... and Forever (Next Generation: Chaos Bleeds 1)

She glanced down at the leather cut she wore. Miles had given it to her as she’d left it behind. It was her Skulls cut, marking her as the property of one of the men, her father.

As she ran her fingers over the leather, it felt wrong to be wearing it.

Movement at the edge of the clubhouse caught her eye.

She stood perfectly still and there at the gate stood Luke. He held a bouquet of flowers and a wrapped present.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said.

He spun in a circle. “I’m not here as a rival or wearing colors. I heard the news and that you were going to be in town.” He held up the flowers. “I wanted to offer you my congratulations.”

“Oh,” she said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to. I know we haven’t seen eye to eye on a lot of things.”

“Luke, we haven’t agreed on a lot of things. I’m in love with Simon.”

“I know, but, after everything, I wanted to apologize.”

“What for?” She didn’t reach out to take the flowers. Instead, she folded her arms underneath her breasts and with how big her stomach was, on top of it.

“Ryan. I didn’t know what he was capable of and it makes me ashamed to have ever been his friend.”

She held her hand up. “Stop. Really. None of this matters to me.”

“I know I never had a shot with you, but … I did love you, Tabitha. I’m not trying to win you over or anything. Just wanting to let you know how I feel. Don’t worry, those feelings, they’re fading. Looking at you now, seeing how happy you are, it makes me happy.”

Tabitha sighed. Stepping up toward him, she took the flowers and present from him. “Thank you.”

“I hope you’re happy, Tabitha. You deserve it. I wish you and Simon all the best.”

She nodded, stepped away.

Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

Tabitha turned. “This means nothing.” She went onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “For what it’s worth, I hope you find someone, Luke. Someone who can love you. Don’t ever treat her like she’s second best. Ever.”

With that, she turned on her heel and didn’t look back. Daisy was standing at the door, watching her. She went into her friend’s arms, holding her. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. It has been a long day.” She tried to stifle a yawn.

Daisy laughed. “Come on, I’ll make the excuses and we’ll go to bed.”

Tabitha left everything to Daisy and like a pro, within ten minutes, they were in Daisy’s room at the clubhouse or more, Anthony’s room.

“You’re proving that you can be the head old lady,” Tabitha said, changing into a nightshirt.

Daisy laughed. “Yeah, right. I’m sure they only did that because you’re pregnant and they don’t want to stress you out.”

“They never did this with Nathan,” Tabitha said.

“I know. I did though.”

Tabitha smiled as she thought about the party her best friend had thrown for her. Complete with ice cream, cake, and water. It hadn’t been great but for Tabitha, it had been perfect.

“I do sometimes miss when we were kids,” she said. “Do you?”

“Life was much simpler. We could go and have a whole lot of fun. There was no pressure. I hated high school, though,” Daisy said. “That’s one thing I’m glad I don’t have to get out of bed to do.”

“How is college?”

“I don’t know. I’m taking a break at the moment. Everything seems so hectic here, you know?” Daisy tucked her hair behind her ears. “Can you imagine what my life would have been like if Whizz and Lacey hadn’t adopted me?”

“Can you?” Tabitha asked.

“I wonder if I’d have been nice or if I’d been mean, you know? Would I have slept around? Would I even care for a job?”

Tabitha laughed. “You’re kind of exhausting your head on pointless what-ifs.”

“Yeah, you’ve got to learn to do the same as well. There’s no point in thinking about what has been. Focus on what is to come.” Daisy stroked her hair back. “I know what you’re going to do.”

Tabitha smiled. “You don’t hate me?”

“No, I don’t. Promise me that club aside, we can always talk. You’ll always be my best friend.”

“I promise.”

Tabitha wrapped her arm around her friend and together, they fell asleep. It was going to be the last time they could have a sleepover like this.

****

Simon’s head pounded. There was no way he was going to drink that much alcohol again. He’d promised Tabby he’d take care of Nathan, and once his son was in bed, well, the booze had flown freely as the guys all celebrated his upcoming child. It helped to distract him from the fact Tabby was in Fort Wills, closer to the Monster Dogs and away from him. He wanted to follow her, but she wasn’t going to start a fight. She was going to have some fun with friends and family.