Chapter 13

Alex's POV....

My eyes slowly flutters open as I hear the sound of crying from a familiar voice. I see Rachel crying on my right side while kneeling down beside the bed. She has her face covered with her arms placed on his bed as she cries.

"Rachel?" I say as I stare at her who is crying beside me.

Rachel turns her head and is surprised to see that I am awake. She wipes her tears with her thumb as she stares at with a shocked look.

"You're...you're ok?" Rachel ask with a surprised look. I knew she had been crying for a while since her hazel eyes looks really puffy. The thought of her crying for me actually made my heart broken. I never wanted to see Rachel crying, especially because of me.

"I'm ok," I say as I stare into her beautiful eyes that are filled with tears. The sight of it already kills me slowly. "Don't cry. I'm alright."

"You are hurt! Just look at you," Rachel says. She starts to study the bruises on my arm like the typical over-protective mother.

"These bruises just need time. I'm ok, Rachel. Don't worry," I say. I try to comfort her as I can. Though I find her to be extra cute when she's trying to study me, I didn't want to make her worry. "It's a good thing I was wearing my earpiece at the moment. Liam and Nate arrived just in time to help me."

"But still, they attacked you! You could have died at that time," Rachel says. "Please....don't go..." she continues to sob while hiding her face with her hands.

"I'm not going anywhere, Rachel. Especially seeing you like this, I don't want to go anywhere," I blurt out. I really didn't want to see her crying all night.

Rachel slowly turns her head to face me with her puffy eyes. We stare into other as I get lost in her sparkling eyes. Even after all the sadness she's been through, her eyes are still filled with sincerity and hope. Her gaze is so beautiful, that it always gets me lost in her eyes when we stare at each other. Looking at her presence, though it hurts me to see her crying, but deep down I'm thankful to have the chance to see her tonight. I feel so bad that I wasn't able to pick her up since I got into this trouble.

"I wish I could give you a hug right now," I say as I feel disappointed, realizing that it's impossible to hug her at this state. All I want to do now is hug her into a warm embrace tightly, with her face buried in my chest as I caress her soft hair.

"You haven't recover, Alex. If you can't do it, let me be the one to do it," Rachel says as she stands up and gets closer to me before bending down to give me a hug. Her warm arms makes my heart beat faster. Feeling her touch just makes me want to put my arms around her more. She release the hug for a moment before planting a kiss on my forehead.

This girl, she's too sweet. I'm happy that I have the chance to be a part of her life, and I'm thankul for the care we share to each other despite our bittersweet past. After a while, I've come to realize that she was able to bring back my heart to life with love.

"Rachel," I say as she pulls away softly. "Thank you."

She looks at me with a confuse look. I'm guessing she's a bit surprise to hear that from me.

"Why?" she ask with a curious tone.

I take a deep breath. I guess it is time to let my heart talk. This time, I'm gonna let my heart speak for itself.

"Thank you for bringing back my heart to life. After a while of feeling numb, it's good to remember that my heart still has hopes for life and love," I say. "I don't want to be with anybody else."

"I care for you," Rachel says as she stare at me with hopeful eyes.

My lips slowly forms a small smile as her beautiful voice tinkles through my ears. At this state, though I'm not in my best condition, I am grateful enough to know that I've met someone like her in my life who always brings colors out of the dark.

"Rachel Spencer," I say with a smile on my face as we stare at each other. "I care for you too. After all of this is finish, let's continue to walk together."

Hearing those words, Rachel forms a small smile. She nods at me with her eyes sparkling with joy as we stare at each other. Seeing how happy she is already makes me feel a lot better. Before I knew it, she comes closer and embraces me in a warm hug. Despite the pain, I slowly start to move my arms to hug her back.

Meanwhile, outside the room....

Jack's POV...

I stood in front of the room with the door opened. I saw Rachel embracing Alex with his arms struggling to hug her back, yet she told him not to since she didn't want to make his arms hurt.

"Put your arms down!" Rachel says as she continues to embrace him.

"Ah, but I want to hug you," Alex says in a whiny voice.

I watch as the two of them continue to embrace while teasing and laughting at each other. Looking at them, I feel a sting in my heart making me feel uncomfortable. As much as I look up to Alex like a big brother, I couldn't help but feel irritated at the sight of seeing him looking too close with Rachel. The sight of her smile melts my heart, but when I see her smiling with Alex, my insecurities starts to kick in. In other words, I'm afraid to lose her to my own best friend.

Rachel Spencer...I'll get back our old story with a new beginning. I thought.

9:30 PM....

At Sebastian and Alfredo's apartment...

"Let me guess...mission failed?" Sebastian ask as he pours a glass of whisky on the table while waiting for the three guys standing behind him to give him a proper answer.

"I wouldn't quite say that, Boss," says one of the guy with black attributes. "We did beat him up."

"That wasn't my full request," Sebastian says with a cold tone. He had a feeling the guys messed up for some silly reasons in which he hated to hear.

"We beat him up as you requested, but then some damn guys starts running to our directions. They started to attack us," says the man in the gas station uniform.

Sebastian akes a sip of whisky before turning to face the three guys who had ruined his expectations. "My mother wants to see you tomorrow morning. You better get yourself to Vegas tonight before she cuts your fingers."

"Yes, Mr Sanchez," says the guy in the gas station uniform. "We shall go. Goodnight," The guy adds. With that final word, the three of them walks out to leaves the apartment.

Damn. Sebastian thought.

"Well, look in the bright side! Now that Alex needs time to recover, we have a lot more chance to get inside Rachel's life," Alfredo says as walks to the living room with his hair wet after taking a shower.

"You got a point there," Sebastian says. "We don't have much time left."

"That's exactly the point! Momma's furious. And with Alexander having to take time to recover is a great way for us to get Rachel to trust us," Alfredo says as he on the chair near the dining table. "He won't be able to go to college for a while. Which is good news for us."

"Yeah," Sebastian says, before he takes another sip of his whisky.

The next day...

7:45 PM...

At Retro Red Bar...

Rachel continues to mix some drinks in the back, when she hears a familiar male voice calling her name. She turns her head and smiles at the man standing across the bar counter, which is none other than Jack.

"Hi!" Jack says as he watch Rachel approach him.

"Here for a drink before my shift ends?" Rachel folds her arms with a smirk on her face as she stares at Jack. It's pretty obvious that she is trying to tease her childhood friend.

"No. I was gonna pick you up and maybe we could go out for dinner together," Jack says with an awkward smile. He honestly love how he is starting to have good communication with Rachel again.

"Ah, I can't. I already promised Sebastian that I'll go out with him tonight," Rachel says with an apologetic tone.

"Sebastian?" Jack ask as he starts to think twice whether he misheard her. "I thought he was a possible suspect to be associated with the stalkers."

"We don't know yet, Jack. For now, I think it's best if we don't jump to conclusions too fast," Rachel says.

Jack is disappointed to hear what Rachel said, but at this point he has no other choice but to accept it. Though the boys had told him to look after Rachel while Alex recovers, he didn't want to push things too fast knowing that they just reconcile after a misunderstanding. In other words, he didn't want to disappoint her again.

"Ok then," Jack says. "Just be careful..."

Rachel nods. "I will."

Jack watches Rachel as she heads back to make more drinks. He starts to feel worry about her just by staring at her from behind. The thought of how many people are after her scares him.

Why would someone go after such a kind girl? This world is too cruel. Jack thought.

"How's Alex?" Rachel ask.

"He's getting better," Jack says.

It didn't took long for Rachel's shift to come to an end. Rachel and Jack walks out of the bar with Sebastian already waiting in his car.

"I'll be going now," Rachel says as she smiles at the blonde boy.

Jack stares at Rachel for a moment. How he had missed seeing her smile. Tonight he was grateful that he had the chance to see her smile again after a while.

Jack smiles back at her. "Take care, Rachel."

Rachel nods. "I will. Goodbye, Jack," says Rachel before she walks away from Jack to enter Sebastian's car. The car soon drives away from the bar, leaving Jack standing alone in front of the retro-style bar.

Rachel Spencer....please stay safe. Jack thought.

A few minutes later...

Sebastian and Rachel arrives at an Italian restaurant not far from Sebastian's apartment. The two exits the car and walks inside together.

At Italio Summary...

Sebastian and Rachel walks inside to find an empty table at the corner. The two decides to take a seat there. The waiter soon approaches them to take their orders.

"What can I get for you?" ask the waiter.

"I'll have my usuals," Sebastian says.

"Ah, same like yesterday?"

"Yes," Sebastian says.

"Ok, and what about you?" ask the waiter to Rachel.

"I'll just have a lasagen and a glass of orange juice," says Rachel as she keeps her vision on the menu.

"Ok. Anything else?" ask the waiter.

Sebastian turns his head to Rachel as he gives another one of his warm smiles. "You're not trying the pizza?"

"No. I'm in the mood for lasagne actually," says Rachel.

"Come on, the pizza here is pretty famous. You should give it a try," says Sebastian. "I'll have one pepperoni pizza for the lady."

Well, Rachel couldn't debate with that. The waiter eventually walks back to the kitchen to prepare their orders.

Sebastian turns his head to face Rachel. "You know, since I got here, so far this is the best restaurant I've tried that serves Italian cuisines."

"I see," Rachel says.

"And do you know what's their most popular dish?" ask Sebastian.

"What?" ask Rachel with a curious tone.

"Lasagne," says Sebastian with a smile. "As I remember from the last time we had dinner together, you told me that was your favorite Italian dish, right?" he stares into Rachel's hazel eyes.

Rachel just smiles as she sees Sebastian staring at her with a confident and deep look in his eyes. She is a bit surprised to know that the cheeky boy remembered her favorite Italian dish during their conversation the last time they went out together.

Rachel turns her head to the side slowly with a shy smile. "You remembered correctly. And as for you, I remember you said you still couldn't choose between a medium-well steak and eggs and bacon. Am I right?"

"You got that right," Sebastian says with a small chuckle as he starts to get mesmerize by Rachel who is smiling shyly. Little did he know that he was starting to get lost in her smile as he studies her face. He notice how every time he sees Rachel, he just finds the girl to look more attractive than before.

Is it just me, or is she getting prettier than before every time I see her? Wait...what the hell are you thinking? Sebastian Sanchez, you shouldn't get distracted by this woman's beauty. I should be getting her to my mama, and not get distracted by her cute smile. Damn it! Sebastian thought, before he snaps back to his sense.

After finishing their dinner, Rachel and Sebastian walks out of the restaurant. The two enters Sebastian's car, before deciding where to go next since Sebastian had planned to make it a long night for both of them.

"You want to hangout at my apartment? We can chill over a glass of whisky throught the night," Sebastian says with a bit of a flirty yet playful tone.

Rach didn't feel like drinking tonight, since she hasn't been able to get her mind off Alex. She's been constantly worried about him. She thought about visiting him tomorrow morning since tomorrow is Sunday, and by that she didn't want to get drunk tonight. Rachel forms a small smile at Sebastian.

"I'll be visiting Alex at the hospital tomorrow morning, so I can't stay up too late," Rachel says. She had told Sebastian what happened to Alex during dinner, since she really couldn't keep her mind off him. "Sorry, Sebastian..."

"Hey, don't sweat it. I understand," Sebastian tries to sound chill, though he feels as if she hasn't grown any deeper interest towards him. Despite the fact that he tried to get closer to her, he noticed how she had been spacing out a lot since the incident that happened with Alex, even though she tries to hide it. "I can drive you to the hospital tomorrow morning."

Rachel turns her head to face Sebastian. "Thanks. But I can ride my bike."

"Ah it's ok. I also want to visit Alex," Sebastian says. "That is, if he doesn't mind," Sebastian adds before turning his gaze at Rachel for a second.

"Of course he won't mind," says Rachel.

"Good. Then I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," says Sebastian before he starts the engene and drives his car, taking Rachel back home.

Your eyes tells the story of who he is in your heart without you having to say a single word. I'm gonna have to crawl deeper into your heart if I wanna have a place in it. I won't give up. Sebastian thought.

The next day....

8:30 AM...

Sebastian had picked up Rachel and the two are now heading to the hospital to visit Alex. Sebastian decides to play some songs on the radio to light up the mood.

"So how is Alex?" Sebastian ask while he keeps his vision on the road.

"The last time I visited him, he was ok I guess. Hopefully he'll recover soon," Rachel says as she turns her her eyes to glance down at the thought of Alex. She's been worried about him too much, and just the thought of him already makes her sad knowing that he hasn't recover yet.

Sebastian glance at the girl for a second before turning his vision back to the road. He knew from the way she looks when she's talking about him that she definetly has deeper feelings for Alex which are more than friendship. Not to mention, the two are always together in college, there are even rumours that the two are a couple. The thought of Rachel having feelings for Ten somehow upsets Sebastian. Yet, he is surprised that not only was he upset because it makes it harder for him to get her, but because he also doesn't like the idea of Rachel liking Alex.

Why does she have to like that guy? Wait..why do I even care about that? I'm only approaching her for the mission. Sebastian thought.

It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the hospital. After parking the car, Sebastian and Rachel walks out of the car and enters the hospital.

At the hospital...

The two reach Alex's room. Rachel opens the door and sees Alex lying on the bed while talking with Jack who is standing beside him. She walks inside the room with Sebastian following from behind.

"Hello!" Rachel stares at both Alex and Jack as she enters the room.

