Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Fifty - “He can’t have both.”

Two weeks later.

"Hey beautiful, want to spend the night in my room?" Jake winks and I chuckle at him, shoving him backwards into the couch with a little push on his chest. Every since we spent the night together, he always drops suggestive comments, leaving me burning bright red.

"Get stuffed, you're like a dog on heat," I scold him playfully, reaching for the remote. He pouts and whines like a dog, causing me to grin at his adorable, puppy like behaviour.

"Jake, heel!" I say firmly, pointing my finger at him. He scrunches his eyebrows up —

"I can't heel, I'm on the couch, dumbass."

"Hey!" I protest, shoving him hard. He barely moves an inch and instead smirks at me, his eyes shining brightly. From upstairs, I hear Tobias shout down to his Mum, his voice filling the silence.

"I'm glad you and Tobias are okay now," I add, smiling warmly at him. At the mention of Tobias, he rolls his eyes dramatically, scowling.

"We're not okay, we put up with each other. There's a difference Muffin."

"He's not that bad Jake," I respond, glancing at the television screen.

"Yeah you're right, he's terrible," Jake replies, jumping up off the couch to grab his phone which has been pinging non stop for the past minute. He unlocks his phone before his eyes travel quickly across the screen.

"Everything okay?" I ask him, watching as his shoulders sink and his eyes darken considerably.

"Yeah, I'll be back soon," he responds tightly, grabbing his jacket from the opposite couch.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask, eyebrows scrunched up. He'd promised to spend the night with me eating junk food and watching movies.

Adam Sandler is not someone you could watch on your own, it's just not the same.

"I'll be back soon, a few hours tops." He mumbles, looking around for his keys. I lean forward, picking them up from the coffee table and chuck them at him —

"You said that the last three nights Jake, can't the gang go without you for one night?" I frown, the disappointment clear in my voice. I hear him sigh and lift a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes.

"I can't Muffin, I'm sorry."

I let out a small sigh, I couldn't help feeling disheartened.

"I'll see you tomorrow I suppose," I mumble.

"Tonight." Jake corrects me, kissing my forehead quickly.

"You also said that for the past three nights and I never saw you until the morning," I roll my eyes, struggling to hold back the disappointment in my voice.

"It's work Emily," Jake justifies, heading for the door, barely listening to what I'm saying. The door slams shut and just like that, he's gone. I sigh and flop back on to the couch, pausing the movie.

"That's my Friday night ruined," I grumble to myself. I grab my phone and scroll through my contacts before ringing Trish. The phone rings a couple of times before she answers.

"Hey Trish! Jake's gone AWOL on me again so I need plans, what you got?" I ask her, popping a piece of popcorn in my mouth. I hear her shuffle around on the other side before she finally replies —

"A bunch of kids are going to a new club opening downtown. It's free drinks until eight pm. I can come with you if you want to go?" She says, the excitement in her voice growing.

I look around at the dark room with only Adam Sandler to keep me company. No matter how funny he is, I needed real humans in the flesh.

Oh, what the hell. Let's do this.

I spring up off the couch to head to my room and get ready.

"Pick me up in an hour!" I giggle and Trish squeals down the line, causing me to pull back the phone from my ear and wince at her tone.

"Bye Trish!" I shout down the phone before ending the call. I grin, shaking my head to myself before heading up the stairs. I shuffle along the landing, walking past Tobias' room. His door is opened and he's sprawled across his bed, throwing a football in the air before catching it. His face is the definition of boredom. I walk past his room and then stop, retreating a little until I'm stood in his doorway. I bite the corner of my lip before speaking —

"Hey T, there's a new club opening downtown, you down? Me and Trish are going." I ask, giving him a small smile. He catches the football before tossing it to the other side of his room, sitting up and leaning against his headboard.

"What time? I've got nothing better to do so yeah, I'll come," he responds, combing through his hair with his hand.

"Ivory's out with her friends so I'm guessing she's not coming, right?" He adds and I nod, giving him a small smile.

"Be ready in an hour." I beam and he nods at me, pushing himself off his bed to get dressed.

*****

I shiver a little, wrapping my leather jacket around me tighter. Winter is heading our way quickly and the temperatures have started to drop more and more, small specks of frost littering the streets.

"Hey, are you cold?" Tobias asks, turning towards me. I nod, gripping my teeth tightly which have started chattering loudly.

"It's my own fault, I'm not exactly dressed for the cold, am I?" I laugh quietly, scanning my outfit. I decided on a black low cut blouse that laced up around the chest area. It's sexy, simple and shows enough cleavage without the risk of my boobs falling out throughout the night. I regret wearing my bodycon skirt however, the fabric barely keeping me warm. My bare legs are covered in goosebumps and my black heels didn't exactly help with keeping my feet warm. I didn't realise just how cold it was unless I'm stood outside, shivering in my heels.

