the ride back was silent. ash drove and you were actually surprised at how good he was. fezco sat in the back seat with rue, who was actually quiet for a change.

she got out at her house and bid them goodbye, doing a mock salute as she headed back into her house. ashtray pulled off immediately, speeding to seraphina's house.

"park here," she instructed, pointing to the end of the street. "you literally live at the end of the road," ashtray muttered, rolling his eyes but pulling over anyway.

she didn't say anything as she hopped out the car, hair messy from the long day she'd had. her uncle was outside and she cursed, wondering what she was going to say.

"hey," she greeted, quickly walking up the path and trying to get past him. "not so fast," he huffed, blowing his smoke into the air.

seraphina clenched her jaw and put on a false smile, turning and smiling. "what's up?"

"who's car was that?"

was it possible to die from being so afraid? because that's what she felt like was going to happen to her. "a friends."

"really, because i'm pretty sure that was fezco's car."

the realisation sunk in her stomach. he knew. of course he did. her uncle knew every drug dealer up and down the whole of east highland.

"yeah, ashtray's my friend. from school."

"listen, seraphina. i don't care who your friends with, okay? i-i just don't want you to end up like your mom."

tears welled in her eyes at his words. her mother was something she had vowed not to be. and he knew what it was like for her, to have to relive that moment over and over again.

like a constant nightmare, a loop that just wouldn't end. and here he was, using it against her.

seraphina glared at him and scoffed, entering the house and slamming the door shut. if her uncle was going to act like a cunt, she wasn't going to listen to it.

so, as seraphina settled into her room, she put the headphones in and slowly let the thoughts flow away with the soft sounds of her music.

•

it was cold the next day when seraphina left the house, and she slowly walked to the bush where she had dumped her bike the night before.

she hopped on and peddled down the road, breathing softly and wondering where she should go. school, no. home, no.

seraphina found herself cycling to the store. fez and ashtray's store. they were nice, and even though ashtray was kind of an asshole, she liked him.

"hey, fez," she greeted, stepping inside the store and immediately noticing faye from the night before. "um, hey?"

"hey," she sweetly responded, lifting her hand and sending a little wave. "is ash in the back?"

fez nodded and pointed to the freezer, and seraphina stepped through into the back room. "i want you to do something for me."

"if it's murder, no. i'm really sick of doing that shit," he complained, chewing on a piece of gum. she chose not to question the murder but, instead pointing to a tattoo gun on the side.

"can i have a tattoo?"

ashtray furrowed his eyebrows and turned to where she was pointing, realising she was being serious. "you for real? a tattoo?"

"um, yeah. why not?"

he seemed to think for a moment before softly smiling. "what do you want and where?"

as she explained the tattoo she wanted on her neck, he chuckled and got the equipment ready. "does it hurt?"

"depends where you get it," he whispered, outlining the gun tattoo on her neck. "but, this will probably hurt."

ash gave her no warning before the getting started, and she let out a sharp hiss of pain. "want me to stop?"

"well no, because i'll look really stupid with a line going down my neck."

"just-just squeeze my shoulder if it gets too much, okay?"

•

when he finished the tattoo, ashtray held the mirror to seraphina's neck and was actually really proud of what he had done.

"it's really fucking good, thanks ash," she smiled.

she pulled out some money from her pocket and went to pass it to him, but he shook his head. "it's fine. what sort of friend would i be if i charged you?"

"a bad one," seraphina answered, really liking the way he described her as his friend. before she could get up, a man walked inside who she immediately recognised.

"shit," she hissed, watching him walk around the tiny store. "what is it?"

"that's nate jacobs dad," she whispered, pointing to the man and ashtray squinted his eyes as he stared at him. crossing his arms, he silently watched the encounter go ahead.

"is that a gun?" she asked, gesturing to the obvious one that sat in cal jacob's pocket. ash huffed and nodded, eyeing the encounter even closer.

"you got any spearmint gum?" he asked fez, who told him where the gum was. seraphina turned her head to the side and noticed lexi howard, a nice girl who was fiends with rue, who also had a terrified look plastered on her face.

when cal walked to the register with his chips and gum, his hand began moving around in his pocket, quickly alerting ash that there was definitely something wrong.

he got up out of his seat, disregarding seraphina's hand which was gripping his shoulder out of fear. ash grabbed a cereal box off the side and rummaged around inside; before pulling out a gun.

"i need you to duck down, now," ashtray whispered, pushing her down lightly until it was just her head peeking over the table. he pointed the gun directly at cal who didn't notice, and just as he was about to pull the trigger, cal pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"just a concerned father," he stated, walking off and exiting the store, whilst everyone's hearts were beating extremely fast.