley, surrounded by mucky building walls.

"I don't know what's worse: pretending to be your girl toy or hiding," I mutter.

"Being my girl toy comes with a lot of benefits," he assures, though refuses to meet my eyes. The cold that had been unnerving me disappears and I feel my face heat up like an oven. His words worry me about the future. As we take another turn around the alley, I stop. He proceeds, but upon seeing no movement behind him, he pauses as well. "What?"

"Before we reach whatever hell you're taking me to, can we set some ground rules?" I say.

"Ground rules for what?"

"For our relationship."

"No sex. Got it. Anything else?" he says nonchalantly but in a hurried manner.

I exhale loudly. "No kissing."

He laughs. "After all the girls I've kissed who weren't even my girlfriends, you think the guys will believe us--our so called relationship--if I don't kiss you? That's the number one way of convincing them I'm trying to protect you from them." When my mouth doesn't move to respond, he adds, "What do you want me to do?"

"No making out," I say quickly, not wanting to dwell on this topic too long. "No drugs. No dragging Isa or Danie or my parents in the stupid gang. No letting me be alone with any of the guys at any time except for Ben. I won't act like some wild rebel. Once I get Ben out of this hell . . . "

"Then, you can continue living your happy and dandy life and pretend my friends and I don't exist," Arsen finishes.

His tone's more snarky than anything.

Maybe it's because of the truth behind it.

"Glad we have an understanding," I mumble.

He looks at anything but me as we proceed through the stinky and dirty alleys until we reach an abandoned house. A strong smell I associate with weed fill the area and I scrunch my nose in disgust. Arsen's friends sit on the front steps of the run down place playing with fire and cannibis. As I step back to run away, Arsen captures my hand in his. With a determined and confident glance, he gestures me to follow.

Why he's so insistent on helping me through this is beyond me.

Every step in the direction of Arsen's buddies and Ben accelerates my pulse. I squeeze Arsen's hand out of nervousness, and all he has to say to reassure me is "don't overact."

Yes Arsen, that's all the prep talk I need. 'Don't overact.'

As soon as the guys see us hand in hand, they frown. Actually, Leo raises an eyebrow at the sight and looks at Arsen for some sort of an explanation. Ben stares at me quizzically.

"Why did you bring her now?" Leo asks. "Her time's not up till midnight."

I must say I didn't expect him to be on the dot. Actually, I was hoping he'd have forgotten the entire incident.

"Before you guys start tormenting her, I wanted to make it clear that she's mine," Arsen says confidently. I keep my eyes leveled on the ground, allowing him to speak on my behalf too. My hands shake from the gravity of my situation. The guys blink at him in bewilderment.

"What the hell, man?" One of the guys planted next to Ben says, sitting up. Serpent tattoes cover any bare skin seen on his body. I edge closer to Arsen. "You think you're gonna pretend to be some knight in shining armor for this dumb bit--"

"Shut the hell up, Ty," Arsen snaps.

"Hold up, you really think we're going to believe you're with Cruz?" Leo asks, standing up. As he saunters up to us, I clutch Arsen's hand tightly. Rather than squeezing it back, he lets go and steps in front of me to form a barrier between Liam and me.

I can hear the drumming of my heart in my ears.

I don't want to die today.

Should I make a run for it?

"You better believe it," Arsen mutters through clenched teeth. With the way his fists clench, I sincerely hope a fight doesn't break out.

"Chill out, man," Leo says, his features softening. "When did this happen?"

"We've been seeing each other for a long time. After what happened in the cafeteria, we decided it was time to let you guys know," Arsen replies. "I was trying not to drag her into our mess, but you gave me no choice, man."

"If you've been seeing her for so long, why do we catch you making out with a new girl every single day?" Ty says.

I make up my mind and call him a villain in my story. He's that person who'd instigate conflict between the two parties. Nevertheless, his question's relevant and I'm mad at Arsen for "making out" with so many girls. Our story becomes less credible because of such actions.

I couldn't care less about who he kissed.

Yep, I don't care.

"That was just a distraction to keep you guys from noticing my relationship with Valerie," Arsen replies coolly. Someone came prepared.

Everyone's silent for a brief moment, allowing the chilly breeze to be felt.

"She still witnessed what happened to Lionell," says Leo. "We can't trust her to keep her mouth shut. She's a news broadcast all by herself."

"That's why I brought her with me today to show you guys we can trust her," Arsen replies easily. He's the god of lying. "She's a part of us."

I peek to see everyone's expressions which are less serious than anticipated but daunting just the same.

"That's insane," says one of the unfamiliar guys. He shakes his head at Arsen and I before lighting up a cigar. I grimace.

