"You're tellin' me," Caleb nodded his head. "Almost lost an eye during a break up once. Got a toaster thrown at my head too." He finished his whiskey and pushed it towards the bartender before turning his body towards Lola. His eyes scanned her a bit, then lingered on her face for a moment.

"You seem to enjoy being a hostage way too much," he laughed. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad your not bitching and moaning, trust me. But you just seem so... content. All the time. It's crazy. I could be dating a girl. Buying her whatever the hell she wants, satisfying her needs, yet she still finds a reason to complain. That's why I don't even bother anymore."

He grabbed the new glass the bartender had served him and took a sip before continuing. "Then they get all mad when I don't wanna do anything other than fuck 'em, knowing all too well what they'll put me through if they did become my girlfriend."

Caleb sighed and shook his head. "Listen to me. Jesus." He scratched at his forehead before looking to Lola. "Didn't mean to talk your ear off."

It was actually really refreshing to hear Caleb open up about his personal life, so Lola listened happily. With a small chuckle, she started to blow bubbles in her drink, stopping only when the bubbles blew back along the straw causing her to cough, which in turn made her giggle uncontrollably at her own stupidity.

"I'm so sorry, I will totally compose myself."

Taking a deep breath, the blonde almost managed to stop laughing, but when she let out an involuntary snort, the whole situation dissolved all over again. Once she'd finally managed to gain some kind of control over herself, she smiled and squeezed Caleb's arm gently. "Maybe you just have alarmingly bad taste in women." Finishing off her beverage, she settled her chin against the palm of her hand and looked at Blue happily.

"What is there not to be content with? On a scale of 1/10, I'm alive, I'm healthy, and between you and me, I'm pretty smart. You have to roll with the punches." Lola paused to rub her nose before continuing, "I've had a hideous few years, this is nothing in comparison. Don't get me wrong, I'm a little bit broken, and pretty much terrified of everything, but I'm okay with that. It won't last forever." Tilting her head to the side, she started to realise just how attracted to the man beside her she really was. At that particular point in time, there probably wasn't even a tiny part of her that didn't want him.

"Plus, I'm not going to lie, you suck at being the hard ass hostage taker." Smirking, Lola shook her pretty blonde head matter of factly. "Had you not winked at me, who knows. Maybe I'd have taken you seriously."

Caleb was amused watching Lola crack up at herself, so much so that he cracked an unintentional smile. “Jesus,” he mumbled through it as she finally collected herself.

His smile faded, though, when she began to talk about the past years spent with Jack and how this didn’t compare to it. Part of him was thankful that nothing of the situation made her feel like she was back where she started. But another part of him was sad to know that she had been through such horrendous things in the first place. Although he didn’t know her too well, he could definitely tell that she seemed to be too decent of a human being to be subjected to such awful treatment.

Their eyes lingered on each other’s for a moment in silence. Caleb wasn’t sure if it was the buzz he was feeling, but he was definitely having less than honorable thoughts about Lola. Specifically, ones that nearly caused him to lean in towards her, but thankful, she began to speak once again, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“Ha,” he laughed at her statement. “Well, if I winked at you, yet say I have horrible taste in women, what does that make you?” He couldn’t help but smirk at his own words.

Caleb shot back the rest of his drink and leaned an arm against the bar with his body facing her and his head resting on his fist.

“Does that make you out of my league? Or just another alarmingly bad woman?”

"What does that make me?"

The young woman chuckled in amusement at Caleb's rebuttal, and perked an inquisitive eyebrow as she mulled over the possibilities. "That makes me the turning point." Lola was so pleased with her comeback, that she didn't even realise she was subconsciously leaning in towards Blue.

Was it really the vodka playing with her mind? Doubtful. She'd had most of the same thoughts sober, and it was driving her ever so slightly crazy. The tension, the frustration. It was like some bubbling volcano. Surely something had to give eventually? Would it really be such a bad thing? Playing with her hair, the blonde tilted her head to the side, and she too turned to face Caleb on her stool.

"I can't really comment on people's taste. I dated Jack." Narrowing her eyes in amusement, she settled her cheek against the palm of her hand, almost mimicking Blue with her own body language. It was a strange scenario. She was rarely this interested in guys, and she certainly didn't get flustered over them. What was so different about him? Well, everything really. As the talking subsided, Lola just looked at him. His eyes, his lips. Everything.

