"Hi baby." I tried my best to smile at the beautiful woman in front of me. She weakly smiled back. "Hello gorgeous."

A sense of pain rose to my chest at the sight of her. James had gotten to her, making not only me but Ava a victim of his actions too. It hurt me to know my mess wasn't just my mess anymore. I tried my best to keep her safe but it wasn't enough. No matter how hard I tried, it never seemed to be enough.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her, scared of the answer.

"I'm fine sweet girl, don't worry about me."

I knew she wasn't fine just by looking at her. She looked scared and she was probably still in pain. After I called the ambulance they took her to the hospital, luckily she wasn't in a life threatening situation but she was still in a risky situation and in a lot of pain. She had been home ever since, looking fragile and scared. Although I had some more exams to do I tried my hardest to look after her and now that my exams were finally done I could give her all my attention.

"I'm so sorry I put you through this." I said to her.

"It's not your fault, stop blaming yourself."

I sighed. "Isn't it though? He was there for me and you got in the way trying to protect me."

She smiled. "He wasn't here for you."

I raised my eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She quietly got up and sat down on the bed, tapping her hand on the place next to me, ordering me to sit down.

I sat down next to her. "What is it?"

"Promise me you won't get mad?"

Doubt filled my mind as she asked but I nodded. "I promise."

"Okay so, a few months back when you were, you know, with James, and you tried to... you know..." She gulped.

I put my hand on her thigh. "Yes, I remember."

"So I got pissed, and when I say pissed I mean I was out of my mind. We went to the police and they wouldn't do anything. You are my baby and I didn't want you to get hurt by him again." She stopped talking.

"So? What did you do?" I nervously played with my bracelet, not knowing what to expect.

"So I texted a friend asking him to help me out with him."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Help you out how?"

"Well, he used to be some sort of hitman, not actually killing people but something like it. I'm not really sure what he used to do he is always so mysterious about that, but I told him what James had done to you and he promised he would make sure he would never be able to hurt you again."

My heart beat sped up. I couldn't believe what she was telling me. "What did he do?"

"I'm not sure." She replied. "I just know that James ended up in the hospital a few days later."

"Why would you do that? Without telling me?" I raised my voice. "Anything could have happened, Ava. What were you thinking?"

"You said you wouldn't get mad." She quietly replied.

"I'm not mad, I just... I can't believe you would do something so stupid."

"I just wanted to protect you."

"You could've gotten yourself killed." I yelled.

"Stop yelling at me." She said.

"I-" I sighed. "I need to go."

"Where are you going?"

"I just need a minute." I turned around and made my way to the door, rage still taking over my mind.

I couldn't believe what she had done. I wasn't mad at what she had done, I was mad at the fact she risked her own life to safe mine. She was all I had left, I couldn't lose her. What she did was stupid, even though I knew she did it for me, it was dangerous and now James was going after her. I couldn't let it happen, not again.

I got in my car, turned the volume all the way up and blasted my favorite song, trying to clear my mind.

After a 30 minutes mindlessly driving around I stopped at an all too familiar place. James his apartment. I didn't know why I drove here. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about what he had done, but no matter what it was, I subconsciously drove here.

I lit up a cigarette and waited in the car for a bit, not sure what to do. I wanted to go in, and confront him, but I knew that would only make things worse. He wasn't the kind of person to sit down and calmly have a conversation.

I thought back at Ava laying on the ground, not moving, not breathing. I thought back on how scared she was after, she wouldn't even leave her house. The cloud of rage took over again, and all I could think of was Ava. I had to do something, for her.

Before I even realized I was standing in front of James his door. I knocked two times but no one opened.

"You better open the door James, I know you're here." I yelled, not caring what anyone thought of me.

"James, I swear to-." Suddenly the door swung open and the man I had feared for so long opened the door, just this time I wasn't scared anymore.

He smiled. "Wonderful to see you here, Rachel."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, James."

"Did your girlfriend teach you those nasty words?" He grinned.

"Don't say a word about her." I hissed through my teeth.

"How is she?" He asked. "Is she still breathing?" A evil laugh left his mouth.

"You think that's funny?"

"I think it is." He said.

"Why are you doing this James, leave us alone."

"For the record, your girlfriend started. Not me."

"And she regrets it. Please, let this be the end and leave us both alone."

"Now why would I do that." He said while dragging his finger on my arm.

"James, please."

"Listen to me." He said. "You and that girl are a liability to me. Why would I stop knowing what you have against me. Do you really think I'm that stupid? Do you?"

"We'll keep all this between us if we can just move on."

"I don't trust you Rachel." He moved closer to me.

"I promise."

"You always promise so much but never keep them."

"I won't say anything James."

"Stop talking." He said as he moved even closer.

Suddenly my anger turned into fear and I regretted coming up here. I didn't think this through. I felt more stupid than ever.

"Maybe I should just get rid of you." He said. "All my problems lead back to you."

My body stiffed as his hand grabbed my upper arm tightly.

"Stop." I said.

He grinned. "This time you won't survive, like your girlfriend."

I tried to fight him but his hand had reached for my throat and it felt like I had lost.

A million thoughts raced through my mind. I was a lot weaker than Ava so I had to think quick before he actually was planning on ending my life.

Tears were streaming down my face as I begged him to stop. I had to get out of here, and I had to do it fast. I started kicking around hoping he would let me go but no matter what I did, he kept holding onto me, doing everything in his power to make sure i'd never be able to bother him again.

I thought of Ava and how she must have felt. Once again, anger took over. I could feel the adrenaline kick through my body.

Suddenly I remembered something. I slowly reached for my pockets and grabbed my set of keys. I took the sharpest key and clamped it between my fingers.

My vision was starting to get blurry so I knew I had to hurry. I took as much breath as I possibly could and counted down in my head.

3...2...1...

I lifted up my arm with the keys in my hand and without thinking I jammed the knife into his back, stabbing him as hard and deep as I could with all the strength I had left in me.

He let go of me and a loud scream infiltrated my ears. I fell down on the ground and I gasped for air. With a bloody key still in my hand I stumbled out the door, wanting to leave as fast as possible. I didn't look back and just ran as fast as I can to my car.

I drove back to Ava like a maniac. My hands were still bloody and I felt like I was about to pass out at any second. Still struggling to breathe I fought my hardest to make it to Ava. I needed to get out of here. We needed to get out of here.

I ran up the stairs and desperately knocked on the door. Ava almost immediately answered the door.

"Rachel?" She asked. Her eyes got bigger at the sight of me. "What happened?" She put her arm under my shoulders to support me.

"We need to leave Ava, I did something stupid."

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hiyaaa, sorry it took soooo long. I'm on vacation with friends so i think you can imagine it's hard af to update. I know this chapter sucks ass and it's short as fuck but pls bare with me. I wanted to give y'all a little something. After this chapter there will be 2 more chapters and after that this book is finished. I hope y'all will stick with me till the end 😋 if u wanna read more of me, i'm starting a new book after this one. It's called 'Stuck together' and you can already read the first chapter.

thank you all for reading!!!! ily 💗💗