Atlanta City's Bad Boy

Chapter 23. Intruder

Jesse's POV

Instinctively, I push Mia behind me to protect her. This is completely insane. Why the hell is this psycho in my house pointing a gun at me?

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask her. My expression and voice are full of anger, which is a bit out of place, considering I'm not the one holding the gun. I'm going to have to be careful about how I word things, or I'm going to get shot.

She stares back at me, full of anger. Her nostrils flare, and her hand shakes slightly. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" I ask.

"Isn't it obvious? I would never have had to go to such lengths if that little bitch hadn't of showed up!" She screams at me, trying to point the gun around me at Mia.

"Ashley, l don't understand. Alright, you are obviously mad, but please put the gun down." I reach towards her for the gun.

"Don't!" she screams in tears. "Don't you fucking dare! I'm the one with the gun, so you better settle down and stay where you are at," She hisses.

"Ashley, please explain what the problem is?" I ask her completely confused.

"I wanted you! She took you from me! It isn't fair! Why can't you love me? What the fuck is so damn special about her?!" She screams. This bitch has wholly lost her fucking marbles. I've never come close to taking her on a date or sleeping with her.

"Ashley, you are with Damon," I say softly. "You and I were never together; we have never even come close."

"You would have eventually if this bitch hadn't come along!" She screams.

"No, Ashley, I've never felt that way for you. You and Damon need to stop this getting even with me! I've done nothing to either of you, but Damon crashes two of my parties. He's probably the one who set my barn on fire. Now you are pointing a god damn gun at me?" I ask in disbelief, shaking my head.

She laughs. "Oh please, Damon didn't set your precious barn on fire, Jesse! I did it!" She admits.

"Ashley, why the hell would you do that?!" I yell at her. I'm beginning to lose my cool. How can I stay calm? She nearly killed my horses and me. Breathe Jesse.

"I already fucking told you! It is all her fault!" She screams.

"So what? You're just going to shoot me because I won't go out with you?" My voice is full of disgust.

She laughs, "No, honey, I'm gonna shoot her." She looks past me at Mia.

"That isn't going to happen, Ashley. The only way you are going to get to her is if you go through me," I tell her.

"God, it disgusts me, the shit you would do for this bitch." She cocks the gun as she speaks. "If I can't have you, nobody can," She mumbles. The wild look in her eyes is something I've never seen before. I would never have guessed she'd have taken things this far. I knew she had a crush on me, but this is crazy. My heart pounds as I see the terror on Mia's face. An evil grin spreading across Ashley's lips. Anger pulses through me. I can't keep calm anymore.

"You are crazy!" I yell at her and dive for the gun. The gun goes off but flies out of her hand. I grab Ashley and hold her down.

"Mia, get the gun!" I boom. She runs for the gun and grabs it, pointing it at Ashley.

"No, Mia, give me the gun," I say calmly. She walks toward me, slowly handing me the gun. I hold Ashley's arms down with one hand. I take the bullets out with the other hand.

"I dialed 911. The operator heard everything they're on the way," Mia says in a shaky voice.

"No!" Ashley screams. "You stupid fucking bitch!" She struggles to get free from me, but it does her no good.

"Are you okay?" I ask Mia.

"Yes, are you-" I start, but Mia cuts me off.

oh my god, Jess, you're bleeding!" Mia's voice is higher than usual from panic.

"Mia, calm down. It just grazed me," I tell her calmly.

I have to admit it still hurts like a mother fucker, but I know that I'm going to live.

"But-" She starts as she inches closer to me.

"Mia, relax," I tell her. We hear the sirens a couple of minutes later. "Mia unlock the front door for them," I instruct.

The cops stroll in and get down beside Ashley and me. As soon as I let go of her and stand, she lurches to her feet. The police quickly grab her before she can get to Mia. Ashley screams as they pull her from the house. A paramedic comes in to tend to me as Mia gives the police her statement on what happened.

Brady comes over to take my statement. I tell him everything, including that she admitted to setting the barn on fire as well. Since the operators record the phone calls, they have proof of Ashley admitting it.

After everyone is gone, Mia and I head upstairs to bed. I give her a shirt to sleep in and change into shorts. I throw away the shirt I had been wearing since it's now stained with blood and has a bullet hole in it.

Mia is already in bed before me. I crawl into bed and pull her into my left side. "No, Jesse, wait, I don't want to hurt you accidentally..." She trails off, looking towards my right side, where I got shot.

"Don't worry about it baby, it isn't that bad," I tell her. She gives in and lays across my chest. Mia falls asleep first, I don't even know if I'm going to be able to fall asleep. It's four in the morning, and I've been up for twenty-two hours. As I'm lying there, I keep replaying in my head what happened tonight.

Ashley must have known she wasn't going to get away with it. Her dad is a cop for crying out loud. My friends always used to crack jokes about Ashley being obsessed with me. I would never have guessed how right they were. I begin thinking about what could have happened to Mia and shutter at the thought.

I'm betting there is a pretty good chance her mother isn't going to let her stay with me anymore. I don't think I'd blame her either. I wonder if Damon would be as capable of something like this. He threatened Mia and me a few weeks ago, but nothing ever came of it.

I'm beginning to think when someone wants revenge. They don't give up too quickly. I wonder how everyone is going take it tomorrow when we tell them what happened.

My eyes become heavy. I begin to fall asleep, but a blood-curdling scream has my eyes wide open. Mia jerks upright into a sitting position. "Jesse!" She screams.

"Mia, hey, calm down, baby," I say softly, grabbing onto her arm.

She shakes her head. "No, no, no!" She cries. Her entire body shakes violently from panic. I sit upright, trying to get her to look at me.

"Mia, stop! It's just a dream! Look at me. It's okay," I plead as I try to get her to calm down.

Her chest rises and falls as she quiets down. Her gaze finally meets mine. "Jess," she mumbles.

"Yeah. It's just me, baby. It's okay, you're okay," I murmur in a soothing voice. I pull her into my lap and rub her back. As the shock of the dream wears off, I lie back down on the bed, taking her with me. She climbs off me but holds onto me tighter than before.

The sky is becoming lighter; it's almost six-thirty, I sigh. Mia falls back asleep, but she doesn't look as peaceful as she usually does when she's sleeping. Great, Mia is now going to suffer from nightmares because of that crazy bitch. Finally, I let my eyes close.

***

When I wake up, Mia isn't in bed. My alarm clock reads 11:47 A.M.. I can't believe I didn't have a nightmare considering last night's events. I get out of bed and head down the stairs. "Mia?" I call, rubbing my eyes. "Mia?!" I shout this time. Nothing. Where the hell did she go?

Panic sweeps over me as I begin looking around the entire house. When I find no sign of her, I go outside, calling for her. After checking everywhere inside and out, I head into the house. I grab my phone, trying to call her but she doesn't answer. I grab my keys that are hanging up in the kitchen and bolt for the front door.