The brownies^
Cove's POV
Yesterday I passed my driver's test. I ended up taking it two weeks early because someone canceled and I was able to take their spot.
As soon as my dad and I finished filling out all of the paperwork, he drove me straight to my aunt's house to pick up my new car.
Getting handed the keys was the next feeling ever. I drove home that day, blasting my favorite song the whole way.
Today I'm going to surprise River with some brownies. He doesn't know that I passed my test yet because I never told him that I was going to take it early. Therefore, he still thinks I'm taking it in 2 weeks.
I checked with Azzy to see if it's okay that I come over, and she said that it's fine. Her and River are just chilling at home so I can drop by whenever.
I went downstairs after changing into a warm outfit. I quickly whipped up some brownie batter using the pre-made brownie box mix, then spread it out on a tray and put it in the oven.
While the brownie baked, I ate the leftover batter before taking some canned frosting and dying it pink. I even added some rainbow circular sprinkles into the mix.
When the brownie finished cooking, I took the tray out of the oven and cut the brownie into several small squares.
I then let them cool for 10 minutes before frosting them and putting them in a container. Finally, I'm ready to go.
The cold December air bit at my skin as soon as I stepped outside. Even with my thick jacket on, I'm freezing.
Last night it hailed, that's a good sign that we'll have a white Christmas. I love snow so I'm super excited for that.
The second I got in my car, I turned the heat up to full blast. After setting the brownie container in the passenger seat, I put my seatbelt on and started to drive.
Almost 50 minutes later, I parked in River's driveway. Grabbing the container, I jogged up to his door and knocked.
River opened the door seconds later and stared down at me in confusion.
"Surprise!"
After registering that it is in fact me, he smiled and lifted me off the ground, pulling me into a hug.
"River you're going to squish the-"
"Shhh, I missed you."
"I missed you too but-"
"Shhh."
"The brownies!"
He finally pulled away and carefully took the container in his hands, inspecting the slightly messed up brownies.
"Oops, sorry. They still look cute Cove, thank you."
"Mhm. Can I come in? It's freezing."
"Oh yeah of course, here." He stepped back and opened the door wide enough for me to come in.
I thanked him and walked inside, following him to the kitchen.
"Oh my gosh Cove, these are delicious! Where'd you learn to bake like this?"
"The recipe is on the back of the brownie mix box silly, anyone that can read can make those!"
"Oh, usually box brownies taste cardboard but these are amazing."
"Cardboard?" I giggled.
"Aha." He nodded.
"Well I'm glad these don't taste like cardboard."
"Yep, It's because you made them. Nothing you make could ever taste bad, it's impossible."
"That's right. I have a green thumb for baking."
River laughed and shook his head, "I don't think that's a thing baby."
"Well it is now," I declared while smiling at his deep laughter. I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing it.
"Whatever you say," he sighed, picking up brownie and sticking it in my mouth.
"Yoh rihts fis is gdd," I said with the brownie still in my mouth.
"What?"
I chewed and swallowed before repeating myself, "you're right, this is good."
"Oh, well of course I'm right."
"Silly," I giggled. He smiled and pulled me so that my head is now resting on his chest.
"How did you even get here?" He asked after kissing my lips.
"I drove," I answered, shrugging nonchalantly.
"You drove? Since when can you drive?"
"Since yesterday, I passed my driver's test yesterday and I wanted to surprise you."
"Oh, well I'm glad. Now you can come over whenever you want."
"Yeah, I guess so."
We fell silent for a bit after that, neither of us knowing what to say.
"Oh, how about I take you on a drive so I can show you my amazing driving skills!"
"Oh course baby, c'mon." He grabbed a jacket and some shoes while I grabbed the brownies. We then walked out to his car, and for the first time ever, I got in the driver's seat.
"Alright, where to?" I slowly back up and pulled out of his driveway.
"I don't know," he shrugged.
"Maybe I'll just drive and we can both look around for something interesting."
"Yeah that sounds good," River agreed.
I started the descent down the mountain. Besides a small neighborhood towards the bottom, there's not many other houses.
My ears soon popped, so I know that we're about to pass said neighborhood. As we drove through by the neighborhood, I noticed that one of the houses had a cool Santa sled up front.
"It's Christmas season!" I accidentally blurted. It's like whatever's in my mind just comes out when I'm around River.
"It is," River chuckled, making me blush. In order to pretend like I said that on purpose, I continued the conversation.
"Are you gonna decorate your house? I assume it would be a lot of work since its so big but it will pay off in the end."
"It depends what you mean by decorate, usually we just put up a Christmas tree."
"I mean things like lights and reefs. My family usually hangs lights on the roof and around the door. Inside, my mom puts up stockings and we take Christmas photos for the walls."
"Oh, I don't really ever have anyone to do those things with," River muttered. It almost sounds like he's sad, oh no, I didn't mean to make him upset!
"Well now you have me and Azzy! I don't know about her but I would love to help you set up. We can do it together River, it will be great."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'm going to hold you up on that. We can order lights and decorations, then we'll all set them up when they come."
