Chapter 62: Chapter 62

Sixty Two - Have a little faith.

Jake's POV -

"Tobias, get the door."

"No, you get it," Tobias hits back, sounding irritated. We're both sprawled out in the living room, aimlessly watching the television.

"Dude I can't move without feeling like I'm snapping something. Answer the door before I drop kick you." I reply, rolling my eyes in his direction. Tobias huffs and stands off the couch, dusting off his clothes.

"Lazy good for nothing idiot," he mutters under his breath, loud enough for me to hear it. I grab the cushion behind my head and swing it at him. It hits his head hard before bouncing off the floor and I laugh loudly, wincing a little from the pain in my sides.

"Hey!" He yells, disappearing out the doorway to answer the door. I hear him chatting quietly before the door slams shut and he walks in holding two pizza boxes. "Pizza's here."

"State the obvious Sherlock." I respond. Tobias frowns at me —

"God, you're the definition of sarcasm sometimes, you know that? Its good to have you back," he grins, punching my arm lightly. I give him a small smile in response.

"Did you get me extra cheese?" I ask, changing the subject. Tobias nods, pushing one of the boxes in my direction.

"You and Emily are obsessed with extra cheese," He mutters playfully before realising what he'd said. I look away from him and feel my chest tightening —

"Can we have a conversation without bringing up Emily?" I snap, opening up the box and grabbing a pizza slice. Tobias holds his hands up in surrender, his eyebrow raised at me.

"Why don't you fix things with her?" He argues back. I sigh deeply, slapping my pizza back down onto the coffee table.

"She doesn't want me whilst I'm in the gang Tobias. What do you want me to do? Lie to her? I won't do that, she deserves better. She deserves so much better."

My voice cracks with pain. Every time her name is mentioned, I feel a deep lump lodge itself inside my throat making it difficult to talk or breathe.

"You're not happy without her," Tobias states, sitting down on the other couch. He leans backwards and put his pizza box on his knee before opening it up and reaching for a slice. He didn't even wait for it to cool down before taking a large bite, demolishing half the pizza in seconds.

"You eat like a pig," I mutter wanting to change the subject desperately. Tobias scoffs at my words, chewing quickly before swallowing.

"You always stole my food when we were kids. I had to teach myself to survive."

I chuckle as I remember the fond memories. I would always steal his food and he'd sit there whinging about it before he finally had enough and punched me one day, giving me a black eye. I didn't dare steal even a crumb of his food since that day.

"I was a growing boy, I needed my vitamins." I explain in my defence. I reach for a slice of pizza and lean back, biting into it. Extra cheese is the definitely the one.

"You were such a pain in the ass." Tobias said putting it nicely. That's definitely not the words I would have used to describe me as a child. I was difficult, that was certain. Every day me and Tobias would bike around the town causing mischief and mayhem everywhere we went. We spent every single day together as children and they were easily some of the best days of my life.

"Remember that day you climbed the tree and got stuck on the top branch? Your shoe fell off and you were screaming for help. Your face was priceless." I chuckle, struggled to contain my laughter. I hear Tobias snort beside me, laughing from the memory.

"I remember that! I was so scared, you stood at the bottom laughing at me before you finally climbed up with my shoe and helped me down," he chuckled fondly, shaking his head.

"You always were a shit climber," I add, glancing at my phone. Still no call of text from the gang or Emily. I sigh as my attention is diverted back to all the problems I have going on in my life right now.

"Life was simpler as a kid" I comment letting him in on my thoughts. He nods, his mouth full of pizza before mumbling —

"I agree."

I grimace at the sight of him and throw a cushion his way. It misses and lands beside him and he stares at it, his eyes narrowing.

"Dude! Stop throwing things at me!" He yells, finally swallowing the chunks of pizza in his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Tobias, that's rude." I scold him, a smirk on my face. He shakes his head at me before flipping me off and I roll my eyes at his childish behaviour. I realise we're both acting childish. . .

That's how we express our love for one other.

*****

"Are you gonna eat that?" I motion towards the last slice left of Tobias' pizza. His glances at my empty box before his eyebrows raise in surprise.

"Go ahead, it's all yours," he replies, imitating a pig. I chuckle as he snorted one last time at me and passes the slice over which I gladly take.

"What time are the others getting here?" I ask just as the doorbell rang. Tobias jumps up and waltz towards the door, running a hand through his hair.

"Good timing," he responds at me and I nod hearing him open the door. The sound of greetings fill the house and the living room door swings open revealing four of Tobias' and my friends.

Brett, Charlie, Micheal and Jeremy.

All of them had been involved in the gang somehow and we all had one thing in common — we hate Amil. I lock eyes and raised my eyebrow at Tobias, nodding my head towards Jeremy silently to question his loyalty. I barely know the guy. He's best known for his street fighting skills, the guy is built like a tower and could move like a cheetah.

"He's cool," Tobias nods, reassuring me and I nod slowly, holding my hands up at Jeremy.

"No offence but I can't take any risks."

"Don't worry, I understand," he walks towards me and slaps hands with me, bumping into my shoulder gently. I do the same with the others and slap Brett on the back a few times causing him to chuckle quietly.

"You've seen better days," he says, gesturing towards my cuts and bruises.

"I got my ass well and truly beaten."

