𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣
⊱ ─────────── ⊰

I can't sleep without Chris. I'm worried about him after the events of the past couple of days. I lay awake hoping he's not out there talking to the guys, letting them fill his head with lies and conspiracies about me. It's Lee, I know he's mad at Izzy so I don't want him convincing Chris that he should also be upset with me when we just squashed everything.

I texted Chris but he never replied. It's been hours, I'm getting anxious.

"Duke! Stevie!" I shout for my dogs to come lay with me for support.

When they don't come right away, I go downstairs to see if Izzy and Lee know where they are.

As I track towards the guest room door, I start to hear loud moaning.

"O-kay." I pop my lips. Guess they made up.

I turn on my heels to go the opposite direction.

Seeing how late it is, I go back to bed. Chris said not to wait up for him, but I did, now I'm tired and don't think I can wait any longer.

1:24 AM

The sound of barking wakes me up.

I immediately rise from the bed, knowing it's Chris, and am comforted by the fact that the dogs are back.

Wiping the corner of my eyes, I sit in bed and wait for him to join me in bed.

Eventually, he enters our bedroom, and I'm happy to see him.

"Hey, baby—" I start to greet him but get cut off.

"Pack your shit honey, we're leaving." Chris abruptly says, barreling through the bedroom.

I watch him walk past the tv screen, back and forth.

He rummages through his closet and apparently begins to pack his stuff.

"Why are we leaving? Where are we going to go,  Chris?" I ask him frantically.

Chris limps toward the edge of the bed and pushes out a burdened sigh.

"The Illuminati is out to get me, yada yada yada." His wrist rolls as he talks.

I furrow my eyebrows and stand there, completely muddled.

Realizing he must be joking, I relax my facial expression along with my posture and laugh.

Chris doesn't look amused, though, and that worries me.

In all seriousness, he says, "They're out to get us."

"Who's they? Ben?" I gasp. The realization makes my heart stop.

Chris tilts his head and stares at me with a bored look. "Why would Ben be out to get us?" He emphasizes his name like the idea of him alone is a joke not to be taken seriously.

I hunch my shoulders. "He told me to be careful," I tell Chris.

Chris pauses and cocks his neck back. "I will beat the fuck out of him— When was this?"

"Before we went to the beach," I let him know.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chris asks as if that's the number one problem at hand.

"I didn't want you to be on edge, it was your birthday, I-I didn't think he would really do anything..." my voice trails off as I realize where I've messed up.

Okay, so I should've told him. Yes, I know. Chris-3, me-0.

"Morgannnn!" Chris curses, teeth gritted with both eyes tightly clenched. He bangs his palm to his forehead and paces about.

"Why, why, WHY didn't you tell me?"

I shrink in stature, feeling awful. "I'm sorry, Chris," I mutter aside. "what happened?"

He turns on the overhead light and I get a good look at him.

I heave, seeing his wounds and bruises. There's blood on his t-shirt and it's ripped and tattered. He has a cut under his eye and discolored knuckles.

Seeing this, I inhale sharply and rush to his aide.

"Chris, what the hell happened?!" I demand to know immediately.

He lets me examine him but not for long, shoving a duffel bag at my chest.

"Who the fuck did this, was it Ben?!" Morgan asks, lunging to the safe to get the gun but Chris my hand.

I look at him, unnerved. "You need to get whoever did this to you, and if it was Ben, I swear to God-"

"I don't know who those guys were, but it wasn't Ben. And we're not staying to find out. Pack your stuff."

I shake my head, defying Chris's order. "I'm not leaving. We're not leaving; you built this house for us. Don't you remember why we moved here: to get away from the past and start over? There's no way we're letting it happen again."

"I don't know what to do, Morgan." Chris's voice frustratedly bounces on every syllable.

That's a first, I remark in my head. I'm not used to Chris not knowing what his next move will be. It's something I've both admired and despised about him since we met.

