I was in shock.
It was the only way to explain my current state.
I stood frozen, unable to utter even the smallest sound or to move a single muscle. My eyes were fixed on the gun currently casually pointed at a spot between my two eyes and I felt a wave of warmth spreading from my toes to my scalp of as though my blood had all vacated my lower body to gather in my head.
My fingers were tingling and my mouth felt awfully dry; time seemed to slow down as I tried to recall if my self-defence class had covered the course of action to follow when held at gunpoint. Unfortunately, I came up empty-handed.
I don't know how much time passed before my survival mode kicked in but when it did I raised both shaking hands and tried to look innocent. "Wait! Don't shoot!"
I really hoped he wasn't of the "shoot first, ask questions last" persuasion as that would considerably hinder my chances of getting out of this ordeal alive.
His eyes narrowed further and his gun didn't waver. I was slowly starting to feel nauseous as I imagined his finger squeezing the trigger –somehow, I didn't think he'd miss –and as the prospect of a very near and very sudden death became less and less improbable.
"What the fuck, man?! Lower the gun!" Gabe's footsteps clanged on the spiral staircase, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from the barrel.
When Gabe's silhouette entered my field of vision, I was seconds away from fainting. He walked in front of the bald gunman, blocking him from view and I didn't know whether I wanted to thank him or scream at the top of my lungs because he'd just walked in front of a gun which was now pointed directly at his neck.
I opted for neither one of these options because right then, my legs gave out from under me.
Gabe was saying something to the bald guy while I was busy hyperventilating as dark spots danced across my vision.
"I think I'm about to faint," I said to nobody in particular. And then, as another wave of nausea hit me head-on, "I think I'm gonna be sick." Cold sweat made my clothes stick to my skin and I shuddered –it was only then that I noticed that I was freezing cold.
"Not on my carpet." Gabe's firm tone sounded far away, and the floor felt as though it was undulating underneath me which made me even more nauseous.
A hand rested on my shoulder. "You'll be fine. Just take deep breaths." I'd never heard Gabe use this soothing tone and it startled me enough to make me forget about my upset stomach. I looked up at him, teeth chattering and he was eyeing me with something akin to worry.
I focused on his face and followed his advice, sucking in a long, shuddering breath. "Good. Keep going." The hand on my shoulder traveled upwards and he pulled away the hair that was stuck to my neck with sweat. Another shudder shook me from head to toe as cool air brushed against my skin, but at least my teeth had stopped chattering and my vision was no longer obscured by dark spots. I looked up at the guy who'd been pointing a gun at me just mere moments ago and found him glaring at me. I averted my gaze quickly and looked at Gabe, who was now glaring back at his hair-challenged friend.
He turned his attention back to me and a worried frown creased his brow. "Feeling any better?"
I nodded, staring at him with wide-eyed wonder. I knew he was Alessandra's big brother, but his usually blunt and harsh manners didn't exactly hint at a softer, brotherly side.
Not that I was complaining. It was kinda nice to have Gabe be halfway nice for once, without the sarcasm or the unexpected mood swings.
His hand left my neck and I felt strangely disappointed. I couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but his touch had felt nice –it'd been so gently comforting that it almost managed to make me forget the predicament I'd found myself in minutes ago. He helped me up onto the couch and pulled the blanket that lay crumpled at one end of it over me, before he left to fix me something warm to drink.
My gaze followed his friend, whom –after directing another cold glare in my direction –followed him into the kitchen.
I heard their voices, but as much as I could pick up the anger in Gabe's tone, I couldn't make out what he was saying and I resisted the urge to get up and eavesdrop on their conversation. Instead, I pulled the blanket up to my chin as another shiver rand down my spine.
Gabriel raised his tone and I could make out bits and pieces of his heated monologue. He growled something about "trusting his judgment" and "not questioning his goddamn decisions" as well as a particularly angry bit about how he "couldn't just fucking waltz in here and point guns at people's heads", to which his companion replied in a much more subdued and low voice. Then, it sounded as though they switched conversation subjects because Gabe's voice lowered and I could no longer hear what they were saying.
I rested my head on the armrest and closed my eyes, willing my heart to stop pounding frantically against my ribcage, trying to convince it that the near-death experience was truly over. After another couple of minutes of deep-breathing and thinking about ways in which Gabe's hair-challenged friend could get ran over by a heavy vehicle, I no longer felt as though I could go into cardiac arrest at any given moment.
That was until they both stepped out of the kitchen, Gabe carrying a mug filled to the brim with steaming tea and his friend wearing a sheepish expression that was at odds with his brutish looks.
