g w e n:

Calum paced around his room, a mixture of emotions exuding from every inch of his body. His breathing was heavy and even though I sat at the edge of the bed watching him, I swore I could hear his heart thump against his chest. Calum punched the wall, creating a loud thud to ring in my ears and a fist sized hole to adorn the wall. I jumped at his action, feeling the anger rapidly rise with each smack of his hand against the wall and each kick of his foot against the furniture.

"Cal," I breathed.

"I-I need t-to get out of here," he stammered, fumbling around his desk till he gasped a set of keys. "I need air."

"Alright," I nodded, standing from the bed. "Can I borrow a sweater?"

Calum looked at me with a surprised expression painted on his face. His eyes narrowed in on me as he stepped right up to my feet, our chests almost touching.

"You're staying here till I get back," he dictated, his voice low, deep, and intimidating.

"No," I shook my head, "I'm coming with you. I refuse to let you go anywhere alone right now."

"Gwen, listen to me. I don't want you to come with. Stay here, go back to sleep, and I'll be back soon,"

"What if you get hurt? You're not thinking straight right now!"

"I'll be fine Gwen! I prom--"

His phone rang and our heads snapped towards the startling jingle. Calum snatched the phone off of the bedside table and slid his finger across the screen.

"Michael! Do you have more news? What went down?" Calum hastily questioned, the phone pressed up to his ear. After a couple of minutes he finally spoke again, "are you fücking kidding me? I'm gonna kill him! Hemmings is a bitch-ass coward and he's dead!"

Hemmings?

As in Luke? What does he have to do with any of this? He's harmless and a sweet kid-- at least that's what I thought. Whatever thing Calum and his friends are in, it sounded like trouble. Luke was the poster child for everything cookie cutter and I highly doubted that he'd be in cahoots with bad people.

Calum hung up his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. If he wasn't angry before, then he definitely was now. His fists were clenched and that deadly glare on his face could shoot down missiles. Calum let out a scream brimming with ire as he pounded his fist against the desk, causing the books on top to topple downwards.

"What's going on Calum? What does Luke have to do with Ashton Irwin?" I asked slowly.

Calum didn't answer me and instead hastily went to his dresser. He dropped down to his knees, pulling out the bottom drawer completely out of its hinges and setting it off to the side. Calum stuck his whole arm into the hollowness, reaching for something that was in the back. When his arm was no longer submerged, he pulled out something I was not expecting. I gasped, throwing a hand to my mouth as I marched up to the dark haired boy.

"Gwen, stay here!" Calum demanded, before I could utter a single word. He glared up at me with dark eyes.

"Why do you have a gun? What are you going to do with that? Is that what you meant about Luke being dead? Are you going to kill--"

"I'm not killing anyone!" Calum interrupted, "it's for protection. And Luke will get what's coming to him. Karma."

Calum stood up and placed the gun behind him, securing it in between his pants and skin. He went to his closet and pulled out a black hoodie, throwing it over his head.

"Where are you going?" I questioned, following him around the room like a lost puppy.

"Nowhere," he grunted, placing a black beanie on his head. He curtly turned to face me with a finger pointed right at my chest, "you're staying here Gwen. I'm not asking, I'm fücking telling you!"

There was no way I was letting him galavant around Sydney with a gun in his pants and anger in his heart. Maybe if I came with, it'd prevent him from doing anything rash. So instead of verbally arguing, I went into his closet and chose a random black hoodie, throwing it over my head.

"You're not going anywhere without me," I told him.

"No, fück! Gwen, you're staying put!" He retorted. "It's a bad idea for you to come along."

"It's a bad idea for you to be going around with a gun," I crossed my arms across my chest, "I'll stay in the car but I'm coming with you," I walked closer to Calum, cupping his face delicately with my hands, "please, Cal."

Calum stared at me for a moment and I witnessed his eyes go from anger and darkness, to ones laced with care. He exhaled, almost reluctantly, and rested his hands on top of mine.

"If I take you, do you promise to do everything I ask you to do? Which means staying in the car if I tell you to," Calum negotiated.

"Yes, I promise. Just please don't leave me here," I begged and Calum nodded. He grabbed the hood of the sweater and placed it on top of my head. Calum shook his head as if he was still contemplating his decision to let me come along. He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together just as he said,

"I'm gonna regret this."

//

c a l u m:

One of my best friends was gone and I was ready to raise hell. I wasn't going to sit around and cry about not having Ashton in my life anymore because I knew that if it were reversed, he'd raise hell too. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to let Gwen come along but she's got some kind of gravitational pull on me. Every time I try to fight it, she does these stupid, cute things that cause me to fall into her gravity over and over again.

