A/N: Last chapter :( I'm sorry it took me so long. As some of you know (if you're following me) my computer is broken and I need to get a new one. For this reason I had to wait until my brother lent me his so I could write this. Unfortunately he gave me a certain amount of time so I had to write this in a rush so is not as good as I wanted it to be. I still hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for reading and supporting me and my writing. Please let me know if you liked it, by commenting or voting on the chapter. Feedback is necessary for improvement ;) Love you guys, enjoy! :)
__________________________________________
Final Chapter
Liz's POV
"Are you a witness protection agent?" Nick asked once again.
I stood stunned, unable to comprehend how on earth he had found out. To add to my bewilderment, Nick's older brothers walked through the front door as if they owned the place. What the-
"I can see you guys failed to listen to my instructions. You were to wait for me to explain everything to Nick and then you could talk to your brother" my father seemed a little irritated and something told me it wasn't the first time the two older Jonas' brought that emotion out of him.
"We're sorry, sir. We couldn't have guessed that he would care about knowing about your daughter's involvement in this more than he would care about the imminent danger he's currently in" the one I knew was Joe, replied.
"Don't put this on my brothers, all they did was tell me the truth. Unlike all of you" he did not take his eyes off me while saying this and the hurt and anger in his eyes was enough to twist my insides into painful knots.
"Nick, I-" but I shut my mouth. What could I say to make this better? My options weren't many.
"Nothing to say?" his voice was very controlled and instead of making me feel better, it only served to make me feel worse. Because I knew what it meant. The look in his gaze was very similar to the one I saw when he first got here. Back then I didn't know him. I couldn't figure him out. But it's been a while since then. I know that raging storm in his eyes for what it was then and what it is now.
Pain.
I was causing him pain. My lies and half truths were hurting him; and I hated myself for it.
"After everything that we went through, didn't you think that I at least deserved the truth" his voice was a broken whisper. I let my gaze fall to the floor.
"Hey, dude. Just give her a break" Blake tried to reason. Nick turned to face him.
"I don't wanna hear anything from you. I knew since day one that I shouldn't trust you but faking to be my friend to get information out of me? That's lower than what I thought you were capable off" Nick spat. Blake's face contorted with guilt. He didn't defend himself.
"It's not his fault. He only did it because I couldn't" I started saying.
"Honestly, I don't care. Both of you are the same. Lying, manipulative, and full of-" my dad stopped him.
"Let's not say something we might regret later" he said with a hand up.
"I don't have to regret anything later. I'm not staying here for one more second. I can't stand looking at any of you" and that's that all he said before bolting out through the front door.
"Nick!" I tried stopping him but my dad put his large hand on my shoulder to keep me in place.
"Give him a moment, he's upset and overwhelmed at the moment" my dad advised. I let my head hang low and nodded.
"Usually I would agree but I've never seen my brother like this. Who knows what's going on his mind?" this was the oldest Jonas, Kevin, talking.
"I'll go look for him" Blake said, and before anyone could stop him he was gone.
Blake's POV
Where is he? God, let me find him.
Twenty minutes looking for him and there was no trace I could follow to know where on Earth he went.
Yes, I felt guilty. I don't know what I was expecting to happen when he found out about my mission. Honestly I never even thought about it. Mostly because in the beginning I didn't care at all about how he would feel. But in all the pretending to be his friend I saw a small part of what Liz saw in him. He was a good guy. His life was a mess but that wasn't his fault. He was put in this situation and the least he deserved was the truth. He deserved to have people who honestly cared about him. He needed a friend. And I may not be the best candidate but I still felt like I owed him something.
After an hour of searching for him I was ready to give up. I stopped walking and took a deep breath. How would I go back to Liz's house and tell her I couldn't find him?
The momentarily distraction stopped me from noticing a sudden shadow made by someone's body standing behind me and a second too late I turned only to be hit by something on the head and blacking out.
