Chapter 5

The next day Dior and Lilly spent getting the furniture together. It took them time, but together they got it done by following the easy IKEA instructions. And once that was done, both rooms with new beds, Lilly's furniture light while Dior's was black. They decided to lie down and be on their phones for a while once it was done, the time being 4 p.m., and Lilly ended up falling asleep.

Dior went downstairs soon later with a smile on her face, Chloe back from work by now, Harry's family in the living room too. "Hey guys," the brunette smiled and plopped down next to Harry who was staring at his little sister on the ground with a thoughtful look. "You alright?"

H met her eyes and nodded. "Where's Lilly?"

"She fell asleep after we got the furniture done."

"Fell asleep?" HJ asked.

"She hasn't slept well while she has been here and probably before that either," Dior explained quietly.

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned in worry.

"I didn't know that, but she was the one who found our dad dead," Dior explained in a hushed voice, knowing Lilly wouldn't mind as long as they didn't make a big deal about it. "He had something called SCD and his heart stopped functioning during sleeping. She's kind of terrified now," she murmured.

"Doesn't she need like medicine for that?" H frowned worriedly, knowing his dad had taken some a few years ago when his mom left them.

"She forgot to take it with her. Her brother should be here today though."

"Oh right, he's bringing her stuff?" Harry tried to change the uncomfortable topic, already knowing the blonde girl a little and knowing she wouldn't quite appreciate them worrying.

"Mhm, and her dog," Dior smiled. "He is soooo cute, I need to pet him."

"She has a dog?" HJ asked. "Big or small?"

"I mean not small, but also not the biggest," Dior explained. "We'll see. But he has one eye weirdly magnetic blue and the other brown so he looked really cute from the picture."

"Doggy," Allison said happily, pointing at Kat who followed them into the house earlier.

"Yeah, there's gonna be another one," Dior told her, making the little girl smile big and excited as the sheepdog curled up next to her.

"Did Bella stay with you?" H frowned, knowing Dior's cat usually preferred to stay with him.

"You can only hope to get her back now. She's upstairs, sleeping with Lilly," Dior chuckled, making Harry smirk as well.

#

Lilly woke up half an hour later, jerking to sit up after another nightmare. She hadn't stopped seeing it ever since her dad had died. She saw it every night, every time she tried to sleep. And watching how some black shadow went to your dad's room and stabbed him in the heart made her never want to sleep again.

She went downstairs, noticing the headache her head was producing on every step. She stopped on the lowest step once she heard voices from the living room. It was some man, her sister, and their mom. She took a breath before dragging her feet there.

The room fell quiet when she stopped on the doorway. There was a little girl on the ground, Allison she assumed, and an older man who looked much like the younger boy who was also there, sitting next to Dior.

"Honey, are you okay?" Chloe asked alert of her confused face and half-opened eyes.

"No. Do you have painkillers? For a headache?" Lilly asked slowly, trying to make sure she said the right words and didn't stutter in front of new people.

"Have you eaten anything?" Chloe asked, leading her to the kitchen, afraid she'll fall.

"No."

"Here," she sighed, handing her a banana. "Eat that and then you can take one."

It took some time, but she managed to eat the whole fruit and swallow the fast working pill with some water, by that time having already less headache. They went back to the living room and Lilly lowered herself to sit on the floor next to Kat and Allison, letting the dog get to know her.

The others spoke but looked at her while Kat automatically climbed onto her lap and curled up in there, letting Lilly pet him. "Okay, how do you do it?" Harry sighed.

"Do what?" Lilly murmured.

"Um... Get animals to like you," he said like it wouldn't already be obvious, pointing at the cat entering the room and walking straight to her. Bella hissed at Kat and he growled quietly, wanting full attention, so the cat just curled up next to her on the floor and somehow Kat rested his head onto her back when Lilly started petting her as well.

"I relate to animals," Lilly said with a sigh and stopped petting the two, resting her head against Dior's knee on the couch behind herself.

"Is your dog jealous?" HJ asked.

Lilly suddenly looked at him. "Probably." She looked at him with a curious and searching look, trying to find something that told that he was a leader of a biker gang.

"Right," the older man smiled. "I'm HJ."

"The leader," Lilly said, nodding. Her curious eyes didn't turn away quite yet. "How is it that you become the leader? Do you need to beat somebody up, or...?"

That made everyone laugh, but Lilly just keep frowning, waiting for an answer. "No. My father was the original leader, so we just keep passing it on I guess."

"Right and is it always a guy or could it be a queen?" Lilly asked curiously, wanting to understand these rules.

"It's firstborn. No matter the gender," H sighed.

Lilly looked at him with a small smirk now. "You don't wanna be one." It wasn't a question, she had understood it already.

