Chapter 20: Chapter 20

"Wow, a shooting star, make a wish." Malcolm beamed pointing at the wishing star in the far starry sky. We were currently enjoying stargazing on a hill near my house under a blanket. We decided to take a break for the weekend and spend it outside just him and I catching up on things since he was busy during the week.

"Mhm I wish-" I began with my fingers crossed and eyes tightly closed.

"Don't say it out loud or it won't come true dumbass," he chuckled.

"I wasn't," I said, sticking my tongue out at him like a child. Malcolm and I had such a weird relationship, we acted like siblings who shared one brain cell between them. The way I got attached to Malcolm was unbelievable. It was like the universe wanted us to meet no matter what and I was the luckiest girl to have him in my life. He protected me no matter what and always took my side in any fight without even caring about the facts. That's how much he trusted me and to be honest, I trusted him with my life more than I trusted my own family.

It was a weird feeling to fully trust someone you haven't known your whole life but it's also exhilarating to fully give your utmost trust towards one person. In a sense of the word, Malcolm was my hero and as he said himself I was his, the way he took care of me you would assume I was disabled. He always wanted to do everything for me and at first, it was a bit of a red flag for me because no one was that kind without wanting anything in return but the more I paid attention and got to know him he just loved taking care of me and I guess it comes from the fact that no one took care of him so he doesn't want anyone to go through that.

"So what did you wish for?" He asked with a smirk.

"Can't tell you that," I smiled.

"Fine, keep it to yourself," he scoffed playfully before he gave me my energy drink.

"Why thank you, good sir." I smiled gracefully while taking the drink.

It was a bit chilly outside but we had plenty of blankets to keep ourselves warm. We watched the stars for a few more hours with light music playing from his speaker while we talked about god knows what. By the time we decided to head back to my place it was around two in the morning. Since Malcolm was sleeping over we tried our best to keep quiet and not wake my dad up but we failed miserably when Malcolm accidentally slammed the door shut loudly practically waking up the whole neighbourhood.

"Dumbass," I facepalmed, shaking my head at him.

"Sorry." He sheepishly apologised, locking the door as quietly as he could. I crept on my tiptoes to my room but halfway there my dad's door opened and I cursed inwardly but was surprised to see Lauren come out of the room with a silky nightdress.

"Oh morning Belle," she yawned.

"Uh morning Lauren," I awkwardly said, not sure what to say in the awkward situation. I might have forgotten to mention that dad and Lauren got way closer than I would've expected, in fact, she practically lived here. Those two were always together giggling like a bunch of high school sweethearts but in the end, I just cared about my dad's happiness and if she made him happy then I was fine with that plus Lauren was quite a catch and how my dad got her still puzzles me to this day.

"Hi, auntie didn't know you were here?" Malcolm greeted her casually as if this was a normal thing to see every day.

"Hi Mal, ya it was just supposed to be a quick visit oopsie," she giggled, making me gag imagining what went on in my dad's room to make her all giddy.

"Alright see you tomorrow, I mean later." Malcolm chuckled, grabbing my arm to lead me to my room since I was glued on the spot.

"Alright keep it down then ok," she wagged her fingers at us," Did you lock the door, Belle?" She asked me before I was in my room.

"Mal did," I told her.

"Ok, goodnight you two." She said before she opened the master bedroom.

"Good night," Malcolm and I yelled back before she closed the door.

"That was a bit creepy," Malcolm said with a shiver.

"Tell me about it," I gagged.

I placed my bag down on the floor before kicking my shoes on the ground. I headed to my cupboard to find pj's to change into, it was really weird but I've become so comfortable with Malcolm that I unusually change in front of him and he doesn't mind in the slightest. I quickly changed into warm woolly pj's before jumping into my bed to snuggle into the blankets with a little wiggle like I was a little kid.

"Drama queen." Malcolm chuckled, stripping to his boxers and socks. I didn't bat an eye at his well-built body and washboard abs and because I've seen it plenty of times and it did absolutely nothing to arouse me, now if he had a pair of boobs then it would be a different story.