"Sounds perfect. And I won't back down so you don't have to worry about holding me up on it."
He nodded and I continued to drive silently for a while.
Somehow we ended up near harbor. I don't remember how we got here, I just let my mind lead the way somehow it took us somewhere perfect.
I decided to park in one in front of it so that we can look at the ocean. River smiled at my choice and took off my seatbelt, pulling me into his lap.
As I cuddled into his chest, he kissed the crown of my head multiple times, making me giggle.
"Thank you baby." His words muffled against my hair but I still understood them.
"For what?" I asked. He went silent for a few moments before answering.
"Cove there's so much I could say. For being the best thing to ever happen to me. For making every bad situation good. For trying your best to fill in all the gaps in my life. I don't think you'll ever realize how much you've done for me."
My heart stopped at his words.
"River I- I feel the same way. I feel like you make everything better and I find myself always wanting to be around you. River I don't know what this feeling is, but I love it. I never ever want it to go away."
River smiled and kissed my nose. "I'm not good at expressing my feelings but I think I fell the same thing as you. The feeling is so strong, I crave it every second of my life. I... I think I lo-"
The ringing of his phone cut him off. Why does it always have to ring in the worst possible time?
"Sh*t, baby I'm sorry but I have to take this. Wait here."
He stepped out of the car and closed the door after setting me back in my seat. He started talking but his voice is muffled, I can't quite make out what he's saying.
What was he just about to say? Was he going to say that he loves me? No, I'm getting ahead of myself.
After a while, it started to drizzle. Maybe he'll come back inside now that it's raining.
Or maybe not.
He ignored the rain and talked to whoever it is for another 20 minutes before finally coming back inside.
"River you're drenched! Here, I have one of your jackets in the backseat." His clothes look like a second skin, the water is making them stick to his body.
Before he could respond, I reached back and grabbed the black hoodie, gently setting it in his lap. "There, hurry up and put it on before you catch a cold."
He obeyed and took of his wet jacket, replacing it with the dry one.
"Thanks baby. Why exactly do you have this in your car?"
"You left it at my house the other day and I was going to give it back to you, but I forgot."
"Oh okay, well thank you. I'm sorry about that, my Dad called. He never calls unless it's really important." River visibly stiffened at the mention of his conversation.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me. Are you drying up or do you want to go back to your house so you can change?"
"I'm okay, it's just a little rain. I saw a sign for a seafood restaurant just over there, do you want to go try it out?"
"Sure." We both got out and quickly walked across the street. The door slammed shut behind us as we entered do to the high winds.
"What do you want baby?" River asked when we got to the counter.
"This sushi and an apple juice please," I replied, pointing to one of the platers.
River nodded and looked at the selection for a few more moments before ringing a bell to alert the seller.
A guy, probably in his late forties, quickly came out from the back and greeted us, "hello, what can I get for ya'."
"Hi, we'll take the sushi platter up front, seafood pasta, an apple juice and a water."
The guy said okay and swiftly put the two food items in a bag, grabbed our drinks, then put everything on the counter.
We walked back to my car after River paid. As soon as we got it, I turned the heater up and put my hands in front of the vent.
"Jeez you're so dramatic," River chuckled.
"It's cold! It's like 45 degrees, I'm freezing!"
"It's only gonna get colder baby, I bet it'll be snowing within the next two weeks."
"So? I'm still cold. My fingers are gonna freeze off if you don't give me a hug right now."
River laughed and reached over the console, giving me a warm hug.
"See? All better, I'm not cold anymore!"
"Okay baby, whatever you say."
"You know you like my hugs, you don't have to hide it."
"I'm not hiding anything!"
"Whatever you say," I mocked.
"Hey!"
"Hay is for horses boo," I tapped him on the nose.
"You're impossible baby."
I simply laughed as I reached over to grab my food.
"You know, I can't count on one hand the amount of times I've eaten seafood," I declared.
"Really?"
"Yeah, my Mom hates it so I never really are it growing up. I only had it with my Dad."
"Wow I couldn't imagine, you really missed out."
"I know, it's actually really good. My mom made me believe that it's disgusting before I even had the chance to try it."
"That's unfortunate."
We went silent after he said that, focusing on eating. The only thoughts running through my mind are, "damn, this sushi is really good," and, "River looks really cute eating that pasta."
"Oh my gosh look! There's a whale!" I suddenly spotted a huge blue and white whale coming up to the surface.
"Where?" River asked.
"There, look!" I pointed past all of the boats and board walks. The whale is really far in the distance, I don't know how I even spotted it in the first place.
"Oh I see it. Oh my gosh it's squirting water!"
Sure enough, a giant mist of water came shooting out of it's blowhole. The water mixed with the rain, creating a beautiful spray of water.
"That's so pretty River! Look, it's making a rainbow!"
The light started to hit the water in a perfect angle, creating the illusion of a rainbow.
"Oh yeah, it's really pretty baby. Just like you."