Laughter bursts from my body. I can't help it, I'm hysterical, so much so that I have tears in my eyes.

"I don't know what the fuck is so funny," Chris deadpans.

"WHAT ELSE COULD WE POSSIBLY GO THROUGH?!" I chock out, shaking my fists in the air.

"I mean, an evil Godfather, those guys you beat up, Callie and Quinn dying, your psycho boss, a Kardashian-wannabe-stalker, her druggie sister, and now you're telling me some sort of cult is after us?" I drop to my knees after speaking without pausing for a breath.

My body drops onto the floor and I lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling.

"When. Will. It. End?" I sigh.

"Get off the floor, Morgan, stop being dramatic," Chris monotones, standing over me to help me up.

I swat at his hand.

"No," I counter, "I'm going to lay here and wait for them to kill us."

"No one's gonna kill us." Chris huffs.

I shut my eyes tight. "Well then I'll wait for them to try."

Chris physically removes me from the floor and throws my body onto our mattress.

I start to hit him repeatedly with a pillow.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!" Every word comes with a strike of the pillow.

"Stop hitting me, I don't know!" Chris flinches.

"STOP SAYING YOU DON'T KNOW!" I yell, continuing the beating.

Chris snatches the pillow from me and tosses it across the bedroom, frustrated.

I sit on my feet and let out a deep breath, my hair falling in my face.

"You seriously have no idea who could be behind this?" I settle down to ask.

Chris shakes his head. "I was in some sort of sex dungeon; there were three guards— all big guys— and a group of half-naked girls."

"Oh my God, are they being trafficked?!" I panic and immediately pick up my phone to dial 911.

Chris pushes the phone down. He sucks his teeth. "Have they ever helped us before?" He refers to the police. Touché.

"No, this didn't seem like trafficking. I don't know, it's like, it was, but it wasn't."

I shake my head with confusion. "I'm lost?"

Chris pushes off his knees to stand and pace. "I don't know how to explain it, alright? I knew a girl in there, her name's Harper, she worked at the golf course."

"So what is she doing there, then, did you ask her?"

"She told me if I asked anymore questions, we'd get hurt, or something. I'm telling you, Morgan, it didn't seem like some sort of evil sex ring. I mean, it was shady, for sure, but not like some Eipsten Island bullshit."

I twist my mouth, thinking deeply about what this could possibly be.

"And did they say why you were there?"

Chris stops and blinks rapidly. "Whoever he was, he had on a cape and mask, he said he wants me to join them."

I wait impatiently for Chris to elaborate.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I roll my neck. "Join them for what?"

"I don't know exactly, but he said they're rich and powerful. He said I was destined for this. Oh, and they know about Malcolm. And Beck."

I can't even process the last part, I'm stuck on the rich and powerful bit.

"No offense, but why would they want you?" I wonder.

Chris, wondering the same thing, shrugs.

"Wait— you said they knew Malcolm?"

"Move." Chris raises his voices at the dogs, scooting them out of his way.

He stares down Duke and Stevie, mad at the for running away earlier.

"Baby, why do we have to do this now?" I drag my words as I follow him to the kitchen table.

"So I don't lose my train of thought."

"Well can you enlighten me?"

Chris slams his MacBook down on the kitchen table and places my body in the chair beside his.

I yawn, looking at the late time on the home screen.

"I'm sure we can plot revenge in eight hours." I complain, putting my chin in the palm of my hand.

"You know how this shit goes, one or both of us could be fighting for our lives in eight hours."

BARK! BARK! RUFF!

Duke starts sounding off, catching Chris and I by surprise.

Chris, still unhappy with them, tells the dog to shut up.

I nudge him for being so mean.

"Now they can bark?" Chris huffs, typing away at the keyboard.

I look up and see Jabari walking in with a limp.

"They got you too?!" I gasp, jumping up from the table to help him.

Jabari insists that he's fine, just asks for an ice pack from the freezer which I gladly get for him.

