Androphobia

xxv. as i am

Around Me (feat. Don Toliver) - Metro Boomin

THEA'S POV:

Screams rang. 

Someone was yelling.

My hands were clamped over my ears and I was cowered in the alley, eyes screwed shut. Breaths strangled my throat. I panted, heaving for air. I heard someone speak next to me but the words were muffled and unintelligible.

I peeled my eyes open. Lamplight licked up the dark alley. As I tried to refocus on my surroundings, I froze at the sight of a gaping maw left in the window of the strip club ahead. Glass strew over the ground like a fluttering of petals. What was that sound? What had caused the window to break like that? It had been so loud, so terrifying that it put a shock to my every sense in the heat of the moment. It sounded like... gunshots.

My gaze slowly drifted away from the shattered window and drew past the shoulder of the man before me. I looked up to find Synn's huge body shielding mine - not only mine, but his friend's too.

Despite the cries tearing through the air, all I could hear was my heartbeat and the slow, laboured breaths of the beautiful figure crouched on his knees. His face was right in front of mine. His broad shoulders rose and lowered, his face screwed in discomfort. There was a clench to his jaw and a soft tremor of his arms which he'd wrapped around us both. My chest shuddered as I tried to inhale. He was so close to me that I could smell him - that familiar musk which warmed my insides.

Everything returned.

The curly haired man gripped Synn's shoulder tightly. "Are you okay?" He looked over his shoulder. "What the fuck was that? How did they-"

"Baby, are you hurt?"

My brows pulled together as I looked up at Synn, his deep, soothing voice clasping my heart. How could he ask me that? He was the one who'd taken the blast, not me. Those had been gunshots, bullets which had shattered the glass, and he'd protected me. Protected us. He'd shielded us like armour, and yet here he was asking whether I was the one hurt or not. Still trying to revive my vocal cords, I frowned and shook my head shakily.

The other man directed his gaze my way. "You okay, princess?"

Somehow, I managed to nod my head. Synn lowered his arms and winced. Again, the man with the name Carmelos looked over at Synn, a flicker of concern lighting his eyes. There was no time to recuperate before another person was shrieking from inside and I snapped my head to the side. Suddenly, people were spilling out of the strip club from the front doors like a spluttering tap: women who looked like strippers in corsets and underwear and business men in suits staggering out onto the roads. More bangs cut through the air and I flinched sharply, clamping my hands over my ears.

"Don't let them leave," Synn ordered abruptly to Carmelos, watching the situation unfold whilst keeping me pressed against the wall. "We need to find out who's firing those shots."

As soon as the gunshots ceased, there was more frenzy as others filed out of the club. The huge, tattooed man straightened but gritted his teeth. He took a step towards the side door of the club, but his friend was already stepping in front of him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't go in there. I'll handle this," he said reassuringly, making Synn clench his jaw. "Trust me. Emilio's in there. We can handle this. You go take care of Thea. She needs you right now more than we do."

At his words, Synn looked down at me sitting against the wall, my ears still ringing from the shock of the situation. His eyes softened for a brief moment.

I tilted my chin up, eyes moving on their own accord. "Will..." I said hoarsely, finally finding my voice, "Will you be okay?"

Carmelos smiled a reassuring smile. "I'll be just dandy."