Fell In A Concrete Jungle (Nicholas Ruffilo/ Bad Omens)

5: Takeout

Author's Note: Hi friends! Longer chapter today. I wanted to get this out there. There is a character in this chapter that @Fevmotionless created for the story and I couldn't have asked anyone to come up with anyone better. I am truly honored to be able to write and bring this character to life.


~Gemma's POV:~


Over the next two weeks my father had become absent in my life, it was weird to think that someone nearly poisoning me would mean he finally stepped back, part of me felt like he was hiding more than that though, there was less calls, shorter calls when he did call and when I would try and greet him or speak to him, I was met with a closed door in my face or ushering to get me out. If I didn't know better, I would say he was avoiding me as much as he could.
The feeling was somewhat mutual though, I would work on smaller art pieces in my apartment while Nicholas stood watch. After talking to Noah, Nicholas seemed more reluctant around me, but he never argued like he did before, or if he tried he would stop before he even finished.
Hearing my phone ring, I looked at the time to see it was getting pretty late—my stomach finally growling telling me to take a break. Picking up my phone I pressed the button before pressing it against my ear. "Hello?" I said standing from my desk, brushing down my leggings I wore as well as purple shirt.

"Gemma, hey!" Noah said from the other end of the phone. "Sorry to bother you, Nicholas isn't picking up his phone and I wanted to make sure he was with you. . . Are you two okay?" his voice sounded a bit worried which had me on alert.

Looking at the front door of my apartment, I made a move into the living room to get better visual of it. "No, he isn't in my apartment, I didn't even invite him in, I can check to see if he is out in the hall though where he usually is" usually he would be right out front my door looking around or he would bring crosswords with him, that much I did notice or even a small pad where I could swear he was doodling.

Noah seemed silent for a moment; it almost made me wonder if my signal was lost. "Please, and if he is there let him know I have been calling him, I have been trying for the past hour" past hour? That was odd that Noah hadn't heard anything in that long.
Gulping down my fear, Noah must have sensed it. "Gemma, don't hang-up. . . I will be on this end of the phone the whole time" his voice low.

"Yeah, sure—I'll check, what happens if he isn't there?" images of Jack's body and the body of the person that was shot clouded my memory.

"If he isn't there, then we will be sending out a unit. But we don't cross that bridge until we get there, I know you must be nervous, but I need you to look out the peephole of your door" Noah's voice was gently encouraging me.

Stepping up to my door, I glanced through the peephole not seeing anyone out there. "I- I can't see him?" I said nervously.

Noah cursed from the other end of the line. "Are you able to open your door, do you have a weapon of any sort?" he asked.

My kitchen was next to the open living room which is where my front door was. Grabbing a knife from my knife rack, I stepped back to the door taking in a deep breath. "I have a knife; I can open the door and check" unlocking my front door I slowly opened the door feeling my heart pounding beneath my ribs threatening to break through. Once my door was open enough, I stepped out nearly yelping when I saw Nicholas leaning right against my wall beside the door. His blue eyes met mine before clocking the knife in hand and straightening himself. "Noah, he's fine" I muttered into the other end of the phone.

"Why wouldn't I be fine? What are you talking about?" Nicholas asked confusedly as he looked at the phone in my hand which had his leader on the other end.

He seemed genuinely confused as to why I was on the phone with Noah and holding a knife. Gesturing him into my apartment, he followed as I placed Noah on speakerphone, so it made it easier. Nicholas closed the door behind himself as we stepped into my living area. "Noah, he is fine—confused, but fine and I have you on speakerphone now" I said putting my knife back in the kitchen where it belonged.

"I have been trying to text and call you Nicholas, where have you been?" Noah's voice became more sterner, more as a worried friend but still had the hint of authority as his boss.

"I was in the hall the whole time; I haven't gotten a single text message or phone call from you" Nicholas pulled out his phone to double check.

"Are you just saying that because I had to get Gemma to check on you?" Noah asked.

Nicholas furrowed his brows, showing his phone to me as I stepped up beside him. "Noah, he isn't kidding—his phone shows nothing, wait. . . You don't have service?" I looked at his phone that said there was no service on it.

"That's weird? I had service before, and if I didn't have service you shouldn't either?" he glanced at my phone that had full bars on it.

Noah sighed on the other end. "I want Jolly to check your phones, can you guys come to the compound for dinner? It's going to be a late night but something about this doesn't feel right" Noah said.

Looking at Nicholas, I nodded my head. "We will be right over" hanging up my phone I looked at Nicholas who seemed unimpressed of what was happening. "Maybe your provider is down?" I questioned grabbing myself a cardigan I wrapped around myself since the weather was becoming cooler.

"You and I have the same provider" he said grabbing hold of the door and opening it for me. "I don't know what is going on, but I suppose we will find out" he shrugged as we made our way towards the exit where his motorcycle waited.

"Where are you going at this hour?" yelping, I turned to see both my father and Leanna walking in from what looked like a dinner out.