"When you brought in Ben, you didn't see me whining, Ned," responds Arsen. "Why the issue with Val?"

"Girls are trouble. Nothing but trouble," Ned says and keeps repeating it. His silver hair's cropped close to his head which makes him look older than he really is.

"If you're doing this shit to save her—" Leo begins.

"I love her! The hell I'm gonna do this shit to save her," Arsen fires back.

Silence.

His words are met with absolute silence.

Even I'm taken aback by his proclamation of love. While fake, it held the power to send my thoughts in a completely new direction. Had my friendship with Arsen succeeded, we might've reached a similar point.

But here, right now, it's all fake.

I rest a hand on Arsen's arm and slowly step by his side. Never have I felt so voiceless in my life.

I steal a glance at my companion who's talented at displaying the right amount of anger in his expression. His eyes desperately flicker back and forth between Leo's.

The entire situation is tense.

One word from Leo decides my fate.

After hundreds of seconds, Leo exhales in a defeated manner. "Fine. She can become a part of our gang. If she steps out of line even once, I'm going to kill her myself. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

I maintain my cool even though I'm jumping with joy in my head. Ben simply shakes his head at me.

I search Arsen's eyes for contentment and only find his eyes to be following Leo's back. Leo plops down with the rest of the guys and helps him to an item vaguely resembling a plant.

Probably weed or something.

We spent the next hour on introductions and casual talk. Mostly, the guys were high and willing to spit out whatever entered their thoughts.

"You shouldn't be here, Val," Ben says to me quietly. "These people are not good."

"Then why are you here?" I demand.

"Because I need to grow as an individual and seek enlightenment from these highly philosophical human beings," he says sarcastically.

"Really dude?" Ty grins at Ben. "That's the best compliment I've gotten from a dork. You're a good kid." Ty's in our school year.

I roll my eyes and turn back to Ben. "I want to be enlightened as well. I didn't want you to forget me, your best friend forever, on your journey."

"This is one of your worst decisions." Ben grabs a lighter and sets off one of his textbooks on fire! I stare agape at the sight. "Don't say I didn't warn ya."

I don't know how to process everything. The gang doesn't do anything more than a few different drugs. Well, except for Arsen and me.

I study Leo as he tries to light the sole of his foot on fire for some odd reason. He smirks when he catches me looking. I immediately turn to Arsen who's too preoccupied chatting with Ned.

"You love him too or it's just one way?" Leo wiggled his eyebrows. He's almost falling down even though his butt's planted on the steps of the abandoned house.

All eyes are on me as I confirm, "Of course I love Arsen."

All of them laugh and start mocking us. I don't let it get to me.

After a while the guys call it quits and announce something about coming back here to "hoard whatever we can." They leave one by one. I try to catch Ben's bloodshot eyes but he pays no attention to me.

I drag Arsen as far away from the retreating figures as possible and nearly burst in applause at his performance earlier.

"You were amazing!" I whisper. "If I didn't know anything, I might've believed every single word that came out of your mouth!"

With his head tilted to the side, he stared at me. He was so talkative before but now every single word failed to come out of his mouth.

"Thank you," I finally mumble.

He offers me a tight smile and nods.

"What's wrong with you?" I say.

"Nothing."

"C'mon Arse, if we're gonna be together, you've got to share some secrets with me."

He shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "The guys won't accept you even if they say they will. What Leo said will last only for a short period. After Lionell...I'm supposed to be Leo's right hand man..."

"He's afraid I might take you away from him?"

"As if," Arsen snorts. I hear rustling of leaves behind me. Before I can turn to check, Arsen continues, "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"I don't them to hurt you," I say.

His eyes flicker behind me and within seconds he steps close to me. He lifts my chin with the tips of his fingers. What is he doing?

"Nobody's going to hurt anyone," he assures and winks.

I frown.

Is that code for something?

Before I have time to register his next move, Arsen leans down and presses his warm lips against mine. I freeze in my spot, not kissing him back.

After a few seconds, he steps back.

"You're a terrible kisser, Cruz."

•—————————•

A/N

Look who's alive. I didn't die, I assure you. Took a long hiatus. I realized I was letting reality shove me away from the love of my life—reading and writing.

I'm gonna try to update once a week. Probably Tuesdays or Fridays because I don't have school or work.

Anyhow, how was the chapter?

Think Leo will let her off the hook so easily?

Wait, what about the hot self defense teacher Vivian?

And how are you guys? Catch me up with what's going on in your lives—good or bad. Inspire me by telling me your story.

Last, I want to thank you for supporting me through thick and thin. Before I go to sleep, I spend at least an hour reading through the same old comments on my books every single day.

Thanks again ma dahlings!

Keep coting and vommenting!!!!!