Chapter 18

Once we reached the motel, we walked past the receptionist—who was pretty much distracted on her phone—and headed to my room. I fetched for the key inside my bag and unlocked the door, twisting the knob and opening it. I flicked the switch to turn the lights on and walked inside, throwing my bag on the bed.

Chase stood by the doorframe awkwardly, looking around the place.

I crossed my arms at this, smiling in amusement. "Are you going to come in or what?"

He blinked twice, then cleared his throat awkwardly, before stepping in. "Uh, yeah. Sorry." He closed the door behind him and ran a hand through his hair. He eyed the room once again, and I motioned him to sit down with my hand. He did so, sitting at the very corner of the bed.

"You're free to ask any questions, now that we're not in public," I said as I sat down next to him. "No beating around the bush. I promise that I'll be as honest as possible." I crossed my legs Indian style and stared at him. He seemed to consider my words as he thought deeply, so I decided to give him a little push. "What would you like to know first?"

"Who were those guys?" he asked after a moment.

"Fair enough." I chuckled. "The one who attacked us is called Tyler Crawford. He's known for drug dealing around these areas. The police have been looking for him for three years. The first one we saw at the office; his name is Bryce Collins."

"How...do you know such bad people?" he asked a little hesitantly.

I frowned at this, not sure how to answer that question. "They are part of my past. A past that I have left behind and that doesn't really matter," I said honestly.

"It matters if I'm being dragged into this mess," he retorted. "You may have left your past behind, but your past clearly hasn't left you."

My brows shot up in surprise, not expecting him to say something like that. I chuckled humorlessly. "Very well. You're growing a really nice backbone there, nerd." I sighed. "Alright, I will tell you, but I don't think that you will be able to handle it."

"I think it will be better than being in constant danger without knowing why," he spoke softly.

And the nerd had a point.

"Almost three years ago, when I was fifteen, I found out the reason as to why my father abandoned both my mother and I. Turns out that he got another woman pregnant, two months after finding out about me," I started. "I was beyond furious, to say the least. Furious enough to join a gang to hunt him down."

His eyes widened at my statement, clearly surprised with the turn of events.

I continued, "I fully realize that I should've never done that. That will forever be my greatest mistake. Bryce was the second in command by the time. He knew everything about my revenge; he promised he would help. I was going to start off by killing this other child's mother by faking an accident...unfortunately, the woman had already died after giving birth to the child."

"What did you do then?" he asked, somewhat more curious than judging.

"I dug for some more information about him. I found out that he was happily married; with a stepson and everything. Everything else was censored, so it wouldn't show me anything else. Not even a single picture of the man. I was disappointed, surely. I didn't have any more purpose for being in that gang anymore."

"So, you left?"

"I wish I did." I scoffed. "When I was about to quit, the gang leader was killed. Or so they made me believe. Everything happened so fast that, before I knew it, we were on a killing spree with the people responsible for his death. I was so blinded with rage that I just...killed. Man after man, woman after woman. When it was all over, I was announced as the new leader. It didn't make any sense at first until Bryce explained that it was all just a test."

Chase looked dumbstruck, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water. Who could blame him? "So, you've...killed before?"

"I thought you already knew that I wasn't a saint," I joked, though there was not a trace of humor in my tone. "It is nothing I'm proud of. If anything, I'm ashamed of it. I only lasted a year in that gang, and the only thing I'm grateful for is that I learned how to fight."

"I'm guessing that this Tyler guy was also a part of it?"

"Is," I corrected. "After I left, Bryce accepted the decision and declared himself the leader. Apparently, he doesn't agree anymore since he's claiming me back."

"Do you plan on going back?" he asked quietly after a moment.

"If I were to go back, then there would be no point in running away from them, would it?" I chuckled. "I won't blame you for running away, since that's pretty much what I'm also doing."

"Well, it is a lot to take in, but..." He breathed in, then smiled gently. "I can deal with it."

