Chapter 6

Stella's POV

We go into the bar. Many Hawks smile to us and we smile back sadly. We walk to Rich, who's working behind the counter and talking with Hog Eye and Tall Boy.

"Hey," he smiles, "You two okay?"

"The town will know by tomorrow," Max says and I sigh as we sit on the stools.

"Know what?" Tall Boy asks.

"Who I am," Max says.

They all shrug their shoulders, "That was gonna happen eventually," Rich says, "Something to eat for you two?" he asks.

"We went to Bobby's," I say the same time as Max says, "Yeah sure."

I look at him with raised eyebrows and he raises them too, "What?" he chuckles.

"Seriously, Max. You ate 4 burgers, how can you still be hungry?" I ask.

"You ate 2, how are you not?" he asks.

I roll my eyes and rest my chin on my hands, my elbows on the counter. He kisses my temple as the others laugh at us.

"How did anyone get to know anyways?" dad asks after Max orders lots of food.

I sigh and look down. Max kisses my cheek, "We thought we were alone, so she annoyed me, mentioning my real name, and Miles and Paisy heard it," he says.

I look at Rich with my eyes. He smirks at me, "His name is not that bad," he says.

I grin, cause he doesn't care what I blabbed out, "Not at all," I say sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes and kisses my hair, "Sure you don't want anything to eat?" he asks me.

I nod. He sighs and goes into the kitchen.

*Time pass. 1AM*

I roll over in Max's arms and look at the time. 1AM. I sigh, knowing that I can't sleep anyways.

I press a soft kiss on his forehead and get up from the bed. I walk into the living room, since dad.., I mean, Rich, is working tonight and won't be home.

I take the photos out from a drawer and sit on the couch. I pull on a blanket and start looking at the pics, my knees curled under my chin as I'm hugging them tightly while crying.

In what feels years of crying, I feel Rich's hand on my hair and him sitting next to me. I look up at him with all these tears and he sighs.

He kisses my forehead and I rest my head against his arm, "What's wrong?" he asks.

I give him the pictures. He looks at them and then back at me with a confused face, "I get it. You miss them. But there's something else," he says.

"They died 11 years ago," I say quietly.

His eyes widen, "As in on your bi," he starts, but shuts up, cause I hide my face into his arm.

He sighs and moves his arm over me, leaving my face into his chest now. He kisses my hair, "I'm sorry honey," he says.

I sniffle and nod a little. He starts fondling my hair softly, "Try to sleep. It's 4AM," he says tiredly himself.

I nod a little and close my eyes in his shirt. He keeps fondling my hair, his arm around me and I think he's looking at the pictures.

Rich's POV

I look at the pictures of Julia and me. Gosh I miss her. I haven't seen her in 16 years now.

I didn't know, why they moved away. I remember playing with El. Many many times. Now I know that she moved away when she probably found out, that she's having Stella. But still.. Why?

My eyes widen. Didn't we have sex? The only time we did? Nine months before Stella was born.

I look at Stella in my arms. She's breathing deeply, so I guess she's asleep.

I sigh. If she IS my daughter, I'd be so happy. But then Max and her.. Wow. That's fucked up.

I lift her up and take her to bed. I shake Max a little. He opens his eyes and looks confused.

"Hey," he says tiredly.

"Hey," I whisper and place Stella into his arms.

He looks at her with love in his eyes. Fuck me. I fucked up seriously. He pulls her against him and kisses her forehead. She snuggles her face into his neck and keeps sleeping.

"What's up?" he asks.

"I came home, she was crying on the couch.. Her parents died 11 years ago, today. On her birthday," I say and his eyes widen.

He looks at her with concern and kiss her cheek.

"So no cakes, no happy birthdays, no parties," I say. He sighs and nods.

"Just try to get her to forget everything," I say and he nods.

"Thanks dad," he says.

I smile sadly and tiredly and kiss his hair, "Night," I say.

"Night," he sighs and I leave the room.

I go into the bathroom and look for something. Nice. Her hairbrush. I take a few strands of her hair and put them into a little plastic bag.

*The morning*

Max's POV

I open my eyes, feeling Stella shaking in my arms. I start fondling her hair softly, making her look up at me with a few tears.

"Hey baby," I say.

She looks at me with her eyes, her face still kinda inside my face.

"Dad told me. And I'm sorry," I say softly.

She smiles weakly and I kiss her forehead, "I don't wanna do anything today," she says with a sad voice.

I nod, "How does watching some movies or tv shows and eating loads of pizzas and just cuddling sound?" I ask her.

She smiles and nods. She leans up to me and kisses my lips softly for a few seconds. It's a soft kiss, really enjoyable. Then she pulls away and puts her head back on my arm.

