Bulletproof || l.h. (Criminal!5sos)

XX

"There's something I need to ask you, Chloe."

I let go of his embrace, knowing that something good wouldn't be coming out of his mouth.

"What is it?" I ask, naturally worried as I felt his arms starting to shiver and his words coming out very hesitantly.

"Are you still afraid?"

In fact, I was. Very. But not right now. Not while he held me. As long as I could hear his heart beat against mine, nothing else mattered to me. All the threats, the danger, the drugs, the guns, the blood, everything was gone. He made me feel both powerful and safe. Like together we were only solid piece that nothing or anyone could break to pieces.

"Yes, I am. But it all gets a lot better when you're around." I pause before going on with my sentence but Luke interrupts me.

"Don't you wish you could put an end to it?" He pauses and I look at him, unsure of what he was trying to ask. "You can put an end to this. I dragged you into this lifestyle-"

"Wait, Luke." I sit up straight on the bed.  "What do you mean end it? End what?"

"This horror story." He grabs both of my hands before continuing to talk. "You can have your old life back. Have the life you were searching for when you moved here. A fresh start. Go back home, have a normal routine. See your family, your friends, whoever you like or care about..."

I completely froze. I didn't know what to answer.

"I-I don't know how- you said it is too dangerous-"

Before I could manage to build a full sentence without stumbling on my own words, Luke reaches for his side table, opening the drawer and taking a plain white envelope.

"Here, this is how." He hands me the envelope.

"What is this?" I ask, staring at the envelope and then back into his eyes.

"Open it. It's yours."

I take a deep breath before slightly open up a little edge of it, but I stopped before I could look at what was inside the envelope.

"I don't want to." I pause and put the envelope away. "What is this all about Luke? Why are we talking about this?"

"Chloe Williams" he takes the envelope and hands it back to me. "It's just an envelope. Please open it. Seriously."

I stand still, not saying a word. I don't get why he wants to bring back my past now that I finally feel like I fit somewhere. Now that I wasnt afraid and that I was getting used to this lifestyle he's asking me to go back to my old life. Now? After everything he put me through?

"God damn it just open the fucking envelope Chloe!"

"Fine! Jesus Christ" I shout back at him, rolling my eyes as I take a sigh. I open the envelope gently with my fingers and take out its content, revealing a paper which seemed to be a plane ticket.

"This life that we live isn't the most safe and ethically correct. You know it. Me, Michael, Ashton, Calum and Rena are a strong team, but not unbreakable. You were dragged into it. I can't keep you in here. Not anymore." Luke explains.

"For how long have you had this, Luke?"

"I bought it 4 days after I locked you in."

"You had all of this planned out?" His words hit my heart like a bus. I feel like I've been used for all this time so I could be thrown out when he felt tired of me. "You put me through hell, made me get in bed with you and now that I said that I wasn't ready youre advising me to leave?!"

"No of course not! It's not what you think..."

"Explain, then." I say in a harsh tone.

"I waited until now to give that ticket to you. I don't want you to feel trapped or obliged to stay with us. With me. I want you to consider the opportunity to leave if you want. I want to give you an option. If you choose to go I can, I don't know, help you find a place to stay, give you some money until you find a job or something." He sighs. "At first I kept you locked in because you were vulnerable, weak, scared. You didn't know what was going on-"

"At first I thought you wanted to kill me."

"And I want to apologize for that."

Apologize? According to Rena, Luke would never ask for forgiveness. Ever.

"You were scared but now you're stronger than ever." He completes. "I saw the way you held that gun. You're good at it." His eyes faced down. "They, I mean, Tobias' team wants to use you as a bait. They want to use you to get to me. To get revenge."

"I know. I'm s-"

"But now they can't anymore. You're strong, you're fierce, you know how to defend and take care of yourself."

"So you want me to consider leaving?"

"I want you to know that you have that option, I guess."

My eyes glue on the plane ticket for around 15 seconds before Luke decides to break the silence.

"I'll respect whatever you choose."

My eyes glue back on the ticket held by both of my hands.

It didn't take me too long to realise what I truly wanted.

I came to this city to start fresh.

Meet new people.

Connect with people.

Do what feels right to my heart for once.

That's what I was doing.

I'm on this journey with these people. We're connected and we will fight in order keep it that way.

"I'm staying." I look back into Luke's eyes. "I'm not going anywhere unless it's with you guys."

"I was hoping you'd say that" Luke smiles at me and hugs me.

"You saved my life. We are a team now. No matter what, we are finishing what we started."

"That's my girl."

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A/N: I know this one is a bit short but it's gonna change everything in the future so dont forget it!!!!

Also tonight is my SENIOR PROM SO PLS KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR ME ILY

boo x