Eighteen

*** With Justin / Justin's POV ***

As my brain pounds in confusion and my stomach twists into knots, I soon realize there's only one thing I can do.

I don't know where she is. She won't answer my multiple texts and she never said anything about leaving the house. She told me she'd be coming back out within the next ten minutes. She'd be here by now... or she'd answer. I have to tell him. That's the only way we're gonna work together to find her. If I didn't, the information I have would give us away anyway.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and let it out, allowing my feet to carry me to Maverick immediately.

"Dude, we need to talk." I tell him, keeping my voice low.

"Dude, I'm trying to find my sister." he snaps, starting to walk away.

"It's about your sister, Maverick." I tell him, locking my jaw.

Maverick looks at me for a moment before licking his lips and leading me to the kitchen, shutting the kitchen door. "What about her? Do you know where she is?"

I shake my head. "No. But I'm kinda freaking out about it too..." I lick my lips.

He narrows his eyes, confused.

I gulp. "She knows about us. About what we do."

"How?" he asks, taking a step closer as anger enters his veins.

I take in a breath. "I told her."

"Why?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"Because if we were gonna be in a relationship I didn't want to keep it from her." I tell him, my throat closing in anticipation.

"What do you mean if you were gonna be in a relationship, Justin?" he asks, his face becoming red with rage.

"Hadlee and I have been dating for a week now. But we had been hanging out before that." I tell him, trying to keep myself calm.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he bursts.

"Listen dude, we didn't expect for it to happen. It just-"

"Don't say another fucking word." Maverick spat, exiting the kitchen and storming outside.

"Mav, we have to talk about this. If we work together we find her quicker than if we work separately." I tell him, following behind.

"How long were you gonna keep this shit from me, Justin?!" Maverick yells, turning towards me and attracting the attention of everyone.

"Oh shit." I hear Finn say from the side.

"What's going on?" Quinn asks.

"I'm not sure but it can't be good." William answers quietly.

"We didn't know." I tell him honestly, shrugging.

"You didn't think it was important to let me know that my sister knows about everything that we do and that you brought her into it?!" Maverick asks.

"I didn't bring her into it, Maverick. She was already a part of it when she came for the summer and you know it. They know she's your sister. Meanwhile, nobody knows what the fuck she is to me." I spat, not being pinned as the cause of this problem.

"You think that you sneaking in and out of my house while I'm not home doesn't show the fuckers that you're with my sister?!" Maverick asks, face red.

"You're acting like I've been fucking her, Maverick. She's my girlfriend!" I yell.

"Oh shit." Lucas says, walking closer, Rylee next to him.

"No, she's not." Maverick tells me, his jaw locked.

"You're her brother, Maverick. You can't tell her who the fuck she can date. If it's me she wants, then she can." I tell him, my jaw locked.

"Over my dead body will she ever be with you." Maverick says, causing my fists to clench at my sides.

"Whatever the fuck argument you two are having right now doesn't matter. Justin's right. If we're gonna find Hadlee, we all need to work together. You two need to push the disagreement to the side and find her. Then you can have it out." William says, walking in between the two of us.

"Fine." Maverick says, looking down before looking back up at me. "Is there anywhere she would go?"

I shake my head after a moment. "No. Not without telling me which she would've... earlier." I say, trailing off at the end.

"What do you mean, earlier?" Maverick asks.

I sigh. "I was with her when I went inside. We wanted to talk for a minute and when I came back down she was gonna wait so you didn't find out."

"So you were the last person to see her and she didn't say anything about going anywhere?" William asks, cutting in before Maverick can argue.

I nod. "She said she was coming back down here."

"Wait, was she with you the night she went missing and you found her?" Maverick says, looking over at me.

"Yes." I tell him before looking back at William as Maverick huffs out a breath and shakes his head in disbelief. "And if she had changed her mind and decided not to or go somewhere she would've told me or Maverick. She knows we both worry when no one knows where she is."

Maverick scoffs. "Worry my ass."