After JB, I take a seat at the table and shake my head, trying to wrap my head around someone kidnapping the both of them and beating them.

"J, tell her what you saw." Chris talks with his voice low.

I brace myself for whatever it is that Jabari's about to tell me.

"They got Jasmine." His admittance makes my heart stop.

My eyelids flicker.

I scoff, "What? How? No, that's impossible-"

"I know it was her, Morgan, I felt her." Jabari says.

I look at Chris in disbelief but he nods at me and I start to change my mind.

"But you said it's like a-an Illuminati, sex thing—"

Chris interjects, "I don't know what it is, but we need to figure it out. Fast."

I swiftly stand up from the table with an idea of my own.
"So let's just go back there and get her, it can't be that hard!"

"Except we don't know where it was." Chris falters.

I flail my arms about, defeated, and sit back down.

After Chris taps away at the laptop keys, he pushes it towards me.

"What?" I ask what he did that for, looking at the gmail screen.

"If we're going back to the beginning, you need to look through your emails with Malcolm." Chris tells me.

"Why?" I protest, keeping my arms and legs crossed.

"He could've sent you something that could be useful, just login so we can take a look."

I grit my teeth, hesitant to oblige. "I don't know if there's anything that might be useful, per se. I mean, he mostly just sent me money."

"You're stalling." Chris calls me out.

I laugh awkwardly. "What? Nooooo...."

"Log in, Morgan." Chris puts his foot down.

I mumble under my breath, "This is bullshit, there's nothing there," as I enter my username and password.

Chris types in Malcolm's email in the search bar and loads our messages.

I sink in my seat, already regretting this, as Chris clicks through them.

"Thanks for the Cartier bracelet, handsome." Chris reads one outgoing message aloud.

He and Jabari look at me, I can feel the judgment.

Rolling my eyes, I let Chris go on.

After another series of clicking, Chris reads, "Oh my God, I wish I could see you too!"

He pretends to gag.

"Let me do one, let me do one!" Jabari humors only himself and takes the laptop.

"If you were here with me right now, I wouldn't be able to keep it in my pants. Send me another picture of those perfect breasts and tell me how badly you want that new handbag, darling." Jabari makes me full body cringe, Chris too, as he recites the mail from Malcolm.

"Seriously?" Chris heaves. His eyes are squinted like he can't even look at me after reading all of that. I don't blame him.

"He was sending me thousands of dollars at a time!" I defend myself.

Both men shake their heads at me with disapproving looks.

I smack my lips. "Ugh, just close the laptop, you won't find anything!"

"Maybe not, but you did give me an idea..." Chris's voice trails off as he stares away.

"What's that?" Asks Jabari.

"We need to go back." Chris speaks up, nodding his head as the idea settles into a plan.

"Back where?" I ponder.

"To where this all started?" Jabari catches on.

Chris stands and looks between Jabari and I. After pausing for a beat, he says, "We're going to Penshaw."

✕

The next morning

I finish packing my bag and take a deep breath.

This feels different than the other times. While still a dangerous venture, I'm sure, I can't help but feel like — good or bad— this is the last rodeo.

I'm certain I won't be getting my hands dirty anymore in the future. This is it.

"MORGAN!" Chris calls me from downstairs.

Knowing that's him rushing me, I take a second anyway to get on my knees and pray.
I'm not religious by any means, I have no clue what's up there, if anything, but I know there's no harm in saying a prayer. Who am I praying to? Whoever - my ancestors, God, the Earth, the moon, and the stars, past and future me.

"Please let us get home safely, in one piece, and altogether as a family. I pray no one gets harmed and that my relationship stays in tact, if not, gets even stronger. Don't lead us to danger, but deliver us from it. Break this curse once and for all. Guide us to safety and to a long, happy, healthy life together full of love. If we shouldn't do this, give me a sign. I want to get married, and have babies, and to see Duke and Stevie get old. Please, please, please let this be the last time we have to do anything like this. I just hope something good comes from it. Look after Jasmine, Chris's friend, Harper, and whoever else may be in danger."