Not looking at me, he rubbed his neck and cleared his throat as Gabe handed me the cup. "Careful, it's hot." Then Gabe directed his unwavering gaze at his friend and frowned.
"I'm sorry," Gabe's buddy finally grumbled, still not looking at me.
I blew at my tea, not knowing what answer he expected to hear after such a half-assed apology. Gabe seemed dissatisfied with it as well, because his frown deepened. "I'm not convinced," he stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.
I don't know why, but my brain chose this moment to notice that his arms looked nice. Strong and capable. And his chest wasn't half bad either from what I could see through the thin fabric of his black tee.
Annoyance flashed over baldie's face, but he composed his features so quickly that I almost missed the expression. He looked up and his gaze locked with mine, making me squirm as I gripped my mug tighter.
"I'm sorry about earlier." There was a hint of sincerity in his tone and while I didn't feel as though we were ready to become BFF's anytime soon, I did feel a little pacified. I nodded at him and took a sip of my tea.
Another moment passed in awkward silence as Gabe leaned back into the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "You're happy with that apology Isis?" he asked, one corner of his mouth quirking up in a smug smile.
I glanced at his friend only to find his intense gaze fastened on me. I feared that if I answered anything in the negative, he'd corner me in a dark alley when I'd least expect it and break my neck so I just nodded and sipped my tea again.
"Great!" Gabe clapped his hands and stood up. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some alone time with Isis, Johnny."
His friend's brows furrowed, but he didn't protest. Instead, they exchanged a complex handshake and he left without another glance in my direction. It was also then that I realised that thorough the whole time "Johnny" had been here, Gabe had not introduced the two of us. I couldn't help but wonder whether it was an intentional omission or whether he just couldn't be bothered with such a mundane practice. Nothing about Gabriel was conventional.
It was only once the door closed behind him that my heart resumed its usual pace. Gabe sank back into the couch and one of his hands rested on my leg. I jerked away from his touch, startled, but he only smirked slightly and crossed his arms again.
"You could've warned me, you know?" I said as anger slowly overpowered my shock.
"Warned you about what?" Gabe asked, idly fiddling with the strings of his jogging pants.
"That one of your gun-loving, shoot-first-ask-questions-last friends would show up." My hands shook as I remembered what it'd felt like to stand there, with a gun pointed at my face.
"He wouldn't have hurt you," Gabe said with a nonchalant shrug, and that only infuriated me more. "I forgot he was coming over. Chill."
I put the mug on his coffee table and kicked the blanket away, standing up. "Really? It sure as hell didn't feel that way when he pointed a gun at my face! And do not tell me to chill! I almost died!"
Gabe rolled his eyes, setting my blood on fire. "He wouldn't shoot you, okay? And he came bearing interesting news. Helpful news."
"I don't care!" I yelled.
Gabe was suddenly on his two feet, stalking dangerously close to me as his eyes flashed with an anger that matched mine. "You don't care? You better start caring then, because I'm not gonna bother with any of your fucking problems for you if you don't. I've told you before and I'm gonna tell you again: you aren't. My. Top. Priority." He punctuated each word with a jab at my chest and I stumbled back, appalled.
"Don't touch me. And I do care about my problems, it's all I can think about at this point!"
"Besides fucking Alexei? Which comes first, Isis?"
His words felt like a slap. "The reason I was with him today was because I wanted to know if he was involved with this," I said defensively and Gabe shook his head with disgust painted over his features.
"I already told you that he wasn't. Admit it. The only reason you were with him last night was because you liked it when he fucked you the first time and you –"
He didn't finish that thought, because before he could, my palm had a first degree encounter with his cheek. And as non-violent as I usually was, it felt hella good to hit him. So good, that I actually started to question my non-violent ways. Maybe violence could be the answer, sometimes.
For a moment, he was frozen, looking stunned.
And then, he laughed.
I probably shouldn't be surprised by Gabe's reactions at that point, but I was.
When he took a step closer to me, I took a step back –if he decided to retaliate, he'd probably knock me out into the next dimension.
He picked me up and plopped me back onto the couch unceremoniously, still laughing. "Jesus, Isis. I kinda deserved that, but it hurt like a bitch. I didn't know you could hit like that."
I didn't say anything, still expecting him to switch back to anger. "So, was that our first couple fight?"
"I guess it was," I muttered.
"I'm sorry about what I said," he said, rubbing his neck with a sheepish expression. "But you really need to focus on this. And once it's over, you can be all over Alexei all the time."
I smacked his arm and he snickered. "What is this news that "Johnny" brought you?" If Gabe picked up on my lame attempt at changing the subject, he didn't show it.
"He told me that someone has been selling coke to our usual buyers all around Boston."
"Someone that isn't one of your... friends, I assume?"
