Tell Me No Lies

Twenty

No one spoke as they sat in the waiting room. They didn't know what to say. Zach stood in a corner leaning against the wall. Emily had tried to talk to him but he ignored her. Jonah paced nervously, blaming himself for the shooting. Maybe if he hadn't attacked that girl none of this would've happened. He couldn't admit it to Daniel. Jack knew who had done it. A doctor walked over. "Corbyn's out of surgery. He should be waking up." 

"What about Reese?" Jonah asked wringing his hands together. 

The doctor shook his head. "I don't know yet. She's still in surgery. You can go see Corbyn though." 

The boys made their way down the hall to Corbyn's room where he was starting to regain consciousness. Daniel hurried to the bedside. "Hey, buddy." 

Corbyn blinked lazily at his best friend. Daniel smiled slightly. "How are you feeling?" Jack asked as he approached the bedside. 

"Nauseous, but the doctor said that's normal," Corbyn whispered. 

Zach approached the bed and the others backed away. "They told me what happened. Thanks for looking out for Reese." 

"You'd do the same if it was Ashley," Corbyn replied weakly.

Zach gently hugged Corbyn. "I owe you big time." 

Corbyn nodded slowly as he started to doze off. The boys left the room, letting their friend sleep. Zach returned to his corner going back to not talking. No one had ever seen him that anxious. Emily went up to him and put a hand on his chest. "Z? You want something to drink?" 

Zach looked away and Emily sighed as she looked up at him. "I love you mon cherie." 

Zach didn't answer as he continued to stare blankly out the window. Emily went back to the others and rested against Daniel. It wasn't too long before a different doctor walked over. "Reese is out of surgery, however, she's got severe brain damage and is in a coma. We don't know when or if she's going to come out of it." 

Zach pushed past the doctor as he advanced on Emily. "Did you see who did it?" 

Emily's eyes widened. "Maybe," she stuttered. 

Zach's jaw clenched and Daniel rose to his feet, knowing he might have to restrain the boy. "Who was it, Emily?" 

Jack shook his head at Emily. "Zach, back down," Jonah warned. 

"Fuck off Marais. Emily who did it? If you don't tell me I swear to God I'll..." Zach began. 

"What will you do?" Daniel asked as he pointed towards the doctor who was still standing there. Lucky for them the waiting room was almost empty. 

"Em!" Zach yelled. 

"Terrence. It was Terrence and some guy that he usually hangs around with. They're in separate gangs and Terrence sent him after us," Emily sobbed as she backed into Daniel. 

Zach grabbed the car keys off Jack's belt loop and stormed out of the hospital. "There goes taking a logical approach to the situation," Jack muttered. 

"What did you expect? It's his sister's life on the line," Daniel sighed. "Ironically he kept it together pretty well with you Em." 

Later that night Zach got home looking exhausted. Jonah waved to him from the kitchen but got no response as their youngest member went upstairs. Emily looked up from her phone when she saw Zach standing in the doorway with a tear running down his cheek. He opened his mouth to say something but Emily shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Come here." 

Zach curled up in Emily's arms. "Terrence is dead." 

"What?" Emily asked. 

"I shot him," Zach murmured as he started to doze off. "I just did what I had to." 

Emily ran a hand through Zach's hair. "Shhhh. He got what he deserved." 

It wasn't long before Zach's breathing slowed. Emily quietly made her way out of the bed and went downstairs after pulling the blanket over her boyfriend. She joined Jack and Daniel in the kitchen. "He killed Terrence. I guess this could either be a good or bad thing." 

"Or both," Jack muttered. "It was a long time coming though." 

"Jack. Dani. We gotta tell Em... oh hey Emily," Jonah stuttered. 

"Tell me what?" Emily asked. 

The boys had been talking about telling Emily the truth of what their original plan was. They had wanted to keep things honest so they could at least have trust among the group. There had never been a good time to bring it up. Emily frowned as Daniel motioned for her to sit down. "Emily, being your friend hadn't been our original plan." 

"I figured, from your first response to me being with Zach," Emily replied. 

"Zach loves you. He's never loved anyone as much as he loves you. When I tell you this, I want you to understand that he'd now do anything for you. He's actually killed for you," Jonah said.

Emily frowned. "Okay..." 

Daniel took a deep breath. This was going to be a lot for Emily to process. "When you had my brothers killed I was angry and wanted revenge which is how the entire mission started. That and the money we were owed. We wanted double of that after the deaths of Christian and Tyler. The plan was originally to kill your dad. Zach knew you'd probably be there to witness his death or you'd figure out who killed him and would report us to the police. He changed up the whole plan and said we should kill both of you. We had to keep track of you constantly. That was Eben's idea. He knew we couldn't have anyone one step ahead. He suspected you were involved in the mafia." 

Emily frowned. "You spied on me to find a time to kill me? I don't believe that." 

"You went to the ice cream shop with your friends and we were the boys at the next table. You got home and you had this huge fight with your dad and stormed out of the house to go to the party which is where we met you. Well at least Jack, Zach, and I. The place where Jack killed Mickie is the place we hid to watch you get out of school," Daniel explained. 

"Why did you change your mind?" Emily asked. 

"With?" Jonah asked. 

"Why am I still alive? I figure if it was your plan I would be dead by now," Emily replied. 

Jack sighed. "When we realized how angry you were with your father we learned we were on the same page. That and we knew we could use you against him." 

"Then as we got to know you, and Zach began to fall in love, we knew we had the wrong idea. We kept you around," Jonah explained. 

Emily sighed as she stood up. "I can't really get angry about this." 

Daniel raised an eyebrow. He'd expected Emily to flip out. "Emmy?" 

Emily took a deep breath as she turned to the boys. "If I'd followed Terrence's plan during the party that night, you would've been dead by now Daniel."