Yeah. She's smiling. But don't let that fool you. Look into her eyes. She's breaking inside.

Damien

I was hanging out with Ryder, Bennett, and Max, and Ryder couldn't pick a movie. It was starting to irritate me. This was why we never let him decide but this time, we had felt bad about it, so we let him. Never again. And I mean, never again.

"Ryder pick a damn movie!" Bennett groaned. I could tell if this went on for more than five minutes, Bennett would leave.

"Ryder, we can watch both. Just pick one first," I was starting to get a headache.

"Okay, should we watch Tangled after we watch The Conjuring or before?" Ryder held the movies to show us. Oooh, he didn't.

"I'm gonna kill him. Why are we friends with him?" I asked Bennett, who was leaning towards me with his arm around a pillow when he shrugged.

"I don't know. Is it too late to give him away?" Max asked, teasing Ryder.

"We could leave him on the front door of the fire station. I don't think they'd know it was us." Bennett suggested.

"I don't know. That's kind of mean... for the firefighters," we all looked at Ryder, giving him a deadpan expression.

"That's just mean, that hurts," he put his hand over his heart, feigning pain. "Right here." He fell to the floor and yelled, "you'll never find something better if you stay in your comfort zone."

I slapped my hand on my forehead. This is my best friend. He's part of my gang and a street racer. He also quotes Rapunzel. Isn't he just a keeper?

"Just pick the conjuring first," Bennett told him but muttered under his breath, "so that way I can leave before you put on tangled."

"Fine, but don't call me at three in the morning when you get another nightmare," Ryder said, and Max laughed, making Bennett throw the pillow he had around his arm at Max.

"That was one time! And I only called because I didn't have a ride to school," Bennett tried to defend himself but no one was buying it.

"You have your own car, Bennett," Ryder reasoned.

"It... broke down?" He said but it sounded more like a question.

"You have your own car service," Max reasoned as well.

"They were out... of service."

"Mmm-hmm, sure," Ryder grinned, lopsidedly and put the movie in before sitting down on the single recliner.

"Chubs, get the popcorn," Max said, and Ryder threw his water bottle at Max, making Max laugh when he dodged it.

"Who told you that?!" Ryder asked, and Max laughed.

"You did. Last weekend when you showed up at my grandma's house... drunk. You were spewing out all your dirty laundry," Max smiled, evilly. Ryder genuinely looked worried. "Come on, baldy."

I choked on my sprite when I realized what Max was referring to and it came back out my nose. "What?" I choked out, wanting to laugh, and Ryder's face got red.

"I did not tell your grandma that," Ryder said, but he wasn't stating it as much as he was checking to see if it was true.

"Oh, you did. But don't worry. She thought you were funny."

"Oh, great," Ryder said, sarcastically while nodding with an embarrassed look on his face.

*~*

The movie was going well. We were at the part where the girl and her mom were playing the clapping game and the mom was nearing the closet while hands slowly creeped out. She was going closer and closer.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

"Ahh!" Bennett yelled and his popcorn went everywhere. We looked at him and tried to hold our laughter in. Well, I tried. Ryder, on the other hand, was laughing his ass off.

"Oh, yeah. You're so having a nightmare tonight. And I'm so turning off my phone." Ryder told Bennett while wiping a tear from his eyes from laughing too hard.

"It was just a knock on the door, Bennett. Relax, I'll get it." I told him while standing up, walking around the mess of popcorn.

"I'll come with you," Max said, getting up and following me to the hall.

"You better not turn off your phone, Ryder," Bennett told him, and I couldn't contain my laughter anymore. I had to laugh, so I did.

"Hey!" Bennett yelled at me from the movie room.

"I couldn't help it!" I shouted back as I walked down the hall to the front door.

Bang!

Bang!

"I'm coming. Relax!" I stopped at the side table and pulled my gun out, making sure it was loaded before I walked to the door.

I checked through the cameras and saw Larry, one of my bodyguards, so I opened the door, hearing two beeps from the alarm system, letting me know the door opened.

What the hell?

"Hey."

