2.5 - Just Too Close to Love You

*WARNING: STRONG CURSING IN THIS CHAPTER*

“Gavin," called a voice that sounded like it was miles away. I couldn't tell who it was, but it sounded...familiar somehow. Like I've heard it somewhere before.

When the blurriness in my vision faded away, I looked around, realizing I was completely alone.

As I looked around me, I found myself standing by the ocean. I woke up on some beach in the middle of nowhere.

"It's been a while, Gavin." I heard from behind me. I spun around to see a girl with some kind of dark blue matter behind her. Are those wings?

"Who-?"

"It's been a while. You've grown up so much."

"Who are you?"

"Never mind that now. I don't have a lot of time. The darkness is closing in." The woman gave me a solemn look. "Listen to me. This will all be over soon. The light will shine through soon, and the evil will be gone. It's surrounded you for a long time, which is why I haven't been able to reach you as well as I should be." She started to rise above the ground, her feet suspended from the sandy ground. "I need you to stand still. I know this might not make sense, but I'm running out of time."

Her hands opened up, and a gold aura was emitted from her palms.

The golden dust showered over me, leaving specks on my clothes. The ones that stuck immediately dissolved, causing my body to illuminate a neon pink color.

 "I'll see you soon."

"No! Come back!" I snapped awake. I rubbed my eyes.

I looked around. I was standing in front of my apartment building. It was pitch black outside, meaning it had to be the middle of the night. However, If I was sleepwalking, why was I still in my clothes? I don't remember even being at the apartment since this morning. Who was that woman?

I decided to shrug it off. I have more important things to worry about. This is the first time this has happened, I decided to let it slide. I walked inside, bypassed my sleeping doorman, and took the elevator up to the apartment.

I opened my door to hear the sound of talking. I thought Khloe was on the phone until I noticed the other man sitting across from her.

He resembled my sister except for his flame-colored hair and his brown eyes, like mine. The spitting image of our father. Ryder, my older brother.

Khloe immediately stopped talking mid-sentence and turned to me. "Hey."

Ryder turned to me and smiled. "Hey, little brother."

I gaped at my brother. "R-Ryder? What are you doing here?"

"I called him here." Khloe stated plainly. "The three of us need to have a discussion about the whole 'Selena' situation."

I groaned. "We're not seriously on this again, are we?"

Khloe looked offended. "This is serious, Vinny!"

"How?" I said sarcastically. "How exactly is this serious? This is just a theory you came up with because you were being paranoid, as you always are." I stressed. "Calling our brother down here from god-knows-where isn't going to prove you're right, it's just going to make you look crazier."

Khloe crossed her arms. "I AM right."

"You don't know that."

"Vinny. I went to Selena's. I asked her straight up if Leah was Dad's kid, and she said 'yes.'"

I stared at her for a second, not really registering what she was saying. "What?"

Khloe uncrossed her arms. "Leah's our sister." Khloe started telling me everything 

My breathing started to slow. I looked from my brother to my sister. "Okay. Great. So what now?" I said blankly.

Khloe glanced at Ryder. "I think we need to have an adult conversation about what to do with this information."

"What do you mean?"

Khloe looked at me sympathetically. "I think we need to tell Mom and Dad."

"No." I said quickly.

"Vinny-"

"No. Why would we tell them? Selena moved away. she didn't want Dad to be a part of Leah's life. Why would we tell them about her? It doesn't make sense."

Khloe scowled. "Yeah, you've given your bit."

I gave her that scowl right back. "So have you. You did call Ryder down here to have him reinforce your opinion, didn't you?" I mocked. "Very mature for the oldest, I have to say."

Ryder held his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright. I know this is a sensitive situation, but we're reduced to fighting like we did when we were kids. Let's try to keep this in perspective, alright? Now, I know Khloe wants Leah to be a part of the family she deserves, but..."He gave Khloe a sympathetic look.

Her eyes darted from Ryder to me. "Oh, alright. The boys against the girls, is that how we're going to  play it?" she said, angered at her odds of winning.

Ryder stood in front of her. "Listen, I know you're angry at Dad. I am too, and so is Gavin. And part of you thinks that Leah deserves to know who her father was, and that same part thinks that this is what Dad deserves, for doing that to Mom. We're all thinking that way, and under normal circumstances, I'd agree with you, Khloe. But these aren't regular circumstances. Dad is in jail. Gavin isn't home. Mom is a mess right now. The worst possible time to tell them would be now. Maybe, when things settle down, we'll figure out what to do then, but certainly not now."

I was actually really impressed with how Ryder handled it.

Khloe stood up. "When will be a good time, Ryder?" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "It's NEVER a good time! Look at all of the crap we've had to put up with in the past few years! It'll never be a good time for anything!"

At that point, I had had enough. "I don't have time for this shit." I started walking to the door. "All I'm gonna say is that I'm done talking about it. Majority rules. I'll be back later tonight." I slammed the door behind me.

Autumn stood in front of our table, making sure that no one would take it.

She looked like she had been waiting a while, but she wore a very elated smile on her face. Like there were no thoughts in her mind that I stood her up.

Autumn's eyes drifted over to me after I entered through the back door of the restauraunt. She smiled when she saw me. She looks beautiful...

I walked over to our table and kissed Autumn. "Hey. Didn't think I ditched you, did you?"
"No, because I know if you did, I'd be coming at you with forks and knives I snatched from this place." She said with a chuckle.

The two of us sat down and waited patiently for the server to come around and take our drink orders. I put my hands in my lap. "So, how exactly do you know this place?" I asked.

