Skylar is exiting the car immediately. He throws open his driver's side door and is about to make a break for it, but unfortunately, there's someone out there waiting for him. One of Crimson's henchmen or whatever grabs his arm and throws him to the ground, and Skylar starts to wonder if he's ever going to get a break.

To be fair, he does this to himself. However, at the same time, he does want to improve. It's not like he wants to be an addict, or a thief. Not like he wants to stress out his family and make everyone lose faith in him constantly. However, his bad decisions throughout the years have set him up for failure.

There's not an easy way out of the hole he's dug himself throughout the years, there really isn't.

"You better have my money, or I'm taking it." Crimson says after exiting the vehicle as well. Skylar can't help the fear he's feeling, because he does not have any fucking money. He's hardly worked in forever, and he spent the last of it on a lava lamp two weeks ago while on cyto. To be fair, it was worth it, since that thing entertained him for about four hours straight.

Even then, though, he would not have anywhere near enough to pay back Crimson for all the shit he stole. He's basically as good as dead.

"I don't," Skylar admits, and someone kicks him in his side. He rolls over with a groan, the injuries he sustained last night not helping at all.

"You owe me a grand." Crimson tells him, footsteps stopping right beside Skylar. Skylar winces at that, because he did not realize his addiction was getting that bad. Well, he knew it was worse, but not to the point where he was stealing that much. It makes sense, though, since he's actually lost track of the visits he's paid Crimson throughout the past few weeks. He even got to the point where he was thinking ahead! Skylar never thinks ahead, he isn't even out of cyto right now. He just wanted some more since he's close to running out.

"Um," Skylar says, risking a glance up at him. He wonders how exactly he's going to get out of this. A grand. One thousand dollars. Skylar is pretty sure he barely has ten dollars to his name right now. "Don't you have enough money, though?"

Another kick, this one from Crimson himself. It's harder, and right to Skylar's abdomen. He winces, coughing a little bit. They surprisingly aren't going as hard on him as he expected. He wonders if there's a catch, and if so, what it could possibly be.

"I don't," Crimson says, and Skylar feels his arms being grabbed. His knees are still on the ground as he's lifted up, and Crimson grabs him by the chin. The guy leans down so Skylar is forced to make eye contact, and Skylar just has a sour look on his face. If they're gonna kill him, why are they dragging it out like this? Just get it over with. "Not when I'm still owed."

"Well I'm broke," Skylar tells him, and Crimson lets go of his chin. Skylar's head drops, and he's stuck just staring at the guy's shoes. After a while he looks up and finds Crimson just staring down at him. Skylar hears a car pull into the lot, and he glances over to see if there's anyone that might help him. Unfortunately, he was mistaken. It was a car leaving.

When he looks up, though, he catches sight of the complex. The Hillside Suites, which are mostly condos or something. Hang on a minute. Does Crimson know that Ashton lives here? Skylar doesn't think he does, because he remembers the guy's demeanor was completely different when he was going to meet up with Ashton that one time.

"Are you seriously doing this in broad daylight? What if someone intervenes?"

"Rich people don't get their hands dirty," one of the guys holding Skylar up says. Okay, yeah, they probably don't know Ashton lives here. Skylar gets the sense that would be bad, anyway, if the guy truly is leading some sort of double life.

"Originally," Crimson begins, standing directly in front of Skylar. Skylar looks up at him, because his tone of voice is different. It kind of sounds like he's about to monologue. "If you couldn't pay, we were going to kill you. Then, I remembered who you are."

Skylar raises an eyebrow at him, feeling confused about that. Is this guy talking about who Skylar's father is? 'Cause, guess what, that guy doesn't give a shit what happens to Skylar, as long as it doesn't cost him money.

"So, either pay up, or I'm taking the car."

Oh. Okay, that makes more sense. In a sense he was talking about Skylar's dad, but more of the fact that his family has money. Skylar does drive a nice car, but it's definitely worth more than a thousand dollars. Actually, most cars are.

"Uh, my car is worth way more than that," Skylar tells him, unable to stop himself from looking at Crimson like he's stupid.

"Consider it interest," the guy says, and Skylar scrunches his face up at him. No way. Interest? That is an absolutely insane and unrealistic interest rate. Nobody charges that much, this guy is crazy.