"I don't," Harry agreed. "I wanna go to college."

"You couldn't go to college?" Lilly asked with a frown.

"I can. and I will, but... I don't want to stay here for my whole life. I wanna be a journalist and I want to make it big. New York Times or something," he sighed. "Running a gang isn't really what I need."

Lilly smiled at him and nodded a little, starting to get the boy better. "You're a Tiger though? Are you forced to be one when you're royal, or-"

"Not royal," Harry said with a harsh tone.

"Really?" Lilly smirked. "Aren't you Harold Jeopardy the third? That's quite royal," Lilly teased, making everybody laugh, and Harry smirk at her, annoyed.

"Go back to having a headache or being quiet," he smirked, making Lilly and Dior giggle, having made a joke about that earlier that day.

"If your family is a Tiger, you're a Tiger," HJ answered Lilly's question. "No one has to join, but they're still under the protection and it would be better if they did, for their own safety."

"So she's a Tiger too?" Lilly asked, looking at Allison for a moment.

"The youngest at the moment," H smiled. "Being one by blood is good. You get to the gang easily."

"Am I one?" Lilly asked slowly. They all nodded like it would be no big deal even though when Lilly met HJ's eyes, he looked like he was really hoping she'd become one. "So what do you have to do to be one, exactly?"

"See, that's what we only tell the ones who think about joining," H tells her.

She looks at him, rolling her eyes. "What do I have to do to be one?" she asked with better words.

"Now we're talking," H smirked, leaning forward. "The initiation for boys is fighting in a ring and beating someone good at boxing, usually some older Tiger. The one for girls is stripping in front of everybody."

Lilly raised her eyebrows in disgust. "The fuck," she muttered, making Harry smirk. "So girls have to be half-naked while boys can just win a boxing match? Are you serious?" Lilly chuckled madly.

"Right?" Dior asked with a bitter tone. "Kind of unfair if you ask me, but it's not like we wouldn't get our ass kicked by those men, so I guess it's fine..."

"Um no it's not," Lilly protested. "I would win. I know I would."

"You would win?" HJ asked doubtfully.

"I know how to box," Lilly said.

"That isn't just about knowing how to box. You need to win three matches and everybody ends up getting seriously hurt," Harry told her with a frown. "I understand that the stripping thing is fucked up and it's going to change once I'm the leader, but if you want to join, you have to do that."

"So you at least agree the stripping is bullshit?" Lilly asked.

"I do," Harry nodded.

"Alright, I don't hate you anymore," Lilly sighed, making him chuckle again. "But really," she frowned and looked at HJ. "If the girl prefers boxing, is that possible?"

"You can choose. Dior tried. She ended up in the hospital. These guys don't hold back," HJ said worriedly.

Lilly looks at her sister with wide eyes for a moment and then back at HJ. "So if I'd want to become a Tiger and box for it, you'd take me?"

"Even half of the guys don't win, Lilly," Chloe said. "And some just try it out to try how hard it is. It's hard."

"How old do you need to be to try out anyway?" Lilly frowned.

"Once you turn fifteen," Dior said. "Ethan beat me up, I hated him for a while, hoping he'd give me an advantage or something."

"Wait, Ethan?" Lilly asked in confusion, brain taking in more and more every minute.

"They'll get someone about your size," Harry explains. "I, Ethan and Basil were already in, being older than DD since you girls' birthday is in August. So we were the smallest ones. Ethan did the first match, I had to do the last, but before that, she couldn't continue anymore."

"So you just beat them up basically?" Lilly frowned.

"You can quit at any time. Just Dior was too proud for that," Harry smirked, making them all, including Lilly, chuckle.

"Okay. So when can I try out and who are my guys?"

"Me and Ethan and Basil," Harry sighed, not wanting to hurt this beautiful fierce blonde. "We're strong, Lilly. The age and size can be less than the older guys have, but most say we're stronger than them even."

"When?" Lilly repeated while looking at Allison who was looking at her and petting the cat between them.

"On Saturday. In a week, not today. We can practice at the gym," H offered.

"You have a gym? Where?"

"Between my and Basil's house," he tells her. "Yes, I live two houses away," he said with a smirk when Lilly was just about to ask it.

She chuckled. "Hey, you wanna hold the kitty?" she asked Allison who was still looking at her with a curious look. The little girl smiled and nodded. Lilly lifted the cat up and everybody was about to warn her, but Bella only opened her eyes and didn't even change her position when Lilly placed her down on Allison's small legs. The little girl giggled and started to pet her, the cat purring under her hand.

"Wow," Dior whispered in amazement.

The doorbell rang. Chloe got up and went immediately, but as the door opened, Lilly knew who it was, recognizing her dog's weeping. She got up with a smile, Kat following her while Bella maintained on Alli's lap, enjoying the petting.

