Fighting for Her

Riley crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at Tommy with furrowed brows. It had been three days and he was already sitting at a bar with some woman. Riley was beyond pissed.

"You're an asshole." She sniffled her tears back and turned on her heel. Stomping back to the girls, she heard him call after her.

"Riley!" He reached for her arm and turned her around. She slapped his hand away and pushed him back.

"Leave me alone." Riley left Tommy standing there looking dumbfounded. She reached Anna who was standing there with a confused look on her face.

"What's the matter?" Anna said, craning her neck to see Tommy standing a few feet away talking to a girl and a guy, all while looking at Riley.

"He was with a girl." Riley's lip quivered as she spoke, letting the tears fall down her cheeks.

"What?!" Anna said in shock. "Seriously?" She let her jaw drop.

"Can we go?" Riley looked at Anna with pleading eyes.

"Of course. Lets go." Anna gathered the other girls and handed Riley her leather jacket. She shimmied it on her arms and felt someone help it over her shoulders. She turned and faced Tommy, who was looking at her with his patient eyes.

"Ri, its not -" He started but was interrupted by Anna.

"You have some nerve!" She jabbed him in the shoulder with her fingers. "Look at her face! She's crying! You know how worried she's been not knowing where you are? And here you are, low and behold! With some... some hussy!" Anna pushed him harder, but he was a wall. She shook her head at him and grabbed Riley by the hand. She pulled her out the door and into the cool air of the night. The rest of the girls were outside waiting, whispering amongst themselves, and stopped when Riley and Anna reached them.

Riley wiped her face and rolled her eyes. She stared up at Anna who looked gorgeous in a hot pink dress, her blonde hair perfectly coiffed in an up-do. She had been looking forward to this night since her uptight bridal shower. Riley would be damned if she was going to let her bet friend's bachelorette party be ruined on account of her own drama. She sucked in the rest of her tears and smoothed her black dress down.

"Okay, bitches. Where's the next bar?" Riley said with more enthusiasm than normal. She gave the group a mischievous smile, hoping to cover up her grief.

"Riley," Anna put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "You don't have to do this."

"Oh hush, A! If she wants to keep the party going, I say we keep it going." Leah chirped as she slung her arm around Riley's neck and began walking down the street to the black stretch limousine.

Anna watched as Leah and Riley staggered happily down the sidewalk. She wanted to make sure Riley was really okay with what just happened. Riley poked her head around the open door of the limo and smiled at Anna, waving her over. She gave Riley a sympathetic smile, which was countered by a sly smile and wiggly eyebrows.

Anna chuckled. "Okay, lets do it!"

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The girls had somehow ended up at an upper class bar Valerie had heard about from one of her sorority sisters. It was quieter than the pub, filled with men and women who looked like they had just stepped out of Express. The seats were plush, tables sleek and modern. Riley sipped on her whiskey and coke, needed something a little stronger to survive the night.

Her phone had buzzed non stop from Tommy's phone calls and texts. So much so, that she had thrown it out of the window of the moving limousine. A second later, she regretted her decision and made the driver pull over so she could search the sidewalk for her phone. Amazingly, it was found with a few scuffs and a shattered screen, but still it worked. And when it buzzed again, she handed it over to Anna who shut it off and crammed it into her tiny clutch for safe keeping.

"Thank you, Ri, for an amazing night. I mean it. You're the best, really." Anna put her head on Riley's shoulder with a drunken smile.

"I know." Riley responded coyly, followed by an eruption of giggles. "Its been great hanging out with the girls." Riley looked over to the small dance floor, where Leah and two other girls were dancing in a circle.

"I have to pee." Anna wobbled up, almost spilling her cosmo.

"I'll go with." Riley set her drink down and held Anna's hand as they navigated through tables and chairs to get to a long hallway behind the bar. The top half of the wall was made of glass panes, showing the entire bar through it. As Anna hobbled into the bathroom, Riley stared at all the liquor bottles that lined the wall. As she walked farther and farther down the wall, she could see the VIP section, nestled in the corner of the bar. The seats were even more plush, dark red with golden studs.

Excellent craftsmanship. She giggled at the thought. Her laughter came to a halt when she saw Ryan's familiar profile.

"Jesus Christ." Riley cursed to herself and ducked down under the glass.

Is there no escaping him?!

"Whyyy..." Anna wrinkled her forehead at Riley, then sat down and joined her on the floor, "...are we sitting down here?" She picked at the straps on her shoes.

"Oh you know. Because I can never get away from my abusive ex." Riley looked around the hall to make sure he hadn't wandered her way.

"What?! Where?!" Anna jumped up and put her hands on the glass, staring in between bottles. Riley tugged on the hem of Anna's dress to try to get her to kneel back down.

"Come back down here." Riley hissed.

"What? No! Get up. Let's go hit him over the head with a bottle." Anna stared through the glass while flicking Riley's hand away over and over. Riley sighed and got up. She stared through the bottles as well, but only to figure out a quick get away route.

