Christian's POV

I was feeling the pain of losing even when I was proudly holding the champions trophy, defending the title on our name once again. The stadium broke out in cheers as we triumphed on Holy Child that day, but the only voice, the only cheer I was searching for among the thousands was yours. Collecting the medal, the team attended the ceremony which was over almost within an hour. A feeling of restlessness was hovering over me. I had a lot of tasks to complete before the other teams leave the campus.

It was late in the afternoon, I paced around in her room, excited to prove myself not guilty and anxious of putting things back to place. I laid down on the bed and stared wide at the ceiling, soft music playing in my earbuds. Another hour passed by but Blaire wasn't here yet. That's when worry and deep thoughts suppressed my excitement.

Where is my sunshine?

Without wasting any further seconds, I opened the application, silently hoping that the device would be with her and show me the correct location. It took a moment to load and then it displayed the signal on a nearby beach but not the exact location.

"Which day will the AI club and all my hard work come to use?" I murmured to myself as I rushed with her laptop and connected the device to it. Scanning the whole area and cracking the code, I finally tracked her through her mobile network after a long fifteen minutes. I loaded the traced address on my phone and drove off after informing Melody.

I drove along the beach line and then a mile past it until I finally spotted her car. My throat clenched with fright, all the negative and dangerous thoughts were cluttering in my mind, images flashed in front of my eyes. Gulping down my fright and calling up courage, I reminded myself that I couldn't afford to lose her. I parked the car a couple of metres away from hers. Following the red dot on my tracker, I reached an old building which I had no idea of. I noted the surroundings which didn't look good at all, so I made up my mind to go inside. I stepped in but not before sharing my live location to Duncan.

Having a backup is always good. 

It didn't take any moment for me to register that it was a storeroom stuffed with piles of boxes and wooden cartridges. I took sturdy steps and then tripped over, landing face-first on the ground. I looked back to find the cause when I noticed the gun, stuck in the corner of the shelves. I got back in a move and picked it up. Checking the bullets, I caged it with me. With more confidence, now I looked around and took some fine steps. Finally, I noticed Blaire in a far off corner, lying unconscious in the dirt, tied with strong ropes, her white cotton dress ripped on some parts and red on few parts. The signs of struggle and fight were so clear and prominent. I walked towards her, gripping the gun tight in my right hand when I heard some footsteps coming towards me.

I ran towards her so that I could free her from those ropes but before I could act, a cold and sharp object grazed my throat. I held my chin up, and held the gun tightly, perfectly even more than professionals. Bringing back all the combat and defence skills, I swiftly moved out of his grip and aimed the gun at him. I kicked him right in the stomach and thrashed the gun at the back of his head. I snatched the dagger knife from him and was quite impressed by its antique look. I reached Blaire and started to slash down her ties while someone grabbed me by my collar and thrashed me onto the floor. I grabbed the gun and fired two shots in the air, with a tight knock, the man in front of me fell to the ground.

With a hard punch, I left his face blur with blood. It was just luck of the second and the bullet missed me badly by the breadth of a hair. I swiftly made my move and rolled on the floor and with a good aim, shot one in his lower abdomen. I couldn't make it on time when the last man fired a shot directly on my left arm. I gasped in pain and lay flat on my back but fired a final shot which made it through this wrist. The gun fell down. The metal clanged with the stone flooring. I glanced at the blood oozing out from my arm and then at Blaire, lying unconscious a few feet away. I stood up, tacked the gun on my waist and stumbled up to her.

With a second try, I finally picked her up and hurriedly walked towards the door, blood continued to flow and pain increased at regular intervals as the gunpowder made its action. I stepped out of the building when I saw Duncan running towards us. He looked shocked and flabbergasted at our conditions and immediately took off Blaire from me and made it to the car. After the first aid of my wound, we drove off from there and landed directly in the hospital.

                            ▪️▪️▪️

I waited anxiously, holding her hand for the moment she'd open her eyes. My arm was nicely bandaged. It was a small task as the doctor brought the bullet out. My body tired and eyes restless but still I stared at her constantly, praying each and every second that please open your eyes and look at me. I laced our fingers more tightly and she laid there peacefully in the clinical uniform. It was difficult to get her in here without involving school and of course not informing her parents.

Well, not too hard for me actually.

After a couple of minutes, her lashes fluttered and her lids parted, her beautiful eyes made their way towards mine and then noted the surroundings, trying to figure out what place it was. It took a few more minutes for her to register until she sat upright and hugged me tightly. Her arms went around my neck as I wrapped my arms around her. For god's sake, I missed that scent so badly. It felt like I was brought back to life after being dead for a while.

It felt like forever!

Streaks of tears rolled down her cheeks and I wiped them away with my thumb.

I cupped her face between my palms and looked directly into her eyes.

"I didn't do it, Blaire. I didn't cheat on you" I pleaded to try to convince her.

"That night, I was being drugged purposely by...,” I paused.

“James,” her meek voice came in the form of a question.

“Yes, James,” I sighed.

“After the celebration and all, I was going to meet that girl when James handed me a glass of juice. I took it and went upstairs to that room. I was trying to get a few secret information out of her and then inattentively, I drank that juice. Literally, I drugged myself. I'm such a...,”

The door cracked open and the doctor entered. I wiped my tears away and then finally he let us go after some formalities. Duncan drove us back to her place. We walked to her room and then resumed our round table conference.

"Christian, I saw you there," she started.

"But I have done nothing! " 

"You were holding her in your arms and you're like inches apart."

I scrunched up my nose and arching an eyebrow.

"Jesus, I drugged her so that she blabbers out the truth but turned out that she took in way too much alcohol. She couldn't hold herself and so I was putting her up against the wall" I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation.

She gave me a suspicious look and then giving an apologetic smirk, she started, “Well, Sorry for I'm a bit responsible too,” she bit her lower lip.

“Actually, after I heard that you were out of the third match, I guessed that you might have been drugged by none other than James," our eyes met for a split second.

“He did that as revenge on me I guess. Actually, I knew about his PEDs and I made someone blackmail him to get alibi for you. So when the news got out and he was tested and then gradually banned, he thought it was all mine doing. But trust me, I didn't leak that.” she concluded.

“So somehow I'm also responsible,” she murmured.

I lifted my eyes from the floor to meet hers, tears welled up in her eyes as we continued to stare at each other. She stood up and walked up to me, held my face in between her soft hands and sealed it with a kiss as her lips met mine. It was short but immediately produced an intense addiction in its short life. Our lips parted, our foreheads lied against each other and breathe falling on each other's skin.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I love you," I whispered and kissed her back.

I wrapped my arms around her tight enough for her to breathe even, everything fell into silence.

“Fucking go away, Blaire,” I growled as I held her tight to myself.

“How could you? For fuck sake I'm your Jamie and you didn't trust me a bit?” I sobbed.

“No matter what you heard, no matter what you saw, you should have reconsidered once before believing that Jamie cheated on his Jimmy,” I whispered.

Blaire was silent. I could just hear her breathe and heart pounding. After a few seconds a soft hand rested on my head and caressed through my hair, melting to her touch, I sobbed harder.

“Devilishly handsome bad boys ain't allowed to cry," she chuckled lightly, sarcasm dripped off her words as she pressed her lips on my head.