We Come Out At Night 4

-------------
The Rev
-------------

Some point during the night while she slept, I carried London back to the bedroom and laid her down in the bed where she would sleep in my arms til the morning came.
When the sun did rise, I found myself lying awake studying her while she slept peacefully.
It was the first time I had noticed her fully at peace since she got here.

She purred like a cat while she stretched just before opening her eyes. When she looked at me, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling if I wanted to. “I don’t remember coming to bed.” She said as she turned on her side to face me.

“You were sound asleep when I carried you back here.” She didn’t say anything; she just kept her eyes on mine and stared at me. “Feel like breakfast?”

“I want to have a bubble bath first.” She said it as if she were asking my permission.

“Me too.” Well, maybe not so much, but I liked being around her when she was naked. “Want some company?”

“Yes.” She smiled and sat up in the bed. I got up and went into the bathroom to run the bath water. If anyone had told me that I would be running a bubble bath for London and myself one day, I never would have believed them.

------------
Kristina
------------

I was walking down the hall to meet Johnny for lunch when I was slammed back against the wall. My eye’s met Izzy’s as she held her hand around my neck, keeping me from moving. “Let go of me!” I demanded, but she stood there holding her grip on my neck firmly.

“No. You listen to me. If you value your life, you’ll stay the fuck away from Shadows.”

I grabbed her hand, but she just tightened it and dug her nails into my neck. “Don’t threaten me, Izzy. I don’t take orders from anyone, least of all you.”

“Really now?” She spoke through gritted teeth. “Need I remind you that you are nothing more than an employee in this casino? And at the rate you are going, you’ll never be anything more than that!”

“Hey!” Christ to the rescue. “Izzy, let her go!” He was stern as he spoke and when he grabbed her arm, she removed her hand from my neck.

“Get your hands off me!” She shouted at him and he let her arm go, but held his gaze firm on her showing her no fear. This was a side of Johnny I hadn’t seen before.

“I’m going to make sure Shadows hears about this!” I couldn’t help, but roll my eyes when she said that. She put poor Johnny in harms way because he grabbed her arm. What a spoiled little bitch. When she walked away, Johnny lifted my chin so he could take a look at my neck.

“Jesus, that girl has claws for nails. You are going to have some serious bruises.” Well, at least they’ll be the same color as the ones on my face.

As we walked to the café, my emotions started to get the better of me. I stopped walking and Johnny turned around to face me. “What’s the matter?”

“Can I come and stay with you for a while?” I didn’t want to cry, but the tears fell from my eyes anyway.

“Yeah, sure, of course you can.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and wiped my face free of the tears.

He put his arm around my shoulder and turned me around to walk back the other way. “Come on, we’ll just have lunch sent upstairs.” I was never so grateful to have a friend like Johnny.

-----------------------
Christ
A few hours later
-----------------------

Chelsea was still working behind the bar for London and I sat there with Gates having a few drinks over random conversation. Well it wasn’t exactly random; it was more like Gates asking the questions and me giving the answers. All I wanted to do was hang out with Chelsea.

“What happened?”

“Izzy roughed up Kristina a little bit. I didn’t hear the conversation though.”

He shook his head and slammed his empty glass down on the bar. Chelsea was quick with the refill. “So because of that, she is staying with you?”

Did I really have to be in the middle of this? “No.” I answered honestly without a care as to what would happen to my face. “She is staying with me to get away from you and Shadows.”

“Is that what she said?”

I sipped my beer and set it down on the bar before turning to look at him. “She didn’t have to. Honestly it should be obvious to all of you.” I didn’t bother bracing myself, if he was going to punch me, nothing would be able to stop me from falling off the stool.

“Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?” He asked as his face twisted with annoyance.

“Look, you guys may not realize this, but you put Izzy on such a high pedestal that she’s become untouchable. She can do no wrong and as long as she’s on that pedestal, Kristina will never matter.”

Again, he slammed his empty glass down on the bar. He watched Chelsea as she poured him another and as he picked up his glass he glared at me. “I never said Kristina doesn’t matter.”

“And like I said, you didn’t have to. Actions speak louder than words.”

His hand was firmly wrapped around his glass and I could see him losing his patience as the aggravation started to take hold of him. “Kristina needs to grow up.” He spoke with his jaw clenched and his free hand gripping the bar top.

“Really? Because the way I see it, you and Shadows need to get your heads out of your asses and man the fuck up.” So glad I have a dentist on speed dial. He turned and faced me. I really thought he was going to knock my lights out.

“Man the fuck up?”

Ok so I’m as good as dead, why stop now? “Yeah. That’s what I said. Man the fuck up. Izzy needs a good old-fashioned slap in the face and fucking reality check from Shadows in the fact that she was no better than Kristina when she got here. She owes him more than she seems to think she does and she walks around here like she owns the damn place now. Since when does a piece of ass rule the house?” If his jaw hung any lower it would hit the floor. He looked as if he was about to say something, but no, I wasn’t going to let him. I may be smaller, and right now I may not be making the smartest move, but Kristina needed a friend and I wasn’t going to let her down.

“As for you, you need to open your fucking eyes. Kristina hurts for you every God damn day. Yeah, I know she said she couldn’t be with you because she feels you don’t accept her, but that should have been your first fucking clue. Maybe she just wanted you to show up for once. You know, be that fucking Knight in shining armor on a white horse that saves her from herself and loves her unconditionally. Instead of being her hero, you became her villain. You say you love her, but given the choice between her and Izzy, who would you pick?”

By the way he was looking at me right now, it seemed that the question I asked struck more of a chord with him than the entire statement. “You know I would pick Kristina.”

I waived Chelsea over for another beer and she gave me the biggest smile. I’d much rather be sitting with her than Gates right now. When she walked away, I turned back to Gates. “Would you? Ok, if I told you that Kristina was alone in my room right now waiting for you and at the same time, Izzy called you and said she needed to see you, what would you do?”
He lowered his gaze to his glass and let out a sigh. “That’s my answer right there. Man…The…Fuck…Up! You’re going to lose her for good. Asshole.”

I grabbed my beer and walked away. Now, it was me who was pissed off. That entire conversation had me so worked up I felt like I wanted to punch something. Maybe it was just the adrenaline rush from speaking my mind the way I did to Gates. Someone had to put that little bitch in his place and show him that he isn’t as tough as he wants everyone to think he is. Tomorrow, he’ll probably kick my ass though.