Six Feet Under the Stars

"Alex!" I exclaimed in total shock.

Blood spurted from Dorian's lips staining the grooves of his teeth red. He spat down onto the marble floor leaving a long trail of bloody spittle, full of silent fury. It wasn't clear if he was in shock or planning out a strategic move to take Alex down, but the silence was mind-numbing. Slowly words tumbled out of Dorian's mouth, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"What I should have done when I found out you like to beat people." Alex answered, breathing heavily and keeping his hand balled in a fist.

The desk clerk's eyes were like a deer in headlights and she mechanically dialed a phone number. She whispered into the speaker sounding urgent and frazzled while glancing back and forth between the three of us with fear written all over her oval-shaped face.

"What happens between Melanie and I is none of your business. She shouldn't be telling you anything about what goes on, though I think you must have gotten to know her really well up in your hotel room." Dorian spoke angrily.

"Don't talk about her like that. I saw the bruises myself and it didn't take much to put two and two together." Alex responded, matching the level of rage.

Dorian inched forward slightly closing in the gap of space between him and Alex while placing himself in the best advantage for a strike. Alex was able to cleanly dodge the first attempt, but when Dorian's left fist swung around it clipped Alex's lip and evened the bloodshed.

"Stop it, guys. Please." I begged trying to move in between them and stop the brawl, feeling a lot like John and Yoko protesting for peace. "Let's just forget this."

"Don't come into this." Alex told me, jutting a hand out to cut off my advance.

Dorian used the advantage of the distraction to get another punch in. The blow struck hard and fast like a rattlesnake and had Alex stumbling backwards. He regained his footing before he lost his balance. Looking angry at getting hit twice in a row, Alex used the adrenaline to charge forth at Dorian and attempt a tackle. If Dorian wasn't a wall of muscle the plan might have worked. Instead, Dorian grabbed him around the neck and started a makeshift choke-hold that he had used when bar customers had gotten a level above rowdy in the city.

Gasping for breath, Alex managed to pry the strangling hands away from his windpipe and gain some distance. "You're... you're really... crazy." He spoke in measured breaths trying to get oxygen circulating in his system once more while bending over.

"And you're really a shitty fighter." Dorian laughed crazily. "It's not even a challenge. Melanie, you should have picked a better guy."

"I should have; you're terrible, Dorian." I told him watching his face grow stern. "This isn't a joke. You need to calm down."

People had started to gather a good distance away watching the proceedings like they would animals behind zoo cages. Fights always brought out the raw, primal feelings in their systems long since smothered by the technologies and etiquette of the current day. Alex ran at Dorian a second time and managed to hit him, taking him down to the ground. The two rolled on the cool marble and threw punches at random hoping to hit a target out of pure luck.

"Hey, hot shots, break it up!" A portly security guard with a beer belly hanging over his belt, waddled up to them at a fast pace and attempted to pry the fighters away from each other. "This isn't the boxing ring. C'mon, break it up."

Yanking Alex by his T-shirt, the guard pulled him away from Dorian and walked him over a safe distance away, forcing him to take a seat on a set of stairs. Dorian heaved himself off of the floor and stood with his arms crossed over his chest while scowling. A little out of breath, the security guard turned to me, "And who did you fight, ma'am? That's one nasty bruise."

Pretending not to hear him, I asked, "So are you arresting them?"

The man laughed, accentuating the laugh-lines around his eyes. "No, not today. Just have to file a report for the hotel. It's standard stuff. I think you'll have to fill out a witness statement if that's okay with you."

"Sure, sure." I replied. "Should we call a doctor or something for them?"

"Nah, they can sweat it out a little. I got called out of a meeting to respond to this little fight. Give 'em a drink later on and everything will clear up for itself."

I nodded and went to Alex instead of Dorian. I was tired of Dorian's games at the moment, not to mention the bruise on my eye swayed my decision greatly. Walking up, I tentatively sat next to him and breathed out a sigh, "Hey."

"Hey." Alex greeted unenthusiastically, not looking up at me and staring down at the ground.

"Thanks for everything back there. You didn't really have to stand up for me, but I really appreciate it."

