BLAIR'S POV
I walked down the street, tears brimming behind my eyes but not spilling down my cheeks. I swore to myself that I would not cry. I would not shed tears for those who would shed none for me. My own family had kicked me out. They shunned me now. I had no place to go.
I ran a hand across my stomach, feeling the tiny bump there. I let it rest on top of my abdomen, imagining how it would feel in a while when the baby began to kick.
"We're going to be okay." I assured her.
Her? Or was it a him?
I didn't know the gender yet.
"What will I name you?" I asked, looking down at my baby.
"Excuse me ma'am, but are you talking to yourself?" A boy stepped from the shadows of an alleyway with his head cocked curiously to the side. He eyed me cautiously, like a crazy person. I squinted to make out his features.
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "No, no, I was just talking aloud, figuring things out. I'm fine."
"You sure?" He asked, taking a step closer. "'Cause I don't see many pretty ladies like you wandering around these here streets this late in the night with a big old bag on their back."
"Actually, I'm trying to find a cheap motel, you know, a place to stay."
"Well miss, it so happens that me and the boys have got us a spare room back to the house. If you'd like, ya can stay there for the night."
"That's so kind!" I exclaimed, "Thank you!"
"Barge!" A voice barked out from behind me. I heard light footsteps quickly approaching. Curious, I spun around to see who was there. Suddenly an arm closed around my throat and began dragging me back; I felt something sharp against my upper back.
"Back off, the girl's mine!" The boy hissed.
"Let her go." A large figured was coming closer, flanked by at least three others.
"Get your own girl, Callum." The boy dragging me, Barge, hissed again.
"Don't make me hurt you, Barge." Callum said slowly as he approached.
Barge laughed and pulled harder, I coughed and clawed at his arm, but he just squeezed until I was struggling for air. I became dizzier and more lightheaded until I was only catching tiny bits of the exchange between the two boys. I gasped one last time before I thought I was going to pass out, and then his arm just disappeared. I was just an inch from the ground when someone's arms slid between my body and the pavement and lifted me up into the air. I was too out of it and lightheaded to struggle, pull away, or even make sense of what was happening.
I took deep, heaving breaths as strong arms clutched me against a broad chest.
"Let, me, go." I whispered hoarsely after a few minutes of gasping.
"You just got half-strangled, I don't think you can walk quite yet." A low, rough voice said from just above my head. The person who was holding me must have been talking.
"I can walk." I insisted, pulling away from the person.
"Alright." The boy carefully let my legs down and then released my shoulders once he thought I was standing firmly on solid ground. I swayed a bit, and his hand shot out to steady me.
"Be careful." He warned.
"I will." I said, yanking my arm away from him. "Where is my bag?"
"Here." Someone held out a dark lumpy package to me. I reached both hands out to grab it then pulled it back, fumbled to find the straps and put it over my shoulder.
"I have to go now." I said, turning away.
"No." Someone stepped forwards. It was Callum.
"No?" I turned back and stuck out a hip, trying to look sassy and annoyed. "Did you just say no to me?"
"It isn't safe for you to be wandering around. You'll stay with us tonight and we'll work something else out in the morning." Callum told me.
"Fine." I was too tired to argue. I didn't trust these boys, seeing as the last one to offer me a place was a psycho, but I didn't really have a choice.
"Beckett," Callum snapped his fingers in the air. The boy who had carried me appeared at his side.
"Yessir?"
"Carry the girls bag for her. It's only polite."
"Yessir." Beckett took my bag off my shoulder and started walking with the rest of the group.
"Come on now," Callum said to me, "It's not much further."
I glared at him through the darkness and followed the black shapes fading into the night. I wondered where they were leading me.
BECKETT'S POV
I carried the girl's bag as she walked a bit behind me, and although I never looked at her I could feel her glare digging into the back of my head. She obviously didn't trust us. She probably didn't want to be with us. She didn't know that we were her safest option right now. It wasn't safe for her to be just wandering around these parts, day or night.
When we eventually reached the house, she hesitated at the door.
