adowables

[adowables]

we were never safe. CH.3

playlist ;;

!!! - mention of cigarettes

a/n ; OMG IM SO SORRH FOR POSTING SO LATE!! i almost forgot …HOPE U ENJOY!!

"marked" CH.3

july 12, 2017-

-VIOLA

the sun wasn't even fully up when i noticed it.

spray paint, bright and ugly against the crumbling brick of our building. the kind of red that bled into the brick, dripping like it was still wet.

big letters, jagged and sharp, not a tag, not art, a mark.

billie was already outside, hood pulled low, hands shoved into her pockets. she stared at it like she'd been expecting it.

"what the hell is this?" i asked, though i could feel the answer in my stomach.

she glanced over at me, then back at the wall. "vargas crew," she said flatly. "that's how they mark problems."

"problems," i repeated.

"yeah." she kicked a loose rock on the sidewalk, watching it bounce into the gutter. "people they want to keep an eye on. people they want gone."

my mouth felt dry. "so, us?"

"you think they're warning the building for fun?" she shot back, then sighed. "yeah. us."

for a second, the street was quiet, just the buzz of the busted streetlamp above, the distant rattle of a passing bus.

then a faint hiss cut through the air, like the tail end of a spray can. i turned my head. across the street, leaning against a newspaper box, was marco "ghost" esparza.

graffiti legend. drifter. sometimes with dom's crew, sometimes not. nobody ever knew where his loyalties really sat, which made him even more dangerous.

he didn't say a word. didn't even hold a can in his hand. just watched us.

billie tensed beside me. "ignore him," she muttered.

so we did. or at least, we pretended to.

cade stepped out onto our shared stoop a minute later, rubbing the back of his neck like he'd just woken up. his eyes went straight to the red mark. lingered.

he didn't ask. he wasn't the type to care about 'territory', he had bigger things to deal with.

instead, he lit a cigarette and leaned on the railing, watching the street. his crew, the iron serpents, had their own rules, their own enemies. dom's crew was one of them.

if cade knew that mark was aimed at me, it wouldn't just be paint on a wall anymore. it would be war. 

and i didn't want that.

so i said nothing.

we ended up walking to the corner store together without even talking about it. the streets felt different now, tighter, like they were shrinking around us.

eddie was behind the counter when we stepped in, leaning back on his stool, flipping through a battered comic book.

he looked up and grinned at me. "morning, trouble."

"morning," i said, grabbing a soda from the cooler. "this is billie. new neighbor."

eddie's gaze flicked between us, that easy smile still on his face. "figured. you two got that same don't-talk-to-me look."

billie smirked faintly but didn't say much, just grabbed a bag of chips and set it on the counter. eddie didn't push her to talk.

we bought our stuff and ended up outside, sitting on the curb by the vending machine. it wasn't like we were in a rush to go home.

hours passed that way. eddie came out once or twice for a smoke, leaning against the doorframe while we sat cross-legged on the concrete, watching the world go by.

we didn't talk about the mark, or ghost, or cade. instead, we traded small things, songs on our phones, half a bag of chips, a couple of cigarettes.

billie leaned back against the wall at one point, squinting up at the sun. "this place is... slow," she said.

"you'll get used to it," i said. "or you'll get bored. one of the two."

she gave me a look, like she couldn't tell which one i was.

by the time the afternoon started to fade, neither of us had gone our separate way once. we just stood, stretched, and walked home together, the unspoken understanding still hanging between us.

ghost was gone. but the red mark stayed.

[adowables]

we were never safe. CH2.

playlist ;;

!!! - cursing, violence, abuse

a/n ;; hii everyone! my name is sheyla and this is the second chapter of we were never safe! (wwns) find the first chapter on my blog <3

”the alley” CH.2

july 12, 2017-

- VIOLA

the corner store's neon light buzzed overhead, flickering like it was seconds from burning out. eddie was behind the counter, leaning on his elbows, bored out of his mind.

