I pad softly up the stairs, glancing down at my watch. Jake has officially been locked away in his room for almost four hours. Myra shocked us all with her outburst but I can't help agreeing with her. The feud between Jake and Tobias is exhausting and we all want it to come to an end. I pause in front of Jake's bedroom door before knocking on it.
A minute passes and there's no answer. I roll my eyes, knocking on it again.
"Are you ignoring me? Pfft," I huff, spinning on my heel. The door suddenly swings open and Jake grabs my arm, dragging me into his room. My eyes widen as he slams the door shut behind me, pinning me against the wall.
"Jake, what are you doing? You crazy —"
He lets out a frustrated groan before silencing me by crashing his lips against mine.
His kiss is hungry, needy and deep from the start. I wrap my hands in his hair once the shock quickly wears off. His hands travel down my body, in all the right places. I let out a small gasp inside his mouth and Jake pulls back, eyes hooded over. In one swift movement, I find myself being lifted from the ground and carried towards the bed.
Okay, this escalated real fast.
He places me down, nestling between my legs before placing soft kisses down my neck. The feel of his lips caused me to arch my body into him, loving the way he feels against me. My body lights up in flames, the passion between us both so strong. I can feel Jake's breathing shallow out as he pulls back, a frown on his face.
"I don't want to hurt you," he breathes out uneasily, tugging at his hair with his hands. I sigh and look away, blinking.
"Even with Jones dead, he still finds a way to ruin my life." I whisper, feeling my stomach twist with knots. Every time I feel pain, it reminds me of Jones and what he did to me. In a sick way, it's almost like he planned it to be this way. So I can never forget him.
"Hey, look at me." Jake whispers, causing me to turn my face back towards him.
"It's not forever, it'll heal," he says quietly, planting a gentle kiss on the side of my mouth. So different from the passionate crazed one he had given me mere seconds ago.
"I'll always remember it though, he'll always haunt me Jake. This ugly scar proves that," I reply, my eyes filling with sadness. Knowing he would always have some sort of hold on me was terrifying . . . even from deep inside the grave, he still managed to fill me with fear. Jake sighs and looks into my eyes, searching them intently before speaking.
"Whatever happens to us in life builds us into stronger individuals, no matter how painful it is. It adds on to every layer of personality we already have, making us unique from others. Pain makes you stronger Muffin." Jake says gently and I stare back at him, my own eyes filling with complete love for him.
Every word he'd spoken impacted me and I believe him, believing that this can only make me stronger. I'm going to let someone as evil as Jones tear me down, especially since I've survived years of abuse from Trevor.
I reach up, pushing his head down with my hand. The second his lips touched mine, I sigh constantly. Butterflies erupt in my stomach which amazingly dulls the aching pain.
"Thank you," I whisper, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes that are drinking me shamelessly. His eyes travel down my body, approval flashing through them.
"You have goosebumps, do I give you goosebumps?" He breathes against my lips and I nod silently, biting my bottom lip. Jake rests his forearms on the bed, one on either side of my face and his eyes fall to my lips.
I smirk, knowing he loves it when I bite my lip. It takes him a few seconds to pull himself out of the trance he's in and his eyes finally meet mine, looking disappointed.
"You're a tease," he grumbles re-adjusting himself on top of me.
"Jake junior can't handle a tease Muffin."
"Jake junior? Really?" I ask, spluttering with laughter. Jake appears offended but he masks it over with his usual cocky expression.
"Yes, don't hurt his feelings Muffin. You may live to regret it" he winks and I look back at him, my own eyes twinkling —
"You are crazy, Jake Melvin."
"Baby, you love it."
I nod in response and pull Jake's head towards me once again. Seconds before his lips could meet mine he speaks, his eyes flickering between mine —
"You're so beautiful."
I immediately feel my body tense up at his words.
Those exact words.
Memories of the hospital come flooding back to me and his voice is clear as day now. I sit up and shove at Jake's chest, attempting to get him off me. Tobias' face flashes through my mind and this time I'm completely certain it's him that spoke to me in the hospital. He called me beautiful. The exact words he used, Jake just repeated. "You're so beautiful."
How dare he?
How dare he come to me when I'm in a coma all the time and confess his feelings when I'm his cousin's girlfriend.
I feel the anger rise in my body and I shove Jake harder, not that it made any difference.
