"Jack," I say, fear starting to take over my voice. "Someone's here..."
Jack pulls away with a puzzled look. "Who's here?" he ask with confusion.
"There's a man behind you. He's wearing a black cap and a mask," I say in a low tone, fearing that if I talk too loud, the man could hear us. "I think he's a friend of the stalker..."
Jack turns his head to observe the beach and notice the guy is standing not far from them. He looks like he's smoking as he watches the waves.
"Hold my hand. Let's get out of here before he starts trouble," says Jack as he holds my hand tightly.
"Yes," I say.
The two of us starts walking out of the beach. Just when we almost reach our car, the man from the beach suddenly walks in front of us covering our way along with his friend, who is none other than the creepy stalker I saw a few days ago.
"Well, well, look at the kid," says the man with a wicked tone.
"Rachel, hide behind me," Jack says in a whisper tone. I slowly hide behind his back.
I could feel footsteps coming closer to us, when Jack suddenly pulls out a gun from his pocket and pulls the trigger as he aims for the stalker. The stalker ends up on the ground as Jack had shot him on the chest.
"Move any muscle and you're next!" says Jack as he moves to point the gun at the man.
"You're trained well, kid. But I'm just here for the girl. Hand her over to me," says the man before he starts laughting in a wicked manner.
"Over my dead body!" says Jack. "Stay away from her before you have to deal with the consequences!"
"Look, kid. I'm only here for the little brat. You better just hand her ov-"
The man wasn't able to finish his sentence as Jack had shot him in the chest, making him fall to the ground. Jack then grabs my hand and runs to our car. The two of us enter the car and speeds off leaving the beach.
"Are you ok?" Jack ask while keeping his vision on the road as he drives in high speed.
"Just...shocked..." I say as I was still shivering at the thought of almost getting kidnapped by two strangers.
"You're staying at our place tonight," says Jack. "You need extra protection."
I glance at Jack, "Ok."
My mind is still traumatized by what just happened. I definetly don't want to sleep alone tonight. At this point, I guess I really do need protection from Yangyang and his friends.
10:45 PM...
At the boys' house...
"We're here," says Jack.
I walk out of the car and Jack holds my hand to comfort me as the two of us enter the house. We see that the guys are playing a game of cards in the living room.
"Hey, you're back," says Liam to Jack before he moves his vision to me.
Meanwhile, Alex looks at me with a surprised look as his eyes stares at both Jack and I who are holding hands. I try to avoid eye contact with Alex since it feels awkward.
"We almost got attack by some random guys," says Jack with a serious tone.
"What? Where? Who?" Nate ask with a shocked tone.
"At the beach. I was at the beach with Rachel when two guys approached us when we were about to leave. They wanted to take Rachel but I shot them faster before they could do anything else," says Jack as he still holds my hand to comfort me.
Though I'm still scared of everything that just happened, holding Jack's hand did made me feel a bit comfortable. My rushing heart beat starts to beat normally as my fear go down slowly.
"This is dangerous. Who were hose guys?" Liam ask with a serious tone.
"We don't know. They were both wearing black mask, and I don't think we've seen them before," says Jack. "Chances are they could be a new gang."
"Or maybe we had just found out about them. Whatever is the name of their gang, these guys sounds dangerous," says Nate.
"And they tried to take Rachel," says Jack.
"Someone dangerous is really after her," says Alex. "We have to give her extra protection and find out who is after her."
"Yes," Jack adds.
The guys continue to talk about their next plan to protect me and find out who is the person who's after me. As they all talk, I just sit in silence as I continue to hold Jack's hand. As it gets later, I start to feel sleepy.
"Rachel, you look sleepy," says Alex as he stares at my sleepy face. "You should get some sleep."
"We already tidy the guest room for you," says Nate. "Please, make yourself at home."
"Thank you, guys," I say before I yawn. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed first. Goodnight," I say before walking upstairs to the guest room, or tonight I could call it my room for a moment.
At Rachel's room...
I walk inside the guest room to see that it's all tidy and clean. There is also a bathroom inside. I walk inside the bathroom to get myself clean up before bed.
11:30 PM...
I finished cleaning myself up and is now lying on the queen size bed. I just called my mom saying that I'll be staying at a friend's house tonight, in which she don't mind. I put my phone on the table and walk over to turn off the lights, when I hear a knock coming from the door.
I turn on the lights again and walk over to open the door, only to see Jack standing there, all cleaned-up and holding a t-shirt and some shorts.
"Here you go. You can change into these for bed," says Jack as he sits down beside Rachel and hands her the t-shirt and shorts, which are his sleep wears.
Rachel takes the oversize white t-shirt and indigo shorts from Jack's hand. She had asked him if she could borrow his t-shirt and shorts for bed after she got sands on her t-shirt and jeans. "Thanks, Jack."
"No problem," says Jack as Rachel stood up and walk to the bathroom to change her clothes.
Rachel walks out of the bathroom wearing the oversize t-shirt and shorts that Jack had borrowed her earlier. Jack's eyes starts to stare at Rachel who walks back to the bed to sit beside him. He thought she looked adorable in his shirt.
"Done," says Rachel as she lays down on the bed.
"Do you need anything else?" Jack ask.
"Nope. That's all," says Rachel as she starts to rub her tired eyes.
"Ok. I'll be going back to my room now. Sleep tight, Rach," says Jack as he stands up and starts walking to exit the room.
"Wait..." Rachel says.
Jack turns his head to look at Rachel who is now sitting on the bed alone, her face suddenly looks like she is in fear.
