Without taking his eyes off the television, he groaned involuntarily as he lifted himself up to a sitting position to make room for Lola who had opted to not get dressed yet. Was this all apart of some scheme she was planning? Getting him to develop an attraction to her so that he would go easy on her, slip up maybe, so that she could escape? Caleb decided to proceed with caution and not let himself get caught up in her beauty and to focus on figuring out an end game.

His plan already fell through, when he caught his eyes lingering on her neck and collarbones, still glistening slightly from the shower she had taken. As soon as he realized what he was doing, his eyes quickly darted elsewhere, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration before his phone rang.

"Yeah," he answered.
"No, I told you guys you can't sell there. Are you guys trying to get shot?"
A brief pause, allowing the man on the other line to speak.
"I said no, Monty. Tell T I'll kick his fucking teeth in if he goes into their territory. Got it?"

Caleb hung up the phone and slipped it back in his pocket quickly. He was already growing restless sitting at home, so he opted to pick up his boots from the floor to clean the small amounts of blood still left on them from the blow to Connor's head. After quickly licking his thumb, it rubbed the toe of the boot with force until the spot he was focused on began to break free from the leather. He'd have to clean them more thoroughly soon, especially if the body was found. He couldn't risk leaving behind any evidence.

Speaking of, he found his eyes had somehow wandered to the pair of legs sitting next to him. How the hell was he going to keep this under control? His eyes focused back on the boots, which he continued to work at as an attempt to distract himself from Lola.

As her green eyes fixed themselves onto the television screen, Lola sunk down into the couch and settled her feet on the coffee table, only vaguely listening to Caleb's conversation. The blonde had never really held herself too highly in the looks department. If anything, she always thought that she looked quite like a fairytale elf with her freckles and unruly blonde hair. Consequently, she thought very little about the effect that she was currently having on Blue, especially having seen one of his previous conquests.

After a moment spent channel hopping, she settled on some cheesy chic flick, but her eyes did keep drifting what felt like involuntarily to Caleb, and at one point, they found that his were doing the exact same thing at her legs. Wiggling her toes, she cocked her head and looked at him curiously, biting her lip a little as she absent mindedly wondered to herself.

Twirling her blonde hair around her index finger, Lola let out a slow elongated sigh. Had there been a little more to entertain herself with, she was sure she wouldn't be looking at Caleb quite so much. Settling her chin against the palm of her hand, she felt an unfamiliar type of tension knotting itself deliciously in the pit of her stomach.

Seriously Lola. For Christ's sake stop it.

However, she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted it to stop.

The tension in the air was rapidly growing until a knock sounded at the door, causing Caleb to feel relieved from the awkwardness. He was greeted by TJ holding a garbage bag full of what he assumed to be his girlfriend’s.

“I convinced her to get rid of some stuff for Goodwill. Didn’t think she’d give me this much,” he laughed as he handed the bag over to Caleb.

“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it,” Caleb nodded before looking behind him Lola momentarily. “Uh, step out into the hall with me for a minute.”

“What’d you tell Smith?” Caleb asked once he closed the front door shut behind him.

“That you were sick. He thinks it’s ‘cause of the Jimmy thing, so I’d just go with that,” TJ explained. “You figure anything out? You’re gonna have to let her go or hand her over to Smith eventually.”

Caleb sighed. “I know. I just feel like Smith’s gonna do something harsh to her. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

TJ’s face morphed into a quizzical expression. “Why do you care?”

“She’s a woman,” he whispered. “I know Smith has the same beliefs as we do, but the potential blowback could make him change his mind. She’s a young girl. I think she’ll keep quiet.”

TJ nodded and sighed. “Fine, man. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Caleb waved as he entered the apartment once again, this time tossing the bag of clothes on the floor next to Lola’s feet. “I guess pick what you want. The rest I’ll get rid of.”

He resumed his seat on the couch, slightly wiggling his body to help him sink down into a comfortable position. Hopefully with her dressed, he'd find it easier to keep his eyes off her and mind on the situation at hand. Hopefully.

The girl momentarily glanced towards the door as she saw Caleb walk out. Once it was safely closed, she sunk even lower into the couch with an audible groan. As he re entered only moments later, her attention was drawn to the bag that he tossed at her feet.

"Oh, okay. Cool."