"Hey what's wrong?" Jake asks, rolling off me himself considering I couldn't even move him an inch. He's definitely been a caveman in a previous life.
"I have something I need to do." I mumble, gritting my teeth together. You're so beautiful.
My jaw tenses and I feel my body start to shake due to how angry I am.'Tobias crossed a line, a major line. I run a hand through my hair and head for the door, barely hearing Jake's protests from behind me.
All I know is that I'm absolutely livid.
And Tobias will be on the receiving end of it.
Chapter Forty Seven - Lies.
I slam the door open and barely flinch as it slams into the wall opposite. Tobias jumps from his bed in alarm but I don't notice the lack of his clothing as I storm up to him, fists clenched in anger. His hand shoots up to rub at his eyes and he appears sleepy, disorientated.
"Emily, what are you doing?" He frowns at me, his eyes widening as he notices the anger burning in my eyes.
"How dare you!" I hiss, stomping towards him. I don't stop until I'm standing in front of him, our faces almost touching.
"How dare you Tobias?!" I yell, shoving him back into the wall. He stumbles a little before standing back on his feet. He towers over me now that he's wide awake but he doesn't intimidate me, not anymore.
"What have I done now?" He asks me, eyebrows raised as he looks down at me. I clench my jaw at his words that are only making me angrier.
"You know exactly what you've done!" I tell him, my hands flying out. He reaches out and grabs hold of both of my wrists, pushing me away from him.
"Shouldn't I be the one mad at you? You threw me out of your room Emily!" He protests whilst I try to wriggle free from his hold. His grip is too strong and no matter how hard I try, I couldn't loosen his hold on my wrists.
"I heard you, you idiot! I heard you!"
Tobias freezes on the spot, his face emotionless as he registers my words. I watch as his face becomes pale, the blood draining.
"You weren't supposed to hear that," he whispers, looking directly in my eyes. I let out a frustrated yell and wrestled against him, trying to free myself once again.
"Well I did! What do you want to happen Tobias? For me to cheat on Jake like Violet did?" I say angrily. Tobias hangs his head in what I hope is shame.
"No, I meant it when I said that was a mistake," he says quietly. I shake my head, unable to make sense of the entire situation. How could he betray Jake like this again?
"So why? Why did you tell me I was beautiful? Why did you tell me you couldn't stop thinking about me? I'm your cousin's girlfriend, I love him!"
I shut my eyes and breathe deeply, forcing myself to calm down. I can hear Tobias breathing in front of me, his chest rising and falling steadily.
"Because it's true, I do think you're beautiful."
My eyes snap open and I look up at him, shaking my head in frustration.
"You can't do this! You can't ruin Jake and I! You're going to destroy him Tobias, you've already destroyed a piece of him! I won't stand back and allow you to ruin him completely." I say, my jaw clenched tightly. I can feel the sadness and anger build up inside me, bubbling away like a volcano ready to erupt.
"Does Jake know?" Tobias asks, his voice wavering slightly when mentioning Jake's name.
"No." I snap back bluntly, tugging free of my wrists. I hold them to my chest closely and take a step back from Tobias. I see the hurt immediately flash over his face and he holds his hand out towards me before rethinking and letting it drop back to his side.
"Jake can never know."
Tobias nods grimly, his eyes trained on the floor, he resembles a told off toddler.
"I can never know what?"
I freeze, my heart dropping to the pit of my stomach.
"I can never know what Emily?" Jake repeats, his tone becoming more demanding as he stands in the doorway, his stare fixed on me. I open my mouth to respond but I can't do it, I can't hurt him. I don't want to see his face crumple in pain, I can't be the reason for breaking him.
"Can somebody please speak?" He asks loudly at Tobias and I, making me jump. I remain silent and keep my eyes trained on the floor. I can't tell him, it will break us apart. I can hear Jake's breathing speed up from across the room and in a flash, he's by my side.
"What's going on? Why are you in here?" Jake asks a series of questions, his voice rising with each one. I don't answer and instead hang my head low, hiding behind my hair.
"Jake." Tobias speaks up behind me and I tense up, freezing on the spot. Is Tobias going to tell him?
"I don't recall asking you the question!" Jake snaps back at him, his tone threatening. He's warning Tobias off, already becoming defensive. Jake turns back towards me, his tone desperate. I can already sense the fear behind his voice.
"Emily, answer me. I can never know what?"
How can I break his heart? Break him?