"Deacon? What the hell happened to these two?" I opened the door to find my brothers. Deacon was in the middle holding Dylan on his right side and Declan on his left. They looked pretty beat up except Deacon. I put my gun in the back of my waistband.

"Well, this is what happens when you fight The Street King." Dylan chuckled but stopped and winced from the pain. Just hearing the name 'Street King' made my blood boil.

"What did I tell you about fighting him?" They looked bad, but I've seen worse the guy has caused. I've warned them over and over again not to fight him or race him and what do Dylan and Declan do? They fight him.

"Well, you told Deacon too." Declan winced in pain when Deacon shook him.

"What do you mean? Deacon?" Max asked. Deacon looked pissed off. Actually, pissed off would be an understatement.

"Here, get your brothers. They're heavy." Deacon basically threw them to me, and I caught them. He started walking away.

"Stop," Max told him, and Deacon listened. I was always jealous of how Deacon listened more to Max than to his own brother but, in a way, Max was Deacon's brother, so I guess I understood.

When our parents passed away, Deacon couldn't look at me or speak to me, until Max showed up, and he was always there with him. Day and night. Whenever Deacon had a nightmare, I would only find out because max told me the next day.

"Deacon, they're hurt!" I yelled at him. I couldn't believe him right now. He turned the other way but Max didn't let him leave. I couldn't turn around with my brothers because they were both too heavy. "Stand." They stood on their own, so I turned around quickly, and they looked like they were about ready to fall.

They put their arm around my shoulders but only Dylan had the best grip, so Declan pushed his arm off and got a better grip. Dylan pushed his arm off and got grip again. "Stop," Dylan said.

"You stop. I'm older," Declan tried.

"By ten minutes!" Dylan raised his voice.

"It's not my fault your big ass head got stuck."

"Hey! I grew into my head, okay?!"

"Stop fighting," I told them.

"Well, tell him to stop," Declan and Dylan said, simultaneously. 

"Stop bitching," Deacon growled.

"Hey! Apologize," Max told him, but Deacon still had his back towards us. "Turn around, Deacon. I won't ask you again." Deacon turned around, glaring at Max with clenched teeth.

"It's okay. His ego's just hurt." Dylan told me and tried to stand but failed.

"Yeah," Declan said, also trying to stand and failing as well. Why would his ego be hurt unless...

"Please, tell me you didn't, Deacon." I looked at him, and he turned his glare to me. I wanted him to confirm what I was thinking, but he was ignoring me and it was making me angry. I shouted at him through clenched teeth. "Say it, Deacon!"

"I DID, ALRIGHT?!"

"At least tell me you won." He looked down while clenching his fist. Damn, my brother never learned.

"Tell him, Deacon boy, or should I say Prince?" Dylan smiled at himself, looking really smug.

"Shut up, Dylan." Deacon took a step towards Dylan as if he was going to do something, but Max put his hand on Deacon's chest, stopping him from coming closer. Deacon wouldn't give up, so max had to take some steps back.

"Deacon," I warned him, and he stopped to look at me. I felt slipping from my right side, so I pushed Declan up, and he groaned, but I didn't apologize. He wouldn't have been in that position if he would have listened to me. "Did you lose?"

"Is that all you care about?" He asked, but I knew he only said that, trying to make me feel bad for him. He knew he should have never challenged someone who he shouldn't have. Someone who I told him not to challenge.

"Don't turn this on me! You knew better than this. Did you lose?!"

"Yes, okay?! Is that what you wanna hear?! Are you happy now?!" He's never learned. I looked at him and saw our father. He reminded me of him. The stubbornness. Not doing what someone told him to do.

Maybe this was my fault.

They were young when they lost our dad. They still needed him growing up. What makes me think I'm man enough to teach them the values our father would have?

"I'm doing my best, Deacon," I told him, softly.

"Your best isn't good enough," he said, shaking his head and it felt like a pang in my heart because of the sincerity in his voice.

"Don't act like your mad at Damien because you lost. You knew not to fight," Max said, pushing Deacon's chest back. Deacon pushed Max's hand away and pushed him back.