Tobias is wearing a black shirt with dark jeans and a distressed denim jacket over the top. His hair is a mess, falling over his eyes however it suits his whole casual, laid back look.

"Do you want my jacket?" He asks, glancing at his watch for the millionth time.

"No thanks T, god knows where Trish has gotten to." I grumble, wrapping my arms around my chest. She promised she wouldn't be late but half an hour later and still no sign of her blonde hair. I roll my eyes and pull my phone out of the black clutch bag I'm taking with me.

I'm just about to ring her when her car turns the street corner, hurtling towards us. She screeches to a halt and I stand back, my eyebrows raised at her dangerous driving. Her window roll down and she widens her eyes at both of us stood there shivering, almost dying of hypothermia.

"Guys, I am so sorry I'm late!" She apologises and I grumble a response, opening her car door and taking a seat in the back. I sigh in relief from the warmth in her car and rub my hands together, blowing warm air into them.

Tobias walks around and opens the door before settling in beside me. He raises his brow at the rubbish littering Trish's car floor and I give him an apologetic look.

"Sorry," I mouth, grimacing at all the open food packages she had littering the floor and seats. The entire car is a health hazard. Tobias chuckles quietly under his breath and I grin back at him —

"Let's party! I'm so ready to get wasted," Trish squeals, speeding off down the road. I grip onto the seat in front of me and turn my head towards Tobias, my eyes dramatically widening in fear.

"If we don't die first. . . " I whisper an he holds back a laugh, pulling his seatbelt over before motioning for me to do the same.

I guess in Trish's words . . . let’s go party!

The new club opening is proving to be very popular. Maybe it was all the free drinks they were handing out. . .

The place is packed from the door to the toilets within hours, the music bouncing off each wall loudly. People are dancing, laughing, grinding against each other and some are already drunk, leaning against tables for support.

"Typical club scene." I shout loudly in Trish's ear and she nods, grinning from ear to ear. The music blares loudly, the beats filling the whole place. I can barely hear myself think and I wonder over to Tobias in the corner who's chatting to a few people I don't recognise.

"Hey Tobias!" I yell loudly so I can be heard over the music. He smiles at me and turns towards his friends —

"Guys this is Emily," he introduces me and I smile warmly at them getting three warm smiles back. The first boy appears very laid back, he's dark haired with large brown eyes and tanned skin. The second boy is insanely tall and has to lean down to join in the conversation. He has small blue eyes and spiky blonde hair that sticks up in every direction. The last is a girl with jet black hair that reaches her waist, heavy eye makeup and a black dress with distressed tights. I glance at her boots that are covered in metal spikes and grin at her —

"I love your outfit!"

She beams at me before leaning forward.

"Thanks! Do you want a drink?"

I nod at her and we both head for the bar.

"I'm India," she introduces herself and I lean closer to her so she can hear me over the music which thankfully has quietened down on this side of the club.

"I love the name India, it's so unique."

She nods in response, "It was either that or Jenny..." she grimaces and I giggle at her.

"You definitely do not suit Jenny," I respond, giving my order to the bartender. Within seconds, I'm holding a cocktail and my eyebrows raise in surprise at the quick service.

"This place is pretty dope, don't you think?" I ask and she nods enthusiastically, her hair flying everywhere.

"I've literally been waiting forever for it to open, the cocktails here are off the hook!" She says, downing her drink and ordering a second one. I take a small sip of my drink and have to agree with her, the cocktails taste amazing.

I make my way back over to Tobias with my new favourite drink in my hand. "Do you like the place?" I ask him and he looks around, nodding his head.

"It's alright, beats sitting in my room all night."

I stand next to him and nibble on my bottom lip, looking around at everyone else who was dancing to the music.

"Want to dance?" I ask sheepishly and he grins back at me, brown eyes sparkling.

"I thought you'd never ask."

I chuckle at him and make my way towards the bodies of dancing (slightly) drunken crowd. I begin moving to the music, nodding my head along to the beats. My other hand grips onto my drink and I think of Jake, what he's probably doing in this very moment.

"Where's Jake?" Tobias asks on cue, leaning into my ear so I could hear him. His scent lingers around me, he smells like dark musk and soap.

I shrug, leaning back and taking a large gulp of my drink. A small pang of hurt settles in my chest knowing he had blown off our first night together in days for his fourth night breaking the law.