Lola picked up the bag, and wandered into the bedroom. As she shut the door, she leant against it momentarily and took a deep breath. Some of the clothes weren't really to her taste, and others just made her laugh out loud. Eventually, she found a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pale baby pink t-shirt that were vaguely her style.

This guys girlfriend must really love her stomach, none of the damn t-shirts reach the jeans.

Muttering to herself, she gathered all of her curls up into a loose bundle on the top of her head and glanced at herself in the mirror. The t-shirt stopped at her belly button, and showed the tiny black star tattoos that trailed along both of her hip bones. Throwing the clothes that were no good back into the bag, she walked back into lounge.

"Here you go."

Setting the bag by Caleb, she went to refill her glass.

"You want a drink or something?"

With her back leaning nonchalantly against the counter, Lola waited for the ice machine to fill her glass.

"I'm guessing that TJs girlfriend likes her stomach, right? All the tops stop above the belly button." Lola wobbled the hem of the t-shirt with her fingers pointedly, with a slightly bemused look written across her features."Each to their own I guess."

Caleb looked up to Lola as he heard her voice pierce the silence in the living room, and his eyes immediately locked on her stomach tattoos momentarily before traveling back up to her eyes. He chuckled at her statement followed by: "Yeah, yeah she does. She shouldn't, though. Her stomach's not nearly as nice as yours."

He fought the urge to wince at his words as they came out of his mouth. His years of saying whatever he felt to women were betraying him now as he tried to keep their relationship platonic. A girl like Lola probably would pay no attention to his comment, anyway, so he decided to not let the awkwardness linger in the air any longer.

"And no, I'm fine."

Caleb stood up slowly and headed to his room to grab a rolling tray and supplies for a joint, bringing it all back to the coffee table a minute later. His tattooed fingers works at the small piece of paper, and as he finished, his tongue slid back and forth lightly to seal its contents. Once satisfied, he lit it with care and exhaled the smoke up to the ceiling. A sigh of relief escape him.

"You smoke?" he asked as he signaled to it with his free hand. "Figured if we have nothing to do all day, I could catch up on some sleep."

"No, it's a terrible habit to have. I do however rather enjoy it in cake form." The blonde rolled her eyes in mock distaste as she sat down, setting her glass on the counter. After resting her feet up casually on the table, the blonde leaned her head back against the plumped up cushions. "I tried crack once, but I didn't sleep for forty eight hours. I got so much done, but the come down was a real bitch." Closing her eyes, she settled her hands above her head, feeling pretty relaxed.

Lola may have looked like a fairly innocent sorta' gal, but she had the tendency to throw a few surprises at people every now and again. Spontaneity is the spice of life after all. "You want to watch that." Lola pointed to the joint, with one eye open. "You'll eat too much, and then you'll loose the hot buff macho look. You won't get laid if you're all squidgy around the edges." Shooting Caleb a wink, she closed her eyes once more.

It was unnerving how relaxed she felt around a guy she'd only just met. He was a straight up kinda' guy, and she respected that. Bending her knees up, she sat herself back up properly, tucking a few stray curls behind her ears at the same time. Once again, her eyes drifted to Caleb, and if she could have, she would have hit herself around the face. What was going on with her lately. The trouble was, she'd lost the energy to hide it now.

Caleb side eyed her at the comment she made about drugs, not taking it seriously. Shea's an enigma, that was for sure, but in the situation a girl like her was in, who knows what was coming out of her mouth was actually true or not? A volunteering, crack smoking college student seemed a bit far fetched.

He laughed at her comment about weed, and he paused for a moment to do the math in his head before replying to her. "Let's see," he squinted an eye shut, "if you're tweet, that means you were four when I started smoking pot. If it hasn't caught up to me yet, I think I'm safe." He scratched his head as a memory came to him. "Got picked on for being skinny when I was a kid. Finally started to out on some muscle when I was older, but if i stopped working outX, you could probably kick my ass."

Why was he telling her all this? They owed each other nothing. Although, it was nice having some female company other than in the bedroom.

Caleb shifted his body to lay down again, this time curling his legs up as much as possible to allow room for Lola to sit. His eyelids were already heavy due to the little sleep he got the night before.

"If anyone knocks or calls, wake me up," he said gruffly as he rubbed an eye.

"I'm not a confrontational sorta' girl. I couldn't kick anyone's ass. Even skinny you."

