Because You Love Me

Chapter 22: I'm going to melt into a puddle of Hazel onto the floor.

Chapter 22: I'm going to melt into a puddle of hazel onto the floor.

I lazily slump down the stairs Sunday morning. Yawning, I make my way to the kitchen and am surprised to see Lexi sitting at the counter.

"Hey." I say as I make my entrance.

"Morning." She replies.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, getting a cup of coffee organised, "Want one?"

She nods, "Please. And I came to see if my dad was here but he wasn't."

"He said he had to go to an appointment." I reply.

Lexi looks down at the counter.

"How are you?" I ask.

She lets out a small laugh, "As good as I can be I guess. I just wish he would let me in, you know?"

I purse my lips, "Yeah, I do."

"Like the appointment, he didn't even tell me he had one. I want to be a part of this, help him through it, if he keeps going around with all these secrets who knows what could happen." She says.

I nod, "Doesn't Aunty Laura know?"

Lexi gives me a look, "Do you think she would have kicked him out if she did?"

I roll my eyes and give her a coffee, "Why won't he just tell her?"

She shrugs, "They're not in a good place right now, if he tells her she'll just break apart, I know it."

I nod, "I guess."

"So," She says, giving me a different look, "I heard you went out yesterday?"

I roll my eyes, "Maybe."

"Come on, what happened?" She smiles.

I tilt my shoulders and hold my head up, smirking, "Guess who has a date to the masquerade ball?"

Lexi squeals, "No way! That's so exciting!"

I smile, "Yeah."

"Now I'm going to have to get a date." She says.

I wave her off, "You'll get one easy, you always do."

She shrugs, "Yeah, but they're always just so I can go. This year, I want to actually go with someone, not just for the sake of going."

"Sounds good." I nod.

We take the sudden silence to sip on our coffees.

"So what do you know about the gang?" I ask.

She purses her lips, "A bit, just when I was investigating my dad."

"About Uncle Steve's and Jay's gang?" I ask.

She nods, "Yeah, about where he was going, which was usually their base. A lot of the other times it was this underground bar out of town."

"Like a club?" I ask.

She nods, "Yeah I guess you could say that. It's like a mutual place all gang members from different gangs can hang out."

I nod, "I know the place."

"You do?" She asks.

"Yeah, Sam took me there on a date once." I reply.

She frowns, "Interesting place for a date."

"Yeah, I didn't go down well." I reply.

"What happened?" She asks.

"The enemy gang, the one Sam's on, well lets just say I had a bad run in with the leader." I say.