"you want me to throw in a pack of gum for free?" he asked, scanning my drink and the cheap bag of chips.

eddie was the closest person i could call a friend, even though we were barely that. "only if you don't tell cade i was here," i said, fishing change from my pocket.

eddie smirked. "i don't tell cade anything. i like breathing."

he slipped the gum into the bag anyway and handed it over. "don't hang around too long tonight. alright?"

i nodded at him with an awkward smile as i took the bag.

i stepped out into the damp summer night. the air was heavy with heat, but there was something sharper in it, something wrong. the streets were quieter than they should've been, but not empty.

i was halfway down the block when i heard it, shouting. not the drunk kind, not the arguing-over-a-cigarette kind. sharper. meaner.

it was coming from the mouth of an alley between a closed laundromat and a boarded-up bar.

i slowed, the sound pulling me in before my brain caught up. voices overlapped, spanish and english snapping back and forth.

then a crash. the sound of something metal hitting concrete.

i edged closer.

three men were in the alley, lit by the sickly yellow of a single flickering streetlight. two of them were shoving the third against the wall.

i recognized one instantly, dominic vargas. dom. i'd seen him once before from across the street when cade was talking to someone he didn't think i knew. the kind of man whose presence filled the space like a loaded gun.

beside him was rico "knives" delgado. tattoos curling up his neck, his face sharp and angular like it had been carved with one of his own blades.

the third guy was on the losing end, doubled over as dom's fist caught him in the ribs.

i should've walked away. but then i saw her.

the girl with blue hair.

she was leaning against the far wall, her hood down, hair spilling over her shoulders. she wasn't with them, she was watching. frozen.

what i didn't know then was that she hadn't planned on being here any more than i had. she'd left the cramped apartment she shared with her brother earlier that night, storming out before their argument could spiral into something worse.

finneas had been riding her hard for weeks, about her late nights, the people she talked to, the way she "let trouble find her." tonight was the breaking point. he'd told her she was going to end up dead or in prison if she didn't straighten out, this was her new chance. she told him maybe that was better than being stuck with him.

it wasn't the first fight. but it was the one that made her grab her jacket and disappear before she said something she couldn't take back.

billie had no plan for where to go. she just walked.

the streets were a kind of relief, even if they were dangerous. anywhere was better than hearing her brother's voice. she kept to the darker paths, avoiding the usual spots where finneas might come looking.

the alley wasn't a destination, it was just quiet, tucked away from the main road, a place where she could breathe without someone telling her she was screwing up her life. she didn't expect to find dom and rico there, mid-business.

and once she did, she couldn't make herself leave. she knew it was stupid. she'd been around enough dangerous men to recognize the type. but there was something about watching that kind of power up close, like staring into a fire.

then she saw me.

our eyes met for half a second before another sound cut through the alley. the wet smack of a punch.

dom grabbed the guy's shirt, shoving him hard into the brick. "you don't short me again," he said, voice low but clear enough to hear.

rico was smiling. a thin, mean smile.

and then his eyes slid past the man they were beating. past billie. to me.

it was like being pinned to the wall without him touching me. his gaze locked on mine and didn't let go.

billie moved first. she pushed off the wall and crossed the alley toward me. "we need to go," she said under her breath.

i didn't argue.

we turned, walking fast until we hit the street.

"don't look back," billie said.

but i did.

rico was still there, standing at the mouth of the alley now, one hand resting casually in his jacket pocket. watching.

by the time we hit the next block, the quiet was back, but it felt different, like the city had noticed us.

we didn't say much. footsteps, the hum of the streetlights, the occasional car rolling by too slow.

"you shouldn't have been there," billie muttered finally.

"neither should you."

she didn't answer.

we walked together until our street came into view, our street. the cracked sidewalk, the broken streetlamp outside the corner, the two apartment doors right next to each other like a bad joke.

i slowed a little, looking at the building. cade would be upstairs, waiting.

billie slowed too, like she was in no rush to see her brother either.

"you got somewhere to be?" i asked, already knowing the answer.

"nah," she said.

we didn't make a plan to stay out longer, but we both stopped at the corner convenience store anyway. eddie was inside, stocking shelves, pretending not to notice us loitering on the curb at nearly midnight with a sigh.

we sat there a while, picking at our snacks in silence. it wasn't awkward, just a quiet kind of company. eddie was disappointed i hadnt followed his advice, but there was little he could do.

eventually, the air shifted, heavier somehow, the kind of stillness that says the night's over whether you want it to be or not.

billie stood first. "guess we should head back, oh and i'm billie."

i nodded. "im viola."

we walked the short way home together, our shadows stretching under the flickering streetlight until we reached our building.

she pulled her hood up and went into her door without looking back.

i lingered for a second before stepping into mine. even though we were in separate apartments, the walls between us felt thin tonight, like we'd already stepped into the same current, whether we wanted to or not

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺✧༻𓆪 ⎠꧂

[adowables]

“ don’t take it out on me …

… i’m out of sympathy for you ”

— welcome to adowables . call me sheyla or sheki, idm ˙𐃷˙

⤷ about me ˎˊ˗ ⋆ painter, artist, writer #dcsolosmarvel, she/they, love the smell of hair dye, stem, taurus, billie’s girl, wlw, unlabelled ⚠︎·˚ i love everything toxic. 