He crawled into my bed pulling the covers to his neck before sighing contently.

"Now who's the drama queen?" I chuckled cuddling with him as he wrapped his arm around my back as I laid my head on his chest. Sleep came easily to me ever since I met Malcolm, it was like he chased all the bad dreams away and was my dream catcher. I sighed happily letting sleep consume me.

The next morning was a bit of a special morning because we finally got something from Malcolm's friend about my attacker. We didn't exactly have any actual proof of what the guy did to me so we couldn't go to the cops blind nor did I want us to even go there. Peanut informed Malcolm that he might have found something with the description we gave him of my attacker so we were up in the early morning barely getting more than seven hours of sleep.

"Where are you guys heading off to?" My dad asked when he saw us heading towards the door.

"To a friend," I quickly answered.

"This early?" Lauren asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yup, see you guys later." I waved, unlocking the front door.

"Be safe!" My dad yelled after us.

"We will!" Malcolm yelled back.

"Ready for this?" He asked once we were in the car.

"Born Ready," I answered with a confident nod.

"Awesome let's go then." He smiled starting the car up before driving out of my driveway and onto the road.

The radio occupied the comfortable silence in the car as we headed to our destination. I sailed my hand through the wind enjoying the feeling it brought me as I watched trees and buildings pass by. We drove through a poorly built township gaining strange and hatred looks from the bystanders; some even threw things at Malcolm's car.

"Watch it you cunt this cost thousand!" He yelled at the bystander throwing them his middle finger.

We drove a little deeper into the neighbourhood into a less crowded area where Malcolm parked his car near a nearly falling shack. The area was untidy with the ground being completely sand littered with trash.

"Welcome to my old place." Malcolm proudly said with a wide grin.

"Nice crib," I smirked, following him to the shack in front of us. My heart bled for the people living in this small town but to them, this was all they knew and they didn't mind living here.

"Thanks." He smiled knocking on the metal door aggressively like he was the police," Open up Peanut we ain't got all day," he yelled loudly.

"Hold your balls." We heard a ruff voice say on the other end of the door before locks clicked open and the door swung open.

"Malcolm, what do I owe this pleasure?" Peanut asked sniffing, he looked like he hadn't slept in days with messy hair dirty tattered clothes and red baggy eyes. His mocha skin was littered with scars and tattoos with piercings all over his left ear and a nose ring. You could tell from a mile away that he was trouble especially when you came closer you could smell it on him in the form of weed.

"Cut the bullshit you said you found the guy we're looking for," Malcolm said through gritted teeth.

"You mean TJ's uncle, what the hell do you want with him?" Peanut asked with a raised brow, his eyes darting everywhere.

"What the hell do you mean by TJ's uncle?" Malcolm asked in shock with creased eyebrows.

"I mean TJ's fucking uncle, what do you want with him?" Peanut asked, annoyed.

"Are you fucking sure it's his uncle?" Malcolm asked, still not believing what Peanut was saying.

"Duh, check it out for yourself." Peanut said, taking out his phone to scroll through it before he turned it around to show us a picture that made my blood run cold.

"That's him," I said, breathing heavily.

"How the hell do you know him?" Peanut asked me, turning his red eyes to me.

"Doesn't matter, do you know where his usual hang out spot is or where he lives?" Malcolm asked desperately.

"No, but ask TJ's it's his uncle after all now are we done here because I was in the middle of something?" Peanut asked, annoyed as if we were taking a lot of his precious time.

"Ya, we are, thanks for the help bro." Malcolm smiled fist-bumping his friend before Peanut slammed the door in our faces before we heard countless locks being locked.

"Come on let's get out of here before someone decided to try and steal my car." Malcolm worriedly said rushing to his car eying the place for anyone hiding in the shadows. I quickly put on my seatbelt and watched Malcolm speed out of the area and I was only able to breathe once we were on the main road.