Alex and Jack turns their head to see her and smile, yet their smiles soon fades as they notice Sebastian standing behind her. Sebastian forms a smile at both Alex and Jack.

"How are you, Alex?" Rachel ask as she approaches Alex.

"A lot better," Alex says as he glance at Rachel with a smile, before glancing back to Sebastian. "You came here together?"

"Yeah," Sebastian says as he smiles at Alex. Meanwhile, Jack just watches the two men staring at each other in with deadly glance in awkward silence.

I sense trouble. Jack thought.

A few days later....

Rachel's POV...

After a few days, Alex finally came out of the hospital and is going to college again with me. I couldn't be happier now that he's by my side again. We grew even closer than before since I decided to stay with him and the boys. I want to spend every moment with him.

At Weston University....

I grab my notebook from my locker and close it. I turn back and see Alex who is waiting for me with a smile.

"Ready for class?" Alex ask with his sweet smile which never fail to melt my heart.

"Sure," I say as the two of us walk to class hand in hand. As we walk through the hallway, we could see people staring at us and whispering to each other, like usual.

"Looks like you're getting more popular," Alex says as he gives me a sassy wink.

"WE are getting more popular, Alex," I let out my statement, in which he giggles.

As we almost reach our class, I hear a familiar male voice calling my name from behind. Alex and I turn back to see who it was, only to see Sebastian running towards me.

"Rachel!"

"Hey, Sebastain!" I say as I smile at the tall guy with shinning tan skin.

"Hi! I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?" Sebastian ask as he stares at me with hopeful eyes.

I glance at Alex who has a straight expression on his face as Sebastian keeps staring at me.

"I'll be back in a second," I say to Alex, before walking away with Sebastian to a corner which is not too crowded.

"So, what's up?" I ask Sebastian as the two of us stands close to each other face to face.

"Well, I wanted to ask how you were doing? I haven't heard about you these past few days," Sebastian says as he stares at me with a concern look.

I stare back into his big brown eyes. Since Alex got back to college, I've been spending a lot of time with Alex, that I didn't have time to hang out with Sebastian anymore. Not to mention that I've turned down his offers to hang out a few times because I wanted to spend some time with Alex.

"I'm good. How about you?" I ask him.

"I'm ok. I was just wondering if maybe you have time to hang out after your shift?" Sebastian ask.

I stare into his eyes as I feel guilt starting to fill my heart. When Alex was in the hospital, Sebastian was the one who cheered me up and supported me. He even drove me to the hospital a few times just so I could visit Alex. At this point, it made me feel bad that I have to turn him down.

Looking at Sebastian now made me feel a bit guilty as a friend. I didn't want him to think that I forgot about him. But again, I missed Alex so badly that I want to spend so much time with him. Not to mention we are now getting closer than before, and he did told me that he wanted to take things to the next level.

"Alex asked me out for dinner together after my shift," I say with a rather guilty feeling. "Sorry, Sebastian..."

Sebastian lets out a sigh as he turns his head to look away with disappointment on his face. "You've been so busy these past few days," Sebastian says with a disappointed tone. "Actually, there's something I've been trying to tell you."

"What is it?" I ask him with a look of curiousity written all over my face.

"I...I like you...Rachel Spencer," says Sebastian as he slowly forms a shy smile.

My jaws almost drop as I became surprised to hear that coming from him. I didn't know how to react to this, since it's all so sudden. I didn't expect Sebastian to view this friendship as anything more. All I wanted was a normal friend who could cheer me up when I was stressing over Alex, but I never meant to make him fall in love with me. No, the feelings are too different. I like Sebastian as a friend, nothing more.

I stood in silence as I became lost in words. I didn't know how to reply to this, since I am too afraid that my answer would hurt him. Sebastian kept staring into my eyes with deep eye contact, wondering when will I answer his question.

"I want us to be more than friends. What do you say?" Sebastian ask with hopeful eyes.

I let out a sigh. "I think it's better for us to remain friends, Sebastian," I say. "You're really nice, and I do care about you."

Sebastian's hopeful eyes soon turns into disappointment though he tries to cover it with a smile. It is obvious enough that he isn't satisfy with the answer I gave him. He is trying to hide his disappointment. I start to feel bad for him, but I thought it is for the best. I like Alex and we are now going deeper, and I can't possibly see Sebastian more than a friend. Besides, the feelings are different.

"Ok. I understand. Let's be friends, for now," Sebastian says. "But if you ever change your mind, well you know where to go."

With that final word, Sebastian rubs my head suddenly before walking away, disappearing from my sight and leaving me speechless.

To be continue....