Playing with her hair, she thought about high school. She'd been to quite a rough establishment, where drugs were quite accessible. She'd only ever tried it once, and she had no interest in trying again. Even the more exotic drugs weren't particularly hard to get a hold of. Especially in the heavily equine community.

"Although growing up, ketamine was far more popular. I guess it was just easier to get hold of because of the farming community." Stretching a little, she stood up. "Or, it was just what going to a totally dodgy Tulsa high school does. It closed down after I left. It was all over the news, it's luxury apartments now." Adding up in her head, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I was actually almost six. I'm 21 next week. You must be the same age as my brother." Mathematics had always been her strong point.

Yawning, Lola rubbed her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling. They were starting to sting a little, and she couldn't help but wish she was at home right about now. With a small subconscious sigh, the blonde scratched her head absent mindedly. This was all getting a bit too much. She wanted to be able to have a chat with Jess, or goof around with Tom. Go for a ride on her horse even, but that didn't look very likely anytime soon. However, she didn't air her thoughts out loud. What's the point?

"I charge extra for wake up service."

With a small chuckle to herself, she made her way to her bedroom. Well, it was less of a bedroom and more of a box really. He really did seem to like to keep things simple. Taking off her jeans, she slipped under the covers and closed her eyes. She felt like she could sleep quite happily for weeks.

The idea of Caleb being skinny entertained her momentarily, but there was very little time to think, because she drifted off incredibly quickly. She must have been asleep for a good few hours when she woke up with a startle, in a mass of tangled curls. Someone was hammering on the door, which really pissed her off. Waiting to see if Caleb woke up, she grumbled and hauled her ass out of bed, not bothering to put her jeans on. Heading into the living room, she yawned and scratched her stomach. It was starting to feel like she'd gained another brother.

"Caleb, Caleb, Caleb!"

Rolling her eyes, she shook him gently.

"Dude, some twat is shouting about being happy, and ranting something about territory through the damn door."

Watching for a reaction, she sighed when there wasn't one, so she then opted to dig her fingers sharply into his sides just above his hips. It was oddly satisfying.

"Door!"

Once she was content that there was a sign of life in her roommate, she grabbed a glass of water before wandering slowly, and ever so slightly grumpily along the hall and back to bed.

Caleb was in a deep slumber when he was awoken by nails digging into his skin, a sensation he was all too familiar with, but was unpleasantly surprised to wake up to pounding at the front door and Lola shouting at him. He groaned as he struggled to become lucid and walked to the door, unlocking the deadbolt with the key from his pocket. Happy awaited him on the other side.

“What the hell took you so long?” Happy asked frantically, making his way past Caleb into the apartment.

“Sleeping,” he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Little T didn’t listen, man. He said someone called him and asked him for blow in the Nine’s territory. I told him not to do it, but I guess he did. We haven’t been able to find him.” Happy rubbed his temples with frustration. “He’s only seventeen.”

Caleb sighed as he rested his hands on the island in the kitchen, leaned over, and squeezed his eyes shut to think. “The Nine’s probably have him. You think it was a set up?”

Happy shrugged. “No one calls us for anything from that side of town. It might be.”

“Shit,” Caleb whispered. “Okay. Look, I need you to stay here with Lola. I gotta handle this.”

“I don’t wanna babysit man! I wanna go get T with you,” he pleaded.

“You and TJ are the only ones who know about her, and TJ’s setting up shit at his house for Jimmy’s reception. You’re the only one who can stay here.”

“Fine,” he grunted.

Caleb quickly walked to the guest room that Lola was occupying. “Sorry,” he apologized as he walked through to the closet and pulled down a wooden box with a silver latch that held a pistol. He tucked it in the back of his jeans and turned to the girl laying down. “I’ll be back. Happy’s staying here.” He hastily exited the room and closed the door behind him before approaching Happy.

“Don’t fucking touch her, okay?” Caleb demanded with a stern look.

Happy raised his hands. “I won’t, man.”

“Thanks, Hap,” Caleb nodded as he handed the key for the deadbolt that locked the door from the inside. “Keep that safe and lock the door. Don’t let her out.”

And with that, Caleb slipped out of the front door and down to the truck to find T, unsure of what was waiting for him.

