looney_goo thanks for the cover :) i really love it :D Anyone else have covers? I love how creative people get. THANKS AGAIN <3
___________________________
Jacob POV! ((surprise, surprise!))
"Two against one? That's a little unfair, don't you think?" I raise an eyebrow at them. There was a time when I used to have the slightest bit of fear towards them, or the three Ricca brothers. First of all, look at them. Actually, that alone is reason enough. They're fucking monsters.
Anyways, my years of training has taught me a few lessons. I easily got over my fear toward the three of them. I've experienced worse, facing death on a daily basis. Not a big deal.
"C'mon, do we have to do this right now?" I ask in amusement. "I mean, I'd hate to have to show you guys up in front of Shay." I glance briefly at her, who does not seem as worried anymore. She sits on a bench and observes us. As we make eye contact, she rolls her eyes at her brothers' antics.
I wink at her playfully.
She blushes slightly. Despite her seemingly hardened personality, she gets flustered and shy easily. I love it when she blushes, so I tend to tease her a lot. Her rosy cheeks and pouty smile is adorable.
Damn. I got it bad for her. I can still see the mistrusting and suspicious glint in her eyes as she stares at me. I know I will have to make it up to her a shit ton before she manages to trust me ever again. I deserve it because I royally fucked up. Another lesson I have learned from all my years of training and in the field is to man up and take responsibility.
As I said, I royally fucked up. I'm not going to lose Shay because of past mistakes.
"You show us up?" Dante scoffs at my statement. Tony shares a small laugh with Dante. I've managed to survive against fights again multiple trained assassins. I'm not confident for nothing.
"Let's see if you're more than just talk then." Tony cracks his knuckles in a threatening manner as he advances in my direction with Dante.
"You took the words straight out of my mouth." I reply boldly with an added smirk. "Mano o mano, I presume." I'm in no mood for a dirty fight, but I will if the fight heads in that direction.
All this banter is killing the mood. The two of them obviously think so too as Dante throws the first tackle.
What is this, a wrestling match? Then again, I never quite grasped just how many martial art styles the Riccas have learned. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew more than me.
I'm still surprised at the duo as they manage to communicate with little verbal communication. Tony manages to hold me into a locked position where he immediately disables my leg movement. Dante doesn't miss the opportunity to throw a right hook as I try to escape the leg hold.
His knuckles scrapes my chin as I move to dodge it, clipping me enough to prevent me from dodging his jab. I see black dots in my vision for a few seconds as the jab disorientates me. I escape Tony's leg hold by using my hand to push his head down until it reaches the end of my body. Then, I am able to work out of the hold and escape to get up and gain the advantage over him. Tony is looking down, so I get up quickly while his vision is looking somewhere else and he isn't at full attention.
I create a distance between the two of them. My heightened senses focus on Dante and Tony as I try to anticipate their next movements. I didn't really expect how serious they were going to get.
We circle each other. I aim simple body kicks toward Dante, not really expecting them to hit. Tony tries to find openings, but I am prepared as I do a half-shin half-knee kick. I put enough defensive power to push him back.
"Fuck." Tony winces as he takes the kick. He probably wasn't expecting that much power.
It almost becomes a sort of a dance. We try to get at each other's openings. However, I end up on the defensive as the two of them attack mercilessly. I barely manage to anticipate their attacks as they hide their moves expertly. Still, I counter and parry a few.
I gulp at the some of the close encounters. Dante almost landed a hook when I got distracted with Tony.
Soon we are in an all out brawl. We start tumbling around the garden, throwing punches and kicks. I laugh as it's every man for himself. I wince for Dante as he stumbles into a rose bush. Dante climbs out though now his shirt is shredded.
"That was my favorite shirt." Dante throws Tony at me. I dodge and laugh once more as Tony falls into a pile of leaves. I hear the sound of glass shattering as something is thrown past me at Dante.
"Take that, you bastard!" Tony gives a war cry as he throws a vase at Dante. It lands where Dante's head used to be since he drops and flips Tony off.
"Oh, is that how you want to play this?" Dante grins evilly. "You started this...."
"Ahem." I see Shay clear her throat and glare at them. They don't hear her, but continue bantering.
"Why are you just standing there? Help me, you little fucker." Dante beckons me over enthusiastically. The abrupt shift in this fight is quite surprising.
"DANTE AND ANTONIOOOOO MOTHATRUCKING RICCA." Shay grabs another nearby vase, aiming it at me. I don't know what i did.