"Jack, would you mind to stay with me tonight?" Rachel ask with a nervous look. She could feel herself getting butterflies by her own sentence. "I'm still shock about what happened earlier."
Jack starts walking back to the bed and sits beside Rachel. He turns his head to face her who is now looking down with a nervous look.
"Sure," Jack says with a chill tone, as if he had no problem with it. In fact, if he could be honest with himself, he is happy to be able to spend the night with her.
Rachel looks up and turns her head to face Jack after hearing his answer. She forms a smile on her face. "Thanks, Jack."
"No problem. Now can we get some sleep?" Jack ask as he was starting to feel sleepy.
"Sure," says Rachel.
Jack walks over to turn off the lights and walks back to the bed as he lies down next to Xiali.
"Goodnight, Jack," says Rachel before she pulls up the gingham patterned covers.
"Goodnight, Rachel," says Jack.
The next day...
8 AM...
Rachel's POV...
I woke up and feel Jack's strong arms wrapped around my waist. He must have fallen asleep while he was hugging me from behind. I'm happy knowing that he agreed to stay with me last night after what happened, and having his arms around my waist actually makes me feel safe and comfortable.
I guess the feelings never change. I've always feel safe when I'm with him, my best friend. I turn my body to see Jack peacefully asleep.
I start to stare at every inch of his face. He looks so peaceful like a sleeping child. Even when he's asleep, he still looks charming. I put my hand on his cheek as I start to caress it. I can't help it, he looks so good I just want to treat him like a child.
Out of my surprise, Jack slowly starts to open his eyes as I caress his cheek. I stare at him with an awkward look as I just woke him up from his sleep.
"Oh, sorry...I woke you up," I say with a low tone.
"I was already awake anyway," says Jack, before letting out a small chuckle.
"What?" I ask with confusion. "So you mean, you were awake?"
"Yeah...something was moving from my arms," says Jack as the two us continue having eye contact.
"Oh....ok," I say with an awkward tone.
Suddenly, Jack pulls me into a warm hug. I hug him back as I get lost in his warm embrace. He pulls back a little as he stares deeply into my eyes.
We both got lost in each other's eyes, before his face starts getting closer to me. I close my eyes as I just want to let everything flow naturally. Whatever happens, I just feel comfortable when I'm with him, and that I trust him fully.
I could feel our faces getting closer to each other as we could feel each other's breath. Slowly I feel a pair of soft lips on mine, brushing softly as the kiss gets deeper with our tongues exploring each other.
As the kiss continues, Jack pulls my waist and puts me on top of him. We slowly pull away to catch our breaths as we stare into each other's eyes.
Realizing what just happened, Jack looks at me who is still on top of him with an awkward yet happy look.
"Rach," says Jack as he looks lost after the kiss. "Umm..let's have breakfast?"
I give him a nod as I also feel awkward after the kiss. I do care deeply for Jack, but I was surprised to find myself attracted to him in a different way since last night. Was it because I got lost in my childhood memories while we were at the beach? Or maybe it was the way he protected me last night from the stalkers? Or the way he hold me all night and made me feel comfortable? And by that I just let myself get into this moment with him. I get up from him and he gets up from the bed and walks to the bathroom.
I guess even though the feelings never change, the attraction just got deeper in a different way.
Downstairs...
8:20 AM....
Liam, Nate, and Alex are having a peaceful breakfast together, when Rachel and Jack walks downstairs and enters the dining room to join them.
"Good morning, guys," says Jacj as he greets the three guys.
"Morning! Did you guys had a good rest?" Liam ask before he takes a sip of his morning coffee.
"Yes," I say with a smile. I notice Alex who had been stealing glances at me a few times since I enter the dining room. I look at him and give him a small smile, in which he smiles back.
"Alright, let's have breakfast," says Jack as he puts his arms around my shoulder. I instantly look at Alex who's smile has faded into a puzzled look by now.
2 days later...
Weston University...
Since the incident that happened at the beach a few days ago, Alex started to be more protective of Rachel. This includes driving her to college, her work place, and picking her up after work everyday. At this point, Rachel has no other choice but to agree since she knew she could be in danger at any time.
"Wait, so you guys will be going to LA this evening?" Rachel ask.
"Only Liam, Nate, and Jack. I'm staying here to look after you," says Alex as the two continue to walk through the hallway.
"Why so sudden?" Rachel ask, as she sounds confuse.
"Well, Chad said that he had to cancel coming to New York and instead told us to come to LA for an urgent meeting," says Alex. "The guys told him that I have to stay in New York in the mean time to look after you."
Rachel nods after hearing Alex's statement. She did heard from the boys that they have friends in LA who are also involved in the gang world, and that this Chad guy is their leader.
"And Chad doesn't mind that you can't come to LA because of me?" Rachel ask.
"Of course not. Jack told him that you are our friend, and that you could be in a dangerous situation now, so you need extra protection," says Alex.
"I see," Rachel says as the two continue to walk. "When will they be back?"
"They'll be back in 5 days. Since they're also gonna attend Chad's wedding in 3 days," says Alex.
"I see," Rachel says. "By the way, I haven't seen Emma today. Did you happen to see her?"
"No. I haven't seen her," says Alex.
After college...
Alex drives Rachel to Q&A Bar for her shift. He's planning to go to the supermarket to buy some groceries before picking her up again in a few hours.
"Bye," says Rachel as she waves goodbye at him while standing in front of the bar.
"Bye! I'll be back in a few hours," Alex says.
"Ok," says Rachel before she walks inside the bar.
To be continue...