"I'm not out of your league, and you said it yourself, I'm low maintenance." With a delightfully mischievous smirk, the woman shrugged as she continued, "Whereas bad, now that's down to interpretation and context. I couldn't possibly answer that for you."

"I'm not out of your league."

That was all Caleb needed to hear to secure the idea that Lola was attracted to him, and with these findings he was satisfied. He waved down the bartender and asked for the check. "I'm ready to head out," he said gruffly as he counted out money from a stack of bills and left them on top of his receipt.

"Let's go."

Caleb was probably too inebriated to drive, but he was able to navigate his way back to the apartment without driving any differently than he did sober. He remained silent, pondering on whether or not he should act on what he was feeling at the moment. On one hand, she showed interested, she was attractive, and she was already staying in his apartment. But, if he did make a move and things got heated, what if she became clingy? Or wanted him to be her boyfriend? He didn't know her that well, but she didn't seem liked the type. Still, he had to be cautious. A situation like this was bound to get messy.

Once they entered the apartment and Caleb locked the door from in the inside, he leaned against the wall for a moment and eyed the girl in front of him. It was probably all the whiskey he drank, but she seemed so irresistible at the moment, and he couldn't take it anymore.

He walked up behind her and swiveled her around to face her, and putting his fingers on her chin, he lifted her head up towards him. After a brief moment of eye contact, he leaned down and pressed his lips into hers. It wasn't anything polite, but he made sure not to be too aggressive due to the nature of her past. If she got scared from his actions, he would feel awful.

After a few moments, he pulled away and looked down at her, smirking. "Sorry," he whispered, but the tone he spoke in did not have an ounce of remorse in it.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to openly flirt with the man with whom she was currently living, or not to mention the man that she knew was wrapped up in some incredibly seedy dealings. However, at that particular moment in time, Lola really couldn't have cared less about any of it. Life was way too short to spend time trying to needlessly analyze situations.

The journey back to the apartment was spent half heartedly thinking about the situation at hand. There was no real point in trying to be rational when you had copious amounts of vodka surging through your veins, and in a way, she didnt want to be rational. That was never any fun.

Once back in he apartment, Lola was mildly surprised by how forward Caleb was, but it didn't phase her. After he'd kissed her, the blonde perked a perfectly manicured eyebrow as she looked at him. When he apologised, she merely rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No, you really aren't."

With a momentary tilt of her head, the young woman contemplated all of the options available to her. Hell, maybe it would even help the whole situation, alleviate some of the tension, so to speak. Standing a little on tip toe, Lola smirked right back at Caleb, before leaning forward and returning the kiss, albeit in a far more playful fashion, that gave just a tiny glimpse into the other side of Lola. Just because she wasn't in your face, didn't mean that she couldn't be a minx when she wanted to.

Caleb couldn't help but raise an eyebrow just as Lola had when she kissed him back. It wasn't like he was used to being rejected by women - usually it was easy to get whatever girl he had his eye on - but something about her made him unsure of how she would react. But, he was pleasantly surprised. The girl he thought would find him to be crude and lower than her ended up being just as interested.

He took her hand and brought her over to the island of the kitchen where he lifted her up so that she could sit on it. She was much shorter than he, and since he wanted to gauge where she was at before he simply just brought her to his room, so this was his best option to not throw out his neck from leaning down a foot to kiss her.

Now they were about eye-level, and after a moment, he leaned back in, kissing her more passionately than he had previously. A hand slid up to the back of her neck while another one rested on her knee.

He soon realized how drunk he was, and the probability that she was too was high. This made him stop for a moment and look at her only a few inches away from her face. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Lola?” he whispered. “We’ve been drinking, I kinda kidnapped you, I…” His voice trailed off as his eyes scanned her face, and he soon found her too irresistible to continue speaking. Instead, he leaned in once again and kissed her.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t regret was taking place. But he found himself to be both too intoxicated and both infatuated to care at the moment.

Am I ok with this?

