He's Got His Own Man Now.

“You knew he was going to be here, didn’t you?” Lucas seethed, squeezing my wrist harder. I let out of a soft yelp when he squeezed harder, my hand and my forearm starting to tingle.

“I didn’t, I swear, I-“ I almost screamed when he bent my wrist back by just a little bit, and I could hear and feel my heart beating against my ribcage. I was scared, dead scared. I was so scared I looked Lucas right in the eye when he spoke to me.

“You think you can get away with that? You think you can show me off and use me?” he accused, acting like he was hurt. He wasn’t the one getting his wrist squeezed. I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t form the words to defend myself. No wonder why Blake cheated on me, I’m pathetic. Lucas took a step closer and I felt the fence scratch at my back.

“Hey,” my eyes snapped to the side, Lucas’ head turning around. I was about to yell but a fist collided with Lucas’ face. I tumbled down with him, my back rubbing against fence. It stung when I hit the cool grass. Everything happened so fast.

Someone pulled me up, making stumble even more, but the person held onto me as we walked away. People started flooding to the spot where Lucas fell. I shouted for Lucas, but it was ultimately ignored over the sounds of thumping music and excited voices. I looked at who was dragging me away from the scene, and it was Christian, Blake’s best friend. I felt a pang of hurt in my chest as I started to dig my feet into the ground, but Christian just threw me over his shoulders and hauled me into the house. I started yelling at him to put me down, that I need to go be with Lucas. He just scoffed and carried me through the front door and threw me into Blake’s car. I was about to fight him, but he said this:

“You stay right fucking here. And if you’re not here God so help me I will not hesitate to drag your ass back here, understood?”

I didn’t even reply. I felt myself grow pale and nod slightly, Christian taking one last wild look before disappearing into the house with the Devil on his heels. I sat in Blake’s car for a good twenty minutes, blocking out the times Blake and I were in here. Another ten minutes went by, and a lot of people started leaving. I heard sirens echo in the distance, and mostly everyone broke into a run. The sound was coming closer, and I started getting nervous. Just then, I saw a group of people coming toward the car. I recognized the girls in their over-revealing clothes, Charlie and Chelsea. Behind them were Ronnie and Christian literally carrying Blake over to his car. I turned around as the girls opened the back seat door, Chelsea getting in, then Charlie. I watched, mortified, as they put Blake in the back. He was bleeding from his nose and his lip and his knuckles were red with blood. I heard the driver’s door open and I turned back around. The cop cars’ lights were down the street and Christian booked it outta there.

The whole car ride was dead quiet, the occasional groan from Blake coming out whenever Christian hit a speed bump or stopped to drop someone off. After we dropped of Chelsea, the last one, Christian tensed up and started driving. I didn’t say a word, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t breathing. Our last stop wasn’t my house, it was Blake’s. His parents weren’t home as usual, but the porch light was on – something Blake does whenever he goes out late so he doesn’t come home feeling alone.

Christian got out and I followed suit, helping him get Blake out of the back and escort him to the porch. Christian started patting down Blake for his house key, but only felt his cellphone. I looked around his front door; the wood was recently painted over, a potted plant that his mother got was on the right, along with a rock. I slowly let go of Blake, Christian getting all the weight while I knelt down and grabbed the rock from its place before standing back up.

“What’re you-“ I flipped the rock over, and a silver key shined in the porch light. “Oh.” I opened the door and went to turn on his living room light, leaving Christian to carry in Blake. I heard Blake groan and Christian told him to shut up. I smiled a bit. I really missed them. Charlie, Ronnie, Chelsea… I know they probably didn’t miss me, but I missed them. The only friends I ever had was Blake and Christian, and their group accepted me in. They didn’t know about Blake and I, but I got along with them most of the time.

I sat down on Blake’s coffee table, sitting directly across from him. His eyes were all over the place, but once he heard me walk over, he couldn’t take his eyes off me. I looked down at my feet, brushing hair from my face as I looked up. The blood dried and he had a black eye forming. And knowing Lucas, he probably punched Blake in the chest or gutted him. I felt so bad for Blake because he had to get all bruised up and battered just because I can’t defend myself. I felt a hand rest on my cheek, his thumb sliding just under my eye. I leaned into his touch, missing the way his hand curved with my face.

“Don’t cry,” I sniffled. I sat up straight, wiping my eyes. “You’ve seen worse,” he said in a lighter tone, making me smile for a bit before I started feeling like shit again.

“I know.” I told him, my voice getting shaky. “It’s just that, I’m sorry.” I felt tears pour out from my eyes. I wiped them off before continuing. “I’m sorry that you got all beat up and this is all my fault. Maybe if I learned how to defend myself you wouldn’t be in this position. I should’ve just listened to Lucas and not have gone and this whole mess would’ve never happened and I’m just really sorry Lucas beat you up, okay? This wasn’t meant for you, he was mad at me and I just mess up everything with everyone and I was the one who deserved to be beaten up not you, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just so sorry.” I held my face in my hands, full out crying now. I leant forward and kind of made myself into a ball. I tried crying softly, but it didn’t work out. “And I know sorry doesn’t cut it but…” my lip trembled, “I’m so sorry.” I whispered. I felt the tears streak down my arm and I did some breathing exercises I learned online to calm me down. After I got my composure together, I readjusted myself to my earlier position. Blake looked at me, his black eye getting darker by the minute. Blake didn’t deserve that.

He was quiet for a while, not saying anything. I dreaded what he was going to say. I mean, he cheated on me, why wouldn’t he be mad at me because he got beat up by my boyfriend? I was about to get up but he stopped me.

“You don’t deserve to beaten.” he frowned. I shook my head. “Asher,” I almost shuddered by the way he said my name, “you didn’t deserve to be beaten up. I initiated the fight by landing the first hit. Lucas was hurting you, I can’t let anyone do that to you.” I bit my lip, wanting to leave Blake’s house. Why’s he acting all caring? And where’s Christian so I can leave? “You having nothing to be sorry about, and you’re not weak just because you didn’t defend yourself. You were probably scared; I saw the look on your face.” That’s no excuse. Blake pulled out my wrist, turning it to where Lucas was holding it. There was a yellow spot in the middle where his finger was pressing, around it grew from blue to dark purple and it looked really bad. “That prick deserved what he got for doing this to you.” He tried to reason, but he was still wrong. I deserved it for even looking at another man while I’m with someone. Maybe that’s why Blake cheated on me, because he caught me checking out another guy or something.

“You’re wrong,” I breathed, pulling my hand away. “When I saw you at the party, I couldn’t help but look. You looked really cute tonight and I couldn’t help myself because I guess I’m still not over you and Lucas caught me and took me to the back and started squeezing my wrist really hard because my attention wasn’t on my boyfriend.” I wiped my face with my arm and gave a light chuckle. “I finally understood why you cheated now. I don’t deserve someone like you and I couldn’t make you happy enough so I understand. You’re probably happy now with whoever you’re with and I wish you the best in your future relationship.” I finally looked up to Blake, but I couldn’t see through blurry eyes.

I stood up, keeping a hand to my face to stop the tears that keep flooding out. “Thank you for defending me, Blake. I don’t know where Christian went… I think he was going to get stuff to help you clean up. Again, I’m sorry this happened. I’m not worth the trouble.” With that, I headed for the door. I paused for a moment, another rush of emotions going through me. After I gained back my composure, I opened the door and left.