"HEY!" I frown, ducking from the vase. It bounces on the grass, for some reason not shattering.
"I think you've went far enough." Shay crosses her arms but she looks slightly upset that I dodged the vase. I like my face right now and would prefer to have no glass shards stuck to it.
"Put that statue down." Shay's eyes flares dangerously towards Dante, who puts it down immediately.
That's my girl.
"You're no fun." Dante frowns right back at her.
"We were just having fun, weren't we, Smith?" Tony puts me on the spot as he whacks me on the back a little harder than expected.
"Yeah..." I gulp as Shay's fierce eyes now drill holes into me. Yikes, I see why the brothers follow her instructions.
"While you guys clean up the mess you made, I'll be back inside." Shay rolls her eyes, though we can tell she's not that upset. Her gaze lingers on me for a brief second before she heads back into the house.
"Earth to Jacob? Do you need me to whack some sense into you?" Tony teases, patting me on the back.
"Leave the poor guy alone." Dante inputs surprisingly. Then, he compliments, "You're quite the fighter." Dante rests his arm around my shoulders in a friendly manner. "Then again, we've seen you fight plenty of times already. Still, you held quite the fight with us before we goofed around."
"I think this is going to be quite a shiner." Tony touches his right eye tenderly. Ah, that was the one clean hit he failed to block. Most people would have been knocked out from it, but this monster took it like a man. "That's a good hook you got there, maybe even better than Dante's."
"Bullshit." Dante sticks out his chest and says, "Nobody has a better hook than me."
"..except me and Leo. Now, Jacob too." Tony chuckles and rolls his eyes at Dante. Tony grins friendly toward me, sandwiched between the brothers.
"You guys roughed me up pretty well," I grimace. I mutter a little bit lower,"...a little too well..." Now that I notice my current state, it's not quite pleasant. All the roughhousing we did in the end surely took a toll on our clothes. Dante fairs the worst with his cut torso and shredded shirt from the rose bush. The three of us have grass and mud stains everywhere. We are going to be waking up with sore muscles and shit ton of bruises in places we don't want.
"You are a cool guy, Smith. I like you." Tony sighs and stares at me seriously. Dante seconds the statement with a nod.
"Ah, but in all seriousness, if you do hurt our little sister, we won't hesitate to either kill you or make you disappear." Dante is the one who threatens me. I saw a threat coming sooner or later. He says it so casually I almost miss the threat.
"I won't hurt her. I promise." I stare at them straight in their eyes seriously. I keep my promises. At least, this time I will try to. Shay is someone different.
"What exactly are your intentions?" Tony grills.
"I like her. I want to be by her side. That enough?" I say simply. Well, I want to make it official but I don't know when the time is right.
"Good enough for me." Dante gets back to his happy-go-lucky demeanor. "Oh, and you still have to talk with Leo and Dad. Have fun with that, and good luck. Try not to die?" He reassures me, but it doesn't help much.
"Yeah man, I'm sure you won't die, but I don't know your pain tolerance. It should be pretty high, I would think?" Tony eyes me curiously. He doesn't help me anyways.
"Ah stop worrying him. He'll probably manage to escape with all his limbs." Dante shoves Tony a bit. "Also, d did you have to throw me into a goddamn rose bush?" He glares at his brother.
"You'll live." Tony shrugs nonchalantly as he rips his already torn shirt to bandage his cuts.
"The love you have for me is simply astonishing." Dante shakes his head amusingly.
The three of us head back to the house. We split up to shower and change into fresh clothes.
After my shower, my muscles feel a lot more relieved. It helped cool myself down. I glance around the room and sigh. It sucks, but I'm leaving the place within the week.
I came to ask Shay to come with me. It's a selfish request, but I want her to come join my program. I just want her by my side. Yet, I know that's asking her to leave everything, the life she is beginning to form here.
"Shay!" I see her walking past me down the hall. What are the odds? Their place is rather huge that one can get lost in it. She freezes and starts walking at a brisk pace. I would expect that to be her first instinct. Still, I'm not letting her get away.
"Shay." I grab her as gently as I can by her arm to halt her. She looks at the ground, unwilling to make eye contact with me.
"What." Her beautiful eyes finally lift up to mine. Her cheeks are a rosy red.
"Come with me." I say impulsively. I formulate a spontaneous plan right then and there.
"To where? Now?" Her nose wrinkles cutely in confusion. "I'm not dressed." She seems self-conscious of her jeans and sweatshirt.
