Jack's POV...
I stopped running when I realize that I had lost Rachel in the crowd. Damn, this is dangerous! That girl is being after by a mysterious criminal, and she just ran away due to a heart break. This is a disaster.
I quickly grab my phone from my pocket. I tried to call her a few times but she didn't pick up. I sigh as she didn't answer my 5th call. Realizing that she's not gonna pick up my calls anytime sooner, I decided to call the guys.
I put my phone back in my pocket. I was about to walk through the large crowd, when I almost bump into a couple who are holding their ice creams. It's Alex, and his girlfriend, obviously.
"Jack!" Alex looks at me with a surprised look. He looks like he is frozen to death as his eyes widens at the sight of me. I guess he didn't want me to caught him like this? Whatever.
"I'm surprised to see you here," I stare at him with a sharp look, and feeling way too irritated. I would have smack him right now for making Rachel ran away, but I had to look for her. "Mind introducing me to your friend here?"
"Oh, this is Courtney...she's my.."
"Girlfriend!" Courtney says as she gives me a big smile.
"Yeah," Alex says with an awkward smile as he tries to avoid eye contact with me. "Courtney, this is my friend, Jack."
"Nice to meet you," Courtney says.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," I say with a flat look. "Well, gotta rush. Rachel is missing," I say as Alex's eyes stares at me with deep fear. I quickly rush off leaving the couple behind, not wanting to stay a bit longer near them.
9:16 PM...
At Star Convenience Store...
After paying for her bottles of beers and snacks, Rachel grabs the shopping bag from the cashier counter and walks out of the convenience store. She took a cab from The Season's Market to a convenience store not far from her home. She is planning to have drinks and snacks all night to comfort her heart break. Her eyes are still puffy as she had been silently crying in the cab.
Rachel's POV...
I walk a cross the street with tears in my eyes. As much as my head hurts right now from the headache, but my heart is literally broken into pieces. I still can't believe Alex would hide this from me. I feel horrible for being a fool in love. Why did I even thought that we were something to begin with anyway? I should have known better, that a guy like him would never take me seriously. He's a charming and popular guy with a nice family background. He could always find someone better than me and that would be easy.
Alex, I thought I finally trust you enough to fall deeper with you. I thought you were feeling the same way as I did. I guess I was wrong. You were the guy who came into my life, saved me from troubles, protected me, and stole my heart. How dumb of me to thought that you could fall in love with me out of protection. Maybe our feelings were a mistake.
As I continue to walk, I suddenly felt someone get a strong grip of my right arm. I turn back and see an unknown man looking at me with a creepy look. I quickly attack him by kicking him, but he is strong enough that he starts to choke me. I almost lost my breath as I struggle to get out of his tight grip.
"You're dead, Little Princess," the man says in a harsh tone.
Just then, the guy suddenly falls to the ground, releasing his grip from my neck. I saw that his arm and leg got hit by a bullet two times, sending him to fall to the ground. A tall guy with a muscular figure suddenly approaches us with a gun in his hands. I froze in fear when I saw who he was. What the hell is he doing here in the middle of the night with a gun?
"Don't you dare to mess around again!" says the guy, Sebastian. He shots the guy once again in the heart, ending his life once and for all.
Sebastian turns around and sees me. I froze in fear while sitting on the ground. I am still shock by what happened a few seconds ago. He slowly approaches me and bends down while studying my injured neck.
"Hey, you ok?" Sebastian ask as he stares down at my neck. It probably looks really bad that he widens his eyes. Well, it does hurt a lot.
"Yeah, I'm ok," I say before I try to stand up slowly.
Sebastian gets up and pulls my arms to help me get up. He then starts putting the scattered bottles of beers and snacks back in the shopping bag, before handing it to me.
"Your neck looks pretty bad. You should come to my place, I'll put some ointments," Sebastian says as we stood face to face with each other.
"No, thanks. I gotta go back home," I say, not wanting to have anymore interactions with anyone tonight. I start to walk away.
"You know it's dangerous for you to be out at night alone." Sebastian starts following me from behind.
"And what is a guy like you doing out here at night with a gun?" I blurt out. I didn't have energy to put any filters on my words right now.
Sebastian lets out a chuckle. "I know what you're probably thinking, but it's not like what it seems," Sebastian says. "Those who have weapons at night aren't always bad guys. They could be just trying to protect themselves."
He has a point. But whatever, that doesn't matter. What's matter now is that I need to get home.
