I watched the numbers go up as the elevator took us up the building,  floor by floor. I could feel my heart beating in my chest but tried to keep a calm head, not trying to show Pierce I was worried sick about what could possibly go wrong. The elevator doors opened to the hall before we approached the grand doors at the end of the hallway, revealing the same party room that was held for New Year's Eve.  

The entire room was blocked off with caution tape, it was a crime scene until the cops found out who started the shooting. With how slow the New York police were, I wasn't going to even hold my breath for them to arrest someone instead of pointing fingers. I followed behind Pierce as we walked up to where a group of men stood at a bar table in the center of the floor with a marble countertop. 

All of them were late 20's to late thirties, all dressed in suits as they held drinks in their hands. Val's eyes snapped over to us as he held his hands out "Pierce, Aspen. I'm so glad you could finally join us." I could feel Pierce squeeze my hand before letting go and joining them closer at the table where they all stood. 

I pressed my lips together in a thin line as I could feel the stares from the other men, a shiver going up my spine as they eye raped me. You could just tell when a man looked at you and he was imagining everything he could do to you while you stood in silence, it was the most uncomfortable feeling in the world. 

"Don't be rude Pierce, who is this lovely woman?" A man with a dark complexion and dark brown eyes eyed me up and down before looking over to Pierce. "This is my girlfriend, Aspen Ambrosia." Pierce clenched his jaws in response, making me straighten my posture as I stood up to all the men who towered my body. 

"Aspen Ambrosia?" Another man chimed in "As in Ashlynn Ambrosia? Well, aren't you a pretty little thing just like your mother."

"How about we just talk about why we're here?" I forced the words out, wanting to get the topic off me and off of my mother. I loved my mother but I was so sick of being compared to her especially when I feel like she wasn't even my mother anymore because of the entire double life she had lived and never once told me.

"Right." Val straightened his black tie before sliding a bunch of papers across the counter to Pierce and me. My eyes examined over the papers as I saw picture after picture of me from my childhood all the way up till now, even a copy of my birth certificate and social security. I sorted through the papers, my eyes skimming over all the reports made on my life as well as parents including their tax refunds. 

"To protect Aspen from the Coinston's we had to get in the head of them. We dug up everything we needed to possibly know about you and your family, knowing what they'd be able to use against you for your advantage." Val explained "You were born January 14th to your parents Ashton and Ashlynn Ambrosia. Your dad made about 100,000 thousand dollars a year while your mom brought in over 500,000 thousand. Your parents were big names in Seattle due to your dad's place on the city council and your mom's friendliness to the community. You lived a good life, not exactly High Class but definitely high middle class. Your brother started to act out, making both of your parents look bad before he moved away."

"What does how much my parents made have anything to do with this?" I snapped out of confusion, not wanting to talk about how much they made when we were supposed to be getting down to the bottom of the Coinston's. Val's eyes narrowed to mine before he ignored my comment and continued.

"We traced all of your social media, every post, every picture, everything from the time you signed up for the accounts. We came across your ex-boyfriend Cayde Matthews, who is playing a bigger role in this than we thought." He continued "Cayde is working with the Coinston's, it's how he knew you'd be here the night of the party. We just do not know why he'd be working with them, especially if he never had any gang-related history in the past."

It was true. In the back of my head, I had known Cayde was working with them somehow, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. Cayde knew more about me than most people, he knew how to hold things against me and get under my skin. The thought of Cayde being back in my life made my stomach sink. He wasn't only back in my life but was somehow working with a gang that wanted to ruin my life. 

"Aspen, all these men you see here are some of the best hackers and gang members in the world. Vince Baker, Kash Jackson, Lennox Springer, and Cedric Wright. All of them are from different gangs, and have come to help you get to the bottom of this." Val explained.

"That is if you pay us back for our services." Lennox took a sip of his drink before slamming the glass down onto the table "I'm sure we could discuss a few options that would satisfy them."

