I grin and look at Christopher as we walk back home. He seems to be in a much better state than he was moments ago, and I am happy to see that change evident in his eyes. His face beams up with happiness as he offers a gracious smile to me, and I am taken by surprise when he reaches for my hand and brings it near his lips to plant a soft kiss on the back of it. Shit! My heart skips a beat and my arms cover with erupting goosebumps the moment his lips brush against my skin. Why do I feel butterflies in my stomach whenever he does things like this? I smile and look away, trying to not let him know how much these little gestures that he does unknowingly affect me. Jeez. Nicole, stop acting like a fucking teenager.

I start wondering now how we managed to come this far when I halt midway to catch a breath. Damn! I guess I need to start exercising because it feels like I am getting tired of hardly taking 10 fucking steps. Fuck! From the way I am gasping right now, it sure looks like I am going to die in the next 5 minutes. I pant heavily, keeping my hands over my knees, praying to God to grant me a few moments of rest. Christopher frowns and stops along with me when he sees my utterly fatigued, bent form. I hope I am not looking as horrible as I think I am right now. He tilts his head and looks at me with concern.

"You good babe?"

I shake my head turning to him and give a tight-lipped reassuring smile informing him that I was fine. I wish that was true.

Mentally making a note to add exercising daily on my to-do list, I straighten up. Just when I take a step to resume walking, I hear something. Something familiar.

I turn to face Christopher and frown. "Did you hear that?"

In response to my question, he glances doubtfully at me. "What, Cole? I heard nothing." He says flipping his eyes here and there.

As Christopher stops speaking, I hear the sound reaching to my ears again. Wait! I have heard it before. It's somewhat similar to...similar to the wail of a little puppy. My eyes instantly dart towards the opposite side of the road from where it looks like the cry is coming from.

As I scan through the surroundings now, I realize that the place seems to be extremely deserted, with very few houses noticeable at a faraway corner. And it scares me now, realizing that the only sound that could be heard here is of cricket's chirping in a haunting manner. Damn! Am I freaking out?

The other side of the road is densely covered with trees and bushes. The trees stand tall, looking monstrous dark as I breathe and take small steps in its direction. I almost forget that Christopher is following me as I move forward timidly to the place in front of me. Taking a frightened, harsh gulp, I begin searching through the bushes for the source of sound that now appears feeble than before. Everything seems pitch black, and it becomes difficult for me to recognize anything here. Fuck! This is scary!

After checking the area for fifteen minutes when I finally decide to take a look closer at the trees, I see a small furry figure. When I move closer to it, I realize it to be a white pup. He is resting at the foot of a tree covered with a little mud on his body. When he looks at me, he starts squealing again. Oh, baby! I hope he is fine. I immediately hurry towards it and crouch down to examine it. I don't find any particular wound on his body when I scan through it, but it seems like there could be a possibility of him suffering a cramp or something in one of his legs which could be troubling him. Christopher comes following me and stands next to me.

"What are you looking at..." He stops mid-sentence when his eyes fall on the puppy in front of me.

He gazes at the pup softly and bends down beside me. "Poor little dog. What happened to it?"

"He has a cramp I guess." I look back at him as he observes the puppy. "I think we should take him home."

I gently pat the back of the pup to make him comfortable and pull him into my lap so as to know what exactly happened to him that's when I hear a loud noise pierce through the cold air. Fuck! I gasp and look around in horror. Before any rational thought could make its way into my mind, I see Christopher pushing me behind the shrubs.

"Nicole!?" Christopher screams and pulls me, shielding my body. Everything happens so quickly that before I could register anything, a bullet drives through the side of Christopher's shoulder. We fall with a thud and roll down to the other side of the bushes as more bullets fire in our direction. I realize now that it was the sound of a gunshot. My heart beats wildly against my chest witnessing bullets bombarding in our direction as I shut my eyes close tightly trying to simmer the terror which is instantly bolting through my body. My lips quiver in fear and I cover them with my palm to prevent myself from letting out a scream. Fuck! What the hell is happening? I realize that I am still holding the pup in my arms. Oh, god! This poor little soul has done nothing to be witnessing such a horrible sight. Why are you doing this to him? I hug him tightly with my body convulsing, thinking about what might be coming next.

"Are you okay, Cole?" Christopher's voice startles me as I look back at him in bewilderment. I open my mouth to say something. Instead, only a dread-filled whimper escapes through it.

Christopher cocoons me into his arms, sensing the panic in my tone as he whispers. "Shhh...nothing's going to happen. I am here, okay?" He rubs my back soothingly and assures me.

