King adjusts himself and presses his hand down on Tommy's gun. "I don't give a shit if you shoot me. All I care about is her." He points over at me before pulling Jean away from Tommy.

Jean gets up slowly and runs off to the other end of the alley, where the rest of King's friends surround him. King takes his eyes off of Tommy for a bit to nod to his friends. They do the same.

"Be a good boy and give up, Tommy. I'll make sure they don't hurt you too bad." King says, getting a laugh from the nearby bikers.

Tommy presses a hand off the floor and lifts himself up. Quicker than a guy his size should be able to move.

Adrenaline can be a hell of a drug.

He spins in a circle, trying to pick a target out of the crowd. The line of bikers move out of his way, but don't drop their aim. Tommy has no idea who to pick.

Whose the most valuable target in his mind?

There's at least two dozen guns pointed at him.

Whoever he chooses better be worth it 'cause if he fires, he isn't getting back up. No matter how much adrenaline is running through him. He'll be nothing but swiss cheese.

He does one final spin before he stops on me. He smiles at me. "If I can't have her, nobody will." He raises the gun and pulls on the trigger.

I bring my hands up and see my life flash before my eyes.

Meeting King in kindergarten. The first time he gave me a kiss on the cheek. When he asked me out to the freshman social in high school. And finally to the other night while I watched him sleep.

Every last thought that runs through my head is nothing but King. I close my eyes and welcome it. There is no other person in my life that means more than him.

Boom.

There's an eerie silence that fills the alley. There's no blaring of engines. Or anyone talking.

I open my eyes and look down at myself, expecting to see a red mark on my body. Blood oozing out of it. Anywhere to tell me that I've been hit and that I'm about to die.

But there isn't any.

I look around me and all eyes are glued in front of them. I follow their gaze and see King with his hand stretched out with a gun in it, at about head shot level. There's a trail of smoke coming out the barrel and he's looking at something on the ground.

That's when I bring my hands up to my mouth. Lying on the floor, almost unrecognizable, is Tommy's body. A trail of blood goes at least ten feet out and twenty feet to the side. And King's covered in it.

He brings the gun down to his side, before it clatters to the floor. He turns his head and I let out a audible gasp. Every inch of his face is covered in blood. He smiles at me before he drops to the ground.

"Arthur!" I yell.

I run toward him, arms flailing at my sides. Every step that I take seems to only take me further away from him. Everything is moving in slow motion. I can only think of the worst.

Just before his head hits the concrete, I grab him. My hands scour his body and look for his wound. I wipe away every drop of blood in search of the source.

"Are you okay?" he asks me, his hand reaching and squeezing at my cheeks. I don't answer him. I'm not done searching every little piece of his body.

It takes me a minute to realize that he's not covered in his own blood. All the blood that's on him is from Tommy. I look over to Tommy's body and shake my head, turning my attention back to the person that really matters.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he coughs and brushes my hands away. I cry and bring my head down into his chest. King brings a hand behind me and wraps me close, letting me drop fresh salty tears on his blood-splattered body.

Relief pours out of me. I kiss each side of his cheek. I kiss every part of him that's not covered in blood. I wipe away the drops from his lips and launch my tongue into his mouth.

When I pull away, he's got the biggest smirk on his face.

Slap.

My hand flies across his face. A couple of people behind me gasp while others laugh. There's a mixture of confusion and happiness on King's face.

"Don't you ever fucking do that to me again." I bring my hand through his hair and push it back. "I can't lose you a second time. I don't know what I'd do with myself."

King smiles for a moment and takes me in. "I'll try to remember next time we get into a shootout."

Chapter 20 - 2 months later.

I take a step out into the air. "I'm scared." It lingers for a bit before I bring it down on the next stair step.

"I think we've been through enough that you can trust me," King says behind me, his hands covering my eyes. The hinges of the front door to the loft squeak and the chilly Portland winter air hits me in the face.

It's been two months since the night with Tommy in the alley. We've just finished rebuilding the destroyed loft. From the ashes, it rose to be better than it ever was before. Kind of like a phoenix.

At first I hated the idea of living in the loft where all that happened. But, when I came back to it, after it burned down, the idea grew on me.

"This better be worth it. I'm fucking freezing." I bring my hands up to my sleeveless sides and shiver.

This is all King's idea. He said that he had a special surprise for me. Something that he and my sister managed to get for me.

"I hope so too. Are you ready?"

I nod.

That's when the sound of their voices break through. Marina and her boys start to count out next to me and I can already feel the tears welling up. "One, two, three," they shout.

King removes his hands from my ears and I spin around, throwing my arms around Marina. "This is the best surprise ever." I give a kiss to each of her cheeks before I scoop up her little boys in my arms. It's been so long since I've seen all of them.

Last time, I talked to Marina and she'd informed me that her divorce had gone through. She won ever possible battle. She got to keep her house and the boys. And her cheating husband got almost nothing, besides those cheating skanks of his.

Marina's body jiggles as she laughs at my excitement. She pulls me in for a tighter hug, her boys hating every moment of it.

"That's not the surprise," a voice breaks through the happiness. I turn my head and see Jean standing up. Well, kind of. He's leaning against a crutch and he's got his whole head wrapped up.

"When did you get out?" I scream, easing the boys down to the ground. I throw my hands around him and feel his breath escape his lungs.

"Easy girl. I just got out of the hospital. If you keep hugging me like this I'll have to readmit myself." He brings up his shaking hands and circles me.

There are tears rolling down my sides. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Having everyone that I love here with me. Especially after what happened.

"That's still not the surprise," King says behind me. I turn around to tell him that my heart can't take anymore, when my hand shoots to my chest.

There, parked in front of my loft, is my hippie van. King's inside the passenger side window, throwing his hands out to the side.

"What do you think?"

I bring a hand to my mouth and by this point, I'm a broken down mess. I run my fingers across the new coat of paint and marvel at the fact that there's no more rust on the underside.

"Now she can park it next to the gallery," Jean announces behind me.

I run to the other side and hop inside. King shuts the door and jingles the keys in front of me. "Ready to take her for spin?"

I nod. I can't hold myself together.

Marina, Jean, and the kids hop into the back. They buckle up their seat belts and take in the completely new interior. King has gone out of his way to completely renovate it.

"And it goes over 30 now, if you want."

I stick the key into the ignition and turn. It purrs awake and I attack King.

My lips hit his and he holds me back.

"Ewwww," the boys cry behind us. Marina and Jean break into laughter.

"I love you, Arthur 'King' Stone."

"And I love you, Camilla James."

THE END.