"What are we watching?" she asks.

"My question more is what are we eating," I smirk and she chuckles at me.

"Dummy," she says and kisses my cheek.

I smile and nod, "Only for you, baby," I say and she rolls her eyes playfully.

*Time pass, 8h*

"Next movie," she giggles after watching 3 first Harry Potters.

I smile. I love these movies and so does she. She gets up and puts the movie on from Netflix.

Then she gets back onto my lap and snuggles her back against my chest. I kiss her temple and we start watching the fourth movie.

"Do you want some popcorn?" Stelle asks me.

I smile, "With M&Ms?" I ask.

She giggles, "How can a gang leader get so excited about popcorn with M&Ms?" she asks me.

I look back at the movie, pouting a little. She spoons my face and turns it to face her as I'm still pouting.

"You're a cute dork," she says and pecks my lips.

She gets up and goes into the kitchen. I smile, looking after her, only in her short pajama pants and one of my T-shirts.

She has no idea, what present we have for her. NO IDEA.

*Time pass, 7PM*

"Maxy, if you threw me a party, I'm mad," she warns me.

I roll my eyes, "No party. No one knows about your birthday," I say.

She smiles a little and we walk into the bar, hand in hand.

"Hey," dad says to us and seems excited like I am.

"What?" Stella asks.

"Can you come on the stage with me?" dad asks her.

She furrows her eyebrows but does it. I smile and walk to Nolan and Weston and Pixie and Mila.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," they chuckle, "What's happening?" Pixie asks, seeing confused Stella on the stage with my dad.

I smile and look at Nolan. He smirks and gives me a bag. I sigh in relief and go next to the stage and sit down on the stairs.

"Everyone!" dad shouts and everyone shuts up, almost EVERYONE is here, "We have a new Hawk in the grew, so," he starts, but gets interrupted by Penny.

"She has to do the dance, Rich!" she yells.

I roll my eyes, "She's a Hawk by blood!" I yell back.

"But she," Penny starts.

"She's the daughter of the queen. She's 15. She has every right to join without having to do anything," dad says.

"The queen is dead," Penny says and I puff in anger and look at Stella who just a second ago seemed excited and happy and now seems so sad and holding her breath.

I get up and go on the stage while dad starts talking, "Well, she's basically my daughter as well and unless you're gonna kill me," dad starts.

"I can do the dance," Stella says as I wrap my arms around her.

"No," me and dad say in unison. I hear some Hawks chuckling.

"Why the fuck do the others even have to do it?" she asks.

I sigh and look at dad as he looks at me.

"A way to show that they're gonna be loyal," dad says.

"So why can't they just get beat up like you guys?" she asks.

"Right?" Pixie shouts.

Mila chuckles, "Apparently no one wants to punch a girl," she says.

I sigh, "You're not doing the dance. I didn't have to go through the punching either," I say.

She rolls her eyes, "Fine," she says and I kiss her hair.

"Everyone okay with that?" dad asks and everyone cheers.

Stella starts smiling excitedly again and I see Penny rolling her eyes.

Dad starts talking something, but I'm focusing on getting the jacket out of the bag.

Stella's looking at me with a smile. The next thing I hear is Joaquin asking when did she get 15.

"Today," Stella says quietly and everyone starts cheering again.

"What? Why didn't you tell us?.... Max! Why didn't you throw a party?" Weston asks, making Stella chuckle.

"She doesn't like her birthday and shut up now," I say, finally getting the leaders' jean jacket out of the bag.

Dad says a few more sentences, making everyone cheer again and I look at genuinely smiling Stella.

I kiss her hair and help her put the Hawk jacket on herself. Everyone starts cheering louder than ever, in support.

She turns to me with a big smile. I smile back, enjoying the sight of her with a Hawk jacket. HER Hawk jacket. ACTUALLY FITTING Hawk jacket.

I pull her into my embrace and we hug foe about a minute.

Then she pulls her head away and kisses my lips softly and passionately. And as always, I kiss her back, enjoying every moment of it.

When we pull away, everyone starts cheering and dad takes the mic, "Hawk king and queen, everyone," he says.

Everyone shuts up. "What?" me and Stella ask in unison.

The older Hawks seem to get it.

"You gave your queen the jacket. Meaning..." dad says.

I raise my eyebrows and look at Stella. She giggles quietly and hugs me again. I sigh in relief and hug her as well.

We hear a bell ringing, meaning that someone just came into the bar. The whole bar gasps, so Stella pulls away from me and we look at the guy.

He is wearing a military uniform and has Stella's eyes and hair, so I'm pretty sure, who that is.

"El," Stella breathes out with a big smile and a few tears.

"Hey Essie," he says, sounding so happy and relieved

Essie?