Hey everyone! It's been a while. I'm relieved to let you all know that I finally have a laptop again and my updates will return to 'normal' posting speed. With only one two part chapter and one wrap-up chapter to go, Behind My Reputation is almost coming to an end. But, fear not! There will be a sequel, and the cover and cast list of said sequel is already posted on Wattpad.

I was originally going to upload chapter 29 as a full chapter, but I'm not done with the rest, and I thought you guys deserved a present for being so patient with me. So, without further procrastination... ENJOY!

With our hands bound, Whittney, Sabrina, and I are left in the dark. We're in some sort of supply closet under the stairs, the thick walls revealing raised voices as only mumbles. I still perk my ears in an attempt to get the slightest detail but to no avail. The pain in my leg too strong to think of anything else.

    My jaw clenches when I remember Iker's smirk when he told me how lucky I was to even be alive. If the bullet had hit me only half an inch to the right, it would have pierced my femoral artery, causing me to bleed out in minutes. Now my jacket is tightly secured around the gash on my thigh. I was lucky that the bullet just missed my femoral artery, or I would have bled out in minutes. There was no exit wound, and I can still feel the lead move inside me with even the slightest muscle movement.

    I glance over at Sabrina. Boundless tears roll down her bruised cheeks while she fidgets with her fingers, not saying a word. She is the only one whose hands are secured in front of her, due to her recent injuries. Whittney and I aren't so lucky, our cable ties tightly securing our hands so that we can't lean against the wall comfortably, although, that is the least of our problems.

    Unlike Sabrina, Whittney has been talking almost the entire time, even after I told him multiple times to put a lid on it. We're in a tight spot, but his incessant whining is getting on my nerves.

Finally, I give up on trying to listen in on the commotion outside. It was a pointless exercise to begin with and there's another question that has been pounding away at my brain since we were locked in here not even five minutes ago.

"Whittney," I hiss, trying to get his attention. He doesn't stir, only shaking heavily while mumbling to himself. "Whittney!"

My booming voice finally gets through his thick skull when his head jerks up, but he doesn't seem all there. What is his deal right now?

"What the hell are you-" I stop mid-yell when Sabrina flinches, lowering the volume when I continue. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

Whittney doesn't respond, so Sabrina steps up, but her voice is filled with tremors. "It didn't take us long to figure out where you were going, so we wanted to go after you to stop you from doing something stupid."

A dangerous glare shifts to Whittney and his eyes widen in panic. "Hey, I tried to stop her, man. Told her you were long gone, but she insisted."

"Tried to stop her? She's only like a hundred pounds!" My eyes narrow. "And when did you two become a we?"

"Oh, come on. What would you have wanted me to do? Lock her in your closet?"

"That would have been very helpful," I growl, my scowl deepening. "But you and the right thing never seem to be on the same page."

Whittney grunts, but he doesn't argue.

"Austin, it's not Whittney's fault," Sabrina chimes in, more strength in her voice this time. "He knew where Dax's loft is and he even came with to protect me if things got out of hand."

"Well, your new protector is doing one hell of a fine job, isn't he?" The sass simmers down a little when something she said earlier stumps me. My burning eyes are back on Whittney. "How did you know where to find me?"

Once again, Whittney is in his own little world, his knees pulled up to his chest and sweat collecting on his forehead.

"Whitt, how did you know?" His eyes meet mine, but he doesn't answer. "How did you know where Dax's loft is?"

"Um." His foot tabs nervously as he looks around the room like the walls are collapsing. "M-my brother. One of King's guys came over one night and told him about the, uh, ambush." He looks down at his jittery feet. "They thought I was asleep in my room, but-"

"But you were eavesdropping like you always do." My hard expression softens when Whittney's agitated state only seems to worsen. "Man, are you okay?"

"Yeah, um,"-he clears his throat-"not a big fan of confined spaces."

I snort. "If I wasn't shot in the fucking leg I might have felt sorry for you."

"Guys! It won't help if you start bickering, so shut the fuck up."

Whittney and I still when our wide eyes fix on Sabrina. From what I can tell, he's just as shocked by her sudden outburst as I am - that kind of language has never come from her mouth before, ever.

"Looks like someone put on their big girl pants," Whittney mocks when the shock wears off.

Sabrina ignores him, focusing on my leg before she glances back at me with a quizzical expression. "Dax is the one who shot you, isn't he? Why did he shoot you?"

My mouth dries all of a sudden and I squeeze my eyes shut. I was hoping that I could keep the attention off of me, but have no such luck.

"I was gonna kill him, Rina." I sigh, not daring to look her in the eye. "I was going to fucking kill him for hurting you."

"But you could have died." The weakness in her voice has returned and I know she's crying, but I still refuse to meet her gaze. "Do you even care?"

The question catches my attention. "Rina-"

"You came here thinking you'd die." Sabrina inches closer, her voice trembling more with every word. "Didn't you?"

I don't know how to tell her the truth, but it might as well have been stamped on my forehead when her hands cup my face, forcing our eyes to connect. The tears streaking her cheeks show only a fraction of the misery I have put her through. If she would have just turned on me like everyone else, she would have been okay.

With my arms restrained, I can't push her away like I want to. It hurts too much that she still cares enough to be more worried about my safety than her own. Why does she have to be so forgiving and selfless? And how could she love someone who's such a polar opposite?

