falling in love with a gang leader

chapter 25

i looked up at colby and he had his gaze set on his rings. he must've saw me, because his eyes cut straight to me and smiled. i couldn't help but smile back. he's just so damn cute. and he's mine! i'm still
geeked over it! "will you be mine?" ahh! yes! yes, i will! i wanted to scream out of excitement right there when he asked, but i kept calm because i didn't want to end up embarrassing myself. i smiled to myself and started scrolling through instagram.
colby: "i'm not sure what we're going to go about mike, but if he does anything else to her, he's going to die." he sounded so... casual about it. it kind of scared me that he wasn't worried about his friend dying.
sam: "you can't kill him." he tried to reason with my boyfriend. my boyfriend... my boyfriend!
colby: "who's stopping me?" the look he gave sam was unintentionally hot.
elton: "we are. you know about the rules with the council..."
the attitude in colby's voice told me that he was angry, but there's nothing we can do. it already happened, we can't take it back. i didn't say anything because i didn't know what to say and i didn't want to be the one with the bad idea and then they laugh. i have no idea how i'm handling this and i'm not going to let them know that. colby didn't respond to elton. instead, he brought his face down to mine and kissed my cheek. aw, baby. i felt his breath on the side of my face, his hands comfortably rested under my breasts. i smiled and turned my head to him, his face being an inch away from my own. he smiled again and kissed my lips softly when i met his gaze. again, that electric shock zinging right through my veins... every time we kiss. he leaned back up against the couch and i laid my head back against his chest. while i was scrolling through instagram, a text message popped up on my phone. my heart dropped. who the fuck is that?

(234)-556-7734: hello, emma.
emma: who is this?
(234)-556-7734: "watch out, pretty girl."
emma: "mike?"
(234)-556-7734: "i know where you are at all times of the day, emma. see you soon:)"

