My apologies it took so long! I'm busy with school and work. There you go ❤️ enjoy ^.^
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After he escorted me back into my apartment in silence on both sides, he send me straight to the bed and I didn't fight back. I was tired after the party and welcomed the sleep with opened arms.

Currently sitting on the sofa, I tried so hard to focus on the TV in front of me. My heart was still racing, my body reliving the kiss. And I hated myself for it.

Luke was standing near the window, looking out of it. It seemed to be his favorite place to check the surroundings, or to think without being too obvious lost in his thoughts.

Neither of us said a proper sentence since I had woken up, except for the greetings and Luke's call for lunch.

I didn't even know how to begun the conversation, what to say to avoid the awkward moment, but the silence was the worst. I wanted to at least hear his voice, even if that meant him yelling at me.

His phone started to ring, which gave me a full permission to look at him without looking like a creep. He lazily moved his brown eyes from the window and looked at the display.

"Listening," he greeted whoever was on the other side, his eyes returned back.

He hasn't even paid me attention since the lunch time. There are still my questions I want to ask. Mainly about the whole nightclub situation from yesterday. And maybe about the kiss?

"Ryan?"

I finally heard his voice and I quickly shook my head to get rid of my thoughts. He was still standing near the window, but his eyes resting this time on mines. 

"Hm?" I hummed, letting him know I was listening.

"My good friend from the hospital called. Phill is getting better," he smiled at me, and I slowly nodded.

"And I have one more thing. Your young friend, Evan Fong, is stabilized. They got the poison out of his body in time... but every other person from your gang in the club is dead. I'm sorry," he whispered the last part.

I sighed, feeling sad for the people I knew. They died most likely because of me, because Bernard knew I was part of that gang. There was a warm feeling in my heart, knowing at least Evan survived. That man was new here and he was already in the hospital.

"This is completely my fault,," he spoke again, making me blink several times.

"What?"

"You should visit your gang. Tell them the news, if they don't know about it already," he informed me, avoiding the topic once again.

"No, wait! You said it was your fault. Does that mean you were part of it?" I asked, determined to get answers.

"It means that I could have prevented it, but I didn't," he replied, giving me not direct answer.

"What? How?"

"Do you want to go check Phill and Evan?"

I growled in frustration, standing up. This man was pissing me off with the way how he always tried to avoid my questions. But I had a feeling he wouldn't have answered me anyway, even if I pushed him again. And that was something which made me mad even more.

I walked towards my room, when I heard his confused voice.

"Where are you going?"

"Getting dressed," I barked at him, not stopping my feet.

I smashed the door closed behind me, leaning against the wall next to it. I knew he had his reasons why he didn't tell me anything I wanted to know, but on the other hand he promised me answers before he kissed me.

And I didn't want to be just a scared boy he was protecting, who listened to everything he said. I wanted to be part of this. I wanted to know about things, help him, show him that I'm not weak.

I'll go check Evan and Phill. And I need to talk with Wildcat. And my father!

I decided to ignore him, even though I was dying to know what happened yesterday and what were he doing there. Getting dressed just as I wanted, I grabbed my phone and left the room.

I noticed Luke still standing near the window, his eyes shot my way instantly. I looked down at my phone, looking for my father's number.

"Are you ready?" He asked me calmly, and I walked towards my shoes, ignoring him.

"Ryan," he tried one more time, and I saw him by my peripheral vision still standing near the window.

After my shoes I grabbed my jacket and finally dialed my father. I saw him sigh, walking towards me, while I moved so he had a space to get ready to go out.

"Ryan!"

"Hi, dad," I greeted him enthusiastically, really happy to hear him.

"I already heard what happened yesterday. I'm so sorry about your friends," he said, and my heart skipped a few beats.

Does he know about my gang? Why's he so calm about that? What did Luke tell him?

"Yeah," I mumbled, forcing my eyes not to look at the older man.

"But I heard one of them survived! As well as Phill. I don't really know what would happened if Luke wasn't there," my father continued, and I bit down my lower lip because I realized what was going on.

I would be dead, most likely. This way my friends suffered. Because of me. Just like Gregory.

I tried to fight the tears back, when Luke opened the door and waited for me. The last thing I wanted was him seeing me cry. I quickly walked passed him, hoping he didn't saw my breaking point and started thinking about some nice things and memories instead of the cruel presence.

"Ryan?" My father demanded my attention, after I didn't say anything in a while.

"Still here, sorry. We're on the way to the hospital. Any news on Bernard?" I asked, getting into the car when Luke unlocked it.

"The street are getting empty. Most of the other drug dealers vanished. The market is still opened though. We think this is the open gate for Bernard's men to show up, and we're ready," he informed me, and I nodded my head.

Just like Wildcat is the only one who's selling out of all people from our gang. Everybody is scared.

"Ryan... I'm really thinking about hiding you away. Bernard is determined to get you, and I know you would prefer this way," my father continued.

"No! No, father. It's just a few months until the end of school. I need to pass my exams, I need to get to the college. Hiding now would just mean I'm scared and I'm weak. And I'm not," I raised my voice at the end.

"I know. And you're making me so proud. But we've lost two people already..." he left the sentence unspoken.

Which is completely my fault.

"I'm well aware and I take full responsibility for that. So I'll be just going to school and back. No parties, no friends, nothing. I can live with that for a few months. Just don't take me away, not now."

Not when Wildcat needs me. Not when Luke is by my side. Not when I need to finish the school.

"It's not your fault! Ryan, what happened is not your fault," my father reacted immediately, and I sighed.

"Gregory was killed because he was protecting me when I was sleeping," I started, feeling Luke eyes on me, but I was still looking out of the window at the things we were driving by.