I giggled and reached over to grab his hand. He smiled and laced our fingers together, setting them in his lap.
"I can't believe you're mine," River whispered as he brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"I can't believe I'm yours, and you're all mine," I answered before leaning over and connecting our lips in a soft, heartfelt kiss.
ð ð ð
"River, where'd you go? I thought we were going to go watch a movie." I walked downstairs and looked around. He's nowhere to be seen.
After we finished eating lunch, we decided to go back to his house and hang out in his room. I just got out of the bathroom and I don't know where he went.
"River! C'mon, don't ditch me now! You can pick if you want to." Still nothing.
Right as I was about to give up, I heard some hushed whispers coming from outside the back door.
I tiptoed over and cracked the door just enough to see through. Sure enough, there stood River with his back turned and his phone to his ear.
"No, I can't come! I'm really busy." He went silent for a few moments where I assumed the person on the other line was speaking.
"Yes, I know that it's important okay! I just have lots of stuff going on already, I'm sure that you can handle it on your own."
I really shouldn't be ease dropping.
Just as I was about to walk away, the person on the other side started yelling, loud enough so that I can hear what they're saying.
"River this is very important for me and even more for you! I can't keep up for much longer, I need you to come see how it's done so you take over within the next few years."
Oh, maybe that's his Dad talking about their family business! They're going to give it to River! How nice!
But the next few words immediately proved that theory wrong. Not only did they shock me, but they left me completely and utterly confused.
"River, this is huge. I know that you have your little thing going on over there, but this is much bigger. This is about life and death, this is about survival. It's about staying at the top and making everyone fear you. Not just the whole town, or maybe the whole county. I mean the whole country, maybe even world."
I froze. What is he talking about? Fear? Why should people have to fear River? Life and death, their company can't be life and death. They have to be talking about something much much bigger, and scarier. And darker.
All of my questions were quickly answered. And let me tell you, it's probably the last thing I wanted to hear.
"Dad no. Please just listen to me for a second. Yesterday night I got a visit from Damien Bates. Damien f*cking Bates. It's not that I don't want to take over, your business has been destined to be mine ever since I was born. I just have a lot to take care of at the moment, I'll come over a soon as I can, okay?"
"Damien? Son, this is why it's so important for you to come visit. You're 17, you need to be able to handle this stuff on your own by the time you graduate," the person on the other line spoke.
"Dad I know! But I run a f*cking gang-"
A gang?
What the hell is he talking about?
"-I'm a gang leader dad. Gang leaders have a lot of responsibilities."
Oh my god my boyfriend's a gang leader.
How could I be so stupid? It was so obvious. I'm an idiot.
After all this time, I finally understand. From Brad, to the men who tried to kills us. Everything makes sense now, and I hate it. I hate it so much.
Somehow I was dumb enough to look past all of the read flags and get myself involved with a gang leader. This is my fault honestly, if I stopped to think for just one moment, this would've never happened.
Oh but it gets worse. Much much worse. I wish I walked away before I got the chance to hear what his Dad said next.
"You're right River, you run a gang. But you seem to have forgotten what's in line for you. A mafia River, a mafia. A huge Italian mafia is in line for you, and that's a lot of responsibility. Now I want you to go ahead and take care of whatever it is you need to take care of. Then you need to fly your *ss over to Italy and come see how it's done.
A mafia.
A mafia.
Are you kidding me? This has to be a joke. What's next, River's grandpa founded a human trafficking ring?
River is a feature mafia leader. What the hell is going on?
That's when he reality of this situation really hit me. This isn't a joke, this is real life. I'm dating someone who runs a gang, soon to run a mafia.
I don't know River at all! He isn't who he seems, he's someone who kills people for a living. How did someone so evil win over the entirety of my heart?
What else did he lie about? I don't think there's anything bigger then being a future mafia leader, but if he was able to lie about that, I'm sure there's other things he lied about too.
This isn't the River I thought I was dating, that was just a small version of him. The real River is a crazy murderer.
No no no, calm down Cove. You don't know that yet for sure. Think think think, what else do gang leaders do?
I got nothing. Gang leader kill people, he definitely kills people.
"Cove?"
A voice interrupted my thoughts.
I turned around to see Azalea looking at me with worry filling her eyes.
"Azzy," I whispered.
She looked with panic in her eyes as I blindly reached out for her. Suddenly, I don't feel so good.
"Come inside babe, River will be done in a second. Come here."
I obeyed and went fully inside, closing the door behind me. I guess I closed it too hard because River's head snapped in our direction at the sound.
In that moment, an emotion I never thought I'd see crossed River's face. Fear.
River's POV
The moment I realized Cove overheard the conversation I just had with my Dad was possibly the scariest moment of my life.
It felt like everything went in slow motion as I turned towards her quick enough to see fear and utter horror written all over her face.
She shouldn't have found out this way. No. This can't be happening.
3312 words
Tysm @veecandice for the cover. I love it so so much.
Here it is: