Half of My Heart ✔️

63 | cost of freedom

Through blurry eyes, I watch Levi turn around, lowering the gun. I lower my head, more terrified than ever when he lets out a cruel laugh. "Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?" he says. "It's four in the morning, a gunshot is gonna wake up every fucker in the state."

He looks at me waiting for a response. The only sounds are Jack's footsteps approaching and my own sobs. He laughs again, lowering the gun. "Oh, come on. It was kind of funny, you gotta admit."

"I'm gonna rip your fucking throat out," Jack yells, advancing on Levi fast.

Without even turning around, Levi sighs dramatically. "I guess the gun is good for one thing," he says, turning the gun over in his hands. "Let's see how much this kid really loves you." He smiles. "Shall we?"

Then he turns the gun, pointing it at me again. I yell in vain through the tape for Jack to stay away.

Jack's steps slow when he sees the gun pointed at me. Looking at him, my heart breaks to see fear swarming his expression. Even more fear than I feel right now. His eyes dart between me and the gun, realizing there's little he can do. He takes a step back, terrified of doing anything to provoke Levi to pull the trigger.

"You're sick," he growls, repeating the words I sobbed to Levi just minutes before. "If I don't kill you tonight, you're gonna rot in a jail cell."

"That's kind of rude, don't you think?" Levi says, disregarding Jack's threats. "Scarlett and I are kind of in the middle of something if you couldn't tell."

"I feel bad for you," Jack spits, taking a daring step closer to Levi. "In your sick, fucked-up mind, you still think there's a chance that Scarlett would ever be with you. How deluded can you be?"

"Not very," Levi replies calmly, but I can tell by the way his grip on the gun tightens that Jack's words cut him. "Remember when she broke up with you to be with me? Would it help refresh your memory if I told you about everything we did while you were broken up?"

"You manipulated her. You lied to her to get her to do exactly what you wanted."

"Really? Because I think that when Scarlett was on her knees in front of me, that she was doing exactly what she wanted to do."

I'm horrified at Levi's mention of the night, but I'm even more afraid that it will push Jack over the edge. But he doesn't fall for Levi's bait. "Keep replaying that memory in your head, Levi. It'll be one of the last you ever have with her," Jack says steadily. "She wants to be with me. It's over for you."

Levi's jaw clenches. "Over my dead body."

"I'm planning on it."

Levi laughs, a big, taunting sound. "That was a good one. Did you prepare that line before you came here?" Then all amusement washes from His face. Without waiting for an answer, he adds, "Was that your only plan coming here? How exactly do you think you're gonna rescue Scarlett, big guy—"

I let out an involuntary sound of terror when Jack lunges for Levi, using his left forearm to knock the gun from his hand while clipping Levi's cheek with his fist. Levi's head snaps back and stumbles backward, but Jack grabs him and lands another punch.

Jack throws Levi onto the ground and leans over him, pummeling him with his fists. I cry out when Levi knees Jack in the stomach, wrenching him off of him and standing up. Jack stands and attacks him again, trying to wrestle him to the ground again. I cling tight to the fact that Jack is much stronger than Levi.

He is close to succeeding when he lets out a sudden groan of pain, and I watch helplessly as Levi wrenches Jack's bad arm backward, pulling at his surgically-repaired arm. Jack tries to retaliate, but Levi just pulls his arm tighter every time Jack moves.