Happy plopped down on the couch and sighed, deciding to flip through the channels to occupy his mind, along with lighting a cigarette. He wasn't satisfied with being a babysitter, but for Little T, he'd have to suffice.

Lola grumbled something inaudible as she buried her head in the pillow, and stuck her bottom up in the air under the thick duvet cover. There was far too much coming and going involved in this whole gang lifestyle for her liking. Yawning, the blonde grumbled in irritation at not being able to sleep for the third time that day.

After spending an hour waking up, Lola rubbed her eyes and sat upright. How did these people live with so little sleep? She was convinced that she'd be a homicidal maniac. With a sigh, she pulled on a pair of denim shorts, and a simple black vest top before heading out into the hallway. Not only was she tired, she was also incredibly hungry. As she entered the living room, she waved nonchalantly at the couch before heading into the kitchen area. She recognised the guy from the previous evening, but she didn't remember his name.

"You lucked out then?"

Without warning, Lola climbed rather nimbly up onto the the work surface and opened the cupboard. There wasn't anything exciting, but at least there was cereal. Kitchens were a relative mine field when you're short. You can never reach anything. For the first time, the blonde realised why all short girls had tall boyfriends. It was like a new form of natural selection.

Jumping down, she grabbed some milk, and after sniffing it suspiciously, she mixed it all together. Taking a bite before leaning against the worktop, with her feet resting on the middle island.

Well now, wasn't she meeting a lot of new people at the moment? She might as well sign up at this bloody rate.

"So, which one are you? Doc, grumpy, dopey or bashful?"

Happy couldn’t help but chuckle – and also stare – at the short girl’s actions in the kitchen. “It’s Happy” he corrected her as he diverted his eyes back to the television.

“You’re awfully cheery for being held hostage at this asshole’s house,” he snorted. “You watched him kick a guy’s head in and you’re acting like it’s a damn slumber party.”

Happy was a short, stocky fellow, his gut showed his love of beer and fried food. He was thirty two years old, but he had been with the crew since he was sixteen, taking after an older brother who was eventually let free of the group to raise a family.

He stretched as he made himself comfortable for continuing the conversation, groaning loudly and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

“You know, I’ve seen Blue cut off the fingers one by one of one of our own for stealing money. A guy we’d known for years. Didn’t even bat an eye,” Happy explained, wincing at the thought of it. “I almost puked,” he chuckled. “The poor guy goes by Nubs now.”

He turned to her with a serious expression. “I wouldn’t get on his bad side.”



Caleb lifted the hood attached to his jacket over his head as he exited the pick-up truck and began walking down the block in the Nine’s territory. He knew their clubhouse was close, but wasn’t exactly sure where, so he kept an observant eye for any gang activity to pinpoint it’s location.

After a few minutes, he notices bikers hanging outside of an ice cream shop that had another story atop of it, and Caleb couldn’t help but smirk at his findings. Without making eye contact, he walked past the group of men loitering out front and walked through the ice cream shop until he found a door labeled “Stairwell,” and upon entering, he could hear screams of pain pouring out from the top floor.

“Shit.”

Caleb quickened his pace and took a deep breath before he slowly creaked open the door to see T in a chair, bound, while a member of the Nine’s delivered a blow across his face. Caleb tightened his grip around the gun in the back of his jeans as he counted the amount of people in the room. Four, including T.

He nodded as if to reassure himself before walking into the room with confidence, aiming the pistol towards the man’s head who had been harming T. “Back away from him,” he sternly instructed in a quiet voice.

The man laughed. “How did I know someone would come to this little shit’s rescue, huh?”

“He’s a kid, man,” Caleb spoke again. “Let him go.” In an instant, a hard object struck Caleb in the back of the head and caused him to fall to the ground. He pointed his gun up at the man holding a bat above him. “Drop it!”

The man dropped it and backed up. “Untie him, now.”

The other man near T began to work at the knots on his wrists and Caleb watched the other two.

“You’re starting something I don’t think you can finish, Blue,” one of the Nine’s spoke. “He was on our turf.”

“He’ll learn his lesson,” Caleb said as he glared at T. “Come on.”

Once free, T ran over to Caleb as he backed out with the gun still trained towards the Nine’s until they made it to the stairwell, which they the opted to run down and dash to his pick-up.

“You idiot,” Caleb shook his head as he took off down the road. “You coulda gotten us both killed.”