"I'm a minor, you pervert." I snapped and earned a chuckle from Vince. I looked over to him, cocking an eyebrow in response before he shook his head in response "It's nothing, you just remind me of someone who I know."

"Who?" I furrowed my eyebrows at Vince as his lips tugged up into a smirk. He didn't give off the same vibe as the other men, he was here to help and not here to get in my pants. "Oh I don't know if you know her, her name Rain Thompson..well Rain Anderson now. She's just another member of the gang I belong to; the Crusades."

"Rain Anderson?" I questioned, "As in the model?" I hadn't known her well but I remembered June and Triston talking about her one day at lunch, but I didn't know much else about her except for seeing a few pictures of her. They kept saying we looked like each other but I honestly didn't see it. 

"Yeah, that's her." He smiled before turning to Pierce "If she's anything like Rain, good luck with that Pierce." Pierce rolled his eyes in response and slid the papers back to Val as he stood at the head of the table. 

"Thanks to Vince and Kash, they were able to completely erase the video of Pierce and Cayde the night of the club. This takes any eyes on Pierce off of him, the Pierce will drop him as a suspect. The video is not traceable at all, not even the cops will be able to retrieve it." Val announced and a wave of relief hit me, knowing it was one less thing to worry about "I'm sorry I'm getting a phone call. I'll be right back."

With that Val walked away and I sighed as I looked over to Pierce who didn't share the same worry as I did. It was kinda scary how they were able to dig up all this information on me, it made me believe anyone could do it. Even the Coinstons. 

"It's going to be ok," Pierce reassured me as he could see the worry written all over my face. Everyone kept saying it would be ok but would it actually? This wasn't some test I was taking in math class, it was running from a rival gang who wanted to do everything in their power to kidnap me. 

"Hey, Gunner." A voice spoke up and I looked over to Vince who did the bro handshake hug thing with Pierce. "Hey Baker, how's everything going on your side of the city?" Pierce asked as he pulled me closer to him. 

"They're ok, Craig and Leah just had their baby so you're looking at the new leader of Crusaders." He gave a smirk as he opened his arms up wide while giving a smug look of proudness. 

"I'm sure that went over well with Ryker." Pierce let out a scoffed laugh. I cocked an eyebrow in response as I wasn't following who they had been talking about. "Vince is the new leader of the Crusaders, they're on the other side of the city. Xander has known their former leader Craig forever and I've known them since I was 14. Ryker is one of their members who I hung out with a few times when we were teenagers."

"I'm so sorry I'm late." Another female voice spoke up, making us all whip around to see her walk through the doors. She had long brown hair with bright blue eyes and was dressed in a leather jacket and leather black pants with stiletto heels. A man who was around Pierce's height followed behind her as they approached closer to us.

"Rain are you serious?" Vince started "I told you to stay home, you're seven months pregnant for christ's sake." This was the Rain Anderson everyone had talked about, she was drop-dead gorgeous and I could see why her modeling career had taken off at such a young age. The man behind her had soft brown hair with bright blue eyes and stood above her.

"Yeah Yeah, Vince." Rain waved him off as she rolled her eyes. "Ryker?" Vince raised his eyebrows at Ryker who put his hands up in defeat, obviously not being able to control his seven-month pregnant wife. She ignored the both of them before turning her full attention towards me as she grabbed my hands in hers.

"You must be Aspen, I'm Rain." She introduced herself "I know you don't know me but I've heard everything about the Coinstons. Trust me we are here to help you, whether Vince wants us to or not. And honestly, I'm so sick of these men telling me I can't do shit when I'm pregnant even though I do more pregnant than they do in their entire lives, but that can be our little secret." 

I chuckled at her response, my eyes flickering over to Pierce who stood next to Ryker. "I thought I told you to not date girls in the gang." Ryker nudged Pierce in his side, sending him a look of Are-You-Serious.

"Aspen's nothing like Mercury." Pierce rolled his eyes back at Ryker "Aspen this is Ryker. Ryker this is my girlfriend Aspen."

