falling in love with a gang leader

chapter 9 (colby's pov)

emma's tears started falling from her face hard and fast. katrina looked over at me expectantly while sam comforted her.
kat: "drive her home." she mouthed to me.
i nodded and ran up to emma before anybody could say a word to me. she was already ahead of the group, walking toward the front entrance. i put my arm around her shoulders and we walked at the same pace to the car that sam, elton, and i drove in on the way here.
colby: "emma, come on. i'll drive you home." i cooed. she whimpered and sobbed in reply and i felt my own chest ache, but she said nothing and walked with me out through the door. i looked at her and the side of her face was already swelling up. i felt terrible for her. i was mad though... no... i was pissed. pissed and angry at how someone could do that to her. it made my blood boil, but i refused to let it show while i was trying to comfort emma. i wanted to punch that dude harder than what i did. stephan, i think his name was? i wanted to make him suffer for it. no one hurts emma like that. ever. we got in the car and emma handed me her phone. it had her address on it. i took her phone from her and followed the directions to her place. she was silent the entire ride, except for her occasional sniffs and whimpers. i tried my best to comfort her without being too touchy. i want to touch her— i want to touch her badly... every inch of her— but i refrained. my mind wandered back to when we were in victoria's secret. when elton pushed me into her and laughed about it. bastard. i imagined emma in every single one of those lingerie outfits. the laced-up red one was definitely for her. i imagine her dressed in one as she sits on my bed... waiting for me... i squirm in the driver's seat from the explicit image in my mind and looked over at emma. poor baby... i feel so terrible for her. i hate myself for not helping her before she got hit, but i was frozen in shock. i didn't know what to do until he hit her and it was instinct for me to defend. after about ten minutes or so of my thoughts running wild between horny and sad, we pulled into the parking lot of emma's apartment. she got out of the car and darted up to her place, i'm assuming. she didn't grab her phone from me, so i had to run after her. i took a quick moment to decipher putting my number in her phone, for emergencies or in case she actually wanted to talk to me, son i gave in, putting my contact in her phone under "colby." on her address, the apartment number showed '214', so i knocked on the door, hoping it wasn't a random stranger who opened the door in case i read it wrong, and emma opened it. tears streaming down her cheeks as she held ice to the side of her face.
emma: "h-hey." she stammered and wiped her face.
colby: "you forgot your phone." i spoke quietly, handing it to her.
she grabbed it and wiped her face again. i instinctively wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. she paused for a second before she hugged me back tighter, putting her phone and the ice on the counter that was right next to the front door in the process. her cheek rested on my chest and her breathing steadied while i felt her cool breath on my neck. damn, she smells good. we stayed like that for about a minute or so, not saying anything, and then she pulled away. don't pull away... her tears disappeared, but her eyes were bloodshot red and her mascara was running.
emma: "thanks for driving me home." she sniffed and gave me a half smile.
colby: "of course. and i put my number in your phone if you ever need anything."
she smiled until it reached her eyes then immediately wiped it off of her face and looked down at her hands like she was trying to hide her excitement, "okay, sounds good." she nodded and cleared her throat. is she excited that she has my number?
she looked back at me and we smiled at each other before i walked away. god, her smile is beautiful. i got in my car and decided to drive back to the bunker. i wasn't in the mood to be at the mall if emma wasn't there. her and i had a really nice conversation while she shopped around victoria's secret. and the bold comments i made toward her. she seemed to enjoy the compliments from the view of her beautiful smile, so i flirted with her all the while she shopped. i don't think she took it as flirting, but i was trying. come to think of it, i don't think i tried hard enough. i focused more on the fantasies of her going on in my head than i did flirting with her. dumbass, my subconscious scolded. i rolled my eyes inwardly and before i knew it, i had arrived back at the bunker. i was surprised by seeing sam's car parked in front of the wood line. i figured they would've still been at the mall. anyways, i walked to the door and walked inside. i put my keys on the hook by the front door and saw that everyone was sitting in the living room, all eyes on me.
kat: "how is she?" she asked nervously.
colby: "she's okay. the one side of her face is swollen, but she's doing okay."
kat: "i wanted to go home with her, but sam said to let her be by herself for a little bit."
colby: "i agree with sam. she needs some time to herself right now," i paused as i remembered the moment of peaceful silence her and i had as we stood in the doorway of her apartment. but as soon as i remembered why that moment happened, i was pulled out of my reverie and i was angry again, "but what happened and who was was that?" i snapped, my eyes narrowing. katrina sighed before continuing.
kat: "that was her abusive ex-boyfriend. they broke up a year ago and emma told him off and left. she hasn't seen him until now."
abusive? whoever hurts emma, doesn't matter who they are, they're going to pay. i want to go find him and beat him senseless, but i don't want to interfere with something that has absolutely nothing to do with me. besides, emma wouldn't like that. it would actually just make things worse.
colby: "a girl like her doesn't deserve to be treated like that." i blurted out, not thinking about what i was saying. as soon as i said that, my eyes went wide and so did everyone else's. i knew i was never going to hear the end of it from here on out.
elton: "look who's getting protective." he smirked.
kevin gave me a we-know-you-like-her-just-admit-it-already look and i simply rolled my eyes in exasperation as a response.
kat: "guys, wait. she's calling me."
all of us stopped talking immediately and kat put her on speaker.
kat: "hey, babe. how're you doing?"
emma: "better. but are you doing anything later?"
kat: "no... why?" her eyebrows creased.
emma: "want to go clubbing with me?"
clubbing? she was just crying her eyes out and now she wants to go clubbing? everyone's brows furrowed in confusion at the same time as mine did.
kat: "emma rede. you just got slapped by your abusive ex-boyfriend and you want to go clubbing?"
rede is her last name... good to know.
emma: "i'm tired of being a little bitch about it."
everyone in the room chuckled. i smiled at how strong she is.
kevin: "OUR GIRL IS BACK!" he cheered.
emma's laugh rang peacefully in my ears.
elton: "come over, bean head."
emma: "alright. see you guys in a bit."
katrina hung up and she looked at all of us.
kat: "well, you guys going with us?"
colby: "clubbing?" i asked again in confusion.
kevin: "i'm down."
sam: "i'm down as well, but mike still isn't back yet. where'd he go?"
colby: "not sure. but corey-" i was cut off by the front door opening. mike?
mike: "guys, i have something to tell you."
elton : "what is it?"
sam: "perfect timing, huh?" he mumbled under his breath.
mike: "while you guys were at the mall, i helped corey and devyn move out..."
all of our mouths popped open, "huh?" we all
spoke in chorus.
mike: "they don't want to be apart of the gang stuff, so they fell off the grid and they told me to tell you not to contact any of them. they don't want the other gangs to find them."
we all whispered in shock and horror at how sudden they left. what happened?
kat: "shit," she said wide eyed, "i'm sorry guys."
sam: "no, it's okay, babe. but i can't believe he just left without saying goodbye."
colby: "i'm going to miss him." i said sadly.
mike: "we all will." he replied, but not as sympathetically as the rest of us did. what?
me and the others all talked and got our mind off of corey about ten minutes before there was a knock on the door. my heart skipped a beat in excitement as i remembered who was coming over. emma rede, the beautiful girl that— i admit— i like her... a lot. after today at the mall, my subconscious made it very clear that i have feelings for this girl.