𖢥 requests ;; open for wlw only !!

⏾ inbox ;; open / i block freely ˙⋆✮

╋━  ;; i release as much as i can from series to one shots, expect lots of content from me. 

[adowables]

we were never safe.

two girls, one city, and nowhere safe to run.

— viola meets billie, blue hair, sharp tongue, dangerous heart. they're thrown into a world of gangs, sirens, and betrayal. what starts as a reckless crush turns into love worth bleeding for. even when family, enemies and the streets try to tear them apart.

playlist :

!!! — weed/cigarettes, guns, cursing

a/n — yooo! my name is sheyla, im so excited to release this first chapter as i’ve been writing this series for a long time now! i release every other day and i also release on wattpad <3

helicopters & new faces" CH.1

july 5, 2017

- VIOLA

i woke up with sunlight slipping through the broken blinds, warm stripes cutting across my face. the air in the room was still, except for the faint hum of caleb's voice drifting in from the living room. i pushed myself off the worn mattress, the springs groaning under me, and stumbled into the hallway.

caleb was sprawled back in the sagging sofa couch, his legs stretched out, a gun resting in one hand while the other worked a fiber towel over its metal surface. the faint smell of gun oil mixed with the sharp tang of weed in the air. he glanced up at me, taking a long, slow drag from his blunt, the smoke curling toward the cracked ceiling.

"get dressed, vi. this ain't a fucking club," he muttered, his voice low and scratchy.

i looked down at myself, black underwear and a thin tank top. nothing i hadn't worn around the house before, but still, i tugged on a pair of shorts just to shut him up.

me and cabe didn't talk much. he was my older brother, and for as long as i could remember, he'd been ridiculously overprotective. our parents weren't in the picture, and i didn't know why. every time i asked, he'd shut down, his face closing like a locked door.

i leaned against the wall by the front door while he watched the news, his gun now resting across his lap like some loyal pet. "look," he said with a smirk, nodding toward the screen, "gang activity's worse than ever. cops everywhere."

i snorted softly, stepping closer. the local news was showing the rough end of town, graffiti scrawled walls, boarded up windows, and shadows that looked like they moved even when no one was there.

without looking, caleb stood and tossed me a banana. "heard we got new neighbors," he said casually. "apparently a girl your age."

his eyebrows lifted like he was testing me. he knew damn well i didn't have friends, and i had no plans to change that. i rolled my eyes, caught the fruit, and bit into it without peeling all the way, chewing slowly just to be difficult.

about half an hour later, i threw on some clothes to run cabe's daily errand, his pack of cigarettes. walking down the block, i spotted her.

a girl with dark blue hair sat on a bench, headphones covering her ears. a man, probably her brother was nearby, talking to a couple of guys who looked like movers. i slowed for a moment, my eyebrow arching. so this was the new neighbours.

her hair was striking, almost too colorful for this side of town, where color usually came from graffiti or flashing police lights. everything about her screamed not from here. i walked past without breaking stride, slipping one airpod in. she didn't seem to notice me, at least i thought she didn't, but then i caught the flicker of her eyes snapping open, locking on me as i passed. quick. sharp.

later that night, i slipped outside with one of caleb's cigarettes i'd "borrowed." he wouldn't miss it. the wind was stronger than usual, whipping around the corners of the buildings, carrying with it the low thrum of helicopters circling overhead. they'd been out more often lately.

i made my way to my usual smoking spot, a narrow alley choked with dumpsters, the smell of rot clinging to the air. not the safest place to be at night, but it was one of the few blind spots without cameras. the cops didn't bother with it.

and there she was.

the same blue hair, catching the dim light from a streetlamp. she was sitting against the wall, cigarette in hand, smoke curling around her face. shouldn't she have been unpacking boxes or hiding inside like a normal new neighbor?

i rolled my eyes, keeping a bit of distance before leaning against the opposite wall. her headphones were on again, the faintest hum of music escaping them.

we smoked in silence. no words. just the occasional glance, quick and unreadable, before turning back to our own thoughts.

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺✧༻𓆪 ⎠꧂