"How much did you lose?" He started walking away. He passed by a table in the hall with a vase sitting in the center and slammed the vase to the floor, shattering it in the process. "DEACON, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! NOW!" Now, I was furious and this time, at him. He turned back around with anger in his eyes but they also held sadness

"Fifty."

Please, don't tell me grand.

"Grand?" I asked him and his fists looked white from how hard he was clenching them.

"No pennies! Of course grand!" He stormed out as Ryder came out of the movie room.

"Hey, Deacon! What's up, man?" Ryder smiled.

"Shut the fuck up!" Deacon snapped.

Ryder put his hands up in surrender. "Wow, sorry, man. Didn't know you were on your meriod." Deacon turned around and if looks could kill, Ryder would be dead. "I'm kidding. Relax." Deacon walked into the kitchen and you could hear glass breaking and yelling.

"I got it," Max said.

"Maybe, he just needs to cool off," I suggested, but Max shook his head.

"He cools off fast and then he'll talk. He appreciates the effort," Max smiled, softly and went into the kitchen.

"Sorry about him, man," I told Ryder as I started to dragged my brothers towards the dining room. "No, no. That's okay, I got it." I told him, sarcastically as I struggled to carry my brothers.

"Here," Ryder laughed and grabbed Declan from me. I knew Ryder didn't think anything of it because the triplets were like his little brothers. "Why is he mad?"

We sat my brothers down at the kitchen table while Max and Deacon were outside by the pool, looking up. Max was talking and I saw Deacon laugh and Max smiled.

He knows my brother better than I do. I shook my head, clearing that thought from my mind and allowing my focus back on my brothers.

"Woah, what happened?" Bennett asked, walking in with a bowl of popcorn.

"We lost," Declan told him.

"You lost?! All three of you?" Ryder brushed a hand through his hair, exhaling at my brother's confession. "To who?"

"Nobody." Dylan laughed and pulled the aid kit towards himself, but I pulled it out of his hands, telling him I'll do it.

"I thought you were serious. Only Deacon would lose to nobody." Ryder laughed. He sat down and started cleaning Declan's wounds.

"No. As in 'The King'" Declan whispered and looked at me to see my reaction. Ryder poured too much hydrogen peroxide on him, and he hissed. "Ahh! watch it, man."

"Sorry... for real?" he looked at our faces to see if we were serious and when he found what he was looking for, his mouth hanged open. He was just as shocked as I was when I found out. I fixed the boys up and gave them some painkillers.

Ryder's mouth was still open until Bennett threw popcorn in his mouth. Ryder being Ryder, just chewed it.

"That was the one on the floor." Bennett laughed. Ryder pretended to gag and glared at Bennett.

"You guys are welcome to sleep here if you want. I'm gonna take my brothers to their rooms. And go to bed."

"I don't think Bennett wants to. He likes his dark, dark room with a dark, lonely closest." Ryder smirked at Bennett, but Bennett didn't look fazed.

"You know I'm not actually scared, right?"

"Mmm-hmm. Keep telling yourself that maybe you'll believe it." Ryder nodded and it looked like he was trying to see if Bennett was lying. "Well, we'll spend the night considering, we were drinking."

"Alright," I put Declan and Dylan's arm around me and put my arms around their waists, so I could carry them upstairs. The guys offered to help but my brothers wanted me to suffer alone; they didn't want to be carried by anyone else. And Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. They were growing, heavy teenage boys. I put Dylan in his room and Declan in his.

I walked back to my room and took a shower before getting ready for bed and laying down. I started dozing off until I got a ping on my phone, but I decided to leave it and fall asleep.

*~*

I woke up at seven in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I kept dozing off but not in a deep sleep.

I liked to call it resting my eyes.

"Wake up!" Deacon came in, and I looked at him. "Can't sleep?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Me too," he said and looked to my bookshelf, in thought. "We're going to the cemetery today." I nodded, I was going too.

He nodded before walking out of my room. I looked at the time on my clock and it was eight-nineteen. Today was my dad's birthday; it was two weeks after my birthday. My dad's birthday stirred up old memories, ones I longed to forget.

