Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"Emily, I swear it's not how it looked!" Jake yells in frustration. I stare at him, feeling my heart thumping wildly inside my chest. Jake's features soften instantly as he notices the pain on my eyes. I tear my eyes away from him and set my glare on Violet who's staring me down, a glint in her eyes.

"How dare you!" I yell, the shock wearing off. I storm up to her until our faces are inches away from each other. My teeth are gritted tightly together in anger and I seethe at her, eyes burning red.

"Get away from him." I warn her, my words spoken low. She smirks back at me, equally squaring herself up to my height. She's shorter than me however tries her hardest to straighten herself out to stay eye level with me. Her attempt at intimidating me doesn't work. . . In the slightest.

"It's him who can't stay away from me. I'm irresistible," Violet responds, green eyes shining in amusement.

"That's a lie Violet and you know it!" Jake argues back from beside me. Without thinking, my hand flies out and slaps Violet's cheek hard. The impact of it causes her face to swing sideways, her dark hair sprawled across her cheek. The sound of the slap echoes in the air and I instantly feel better.

"Woah, Emily!" Jake intervenes, lunging forward. He immediately grabs my arms, pulling me back into his chest. His eyes are wide as he glances between Violet and I.

Violet's hand cradles to her red cheek, her eyes burning with hatred. I force myself to stand upright, my head held high. A small smile plays on my lips as I watch her cheek deepen in colour.

"You bitch!" Violet yells, taking a step forward threateningly. I scoff and wiggle myself out of Jake's hold, the adrenaline building up by each second. The smirk on my face grows —

"Come at me bitch," I repeat her language. Violet seethes angrily before taking a step closer to me. Jake takes hold of my arms for the second time, pulling me into his chest and creating distance between his ex and I.

"I won't let you fight over this, think of the baby." Jake warns me quietly down my ear, holding me back. I struggle against him but his grip tightens, his strength holding me in place.

"I'm going to kill her!" I yell, pretending to lunge for Violet a second time. Her green eyes widen in fear, darting around nervously. She glances at Jake, swallowing the lump in her throat before turning on her heel and sprinting off, disappearing within seconds. Apparently, he isn't worth the fight.

I immediately stop struggling and slump against Jake, tears filling my eyes.

"I've got you." Jake murmurs, holding me up.

"Get off me Jake," I whisper, shoving at his arms. He immediately releases his hold on me, taking a step back. His hands tug desperately at his hair and he closes his eyes tightly. When he opens them, he looks directly at me.

"Let me explain what happened." Jake says desperately. I pause before nodding my bead, giving him a chance for his explanation. He exhales deeply before responding, his words spoken shakily —

"Violet said she wanted to talk and she wouldn't take no for an answer. I walked out here with her because she said she wanted privacy. She started to explain how she missed me and I told her I didn't care to hear it. That's when she kissed me, I swear that's what happened." Jake says quickly, blowing out another deep breath. I grit my teeth tightly, remembering how Violet threatened to break us apart. . . Here she was, doing exactly that.

"Emily, say something. Please." Jake begs me, his tone desperate. I close my eyes, breathing in before responding —

"You do know Violet's threatened to break us up?"

"She has? Why didn't you tell me?" Jake frowns, pulling back to look at me.

"I knew I had nothing to worry about. Why spend my time talking and worrying about Violet? That's exactly what she wants and I'm not going to give it to her." I tell him calmly, running my hands down to smooth out my clothes.

"That makes sense." Jake replies slowly, his eyes filling with a subtle hatred. He shakes his head in protest, glancing back in the direction Violet had disappeared.

"I hate that girl." He mutters under his breath, running a hand over his face. I walk forward, looping my arms around his neck and looking up at him. Jake's hand fall on my waist and he smiles softly at me.

"If she ever does that again, I will snap her neck without hesitation." I say calmly. Jake nods, a smirk playing on his lips. I hold onto the back of his head and tug it down towards my mouth. Right before I kiss him, I pause and reach my hand up before wiping his lips with my fingers.

"Just getting rid of the snake's germs," I whisper and Jake pauses before letting out a deep chuckle, his chest vibrating as he laughs against me.

"God, I love you."

His lips come crashing down on mine, exactly where they belong. When he pulls back, his eyes flicker down my body and back up again.

"Who are you and what have you done with my cute innocent girlfriend?" Jake asks, his mouth turning up into a wide grin. I shrug in response —

"I'm tired of being nice, nasty Emily scares away the snakes." I hiss, sticking my tongue out. Jake laughs loudly, his head dipping low so he can kiss me again.

"I'm starting to like nasty Emily," he whispers, biting down on my bottom lip. I instantly smile, chuckling quietly. A cold gust of wind hits us and I shiver, inching closer towards him.

"Let's get home before we freeze to death out here." Jake mumbles, pressing a firm kiss on my forehead. I nod my head in agreement, intertwining our fingers together as we hold hands. We begin walking towards the car and I feel Jake's burning stare from the corner of my eye. When I turn to look at him, he smiles, blue eyes filling with warmth —

"I really do love you."

"You do?" I smile back at him, my heart bursting with love. He nods, his face filled with a look of adoration. I love it when he looks at me like that . . . It's like the rest of the world doesn't exist beside from him and I.

"With all my heart." Jake murmurs, lifting our hands to kiss the back of mine. As we near the car, my stomach grumbles loudly and Jake gives me an amused look —

"I promised you Mcdonalds, didn't I?"

"You sure did Melvin." I tell him, raising one brow at him. He chuckles quietly, doing his best version of a courtesy.

"Your wish is my command, Miss Wentworth."