There was also the fact that where we were going, Hemmings was going to show up too and as much as it might hurt Gwen, she needs to know the truth about the asswipe she's living with. Hemmings can't be trusted and even though he looks like a good kid, he's got a soul darker than mine. He's the perfect criminal because no one would ever suspect him of doing anything-- even murder.

"Will you at least tell me what's going on?" Gwen asked, looking over to me as I drove in silence. "Who's Fiora?"

"Look, I can't tell you everything. The less you know the better, but I will say this: you can't trust Luke," I declared.

"You always say that," she pointed out, "but you never give me a legitimate reason. Why can't I trust him? Because he tried to steal Janet Riley from you or--"

"This is bigger than some stupid love triangle," I snapped, banging my hand on the steering wheel in frustration. The car honked and I could see the silhouette of the driver ahead of me turn his head.

"Then what is it? Why can't I trust Luke?" Gwen questioned. "If he's playing the same game as you are, then I can't trust you either."

"Maybe you shouldn't," I sneered.

"But I do," I heard her quietly admit. I looked over to see Gwen staring straight at me. "And I trust that you'll tell me the truth."

"I can't tell you the truth," I started, driving towards the darkened entrance of the Sydney ports, "you'll want to leave me."

Gwen didn't say anything and just stayed silent as I continued to drive, passing by warehouses on one side and the bay on the other. I was growing anxious by the second and I could feel the cool metal of the gun press against my warm skin. There wasn't going to be any blood drawn tonight-- this was only to settle things verbally. The gun was simply a precaution.

I pulled off to the side, parking in the shadows of one of the huge warehouses. I turned off the car, the headlights fading off and only the moonlight and the city lights in the distance were the only source of illumination.

"Gwen, you will stay in the car. Don't you dare leave this vehicle. Don't sit in the seat, okay? I don't want you to be seen," I explained to her. I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached in the back, pulling a black blanket. "Sit on the floor and cover yourself. Don't open the car for anyone except me. If the worse happens, and I tell you to run you will, okay? Run baby, run. Do you promise me?"

"I promise," she pushed the seat back, settling into the space onto the floor, pulling the blanket down with you.

"This shouldn't take long," I told her assuringly.

"What is it that's going on?" she asked, wrapping the blanket around her.

"The people I work for and with are just talking things out. We lost one of our own tonight so we gotta figure out what to do next," I told her. I opened the door, the nighttime air kissing my cheeks. I turned my head to look at Gwen who's submerged in the blanket. "Remember, stay in the car. I'll be back soon."

I stepped out of the car and closed the door behind me, walking away and out of the shadows. Standing around in a spaced out circle were Michael, two of Fiora's men and across from me with a smug look on his face was none other than Luke Hemmings. The warehouse outside light flooded towards the men, casting an eerie glow around them all.

Seeing Luke in the flesh made the anger and hate I had for him to rise tenfold and although I told myself to stay calm, I couldn't. Not when I was positive that Hemmings had something to do with Ashton's death.

"You disloyal motherfûcker!" I yelled, marching right towards Hemmings and punching him in the jaw. "I know you're the reason Ashton is dead!"

"Dude, calm yourself," Michael grabbed my arms and pulled me away just as I was going to pounce of Luke again.

"Calm myself? What the hell is wrong with you Michael? This son of a bitch is responsible for our best friend's fate and you fûcking know it!" I sneered, gesturing for Luke who was massaging his jaw.

"I didn't do shit Hood!" Luke retorted. "And even if I did, you don't have any proof!"

"I don't need proof to know that you're loyalties lie somewhere else. You may be working for Fiora but I know you've got ties to other guys too," I confidently concluded.

Suddenly, a black car with bright headlights approached us. The driver's side door swung open, a man stepping out and running to the back door. He opened it, and in all his glory, was Fiora. The aging man looked sharp in a black suit as he walked towards us angry lot.

"Did I interrupt something?" Fiora casually asked, his eyes landing on me. I was still being restrained by Michael's strong clutches.

"No," I bitterly answered.

"I'm sure you all know why you're here tonight," Fiora started, getting down straight to business, "I hate disloyalty. And your man Ashton Irwin did more trouble than just cost me money. If you work for me, I expect you to be part of the team one-hundred percent. One slip-up and you're dead. Use Ashton's death as your only warning because trust me when I say--"

Fiora paused suddenly, his eyes drifting off into the distance. My eyes narrowed in on him in confusion, as I waited patiently for him to continue.

"Looks like we have a visitor," Fiora announced. "Come out from around the corner. Don't hide, I know you're here."

All our heads turned behind us, skimming our eyes into the darkness. We waited silently until a figure materialized from out of the shadows and into the light. When it did, my stomach plummeted and I pulled myself out of Michael's clutches.