There really wasn't any point in Lola answering that question, because it was clear from the way that the situation was rolling, that she was absolutely fine. So, she'd had a little bit to drink? She was by no means too intoxicated to make a decision. Logically, not one bit of this scenario made sense, so there was really very little argument for it not to continue. Of course, it didn't help that the more Caleb kissed her, the more she wanted.

There was something bizarrely delicious about the whole scenario, and when he broke off midsentence, it confirmed that he was wrapped up in it too. Lola once again returned the kiss, feeling like she could just melt into him, as she slid both of her hands to settle on his shoulders. There was something incredibly strong and manly about Caleb that she just couldn't get enough of, perhaps it was merely a chemistry thing, or something a little deeper. In all honesty, she didn't want to stop to think. It just seemed to work.

When Blue's hand found her knee, it caused her thigh to tighten a little in response to his touch. The way it made Lola feel, caused her skin to tingle. Everything was just far too reactive to him. That in itself was a fairly new experience for Lola, but one that she could quite happily have gotten used to. Brushing her fingertips against his neck, she let out a barely audible sigh. There were certainly worse ways to spend an evening.

Caleb awoke abruptly to the sound of Lola's phone ringing in his dresser. Without opening his eyes, he stood up and hobbled over to the drawer to silence it, then quickly slid back into bed to shield his nude body from the AC that was blasting through the vents. His arms wrapped around the form next to him, and he sighed when he got comfortable.

The realization of who he was spooning took a minute to settle in, but once it did, his eyes shot open and his arm lifted the sheet a bit to confirm his suspicions. Yep. It was Lola. Also undressed. In his bed.

"Shit," he whispered as he removed his body from her and rolled on to his back, rubbing his face in frustration. He knew he has issues when it came to self control, but this may have been a new low for even him: sleeping with the young girl he kidnapped who's ex boyfriend is in the rival gang that is threatening them. Not only that, but Lola was a much better person than Caleb or the situation that he put her in.

But there she laid next to him. And although every sign in Caleb's head was pointing the opposite direction, he couldn't help but roll himself back over to her and wrapped his tattooed arms around her. When he got comfortable, he kissed the back of her neck that sat directly in front of his face, breathing in deeply as he did.

He would have to be the asshole when they were both awake. He'd have to tell Lola that they couldn't do this again and that it was his fault for letting it go too far. But, for now, what happened happened, and he could let himself enjoy it before reality kicked in.

His memories were a bit blurry from the night before, but each inhale he took gave him bits and pieces of what they had done together.

The warm sun that shone so brightly through the bedroom window caused Lola to stir sleepily. As she blinked her green eyes open, it took her a moment to figure out where she actually was, and once she did realise that it was Caleb's room, and Caleb's arms that were currently around her waist, one simple thought filtered through her mind. Whoops.

Of course, it really would have been a lie to say that she hadn't seen it coming, and in all honesty, she didn't feel in any way negative about the situation. In fact, she felt pretty damn comfortable at that moment in time. With a small yawn, the blonde stretched, and as she felt Blue's body against her back, she couldn't help but ponder the advantages of waking tangled up with him every morning. Still, it was best not to think about that.

Reluctant to actually move, Lola rubbed her eyes, not able to stifle a small chuckle. What would the best way to handle this situation be? Be relaxed? Throw on her usual life's a beach, laid back charm? Yeah, why not. The blonde turned so that she was now laying on her stomach, facing the man next to her. With a rather cheeky smile, she settled her cheek against the comforter.

"Morning."

Notably, Caleb was even more cute sleepy, and that did distract her momentarily from her chain of thought.

"Come here often?"

Caleb's eyes popped back open when he heard Lola's voice next to him. He wanted so badly to discuss business and get it over with: that he shouldn't have let things go so far, it was dumb of them to sleep together because of the situation that they were in, that they shouldn't do it again, etc.

But after looking at her for a few moments, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not only was she beautiful, of course, but she wasn't like the usual girls he had been with. She wasn't loud, annoying or demanding. But Caleb knew that he also didn't know Lola that well, which normally, a one night stand didn't require this. But she was staying at his house, and it all stemmed from her being kidnapped. Plus, he didn't know if she was the clingy type or not. She wouldn't expect Caleb to be her boyfriend, right?

He sighed and smirked as he closed his eyes again, stretching out and arm and signaling her to lay on his bare torso, which was littered in tattoos and scars. "Morning," he said gruffly.