The insistent painful throbbing in my head forced me back into consciousness. My vision was blurred and it took a few minutes for it to become clearer. I took in my surroundings and realized I was on some kind of warehouse. I was sitting on a wooden chair with my hands and legs tied with thick rope. A cloth muffled my attempt at calling for help and I sighed.
"You're awake" the voice sounded gruff and with a thick Mexican accent. I groaned and the short, tanned skin man showed himself.
"Sorry about the pain in your head, I had to hit you with my gun. Couldn't have you running in defense of our target, mijo" he explained briefly. I tried saying something but the cloth prevented it.
The man, realizing this, gave me a look.
"I'm gonna take it off, but no screaming please, no one will be able to hear you anyways and it will only piss me off", I nodded in agreement and he took off the cloth.
"Where's Nick?" was the first question that left my lips. The man smiled ruefully and shrugged.
"In questioning" he replied simply. Bile rose up in my throat. In questioning? God knows what they're doing to him. I could only guess that this was the thug and drug lord gang that had been looking for him; the reason he was in witness protection in the first place.
"So far he hasn't answered any questions which is only making it worse for him. But I think you could convince him to be more cooperative" the man said this thoughtfully and I snorted.
"He's not going to listen to me" I said through gritted teeth.
The man grinned, "Oh, well you'll have to be very persuasive because both your lives depend on it" and that was all he said before walking off into a door on the left. As soon as he left, I tried twisting my wrists, trying to loosen the ropes but it was hopeless they were painfully tight. I could feel the rope cutting into my skin. I groaned in frustration.
Moments later the door where the man had disappeared into was pushed open, and in came the man pushing Nick forward, making him trip and fall on the floor.
"You have ten minutes to talk some sense into him" the man said, before leaving them alone.
"Nick, Nick get up" I whispered urgently.
It was silent for a moment before he talked, "I can't" was his response.
I frowned at this. His hands were tied but his legs weren't.
"Why not?" I asked, concerned.
"My ankle. It hurts. Like hell" he said softly.
"Did they break it?" I asked.
"No. I don't think so. But it might be fractured".
"Shit" I hissed.
"Okay, listen to me, Nick. I'm sorry. I'm a jerk and I deserve all of this shit but you don't. And my best friend is in love with you and she never meant for you to get hurt" I saw Nick's body tensed at my words but I kept talking as quickly as I could.
"Nick, she wasn't happy with the mission, that's why I had to take over. I didn't want her to get hurt either. You can't blame me for that. You need to understand that we didn't do this to hurt you. We wanted to help you. You were so miserable and I got it. Hell, I lost my dad two years ago and my mom left me when I was a kid. I lost my family. I understood your pain and your bitterness because I have felt it too. And just like it happened to you, Liz saved me. She brought me back. I love her, Nick. I know you're in love with her... and well, to be honest, so am I" the words came out in a rush. My confession forcing Nick to look up at me from where he was laying.
Silence followed.
"Are you going to say anything?" I asked, knowing the clock was ticking and the man would be back soon.
"I could say I'm surprised. But I'm not. Somehow, even if I admitted it to myself or not, I knew you loved her. That's why you 'disliked' me so much. You were just jealous" he stated. I didn't argue the truth.
"The question is, why tell me and not her?" he asked.
I sighed.
"She doesn't need to know. You do, because I want you to understand that this was never about you, it was about me and my inability to handle the fact that she was falling for someone who was not me. I have always known that there will only be a friendship between Liz and I. It's like our fate's were knitted together but were never meant to join into one. I'm okay with that. I'm fine with just being her best friend for the rest of my life if it means that I'll have her close. She means absolutely everything to me and even though sometime's I get jealous and I act like a selfish jerk, at the end I just want her to be happy. You make her happy, Nick. It's you" I let the words sink in.
"Why are you telling me this?" his voice sounded troubled. I ignored the purple and blue-ish bruises on his face. I ignored his broken lip. I focused on his brown eyes, that were begging for an explanation. Pleading to understand.