"I already told you I can't pay up," Skylar snaps, really irritated at the prospect of this guy taking his car. Seriously? Mostly because it would be inconvenient. He's not that torn up about it, since it's not like he pays—

Wait a second.

Wait. Shit. No, that makes it even worse. His dad pays for his corvette, and if these assholes take it, well... Vince will be out way more money than a hospital bill. They might as well just kill Skylar, since there's no way that Vince wouldn't kick him out for this. Well... unless he just says it was an accident or something? Maybe that could work. Vince does usually find some way to blame things on Skylar, but still. It's not like he knows Skylar is in any trouble with the criminal world.

Vince has money, obviously, but he is very frugal with it. He pays for their basic necessities, but there's a reason Skylar needs a job.

Crimson shrugs. "Okay, suit yourself."

The men drop Skylar, thankfully not harming him any further. Skylar watches Crimson dangle the car keys on his finger, before opening the driver's door. One of his guys gets in the passenger seat, and the others go to another vehicle in the parking lot.

Skylar lays on the asphalt, internally starting to panic. There are a lot of ways he could twist this in his favor, since it's not like Vince will immediately jump to the correct conclusion. Any normal person wouldn't blame Skylar. Still, Skylar is really feeling like this is a death sentence on its own. For some reason, he's positive that this is just as bad as the other things Vince said he'd kick him out for. He just can't figure out how, yet.

"Wait! Crimson, uh, um." Skylar scratches his neck, holding himself up with an arm and trying to figure out any way to keep his car. It's looking very unlikely, no matter what angle he can think of. "Just give me more time! I swear, I'll pay you back. Don't take my car."

Crimson pauses and turns to look at him. He pockets the keys, before walking towards Skylar again. He doesn't hesitate before landing a blow on Skylar's face, which results in him dropping completely so he's back to laying on the asphalt. He rolls over and groans, pressing both hands to his face as he tries to sooth the aching.

"I'm settling the score," Crimson tells him, venom starting to drip into his voice. Probably because Skylar tried to tell him what to do, which never goes over well. "This is the end of our business together. If I ever see you again, I will gut you on the spot."

Man, fuck this guy. Skylar's car is worth dozens of times over what he owes Crimson. Assuming Skylar makes it out of this unscathed, he will help himself to however much of this guy's stash as he fucking wants. It's goddamn paid for.

"You suck at math!" Skylar yells after him, but Crimson is no longer acknowledging him. "That car's enough for a life supply, you fucking moron!"

Crimson still doesn't respond, but the loud bang of a gunshot does ring through the air. It goes right over Skylar's head, and he ducks to the ground. Okay, yeah, he probably shouldn't be talking that much shit to people so powerful and with the full capability to murder him in this parking lot with no consequences.

Then, they're pulling out of the parking lot, Skylar's car in tow. He's positive it will never be seen again, even with his father's power in the city and over the police department. There's a reason these guys have slipped under the radar so long, and also why they have such a huge lot of cars that all belong to them to begin with.

Skylar's plates will be changed within the hour, and he's positive the vehicle will have a whole new paint job in a day. He's never seeing his car again.

Skylar sighs, lying on his back on the pavement. Clouds are starting to overtake the sun in the sky, and they're definitely in the PM at this point. He just stares at the clouds for a while, at least ten minutes go by of him trying to come up with a plan for how to get home. He doesn't even really know where he is, and the only person he knows with a car is Lily. She's probably busy, though. Maybe he could shoot her a text anyway? Actually, he's pretty sure his phone is dead.

Before Skylar can think too much about that, he hears a car nearby. Driving through the parking lot, and he finds himself hoping the person won't see him and will run him over. Despite his hair being a bright red-orange, and hard to miss, maybe the person is old or something and still won't see him. The sounds of the car is getting louder, and he begins to actually get his hopes up that he'll be put out of his misery.

However, then the car stops, a few feet away from where he is laying. He hears a car door open and someone step out of a vehicle, and then he's hoping it's Crimson coming back to finish the job.

Skylar fully comes back to himself when the person talks. "Skylar? What the hell are you doing?"

Skylar jumps at the voice, turning to find that the vehicle is a familiar truck and there is a familiar man making his way towards him with a familiar look of anger and worry. Ugh. Ashton. Genuinely the last fucking thing Skylar needs right now.