They got us while we were sleeping. We had no idea what was happening. We were blindfolded, my family and I. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear my family screaming and crying. I wasn't crying, I never cried. Something in me just didn't let the tears fall.

They took the blindfold off me, and I saw my brothers and parents. They had their hands zip-tied in the back of them, but I didn't. My hands were free.

There was someone in the corner. Someone that hadn't been here before. I looked closer and saw her.

Mae

What was she doing here? She's never here.

"Choose," a guy with a gun told me while pointing it at my parents. "Or would you like a different choice?" three guys that were standing behind my brothers were now pointing their guns at them, cocking it to show they were serious.

"Please, don't. You don't have to do this." I begged them to not make me choose.

Even though I already had my choice made.

The guy in the back of me was in charge. I could feel the authority radiating off of him. I hadn't seen his face yet, but I knew he was in charge because of how the guys were looking at him; looking at him for the next command.

"I know I don't. I want to. This is fun, don't you think?" The guy in the back of me asked. He was holding my head, making me look at my family, who was breaking down in front of me. Making me watch as the horror and realization crossed their terrified eyes because they knew what was going to happened next.

My eyes kept wandering over to Mae. The guy that was next to me followed my gaze and went to her.

"No, don't! Leave her alone!" I tried to stand but the leader knocked me back down. I tried again and this time, I was the one he was pointing the gun at. I immediately stopped trying and saw as the guy pointed the gun at her.

BANG!

I came out of my daydream when I heard a loud bang, but I realized that bang belonged to my daydream. I hated it when that happened.

When I was so into my daydream that if someone yelled in my head, I'd hear it aloud. I felt relieved it was part of a memory but then, I felt ashamed that it was a memory.

I sighed and rubbed the gunk out of my eyes. I was so tired last night, I drooled on my arm. Using my shirt, I wiped the drool off of my arm with a disgusted face. It was my drool, but I was still grossed out.

I looked to my right, at my nightstand and the clock read eight twenty-three in the morning. I was kind of bummed that I woke up at eight in the morning because it felt like it was already late. I liked to wake up around six when the sun is not too out but is still shining because it feels like I'll have a longer day.

There was sunlight shining in my room and it made me feel happy. The day time always made me feel happy because it made me feel like the bad was away.

"It was just a dream," I whispered to myself. I got off the bed and headed to the shower. I couldn't stop thinking about Mae. She has never been in that dream before. Not ever. After I finished my shower, I walked into my closet and chose what I wanted to wear.

I walked downstairs after changing and saw everyone at the table eating breakfast. Gunner, another member of my gang, was cooking. He's a hitman. We call him gunner because he's the only person I've seen shoot a gun while running and successfully hitting a target from eight hundred yards.

"Want me to serve you?" Gunner asked. To some people, Gunner might look scary because of his choice of clothing. Gunner was wearing a red and black flannel with black ripped jeans and his Vans. Everything he was wearing was black, except his flannel; his gages, his rings, even his hair but his personality is what really railed you in.

He was always in a good mood unless he got into a fight or if you yelled at him about something he cared for or felt like something was unfair, he'd get mad. He had a short fuse.

"Don't you already?" I teased.

"Haha. I'll shoot you," he warned, serving me a plate of what he made.

"From eight hundred years?" I asked, intrigued by his empty threat.

"Dude, you have to do it again," Ryder told him. We all thought it was cool.

"Come on, man," Gunner said, shaking his head. Gunner believed that if he showed off what he could do, he won't be able to do it anymore. "I'll jinx it."

"My Abula thinks the same way," Max said when he walked in. Gunner held out my plate, but Max took it instead.

"Thanks," Max smiled towards Gunner.

"Ladies first," I teased, and he blew a quick kiss.

"Could you be any more gay?" Max's sister, Ashley said when she walked in.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay, Ash," Max told her. He raised his right eyebrow, slightly. I looked at Ashley's face and it went a shade red.

Last weekend, Ryder threw a party, and Max and I walked in on Ashley making out with a girl. She threatened us to keep it a secret from everyone. I didn't even tell Ryder or Bennett.