okay... what the fuck. why did he text me from a different number? what is he planning? is it even mike? "pretty girl" is his saying... it has to be him.
i put my phone face down and teared up, but not enough to cry. i was in shock and my heart was beating faster than it ever has. i'm scared. i need to go for a walk or something. get my mind off of things.
colby: "give me your phone." he said angrily.
i jumped at the anger in his tone and looked up at him. i guess he saw the messages... the fire in his eyes... it was something fierce... something scary.
emma: "um." i'm about to cry.
colby: "baby, please let me see your phone." he tried to stay calm. i sighed in defeat and handed him my phone so he could look at it. there was chit chat in the room, so nobody heard us... i don't think. i felt myself jolt as i launched forward on the couch. before i could turn around, i saw colby running for the door with my phone in his hand.
kevin: "where are you going, colby?"
he turned around with even more anger in his eyes as tears crossed them.
colby: "none of your fucking business." he said angrily.
elton: "woah, calm the fuck down, nobody did anything to you." he snapped.
colby looked over at me for a quick second then glanced back at my phone in his hand. he stood with his hand on the door knob as if he was about to open it... but he didn't open it.
sam: "look, i don't know what happened, but giving everybody your shit isn't the way to go."
colby said nothing and just stood there rolling his eyes. he wanted to say something snooty, i could tell, but he stayed silent.
emma: "please, calm down. we'll figure it out." my voice shook. just as elton went to say something, colby responded.
colby: "STOP TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN! ALL OF YOU! YOU GUYS DEMANDING ME AND MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE DOESN'T HELP!SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed. i jumped at his loud voice and tears fell from my eyes instantly. stephan... his loud voice reminded me of when stephan screamed at me and hit me over and over again whenever he got mad. i instinctively got up and ran to my room. his screaming was what undid me.
colby: "baby, i didn't mea-" he panicked with wide eyes. i cut him off by slamming my bedroom door closed and locking it. i slid down the back face of the door and broke down in tears. everyone probably heard me, but i didn't care. i was scared and i didn't know how else to handle it. and his screaming scared me even more than what i already was. it's not like i have PTSD, it's what happened after the screaming that haunts me.
sam: "hey, sis. it's me. let me in, please." he said softly. i thought for a second and decided to let him in. when i opened the door, colby was standing there too, but i just glanced at him and pulled sam into my room, locking the door behind me. he looks so sad and regretful...
sam: "talk to me." he said quietly.
emma: "s-stephan," i stuttered out after a beat, "h-he reminded me of him. the screaming... t-the anger..." i cried even louder. his eyes widened and he enveloped me in a tight hug. i cried in his shoulder for what felt like hours as the image of stephan beating me slowly faded from my mind. i shuddered at the thought while an image of what mike was doing earlier popped in my mind. no, no, no... sam rubbed my back to comfort me as if on cue to my thoughts. it was such a dark place to be in... stephan was a dark place. i pulled away from him, wiping my eyes, and sam stood before me.
sam: "hey, it's okay. he is nothing like stephan and he will never do anything to hurt you like stephan did. i don't know what caused him to freak out like that but i know he didn't mean anything by it." he said gently. i didn't say anything. there was nothing i could respond with except my now slow breathing.
colby: "baby, please come out. i'm sorry, i didn't mean to yell. talk to me, please." his voice broken and tinged with regret, speaking from the other side of the bedroom door. i looked at sam for reassurance and he nodded. i took a deep breath, wiping that last of my tears, and unlocked the door. i opened it slowly and sam walked out before anything was said. no, stay here. colby gazed at me with the saddest eyes and that honestly made me want to break down in tears again. he entered my room and i closed and locked the door behind me. when i turned back around to face him, tears were slowly falling from his face. i didn't know this boy cried... but that didn't matter. he brought me into a tight hug and i reluctantly wrapped my arms around his torso. my head made it's way into his chest and he rubbed the small of my back.
colby: "we'll figure this out. i promise."
emma: "i'm scared." i said, my voice breaking. i sounded like a five year old whining, but i didn't care. he held me tighter and after those few minutes passed, we both pulled away and looked at each other. i looked down, debating whether to tell him the other reason that i broke down in tears. colby gently lifted my face up to his, cupping mine with both of his hands.
colby: "i'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?" he whispered.
i nodded and slowly closed and opened my eyes. he frowned and kissed my lips gently. i kissed him back and pulled away after a moment. he's nothing like stephan... he's nothing like stephan... we both smiled sadly at each other and walked into the living room. everyone's eyes were on us, of course. they were smiling like idiots, giving us that look.
i rolled my eyes, "yes, we're official. move on." i chuckled, trying to make myself feel better.
everyone cheered and laughed at my comment.
elton: "i'm happy for you two." he smiled.
everyone murmured their positive comments and we all sat down and talked. sam gave me a questioning look, to ask if i was okay, i think, and i gave him a reassuring smile. he smiled in response to mine and averted his attention elsewhere.
kevin: "emma, do you have beer?"
emma: "not the ones you drink."
kevin: "i'll give you cash. can you run to the store really quick?"
before i could say anything, colby responded.
colby: "i'll go." his voice was hard as stone. oh...
everyone looked at him, confused.
sam: "why did you answer so fast?" his eyebrows creasing.
emma: "i-it's nothing. i'll be back." i said nervously.
everyone nodded and colby looked at me cautiously.
emma: "i'll be fine. the store is right up the street."
colby: "baby, no. let me-" i cut him off.
emma: "relax, love. i need some fresh air, i'll be fine." everyone's eyes were now on us... the stares felt... heavy.
colby: "no. i'm going. nothing is going to-" i cut him off by walking out through the front door. i need to get out of this house... i blinked and felt my eyes weigh heavy. he called after me as i walked out, but i ignored him. i walked downstairs with the intention that i could out-run him as i heard chains rattling. i looked behind me, watching as colby chased after me. he soon picked up speed as his face went pale and horror was now very evident in the situation.
colby: "EMMA!" he screamed bloody murder, taking bigger steps as he charged at me. i was confused and just as i turned around to see what he was looking at, i was abruptly hit over the head with a heavy object and all i saw was black...