We are hiding behind a comparatively denser bush which fortunately coves us as we scrutinize the surrounding. We are unable to see the source of the bullets firing until I notice a car standing at a distance. My eyes have turned blurry in fear, but I still manage to recognize the car. From here we could only make out the hands hanging out, holding guns as they shoot in our direction. It seems like it is the same black SUV that was following us earlier.

"It's the same SUV, Chris..." I blurt breathing heavily. Christopher seems to understand what I am saying as he nods and focuses his eyes on the car.

I shift my gaze towards the car for a minute and when I look back at Christopher; I see him taking his gun out of his pocket. His eyes become threateningly cold as he fixates his vision on the car. He signals me to stay down and turns to respond to their attack. I crouch down immediately as I hear him firing in response. The cracking of bullets makes the blood run cold through my veins as I again shut my eyes, trying to suppress the terror intensifying in me with every second. Who the hell are they and why do they want to kill us? It feels like my heart would jump out of my chest anytime with the way how wildly it is thumping right now. A deafening silence lingers around me, making me assume that it's been a quite long time, after which I slowly dare to open my eyes. In that instant, I find the same car speeding away in front of our eyes, leaving behind no trace of what just happened.

"Nicole, are you fine? Did anything happen to you?" Christopher turns to me and scans my body with a worried look.

"I am fine..." I manage to get my voice out of my throat.

"Come on. We need to get home soon. This place isn't safe." Christopher announces in a serious tone and I nod, looking at him. Did they really leave? Is this all over?

I am still in a state of shock when we reach our house. Christopher led us here, taking a shortcut so that we could make it as quick as possible. As we enter, Christopher locks the door and takes his phone to make a call. He soon vanishes into the hallway as I keep staring in the direction he went. What did just happen? I can't believe we escaped from a freaking gun-firing. If I am not wrong, we were moments away from getting killed. Then how the hell we survived that attack? Who were they? Why did they try to shoot us? Is this all real or am I just having a bad dream?

As I am thinking, something wriggles in my arms, making me realize that it was all real. It's the same puppy that I've found under the tree. His shiny eyes stare at me as he shifts uncomfortably in my hold. Oh shit! I forgot that he is hurt. I instantly take him towards the couch and place him gently on it, hoping that he'll feel comfortable now. I kneel in front of him to check him again, but I feel like I couldn't concentrate. My eyes are wide open, but nothing seems to settle in front of my vision as I keep replaying in my mind the terrifying event that has happened to us minutes ago. It's over, Nicole. You are safe now, Nicole. You are at home. I try to console my heart by chanting it again and again, but the thick knot of apprehension doesn't seem to subside in my stomach.

As I am trying to wrap my head around the incident that took place, I feel Christopher's presence behind me.

"This is fucking ridiculous.." He groans. From his footsteps, it looks like he is pacing around the room.

"How the fuck he could think of doing something like this?"

"This fucking bullshit has to end. I am not going to leave Richard for this.." He huffs angrily and takes a seat on the couch next to the puppy.

"I know it's not a big deal for me." I don't turn to look at him, but I can sense the sudden dip in his tone. His voice turns softer as he admits. "This has been my life. But for you.." Christopher pauses and exhales in frustration.

"I am sorry, you had to go through this, Cole..." He sounds apologetic as he continues. "But I'll promise I'll never let anything happen to you." I could see the exertion on his face from my peripheral vision, but I don't know why I am not saying anything. I guess I am too stunned to let any word out of my mouth at this moment.

"Nicole?"

"Nicole? Are you listening?" He asks me again in a louder tone, making me jerk to look at him in surprise.

"Hmm?" I respond in a bewildered manner, looking at him. My eyes then drop onto the torn-out flesh of his shoulder, and I gasp.

"Oh, my god! You are hurt, Christopher!?" I state, looking at his fresh wound.

He turns his gaze towards it and shrugs, giving me a polite smile. "It's nothing, Cole. I am fine."

"No...can't you see?" I protest and my voice turns out to be ruder than I intended. "Oh, god! This is bad, Christopher." I run my fingers through my hair in frustration and shake my head. Christopher is hurt. I need to do something. Fuck! But what am I supposed to do? Should I take him to a doctor? No, that would be a bad idea, and I don't think Christopher would anyway agree to it.