I get up from my knees and then quickly add, "Oh! Amen."

Knock. Knock.

Looking over my shoulder, I see Chris standing against the door frame, picking at the skin on his palms.

"I'm ready," I tell him, zipping my suitcase closed.
I grab that and my carry-on and meet him at the door.

When I try to walk by Chris, he grabs my arm.

I look up at him for the sudden force and he clears his throat.

"This isn't going to be anything like that last time." He tells me.

"How do you know?"

"I just do," he says with a sense of confidence. "and this is the last time."

"Let's just get it over with." I exhale.

"Marry me when we get back?"

"What?" I hiss, caught off guard.

Chris looks at the ring on my finger. "I don't want to go another day, or have another adventure, without you having my last name."

"Chris—" I stammer, unsure how to respond.

With desperation lacing his tone, he interjects. "Just say yes."

"Yes." I whisper, pushing my forehead into his as I stand on my tiptoes.

Chris laughs briefly, holding his hands at the small of my back. "And when this is all done, you'll have my babies, and we can watch the dogs grow old."

"I love you," I tell Chris. "So much."

He replies with his usual line. "I love you more than that."

BEEP! BEEP!

Our sweet moment is interrupted by the sound of a car horn impatiently honking.

It must be time, I think in my head.

"Come on." Chris's low voice speaks to me.

I trail him out of our bedroom and hesitantly switch off the lights.

We're coming back, I mentally assure myself. Soon. And everything will be exactly how I left it.

My fiancé helps me with my bags, carrying them down the stairs and out of the door for me.

We meet up with Jabari, Izzy, and Lee in the driveway.

"Kiss Kai for me." I say to Izzy in her ear as we hug tight.

"Of course! Call me when you land!" She whines, holding onto my body.

"I will," I let her know. "Lee, you be safe."

Lee tips his hat at me. "I should be telling you guys that."

Chris appears by my side and slaps hands with Lee.

"We will." Chris states.

The boys hug and say their final goodbyes.

All of a sudden, Andy's truck speeds into the yard and he hops out with a backpack and suitcase.

"Andy, now isn't a good time, we're about to leave." Chris tries to tell him.

"Actually," Isabella speaks up, "we called him."

"We figured just because we have to go home, doesn't mean you should be short a man." Lee says.

"Andy, go home, we're not going on a field trip." Chris tells him.

Andy puts his hand on Chris's shoulder. "I'm prepared for anything, let me help you."

"I don't need your help, you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Neither did my brother." Andy claims.

Chris shakes his head.

Giving in, he scoffs, "If it comes to it, I'm using you as a human shield. Get in the truck."

"Hell yeah, new Avenger unlocked!" Jabari laughs, dapping up Andy.

"As long as he's not The Winter Soldier; I called dibs." Lee makes clear.

"Can I be Spider-Man?" Andy plays along.

"Which one?" Jabari asks.

"Well what are my choices?" Andy asks.

"What do you mean, you saw the movie: Garfield, Maguire, or Holland?" Lee gives Andy a hard time.

"I know, but I thought we were including Miles." Says Andy.

I roll my eyes at them, but playfully.

"No one includes Miles." Lee says.

At the same time, Jabari says, "I didn't include him because he's not black, but why don't you count him?"

"Because it's a fucking cartoon—" Lee gets cut off by Chris.

"Look, you can be whoever the fuck you want, Andy, just get in the truck." Chris laughs, pushing Andy towards his Ford pickup.

I run to hug Izzy one more time.

"Don't say goodbye," I whisper to her.

"Why would I? You're coming right back," she sniffles, holding back tears.

"And I'm bringing Jasmine with me." I promise.

Izzy just smiles and nods.

I back out of the hug and then run back to the truck where I hop in the passenger seat.

The truck starts and we're off.

I fasten my seatbelt and take a deep breath, feeling like everything is going to be okay.