"You know, walking could invite danger at night. I think it's better if you catch a ride with me. Besides, you can't just go home with an injured neck," Sebastian says.
I stop in my steps as I turn around to face him. He slowly walks closer to me as his eyes stares deeply into mine. He finally stops in front of me as he puts his hands on my shoulders.
"Let's fix you up. Your brother and dad could get worried," Sebastian says with a serious tone.
I nod at him and the two of us starts walking to his car. I had no idea what the hell is going on with me that I agreed to join him in his car after I saw him with a gun. He could be a part of the gang, just like what the boys told me. But again, if he was a bad guy, why did he saved me from the attacker? Was it a part his plan to get me to trust him? I don't know. My head is exhausted. Right now, I don't even know what to believe.
9:25PM...
At Sebastian's apartment...
I sit in the living room since Sebastian told me to wait here. He then walks out of his room with a first aid kit. He starts applying alcohol wipes on my neck, which hurts even though he already tried to be gentle.
"Ouch..."
"Sorry....did that hurt?" Sebastian ask.
"Obviously," I bluntly say.
Sebastian then puts away the alcohol wipes. He carefully applies some ointments on my neck. After that, he covers the wound with a bandage.
"There..."
"Thanks," I say casually while avoiding eye contact.
"No problem. I'm gonna go get some drinks."
I watch Sebastian as he walks to enter the kitchen to get some drinks.
"Hey, are you ok?" Alfredo ask as he walks out of his room to sit next to me. He starts to examine the bandage on my neck.
"Yeah. It's nothing," I say in a dull tone since I don't want to get engage in any deeper conversations. It's already been a stressful night.
Sebastian's POV...
I walk out of the kitchen while holding a tray with some tea for us. I saw that Rachel wasn't in the mood to talk after what happened. I felt sorry for her. As bad as my soul is for being a part of a crazy mafia family, after seeing her got hurt tonight by a complete stranger literally hurt me. The accident that happened tonight affected my mind in a way. After witnessing with my own eyes, I was ashame of myself. How could I have been so heartless that I let my mom actually send her men to follow her around and tried to attack her? As a human being, where did my heart went when I had the guts to send people to murder her mom? Being a monster kills me.
"Hey! Have some tea." I put down the tray on the small table. I hand her a cup of tea.
"Thanks." Rachel takes the cup of tea from me. She takes a sip of it.
Even though she's hurt, somehow she still looks cute and pretty. Despite going through a lot, her eyes are filled with strenght. Sometimes I almost forget that I was suppose to get her to my mom, and not to my heart.
"So what were you doing back there all alone at night?" Alfredo turns his head to look at Rachel.
"I was heading home when a stranger suddenly attacked me," Rachel says. "I tried to fight back but he ended up choking me, causing me to almost lose my breath."
"Damn, that's terrible," Alfredo says with fury.
"It's a good thing I happened to saw you," I say with a low tone, still feeling in horror after the incident.
Rachel turns her head to face me. "Yeah..thanks, Sebastian."
I stare at her as she turns her vision away from me. Her eyes looks red and puffy, like she had been crying for a while.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a shower first. Goodnight!" says Alfredo as he walks back to his room.
I turn my head see Rachel took another sip of her tea. Her shoulder lenght hair is tied into a messed up ponytail, with her eyes looking puffy and her lips not forming a signature smile like usual. I hate to admit it but it breaks my heart.
"So, how's it going?" I ask her.
"Nothing interesting," she answers with a dull tone.
"And how about you and Alex?" I ask.
Suddenly, tears starts running down from her eyes. I was surprised as I found myself staring at Rachel crying in front of me. This would be the second time I saw her crying. The first time would be at her mother's funeral. Something bad must have happened between her and Alex.
"Rachel, I'm so.."
"Please, don't apologise! Alex and I had different perceptions," she says, trying to look strong even though her eyes spoke differently. "Some things just don't work out the way we expected."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I say in a sympathetic tone. I didn't expect that to happen, when they looked like they were crazy for each other.
She wipes her tears. "Don't be. There's nothing to be sorry about."
I stood up and walk to sit next to her on the couch. I want to take this chance to finally build a stronger chemistry with her. After learning that she had problems with Alex, this is the perfect time for me to portray the hero and get her to fall for me once and for all.
"What happened?" I ask, feeling half guilty about my rude question right now since it seems like I'm trying to pry.
She takes another sip of her tea. "Things just took an unexpected turn," she says. "Anyway, I have to get over it."