"Phill ended up in the hospital, because I went out to the party. Who's the source of it? Who's that epicentral point? It's me, dad," I tried to explain something we all were aware of.

"It's not your fault!"

I quickly looked at Luke, who spoke right after my sentence. He was looking forward, but there was an anger in his eyes.

"Ryan, I know you're tired and exhausted, but please it's really not your fault. It just happened," my father explained calmly, while I looked out of the window.

"I can live with that fact, dad. I just know that I can't drag other people into this mess. So whoever you're going to send me the next, I promise to behave better," I said calmly.

"I'll talk to my friends about that. Love you, son," my father said, and I smiled.

"Love you too."

I put my phone back to my jacket, when I saw we were near the hospital already. When the car stopped, I wanted to get out, when Luke locked the doors. I quickly looked at him, confused.

"What are you do-"

"It's not your fault, Ryan," he almost growled, and I frowned.

"Open the doors," I demanded, when he didn't even flinch.

"Gregory died because he was protecting you. He knew against who you two were standing, and he died because he did what he thought was right and he succeeded. You're alive. He didn't died because of you," he started, but his voice wasn't calm at all.

"Phill is alive. He was drugged because Bernard's people wanted to get rid of him. So it's not your fucking fault."

He furiously bashed into the wheel, finally unlocking the car. He got out of the car, leaving me more confused about his behavior than ever.

Why's he so mad about that?

I slowly left the car, following my bodyguard into the hospital. After he talked with the nurse, he motioned me to follow him. We ended up in the third floor, walking into the room where Phill was.

The man smiled at us, his eyes full of tiredness and drowsiness, but he still looked like he could have killed dozens of enemies.

"It's good to see you, both," he spoke first.

"Looking better," Luke smiled back, his fury was already gone.

"Hands off, I'm already taken," Phill grinned, looking at me.

"How are you?" He asked me.

"I'm good," I replied, when he nodded.

"Jonathan was already here a few hours ago. Never knew I was so popular," Phill joked again, which reminded me my upcoming exam on Monday.

"They all want your money, Phill. Nobody likes you anyway," Luke informed him, and it was so rare to see him genuinely smiling.

"Should have guessed. Did you bring me any food? The food they're cooking here is so disgusting. I think they want to poison me so I would empty their bed," Phill joked again.

"I'm going to tell them the best untraceable ones. I'll bring something next time, I promise," Luke apologized.

"Luke has always been the best in cooking," Phill explained, and I remembered the lasagna he made me, and even today's meal.

"Remember how you didn't let us to eat the raw fishes? You were so mad," Phill laughed, when there was a knock on the door.

There were some three men in the similar or older age than Luke and Phill. They greeted me, but focused themselves on the other two. It seemed they knew each other and I saw the same tattoo on their forearms like Jonathan had. Looking at Phill I saw the same one.

Putting two and two together I knew these people were his friends from the army. Maybe from the same division. I felt Luke's eyes on me.

"Luke, haven't seen you in a while!" One of them spoke, and I felt so pushed away all of the sudden.

"Then I'm doing really good job in hiding. We need to go now. See you soon, Phill," Luke smiled again, and I knew this was the sign to walk out.

"See you," I said my goodbyes, leaving the room with Luke behind my back.

I had a feeling he wanted to stay with them, talked about so many stuff, but he chose me over them. Which sent a warmness through my all body, but even a guilt. 

"Let's look at Evan. But I'm afraid we won't be able to visit with him so soon," Luke informed me, walking through the hallway like he knew this place really well.

I followed him until he stopped and talked with some doctor. After a few minutes, he walked back to me.

"As I said. It's too soon for the visitors. Evan is still sleeping, but he's fine. His doctor told me we can try it tomorrow," Luke announced, and I just nodded.

"Let's go home then," he mumbled, leading me out.

The whole ride was in silence, and I hated it. I was still mad at him for not answering me, but I wished to talk to him. When we arrived back to my apartment, I kicked my shoes off, walking without any other words towards to my room, when he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"Can you stop acting like I don't exist?" He asked me, his voice calm but confused.

"Let go of me," I frowned at him, hating my heart for beating so widely just from him touching me.

"Answer me," he raised his voice, filling me with anger.

"Just like you answered me?! You promised me answers yesterday and yet I haven't received anything!" I barked at him with the similar anger.

"If I don't answer something then I have a good reason for it," he lowered his voice in the danger tone.

"Like what? Like you're part of the Bernard's men? Like you enjoyed watching my friends getting poisoned with the drinks?" I pushed the buttons, getting my hand back.

He pushed me to the wall and I was looking at him with resistance and fearless, even though I was scared. I knew Luke could have hit me anytime, and the fact that I was pushing the boundaries wasn't helping at all.

"Because I was there for you, not for them ok?! You wanted the answer there you go."

He stepped back, his both hands folded in the fists. Leaving me in the hallway, he walked to the living room.

What does that mean?

"Phill was there to look after me. So why were you there too? You backed away when my father asked you to be my bodyguard again, but you still were there. Why?" I started talking again, walking to the living room.

"Luke," I demanded his attention one more time, seeing him looking out of the window.

"Because I had a strong feeling to be there. I don't know why, I was just there," he replied, much calmer but his voice was still shaking in anger.

"How did you know about me being in a gang? Who else knows about that?" I continued with my questions.

"I remembered the guy, Craig Thompson, who drove you to the school. You two seemed to know each other pretty well. So I made a few calls to know who that guy was. Nobody knows about your gang, only me. And I'm pretty sure that's the right choice," he answered.

"Thanks," I whispered, when he finally looked at me.

"Even though I'm against it, you should at least call your boss. If you decide to go there, we can, but you'll listen to me."

I still don't understand what he was doing there. Why was he watching after me even though he knew Phill was there?