Derek's POV

A few weeks later

I park the car in front of this sketchy cabin, I haven't been here in years. The last time was when I was nineteen years old.

I used to do a ton of shit I regret now. I sold drugs to everyone—never asked for age, I would have done it regardless. I was always high on coke or weed.

I don't think there was any day I was sober, too.

I was at my lowest point and I feel like a shitty person because of it. I ruined many lives and I ruined mine. Shanice did what no one else ever did for me, she slowly and patiently saved me.

She stood by my side even when I was pushing her away. She accepted me into her home with open arms when I had nowhere to go, and I recovered from my addiction.

She is my only family.

"I knew you'd come back in business, man." Felix laughs, patting me on the back.

"You called me to talk about that issue," I spit at him and he shrugs.

He always threatens to call the cops on me if I don't help him. I don't even need to do anything illegal, his men will take care of that.

"Lemme get this straight, you either help us or go down with us." His tone goes from funny to serious, and it doesn't scare me at all. I am just disappointed to be sucked in this all over again. But it's the last time.

"It's very simple, you scare him into not snitching, you know how," he says and I sigh.

"I'm not the same person I was be-"

"I don't care about your motivational 'I'm a better person' shit. You won't be shit in jail." He spits on the ground.

"Maybe it's time to pay for what we did," I mutter as if I don't care about anything.

"You are funny, Derek." He laughs sarcastically and I walk inside with him.

"Who is he? Why me?" I ask curiously. They always had someone else to beat up the people who wanted to snitch.

"He is a guy who goes to your parties. He might cooperate if he knows you."

"What's his name?"

"Alexander Williams," he answers and my eyes widen.

Oh. The guy Veronica slept with and the guy who has been 'my friend' for a few years. We used to do a lot of drugs together. The difference is that he never stopped.

I haven't heard anything about Veronica in weeks, all I know is that she is missing and her mother called the police but they didn't take much interest in it as they think she ran away with a boy. She also didn't attend her dad's funeral.

I hate to admit it but I'm so worried about her. I just want to know she is alive and okay. She must be so heartbroken over her dad.

He offers me a cigarette and I take it, although the last time I smoked was two years ago.

"I'll just talk to him. Why does he even want to snitch on you?"

"No, man, not only me. I don't give a shit you are out, as long as you are alive you will always be part of it when we need you," he threatens me, and my jaw clenches.

The only reason why I'm not giving myself in is because of Shanice. She worked so hard to get me on the right path and... I genuinely believe I got better, it would feel like betrayal to her.

If she knew about this...

"I won't need violence with hi-" I get interrupted by someone walking in.

It's... Veronica.

She looks unrecognizable, so underweight. Her dark circles are prominent and her hair is all over the place. She is only wearing a long, thin shirt, exposing her bare legs.

She looks pale as never before and like she aged by a few years just in three weeks.

And beyond all of this, I still see her as stunning.

Ronnie seems numbs, she sees me but she looks through me as if I'm not here.

I realize my hands are shaking when I struggle to keep smoking.

"You weren't supposed to go out," Felix hisses, and I look at him, shocked.

"Haven't I told you to stay away from her?" I get mad realizing she must be doing coke with him and... something else I'd rather not think about right now.

She sits on the chair next to him, calmly as she takes a hit from the joint. I get a closer view of her face and her eyes look so dry and red. She looks severely unhealthy.

"She came to me," he says as he caresses her shoulder-length black hair, and my jaw tenses at the sight of Felix touching her. He is a jerk, he is violent and he is unpredictable. She needs to be out of here, now.

"I'll help you but let her go," I say calmly, ignoring the fact that she went to him. She is underage and suffering from her father's death. She is abusing drugs and alcohol, she doesn't even know what she is doing.

But I hear a laugh as soon as I say those words and I recognize it straight away. Her beautiful but bitter laugh.

"Oh, hell, you are still stupid enough to think I don't enjoy his presence." She laughs even harder and he joins her and I stare at her in disbelief, looking for any kind of emotion other than... emptiness.