I slowly put my arm on her shoulder. "Life goes on. We'll meet new people with new stories," I say, making her turn her head to face me. Our eyes meet and our faces are only inches a part.
I start to get lost in her sparkling brown eyes. Now I know why Alex had fallen for her. It was no surprise. She is indeed a beautiful woman. Whatever trouble they had, I have a feeling it was his lost to lose such a wonderful girl like her.
"Let the past become a part of our memories as we step forward to the future," I say.
She turns her head away from me. "Yeah, you're right."
I turn my head as the tension between us gets more awkward. A random idea of watching a movie pops in my mind. This could be a good mood maker to help her forget about Alex.
"Ok, so..how about if we watch a movie?" I walk over to get the TV remote.
"Sure," says Rachel.
I decided to put on a comedy movie. I walked over to the kitchen to get some snacks for us. I put the snacks on the small table and sits back on the couch next to her.
I notice that she's not focusing on the movie. She looks really broken. I need to cheer her up, at least get her to warm up with me.
"So, how's college life?" I ask.
"Good, I guess," Rachel says. "How about you?"
"Ah, it's ok," I say casually. "Though I kinda missed my friends back in Vegas. Seems like I'm more of an introvert here." I try to think of an interesting topic to talk to her.
Rachel forms a small smile at me, making my heart skip a beat. Damn, I love her smile.
"Well, you still have your brother," she says.
"Yeah. And you," I bluntly say, not trying to make it sound like I'm flirting.
Rachel chuckles awkwardly after hearing my sentence. She looks awkward and shy at the same time.
"Thanks," Rachel says with a small smile.
I slowly start to get closer to her. As weird as it seems, this could be a nice time to make my move. Slowly, I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. I could feel my heart beat faster at the sight of her figure being so close to me. I find it harder to resist her everytime we get closer.
"Sebastian..."
Her soft voice suddenly tinkles my ears. I look down at the girl in my arm, having her vision on the TV yet her mind is flying in another place.
"Yes, Rachel?" I ask her.
She lets out a sigh. "I wanna ask you something."
"What is it?" I say as I start to caress her to comfort her.
"If you happen to fall in love with another person while still being in a relationship, would you tell your partner about it or just hide it behind her back?" she ask.
"Well, if I have a partner and I happen to fall for another person, I would surely tell her about it. As much as it's gonna hurt knowing that she'll be sad, I think it's much worse to lie to her about my feelings," I bluntly say. It wasn't a lie though. I am not one to mess around with relationships.
"I see," she says. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
I form a small smile. "No. But if I happen to find someone who fits my heart, I wouldn't want to disappoint her," I say. In my mind, I am secretly hoping that she could be mine. Rachel Spencer, you're different from other girls.
We eventually continue watching the movie, with my arm wrapped around her shoulder. After about an hour, I notice that Rachel is starting to look sleepy.
"You want to go to bed?" I ask her as I gently caress her shoulder.
"Sure," she says with a rather sleepy tone.
I smile at her as I stood up to take her to my room. She tried to complain saying that she was ok sleeping on the couch, but I insisted that she sleeps in my room, and that I could always sleep with Alfredo tonight.
We enter my room and she climbs on my bed, looking like she's ready to fall into a deep slumber.
She removes her scrunchie and places it on the small table beside my bed, revealing her beautiful shoulder lenght, messy brunette hair. Man, I kinda wish I could spend the night with her and just caress her beautiful hair. But I have to take things slow. She just had her heart broken. I have to be extra careful with her.
It's weird that I start to see Rachel more than a target. Deep down, I feel guilty for approaching her with my bad intentions. She's an innocent girl who doesn't deserve all this cruelty. Yet when I think again, I could never disobey my mother's wish, even if it's against my will.
I gently cover her with a blanket. "If you need anything else, just call me. I'll be in Alfredo's room."
"Thanks, Sebastian. You're so nice," Rachel says with a small smile on her lips.
"Don't mention it," I say.
We stare into each other's eyes for what felt like forever. Again I found myself lost in her beauty, as I feel my heart racing faster than before. Suddenly, I heard the sound the door open. I turn my head and my heart almost drop.
"There she is!"
I couldn't believe who was standing in front of me. This feels too much like a terrible nightmare. I turn my head for a second to see Rachel sitting on the bed in fear, not having any idea what was going on.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" I ask with disappointment in my heart, knowing that Rachel will surely hate me after she finds out who I really am.
To be continue...