"Go." Callum ordered. She went inside. Nobody disobeyed Callum. It wasn't just because he was the head of our house, he had always had an air of authority about him and there was no way around it. Even if they didn't want to, people always ended up doing what Callum wanted of them.
"Beckett." Callum barked out.
"Yessir?" I turned and snapped to attention. I felt like a marine or something, a15 year old orphaned marine. That was an interesting thought.
"Take the girl to her room."
"Which room, sir?"
"Maddox's. He can bunk with you tonight."
"Yessir." I turned to the girl. "Follow me, miss." I turned again and marched up the stairs, hearing her light footsteps behind me.
"Ow!" A thud shook the stairs as she tripped over someones jacket lying on the steps. I helped her up and made sure she was okay.
"Watch where you're going." I warned her.
"I'm trying! It's too dark in here." She snapped back.
Too dark? I looked around. Sure, we didn't have any lights on, but the light coming in the windows from the near-full moon was enough to see by.
"It isn't too dark, what are you talking about?"
"I've got night blindness, I can't see in the dark." She told me.
"Oh." I said simply and continued leading her to her room, kicking aside the few things lying about.
I kicked Maddox out of his room and sent him down the steps to mine. I put the girl's bag on the bed and paused awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.
"I'm Blair." She said after an awkward minute.
"Beckett." I replied, and then left.
I paused at the top of the stairs, listening to Callum scold a younger boy who'd only just gotten back to the house. It was nearly five in the morning, far past the 3a.m. curfew that Callum had set. Our 17 year old leader ran those under his like a military force, and our house like the barracks. Callum's heavy steps trudged towards the stairs and boys scurried around to tidy the hall and their rooms before he got there.
"Beckett." He said. I glanced up to see him standing directly in front of me.
"Yessir?"
"The girl is taken care of?"
"Yessir. And her name is Blair, sir."
"Blair…" He thought about this for a moment. "A pretty name for a pretty young girl."
"I think she's about your age, sir."
"Is she now? I never really saw her face."
"Yessir, I believe she is."
"Hmm…" Callum nodded and slipped past me, walking to the very end of the long hall and ducking to the left into his own room. Blair's was right across the hall.
"Yo, Beckett?" Someone called quietly from downstairs. "Is he out yet?"
"Give it a few minutes." I whispered back. I knew they heard me by the sound of boys retreating back into their rooms. About ten minutes later, all of the boys in the house, minus Callum, were gathered in the basement.
"Why'd he bring her back here? Callum has got a rule against girls in the house and he's never broken a rule before." Puck asked. Many boys in the group nodded, they were all just as confused as he.
"Maybe he's taken a fancy to her."
"He hasn't even seen the girl in the light of day. If he don't know what she really looks like, how could he like her?"
"Love at first sight?" A tiny boy, a newbie, piped up.
"Aww you shush! There's no such thing!" Boys berated him, tossing their hats and shoes at the little rookie.
"Callum is going to retire." I said.
"Retire?" Maddox asked, leaning forwards in interest. "What do you mean?"
"He's getting out of the gangs. I remember a long time ago, he told me that once he was done with all of this gang business, he wanted to get himself a girlfriend, a job and start a real life. He wanted to go legit." I explained.
"Callum Proctor is trying to get a girlfriend? That damn drill sergeant is going to scare her off before she even has a chance to learn his middle name."
"You guys are awful loud down here. I'm surprised Callum himself hasn't come down yet." We all twisted round to see Blair standing at the bottom of the concrete steps leading into the dank basement. Nobody knew what to say.
"Callum sleeps like a log." Somebody finally said.
"Interesting. Anyways, I'm not very interested in staying in a gang house, so you should all let him know tomorrow that I left while you were asleep and he'll have to find himself another girl." She told the group. Some boys shifted about uneasily.
"You can't leave." Maddox said.
"You can't keep me here."
"I have to. I'm under orders, miss." He replied.
"Then I'll leave tomorrow." She decided. We all glanced around at each other. If Callum really had decided that he wanted Blair, she would never leave this place.