That bullet was meant for me. If Christopher wouldn't have pushed me against the bushes, then I wouldn't be standing alive at this moment. He freaking saved my life! Otherwise, I would have been dead by now. My mind all of a sudden goes to the night of Peter's party where I got that threat note and it immediately starts putting two and two together to make me realize something. Fuck! I understand everything clearly now. So it was for me? That black SUV which was following us, it was for me? They were there to kill me?

Christopher stares at me in confusion as my breathing falters, taking a look at his wound again. I don't know why I am panicking or more like overreacting. I have seen many terrible wounds in my life before, but I never felt this scared, the way I feel right now. And this injury on his shoulder is surely smaller compared to the one on his chest that I treated. I remember that I was much more composed at that time when I saw it. Then what happened to me now? Why am I freaking losing my mind for no reason? I guess it's not just the wound that's torturing me, but also the fact that this time I am the reason behind it.

What the fuck? Why am I still here, not doing anything? I hurry and get my first aid box and start searching for cotton. Why the hell I am not getting it? My hands shake violently as I tilt the contents of the box to get the fucking cotton. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Nicole?" Christopher calls my name as I am still fucking lost in searching the cotton. Why is this happening to me?

"Nicole, look at me." Christopher grabs me by my shoulders and forces me to look at him. His soft grey eyes stare at me with concern filling in them. "It's just a bullet graze. Nothing to worry about." He tries to reason looking at my disoriented form.

"Jesus, Christopher. It's not just a bullet graze." I push his hands away and say. "Don't you understand how serious it is? Anything could have happened there?" I shake my head and murmur with guilt fabricating inside me. "It happened all because of me."

"That's bullshit. What are you talking about, Cole?" Christopher retorts immediately. "It was not your fault."

"Why did you do it?" I ask, and I sense the lump of anxiety rising in my throat. I know that Christopher understood what I intended to say as he answers me before I could say anything further.

"I did that to protect you...and I had to do it, Cole." He replies to me instantly.

"For god's sake, you could have got yourself killed Christopher!" I scream, feeling like being on the edge of my patience. I know I should be thanking him right now for what he did, yet I am sitting here yelling at him for saving my life. That's fucking insane! I think I am angry at him because he risked his life for me. Which I never wanted him to do. I don't know why, but the thought of anything happening to him is scarier than thinking about my own death.

"No...Richard wouldn't let that happen. If he would have wanted me dead, he could have done it easily." Christopher's expression hardens as he says. "I know him, Cole. I know what he is doing. He is just trying to play with us. Play with me." He sighs and fine creases appear over his forehead as he suggests worriedly. "Play with you and see you are getting affected by it. You are falling into his trap."

"He thought he would turn you against me by feeding you with poor lies about my past." His jaw tightens in anger as he tries to convince me. "But when he got to know that his plan didn't work the way he wanted, he chose to be a fucking coward." He takes a deep breath and moves closer to me. "He planned an attack on us. To scare us, Cole."

"I have informed Max about this...I am sure he would help. We don't have to..."

"I don't want to know what Richard did." I cut him off angrily before he could complete his sentence. "I don't want to know what he or anyone else is fucking trying to do now...What I only want to know is that you would never do that again."

"You can't risk your life for me like that, Christopher. What if.." I choke on my words and before I could process what I am saying my eyes begin to fill with hot tears. Fuck! I don't even know why I am crying? I hope I am not PMSing.

I instantly wipe them off, trying to regain my stability and complete the sentence with my shivering lips. "What if something would have happened to you?"

"I wouldn't have cared..." Christopher replies instantly, and it looks like he was already prepared for that question.

"What?" I blurt looking at him.

"I said I wouldn't have cared..." He repeats with a strange calmness reflecting in his tone.

"What the hell, Christopher? Why the fuck you wouldn't have cared?" I question him with my eyes growing wide in hysteric. Why the fuck is he arguing with me? Can't he simply understand what I am trying to say? Can't he understand I care about him and that I don't want anything to happen to him?

"Because I would have done it, anyway." He speaks in a low, serious tone as I stare at him.

"I would and I will...always." He whispers, cupping my cheeks. His thumbs brush against them as he wipes the tears running down my cheeks with his gentle touch.

"Why?" I rest my face against his palms, trying to find my solace in his soft touch as I ask.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. I exhale slowly and stare at him, waiting for my answer. When he opens them, I see his dark grey eyes holding a different kind of gleam. A gleam that is both scary and heartwarming at the same time. A gleam that seems to be resembling the pure emotion in his heart reflecting through his words as he confesses. "Because I love you, Cole."

A/N:

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Janny❤