*Hands over an Oreo*

Nothing.

The first thing I saw, when I opened my eyes was nothing.

It was pitch black in front of my eyes and I felt excruciating pain in the back of my head.

I tried to raise my hand to check for any bumps but my hands wouldn't move.

That's when I realised that my hands were tied behind my back with tight ropes digging into the skin of my wrists.

Oh fuck.

Memories of how I got here slowly seeped into my head.

I remember standing in the parking lot of the ice rink, completely devastated after Miles left. I couldn't move or speak as I stood there trying to process the words she had said to me.

It was getting dark outside and I could hear the laughter of our friends from inside the building but my mind was numb to it all.

I was so out of it that I didn't hear footsteps approaching me and suddenly felt a blow on the back of my head that immediately made me dizzy and then everything went black.

I don't know what happened after that but I was probably carried to whatever this place is and tied up to a chair.

I moved my head to realise that it wasn't the room that was pitch black, my head was covered with a black mask sort of cloth.

My mouth was not covered though, but my throat felt dry and hoarse.

"Hello?" I croaked, realising that I have no other option. "Is anyone there?"

It was after a few seconds that I heard footsteps approaching. It sounded like someone was walking down the stairs.

"He's awake." Someone said, before I heard few more footsteps entering the room.

I heard sounds from all around and suddenly the mask was pulled off of my head, making me squint at the sudden light.

When my vision turned back to normal, I saw that the room was dimly lit and there were 4 people standing around me.

"I expected you to be out for a couple more hours." A man said, stepping forward and coming to stand in front of me.

He was wearing a three piece suit for some reason and looked like a leader of some sort.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Great. Another mannerless brat." The tall guy sighed.

One of the guys behind him brought a chair and placed it right in front of mine.

The tall guy walked forward before sitting on it and crossing one leg over the other. "Well, I'm assuming that you're aware of all the dangerous activities that your girlfriend is a part of."

My eyes widened.

"You." I breathed out, glaring at him. "You're the King guy who's been tormenting her. You're the reason why she was hurt so many times."

I felt like someone was hitting me in the head with a hammer, and the fact that, the reason why Miles has gone through so much, is here, standing in front of me, acting like a fucking God, is just not helping.

He tsked. "Well if you put it like that, you're making me look like a bad guy." He frowned.

"A bad guy? You're a fucking monster. You fucking kidnapped and stabbed her, for god's sake." I gritted out, wanting to, just punch this guy.

He then had the audacity to chuckle. "Well I could say the same about you, kid." He smirked.

My mind was swirling and I slowly gained feeling in the back of my neck and realised that it was wet. I then realised that there was probably blood dripping from the back of my head.

"What?" I frowned.

He sighed while feigning sympathy. "Oh poor Ryder." He said, glancing at the other guys before looking back at me. "He doesn't even know how important he is in this game."

The other guys chuckled, looking at me, but I noticed one guy who stood a little farther from the rest, with a blank look on his face.

He had a tattoo covering his throat and looked like he would rather be anywhere else and I recognised him from the day at the carnival. He was one of the guys that Miles faught.

"I'm not a fan of riddles." I gritted out.

He chuckled before leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

His face suddenly lost all signs of humor as he spoke. "You really think I could simply threaten someone who's the number one streetfighter and is not one percent afraid of death?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and waited for him to continue.

"So, naturally I had to target the one thing that she's afraid to lose. Her weakness. And that's when I stumbled upon you. The lover boy." He smirked, while my mind was a different story altogether. "She agreed to this deal so that I don't get you involved."

All our arguments and fights just replayed in my head, just making me realise that I was the reason why she's stuck in this mess.

The could feel the exhaustion making my body feel heavier.

"Why am I here?" I breathed out, genuinely confused and shocked at the same time.

"Because she made a mistake." The King guys continued, learning back in his chair. "She tried to double cross me. I hate to do this, but it's time that I teach Miles a lesson. Who am I kidding? I don't hate this at all."

King burst out laughing like a fucking psychopath while I struggled to stay awake.

A wave of dizziness hit me and I felt it impossible to keep my eyelids open anymore.

I suddenly felt a hand grab my face roughly before pulling me up.

"You can't sleep yet, pretty boy. You gotta do your job and bring Miles to me." He smirked.

King was pointing a phone camera towards me, probably recording me.

"That's right. The quarterback of Greenfield High, right here. I'm sorry he's being so lazy Miles." He said, coming into the frame. "Now, does this seem like the right time to bring me the baby?"

He smiled into the camera and my blood boiled.

"No! Don't!" I yelled with the residual energy left in me. "Don't fall for this, Miles! Don't come here." I quickly said before I felt a fist connect to my jaw and then I went flying back.

The next thing I felt was the floor as the chair I was sitting on, toppled over because of the blow.

And then I was out, with King's sinister laughter echoing in the background.

Please don't come here, Miles.

*****

My hand shook as I saw the video for the 20th time.

"Don't fall for this, Miles! Don't come here." Ryder said, with his barely open eyes, looking into the camera.

And yet again, a fist connected with his jaw and his chair went flying back, landing on the hard floor. He then laid there without any movement.

King came into frame again, smiling at me. Even though it was a video, I felt like he was somehow looking into my soul.

"You made a huge mistake Miles. Joining my brother, to plot against me?" He shook his head. "I thought you knew better than that."

He pointed the camera at Ryder again and nudged his leg with his feet. "Look what you made me do."

I gritted my teeth as my grip on the phone tightened.

"Now." He said, coming into frame again. "You have 24 hours. Bring me the baby, or you might never see pretty boy Ryder again."

The screen turned black, but my hand continued to shake.

A hand gripped my wrist, pulling my phone out of my grip. I looked up to see Diana, placing my phone on the table.