I think about what Nicole told me. Veronica cares about me, yet she has a very strange way of showing it.

"Let's talk for a bit, only the two of us." I gather the courage to ignore her spiteful words.

"You are sooo boring, Derek. I don't want to talk to you. Get over yourself," she spits and her words hurt me more than I want to admit. She looks completely lost, nothing like she was before.

She buttons up the first button, which showed her cleavage way more than it should.

"What are you staring at? Do you want some?" Felix mocks me and she just smiles. I'm this close to beating his ass.

He makes out with her right in front of me and I look away. She is high. She doesn't mean this.

I try to find excuses for everything she does, while I know I shouldn't but I also can't blame her for supposedly not caring about me. Did Nicole say that to fuck me up?

If I go now, will Veronica be safe?

Felix's phone rings and he walks outside to take the call, which gives me the perfect opportunity to convince her to leave him and go back to her house.

I stand up, walking closer to her and she flinches, she puts down the joint.

"Your family and friends are so worried about you. Why are you even here?!" I ask her exasperated.

"I don't have a family. Neither friends," she simply says, not even looking at me.

And I can't lie but it hurts to hear her say that. She has a family, while I don't.

"You do, they care about you," I reassure her but she laughs in my face.

"But do I care about them? No." She smirks and I'm shocked at her response, her pupils are dilated and I shouldn't even listen to what she says, because it's bullshit.

"You don't care about your father's death?" I try to push it, knowing that it would get a reaction from her and I'm right, she turns to me looking into my eyes, after several weeks, her beautiful blue eyes are not the same like they used to be. They are so faded and dull.

"What is this? Your pathetic kind of way of making me feel something? Is that how sad you became without me?" she mocks me and for the first time, I feel embarrassed around her. My heart slightly shatters and I try my best to keep it together, to not show her exactly what she wants to see.

She desperately wants everyone to give up on her because she did. She wants to prove to herself that she is not worthy of anything, because she believes so, and that is the only thing that gives her security.

"You don't mean any of these," I calmly say and she gives me a smirk.

"I mean every word. And I find it quite funny how easy it is to control you," she mutters coming closer to me but I fail to take a step back.

"I don't care what you have to say, honestly, Veronica." I try to act uninterested to not give her the satisfaction she wants but she isn't happy with my response. She takes another puff from the joint and I stare at her. Her lips are cracked and dry, must be from all the smoking.

She looks like she is always cold and shaking.

"Why are you still here?" she asks, looking through me again.

"For you," I simply say and she seems taken back by my reply but she quickly replaces it with a laugh.

I didn't exactly come here for her, but I'm staying for her.

"Go back to Olivia," she says and I could feel a hint of jealousy behind her voice.

Does she know? Of course, Olivia tells everything to everyone.

Olivia is my second biggest regret.

"Are you jealous?" I ask her immediately regretting the question, it's not a good thing to ask someone who is trying to mask away their emotions.

"No, babe, I think she is the only one stupid enough to have sex with you. You seem so lonely, though," she mocks me and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bother me. I struggle to hide the surprise on my face which makes her laugh more.

Felix enters and I try to put myself together and get a bit of distance from
Veronica.

All I can think about is her. Does she mean those words? Is this what she always secretly thought of me?

Am I making a fool of myself? Am I pathetic like she says?

I just leave the house, leaving her there alone with Felix, which I'm definitely going to regret but I still do it.

I immediately call Dominic. I might not be able to help her, but her mother or Nicole might.

"I found Veronica. At Felix's house," I mutter through gritted teeth. 

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah. She is doing horrible. She is on drugs and seems intoxicated."

"Wait, bro, just call the police on them. She will be fine."

"I can't, he will get me down with them."

"I'll talk to Nicole," he says and I agree.

Nicole should just straight-up talk to Veronica's mother. That poor woman has lost her husband and daughter.

I know what it is like to lose your family, especially if you have no one.

I take my wallet from my back pocket and I look for my parents' picture, my eyes slightly watering thinking about them. I was just sixteen years old.

———

Thanks for reading, please don't forget to vote and comment! I love you so much.