"So now we're gonna do the same to Amil and I'm going to love every second of it," Tobias chimes in, an evil glint in his eyes. He smirks at everyone and I watch as they all agree silently, nodding their heads.

"The only difference is he won't be breathing by the end of it." I mutter, my words dripping with hatred and revenge.

*****

"We'll see you in a few days."

They nod back at me as a sign of respect before leaving the house and shutting the door behind them gently. I yawned, stretching my arms over my head feeling my eyes grow heavy.

We plan for hours, talked through every last tiny detail. We talked about the what if's and consider every scenario and outcome. I've given each man a option to drop out at the end if they were having second thoughts and all four of them shake their heads, declining my offer.

Everything is ready and planned to take Amil down in a few days. I'd have to rest to make sure I'm up to it and ready which means getting enough sleep. I head for the stairs and turn towards Tobias —

"Night Tobias."

He turns towards me, his eyes red from lack of sleep. He gives me a small smile in return before replying softly —

"Night Jake."

I make my way to the room and shut it behind me, locking the door. My gaze lands on the bed and I remember the night I spent with Emily. I close my eyes and lean against the wall, remembering every last detail.

I feel myself stir inside my jeans and groan silently, cursing myself for thinking about her. When I'm with her, every kiss she gave me blew my mind, making me lightheaded and hazy. No other girl did that to me, no other girl made me feel the way she did.

I pull my phone out and glance at the time in the top corner, groaning as I realise it is three AM.

She's probably was fast asleep right now, her mouth parted slightly as she makes little sounds in her sleep that I find so adorable.

I take my chance and text her anyway, the empty feeling inside me increasing further and further.

I miss you.

I send the text and swallow the lump in my throat, feeling like a part of me is physically missing. My heart aches painfully for her and all I want is to have her back in my arms.

I instantly regretting sending her the text as I realise how weak I sound, so vulnerable. The grip on my phone tightens as I know it's been sent and I can't take it back. I breathe out deeply, annoyed at how she could make my feelings and emotions go up and down like a crazy roller coaster.

I pull my shirt over my head and step out of my jeans before walking towards my bed. I feel my phone vibrate in my hands and my eyes widen as I realise she's replied. I hold my breath as I read over the text, my heart doing somersaults over her reply.

I miss you too.

I lie down onto my bed, settling back into my soft covers. I write out a reply before deleting it and stare at the blank screen, not knowing what I should reply with. My fingers hover over my keyboard and I bite my lip before typing out a response quickly, forcing myself not to over analyse it.

I can't stop thinking about you or our night together.

I send the text and throw my phone down onto the mattress, silently wishing she wouldn't burn me back. If she did, I'd be grateful if she did it gently. There's something about late nights where you feel exhausted that turns you into an emotional mess.

Moments pass and I feel an uneasy feeling settle in my stomach. She's going to burn me down, she probably just doesn't know how to do it. My phone vibrates suddenly letting me know she's responded and I lung for it, turning it over to read her reply.

I don't regret it.

I breathe out the huge breath I'm holding and smile at the screen, feeling hopeful for the future.

Maybe it can happen again one day?

I send the text and realise once it's sent how suggestive it sounds. I slap a hand over my head and groan loudly. Now she'd think I'm only interested in her for sex, a booty call. I grab my phone and quickly type out another text, sending it within seconds.

I don't mean just for sex, I mean our relationship. I miss the relationship.

I panick and literally feel myself sweating as I wait for her reply, shaking my head impatiently. That's it Jake, you are never texting another girl after one AM ever again.

My phone buzzes and my eyes dart across the screen as I read her reply.

I miss you too, and maybe it can happen again one day... Both things.

I inhale deeply as I absorb her words, her suggestive words. She isn't exactly helping with my frustrating situation right now with texts like that. My heart skips a few beats as I know I haven't completely lost her, she misses me and she's also hopeful for the future. I make a promise to myself in that moment that I would try day and night to win her back. Once Amil was gone, I would do everything in my power to get her back where she belongs. With me. She's mine and I'm not prepared to let her go, ever.

My fingers hovers over the screen as I think about my response.

I liked both of them... A lot.

A small smile plays on my lips as I send the text, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way. Knowing Emily as much as I do, I doubt she would. A massive smile breaks out on my face as she replies within seconds —

Emily - Are you thinking about us Jake?

Jake - Hell yeah.

Emily - Good.

Jake - Don't ask me things like that when you're not here to deal with it.

I replied sending the text quickly, smirking at my screen.

Emily - Deal with what?

Jake - Ask Jake junior.

Emily - Do it yourself Melvin.

Jake - It's no fun without you baby.

Emily - You're honestly so cheeky.

Jake - That's why you love me, right?

I hold my breath as I wait for her to reply. Does she still love me? Surely she couldn't have fallen out of love with me so quickly.

My phone vibrates and I read her words, a warm tingling sensation running through my heart.

Yes it is. Goodnight Jake.

Goodnight Muffin, sleep tight.

I respond to her and feel my own eyelids grow heavy as I place my phone down. Sleep washes over me immediately, my body turning heavy. I oddly feel calm and relaxed, so different than my sleepless nights previously. I allow myself to drift off into a deep much needed sleep.

That night, I dream of her.

Every single sleeping minute, I dream of her beautiful face.