"Yeah whatever she doesn't care about you, Ryker. Besides I'm way cooler than you." She sent him a wink before turning back to me "We have a lot to talk about, trust me." 

I hesitantly looked between her and Pierce, wanting Pierce to give me a reaction that it was okay to go with Rain. I mean she was a complete stranger, I was wary of people ever since I had got to New York. I have proved time after time that no one was who they seemed to be at first, I was tired of getting tricked. Pierce gave me a slight nod, showing that Rain was okay to be alone with. 

She took my hand and led me to the second level, climbing the steps before we took a seat on the bright white couch that seemingly had no stains or marks on it. I sat down, my body sinking into the couch as Rain took a seat next to me, sitting further back so she wouldn't crush her stomach. 

"So Vince told me all about you, I mean everything with the Coinstons and your ex-boyfriend Cayde. I was raped by my ex-boyfriend Tyson, he was so toxic to me. I also had an abusive father who was a drunk and my mom was not in my life since I had been 13. I actually met Ryker and the gang from a drug deal gone wrong that took place at my school after hours. I saw Ryker and was able to distract the guy that had a gun, and here I am." She gave me a brief explanation "But I was being threatened by my ex-boyfriend's gang just because of a faulty drug deal that Ryker went through with. I was kidnapped, we did everything to avoid it. Even went to Italy to get back up but it just didn't stop."

She paused for a moment as her eyes softened as her words spurred out. I couldn't imagine being kidnapped and held for something you weren't responsible for. I'm sure the horror she went through was traumatizing, especially seeing her ex-boyfriend was involved with gang activity. It reminded me of how I felt about Cayde right now, the memory of him was soon coming back as more than just a memory. It was becoming my present. 

"It was brutal. I was assaulted sexually and verbally, I was tied down, I was waterboarded over and over again, and more. They forced me to call Ryker and break up with him with nothing else I could say, I was trapped. But what I endured is something I never want any other girl to go through." She shook her head slightly "That's when Vince told me about you, I had to talk to you. Because when a gang wants revenge they are going to get it, they will not stop till they do."

"What do you mean?" I started, not wanting to believe that what she was saying was true. I knew they wouldn't just randomly stop one day but somewhere in the back of my head I truly hoped they would. As if this would all one day not be a thing but I was fearful that was far from reality. 

"You and Pierce are together, right?" She asked, making me nod in response "Let me guess. Enemies to lovers and some crazy ex-girlfriend have tried to ruin it all, plus the gang forbids dating so they make you do some fucked up bullshit punishment."

"Uh, yeah...actually." I blinked in shock "How did you know?" It was weird how she got it down to a tee. Pierce and I started out as not being able to even stand each other to dating each other. It felt like everyone tried to tear us apart, especially Mercury and Archer, who both had a position in the punishment of almost drowning me in the pool the other week all because we broke the rules. 

"Cause I was you, Aspen." She chuckled "When I met Ryker we couldn't stand each other. He sent so many mixed signals and then his ex-girlfriend, Chloe came in the picture and don't even get me started on her- but we were told we couldn't be together so in punishment Craig who was our leader, made me do 50 laps before I practically passed out."

"Laps?" I exclaimed, "My ankle was chained to the bottom of the pool where I was then pushed down underwater until Pierce found all the hidden keys to unlock me."

"What. The. Fuck." She blinked slowly "That had to be Archer because there is no way Xander would do that." 

I don't know why but talking to Rain gave me some kind of comfort. She gave this sense of safety, I didn't know if it was her straight-forwardness or how I could relate to her. We were pretty much the same age and I was just going through everything that she already had, it was like living double lives. 

Our heads both snapped over as we heard footsteps before seeing Pierce and Ryker walk up the steps. "I was just telling Pierce how he's going to end up a dad in a couple of months if they keep following in our footsteps," Ryker smirked as they stood in front of Rain and me. 

"No." Pierce scoffed "Your pull-out game is just fucking weak."

