Here ya go. Another chapter. I'm trying to get longer chapters out because I like them better than multiple short chapters.
Guest: I respect your opinion, but I do NOT think Dominion is better than JP3. I would argue that Dominion is the worst out of all of them. I hope Filmento does a video about this movie, because he explains these sort of things much better than I do.
Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.
The next morning, Kenji woke up, and found himself in a bed. Not his bed. He felt someone next to him, and saw that it was a woman. The teen remembered Lindsay, and the night they had. It wasn't Kenji's first time with a girl, but it was defiantly better than his first time.
He debated getting up, but when he checked his watch, he saw that the time was a little past six. He wrapped his arm around Lindsay's firm stomach, and pulled her closer to kiss her neck. She moaned in pleasure. Kenji did it again, and slid his other arm around her waist. As she moaned, and he kept kissing her, his hands moved up and down her body, sending shivers down her spine.
She woke up finally to the pleasure, and smiled. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Kenji said between kisses. "Did you sleep good?"
"Amazing." she said, moaning some more. Pretty soon, they just went another round to start the morning. Afterwards, Lindsay forced herself to get up. Kenji followed her to the kitchen. "You want some breakfast? I don't have to start work until eleven."
"Uh, sure. I've got nothing going on today, so I can just drop you off if you want." he offered her.
"Great." Lindsay said. "I actually left my car at work, so this just works even better."
After making some eggs, and another short round, Kenji dropped Lindsay off at the club. Before she got out, she looked at her ride and date from last night. "Thanks for the ride and for last night. I had fun."
"Me too." Kenji shared her smile.
"See you around Kenji." Lindsay said as she closed the door.
As the teen drove to his house, he thought about what happened. I can't get attached. I should only hit a club once and then go somewhere else. Once I've finished, I'll just start all over again.
After the drive home, he walked into the house. Alfred was no where to be found, which was fine with Kenji. One of the maids had seen him walk up the stairs. "Do you need something Mr. Kon?"
Kenji shook his head. "No thank you."
"Alright." she said. "Did you have fun last night? I don't think we saw you come home?"
Kenji turned to look her in the eye. "Um, it was fun. Just what I needed to help clear my mind." He walked back down to his old room to study with his friends over the phone. They don't need to know about this. Besides, I'm not doing anything wrong. It's not like I'm doing drugs or anything like that.
Four weeks later
The teens had gotten back into a routine of seeing each other often and study groups. They were preparing for their tests at the end of the week. That would determine if they would be allowed to move back into the right grade to graduate on time. The tension between Brooklynn and Darius was still there. They could all feel it. Apparently, they haven't talked to each other alone at all since the fight.
Kenji diverted everyone's attention away from the tension and said, "Hey, since we're all taking our test this week, we should do something for when we pass."
"IF we pass." Ben corrected.
Yaz sighed. "Always the optimist, aren't ya Ben?"
"We're gonna pass." Sammy said confidently. "We've worked our asses off this last month and a half. And besides, let's be honest. We're all going to go in there and say, 'I don't want to fall behind my class just because I got stuck on a dinosaur island for six months.' We all know that's gonna drum up SOME sympathy."
"I didn't realize you were manipulative Sammy." Brooklynn laughed. Darius continued to smile.
"We're gonna pass." Kenji repeated Sammy. "And when we do, I want to fly you guys out to New York. Weather we pass or not, we just need to do it. It'll be fun. Start looking for your flights, and you guys can stay in the spare bedrooms."
"Thanks man. Sounds good." Darius said. Everyone thanked him as well.
It was almost ten where Brooklynn was at, so she was going to leave soon. Everyone else was going to hang up around that time. "Alright guys, I'm going to try to get some sleep. Good night, see you all tomorrow maybe."
Everyone else said bye, and Darius just nodded. Once she hung up, everyone else slowly started to hang up. Once they were done, it was just Kenji and him left. "You doing good man?" the older teen asked.
Kenji nodded. "Yeah. Just a little tired. I haven't been sleeping good these last few weeks. I think it's that I'm trying to get used to a bed again."
Darius nodded as well. "It's been a little weird for me as well. Sometimes, I wake up and I'm either on the floor, or on the couch. Have the nightmares started for you yet?"
Kenji shook his head. "I've been busy with this studying, and hanging around. I'm trying to find friends, but it's a little hard." Not to mention, I've been sleeping around with strippers every few nights. And quickly developed a love of alcohol.