"I-I am going to go out with Nicholas, we have something we need to do" my father's eyes scanned over Nicholas, I could have sworn distaste showed in his eyes. "Where were you?" I asked trying to do anything to make him stop looking at Nicholas like that.

"Dinner with a few clients." Leanna's voice pierced the silence as I nodded my head, not even caring what she had to say, since I had asked my father who seemed like he couldn't even talk to me.

"Well, nice seeing you both. . . We better go, Nicholas" I nudged him as we headed out the doors.

"Nicholas" my fathers voice said as we entered the threshold of my father's compound, the cooler air biting at my cheeks as the heat from inside battled the bitterness. "You better take care of her, the jungle isn't safest at night" his voice seemed different, lacking empathy.

Nodding Nicholas stepped in front of me a bit. "Yes, sir" he said before we turned and headed for his bike that waited.
Not wanting to ask him what that was about, he started the engine passing me a helmet before kicking off and we were on our way.

The drive was still weird for me, gripping onto Nicholas for dear life was something I never thought I would be doing, but here I was for a second time as the bike slowed to a stop when we arrived. My hands burned from the cold wind as I slowly released his leather jacket and slid off the bike, feeling like my body was still cruising on the two wheeled bike. "Was that so bad?" Nicholas asked taking the helmet from me.

Glaring at him as I tied my hair into a pony-tail, so I didn't need to run my fingers through it and getting caught. When my hair was down it fell just beneath my shoulder blades. It wasn't the longest, but I didn't exactly want the shortest hair. It was the same length my mothers was my whole life pretty much and part of me thinks that was why I always didn't want it to change. Getting inside their compound, I could hear the guys in their main sitting room talking about stuff. Rounding the corner with Nicholas, I saw them sitting there, Jolly laptop sitting in front of him. "The Grey wouldn't be a blackout spot" all eyes turned to us as they stopped talking.

"What are we talking about?" I asked taking a seat in the chair closest to Nick who sat there with his phone in hand, one earphone in assuming listening to music.

"Nothing that concerns you, princess" Nicholas said as if he knew exactly what they were speaking about, he took a seat across from Jolly as he slid his phone to the man who took it and began looking through the settings, even getting it plugged into his laptop.

Noah cut Nicholas a glare though, "Nicholas, your phone may have been hacked in a form of way, Gemma can we see your phone too just in case?" Noah's eyes slid to me as I nodded sliding my phone to Jolly who nodded his thanks and began working on my phone alongside Nicholas's.

"What do we want for dinner?" Nick asked piping in as he scrolled what seemed to be an ordering app.

"We had pizza like twice this week, what about burger and fries?" Jolly suggested as he glanced around the table earning a nod from the others, I was nervous though—my father never allowed take out food, he always hired a chef or we went out to his favorite restaurants to eat, all in which were five star. "Gemma, are you okay with that?" they all watched as I looked at each of them.

"Oh my god, have you never had takeout before?" Nick asked, seemingly shocked at the

"Ugh. . . No, it wasn't something I ever had" I admitted.

"We can change that, let's get her a burger and fries" Nick smiled as he began placing an order in his app. The guys all told him what they all wanted, "Noah—what would Helen like?" my eyes scanned the room at the mention of another females name I didn't know.

He sat back in his seat. "Her usual, she is in our room napping right now so she might not join us for dinner, prefer it that way, she has been so tired" was she his other half?

The guys spoke a little while we waited, and once the food arrived they all watched me closely as I sat with my food. All their eyes on me had me feeling nervous. "You guys are weird, I can't eat if you are watching me like that" they all looked at their food as they began eating.

Taking a bite of the burger, it was good—something I wasn't used to, and it felt nice trying something new. I had burgers before but again, all of my food was prepped by a five-star chef and it didn't even fill me up fully, nor did it really taste that great all the time. This was five dollars and actually tasted good as I continued eating away. "I think the princess likes it" Nick smirked earning a glare from Noah at the nickname used.

"You know, princess doesn't feel right you know" I said taking a bite of my fries they had gotten me.

"It's what we call you, think of it like a stage name" Nicholas said as he took a bite of his own food.

"Stage name? You mean like music, you guys perform?" I didn't know this about them, it never came up and as someone who appreciated art enough, I was surprised I hadn't heard of them before my father's initial meeting with them.

"We do perform, not much anymore—it's hard to in this business, and stage names aren't terrible—my stage name is pretty much my middle name, my last name is Davis" Noah said sipping his drink. "Although, if them calling you that Gemma is upsetting, I can put an end to it right here and now" his voice was stern as his friends glanced over at him.

Memory of getting Nicholas in trouble swarmed into my mind as I shook my head. "No, no it's fine" the media had called me worse before so I was sure I could tolerate their pestering nickname they had for me.