"Sorry you had to see him like that, he's trying to get clean but living in a place like that doesn't help him the slightest," Malcolm said, ending the silence in the car.

"It's ok," I awkwardly said feeling like I was about to cry for a guy I didn't even know but the way Peanut was living made me feel sorry for him and I knew pity is something he would never want, ever.

"At least we got a bit closer to the truth, that's all that matters," he said, his eyes focused on the road.

"Ya that's true and thanks again for helping me out on this," I smiled thankfully.

"You have nothing to thank me for, ever since I've met you I've started seeing things in colour it's quite amazing honestly." He smiled, turning his eyes in my direction looking at me fondly.

"Is that so and I'm not even your lover, how can that be," I chuckled.

"Imagine," he beamed.

We talked the rest of the way to his place to just give my dad and Lauren some alone time and also get a break from them.

I connected my phone to the speakers before scrolling through my songs. Malcolm was busy changing in his room to take a quick shower so I had the kitchen all to myself so I decided to raid the place and make us lunch.

'Take me away (Take me away)

To a secret place( A secret place)

A sweet escape( A sweet escape)'

I sang along to 'Pocketful of Sunshine' by Natasha Bedingfield

Swaying my hips to the beat of the song. I danced in the kitchen while making us toasted cheese sandwiches and a light salad since Malcolm loved his veggies.

The song was so catchy I was singing at the top of my lungs in no time.

"I see that being a singer is not one of your career options." Malcolm cringed as he walked into the kitchen.

"Fuck off." I chuckled as I picked up my plate handing him his and his salad bowl.

"Why thank you wify." He smiled following me to the lounge.

"You are very welcome hubby." I chuckled while sitting on the couch before turning the tv on.

We had a good afternoon before my dad called us to go back home for a family meeting. I was a bit worried as to what the meeting was about.

"Hold my hand I'm scared," I told Malcolm squeezing his hand tightly as we stood outside my house unable to go in because I was too much of a chicken scared that I did something wrong and my dad found out.

"Relax, I'm sure it's nothing bad." Malcolm chuckled, taking a step forward and pulling my hand with his, I followed behind him timidly. He unlocked the door and we entered together.

"In the lounge," we heard Lauren shout. We headed to where she was only to find her sitting comfortably next to my dad with his hand over her shoulders holding her lovingly.

"Take a seat we wanna talk to you guys about something," my dad told us with a serious tone but something was off with how grave his face was. Malcolm and I looked at each other sceptically before we sat down opposite them.

"So as you have noticed Lauren and I have been spending a lot of time together," dad began looking a bit out of his element since emotions weren't his forte.

"Yes we have," I answered for Malcolm and me, wondering why he was stating the obvious and what this had to do with a family meeting because grandma wasn't here nor were Lila and Devontae and they were family as well.

"So we thought you should hear it from us first," dad said before Lauren carried on the sentence.

"We're dating," she excitedly said like a kid on a sugar high.

"Is that all?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm yes?" Lauren said questionably looking at my dad with a confused stare.

"Oh thank thy lord I thought I was in trouble," I sighed happily.

"Why on earth would you think that unless you did something you weren't supposed to?" My dad questioned with a stern look.

"Nope I did nothing wrong," I said quickly looking at Malcolm begging him not to say a word and luckily he didn't.

"Then aren't you happy for us?" Lauren asked with a small pout.

"Of course we are auntie, it's just we already knew you guys were more than friends so there was nothing to announce you could've just told us you were dating casually instead of a family meeting making some of us think we were in shit," Malcolm said, turning his eyes in my direction.

"Right, sorry about that," my dad said sheepishly, looking at Lauren fondly. I suppose they made a great couple and. In a sense, they reminded me of Gru and Lucy from Despicable Me 3 not only from size-wise but just how they cared for each other no matter what. I was so glad that she made my dad happy because that's more than I could ask of her. If she broke my dad's heart though that's another story for another day.