"Just keep trying." Darius encouraged. "It'll work out. But remember that we're still here for you."
"What about you?" Kenji asked. "Nightmares?"
Darius shook his head as well. "Like you said, busy studying."
"And hanging around with Katie?" the younger teen asked. Darius raised his eyebrow, but decided to ignore Kenji's question. "How's she doing?"
"Fine. We're doing fine. Much better than last time." Darius said.
Kenji asked again, "What happened last time?"
Darius explained with a sigh, "We were both going through some things when we first started dating. We were young, immature, didn't know what we were doing. But we've matured now and things are going smooth."
"Do you love her?" Kenji asked him.
"Um, I mean, I wouldn't be with her if I didn't." Darius pointed out.
Kenji shook his head. "That's not what I mean. You started dating her the first time because you thought she was cute. Then, as you were dating, you realized that you liked her. I haven't heard you talk about her the way you talk about Brooklynn."
"Because she's NOT Brooklynn." Darius shot back.
Kenji interupted. "She doesn't have to be exactly like Brooklynn for you to talk about her the way that you did Brooklynn. You pointed out all of the things Brooklynn did that made you laugh, happy, and everything else that made you nuts. But whenever you talk about Katie, it's always, 'we're fine.' Are you sure that you love her man?"
Darius sighed. "Yeah, whatever. Hope your test goes good. I've got mine tomorrow. Don't wanna over work myself. See ya." With that, Darius hung up on Kenji.
Kenji was in shock. Wha- Like, REALLY? Motherfucker, you just hang up on me? Ahh, whatever. Piss off. No wonder Brooklynn is fed up with you.
Later that week, they got on a group call, and revealed the results of their test. One by one, everyone revealed that they passed. Some with flying colors, and others just barely managed to squeeze by. Kenji cheered. "Alright, so has everyone found their tickets? You need to stay here for at least two weeks. Get your asses over as soon as you can. You guys should come on Monday next week, and just stay here until the week before school. That way everyone has time to grab their stuff and prepare for the year."
One by one, everyone sent Kenji their info, and he gladly payed for everything. He knew that his friends could care less if he had money, but it felt nice for him to finally contribute something to the group. Everyone started chatting about how fun it was going to be. Darius looked at the time, and said, "I can't wait to see you guys next week. I've gotta go. I'm hanging out with another friend tonight to celebrate."
Everyone aside Brooklynn told him to have fun. He hung up, and quickly got changed. He needed to get to Katie's house to pick her up for dinner and a movie. The usual date package. Darius was happy with Katie. They knew each other well, and got along fine. The problems usually started when things were getting difficult at home.
He had been talking about the group and his time on Nublar. He had mentioned that he was friends with Brooklynn, and Katie was excited about that. But the more he talked about her, the more Darius suspected that Katie was getting jealous. That wasn't something she would ever admit to his face, and that wasn't something Darius would say in front of her. But overall, things were going good for him.
Katie had been a little disappointed when Darius told her he was going to New York for two weeks. Mainly because he would be with Brooklynn. She knew that she was the jealous type. That didn't bother her though. She knew that Darius was loyal and wouldn't do anything wrong.
Despite him thinking that Darius was doing a lot of traveling for one person, Uncle Josh let Darius go to New York as long as he listened to Kenji and didn't get in trouble. Darius agreed to the terms.
Kenji had been waiting for Darius to arrive in New York. Darius had gotten an early morning flight because he liked to sleep on the plane. The two teens greeted each other when they saw each other. Brooklynn had taken a midnight flight, and arrived a little bit later than Darius.
Brooklynn and Kenji hugged each other. But the interaction between Darius and Brooklynn was much different. "Hey Darius."
"How've you been Brook?" he asked.
"Fine." she said. "How's Montana?"
"Great."
"Great."
Kenji rolled his eyes at this. Awkward silence ensued until Ben came along. He already lived in New York, so his mom just dropped him off with Kenji. Sammy and Yaz had gotten there around the same time. With the group together again. Kenji lead them to his car. He had taken the Telluride, which allowed Darius and Kenji up front, Sammy and Yaz in the back, and Brooklynn and Ben in the back.
"So, how was everyone's flight?" Kenji asked. Everyone said that it was good. "I just realized that I could have bumped you guys up to first class. My bad."
"Hey, the fact that you flew us out is enough." Yaz assured.
Ben agreed. "Thanks Kenji."