After we ate, it was late and the guys retired into Noah's office explaining they would be done in a bit but needed to speak among themselves, telling me to wait out here for them but if I needed anything explaining where the kitchen was.
Hearing rustling in the kitchen, I placed my book down Jolly had lent me as I headed towards it, the door to Noah's office remained closed as they were all in there.
Heading through the kitchen, I stopped in my tracks when I was met with a women standing there. Her eyes widened when she saw me as I held my hands up in a way to show her I wasn't any harm. "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you" I said feeling bad if I had spooked her.

Her brown eyes warmed a bit as she straightened herself. She smiled softly shrugging it off, she wore a nice black PJ set I couldn't help but admire as she stood just a bit taller then I was, she must have been five-foot-eight. "Sorry, I didn't realize they had a guest here tonight, or else I would have made sure I was dressed" her voice had a tinge of anxiety which I clocked.

"Yeah. . . They are doing something to mine and Nicholas's phones. I'm—"

"You're Gemma Saunders, I don't think there is anyone in this city that doesn't know of you" she extended her hand as I shook it in a form of greeting. "Strong shake, you were taught there" her voice was smooth, and I couldn't help but ask.

"You're Helen? Noah's other half?" this was such a shot in the dark to be asking, considering I never met the women.

Pushing her slightly curly black hair from her face, she flashed a ring which I smiled seeing. "His fiancée, hopefully soon to be wife if the world ever calms down" she chuckled.

She seemed a bit pale in the face as I noticed she had been sweating, was she still waking up? "Sorry to ask, are you okay?" I asked wringing my fingers feeling as this women could be easily spooked, in a way so could I.

Helen smiled as she nodded her head, "yeah—I had a nightmare, and I suppose I am still clouded by that" her voice wavered at the end, "Noah usually is there when I have them but I don't like making him worry all the time, especially when work needs his focus right now" she took a seat at the small round table they had in their kitchen.

Looking on the counter, I noted the hot-chocolate mix and began working on it. I prepped two mugs of hot-chocolate I prepped as she watched from the table. "Nightmares aren't fun, my mom used to make me hot chocolate when I had them, she told me that they brought good luck and helped carry away the negative feelings—when I would get scared and go to her in the night she would carry me to the kitchen and make us each one" placing the steaming mug in front of her I took a seat at the table across from her.

"Your mother seemed sweet, and thank you for this. . . It doesn't go unnoticed that's for sure" she smiled as she took a sip, admiring it before placing it in front of her. "I'm Helen Papadopoulos" she smiled leaning back in her seat.

"Well, I'm Gemma Saunders—or according to these guys, 'concrete princess'" I couldn't help but shake my head with a small smile. "How long have you known them?"

Helen thought for a moment, "about three years now, I met them shortly after moving here—I started dating Noah about a year and a half after the event—" she stopped herself, brushing her fingers along her neck as if remembering something, I could see the pain on her face before she masked up once more.

Sliding her mug closer to her, she smiled softly at me as she accepted it once more, reminding her that the warmth of the mug would help, or least that is what I thought. "Hot chocolate keeps the nightmares away, and if it comes back—then we make more" I said sipping my own.

Hearing padding of feet before Noah and Nicholas joined us in the kitchen, Noah smiled as soon as his eyes landed on the women he loved. "I wasn't going to wake you; dinner is in the fridge for you if you're hungry" he said striding over placing a kiss on Helen's temple.

"No, I am probably going to go back to bed shortly, Gemma was kind and made me some hot chocolate" Noah studied the mugs in front of us as I took a sip from my own sheepishly. Finishing off hers, Helen placed the empty mug in the sink before smiling once more at me. "Thank you, Gemma, it was nice meeting you—and if you ever have a chance, stop by my coffee shop" she seemed so nice.

"Sure, I would love to" I smiled as I waved her off.

Noah's eyes locked on me, as he sighed. "I didn't think she would meet you—nothing against you, she just doesn't like meeting people much."

"She seemed nervous, she told me an event happened, is she okay?" I remembered the worried look on her face.

"She is now, that's all that matters—let's just say, a lot of things happened in one day and if I wasn't there, worse things would have happened" his eyes darkened remembering it.

Looking at Nicholas, he cleared his throat. "We are getting you a new phone tomorrow—a secondary phone" Nicholas said as he handed me my own phone back.

Furrowing my brows, I wanted to ask but knew if I did I would be met with a wall once more. Looking up at him, I just nodded my head. "Was there something wrong with mine?" I chewed the inside of my cheek.

"Yes and no, we think it would be safer if you had a secondary phone, one were only we can get a hold of you" that only sparked more questions. "Come on, let's get you home so we can get stuff done in the morning" Nicholas urged me. Nodding my head, I wished a goodnight to Noah and followed Nicholas out to a car instead of his bike.
We didn't speak the drive back and as soon as we got to my father's compound I watched his phone signal disappear, he seemed a little nervous but played it off as if it were nothing, walking me to my door he watched as I entered the apartment and closing the door behind me.
Was someone jamming his signal?