Almost on cue, my phone rings in my pocket, causing me to take it out and look at the unknown number written across the screen.

"Who is it?" William asks.

I shake my head, my face confused as I answer the call. "Hello?"

"Bieber, how are you man?"

I gulp. "Garret."

William looks up, his eyes widening.

"I figured I could get ahold of you when Maverick didn't answer." he chuckles. "Speaking of Maverick, any luck finding his little sister?"

"Not until you called." I spat. "Where is she?"

"She's with me. Don't worry." he chuckles. "And just so you know, I don't plan on giving her back. She's got her own room and bathroom as well as everything she had at her father's house. She'll be perfectly fine. Although she is quite bored."

"You're giving her back, Garrett. What the fuck do you want in return?" I ask, not in the mood for his dumbass games.

"Five grand." he says. "Which shouldn't be much if she means so much to you."

I gulp, licking my lips. "Mine or the gangs." I tell him.

"I don't care." he laughs. "As long as I get it."

I nod. "We'll be outside your place in an hour. Have her ready."

"An hour doesn't work for me. How about tomorrow?"

"No." I spat. "Two hours tops."

"Fine. Two hours. See you then." he says before hanging up.

I shake my head and gulp, looking up to William.

"What's he want?" he asks.

I shake my head once again, quicker this time. "Doesn't matter. I'm not taking it from the gang. It'll come out of my pocket." I tell them. "Be ready. We leave in an hour and a half."

William nods.

"What? He's in charge?!" Maverick yells. "She's my sister!"

"And he's the one they called." William looks at Maverick. "He knows what they want, when they wanna meet and what we need to do."

"Just for the record, they called you first. You didn't answer." I spat towards Maverick before turning on my heel and exiting the backyard through the gate.

***

An hour and a half later, I walk back into the Cooper yard, meeting everyone in the backyard.

"Are we ready?" I ask, looking around at everyone.

They nod.

"I take charge from here." Maverick says, stepping in front of me. "What does he want and where is he?"

"What he wants is from me. And his warehouse." I tell him.

"Why is it from you?"

"Because I volunteered mine rather than the gangs'." I inform him, rolling my eyes and looking at everyone. "Team up. There's twelve of us. We take three cars."

"Four." Maverick interrupts. "I'm driving myself so I can bring her straight home."

I roll my eyes, snorting. "Fine. Four."

Getting to our cars only seconds later, we all hop in and I lead us to the warehouse, parking and allowing them to all park before grabbing my bag from the backseat and getting out with everyone else.

"What's that?" William asks, pointing to the bag while getting out of my passenger seat.

"What he wants." I tell him, making him nod.

"Yo, asshole!" Maverick screams, causing me to roll my eyes for the millionth time tonight.

I step in front of the group, licking my lips as Garrett walks outside.

"Sup Bieber, how ya been?"

"I'm not here to chit chat, Garrett. Where is she?"

"Where's my money?" he asks, raising his brow.

Everyone looks to me, causing me to sigh, holding up the bag and throwing it over to him.

One of his friends picks it up, opening and counting the cash before nodding to Garrett.

"Good job, you follow directions." he chuckles.

"Where is she?" I ask, losing patience.

Garrett rolls his eyes, turning around. "Did you bring her downstairs.

A guy from behind him nods.

"Bring her out, she's free to go."

*** Hadlee's POV ***

"Where are you taking me?" I ask the guy who grabs me by my arm, pulling me along through the dark hallways and near an exit. "Are we just standing here?"

He stays quiet, not responding.

I sigh, staring at the wall across from us.

Within five minutes, the exit door opens and another man walks in.

"She comes with me." he tells him, causing the guy holding me to nod and hand me over.

"Why does everyone insist on dragging me?" I growl as they push the door open. "I can fucking walk along with you, asshole."

The guy stops immediately and I look up, noticing Justin, Maverick and the gang across from me.

"Still so fiesty."

I look over, finally matching a face to the voice I've been hearing through the speaker, my eyes immediately narrow in hate.

"She's free to go." the guy says, nodding towards me.