The day was spent with everyone getting settled in Kenji's house. Everyone was impressed. They ate, rested, and slept the entire rest of the day. The next morning, Kenji treated his friends to a nice breakfast, and a walk around NYC. The only ones who haven't been to New York was Darius, Sammy, and Yaz. It had been a while for Brooklynn, so she felt like a kid again.
After walking, exploring, and some eating, the teens found themselves back at Kenji's house. "Hey, do you guys wanna play some video games? I've got multiple TVs and Consoles." Kenji suggested.
Darius and Ben said, "Let's do it."
The boys started playing Star Wars Battlefront while the girls watched. Right now, Darius and Kenji were fighting against each other. Amazingly, they were pretty evenly matched. Kenji had spent the first month playing it, and Darius was quick to get the hang of everything. It was pretty close. Darius played as Han Solo, and Kenji had picked Boba Fett. Darius had managed to figure out Kenji's strategy, and now tried to get an opening.
Whenever Kenji came at him, it was always from behind first. Then, as Darius would turn around, Kenji would fly over his head, and shoot him from behind again, making it harder for Darius to shoot and get a hit. Darius figured it out, and just needed a way to get Kenji to do it again, and then he could use the Lucky Shot ability followed by rapid fire.
Darius got to the hanger, and waited in a very obvious trap. But Kenji fell for it, and shot at him from behind. As expected, Darius turned around, and Kenji used his jetpack. His only means of escape. Darius turned back to where Kenji was landing, and fired the Lucky Shot, causing a lot of damage. Using rapid fire, he quickly finished off Kenji. The game had ended, with Darius winning by three more lives.
Kenji groaned, then smiled and elbowed his friend. "That was good. Nice kill."
"Anybody else wanna play?" Darius offered. "I'm getting tired of kicking his ass."
Yaz decided that she wanted to size Kenji up. "I've got this in the bag."
Darius handed her the controller, and sat down on the couch. Brooklynn and Sammy were on one end, and Ben and he on another side. Brooklynn barely looked at him. Darius sighed, and went back to watching Kenji and Yaz fight it out.
Ben suddenly blurted out, "Wanna help me commit arson later?"
"Bro, what the fuck?" Darius said as everyone looked at him, stopping what they were doing.
Ben realized what had happened. "Oh, sorry. My bad." Everyone went back to what they were doing. A few minutes later, Ben whispered in Darius's ear, "Wanna help me commit arson later?"
Darius nodded. "Hell yeah. What do you need?"
"Just a pack of matches, and something to fuel the flame." the youngest teen explained.
Kenji had lost the game again, and gave someone else a turn. Brooklynn joined Yaz, and Kenji sat down next to Ben. "If you need some fuel, there's some lighter fluid near the fire pit on the deck. And I know the perfect place to commit some arson."
"Great." Ben said a little too cheery. "What time are we leaving?"
Darius suggested, "We should probably leave after the girls have fallen asleep."
"I like it." Kenji agreed.
With a plan in mind, the boys waited for the girls to head to bed. When they started to head to bed, they just played it off as if they were going to stay up playing video games. Which was actually something they would have done anyways.
Once Sammy decides to fall asleep, the boys wait another half hour. And also, Kenji and Darius started another game of Battlefront, so it was important for them to settle it. Once Darius was able to reestablish his position as kind over Kenji, the three teens sneaked out to the garage to grab a car.
Kenji grabbed the keys, and lead his friends to a slick, black 2013 Ford Mustang. Darius audibly gasped. "My God. THIS is a sports car. Oh, I could have used this diamond beauty two and a half years ago."
"Impressive right?" Kenji said as he opened the driver's side. Darius opened the passenger door, and adjusted it to give Ben some room to get in the back seat. Once everyone was seated and buckled up, Kenji started the car, and the engine roared to life. Putting his foot on the gas, he drove out of the garage.
After about an hour later, they were at a strange, abandoned warehouse. Darius didn't understand what this place was. "What is this place?" Kenji didn't answer him right away, so the older teen looked around and saw a small shrine. It was old. After walking up and reading who it was dedicated to, he saw what looked to be Kon. Looking back at Kenji, he asked, "Is this your mother's shrine?"
The middle teen nodded. "She was picking up a friend from work. I later found out that she was cheating on my Dad. They were probably going to bang each other at his house. But one of his buddies tried to grab her. She tried to drive away, but ended up hitting one of the forklifts. The beam came down and crushed her. Due to the investigation by the cops, this place went out of business. And now, this building just sits here, rotting away."