"Please use condoms. And birth control." Rain narrowed her eyes at me "Trust me, pregnancy is not fun and you guys do not want a baby right now."

"Oh, it'll happen," Ryker added, with the same smirk plastered across his lips.

"Shut the fuck up before jinx some shit." Pierce sent him another warning glare, making Ryker let out a small laugh through his lips. The thought of kids wasn't even a thought that had crossed my mind, I mean Pierce and I had just started dating and haven't even said the feared 'L' word yet. 

"Aspen we have to get going, get out of the city before the police find us." Pierce nodded his head towards the exit. I turned to Rain, ready to bid my goodbyes as we both stood up from our seats.

She pulled me into a hug, her arms wrapping around me as she whispered into my ear "Pierce has my number. Text me anytime you need me, I'll talk to you again soon and we'll continue working to make sure no gang even touches you."

"Thank you, Rain." I smiled softly as I pulled away from her hug and bid my goodbyes. Pierce and Ryker bid their goodbyes as well before Pierce grabbed my hand, his fingers intertwining with me. We began to walk out of the exit and snuck through the back in order to avoid being seen from the front of the hotel. 

We exited the hotel and rushed our way to the challenger before getting in. I pulled on the seatbelt and strapped myself in before Pierce took off, looking around for any cops. We sped in and out of cars and made our way towards the highway which is where we would blend in due to the rush hour traffic that would be going on right now. 

"Why'd we leave? I mean I thought you wanted us to talk to Val and his guys-" I started, wondering why we left when we were supposed to be making a plan with them. The whole point of going to the hotel was to meet with the guys that Val introduced us to. 

"It was Ryker, he told me that the Coinston's were at a club only a block away. He recognized their cars, I had to get you out of there. We're not risking you being near them for anything." Pierce explained, clutching onto the steering wheel. 

"When is this nightmare going to end?" I mumbled under my breath, throwing my head back against the seat. It was starting to affect my everyday life, I couldn't even go somewhere in the city without the threat of them getting a hold of me somehow. I just wanted to be able to live my life again, running from them was starting to become exhausting. 

"As long as you are safe is the only thing I give a shit about right now." Pierce responded, his eyes glancing between me and the road "It's not going to stop but we're not just going to give up." A part of me was glad everyone was so invested in keeping me safe but it was getting to the point where it was an only concern and not anything else because nothing was being done. 

I stayed silent as I stared out the windshield, not knowing what else to say. I began to keep my thoughts to myself as I kept thinking about Rain and not being able to imagine what she had gone through. I couldn't even place myself in her shoes or how scared she must have been to be held captive by a gang. 

"Your birthday is next week. I wasn't going to go but one of my cousins is getting married this weekend in Portland Oregon, all of my family is going. It's only 3 hours away from Seattle, what if we fly out this weekend and we can visit your home town for a bit. I'll buy the plane ticket and everything." Pierce offered, my eyes lighting up as the words left his mouth. 

"Are you serious?" I asked with happiness filling my tone. I could honestly use a vacation where I wasn't stuck at a house in the middle of nowhere with the rest of the gang. Plus I missed Washington every day, it's where I grew up and New York just had been so much different. 

"I'll buy the tickets as soon as we get home." Pierce narrowed his eyes to me and my heart fluttered in my chest. Pierce knew how much stress I had been under and with my birthday coming up I just wanted to get out of New York for a little while, away from all the gang drama, and be able to live a normal teenage life for just once. 

"Thank you." I smiled wide at him, the excitement running through my veins as I was excited to finally be able to visit home again. The smile didn't leave my face as Pierce drove the rest of the way home, managing to text all my old friends that I would be visiting this upcoming weekend. 

We soon arrived at the Gunner house after a 30-minute ride from the city. I had texted June and asked her if Deliah had still been there, to which she said no. Pierce and June weren't talking though, which put me in the most uncomfortable situation. Pierce was my boyfriend and June was my best friend, I felt like I was being forced to pick sides between the two of them. Although I told June I'd try and talk to Pierce about the whole Cypress situation, just that right now wasn't the best time. 