He shot me a glance that communicated that he thought that I was definitely not the brightest lightbulb in the box. "You assume correctly."
"And did he find out who's been selling it?" I asked, my voice full of hope.
"Nope." Gabe's tone was carefree, but I slumped into the couch, bringing my legs up and resting my chin on my knees.
"Then what's so interesting about his news?"
"What's interesting is that they didn't even notice that they weren't buying the coke from us."
"So?" I wasn't following his logic.
"So, it means that whoever stole the coke is trying to pass as one of us. Which means he knows our delivery schedule, our usual buyers and a whole lot of other things that someone who wasn't familiar with our business wouldn't know. Which also means that our suspect pool has been significantly reduced, because whoever pulled this shit knows us from the inside."
I perked up as he spoke and found myself leaning towards Gabe as excitement bubbled up inside me. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed our proximity and I pulled away, my cheeks heating up.
"So what's next?" I asked.
"What's next is that I know who's next on that delivery list. Thus, I know where and when our mystery guy will be..."
"So we can be there and get him!" I bounced up and down excitedly, and pumped a victorious fist into the air.
"Uh, last time I checked, there was no "we"." Gabe's calm tone brought me down a couple levels and I pouted as I crossed my arms over my chest,
"You can't leave me out of this! You were just whining about how I didn't take this seriously enough and now that I want to help, you won't even let me?"
Gabe snorted. "I can hardly see how you could help. Also, I was not whining."
After bickering for another few minutes, we managed to come to a truce. He would take me with him to do what I dubbed as "undercover surveillance" and I would follow his instructions down to a T. We agreed that he'd come and pick me up next Thursday and I was ready to leave, in a far better mood than when I arrived –which was surprising, considering everything that went down in the last two hours –but our earlier "couple fight" still left a bitter taste on my tongue.
Just as I was pulling on my hat, I decided that I needed to do the right thing, so I turned to face him, taking a deep breath to steady my resolve. Gabe watched me impassively, arms –damn, his arms were really nice –crossed over his chest.
"I'm sorry about earlier," I began, my voice sounding slightly breathless. "I know that all of this is my fault and that you probably don't want to spend as much time with me as you're forced to and that you probably hate me so I just wanted to say that I'm thankful for everything you've been doing for me even though I know that you're just doing it because you don't want your sister to find out just how much of a screw-up I really am..." I trailed off, realizing that I'd been talking way too fast. "So, basically, I want to say that I'm sorry. And also, thank you."
"Why would you think that I hate you, Isis?" His tone was blank and his face was just as dispassionate. I shrugged.
"Because I've been nothing but trouble?"
"You kind of are. But that doesn't mean I hate you."
"You don't?" I looked up at him as I pulled my hat down to cover my ears. "Well, that's good." I cleared my throat, realizing how awkward this whole conversation has been. "Well then. See you on Thursday, I guess." I turned around and placed a hand on the doorknob when Gabe's arms sneaked around my waist and he pulled me back, forcing me to stumble away from the door.
"I don't hate you, Isis. Yeah, you've made a couple of really, really stupid decisions, but your heart is in the right place. You're not a screw-up and I still think you're the best role-model my sister could ever find."
My heart was pounding frantically and I was glad that my back was to him, because I really didn't want to know what kind of effect his little speech would've had on me if I'd been facing him. I probably would've ended up in a puddle at his feet at the rate things were going.
He squeezed me a bit harder. "You sure you're fine? I wish Johnny didn't barge in here earlier. I really am sorry about that." There he was again –big brother Gabe. That sweet, caring side of him made me wish I'd had a brother like him. But then, when I looked at his arms... well, let's just say I was really glad he wasn't my brother. Because I definitely shouldn't be thinking the things I was thinking about a family member.
His chin rested atop my head and I finally relaxed into him. "I'm fine, I –"
The front door opened and a tall brunette stepped in, shaking snow off the hood of her coat.
"Hey, Gabriel, I brought –" She finally looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the compromising position we were in. Her grip on the plastic bag she was holding loosened and it crashed to the ground.
"Isis? What are you doing here?"
~A/N~
yo yo yo wuddup. i hope you all had a nice valentine's day. this one is for all the gabe+isis shippers out there :P (i can't think of a ship name for them lmao).
i recently noticed that wattpad categorized this story as "mature" thus all bets are off lmao, i'm so not holding back on language and explicit-ness anymore.
this chapter is unedited so i'm sorry about any and all grammar mistakes!
thank you all for reading and the dedication goes to vanillachai_ bc of her continuous support of this story, thank you so much!
want the next chapter to be dedicated to you? each new part will be dedicated to a commenter from the previous one!