“Why do you work all the time?” I asked, looking up from my book to see him typing away on his computer, per usual.

“It’s part of my job. Why do you talk all the time?” He glanced over at me with disinterest, and I knew all he wanted to do was go back to working instead of wasting his time talking to me.

“Because I’m bored,” I closed my book, setting it off to the side before standing up and walking over to his desk, resting my hands on the edge and looking to see what he was working on.

I thought Colby would snap at me and tell me to get away from his things, but he didn’t. He wasn’t ignoring me, but instead was watching me.

I figured I’d start a conversation with him, “I’ve been training a lot, though, with the fighting dummies and knives. It’s not too bad when you get the hang of it,”

“I know,” He rested his elbows on the table, folding his hands and resting them underneath his chin.

I couldn’t help but notice how he got more attractive once I was looking at him up close. He wore glasses when he was working, making him appear a lot older and mature than normal though they were clear.

“Staring is rude,” Colby pointed out, his voice lower than I was used to.

“It takes two to stare,” I muttered back, not taking my eyes off his body.

My eyes strayed lower, noticing how the top buttons of his shirt were undone, and I could see his tattoo clearly.

Something that surprised me was that I was close enough I could hear his breath hitch when I reached for one of the many necklaces he had around his neck, one of the thicker ones that probably had no purpose beside fashion.

“Listen,” Colby began, snapping my attention back to his face, “I-”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a boom and glass breaking behind me. I let out a wordless shout simply out of surprise as glass shards flew across the room.

In an instant, Colby had his gun out and began firing out the other window towards the source of the disturbance. I knew firsthand how good Colby’s aim was after what he did to Ava, and for a second I felt pity for the stupid person who had shot through the window.

It was full chaos, and I took this time to run on the other side of the desk, behind Colby and away from the broken glass pieces and bullets that were hitting everything but the two of us, though some were getting close. I felt a slight burn on my arm, but didn’t bother to look out of pure fear that I would get hit by a bullet.

Colby, being more skilled in this stuff than I was, was smart enough to pull both of us down behind the shelter of the desk, his hand lingering on mine for only a second before placing it back on the gun.

It felt like everything was going so slow when in reality a minute hasn’t passed yet.

“Go get the others, I don’t know where the fuck they are,” Colby shouted over all the noise, and I nodded dutifully before waiting a couple of seconds, staying low as I darted out of the room.

I took off down the hallway, not stopping until I ran into Sam and Jake on the stairs, and just for a moment I thought I heard the gunfire thin out before picking back up to speed again.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked, not stopping to talk but briskly walking past me and down the hallway to Colby’s office.

“Someone’s shooting through the window!” I gasped as they pulled out their guns.

I stayed outside of the office while the other two went in, only peaking my head in once the gunfire stopped less than thirty seconds later. I figured Colby wouldn’t want me in there when I’d do nothing but get in the way or get myself hurt.

Once Sam gave me a nod of reassurance that everything was over, I walked fully into the room. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, most likely the girls or maybe Corey.

Everyone seemed frozen, their eyes fixed on Colby to see what to do next. He, on the other hand, looked deathly pale, as if he saw one thousand ghosts all at once.

“What was that about?” Jake asked him, but was instead answered by Sam with a nod in my direction.

Once I took time to process that simple gesture, I realized what the blonde boy meant and it felt like a bowling ball was thrown into my intestines.

They wanted me. Those people, the shooters or whoever they were, wanted me.

I looked at Colby, who had abruptly grabbed his office chair as he held onto himself with his other hand, going to speak but only a groan escaped his lips.

“Brother?” Sam walked towards him, as did I, but before either of us could reach him, Colby’s eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards, taking his chair with him.

“Colby!” I shouted, feeling Jake’s hand wrap around my wrist to stop me from going up to him.

I didn’t bother turning around, I snatched my hand away from him and scurried over to Colby and Sam, letting myself fall to my knees.

Sam glanced at me briefly before prying Colby’s hand off his ribcage, and before I could see what he was covering, Sam let out a hiss, “Shit,”

His hands quickly went to the buttons on his friend’s shirt, not stopping until his chest was completely exposed.

I always figured I would see Colby lacking a shirt at some point, but I thought it would be something close to romantic.

Never would I have thought the first time I saw him shirtless was when there was a bullet in the side of his chest, just inches below his tattoo.

“Jake, call Reggie! DEVYN!” Sam’s voice got louder as he called for the girl who was who knows where, though she was at our sides at an instant.

I ignored whatever she was saying, but all I knew was that Colby had to stay awake.

He seemed to have come back to us just for a moment, his eyes now focused and looking around the room. They drooped heavily, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he was unconscious.

“Colby,” I said quietly, pulling his attention to my voice. “Stay awake, okay?” I knew the chance of him hearing exactly what I was saying was slim, with the ringing that was most likely filling his ears or the sound of his heartbeat working overtime to compute the blood loss.

He seemed to have just a hint of a smile on his face as his eyes met mine, his teeth barely showing from behind his lips.

And then I heard a scream, a shout rather. “No!” Sam was wiggling Colby’s arm opposite of the wound, over by my hand. My hand.

I looked down to see that Colby’s fingers were interlocked with mine. The grip was loose enough for me to know I didn’t do that, I didn’t grab his hand.

Colby’s eyes rolled back once more, and I felt the world go blurry before I faded away, too.

For once I wished I wasn’t going to die, but I wished to be alive, and for Colby to be better.

But all I could feel was fear as I lost my grip on everything mentally and physically.