"You look beautiful. Just follow me. Be spontaneous with me." I take her hand to lead her to my Jeep Wrangler. Eventually, she finally lets me lead her to who knows where. It's starting to get late, so maybe we can enjoy the scenic view. Chicago's city lights are stunning at night. Plus, I know that she hasn't really visited downtown Chicago.
"Where are we going?" She asks as she gets into the passenger seat of my car. Her eyes falls to our hands before back up to me again. I'm glad she doesn't take her hand away. That gives me hope.
"You'll see." A small smile sneaks its way up. I just finished planning our date.
"You're not going to tell me?" She pouts.
"Nope." I grin, relishing the moment. I make a pitstop by the gas station and sigh in relief as Shay heads to the bathroom inside the convenience store. Grabbing my phone out, I quickly Google the places I intend to bring her. I plan on surprising her with the sunset at Skydeck Chicago. I manage to pull some connections to get the entire floor reserved. I have to tug a few strings before they manage to agree since it's so last minute. I just manage to secure the reservation before Shay comes back into the car.
"Why do you have that stupid smirk on your face?" Shay stares at me weirdly.
"What do you mean?" My lips widen into a grin. "Is it a crime to smile?"
"Yes when you're hiding something from me," she is dying to know what I have planned for her.
"Don't worry. You'll like it."
"That's why I'm worried, stupid." She mutters before staring out of the window. "Hey, are we approaching that Skydeck place?"
"Have you ever been there?" I ask her.
"I have only been there once. However, we used to drive past it a lot." Her journey back to the past seems to be happy as she has a faint smile on her face. I'm glad it's something she can enjoy.
I park and open her door for her. I bow exaggeratedly and motion for her to step outside the car.
"You're such a weirdo." She blushes and tries to appear unaffected by my antics. We both know she secretly enjoys it.
"Let's go, my lady." I wink and bring her to the floor before the sun sets. i really don't want to miss it.
*****
"Why is it so empty? That's so odd. I would think it would be crowded since most tourists come here to watch the sunset." Shay notices right off the bat. I'm glad she has remained vigilant despite her break from active duty. Then, she notices the table for two with candles lit on top.
"Wait, are those for me?" She looks so touched, her eyes filling with emotions. "Wow..."
"Of course, it is." I say. "I got take-out from a restaurant nearby. It's some French cuisine?"
We sit down on the seats and look outside the window. The sunset is quite breathtaking. We stare in silence and wonder.
"You know, I've never watched a sunset." Shay gazes at me with a dazzling smile. I haven't seen her give me a full, natural grin in a while. I almost forget how gorgeously her smile lights up her face. "Tonight is nice."
"Thank you." I grin satisfyingly. Knowing how she is, I finally utter the question that has been running through my mind all day.
"Shay, will you be my girlfriend?"
"No." Her blank face throws me off. I blink a couple times to make sure I heard her right.
"Oh my god! You should have seen your face!" She bursts out laughing. Then, she calms down before saying, "Am I going to be disappointed? Will I regret this? Should I trust you? Those are the questions running through my mind right now. Jacob Smith, are you going to break my heart?" She asks me honestly.
"No, I'm not going to break your heart. I promise." I'm bad with words, so I don't know what else to say. I hope my expressions and actions are enough for now. I leave down my guard for once and hope she sees I'm genuinely asking her because I like her. I have no ulterior motives.
"Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend." She picks up her champagne glass filled with sparkling apple cider and cheers it with me.
"Ah, but did you talk to Leo and Dad about it?" She winks before taking a sip.
"Yes...soon..." I can handle them.
__________
A/N
I honestly thought I made Jacob too sappy and whipped. I really tried not to. Writing in different gender/perspective is difficult. I'm not sure how well i pulled it off. Comment please how you liked this change??
Sorry for the delay, but thank goodness my summer school is over.
I'm sad this story is ending soon, but don't worry there is going to be one more chapter and maybe an epilogue, or just an epilogue.
I have decided I am not going to have a sequel. I'm sorry! :( I know how much a lot of you guys loved (or perhaps you hated) the story.
ANY IDEAS FOR EPILOGUES/ENDINGS?!??!?!?!?
thanks for waiting patiently for updates. Remember I write for fun and I have a schedule of my own. I try my best to update when I can, but I've been going out a lot.
A lot of my friends are leaving for college :( it's sad, but it's part of life. I've been trying to spend some time with them. Treasure your relationships. Cherish your memories.
Comment
Criticism
Vote if you liked <3