"Are you suicidal or something?"

"Kinda."

Ashton holds out his hand and gives Skylar an expectant look of irritation. Skylar rolls his eyes and takes it, reluctantly, trying to ignore the way his body starts to heat up from the point of contact. Ashton pulls him up with ease, and Skylar is kind of distracted for a moment by the guy's strength. He quickly moves on.

"Why are you in the middle of the road? Where's your car?"

"Uhhhhh," damn, Skylar has absolutely no explanation for that. He looks up at Ashton, takes note of his concern, of the anger on his features and the underlying exhaustion Skylar can see in his eyes. "Don't worry about that."

Ashton's expression turns to confusion, but he seems to mostly just be frustrated. It starts to turn even more, however, when he catches sight of Skylar's face. Shit, Crimson did hit him pretty hard, huh? He's definitely got a bruise.

"Who did this."'Now his voice is low, and the anger from before is far more prominent. It's taking over every other emotion he'd been expressing before. Skylar starts to feel nervous, but he's mostly distracted. He feels weird. Ashton's concern, the point of contact between them that the guy still hasn't broken. It's all making him feel sort of breathless. He's not really used to someone caring so much about him.

"Nobody—"

"Tell me. I'm not asking again."

"Oh my god," Skylar groans, beginning to get angry as well. He glares up at Ash, and wants to know more than anything why this guy thinks it's any of his goddamned business. "Why are you always up my fucking ass about everything? How about you learn to mind your business?"

It takes a moment for Skylar's words to catch up with him, but when they do, he completely freezes. Okay, yeah, he did not mean to phrase it like that. He's immediately having flashbacks of several months ago, when—

Actually, no. Now is not the time to think about that.

Ash still looks mad, but it's clear from the upturn of his mouth and the flash in his eyes that he is thinking the same thing. Skylar tries to move on without acknowledging it.

"A-Anyway, uh, excuse me while I walk home." Skylar says, suddenly wanting to get out of the situation as fast as humanly possible. Unfortunately, Ashton's grip on his wrist tightens and he is unable to do so.

"I'll take you."

"No thanks."

"Get in the car or I'm putting you there."

Skylar frowns, irritated at this guy always assuming he knows what's best. Just because he's right in this situation does not mean anything. It will take several hours for Skylar to walk home, and he's not exactly in the best condition for that. So, reluctantly, he does as asked without argument. He ignores the look on Ashton's face as he does so. Ugh, he's so fucking cocky. It drives Skylar crazy.

The ride to Skylar's house is spent mostly in silence, though he is full of nervous energy. No doubt his dad will notice that his car is just completely fucking gone. Even though it was, how on earth is Skylar to convince him that it wasn't his fault?

"Is there a reason you're so secretive?" Ashton asks him after a moment, and wow, there is nobody in the planet as talented at getting Skylar to lose his patience.

"Oh, don't fucking start. You really wanna talk about secrets?"

Skylar is back to glaring at him, but Ashton just glances at him from the corner of his eye.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, newsflash, asshole," Skylar says, surprisingly able to keep his voice calm. Well, somewhat calm. He's still speaking mostly through grit teeth and there is definitely venom leaking into his voice. "Nobody knows anything about you."

Ashton takes that moment to lie through his goddamn teeth. "Jessie does."

Skylar knows for a fact that's not true. Of course, it doesn't bother Jessie nearly as much as it does Skylar, but still. He's lying.

"No he doesn't," Skylar says. "I've checked."

Skylar freezes after those words leave his mouth, and Ash actually looks at him. He has a look of intrigue on his face, as well as an air about him like he just won. Skylar briefly contemplates jumping out of the car and onto the interstate.

"...you've checked."

Skylar's face is immediately heating up, and he quickly turns so he's strictly looking out the window. He refuses to look at Ashton, feeling his heart rate spike and becoming hyper aware of his every movement.

"Fucking hate you." He mumbles.

"Careful," Ashton replies easily, and does not help Skylar's situation with his next words. "You know how that ends."

Yeah, Skylar refuses to look at him the rest of the car ride. He just sits there and feels embarrassed and angry, until they finally reach his house and it all goes away. Every emotion he's feeling is replaced with fear and nerves at the sight of the car in his driveway.

It's Vince's.

What is he doing home?