Darius nodded. "Well, did you manage to grab the lighter fluid?" Kenji tossed two bottles at Darius and Ben. As they entered the warehouse, Darius instructed, "Just start your way from the top, work your way down. Try to use the fluid sparingly. We'll meet back down at this entrance."
After spending about an hour of walking around, and spreading the liquid, Ben and Kenji were already back at the entrance. Darius took a few extra minutes, but finally caught up to his friends. Taking a match out of his jacket, Kenji lit it up, and tossed the little piece of wood onto the fluid. The heated flame burst, and quickly grabbed onto the other liquid in the building. The three teens had to quickly back away and move more towards the car.
Ben had gotten in the back seat again, but he could still see from where he was. Darius and Kenji had laid back on the car, with Kenji sitting on the hood. "You get it out of your system Ben?" the middle teen asked.
"Uh-huh." Ben answered. "Although, this can only hold me for so long."
Darius laughed. "Try making a torch one of these days."
"Eh." Ben dismissed it quickly.
Kenji sighed deeply. "You guys do not know how satisfying this feels for me right now. Thanks you guys for being my best friends."
Darius gave him a side hug. "Well, we've committed arson. We ready to hit up a McDonalds and head back to Kenji's?"
Ben nodded. "I'm down for that. What about you Kenj?"
The middle teen nodded. "Let's do it." He got off the hood of the car, but stumbled to the ground slightly.
Darius helped him get up. "Hey man, you good?"
Kenji nodded. "I'm fine. Just tripped."
The older teen lifted his friend up off the ground, and dusted him off for him. But when his hand crosses Kenji's chest pocket, he feels something. It was too big to be a phone. That's when Darius smelled his friend's breath. Hennessy? Opening up the pocket, and grabbing what was in there, Darius found a flask. Kenji looked like he didn't register what had happened until he realized that Darius had the flask.
"H-hey. Giv-v-ve that bac-k-k-k." Kenji slurred.
"Have you been drinking this entire time?" Darius asked, shocked at his friend.
"Ehh, a little bit-t-t." Kenji muttered. Darius groaned. Suddenly, the teens could hear sirens in the distance.
"Oh shit." Ben exclaimed. "We've gotta go."
Darius nodded. "Put the seat up Ben." Darius directed Kenji to the passenger side. "Hey, Kenji, can I have the keys? It's really important that you give me the keys so we can escape."
Kenji shook his head. "M-my car. I dr-r-rive."
Darius groaned again. "But, you can't drive. And cops are on their way right now. Give me the keys. We've gotta go now." Kenji still didn't budge. Taking action into his own hands, he felt around Kenji's pants pockets. When he felt the keys, he quickly grabbed them.
"H-hey-y-y-y." Kenji started.
But Darius shut the door. Once he got back into the driver seat, he said, "Let me drive, and I'll let you win at Battlefront."
"Deal." Kenji accepted without hesitation.
Darius turned over the car, and got buckled. He quickly stepped on the gas and bolted out of the driveway. Unfortunately for him, he passed a cop car down the street. And with the way he was driving, he knew the cop would pursue him. "Darius, you just flew past a cop doing 60 on a 40 street!" Ben yelled.
"I realize that!" Darius shouted back. Looking in his rear view mirrors, he saw the red and blue lights turn around. "Aaah SHIT!' Darius said, "You guys are gonna wanna make sure you're buckled!" Ben made sure he was strapped, and Darius made sure Kenji was in place. Having being done with the automatic crap, Darius made it so that way he could shift gears manually. He was about to go racing. "Hang on!"
The teen stepped on the gas down the street with the cop car in pursuit. Using his experience, Darius lead the cop on chase through the empty streets. He didn't want to get caught. He needed to lose this guy FAST before reinforcements arive.
BRIIIIIIING BRIIIIIIING
Darius looked at his phone for a second to see who was calling him. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!" The driver tossed the phone to Ben. "Answer it." he ordered.
Ben swipped up. "Hey Brooklynn." he answered.
"Ben?" She hadn't expected the youngest teen to answer the phone. "Where are you guys? Where's Darius?"
Ben slides in his seat as Darius takes a few sharp corners. "Um, Darius can't come to the phone right now. He's currently trying to lose a cop car, drifting through the different street corners. Whoa!"