Pierce put the car and park and we walked up the steps of the porch before entering through the front door. I followed behind Pierce into the kitchen where Mrs. Gunner leaned up against the counter with a mug of coffee in her hands. She stared straight ahead, not a movement or sound coming from her body. 

Mrs. Gunner was confusing, to say the least. She truly cared for her kids but she couldn't stick up to anyone including her husband and sister after all the abuse she had been through. At age 14 she met Vance and was forced to be initiated into the gang if she was going to be with him. Mrs. Gunner had all her kids at a young age, was even forced into prostitution by her own husband. After Pierce was raped by her own sister she became a raging alcoholic to deal with the pain of labeling herself as a failure of a mother.  

She was ruined by the abuse she had been through. 

"Oh hey, kids." She snapped out of her staring gaze as her eyes met ours, I could tell she had been crying. Pierce ignored her as he searched through the fridge as I stood back and watched them. 

"Pierce," She spoke softly but Pierce didn't answer her. He had every right to be angry with her for allowing Deliah in the house. But he also had to remember at the same time how broken his mother had been, she wasn't able to tell others no because she was denied that right for most of her life. 

"Pierce please can we just talk." Her voice trembled, the words were pleading him to answer. Pierce slammed the fridge door shut coming out empty-handed as he then grabbed a laptop that sat on the counter and joined me at the dining room table. The table had 8 seats, which broke my heart knowing they were never all filled. 

"Pierce, baby." She spoke out again, her voice cracking. Pierce couldn't continue to ignore her pleas as he dropped the laptop on the table and turned around to face her. "What?" He asked in a harsh tone, obviously not wanting to talk to her right now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be coming home. She just showed up and what was I supposed to do? Tell her no." Mrs. Gunner looked at him with saddened eyes.

"That's exactly what you were supposed to fucking do." His voice had been filled with aggravation as he stared back at his mother who had betrayed him. I stayed silent, pressing my lips in a thin line as I watched the two of them stand in silence, Mrs. Gunner trying to find the words to say.

"I'm sorry baby." 

"No do not 'baby' me. You fucking let her in! You let a fucking child rapist into this house when you should've slammed the door on her face. It doesn't matter whether I was home or not, it's the fact you can talk to her like she never raped one of your kids!" Pierce shouted, his voice filling with anger as the words slipped out of his lips. 

Mrs. Gunner broke down into tears as she tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand. Whimpers escaped her lips as she stared down at the ground, feeling more defeated than ever. Pierce sighed before walking up to her and pulling her into a hug. He towered over his mom as his arms wrapped around her. She cried into his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. 

Pierce had known his mom was ruined by abuse, that the privilege of being able to say no was no longer a word in her vocabulary. It was scary how much she had gone through, especially when the one person who was supposed to love her the most was the one beating her and selling her to have sex with other men. It was enough to break anyone then more gas was thrown onto the fire, making it blow up even more. 

I was proud of Pierce for being able to put it aside because he knew his mom was hurting more than anyone, that she felt guilty for what had happened, and for letting Deliah in the house.

"Mom don't cry," Pierce said in defeat, not wanting to see his own mother cry into his chest. She pulled away from the hug and looked up to his crystal grey eyes, placing her hand at the side of his face. 

"I'm so sorry Pierce. I knew I shouldn't of let her in, I don't know what I had been thinking." She let out a deep sigh as she stared up at her son with heartbreak. 

"It's fine, mom." He sighed, pushing her hands away from his face. Family did mean everything to Pierce, he respected his mom and wanted to take care of her when no other man did. Knowing everything she has done for him, he didn't want to make her feel guilty or bad because at the end of the day he would do anything for his mom. 

"I'm going to go clean up for a second." She sniffled, wiping away a few remaining tears before walking out of the kitchen and to the bathroom. Pierce walked back to me and I pulled him into a hug and left a kiss on his lips.