"Gwen," I breathed, running towards the stubborn girl, who had tears in her eyes. "What the fück? I told you to stay inside the fûcking car!"

"I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, her face filled with fear. "I heard Luke's voice and I just wanted to see for myself if it really was him."

"I don't care why you got out of the car. You disobeyed me Gwen when I made you promise that you'd stay inside," I angrily expressed.

"Who do we have here?" Fiora's words rung in my ears and I quickly turned around, pushing Gwen to hide behind me. I caught glimpse of Luke who gazed at Gwen with worry on his stupid face.

"Fiora, sir, I'm sorry. She was supposed to stay in the car and wait for me," I apologized, my hands out in front of me to show I meant no harm.

"Mister Hood, I think you know very well what happens when unexpected visitors are brought into this line of work," Fiora said and I knew exactly what he was referring to.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again! I promise you," I declared, "and I would never do anything that sways your thoughts about me. I'm loyal to you Fiora, you know that."

"Ashton said he was loyal to me too," Fiora paused looking at me for a moment and I swore his gaze could kill babies. "You're lucky Mister Hood, that she didn't see anything important."

I slowly moved my head to subtly look over my shoulder. I could feel Gwen shivering in fear from behind me. She tilted her head upwards to meet me in the eye and the amount of fear in them set me on the edge.

"That's all for tonight boys," Fiora stated and with that he swiftly turned around and walked back into the car. His men followed suit, jumping into another black car. Michael, Luke, Gwen and I watched as the two cars drove away, leaving us in a state of shock and relief.

"Gwen what the hell?!" I screamed, turning around to face her.

"I'm sorry Calum," she cried, cowering into the oversized hoodie that her body drowned in.

"What are you doing here? Why are you with Calum? I told you to stay away from him. He's dangerous," Luke reasoned, approaching the both of us. I scoffed at his words.

"I'm dangerous? You're a piece of shit Hemmings! You're up to things and I'm gonna figure it out. Once I do, you're fücking dead!" I threatened.

"You won't do shit," Luke chuckled, crossing his arms. The anger was building inside of me and I was seconds away from beating his sorry ass into the ground. "I remember those same words coming out of your mouth on that night and we all know what happened after that."

I pounced, but before my fist could collide with Luke's face, I teetered backwards. I looked back to find Gwen clutching onto my sweater with worried and teary eyes.

"Stop Calum. Don't hurt him," she pleaded.

"Gwen, don't do this right now. Luke could use a good punch in the face, or five. It'll give him character," I justified, giving Luke an intense glare.

"Let's just go home," she pulled onto my sweater, "please. Let's go."

"Don't go home with him," Luke pipped up, "come home with me. You know I won't do anything to hurt you but I can't say the same for this asshole!"

"I can't trust you right now Luke," Gwen whimpered. The second the words fell out of her mouth, my eyes widened and I felt a sense of satisfaction. Luke however, looked like a kicked puppy.

"Gwen? We're friends," he mentioned. "You can trust me."

"We'll talk about it later, but right now I feel betrayed by you. Every time I've covered for you when you sneak out of your room I always thought it was because you were going to a party or spending time with friends. Warehouses, the dock, the bay... you all are drug dealing, I know you are. And you've been doing dirty work haven't you, Luke?"

Gwen was smart as fück. She was able to piece things together so easily; grabbing clues from out of nowhere to deduce reasonable theories. She was like Blue's Clues in this bitch and I was impressed with the way her brain functioned-- except for when she wanted to disobey me.

"What was I supposed to say? 'Sorry can't hang right now Gwen, I'm gonna go distribute bricks of cocaine to my clients but I'll see you at breakfast'," Luke voiced, irritation in his tone. "I'm sorry for lying but the less you knew the better."

"We'll talk about it later," Gwen told him. "But right now I'm overwhelmed and I'm tired," she looked up at me, "let's go home?"

I nodded my head, grabbing her cold hand in mine and leading her towards my car. As we walked away towards the shadows of where the car was parked, Luke had the audacity to yell one thing, securing that he had the last word.

"She'll end up like Janet if she stays with you!"

//

So the title meaning has been revealed. Besides being part of a song, "run baby run" has some meaning to the story. The title will be explained more in later chapters, but this is the basis for it.

Also, now we know for sure that Luke's been a naughty boy lol. Calum, Michael and Luke all work for Fiora as the bottom of the drug trade as dealers. Ashton was higher up on the pyramid but as you all know, was killed by Fiora's guys due to disloyalty. More of this will be explained later.

I really hoped you like this chapter! Please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE with all your friends. This story is almost at 3K and I'm super proud. Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it! Love you! <33