Caleb figured he would enjoy the moment while he could, and not focus of the fact that he didn't know what lay ahead of them. For now.

"We had a little too much fun last night, huh?"

"You can't have too much fun. Just like you can't have too much chocolate, or too much money."

Taking the hint, Lola settled her head against Caleb's bare chest. Letting her still naked form rest up against his side. Absent mindedly, her finger traced along the outline of his tattoos curiously.

The whole situation was such a puzzle. Surely there should have been some element of awkwardness? Just something that felt uncomfortable? Regret even? But there was nothing there. Perhaps she was trying to over analyse, and in actual fact, this scenario needed very little thought.

"You know, you make a surprisingly good pillow. If being a gangster doesn't work out, you should go pro."

Closing her eyes again, her leg instinctively wrapped around his. It was worth mentioning, that the sleeping together really hadn't solved the tension issue, that was clearly still in play. Enjoying the warmth of the shared body heat, Lola continued to graze her fingertips softly against his skin as she dozed. There was just something so right about the whole situation.

Caleb's fingers found their way to Lola's hair, and they slowly and gently worked through it as he they laid in silence for a few minutes. His eyes were shut, and he could feel himself beginning to drift back to sleep, but he fought it due to the fact that he would rather do something else.

A hand titled up her head towards hers, and he leaned in and kissed her slowly. But before he could do further, his phone rang on the night stand. "Shit," he mumbled as he turned his body over and stretched to reach it.

"Yeah," he greeted the the called gruffly. "Again? What this time?"
Caleb paused, then sighed. "Fuck. Alright, well, keep me posted, okay? Have some of the prospects keep an eye out."

He slapped the flip phone closed and tossed it on the floor, groaning. "More threats. I guess we intercepted something about an attack or some shit." His hand mindlessly scratched at his head while his mind raced at lightning speed. "I gotta figure out what they're planning before they execute it."

Lola sighed as Caleb's phone rung out and laid herself back against the pillows. The blonde only half listened to the conversation that was taking place beside her. It certainly seemed as though the 9's were really starting to dig their heels in. The question was, why? What had gone so wrong that they were psyching themselves up for some kinda' turf war? It really didn't make any sense. Then again, she didn't really know enough about the situation to pass judgement.

"What caused all of this?"

Turning once more to the man next to her as he hung up his call. "Is it because you went in to get that guy back?" As the blonde blinked, she kissed Caleb on the cheek softly. "There has to be some reason. Is the fire station in your zone? Maybe they want that bit of territory back to make life easier?"

It was just a suggestion, but it seemed to make sense. Well, in her head at least. Trailing feather like kisses from Caleb's cheek, along to his ear, Lola pulled at his ear playfully. They had already crossed the line, did it really matter if it happened again?

"We don't have to get up just yet, do we?"

The young woman settled her chin against the man's chest, looking up at him out of her big green eyes and pouted slightly.

"It would be much more fun if we stayed here."

Caleb raised an eyebrow at Lola’s question. Obviously, she wasn’t wrecked with guilt or regret like he feared she might be, but she was on the opposite end of the spectrum. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. He couldn’t help but admire a girl that was confident enough to vocalize what she wanted from him, especially if it was something physical.

His voice, gravelly with sleep, spoke lowly. “Yeah, it would be.”

He was going to talk to her about their issues with the Nines, see if maybe she could help him get information from Jack, but part of him felt like it may be too much to ask. He ruined the poor girl’s life, and now Caleb was going to ask her to go back to the same man to get some information for him over a turf war? It was cold-hearted, and it would usually line up with who he was, but right now, he was realizing the soft spot he was developing for the girl in bed next to him.

Maybe he’d wait for a little while, then ask her. He’d have to get a better read on her to see if it would be something she would be open to doing it. He didn’t want to ruin the good rapport he had built with her. At least not yet. He was enjoying it too much.

One hand was underneath his head, and the other one was on the back of hers, running his fingers through it gently. “So,” he began with his eyes closed, a smirk tugging at his lips, “if we’re staying in bed, what do you wanna do?” Caleb’s hand trailed down from her hair to the top of her back, lightly grazing it. “I have a few ideas, but…” his voice trailed off.