"Her boy," Lilly said with an excited voice, squatting down next to the stairs and looking towards her crying dog. The dog started weeping louder, running on the place in excitement, so Daxton released him and Barrel was by Lilly's side within minutes, not knowing what to do, licking her over and jumping on her even though she was squatting down.

"Calm down," she chuckled, "Sit," she said, standing up. "Sit." The dog placed his butt on the ground, whimpering from happiness, the tail hitting against the ground every second. "Good boy," she said, kneeling in front of him and petting him thoroughly, letting him lick her face.

She smiled when seeing Dior hugging their brother, both of them looking happy, and then started hearing the barking sounds Kat was starting to make. Barrel defensively turned around and started barking as well, also at everyone who even tried to come closer to Lilly, needing his moment with his owner alone.

Lilly gently grabbed Barrel's collar just as Harry did the same with Kat, being his owner or at least the one who got the dog even though Kat liked to travel around quite a bit. "Is he neutered?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, what about him?"

Lilly let go of the collar, no need for any answers anymore and H did the same, letting the male dogs sniff each other and then both jump into playing positions, butts up, heads down, starting to run around.

"Oh wow," H chuckled.

Lilly smiled at Harry before getting up, going to her brother. She gave him a hug and a kiss onto his cheek. "You got some sleep?" she asked.

"Yes," he sighed, making the girl smile. "Are you feeling better?"

Lilly nodded. "Did you bring it?"

Daxton pulled out a small bottle of pills from his pocket and threw it into the air for her to catch. She did it with a sigh and rolled her eyes at her brother. "Also, may I say... It's freaking cold in here."

"I know. It was like 77 yesterday and today it's 62. I need some time to process it."

Daxton laughed at her and also introduced himself to HJ and H who he had no idea were but got to know within seconds.

"Can we get my things inside?" Lilly asked him.

"Go ahead," Daxton sighed tiredly, sitting down on the couch and closing his eyes. Lilly hit his leg, making him open them again with a smirk. "I drove here 32 hours, Lills. Your stuff, you carry them inside. Now let me sleep and go." He pushed her away a bit and she just rolled her eyes, grabbing the keys from his pocket and sliding on her flip-flops, going outside in the shorts and hoodie she had been wearing the whole day.

"He's nice," Dior smiled, carrying one huge box just like the blonde twin did.

"He would be nicer if he helped us get the things inside!" Lilly shouted so that her brother could hear.

"You would be nicer if you shut up and let me sleep!" he shouted back, making the others laugh.

"You wouldn't sleep anyway," Lilly murmured, going to get the other boxes, the others helping her get all of them inside and then later upstairs. Daxton helped with the last few boxes which were full of CD-s and some books, making them heavier.

#

"Can Lilly box?" Harry asked Dax an hour later when everything had been carried upstairs and they were eating pizza in the Taylors' living room, Lilly giving her dog a belly rub while Harry was petting his and Bella was sleeping on Allison's lap who was calmer and quieter than usual, not running around like toddlers liked to do.

"Beats me," Daxton chuckled.

Harry raised his eyebrows in shock and looked at Lilly's smirking face and then at the older boy's muscles. "Really? Can you box?"

"Yeah. I've been competing, won some trophies, but nothing much," he shrugged.

"You've won trophies but your little sister is better?" Harry asked in confusion. "Lills, you're competing in boxing?"

Lilly's heart fluttered at the way he said her nickname so easily and naturally as he had already been used to it. "No, my dad made me choose two and I chose surfing and running."

"But like... You can box."

"I'm not stupid, H. If I tell you I can beat guys I'm not lying y'know." Lilly smiled when he said his name in the shortened version as well, hoping it hadn't sounded awkward. But when she saw him smiling too, she was sure it hadn't.

"So you're sure you'll beat the shit out of me?" H smirked, taking it as a challenge.

"I don't like to hurt people so I'm not the one who punches you in the nose or anything, but I can give you some great wipe-outs and you'll lose conscious for a while," she giggled quietly.

"Tomorrow at 11 a.m.," he said with a smirk. "I'll wait."

"Does it cost anything to get inside?" Lilly asked.

"The Tigers own it. It costs like a really small amount 'cause we're not gonna charge our own, but it's free for me, so just meet me at the door."

"Okay," she smiled. His lips curled upwards as well, thinking she looked cute.

The two noticed that while they had been speaking, the others were talking about something else, so they focused their ears back on that conversation, still looking at each other once in a while.

That night, Daxton stayed over and Lilly got to sleep in her new full of boxes room with two dogs and a cat in her bed, Kat warming her feet, Barrel cuddling with her, and Bella sleeping on the second pillow next to her head.