"Is he at work?" Tobias asks me, not dropping the subject and I nod quickly, downing my drink and heading for another one. I can feel my head tingling with a slight buzz from the alcohol and I like it, ordering the same drink over again. Tobias leans on the bar next to me, turning his face in my direction.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I swallow the lump in my throat, feeling tears brim my eyes. I blink them away rapidly and clutch onto the fresh cocktail, taking another large gulp.

"Go easy on the drinks," Tobias says firmly, his hand shooting out and resting on my arm. His eyes look serious and I chuckle at him, rolling my eyes.

"I'm just having some fun!" I respond, downing my glass and wincing as a strong hit of alcohol burns the back of my throat.

"This is definitely not what Doctor Green ordered," I laugh loudly, leaving Tobias alone and heading into the crowd to try and find Trish. The music booms against my head and I feel the familiar light headed sensation fill my body as I sway slightly.

"God, I'm such a lightweight," I hiccup before elbowing my way through the crowd of sweaty bodies. I feel a hand grip onto my arm tightly and I spin round, ready to attack.

My eyes meet Tobias' stern dark brown ones and he raises his brow at me, identical to the way Jake does when he's shocked at my behaviour.

"Get off me Tobias," I slur, pulling my arm out of his grasp. Jake is the last thing I want to think about yet he's all I can think about. I grab Tobias's drink from him and lift it to my lips before chugging it all in one go.

"That's it, you're coming home." Tobias says seriously, his jaw clenched. I scrunch my eyebrows up and narrow my eyes at him —

"No I'm not. You can't tell me what to do Tobias," I say lightly before spinning on my heels and heading in the opposite direction. My vision begins to blur a little and the buzz in my head got louder, drowning out the deafening noise of people around me.

I flinch and lift my hand to my head, massaging my temple where a violent headache is beginning to form. I glance around for the exit and head for the doors, desperately needing air to clear my head. I push my way through crowds of people, muttering apologies before I finally reach the doors and step out, stumbling a little into the cold dark night.

"Are you alright love?" The bouncer asks me and I nod grimly before heading around the corner. I need to get some air, my lungs feel restricted and a sharp pain begins to find its way into my stomach. Right next to my wound, that stupid wound.

I grimace as my hand hovers over my stomach, right over the ugly scar it's left behind.

"Fuck them all," I murmur unhappily, leaning back onto the cold bricks.

Fuck the scar.

Fuck Jones.

Fuck Trevor.

And fuck Jake too.

You kind of already did the last one Emily. . .

My conscience reminds me exactly of what I did and I bit back a laugh at the irony.

"God, is this what's it's like to be drunk?" I groan as I try to make my way back to the club doors, my feet heading in completely different directions. I stumble on my heel and wobble a little, my hand shooting out to steady myself. Nothing is in reaching distance and I shut my eyes tightly, feeling myself tumble forward onto the floor.

I wait for the moment my body would smash into the cold slab floors but it never happens. Warm hands suddenly circle around my waist from behind and tug me upwards, causing my eyes to snap open. I see myself be pulled back from the ground and sigh in relief.

I turn to thank whoever it is that saved me from having a face that resembled mashed potatoes. My eyes fall on Tobias.

"Tobias to the rescue," I giggle at him and he shakes his head at me, his arms never leaving my waist.

"You're drunk," he states, his tone flat and I beam back at him.

"So? I'm having fun!" I respond, slapping his chest that is so close to me.

"Well, I was until I almost fell..." I add, scowling at the floors. I feel Tobias' hands loosen around my waist but he never lets go. I look down at them and frown.

"You can let go, I'm okay now," I reassure him and he nod: slightly before letting go, his hands dropping back to his sides.

"Did Jake leave you tonight?" Tobias asks me quietly and I feel my mood drop immediately, sadness filling my eyes. I lean against the brick wall and wrap my arms around my shivering body.

"Yeah."

"He's an idiot." Tobias says pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it.

"Don't call him an idiot," I respond quickly and Tobias shrugs —

"I call it how it is" he states and I raise my brow at him, watching as he takes a deep drag from his cigarette.

"So, how is it then?" I ask intrigued at what he thought about the whole situation between Jake and I. He's silent for a few minutes as he thinks intently about my question. Moments pass and he still hasn't replied —

"Well?" I ask impatiently and he smirks at me.

"You won't like the answer," he blows out smoke and turn towards me, his hair falling over his eyes.

"Tell me," I say firmly, keeping my gaze trained on him. He sighs deeply before standing up straighter and chucking his cigarette away.

"Jake needs to make a decision. You or the gang. . . He can't have both." He states and I feel my chest tighten at his words.

"He can't leave the gang," I say quietly and Tobias' eyes snap towards me, looking deeply into my own. He searches my eyes and finally nods, agreeing with me —

"Exactly," he mutters before turning around and walking away.