The pain throbbing in my leg is no equivalent to the dull ache in my chest from all the attention that's still anchored on me. She's the only one who can tear me open with just one look. It's like a sensory overload when the dam breaks and every emotion I've been so numb to comes flooding back. The blurring vision begins at the corners before tears spring free, burning as they roll down in streams.

Sabrina uses the back of her restrained hands to wipe the wetness from my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry for everything." My words are muffled by Sabrina's shoulder when I lean into her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She cradles my head in her lap while I let everything out. All my mistakes have finally taken their toll and are tearing me apart from the inside. The realization that I might be suicidal boils the blood under my skin. As shocking as it is, it would explain why I've cried more these past couple months than I have in my whole life.

When I'm finally done feeling sorry for myself, I find the courage to look Sabrina in the eyes again. The last of my tears are wiped away by the sleeve of her sweater. She smiles at me, and even though it doesn't reach her eyes, her attempt at comforting me is reassuring.

"Austin, I forgive you." She leans her head against mine and closes her eyes. "I'll always forgive you."

"Well isn't this cute?" Eddie's voice makes us both jump.

A heavy glare settles in my eyes as he leans against the doorframe, looking down on us with that damn smirk of his. He pushes off with his shoulder and steps over Whittney's legs to get to me. He's about to pull me up by my arm when Sabrina opens her big mouth.

"Don't touch him!"

It gets his attention right away. His smirk grows when he glances at me before shifting his gaze back to her. "Would you rather I touch you?"

Strong arms pull Sabrina up by her wrists and she falls against his chest when she loses her balance. Dread pulses through me with every moment she's still at his side.

"Get your hands off her!" My plead doesn't even warrant a glance from him.

Eddie presses Sabrina between his rock hard body and the door frame. She uses her bound wrists in an attempt to push him away, but it's no use. When his hand comes up to stroke her cheek, her whimper sends a pang in my heart and drives my determination to stand, but the pain is too much to bear.

"Shh." Eddie's thumb drags over her lips before her eyes shift in my direction. "No. Don't look at him." He grabs her jaw and forces her to face him.

"Please don't." Her voice is small and fragile when she slams her eyes shut.

"Don't do what, gorgeous?" Eddie tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear and chuckles. "I haven't even done anything yet."

When she flinches, I clench my jaw. A bitter taste forms on my tongue and my mouth turns grim. Nails dig into my palms when I imagine smashing his head in with my bare hands. I don't even notice the pain of the cable ties cutting into my skin when I struggle against my restraints. The bullet wound has blinded my nerve endings to any other discomfort, besides the heat that's rising to my head.

"Stop fucking touching her!" My words do nothing as I remain helpless on the floor.

He lowers his hand and it teasingly lingers over her breast before he uses the small of her back to reduce the space between them. Tears spring from her eyes and she turns her head when he leans in. I slam my head against the wall behind me and grit my teeth.

"You feel that, sweetheart?" Eddie grinds his groin against Sabrina's side. "That's what a real man feels like."

A heavy burn spreads throughout my whole leg when I try getting to my feet. I holler in pain when I crumble to the floor, my efforts only rewarded by a wink from Eddie. Sabrina lets out a cry when he grabs a fist full of her hair and I finally snap.

"Hey, shithead! I said, stop fucking touching her!"

That gets his head to turn my away. He leaves Sabrina behind and I'm met with a snarl as he comes towards me. "What you going to do, kid? It's the fucking end of the line for you."

"Give it up, man. You don't scare me." I'm lying through my teeth, but I hide the lie underneath my smirking mask. "Plus, a pretty girl like that would never go for a little bitch like you."

Eddie scoffs, his eyes burning with disbelief and mouth twitching. He then nods as if he's made a decision. "Right."

My piercing cry echoes through the small room when Eddie's boot presses down on my leg. Bolts of pain come in waves when he applies even more pressure and sweat pools on my forehead. Sabrina begs for him to stop, but he doesn't let up.

"Who's the little bitch now, huh?" His eyes light up with entertainment, nostrils flaring.

Another wail escapes when his heel digs at the wound. Eddie withdraws when someone shouts at him from the doorway.

"Hey, Torres! What the hell are you doing?" Braxton's voice puts me at ease, even through the throbbing pain. "Brandan told you to get him, not torture them. What is this, Guantanamo Bay?"

With a sigh, Eddie takes my arm in a firm grip and I inhale sharply when I'm pulled to my feet. The jacket secured around my thigh is completely soaked with blood and my leg aches more than it did before. Some of my discomfort is relieved when Eddie cuts the restraints behind my back, but he doesn't do the same for Sabrina and Whittney.

As much as I don't want to accept it, I need help walking, so I don't object when Eddie wraps my arm around his shoulder. Putting pressure on my leg now is the equivalent of a fire poker being pressed against my skin.

Braxton leads Sabrina back into the closet. "It's okay. Just sit back down, alright?"

Tears are flowing down her cheeks as she takes a seat next to Whittney. I want nothing more than to hold her in my arms until all of this is over, but at least she has someone at her side right now.

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?" Braxton asks Eddie when we stop at the end of the hall.

Eddie shrugs, a movement so small, but still gets a grunt of pain out of me. Eddie laughs. "I was just having some fun before the heavy shit starts happening."

"Well keep your fun to a minimum. Brandan doesn't like to be kept waiting."

***

With only one half chapter left to wrap up the climax of the story, things seem pretty dire for our trio. Their fate rests in the hands of Brandan King now, but what will he do with them?

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to click that little star in the corner if you think the chapter deserved it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Til next time,

TheWriterD