"What?!" Brooklynn shouted, causing Ben to take the phone away from his ear.
Kenji was sober enough to open his eyes and exclaim, "Dude! What the hell?"
Darius shared his frustration. "You son of a bitch! I'm gonna kill you if we don't get sent to jail!"
"Ben, put Darkus on the phone!" Brooklynn demanded.
Ben clicked the speaker button. Putting it in the cup holder, the youngest teen said to the driver, "It's for you."
"Asshole." Darius muttered before clearing his throat. "Hey Brooklynn. How's it going?"
Brooklynn started going in on Darius. "You better get your ass back to the house! Because I did NOT fly to New York to bail you out! Why the hell would you take Kenji and Ben for a joyride?!"
Darius defended himself. "Ben needed to satisfy his arsenal needs, and Kenji needed some anger therapy."
"Really man?" It was Ben's turn to be mad at Darius for spilling the beans.
"Hey, if I'm going down, YOU'RE coming with me." Darius said. "We didn't plan on getting chased by the cops. It just HAPPENED."
"How much of an idiot can you be Darius?!" Brooklynn resumed. "I don't know why you've spiraled out of control lately. Just stop running away from how you feel! There's nothing wrong with not running anymore Darius. Whatever it is you're feeling, just tell me! Just tell me please!"
Darius couldn't deal with this right now. "Sorry, gotta go. Byeeeeeee!" The teen hung up, and said to the two passengers, "Hold on to something!"
Without another thought, Darius came to an intersection, and started doing doughnuts. If he could create enough smoke, he could get them away safely. The cop car was far back enough that by the time the smoke cleared, the car was gone.
The teens cheered loudly! They couldn't believe that they had gotten away! "Hey, nice driving man!" Ben complimented.
Kenji agreed. "I thought we were goners for a second."
"I honestly still can't believe that just happened." Darius said. "My heart is RACING in my chest right now." They laughed at tonight's antics. They should NOT have made it. It just almost makes the night too easy.
As usual though, that thinking came back to bite him in the ass. As Darius pulled into the driveway, Kenji noticed the three figures. "We're in trouble." he muttered.
Darius saw Brooklynn, Yaz, and Sammy as the headlights shined. He parked the car, and locked eyes with Brooklynn. "What do we do Darius?"
The older teen sighed. "Well boys, I think we all know the right thing to do." Darius got out of the car, grabbed Kenji, and helped him out. Ben was able to get out a moment later.
The three boys faced the three girls. "Get inside now." Brooklynn ordered.
Darius nodded. He took his hands off of Kenji who was very drunk, and the younger teen fell in the grass. "Woah, you okay man?"
"What happened to him?" Sammy asked.
"You guys help get him to bed. He's drunk." Darius explained. As Brooklynn came over, she gave Darius a look. "It's not MY alcohol. I'm not THAT stupid. You know me better than that."
"Do I?" Brooklynn shot back.
"Now right now you two." Yaz interrupted.
Sammy asked, "Brooklynn, can you grab the door?"
Darius watched as the three girls helped Kenji inside the house. The teen turned towards Ben who was about to follow them and blocked him off. The older teen put his finger to his lip, and Ben kept quiet. Darius motioned for the younger teen to follow him around the house.
The teens ran to the side that Darius thought their room was on. "Start climbing. If we can get inside before they figure out we're missing, we can lock the door and we won't have to face the brunt of their anger."
"What happened to doing the right thing?" Ben countered.
"YOU'RE the one who decided he wanted to commit arson." Darius responded. Once he got to the window, he peeked inside. "Alright, we're clear." The older teen proceeded to open the window. Just as he opened it all the way, the door swung open. Brooklynn and Darius locked eyes. "Go down, go down go down."
Ben asked, "What?"
"Go down! She's right here!" Darius said after shutting the window to slow Brooklynn down.
They got halfway down when Ben yelled, "Back up back up back up!" Sammy was right beneath them. The two boys looked up, and saw Brooklynn.
"Sideways." They boys said at the same time in agreement. They started to climb to the next door, but they saw Yaz. Ben looked back up at Darius. "What now Darius?"
Darius sighed. "Well, you see, now it's all about choosing who we get in trouble with. Frankly none of them are very viable options."
"Just get off the side of the house you two." Brooklynn said.
"You mind?" Darius shouted back at her. "We're in the middle of a private conversation right now." The older teen saw her eyes narrow, and he almost fell because eof how angry he looked.