"Because, Nick, you deserved the truth. And I'm not going to lie. When that man comes back he will want you to tell him something. If you don't he will kill us, if you do... he will kill us just the same" I saw Nick registering what I just told him and he closed his eyes.
"If that's the case... then yeah, I love her. Like I've never loved anyone before. And it's crazy because since day one I was very sure she was nowhere near what I considered my type. But then I got to know her and, there was so much more than the hot-tempered girl that she appeared to be at first glance. She had so much depth, and a strange kind of wisdom that can only be gained from painful experiences... like losing her mother" I nodded at Nick's deduction. He was completely right about everything he said about Liz. She was so much more than she appeared to be.
"I get why you feel the way you do... and I forgive you" Nick said. I was about to say something, when the door was banged open. The man from before along with three other men that I didn't recognize came in.
"Time for chit chat is over. Nicholas Jerry Jonas," the leader was reading a file in his hands "care to tell me what exactly did you see that night at Santa Monica Bay?" the man questioned.
"Nothing" Nick answered slowly.
"Hmm. Care to tell me what you were doing there in the first place?" the man tried again.
"Thinking" Nick replied.
The man let out a sound of irritation and kicked Nick in the stomach. Nick grunted and closed his eyes at the pain. Or so I thought. He started muttering under his breath and then I realized he was praying.
"God is not gonna help you now, son" the man said. Nick didn't stop.
"Maybe he needs some motivation" one of the men suggested.
The leader smiled and said something in Spanish to the one that made the suggestion, this one reached his arm behind his back and pulled out a gun. I felt my heart in my throat.
"Shoot me if you will, but I am telling you the truth. Nothing more, nothing less" Nick said courageously.
"Oh, don't worry. We still need you. It's not you we're going to shoot" and then he turned around to face me and pulled the trigger.
Nick's POV
A second too late I understood what he meant and by then it was too late. Once he turned around and I heard the gunshot, I closed my eyes. Several more shots rang through the warehouse and my heart stopped a painful beat at each one of them. Then I heard curses and swearing in Spanish before a body fell on top of me. I feared the worst, but my hands were tied behind my back and my ankle broken. I couldn't move and the heavy burden of the slump body on top of me only made me feel more caged.
"Nick, Nick are you alright?" I heard a sweet familiar voice and for a moment, I debated if I was dead. But once the body on top of me was removed, I opened my eyes only for them to be filled with tears.
"I thought I wouldn't see you again" my voice sounded hoarse but a smile still spread on her lips.
"I thought the same about you" she said this softly while she cut loose the ropes on my wrists.
I took her arm and tried to get up; pain shot up through my ankle and I hissed before slumping back on the floor.
"My ankle" I said and she nodded.
"Dad, I think his ankle's sprained" she told Carlos, who appeared a few seconds later.
"Medical assistance are on their way" and his words brought back a previous memory.
"Blake! They shot him!" I shouted desperately, trying to push myself off the floor. Liz pushed me back, her stubborn expression telling me she was not going to let me get up.
"But you need to help him" I said, a knot on my throat.
"We can't do much until the medical assistance gets here, the bullet appears to have hit a shoulder nerve" Liz said this in an expressionless-flat tone of voice, but her eyes were clouded with tears that she was holding back. She was trying to keep up the professional facade in front of her father. Carlos noticed this and put a gentle hand on her forearm.
"Agent Vega, you can go check on Agent Collins and make sure he's ready to be moved by the medical staff" Liz nodded, almost relieved before rushing to Blake's side.
"Is he going to be alright?" I asked as soon as Liz left. I couldn't help but feeling responsible. After all, Blake was here because he had been looking for me after I left.
"Honestly? I don't know. It all depends on how much damage the bullet did and how fast the bullet is taken out without causing more damage" Carlos explained. His voice was tired and his face was pale. It was then that I realized how hard and painful this was for him as well. Blake was Liz's best friend but for Carlos, I'm sure he was like a son.
