Amber

I pulled the t-shirt up and ran my fingers along the two lines. Two simple lines that connect at the top. The stitches now gone, the healing skin was red.

“Amber, you coming out?”

I turned to look in the direction of the doorway. Blake had his arms crossed, his eyes glued to my stomach as I inspected it in front of the mirror. I dropped the t-shirt back down.

“Um yeah,” I said as I moved across the room, picking up my phone. “We’re going now, then?”

Blake nodded his head, letting his arms drop to his side. “Are you sure you want to?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” I smiled at him. “Come on.”

Blake put his hand out for me to take, and I took it without thinking twice about it. Old habits die hard. My phone lit up in my hand and I wasn’t surprised when I glanced at the caller I.D.

I hadn’t seen my brothers in over three weeks. Three weeks I had avoided their calls, and their eyes. I had even avoided school, but school couldn’t challenge a Doctor’s certificate, even if it was fake; they didn’t know that bit though.

Jax’s number flashed as the phone vibrated again. 

“They’re harassing you tonight,” Blake said, as he closed the front door and watched me block the call once again. “Maybe something’s up?”

“I couldn’t do anything, even if something was,” I pointed out, walking to his car as the phone continued to flash.  “We’re going anyway, right?”

I slid into the car. Blake had so been secretive about where we were going but I was just thankful to get out of the house.

Blake started the car up and I closed my door, keeping an eyebrow raised as he pulled out of the driveway.

“Not going to answer?” I pressed, while pulling my seatbelt on.

“Amber, the last three weeks… You… being back in the house… us being, well, you know…”

“Us being what?”

“We’ve been sleeping in the same bed.” He shot me a sideways glance, “It just feels like we are back in a relationship.”

“Yeah, I suppose it has been a bit like that. Apart from you not drinking.”  I looked out the window. I still couldn’t believe Blake hadn’t touched a drink for the last three weeks. He said he couldn’t protect me if he was wasted. Blake was a good fighter, even when wasted, so I knew he wasn’t drinking because he didn’t want anything to happen between us.

“Amber? Are we back in a relationship?”

I looked at him gingerly; he looked slightly uneasy.

Blake was never uneasy.

“No. I don’t know.” I frowned. “I don’t know, Blake. The reasons we decided to break up still exist.”

“I’ve shown you! I won’t hurt you.” He shot me a sideways glance again, keeping an eye on the road. “I won’t ever touch you again.”

“Blake, we didn’t just break up for that reason.” I sighed, and ran both hands through my hair. “We both knew what we had was over. Is over. We can’t be that couple anymore.”

“I don’t want to be that couple.” Blake slowed down at a traffic light. “I want us to be this. Easy, second nature. Being with you, Amber, is like breathing.”

“Last I remember. I was the one suffocating you.”

“Amber, I…”

Our bodies were catapulted forward as someone slammed into us from behind. My head snapped forward, and whacked the dashboard with force.

Blake let out a string of curse words as he unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. I saw his hand reach under his t-shirt. My head was spinning as I rested it back on the headrest. What was with cars lately?

Groaning, I undid my seat belt, and cracked the door open. I heard Blake yelling, but I felt my stomach twist. Leaning against the side of the car, steadying my breathing, I closed the door.

“Amber, you alright?” Blake lifted my head; his eyes ran over my face with worry. “Shit!” He let out a breath as he ripped his t-shirt off and pressed it to the top of my head. I winched as the fabric came into contact with my head.

“It looks like a surface wound,” Blake muttered, and then shot a dirty look over his shoulder. “Bloody P platers.”

I glanced at the young kids, who had clearly run into us.

“For some reason, I thought it was someone trying to kill us,” I muttered under my breath. Blake’s lips twitched up slightly and nodding his head. “And they are the same age as me.”

I was beginning to second guess my involvement with criminals. Was it normal to always assume the worst?

“How bad’s the car?” I asked, as Blake pulled the t-shirt from my head; I’d only bled a little bit.

“Not too bad. I don’t think the kid has a license though,” Blake said, shooting me a small smile. We both glanced at them; they looked like they were freaking out.

“Probably lost it for bad driving,” I replied to Blake. He nodded his head.

“Let’s get out of here before the cops come,” Blake said coolly, and reached behind me to open my door.

I got in, and Blake walked around the back of the car, ripping the half hanging bumper off and tossing it in the direction of the sidewalk. I closed my door as Blake got in.

Blake looked both ways, before he took off into the intersection, ignoring the red light. I was sure the teenagers would be back there puzzled, not sure what was going on.

Blake didn’t do insurance and he didn’t do cops, so, of course, we wouldn’t be hanging around to exchange details.

“Amber?”

“Yeah Blake?”

“I love you.”

I snapped my head to him; his eyes were glued to the road. Had I heard him correctly? His words rang pretty clear, and through my mind once more.

I opened my mouth and then shut it again. What could I say to that? Blake was my first love, first crush, and well my first serious boyfriend. He would protect me with his life, if needed, but he was also a hard-core gangster; a criminal.

And often, I needed protection from him.

So why did I immediately lean over and kiss the side of his cheek?

Because I am an idiot.