"So, do we go up?" Ben asked as he climbed up to Darius's height.
Darius explained, "No, because I just made Brooklynn mad. She's going to go into me harder than before."
"What about Yaz?" Ben suggested, getting his footing.
Darius shook his head. "Ehh, it could go either way. Too unpredictable. Which is great when it doesn't work against you."
"So, we're going with Sammy then?" Ben asked, trying to follow his train of thought.
"She's essentially the mom of the group, so I think we can chalk her scolding to 'not mad, just disappointed.'" Darius told him.
With that, Ben and Darius headed down to Sammy. As expected, she had a disappointed face. No body said anything as Sammy lead them in to the house.
Kenji was already sitting in the living room by the time they got there. He waved with small smile. Darius and Ben returned the wave with small sjoles of their own. Once the rest of them were sat down, Brooklynn, in a freakishly calm tone, said, "Why did you guys decide to go for a joyride and street race a police car at one in the morning?"
"Because we didn't want to be caught by the burnt down building." Ben answered.
Brooklynn shook her head. "And why would the cops be responding to a burnt down building?"
"Because we're the ones that burnt it." Darius answered.
"What the hell possessed you three to do something so stupid?!" Brooklynn asked, her tone getting more angry by the word.
"Blame Ben. He's the one that wanted to burn something down." Kenji said. "And besides, it was abandoned. It deserved to be burnt down anyways."
"That still doesn't excuse what you three did." Yaz butted in. " If you were just going to go for a drive, that would have been fine, but because you burnt down warehouse, that makes this even WORSE."
"You're the oldest here Darius." Sammy said. "I would have expected YOU to be the most level headed. You could have gotten Kenji and Ben KILLED!"
"I'm a better driver than you give me credit for." Darius said.
"How?" Brooklynn asked, snapping. "We've known each other for eight months. And in that time, I feel like we've gone back and forth between friends and just friends of our friends."
"Yeah, just so we' don't get too off topic, but Darius, you've managed to help us through some crazy shit." Yaz said. "You're very closed off. Even by my standards. At times, it feels like we barely know you."
"It seems like you're stuck in Jurassic World, where the only thing you can think about is surviving." Sammy agreed. "We know that you're caring, you're brave, loyal. But I barely feel like we've connected as friends."
"Okay, so I don't share everything with you guys." Darius goes to defend himself. "Isn't that sort of normal?"
"Not after almost nine months." Brooklynn pointed out. She huffed, then said, "You know what bugs me the most about this whole thing? When I talked to Ben on the phone, he didn't even seem the slightest concern. Why?"
"Come on." Darius scoffed. "The kid spent a month in the jungle by himself. You don't think that changes you?"
"While Darius does have a point about that," Ben spoke up, "the jungle was not why I wasn't afraid. It's because I knew that he was an experienced driver."
"How would you know that Ben?" Yaz said. "For all you know, he could have gotten his license months before heading to Nublar."
Brooklynn thought out loud, "Unless he told you something. Something personal."
"Why would me telling him how long I've been driving mean I told him something personal?" Darius asked.
"Because when Ben answered the phone, he said that Darius wasn't just trying to lose a cop, he was drifting." Brooklynn explained. "Why would Darius know how to drift if he had his license for a few months?" Brooklynn eyed Darius for a second. His reaction was one of... sadness? Sure, she was tearing into him, but that's because despite it all, she still loved him.
Darius sighed. "I got my license just after my mother got sick. And since she was confined to a hospital bed, all the road trips we had planned were basically gone. All of our resources went into treatment. She lost her job, we moved in with my Uncle. Everything me and my brother did was to help pay for treatment. But, the thing about Healthcare? Lifesaving treatment is expensive."
Darius sighed, and continued. "I got involved with some underground street racing. Every penny I won, it went straight to making sure she got better. But one day, I didn't go racing. I went to a school dance with my girlfriend. The night she died was the same night that I could have walked in with all that cash and maybe got her to survive to the next morning."
Darius wiped a tear that had escaped his eyes. "Kenji's mom was killed at that warehouse. I know how it feels to just want to watch something burn. The reason why I helped him and Ben burn down the warehouse is because it made me feel needed. When I feel like you don't need me, I take that as my time to go."