"I'm the police chief's daughter, remember?" She said, looking at me skeptically. "I always used to be dragged to these fancy police gatherings at these fancy restaurants. I know all of the best places to eat in this city, and this at least number 2." She said with a smirk.
"So, what exactly got you into police work? You mentioned it, but you never really told me." I asked. "Was it because of all the fantastic dinner parties?" I said sarcastically.
She sighed in play frustration and shook her head. "No. I was in a lot of sports teams in high school, and I was really good at almost all of them. I got a lot of attention from recruiters for colleges, and I even got a full-time scholarship for SimU. My dad noticed it also, and he thought it would be best to have me graduate early and send me to police college when I turned sixteen." she finished with a sigh.
I looked at her for a second, trying to read her expression. "Is that what you wanted?"
Autumn looked like she just snapped out of a daze. "Not really. I kind of wanted to try for SimU, and maybe go into Professional Sports. But, I knew it was a long shot for me to make it in the leagues, and even with a full scholarship, college costs money. But, we could actually afford police college, so I decided to make that my career." As the drinks came back, she took a sip. "I don't know. I like what I do. It was a rocky start, but now i'm enjoying it." she said with a smile.

I smiled. "Good, I'm glad."
Autumn nodded. "So, can I ask you something?" she paused. "What are you going to do after this is all over? Where are you gonna go?" Autumn said, looking solemn.
I sighed. "I don't know. I'm not even sure when this will all be over, but when it is, I guess I'll figure out where to go from there."
Autumn was silent for what seemed like a long time. "Are you going back to Starlight Shores?"
I gave her a sympathetic look. When the two of us got into this relationship, we did so forgetting the fact that I'm not staying here permanently. We didn't know how long it was going to last, and we just went with it. But, now-
Before I could answer, I heard a voice coming from the bar. "Could I just get a scotch, please?"
I froze. I knew that voice.
Autumn gave me a concerned look. "Vinny?"
I strained my head to find the source of the voice. I stood up from the table. "Vinny, what's wrong?" Autumn asked.

Everything else around me seemed to have frozen. I stared at her, wide-eyed. It's her.
I pushed my chair in and walked up to the bar. I tapped her on the shoulder. "Ella?"

Izzy spun around and gasped. "Oh, shit!" She quickly turned around and started sprinting away from the restaurant.
"Izzy, stop!"
"Vinny?!" Autumn yelled after me.

I turned around the corner of the old brick warehouse. Izzy crouched besides the garbage can, trying to catch her breath.

"You can't keep running, Izzy." I walked up to her.
Izzy kept panting. "What do you want? Leave me alone."

"I can't." I started.
"Why the hell not? Go the fuck back to Starlight Shores with your picket-fence family and leave me alone."
"I said I can't." I said, becoming more angry.
"Why?!"
I pulled out my badge out of my pocket and showed it to her. Her eyes widened. "You're a fucking cop. I can't believe this."

I shrugged.
"How much do you know about me?"
"I know that you've gotten your goons to attack Lucy Miles twice: once in this city, and another in Appaloosa Plains. I know that you've broken into Selena Miles' house in an attempt to kidnap Leah Miles to try and blackmail Selena into releasing Eli from prison. I know that this isn't the first person you've harassed and almost killed because you don't have what you want."
Izzy got in my face. "You don't know shit."

"I know that you killed Katie Reynolds."
Izzy narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms.
"Izzy, putting everything else aside, you have to help me." I began. "My dad is in jail because of what we did that night. He might be in there for the rest of his life. I can't live with myself if that's what's going to happen to him."

"So, what? You want me to confess?" Izzy scoffed.
"Yes. Please."
Izzy laughed. "You can't be that stupid."
I narrowed my eyes. "Listen to me. I have more dirt on you than you think, including the murder. Now that I know where you are, I could have the police over here in five minutes. You won't just get punished for the murder, you'll be punished for the assault of Lucy, the potential kidnapping of Leah, and the break-in of Selena. Not to mention the other list of crimes you should be charged for. That's enough to put you away for life."
"So what exactly are you suggesting?" Izzy asked.

"If you confess to the murder, back home, then the other charges will be dropped."
Izzy crossed her arms. "How will you do that?"
"I can fake evidence. I've done it before." I looked at her with pleading eyes. I knew I wasn't going to actually fake the evidence, but I needed her cooperation for my job to end. Once Izzy's in jail, I can go back home and go back to living my life.
Izzy narrowed her eyes. "How will I know you'll keep your promise?"
I gave her a smile, "You can't trust a promise made by an old friend?"
Izzy thought about it for a long time, but, finally, she nodded. "Okay." she said with a frown. "What do I have to do?"

I never got to answer her. A bright flashlight shined in between the two of us. "BOTH OF YOU! DOWN ON THE GROUND, HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD." A male voice shouted.
The two of us obeyed. Handcuffs were locked around our wrists, and we were hoisted up and walked to the car. On the way there, Autumn stood in her black dress, her arms crossed, frowning at me. Her look was a look of disappointment and sympathy.

"Autumn, it was a misunderstanding!"

*********AUTHOR'S NOTE*********

Okay! Chapter 5 is done!

Okay, so there are going to be 2 more chapters in the whole "Mulan" storyline and then I get to move Vinny back to Starlight Shores and he can continue his life as a regular sim :D

Btw, I was going to finish this chapter last night and have it up on here already....

but....

Then a Telltale Episode for "The Walking Dead" was released yesterday

So I had to get it xD

FYI, whenever there is a day that a telltale game is released,

9 times out of 10, there will not be a chapter up that day xD

I apologize in advance, but you don't understand the struggle of having to wait for those episodes.

Unless you play them as well, in which case...You do xD

Anyway, that's it for now!

bye-bye kiddies!

~Orange