The guy holding me back lets me go, pushing me forward slightly.

After taking a few careful steps, I make eye contact with Justin who nods slightly, telling me it's okay to walk faster. Within a second, my brain matches my feet as they move faster, leading me directly into Justin's arms as I exhale deeply, not caring that my brother is here.

"Hads," Justin pauses, making me look up at him with a curious expression. "Mav knows." he whispers.

I gulp, licking my lips.

Everyone stays still for a moment while the guy and his friends walk back into their building, the door slamming being the sign for us to all start moving.

"Come on." Maverick says, roughly grabbing my arm and dragging me along with him towards his own car.

"Ow! Maverick!" I yelp, trying to keep up with his pace.

I look back, noticing Justin take a step forward while a guy, William I think, stops him, shaking his head.

"Get in." Maverick orders, pushing me in the passenger seat before quickly getting in himself and starting to drive away.

I stay silent, knowing he's angry.

Once home, I notice my father's car in the driveway, causing me to quickly get out of the car, slamming the door and starting to stomp up the yard.

"Stop being a child, Hadlee. You're the one in the wrong this time." he tells me, following quickly afterwards.

"I'm not wrong for having feelings for someone, Maverick!" I yell, turning around to him.

"He's my best friend, Hadlee!" He yells back, stepping up to me. "And you know what the fuck we do! It's too dangerous. He's too dangerous! I told you that!"

"You told me something, yes. But I have witnessed him be someone completely different than what you have told me." I say, jabbing his chest with my finger. "I decided to see who he was for myself and I don't regret anything at all."

"Did you sleep with him?" he asks.

I give him a look. "Is that what you're worried about? That he tried to talk me into sleeping with him?"

He looks at me blankly, not answering.

"No, Maverick. He hasn't asked, I haven't asked. We haven't almost done anything. We talk. We watch movies and talk and eat food. Like normal couples do. There has never been one moment where I felt uncomfortable or pressured." I tell him. "So you may think you know your best friend. Or maybe you did. But you don't know him when he's with me."

"Hadlee."

I turn, noticing my father standing on the front porch now. "Dad." I breathe. "Dad, I'm sorry-"

He holds up a hand. "I don't know what happened today but by the looks of you I'd say it was a lot. Why don't you go upstairs, shower and get some rest."

"I need to talk to her first." Maverick says, looking up at our father.

"No." my father says sternly, the volume of his voice rising as everyone else pulls up and exits their cars behind us.

I gulp.

"You do not need to argue with your sister anymore tonight."

Maverick gulps this time, probably due to the tone in our father's voice.

"Hadlee, sweetheart, go upstairs, shower and go to bed. We can talk tomorrow." our father says, placing his focus on me now.

I nod, climbing the steps and cautiously walking past him to enter the house. Before I climb the stairs, I shut the door and press my ear to the door, wanting to hear what happens next.

"Dad-"

"Maverick, I don't give a shit what the fuck she did or didn't do. You do not speak to her the way you just did." my father tells him.

"She's been dating Justin." he says, trying to defend himself.

"I don't care." my father cuts him off. "You do it respectfully. She is your sister, not your child."

Maverick stays quiet for a moment.

I hear the roar of a car... Justin's car.

"And quite frankly, Maverick... it's none of your goddamn business if they did do something. It's theirs." my father finishes.

As his footsteps are heard, I turn, quickly and quietly rushing upstairs before closing my bedroom door and locking it. 

***

Howdy friends! 

I'm still back on my updating schedule and it feels REALLY good to be writing and uploading again:)

Anyways, MAVERICK KNOWS!!!

How do you guys feel about Maverick's reaction and what went on in this chapter? Let me know down below. 

Don't forget to go ahead and follow me on Instagram (shannahortiz / thejustinsgirlfriend) or Twitter (OfficialJBGF) for posts or to get to know me! [ps. we can be friends;)]

thank you so much for reading this chapter! Don't forget to tune in next Tuesday for the next chapter!

much love, 

shan:)