Brooklynn realized that's why he gets distant with her. He feels like they don't need him. Or maybe, she makes him feel like she doesn't need HIM. "Darius, we all need you still. You're the one that gets us through everything. You give more than you can get. Without you to help us make the hard calls, we wouldn't even be alive anymore. You've done enough for us. Can you just allow someone else to be what YOU need now?"
Darius slumped his head down. He knew that he wanted to. He just didn't want the pain of losing someone again. He has already lost so much. Kenji chuckled. "Even NOW, you can't just let someone else save the day." Darius looked towards the teen as Kenji got up. The younger teen took another sip of Hennessy from his flask. "Because Darius just always needs to be the hero. You did it on Nublar, you did it with Mitch and Tiff, with Brooklynn getting captured. I told you one day that someone would get killed. And now, someone has. I blame YOU for my father's death Darius. YOU." Kenji got up in Darius's face.
"I didn't kill your father Kenji." Darius said.
"It was your plan." Kenji shot back. "You got Mae killed as well. Because you're selfish Darius."
The older teen shook his head. "I'm done hqving this fight and trying to reason with you. I've done everything to keep you guys safe. I'll give you credit, you've got some pretty big balls of steel to continue accusing me of being selfish and trying to play the hero."
"You ARE selfish. AND a coward." Kenji said. "You're a coward because you refuse to face the future when you can't change the past. You're HORRIBLE for Brooklynn." Turning towards her, he says, "I can't believe you have feelings for HIM. It's like you didn't even pay attention to how he acted." Kenji started walking towards her. Nobody thought much of it because he reached for his flask again. But after a second, he asked, "Why don't you kiss me the way you kissed him that night?"
Brooklynn was confused, but became afraid of Kenji when he grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards him. Darius was the first to react, and pull him back as Yaz and Sammy pried Brooklynn out of Kenji's grip. That's when chaos broke out.
Out of anger, Darius, who held onto Kenji with his right hand, punched Kenji in the face. The younger teen crashed into the coffee table, knocking a glass alcohol bottle. "Get her out of here." Darius told the girls, pointing at Brooklynn. Darius hasn't seen her so afraid since the Scorpius attack. Looking back at Ben, he said, "Wake up the other adults. Maybe they will be able to calm him down."
Ben went to do that. Darius turned around to check on his friend, who for whatever reason, seemed to be going off the deep end. Once he turned around though, he was met with a shot glass thrown at his forehead. The little cup shattered in his face, and Darius cried out in pain. It wasn't the fact that the cup was thrown at him, it was that it was thrown hard enough to shatter.
Kenji quickly got up and pushed Darius and he over the couch onto the floor. Kenji started to punch Darius blindly. Darius fought back, getting a couple of hits to Kenji's face. Kenji decided that just punching wasn't enough. Using both hands, the rich teen grabbed Darius's throat. The older teen tried to get out of Kenji's grip, but couldn't.
Darius started to see spots in his vision, and Kenji wouldn't let go. CRASH! Finally, Kenji's hands let go. The older teen felt himself being pulled off the ground. Darius tried to look back at Kenji, wondering why he let go. He saw another shattered whisky bottle, and Kenji lying on the carpet holding his head.
The teen looked at who was pulling him, and saw Ben. His ears started to ring, but he could vaguely hear him ask someone, "Did you call the cops?"
"They're on their way right now." he thought he heard Yaz's voice.
He was taken to the bathroom, and the girls followed him. As Ben set Darius down on the toilet seat, Darius's vision started to blur. He looked in the mirror, and saw his bloody face. His lip was busted, and he had a nasty gash on his head where the shot glass hit.
Brooklynn at some point had started cleaning his face. And all he could think about in that moment was how he had indirectly put her in danger. A couple of silent tears rolled down his eyes. His face hurt, yeah, but he had been physically hurt before. This was a new emotional pain for him. Darius knew that from now on, he couldn't run from his feelings anymore. He needed to be honest.
He looked in Brooklynn's eyes, and saw that she was crying too. He wasn't sure if she got hurt worse than he originally thought, or if it was because she saw how beaten he looked. In a way, Darius was. He was tired of running emotionally. He took his hands, and pulled her into a hug. They held each other tightly, like their lives depended on them not letting each other go. But they had to eventually, as they heard sirens and the doorbell ring around the house. The cops were here.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand that's where we leave. I'm nit good at writing filler chapters. Yes, this is important to future plots and whatnot, but this just falls flat compared to my other chapters. Anyways, stay home, stay safe.