"Can't afford you breaking your phone, girl."

I swallowed the lump in my throat before I got on my feet, facing Jacob.

"We need to do something. Now." I said sternly.

He sighed. "I know but the situa-"

"I don't care." I cut him off. "I don't care about the fucking situation or the goddamn risks."

My voice was shaky but I did not have it in me to try and calm myself down.

"Miles, think rationally." Diana sighed, walking towards me. "Alex knows about Jacob and is obviously pissed. He won't think twice before killin-"

"I said I don't care." I said, looking at her intently, making her eyes widen slightly. "All I know is that Ryder is being held captive by Alex fucking King and is beaten up, all because of me."

"It's not your fault, damn it." Diana frowned. "He's doing this to get his hands on Keith."

I shook my head. "I'm not even going to add the baby into this equation. This is between us and a fucking psychopath."

Diana furrowed her eyebrows. "How can yo-"

"I'll save him. I'll bring him back, on my own." I said looking away.

"As if." Diana scoffed, making me frown. "He's after my son. This fight is mine just as much as it is yours."

Jacob suddenly rose from his couch and pulled out his phone. "Guess it's time that I make some calls then. We don't have much time as he said." He shrugged and winked at Diana before walking towards another room.

I fell back on the couch with a sigh.

The images of Ryder covered in blood just wouldn't stop flashing in my head and the guilt kept rising.

"Here." Diana said, nudging me with a water bottle and handing it to me.

I sighed before gulping it down in one go.

"He's pretty brave, you know?" She said, making me frown as I placed the bottle down. "Ryder. Even after being beaten and being in a place filled with gang members, he asked you to not come."

I bit the inside of my cheek as I felt overwhelming emotions seeping in.

"Have you really... never thought of just handing over Keith to him? Ryder is pretty important to you, isn't he?" She frowned.

I nodded. "He is very important to me. But even though I'm not really related to Keith but bringing a baby into this mess just doesn't seem like an option to me. He doesn't deserve this. And I mean that."

She smiled in return, eyeing the crib a little farther away from us. "I know and I also know that if there was anyone else in your place, they would consider doing it at least once."

"People don't call me impulsive and stubborn for nothing." I rolled my eyes.

Diana chuckled, taking a seat beside me. "What a pair... You guys are definitely made for each other. You're equally stubborn and brave."

A sad smile grew on my face as I was reminded of everytime we had an argument and he set his stubbornness and ego aside and surrendered in front of me.

He really is perfect.

"Which is why I know, that he's gonna be fine." Diana said, making me realise that I had said that out loud.

I looked at her, with restlessness clear in my eyes. "I love him." I said, surprising myself.

I never thought I'd ever love someone or be able to admit my love to him or anyone for that matter.

But here I am.

"I know." She said. "And I know that he loves you too."

"But I haven't been fair to him, at all. He was uncomfortable with me fighting, I faught anyway. He didn't want me to get involved in the gang business. I did, anyway." I said, and a layer of moisture covered my eyes. "And I didn't even tell him that I love him, the last time we talked. I broke his heart, along with mine."

At this point, I was blankly looking at the table in front of me, questioning my entire existence.

I felt a hand on my back.

"I don't think this is the first time you're both going through something like this, is it?" She asked, making me sigh and shake my head. "Exactly. So everytime something like this happens, you come out stronger. Together."

I looked up at her with a small smile. "Were you always this cheesy? Or have you been watching a lot of chick flicks lately?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's what babysitting a one year-old and a seventeen year-old does to an adult."

I chuckled half-heartedly, when the door to the back room opened and in walked Jacob.

"Okay, so shall we discuss the plan to rescue the boyfriend?" He said, rubbing his hands together.

"Ryder. His name is Ryder and he's not my boyfriend." I sighed in frustration.

He shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." And turned to the white board.

I rolled my eyes, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.

"First off, we're gonna need as many people as we can because according to my sources, Alex has gathered his whole gang as he waits for you and the baby at the warehouse." He said, referring to the address that Alex has sent me.

Jacob drew a rough outline of the warehouse where he's keeping Ryder captive and starts explaining to us where he must have his people posted.

"So, naturally most of the armed members are going to be posted outside. But what he himself doesn't know is that, the warehouse has two entry points." He said pointing at the entrance.

I frowned.

"That's right. There is a secret, underground entrance into the warehouse." He said, marking a place on the board. "Now, I'll have my gang take care of the security outside, so that you can sneak in through the other rout. That rout will open into the vent of the rooms of the warehouse that are underground."

"And I'll take care of the rest." I nodded.

"But..." Jacob said, looking at the board. "There's still one thing that needs to be taken care of."

I frowned.

"According to my intel, Alex has a laser security system around the whole area, that doesn't just set off an alarm but, also electrocutes the intruder." He said.

I had my head in my hands, at this point.

The images of Ryder getting beaten up kept flashing before my eyes and that just made my blood boil.

I still tried to concentrate.

"Now, I do have a team of hackers but sadly I can't rely on them since their security system is too complicated. I would've attacked by now, if it wasn't." He said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"You've tried to disable it before?" Diana asked and I didn't hear a response so Jacob probably nodded.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head and I looked up suddenly, startling Jacob.

"Oh God!" He breathed out.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I may have the solution to this problem."

Diana and Jacob looked at me in confusion as I picked up my phone.

I dialled the number and prayed that he would pick up, since it was almost midnight.

My prayers were answered as he picked up after like eight rings.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice came from the other end.

"Hi Jason. It's Emily." I said, looking at Jacob with a smirk. "Do you remember the fight you lost against me?"

I'm gonna save him, even if that's the last think I do.

*Author's note*