“I’m sorry, Blue,” the boy apologized with a genuine tinge of regret in his voice. “I-I just wanted to make some extra cash.”

“I’m gonna do you a favor,” Caleb began, “I’m not gonna tell Smith about this, unless the Nine’s start shit that is. But, if I need a favor from you, you better not think twice, got it?”

“Got it, man. I swear. Anything.”

“Okay,” Caleb nodded, “I’m gonna drop you off at home.”



Caleb pounded on his own front door until he heard the lock free it and swing open. “I need you to look at my head, man,” Caleb said as he put a finger to it. Blood.

He removed his jacket, then his white shirt which now had blood on the back of the collar that had dripped down from his scalp. “Idiot with a baseball bat only hit me hard enough to break the skin.”

Happy laughed as he attempted to eye it, but Caleb was much taller than him. “Sit, sit,” Happy instructed as he pulled him over to the couch.

“It’s deep, man,” he shook his head. “We probably gotta super glue it.”

“Shit,” Caleb whispered. He was going to kill T himself for this before a rival crew could.

"And the moral of that story kids? Don't steal money."

Rolling her eyes at Happy, she washed up her bowl and spoon, putting it away neatly back into the cupboard. She was starting to quite like this guy.

"Well, I could roam the halls weeping and wailing, but it's not going to get me anywhere, is it?"

With a blonde eyebrow perked in amusement, she nodded at his serious statement.

"Thanks for the tip. I won't."

With a charming smile at Happy, she disappeared back into the bedroom.

***********************************

The commotion coming from the door a while later brought Lola back out of her room. Wandering into the kitchen where both guys now were, the young woman peered at Caleb's head.

"Nah, you don't need glue. Just use strips, you can pull it together with his hair. That way it will heal into his hair line and won't scar. Have you got any Vaseline?"

Lola had seen enough cuts and scrapes to last her a lifetime. The men in her family were always coming back from the farm with various bits missing or bleeding. It was an occupational hazard.

"Want me to do it?"

“Vaseline’s in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom,” Caleb said as he looked to Happy, signaling him to go grab it. Then, his eyes glanced up to Lola as she offered to help.

“If you think you could do a better job than Happy,” he began with a smirk, “then by all means.” He could still feel the warmth of fresh blood dripping down the back of his head to his neck, and he used the white shirt he had been wearing to wipe it off, and when he accidentally brushed the fabric against the gash in his head, he winced. “Jesus,” he mumbled. “He shoulda just knocked me out.”

He pointed towards the kitchen. “There’s vodka in the freezer if you need to sterilize it. And in the spare bedroom, there’s a first aid kit. I don’t like doctors.” He got up from the couch, not wanting to bleed on the leather, and sat himself up on a bar stool that was tucked under the kitchen counter, and he sat on it backwards so that he could lean against the back.

“Try not to disfigure me,” he spoke quietly with a chuckle. “This ugly mug can’t take much more damage.”

"You don't like doctors huh? It's a good job I'm heading towards veterinary surgery then, isn't it?"

In actual fact, Lola was studying Zoology with applied biochemistry,but as of late she'd been leaning towards switching across to animal medicine. Zoology just wasn't hitting the spot, and the biochemistry was largely transferable.Taking a closer look at the gash, which still required tip toes and leaning lightly against his back, she wrinkled her nose.

"They did a good job. I'm surprised you walked out. Hard head"

Walking into the kitchen, Lola grabbed the vodka as Happy arrived with the Vaseline. Dousing the cotton wool with alcohol, she couldn't help but mourn the waste of her favourite spirit.

"This is going to sting like a bitch."

Flinching at the prospect herself, she wiped the soaked cotton across the cut, before tossing it into the trash. After a brief moment, and a much clearer look at the bloody mess that was Caleb's head,the blonde stuck her finger into the Vaseline before smearing it rather generously over the site.

"Vaseline is amazing, it stops bleeding. I'm surprised you guys haven't figured that out yet."

Grabbing some strips from the first aid box, she opened them tentatively. Biting her lip in concentration, she tried to be as gentle as possible. The trouble with heads were they bled a crazy amount, mainly down to the lack of fatty tissue. Lola pulled the hairs from either side, connecting the gape, before binding them together carefully. Once that was done, she stuck the strip on top. When she was finally finished, she took a moment to admire her handiwork, before gently but firmly running her fingers through Caleb's hair to scruff it up and make the site barely noticeable. Which, on a partially subconscious level, made her tingle. Now that was a new experience.

