Waking up the next morning had been hell. There wasn’t a spot on my body that wasn’t covered with a bruise. My left eye was swollen and almost completely shut and I could barely lift my arms above my head.

Moving was almost completely out of the question and was reserved for nothing other than to get up to use the bathroom.

Dev wasn’t much better off. He couldn’t even shift in the bed without being hunched over in pain. Despite the guys beating us seemingly taking it easier on Dev since he didn’t fight back as much as I did, he was very much still the one who was hurt most.

I was used to this. I had been taking beatings since I was 12 and started fighting back when I was 13. Pain was still pain though and it always hurt no matter how many times you went through.

We stayed in bed for days after the jump-in. The first day we didn’t even bother getting out of bed for food, despite the fact we hadn’t eaten since leaving the condemned house. On the second day, hunger finally won out for me and I forced myself to get up and walk to a fast food place with some of the money left on the counter. Being a smart person, I grabbed several days worth of burgers to avoid having to leave the apartment for a while. 

Getting Dev to try and eat that night had been hard. The pain rushing through his body chased the feeling of hunger away and replaced it with nausea. Trying to get him to sit up was an uphill battle. Every twist and hurt he made had him gasping in pain but when he finally sat up I was able to get my first good look at him.

His face was covered in big black and purple bruises. His neck was covered in scratches and fabric burns, probably from someone trying to choke him out. Dried blood still clung to his nose and clothes and I decided in that moment if those fuckers ever tried coming near Dev again I would do my best to kill them before they even had a chance to touch him.

He had refused food at first but after all but shoving a fry down his throat, he caved and ate without much complaint after that. 

Three days later he seemed to finally be looking better. He got up without being forced, ate without being coaxed, and showered for the first time since we had left our parents’ house. 

We lay in bed together. It was late but after days of not doing anything both of us were wide awake. Dev’s body was curled around me, using my chest as a pillow while my arm wrapped around his back, my fingers slipped under the hem of his shirt and traced random patterns on his skin.

We didn’t have a TV despite the rest of the apartment coming fully furnished so we simply stared at the ceiling. Every brush of Devon’s ribs against mine sent a shock of pain through both of us but the reassurance that both of us were still breathing was too nice to pull away from each other. 

“I’m in pain,” Dev said after a while, and despite myself, I laughed.

“I am also in pain,” I said with a small smile as I looked down at him and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “I can walk to the store and can get you something that could help.”

“I don’t want you to leave right now.”

“Then suffer, I guess,” I shrugged. He scoffed and lightly hit my shoulder but I only pulled him closer.

“This was a mistake, wasn’t it?”

“I assume you’re referring to the gang we are now in? I thought I made my thoughts on the matter rather clear when you jumped at a gang leader’s offer to join when we don’t even know who he is or what his main money maker is. Why do you ask?”

“I didn’t think this through,” he sighed.

“You don’t say,” I scoffed but a smile was still plastered on my face. “If only someone had told you that. Oh, wait, I think someone did.”

“We have a place to live now though,” he defended weakly, a frown taking over his face. “And money to eat off of now. Things could be worse.”

“Things could be a lot worse,” I agreed. “We’ll figure all of this out when they come tell us what our jobs are. If we’re lucky we’ll get placed in the same job. We’ll watch each other’s back because I’m certain no one else is going to give two shits about us.”

Dev nodded against my chest and moved closer.

“What do you think we’ll be doing?”

“How the hell should I know? I’ve never been a part of a gang before. If we’re lucky we’ll get stuck in a warehouse. It’ll suck and the work is going to require you to grow some muscles but it’s better than selling shit and possibly getting caught by police. But that guy from the other night said we’re probably going to get stuck as drug runners. Not the best but nowhere near the worst I guess.”

Dev opened his mouth to say something when the front door opened without warning. I pushed myself off of the beaded Dev was close behind me until I pushed him back down and held a hand up for him to stay there.

My heart pounded in my chest as I walked to the living room and the panic didn’t stop when I saw who it was.

“How’s your boy toy doing,” Drake asked with a sadistic smile as he looked over the bruises on my face. 

“Fine,” I scoffed. “What do you want?”

“I came to take you to your first night of work. Get him up, let’s go.”

“It’s nearly midnight,” I point out and Drake doesn’t seem to care.

“Perfect time to get started,” he said, that fucking smile only widening. “Newbies get the worst shift. Probably should have warned you about that before you started but it slipped my mind. If it’s a deal breaker I don’t mind calling a few people and jumping you out right now.”

“No,” I said a bit too quickly as a new glare covered my face. Drake smirked and nodded to the bedroom Dev was hiding in still. “He can barely fucking walk. Give us another day or two and I swear we’ll be ready.”

“I don’t care if he’s shitting blood,” Drake scoffed. “You work for me now and I saw it’s time for you to get your ass up and start working for this apartment I have blessed you with.” My lip curled to a snarl but I knew better than to push my luck any more than I already had.

“Dev,” I called out, still keeping my eyes on the man in front of me. “Get out here. It’s time to go to work.”

As Dev forced himself out of the bed I took a second to look over Drake. He was wearing a suit, an expensive one I wouldn’t expect a man like him to wear considering his business. His hair was black, long at the top, and tampered off near his ears. The scar under his eye was pale and likely happened years ago but was still noticeable against his tan skin.

“What exactly are we going to be doing,” I asked as I followed Drake out the door. The second Dev stepped out of the bedroom Drake had started moving, expecting us to just follow him like obedient little dogs, which we did but I wasn’t proud of it.