I looked at him, perplexed. Honestly, I expected him to go directly to the police and rat me out. He seemed amused by my reaction, a playful smirk tugging at his lips.

To say I was dumbfounded was an understatement.

He ruffled his hair and chuckled. "I'm not always a coward."

"You read my mind," I smirked. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally breathe. He only offered me a friendly smile, not being offended by my comment. "Thanks, Chase."

"What for?" He tilted his head, like he always did.

"For trusting me, perhaps. It's not every day that a nerd like you listens to someone admit to murder and not run away, getting scared." I chuckled.

"Well, that was in the past, right?" he asked, and I nodded softly. He smiled. "Then just leave it in the past. It doesn't have to affect your future, Amelia."

"That still won't make me a good person, nerd," I pointed out.

"You act based on what people think of you. Or at least what you want them to think of you," he commented. Was he attacking me? "No need to look so surprised."

I laughed and shook my head in amazement. "You, Chase Underwood, are certainly full of surprises. Where has your shyness disappeared to?"

He laughed, and I found myself smiling at the sound. If someone had told me that I would be sitting on a bed with a nerd, talking and laughing, I would've laughed in their face.

Now, as I saw the corner of his eyes wrinkling as he laughed, I figured out that I was actually glad I stepped between him and Gregory.

A sudden knock on the door snapped me out of my trance. I quickly motioned for him to shut up. He did as told, his eyes widening in slight fear. Whoever was behind that door didn't mention anything about being room service, so I was automatically suspicious. I slowly reached inside the duffel bag, taking out the gun I took from Bryce and making sure it was loaded. Chase took a large intake of breath and I ignored him, slowly walking toward the door as someone knocked again. I held the gun behind me, hearing voices behind the door before cautiously unlocking it. Making sure the gun was hidden, I opened the door with my guard up as two sets of teeth grinned at me.

"Lily!" Danielle exclaimed, engulfing me in a hug.

I let out a deep breath and relaxed down, smacking them both on the back of their heads with my free hand. "Thank God that it's only you two. Hurry up and get inside before someone sees you!" I ushered them and pulled them inside the room. I looked down at both ends of the hallway and felt relieved when I saw no one around. Closing the door behind me, I unloaded the gun, before throwing it back inside the bag.

They both looked at me expectantly, still not noticing that a rather pale Chase was in the room.

"And the reason you have a gun is...?" Kenneth asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Right. They still didn't know. There was nothing left to lose, anyway.

I told them about Bryce and what had happened today, making them tense up. Chase awkwardly cleared his throat from behind them and they both turned around in surprise. He waved at them awkwardly and Danielle laughed nervously.

"I didn't know your brother was back in town, Amelia. You were planning on wetting him with that water gun, weren't you? How mean." She laughed, and I rolled my eyes at her.

Seriously? After Chase already heard everything I told them, she came up with that?

"Dan, you suck at lying. That was extremely lame." I chuckled. "I already told him. He knows about Bryce and everything else."

They stayed silent and shared a look, before looking over at Chase who was scratching the back of his neck with a timid smile. Their expression was one of pure shock and curiosity.

"You...really told him?" Kenneth asked, dumbfounded.

"I pretty much had to. He deserved to know." I shrugged.

They kept their eyes on Chase, and he began to fidget nervously. Poor guy.

"After hearing all that, you won't even run away, screaming bloody murder?" Kenneth asked him. And he didn't hesitate to shake his head in denial.

This made me smile slightly, taking in as the couple stared at me, perplexed. They seemed to be thinking deeply about something before Danielle raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Lily, do you trust him?" she asked quietly.

Chase furrowed his brows, clearly hearing what she said.

I looked from her to Chase, thinking about it for a minute. Though, there wasn't much to think; the nerd had already proven himself. "Of course I do."

____________________

The past has finally been revealed. It's quite something to take in. Seems like Chase is quite tough after all to handle such truth. Who would have thought that Amelia went through such things at the age of fifteen? Click on that star if you wish and leave a comment with your thoughts on it! xx