"All done."

Lola wiped off his neck, walking around to the front of Caleb. She wiggled her now bloodied and rather sticky fingers.

"Just got to wash these. You don't have anything I should know about, do you?"

The young woman narrowed her pretty emerald eyes in an amusing expression of mock concern, before wandering her way along the hall, and into the bathroom to wash up.

Caleb laughed. "Not that I know of." As she began to walk away from him, he grabbed her forearm to stop her briefly. "Hey, thank you," he said sincerely before releasing her arm and walk down the hallway.

Happy remained silent until he heard the bathroom door close behind her. "She's something else, huh?"

Caleb scoffed. "Yeah. I'd say so."

Happy's amusement turned to concern as he peered at Caleb. "What are you gonna do with her, Blue?"

He shrugged. "I can't think straight with Jimmy's funeral looming over my head like this. I'm gonna get through tomorrow, then think of somethin'." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And if I have to bring her to Smith, I won't tell him you two were involved. Don't want him killing three of us."

Happy chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. "We'll figure it out, kid. How's the head?"

Caleb sighed. "Throbbing. I'm probably just gonna take it easy today."

"Alright, let me know if you need anything," Happy offered with a smile as he headed toward the door, Caleb following to lock it.

"Thanks, Hap. See you tomorrow."

Caleb secured the lock, walked back to the couch, and gently laid down as to not disturb the work Lola had just done. He may have been modest when he said his head was throbbing; it was pounding.

After seeing the time was 2:06 PM, a sigh of frustration escaped him. He still had to get through the other half of the day not knowing what to do with the girl he kidnapped. Subconsciously, he began to rub his temples in silence as he laid on the couch.

After giving her hands a quick wash, Lola looked at herself in the mirror quizzically. What have you gone and done to yourself this time, huh? Rolling her eyes in frustration at her reflection, she quickly yawned and rubbed her head. The humidity made her want to tie her hair up, but she hated the sight of her neck so much, it put her off. As a compromise, she instead chose a plait that she could rest against the scar to hide it.

Angrily, she gripped the sink. Was it so much to ask to have four hours of sleep in a row? Yes, clearly it was in this place. There didn't even seem like any point in trying. When she closed her eyes all she could see was Jack. Jack and his stupid smug smirk. It was driving her slowly, but very surely crazy. The worst thing was that she didn't know why he was back. Was it a genuine coincidence that he showed up? As much as she wanted to believe it was, she didn't. Plus, she couldn't try and find out from within here. Had he called her? Sent her a message? It would have been a surprise if he hadn't. Lola was starting to understand how Alcatraz inmates' must have felt.

Taking a deep breath, she pinched her cheek. Composing herself before walking back into the hall. She was rattled. This whole hostage situation was almost preferable to the psychotic Ex. At least she seemed marginally safe in here. For now anyway. Maybe it would be her own shallow grave she'd be seeing next.

Walking into the bedroom, she laid down on the bed with an alarmingly vicious growl that she didn't even realise she'd made. Resting her hands behind her head, she stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes fixated on the light fitting as though somehow, it might contain some kind of answer. No one really knew how messed up she really was, and it was all his fault. Happy, funny Lola.

Yeah right.

It was at that point, that a song popped into her head.

I'm one step closer to the edge, and I'm about to break.

Closing her eyes, she finally gave up and fell asleep.

Caleb had drifted off at some point as he laid on the couch, and eventually, he awoke with the same headache he had previously. He winced after sitting up because of the throbbing sensation, rubbing his eyes to make sense of his surroundings. In a panic, he stood up quickly and checked the house for Lola. As he swung open the door leading into the guest room, he spotted her sleeping in the bed.

"Hey," he whispered. "I have to run an errand. I'll get us some dinner too. I'll be waiting in the living room."

It'd be much easier to leave her behind, but it'd also be much more stupid. As sweet and cooperative she had been, Lola was still a stranger that he couldn't trust. Not yet.

Caleb unlocked the safe that was housed in a lower cabinet in the kitchen, and once it was opened, he pulled out a large wad of $100 bills from the bar. The business account was under his name, therefore, he was responsible for all of the transactions, and he was much too paranoid to leave that much money in the house.