"It was about time someone punched him back even though I did kind of get my ass beat."

Eyes drifting over to Dorian, I assessed his injuries. "No, it seemed like a pretty even fight to me. Tackling him got points for creativity too."

Alex grinned with his split lip, "Does that mean I move onto the next round?"

"Definitely." I told him, running a hand through my hair. "I'm glad you're not too hurt though."

"My hand got the worst." He held it out to me, sporting cuts and hacked looking skin. "The knuckles are all beat up."

"I'm more worried about your lip." I said concerned. The split looked gnarley. Blood trickled out though most had coagulated in the wound.

"Kiss it and make it better?" Alex joked hopefully, his eyes twinkling like suns. It was strange to me to think that only a little while ago I had kissed those lips when they were healed, and felt them on mine moving passionately.

I slanted him a look. "Maybe later."

"Maybe? I'll take it." He smiled, and flexed his fingers testing to see if they were still functioning properly. "I'm patient; I'll work my way up from there."

Before I could reply, the security guard strolled up with a mess of paperwork that almost tumbled out of his hands. "Alright, buddy. I need you to fill out these forms completely and tell exactly what happened. Try not to embellish anything."

"Okay." Alex replied, taking the pen and clipboard. "Anything else I should know?"

"The other guy over there seems a tad out of whack, to be honest. I would tread carefully around him if I were you. He's got a bad attitude." The guard told Alex, shifting his weight from side to side. "Seems pretty serious about wanting to beat you up from what he told me."

"Yeah, I know." Alex answered wryly. "Maybe you should lock him up."

The cop chuckled and his belly bounced like Jell-O. "If we lock all the weirdos up, there'll be no space left. We can't have everyone in the system; the government doesn't cover that much of the cost to keep all of them up and running. The prisoners are getting three square meals a day on Uncle Sam's dime. Wish they'd put a little more into my salary, but you can't be too picky."

"Sorry this all happened." I aplogized, feeling guilty for the mess. "Things just got out of hand."

"Ma'am I beg your pardon, but if he's hitting you," He shrugged a shoulder in Dorian's direction, "you can always file a report with us. Get a restraining order if necessary."

"I don't want to go that far. Thanks though."

Shaking his head discretely, the officer left Alex and I alone a while so he'd have time to fill out the paperwork. While scribbling his address in the designated blanks, Alex said, "Maybe you should consider taking some legal action against Dorian. Things aren't getting better."

"But honestly, they're not getting worse either."

"You don't consider this bad?" Alex paused and raised his eyebrows at me. "Shit, you're immune to this now. That's not good."

"Everyone has a rocky road sometime in their relationship." I spoke, leaning against my knees.

"This isn't normal at all. I'm telling you the truth; in a healthy relationship this shit doesn't happen."

"Okay, okay. Do we have to keep going over this?" I questioned, getting annoyed.

"As long as you don't believe it. And as long as you keep following him like a sheep to slaughter." Thoughtfully, he chewed on the pen cap.

Slightly offended, I raised my head higher and said, "I stick up for myself, you know."

"When was the last time you did?" Alex asked seriously, "And I mean really did."

"Today. After I talked with you."

"Good. That's a start. I must be making you stronger." He grinned at that thought, studying me with his eyes. "Soon you'll be as tough as nails. But you're plenty strong already, you just need a little push once in a while."

"Thanks, I guess." I replied, wondering if his theory was true. It wasn't often Alex was wrong.

"Mel," Dorian shouted from his position across the room. "Come over here for a second."

I met his eyes and could see some of the fury had faded. Dorian looked like a worn out dog after fighting for table scraps. Waryness filled my mind as I considered his offer and Alex snorted next to me, assuming that I wasn't going to head over.That is, until I stood.

"You're actually going over there?" He questioned, no masking his shock. "After all this shit?"

"No harm in seeing what he wants, right?" I shrugged my shoulders and kicked at the stairs. "It'll only be a minute."

Alex sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes for an extended moment. His next words filled me with sadness as they hung in the air, creating an invisible wall that separated the two of us. "You'll always go back to him, won't you?"