The Before and After Project (An Emblem3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 33

Gabby’s POV:

“Wes…WES!!” I screamed into my phone, stuff my throat…it can go rot in hell for all I care. I knew they weren’t on the other end, but some part of me was begging that I had just imagined the click of them hanging up. That gunshot was unmistakable though, no matter what circumstance I was in I knew that I couldn’t have been dreaming that it was there.

My mind was whirring, unable to put my thoughts into any particular order, it was all just jumbled together. I peered over at Keaton to see that he was in as much shock as I was. He was frozen staring at the phone as if it was some kind of monster.

“Keaton?” I croaked, grabbing his hand in mine. If anything I had to be the stronger one in this situation. If I broke down in front of him it would only make it worse for the both of us. His head tilted up so that he could look me in the eyes. His eyes were coated with fear.

“I have to go” he whispered.

“NO! There is no way I am letting you put your life at risk as well!”

“What am I supposed to do then?! Sit around here and wait to hear if he’s okay or not?! He’s my brother Gabby! I can’t lose him…” he sobbed, tears spilling down his cheeks. He crashed down onto his knees, burying his head on the side of the bed. My heart broke at the sight of him crying. Keaton Stromberg was one of the nicest people I had ever met, there was no way he deserved to be in this situation right now. Heck, I wouldn’t even wish this on my worst enemy.

I wrapped my arms around him, using all my strength to pull him up onto the bed with me, but Keaton seemed to know that I was too weak and clambered on by himself, crawling up into my arms.

I didn’t care about my own emotions anymore. I pushed them to the side, solely focusing on being strong for Keaton.

Wes’ POV:

“Get your bodyguard the fuck off of me!” I snarled as Blake restrained me from reaching my phone by holding me in a head lock. I grabbed onto his arm, desperately trying to loosen his hold, this only caused him to grip on even tighter. Damn, I so underestimated this guy when it came to strength. I grunted, still trying to shake him off of me but failing miserably.

“WES!” Gabby’s scream filled my ears. It was like as soon as I heard her voice I was frozen, everything had stopped except the echoing of her voice through my ears. My entire body had been craving the sound of her voice since the stabbing and now it had finally been reimbursed. I wanted to gather her straight into my arms and kiss every square inch of her face in happiness that she was alive and talking.

“Gabby?” I gasped, fearing that I hadn’t heard it correctly and that it was only Keaton sounding like a girl. I brushed that thought out of my mind as Kaylee started saying something to her, my mind was elsewhere though. My girl was alive, she was alive and she wanted me. My heart was literally soaring so high, I knew somehow that it just had to come crashing down at some point.

I reached for the phone subconsciously, for a moment forgetting that Blake still had his arm tightly secured around my neck. I choked as his steel arm cut into my neck. I looked over at Drew and Kaylee to find Drew yelling something into the phone, Kaylee desperately trying to grab it off of him. I struggled again, desperate to help my friend out and allow him to say whatever it was he wanted to say but I didn’t get the chance.

A gunshot echoed around the room, freezing the blood inside of my veins. Everyone froze, all of us preparing ourselves for some kind of impact, but no-one fell to the floor in a pile of lifeless limbs like I had been expecting.

 Instead, a nearby vase was obliterated right before my eyes. Both Blake and I ducked simultaneously as the shards flew in our direction. Fear racked through my body. The only thought running through my mind was whether or not this would be the day that I died.