He began to count the money on the kitchen counter when another wave of splitting pain began to pound at his head. After mumbling a few curses, he continued to count until he reached the end of the stack, then he folded it.

He retrieved a gray tee shirt, a snap back to cover the blood that still sat on his scalp, and a leather jacket, and the money made it's way into the breast pocket - it's usual home.

Caleb knocked lightly on the guest room door. "Ready?"

"No."

Was the simple, albeit half asleep reply that left the room from Lola. Pulling the covers over her head, she rolled onto her stomach and stuck her bottom up in the air momentarily under the blankets. Groaning, and muttering all manner of obscenities under her breath, the blonde dragged herself out of the bed, appearing in the living space only moments later.

It was rather evident that she was still tired, and that she was the type of person that got rather tetchy with lack of sleep. Annoyingly, the only irritated that the young woman had perfected was rather comedic. That, and she looked more attractive angry, or so people said. Lola crossed her arms across her chest, and she stared at Caleb. Her curls were incredibly wild, and her eyes had a rather attractive glint of silent annoyance in them.

"Is there like some unwritten rule in this line of work, that prevents people from being allowed to sleep? Or is this some warped out, domesticated method of sleep deprivation torture?!"

Finishing her rant with a small yawn, she narrowed her gaze and put her hood up in protest. The blonde then stepped to one side so that Caleb could walk first. Half tempted to swot him half heartedly around the head. Sadly, she realised that she probably couldn't even reach his head anyway. Short people problems really sucked.

Caleb rolled his eyes at her questions before walking past her to exit the apartment. “Don’t worry. Soon you’ll be back in your bed, texting your friends about boys and class, going to bed at 11:00.” He looked back to her with a satisfied grin as they walked down the hallway. He was starting to find it funny how easily ruffled she got from teasing. It was almost like he was with his little sister.

“We’re going to the bank first,” he began, climbing into the driver’s seat of the trunk, “and then you can pick what you want for dinner. Nothing crazy,” he mumbled the last sentence as he side-eyed her.

They pulled up to the ATM outside of a large bank, and Caleb pulled out the folded stack of cash and worked the rubber band off of it before making the deposit. It had just gotten dark outside, making the illuminated screen in front of him much brighter than usual. After stuffing the cash in the slot, he looked back to her. “Should the light from the screen hurt my eyes this much? I feel like I need fuckin’ sunglasses right now.” It had been a long time since he had been hit that hard, mostly due to his ranking in the crew. He usually never had to do the dirty work. And now he wouldn’t for a while, based on how badly his head was hurting currently.

After getting his receipt, they got back out on the main road with the older truck rumbling furiously beneath them. “So, what is it, huh? Italian, Chinese?”

"Texting my friends about boys and parties?" The blonde laughed in amusement, "Dude, I'm 21, not sixteen. I'm way too busy to go out." Lola shook her head in exasperation. "You know, not all girls go around behaving like they do in Clueless. Just going to throw that out there." Sliding her hands into the front pocket of her hoodie, she noticed that Caleb had lightened up a little around her.

After watching him at the cash machine, she shook her head. "No, it shouldn't hurt that much, and as a five star eatery is clearly off of the menu with me dressed like I just slept in a closet, I'm going to go with Chinese." Lola shot the man sat next to her a very suspicious look, and as the truck pulled up into a parking lot, she turned to face him. Without warning, she leaned towards him and held his cheeks so that he couldn't move his head, and proceeded to look straight into his eyes.

The movement meant that they were technically up close and rather personal, but that hadn't been her intention. Actually, at that point, it had been the last thing on her mind. The fact that she had also seen this guy kill someone, didn't really register in her thought process as she held his head either. It was bizarre to her, that she wasn't phased by it, and she couldn't really put her finger on why. The whole attraction thing did perhaps go someway in helping.

"You totally have a concussion." The blonde shook her head, "Your pupils are beyond whacked out. You don't just have a headache do you? You have a whole brass band back in there." Rolling her eyes at his macho bravado, she tilted her head to the side in mild curiosity. "I am surprised that you don't have a pair of black eyes though. I wouldn't go doing anything crazy if I were you. You'll totally pass out." Whilst Lola was so close to Caleb, she did happen to notice that he had very nice eyes. In fact, he pretty much had a very nice everything.