"He's right," Ryder said. "Be free. Be gay. Live life."

"Can we stop talking about being gay?" Ashley asked. She took the plate Gunner was holding out, and Deacon laughed.

"This plate is for Damien," Gunner told everyone.

"For me?" Bennett asked and everyone laughed. I took the plate and thanked him. I sat down and started eating.

"You should be a chef," I told him. It was like heaven in my mouth.

"I don't think I can," he said, serving a plate for himself and sitting in front of Max and I. "I have priors."

"Ryan can always clear those for you. No trace," Bennett reminded him and there was a glimpse of hopefulness in Gunner's eyes.

"I'd like that," he said, softly as he nodded. "I just want to make my parents proud."

"I'll ask Ryan," I told him.

"It's alright. I'll ask him when I see him at school," Gunner said. Not all my members go to Green Hills High with me and my friends. The ones who are in high school go to five different schools on the south side, including Green Hills High, my school.

Gunner and Ryan are in college. Ryan is younger than me, but he skipped two years and is now in his sophomore year of college. Gunner was in his junior year of college.

Ryan hid Gunner's records from their college, but he was only able to hide them for so long without leaving a trace. It was long enough for the college to check Gunner out and let him in college.

"You look like shit." Thanks, Ryder. Like I need a reminder. My brothers looked at me and even though Deacon was mad yesterday, he seemed worried too.

"Still mad?" I asked Deacon, and he smiled a little.

"Still gonna yell at me?" He asked, and I shook my head, smiling at his behavior. This kid.

"You need to stop with bringing up dad," Dylan said told me, a little angry before drinking his orange juice. "We're trying to move on but you keep bringing him up." I stopped eating.

"It's not something I can control!" I raised my voice, and he stopped eating too.

"Don't get mad at me!" He shouted.

"You're the one getting mad at me for shit I can't control," I said, and he got up. He started walking out.

"Take your plate," I told him.

"No."

"Dylan!" I yelled, and he walked out. He walked back in and glared at me.

"You keep bringing up dad, and I can't forget! Do you know how hard I try to forget that night?!" He shouted and stormed out.

"You know you had no choice. They gave you permission." Declan told me, giving a reassuring smile but it still didn't help. He went after Dylan after putting his plate in the sink and Declan followed doing the same. I sighed, and Max patted my shoulder.

"Don't have kids, man," he said and I laughed. He smiled, feeling accomplished that he made me laugh.

"This time it was different," I told them, and I had their full attention.

"What do you mean different?" Bennett asked. He got up and took his plate and Dylan's to the sink.

"This time... This time she was there."

"She?" Max asked. I knew they knew, they just wanted me to confirm it.

"Mae... s-she was there," I confirmed, thinking of my dream. They all knew about Mae, so they knew who she was.

"What was she doing?" Ashley asked. She finished her food and took my plate with hers to the sink. I had already finished eating. I thanked her, and she nodded.

"She was standing there. Just looking at me. I could see the fear in her eyes but when I looked deep enough, I could tell it wasn't her fear." The only way our communication would work in our crew is if we were always completely honest with each other so that's why it wasn't hard expressing how I felt. We did it often.

"Then... whose was it?" Ryder hesitated to ask. He was trying to hide it, but I could see the concern in his eyes. The way his body tensed and his posture changed the longer I waited to answer.

"It was mine."

I looked at them, and they showed their concern. I got up and headed upstairs, to my room. I got my phone to see if I had any notifications, and I had one from an unknown number.

She's very pretty. It'd be a shame if anything happened to her. -Unknown.

Mae? Was he talking about Mae? I ran out of my room and headed downstairs for the door.

"What happened?" Ryder asked, coming out of the kitchen. I didn't stop running out, but I heard them following me.

"Mae. I have to check on Mae."

"We're coming with you." I didn't want to argue with Bennett so I just got in, and they did the same. The gate was already open, so I drove out and headed for Mae's house.

**********************************************
A/N: Did you like this chapter? Since it's Friday I'll post two chapters.

Enjoy!

Have a good weekend, out in the world and out in the temporary world we call Wattpad.

Do you think you're a deep person?