"I'm proud of you." I placed my hands flat on his chest as his arms snaked around my waist, a hand pressing to the smaller of my back "For how you handled that." 

"I just know what she's been through, I couldn't watch her cry. I know my aunt too and she's a fucking manipulative bitch." Pierce pressed his forehead to mine, closing the gap between us as his lips met mine. He left a soft kiss on my lips before pulling away and nodding his head towards the computer as we both took our seats at the dining room table.

Pierce searched for airplane tickets, trying to found a round trip straight to Portland. I rested my head on his shoulder as we both stared at the computer screen before finding a set of two tickets. Pierce clicked the purchase button before typing in his credit card information and buying the two tickets.

"Thank you. I'll pay you back." I pecked his lips as the tickets were officially ours. "No, you're not paying me back. It's for your birthday Aspen let me just spoil you for once." Pierce narrowed his eyes at me as he took my hand in his, rubbing my skin with his thumb.

"What did you get?" Mrs. Gunner's voice spoke up as she exited the bathroom, cleaned up from her tears and smudged make-up. She took a seat at the other side of the table sitting directly across from the both of us as she tried to regain herself. 

"Plane tickets. We're going to fly into Portland for the wedding and drive to Seattle for Aspen's birthday." Pierce explained as he shut the laptop and slid it to the side of the table. I couldn't believe we were actually going to Washington, I was ecstatic, to say the least. 

"I'm glad you guys are joining us. I'm sure the family will be thrilled to meet you, Aspen." Mrs. Gunner gave me a small smile. "Is it your side or Mr. Gunner's?" I asked curiously, not knowing which cousin this was or what part of the family she had been a part of. 

"Oh no, it's Vance's side...I was kicked out of my family when I got pregnant with Xander at 15. They were super religious and didn't believe in sex out of wedlock." She explained, clearing her throat as it had obviously upset her to talk about. My mom was never super religious but my dad had been, especially when it came to sex before marriage, so I understood how she felt when it came to being restricted. After my dad found out about Cayde and I being sexually active he flipped but then had to worry about his daughter being raped and not willingly choosing to have sex. 

"Speaking of which, I really hope that you two are using protection." She narrowed her eyes as she pointed at both of us with her index finger. My face flushed red as I became completely silent. The thought of talking about being sexually active with my boyfriend's mom wasn't' exactly what you would call appealing. 

"Mom, please." Pierce groaned in embarrassment "I really do not need you bringing up my sex life while my girlfriend is right here or for a matter of fact, bringing it up at all."

"I'm your mom, I need to bring it up." She sent him a warning look "You two don't need a baby right now. Because trust me Aspen I had Xander at 15, Harley at 17, Sawyer at 21, the twins at 24, and Reese at 31 and it was not fun being pregnant that young. Please use condoms and birth control, I'm not dumb I know you two are having sex but just be safe about it."

"Mom!" Pierce shouted, sending her a warning look to stop. My face had to be bright red as I was mortified, I was never one who openly talked about sex let alone to my boyfriend's mother. I understood from her standpoint though that she just wanted to make sure we were being safe, no mother wanted their own son becoming a teenage dad. 

"I mean it, Pierce. NO babies anytime soon." 

* * * * *

A://N Happy Early Update!

Dedicated to ZaraM216

So what did you guys think of this Chapter?

What did you think of the TBBG crossover? A couple of you guys have been asking me about one so I figured I could fit it in here. 

Do you think Rain and Ryker will appear later on? If so for what?

What do you think of Val and all the men he brought together? Do you think they are going to be able to stop the Coinston's and protect Aspen?

How do you think Pierce is going to handle June and Cypress for later on?

What do you think will happen at the wedding in Portland or when they visit Seattle?

Thoughts on Mrs. Gunner? Do you like her or no- Why?

Favorite Pierce and Aspen moment?

Any guesses for the next chapter?