Our relationship from this point on will be full of insecurities. I shake my head sadly, still unable to look into his eyes. I turn towards Tobias, my face emotionless. I can't be responsible for burning their relationship to the ground completely.
"You need to tell him." I say before walking out of his room, shutting the door behind me. I close my eyes and sink down to the floor next to Tobias' door, waiting for the fighting to start. My heart is thumping against my chest and I feel like it's about to burst straight through. Will Jake and I ever be the same?
Moments pass and nothing happens.
No screaming and no fighting.
I press my ear against the crack in the door, listening out for their voices. All I can hear is the faint buzz of their conversation. They aren't yelling or raising their voice. What the hell is Tobias telling him?
I sit anxiously, my leg shaking up and down as I wait for Jake to leave Tobias' room.
"This isn't right." I mumble, standing back onto my feet. The door swings open and Jake walks out, his gaze landing on me.
"You were planning a surprise party for me?" Jake asks uneasily and I look at Tobias who's stood behind Jake. Tobias signals for me to nod so I nod automatically, looking back at Jake. An uneasy feeling sits in the pit of my stomach and I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing we're both lying for him.
"That doesn't explain why you ran off." Jake questions me and I glance back at Tobias, unsure on what to say. I've never been very good at lying and this time is no different.
"Yeah, uhm. . . sorry about that. I kind of freaked out." I mumble quietly. Jake narrows his eyes at me and Tobias suspiciously, his gaze flickering between the both of us.
"It's not my birthday so why a party?"
"It was a party for Emily really, to celebrate her getting out of the hospital. Ivory and I were planning it for you two and Emily walked in, hearing us." Tobias lies effortlessly and I have to stop myself from gawking at how easy lying came to him.
"You've had it hard lately so we wanted a night to just cut loose," Tobias shrugs and I smile tightly at Jake who looks like he's slowly believing the lies.
"So when is it?" Jake asks and I open my mouth to let him know it's been cancelled.
No point in carrying on with a lie right?
"Tonight." Tobias replies quickly and I widen my eyes at him, glaring. He avoids my burning stare, acting like I've suddenly grown invisible.
"I'm just going to get the booze now, any special requests?" He asks and Jake turns towards him shrugging.
"Whatever," he responds before grabbing my hand and leaning over to place a gentle kiss on my temple. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, hating myself for lying to him.
"Tonight's kind of short notice but I suppose having some fun won't hurt. Mum and Aunty Myra are out too, nice thinking Muffin." Jake grins at me and I smile back at him tightly, feeling my stomach twist further in knots.
"Great, I'll go pick up some supplies." Tobias mumbles, disappearing behind his bedroom door to get dressed. My throat runs dry and I can't look Jake directly in the eyes.
How can I when we both lied to him so effortlessly?
"I'll ring around to see who can make it."
Jake nods at me, dropping my hand to let me walk back to my room. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, rubbing at my temples as I go.
*****
Within a few hours we had around fifty friends coming over. . . And that isn't including the plus ones. I groan at myself in the mirror, tugging at my pyjamas. "I didn't even want this party," I mumble unhappily, a permanent scowl on my face.
"It is pretty random, isn't it?" Ivory replies, bouncing on her heels as she searches through her closet. Music plays quietly in the background and I simply watch her as she chooses an outfit.
"We definitely need a good party to forget about everything though," she adds and I nod grimly, my hands tracing over the white plaster on my stomach.
"I didn't mean what happened isn't important Em." Ivory quickly adds, sounding apologetic. I shake my head, stopping her.
"I understand, don't worry," I respond, giving her a warm smile. Maybe a party surrounded by laughter and friends is exactly what Jake needs.
"What are you wearing?" Ivory asks, holding a pretty lace shirt against her body. I shrug and throw myself backwards on her bed, looking up at the ceiling.
"I have no idea," I responded. I close my eyes and sigh constantly, burrowing myself into the blankets. If I could just lie here for five minutes, I could probably drift off. . .
"Emily, wake up!" Ivory laughs, throwing a simple casual red dress my way. I groan as it falls over my face, practically suffocating my oxygen supply.
I pick it up and examine it.
"This will do," I sigh, pushing myself up off the bed and away from the warm cuddly blankets that are screaming my name. There's no time for blankets, the party is due to begin very soon. Just the thought of it is exhausting but I can't expose the lie now.
I'm already in too deep