Tangled Love

Jake's POV -

A silent tear runs down my face as I take in her words.

"You'll die if you stay."

I know she's right but hearing someone I love say the words makes it a reality. I've missed her all day, an aching empty feeling settling permanently in my stomach. I miss her soft skin, her gentle voice, her lips on mine, having her presence around me.

My whole thoughts are consumed with Emily. Every minute I spend thinking about her, thinking about what I've lost. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me, my one true happiness.

Hearing her voice over the phone immediately makes me emotional, the tightening feeling in my chest increasing. I groan loudly as I shuffle in bed, my body flaring up with pain. I reach over and grab the tablets I've been prescribed and chuck a few to the back of my throat, drowning them with water.

Amil hasn't reached out to me for almost two days. This is the longest I've gone without hearing anything from the gang and it's worrying. An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach as I have a hunch he isn't finished with me just yet.

My jaw clenches tightly and I feel the anger inside me increase as I remember how he'd laid into me, punch after punch. If he'd only just release my arms, I would have shown him exactly what a decent punch feels like.

life without constantly looking over my shoulder and having my loved ones fear for their life. I shouldn't have developed any feelings for anyone, never mind fall so

she walked away and left me, I imagined a future with her. I could picture little Emily's running around the house, forcing me to play dolls with them and braid their hair. I could picture marrying her, standing at the alter as I wait for her to walk down the aisle. I

clench my jaw, blinking back the tears. She's

terrified of the lifestyle I live. She'd constantly worry about me when I would leave early hours in the morning and come home the next day with cuts and bruises. She'd tend to them silently, her eyes full of sadness as she cleaned the dried blood over my knuckles or face.

I didn't realise how much it genuinely effected her until Tobias told me she left. Did I even take a minute to think about how it was effecting her? Lying in bed for

her grandfather who I had never met before. I wanted to drive up there and see if she was being treated properly but then

She isn't mine to touch.

mine to cuddle

mine to wrap my arms around and breathe her scent in deeply.

Tobias asks me, popping his head round the door. I immediately turn my face away from him, masking over the pain with an emotionless

I'll live," I respond, sitting up straighter in my bed. My tone wobbles a little and I clear my throat, pushing any emotion away. I clench my teeth tightly from the amount of effort it takes me and Tobias runs forward quickly to help. I hold my hand up,

do it

through his. I sigh in defeat knowing he's right, these past few days he

over my bed. He walks over and takes a seat on the bottom before speaking

me to look back up at