"Let's pray he'll be fine Carlos" I said optimistically.
Carlos gave my a thin smile, "I can't bear to think of another outcome" his voice was raw with controlled emotion, "and by the way, my real name is Brad".
* * * * *
It was a few days later that I was let out of the hospital ward of Witness Protection Headquarters. I wore a cast on my fractured ankle and I was walking with the help of crutches. The bruises on my face and body were yellowish and fading at this point and my broken lip was back to its normal size. It had been a painful couple of days, but waiting for news on Blake was pure torture. They had to take him to surgery and it was a complicated procedure. They had lost him for a few minutes before bringing him back to life. He was making a slow but amazing recovery.
It was a good thing all agents, including Blake, wear trackers on their phones or Liz and her dad would have never found us on time and this story would have a very different ending.
I thanked the doctor who had signed my release forms before walking outside. Liz was waiting for me.
"Hey" She said smiling.
"Hey" I greeted back.
"How's the ankle?" she asked.
"Been better" I said with a shrug. Liz chuckled.
"You'll be back to normal in a few weeks. Plus the guys at the warehouse are in questioning. My dad is tracking down all the members who might know about your existence. It's only matter of time till you're back with your family back in America" Liz told me. Her expression changed while the words slipped out of her mouth and I couldn't help noticing the sadness in her eyes. I knew why that was. I understood. I wanted to be with my family, but I didn't want to be away from Liz.
"Nick, I know... I know I screwed up. I know I should've told you what I was since the beginning but-" I put up a hand to stop her. She stopped talking and watched me in confusion.
I stepped closer to her, and making sure my crutches were straight so I wouldn't fall, I leaned in to kiss her lips. Liz's uncertainty showed in the kiss so I pressed my mouth a little firmer on hers and this time she responded, though I'm sure she was still confused.
I broke off the kiss.
"I love you" I said.
Liz's eyes widened and her mouth hung open in shock.
I smiled.
"I love you and I forgive you and you should really close your mouth before you drool on yourself" I said the last part jokingly. Liz smiled and hit my arm playfully.
"Idiot. I love you too" she muttered. I laughed and leaned in for another kiss.
"You know, your dad told me you always wanted to live in America. I think I heard him talking about maybe doing that this fall" Liz's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets and I grinned.
"No way" she said in denial
"Yes way" I assured.
Liz yelped in excitement before basically jumping to give me a hug. I guess she momentarily forgot about my injured ankle and before we knew it, we were both on the floor, her on top of me.
I laughed.
"Well, I think the pain is worth it" I said looking at her face. Liz's cheeks blushed a crimson red and I smiled.
"And there's that adorable blush I love so much" I brushed my fingers across her cheek and she smiled shyly. I placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"I don't want to live without you. I know I'm never going to find someone else like you" I was sure of that. Liz leaned her forehead against mine.
"And I don't want anyone but you" she promised.
"Then I guess we're stuck with each other" we both smiled before sharing another tender kiss.
"Are you guys done? I think I might throw up" the voice startled us but we moved slowly, Liz helping me get up.
"You are more than welcomed to, but I think they might make you clean it up" Liz told Blake.
He chuckled and shrugged. "It'll be worth it" he reassured. We all laughed.
He looked like his normal self except for the sling holding his arm against his chest.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be resting?" I asked.
"I heard you were being released" he explained, "I'm glad you're okay" he finished
"No, I'm glad you are" we both shared a look. A look of understanding. We loved the same girl. We both could have died that day. We both knew all that was needed to know about the other.
"So how about a surfing lesson?' Blake joked.
"Maybe after taking a nap" I played along.
We all laughed and smiled. Things were back to normal. Or better than normal. But more than that, the truths were out.
That's all anyone needs, because stars may be blind but hearts are not.
The End.