Territorial / Simon Minter

18

Simon's POV

I cannot erase what just happened from my mind. I should not have brought her into this mess that i call a life. I knew it was a bad idea. Danger follows me, and now it will follow her too. 

When i arrived back at the house, after dropping Zoe back to her apartment, the boys were all waiting for me in the kitchen. There was obviously matter to discuss.

"Bro, what the fuck just happened?" Vik piped up from his seat on one of the breakfast bar stools.

"Car chase. Black BMW. Didn't recognise the car, or number plate" I said, taking a seat.

"From what i could see, it was a man driving, but couldn't get close enough to get any other details on him. Looked like he was driving solo though" Josh spoke up from the chair beside me.

"Do you think it was one of Lucas' boys?" Harry asked the question that the majority of us were thinking. There weren't too many different gangs around here that we didn't get on with. The most recent has been the disagreement with Lucas and his gang.

"Most likely" I muttered, loud enough for them all to hear. 

"What about Zoe? Is she okay?" As soon as her name slipped from  Tobi's mouth, everyone's eyes shot to him. As if they were telling him not to mention her infront of me. They knew it was a sensitive subject. I do not get involved with girls this much. Normally it is a simple shag when i want one. But they knew something was different between me and Zoe.

"She was so shook up. I shouldn't have let her get involved with me. It's too dangerous"

"It's her decision if she wants to get involved with you or not Si. If she was that worried about the gangs, she would've stayed away." Ethan had a point. I knew he was in the same situation with Emily, although he had not even tried to stay away. They talk nearly ever minute of every day, he is completely smitten with her. 

"We all feel guilty about bringing our girls into this life. But it is our lives. We are not going to let anyone hurt them. We're all a family. A family protects their own" Josh was right. Him and Freya had been together for about 7 years. She had been with us almost since the start of our involvement with gangs. Although there have been close calls and threats towards her. We all look out for her, like Josh said, we protect our own.

This conversation made me feel a lot better about what may or may not happen between Zoe and I. I no longer feel like i have gotten her involved in something that she has no power over. Ethan was right, if she wanted to stay away from me, she could've. She did not have to go out with me today, she did not have to answer my texts or come to our house. But she did. And if today was such a shock to her that she does not want to see me again. Then so be it. I would have to deal with that.

"We have to do something about Lucas though. I do not want something like that to happen again, especially with one of the girls in the car" I stated. We needed to make a plan.

"We need to get our money from them, and then it's over, no more business." Harry said. I hoped he was right. 

"We'll have to go down to one of their clubs. We need to talk to them, try not to make a big scene unless we need to" I explained. 

"We'll go tomorrow night. I'm shattered" Josh yawned, making his way out of the kitchen.

"Sounds like a plan, boys" I said before following Josh out of the kitchen and upstairs. 

I got out of today's clothes and put on some sweats. I could not stop thinking about Zoe, which seemed to be the case a lot recently. But even after everything that happened in the car, after all the panic that i must have put her through. She still reached over and kissed my cheek. I was so surprised when she did this. Girls did not act this way around me. They always tried to get my attention by wearing short skirts or low cut tops and dancing 'sexily' around me. But i knew that everyone was still intimidated by me.

But in that moment, there was no fear in Zoe's eyes. Her eyes, her bright, blue, innocent eyes. Fuck. I could not help but feel that she was making me weak.

I slammed my bedroom door shut as i made my way towards the gym downstairs. I needed to blow off some steam. I needed to remind myself that i am not weak. 

The punching bag was my equipment of choice tonight. I pounded and kicked the bag for what felt like hours. Sweat was dripping down my face and my arms ached. I am not weak.

Zoe's POV

My body still felt like it was full of adrenaline. I had never been in a situation like this, before i met The Sidemen, of course.

As soon as i walked into the apartment i filled Emily in on everything that had happened. She was shocked and she yelled a bit, but she calmed down once she realised that i was fine. I asked her about her and Ethan and she went into a little frenzy. She was head over heels for him. She did not seem worried about the gang, the danger, the guns, none of it. I wish i was the same.

I could feel my feeling getting stronger for Simon. Especially after the start of today. Our little date. Can i call it a date? Was it a date? It all felt so normal. The laughs we shared when Simon fell over multiple times on the ice. I could not forget that massive grin on his face, the sound of his laugh. I wish our day didn't get ruined. It was so perfect. 

But of course nothing stays perfect.

After the adrenaline was drained from my body, i felt exhausted. I walked into the bathroom, stripped out of my clothes and climbed into a scorching hot bath. I wanted to cleanse the memories of the car chase out of my head, and focus on all the good things that happened today.