Diamond Rings & You

Chapter 17

JACKSON'S POV:

I drove into Elena's neighbourhood and looked at all the houses. There. Mattia Polibio's house. I parked away from the house so he wouldn't see me as he started walking towards his car. I took my gun out of the glove compartment and lowered myself, waiting for the right moment. I opened my window and watched him speaking on the phone to someone. He was a wreck, but at least with him dead there would be nothing standing between Elena and I.

ELENA'S POV:

I got out of bed and changed into some sweats. It was beginning to get dark out, and I hadn't eaten all day. I looked at my phone and there was a message from Mattia. Reluctantly, I opened it.

Mattia: I think we should talk things out properly, I owe you that at least. I'll be at your house for 9

I smiled weakly at the text and shook my head. I didn't want him to come over, but I'd still rather be with Mattia than Jackson. I looked at the time and it was coming up to 8:45. I decided to stay in my sweats since I wasn't trying to give him the wrong impression. I looked in my mirror and saw dark circles surrounding my eyes. I started applying concealer in the hope that I'd look like I got 8 hours of sleep, but ended up applying mascara and lipgloss too.

At exactly 9pm I heard a knock on the door. A slight feeling of butterflies went off in my stomach but I soon forgot about it as I rushed downstairs to answer the door. I took a deep breath before opening it, but there wasn't anything to be excited about when I saw Jackson's face with a smug smile across it.

"What the fuck Jackson" I sighed, leaning on the door frame. He smiled and opened his arms for a hug, but I backed away immediately.

"No"

"I thought I told you to be ready" he whined, causing me to roll my eyes. I noticed the car behind him and furrowed my brow. A green Ferrari was parked in my drive.

"Since when can you afford cars like that?" I asked, looking at him. He shrugged his shoulders and took my hand.

"Just let me take you out" he said softly. He looked at me with a smile that took me back to the days when we were dating. I guess I needed a distraction from everything, but I wasn't looking to get with Jackson anytime soon. That chapter was closed.

"Fine" I mumbled, getting a jacket and my sneakers on. I followed him outside and he held open the passenger side door for me. He had a weird ass smile on his face, but I tried not to think too much into it.

We started driving to wherever he was taking me when my phone started ringing. Vic's name flashed up and I answered.

"Hey Vic"

But I immediately held the phone away from my ear when sirens blared through it. It was unbelievably loud and I saw Jackson's hand hold onto the steering wheel tighter. Weird, weird boy.

"Elena? Oh my God I don't know what to do" she sobbed loudly, and panic rushed through me.

"Vic? Vic what's happened?"

"It's Mattia" she cried. I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard his name. And not in the good way. I signalled for Jackson to pull over, and luckily he did.

"What the fuck happened to Mattia" I said impatiently.

"H-he got shot, and now they're arresting Alejandro"

My eyes widened at her words. I didn't know what to say or do, all I could think of was how if I were in Mattia's position, he'd be there for me in a heartbeat. And I had to do the same.

"I'm coming Vic" and with that I hung up, and told Jackson everything.

"What? No they'll be fine, we have a date to get to." He started the engine and I glared at him.

"Mattia needs me, get me the fuck home" I said loudly. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, concerning me slightly. The ride back was uncomfortably silent, but thankfully short since we hadn't gotten too far from my house. Once we pulled up to Mattia's house all I could see were police cars and ambulances, their blue and red lights blinding me. I got out of the car and saw Mattia lying on a stretcher. His eyes closed. Vic ran over to me and collapsed into my arms, sobbing violently into my shoulder. I held her tightly but it still didn't stop her delicate body from shaking.

"Vic where's Alejandro?" I asked her, wiping away her tears as best I could. She took deep breaths as she tried to form a sentence.

"H-he's at the police station"

She looked at Jackson, and then at the car, then at me. She narrowed her eyes and took a step back.

"You were on a date?" she mumbled, her eyes filling up with tears again.

"N-no Vic it's not what it looks like" I tried to calm her down but the tears were already falling down her cheeks.

"You got over him that quickly?"

"I'm not over-"

"I should go" she said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She started walking over to her car before I could say another word. I assumed she was going down to the police station.

I saw another police car pull up and the officer ran over to see Mattia. He spoke into his radio, and I heard something which I knew was coming.

Homicide.

I slowly walked over to them, careful to keep my distance. I felt my eyes burning up as I got a closer look. The gunshot had impacted his right shoulder, and his shirt was soaked with blood. I covered my mouth with my hand and turned away as I wept quietly. The tears streamed down my face as I took deep breaths to try and steady myself.

"Ma'am do you know the victim?" I heard someone behind me asking. I quickly got rid of any tears and turned around to see a paramedic. I nodded slowly and tried not to look at him.

"I'm his fia..."

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for my answer.

"Friend. I'm his friend."

So that's what we are now. Friends. Just saying the word broke my heart even more. Back to square one.

Back to strangers.