"Okay, if we sneak behind those tables, we could run out the door and then call Leah and Sasha once we get outside." Riley drew her route on the glass with her pointer finger.

"Don't be scared, Ri. We can take him." Anna sized him up through the glass.

"I'm not scared Anna. I'm just annoyed. I swear I've seen him more since we've broken up then I ever did while we were together." Riley rolled her eyes. Ryan looked as slick as ever, wearing his navy blue blazer, hair styled in a faux hawk. She stuck her tongue out in disgust, wondering what she ever saw in him.

"He's got some weird friends, huh?" Anna motioned to the large, burly man sitting across from him in the booth. In one quick move, Ryan slid a thick envelope over to the man.

"Oh... I wonder what that was?" Riley asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe Ryan's in the mob." Anna joked.

"Yeah okay. He's not fat enough." Riley snorted a laugh. The burly man smiled as if he had heard their joke and the girls both shut their mouths. Of course, it was impossible for him to have heard them since the glass was so thick, but still, it made Riley uneasy. The large man got up from the booth and turned, showing his whole face. Riley couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like she had seen him before.

Damn alcohol. That was the second time tonight she couldn't place someone's face. The man from earlier was younger than this man, and smaller too. The burly man stuffed the envelope into his coat pocket and smiled, showing a glint of a gold tooth.

"You think I could rock one of those?" Anna joked while watching the burly man pass Leah and the girls.

"Def." Riley laughed. "I think I need another drink." She said while shaking her head.

"I think I need some karaoke." Anna sang, grabbing Riley by the hand and dragging her from the hall to where the other girls were. They decided to party the rest of the night away.

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Tommy pulled his hoodie lower to cover the top of his head as he walked down Riley's street. The cold air was stinging the cuts on his face, the night air was getting chillier by the minute. He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw her truck parked by the side of the curb. She was home. It had been a very long night and he felt his feet drag a bit with every step he took. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressing the top button to check for any missed calls from her out of habit, but it had died over an hour ago.

Funny. He snorted a laugh to himself. Before he met Riley he had no use for a phone and now that he was without it, he felt completely helpless. He finally reached her door and took a deep breath before ringing the door bell. His face stung, his knuckles bloody and swollen. He wiped his hands on his jeans and rang the bell. Tommy waited a moment and contemplated throwing pebbles at her window but that would exert too much energy. He lifted a finger and pressed the long rectangular button again. He leaned against the wall, letting it support his body weight. His teeth were chattering now, he let out a little groan of pain and impatience. He rang the doorbell again and heard her voice through the door.

"Coming! Fuck!" Riley swung the door open, the heat from the apartment hitting Tommy in the face. Riley stood in the doorway wrapped in her thick blanket, her hair a mess. Her groggy eyes snapped open when she saw his face.

"What happened? What happened to you?!" The words rushed out of her as she grabbed his face with her warm hands. She ignored his slight wince and pulled his hoodie back. He had a gash above his eyebrow and his upper lip was swollen. Dried blood was caked under his nose, and the side of his cheek was bruised. He was shaking from the cold. She pulled him inside the apartment and closed the door behind him.

She stared at his patient eyes and waited for him to explain. He kept his gaze on her, unsure of where to start. He opened his mouth, and was at a loss for words. She raised her eyebrows in question.

"That girl at the bar wasn't what you though. Shes Sam's girlfriend. I was staying with him. And they wanted to go out to the pub so I went with them. I tried to explain but you ran off." He moved closer and kept his eyes locked on hers. He took in a deep breath.

"What?" Riley shook her head. "I'm talking about your face! What happened?" She felt a tinge of relief though, to know that the guy at the pub was Sam, the guy who tattooed her. And the red headed woman was his girlfriend. But she still shuddered when she took a look at Tommy's face.

"Oh this." He touched his forehead and had his hand snatched away instantly.

"Oh my god! Your hand!" Riley ran her fingers over Tommy's blistered knuckles. "We're you fighting?" Her voice was shrill.

"Well. Yeah, but it was self defense." He let her trail her fingers along his own. She looked at him with furrowed brows.

"Explain." She was as sober as a bird now, ready for what he had to say.

"There were three of them. I took care of it but one fucker hit me with a beer bottle and ran off." Tommy stared as Riley's eyes grew wide again.

"Three?!" Her mouth fell open. "Wh-what? You took care of it?"

She was scared now, he could see it. He could hear it in her voice. "They aren't dead, if that's what you're asking." He smiled, trying to joke. She wasn't having it.

"Dead?! How can you joke about this Tommy! You could have been hurt way worse than this! You could have been arrested! You-" She stopped mid sentence and brought her hands up to her face. She was freaking out again.

Deep breaths. She repeated the mantra and opened her eyes. His blue eyes were sad now, full of pain.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. At your dad's. I should have told you about Brendan and Tess." Riley said softly. Tommy closed the space between them and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I'm sorry." He said while his lips were still on hers. She buried her face into his hoodie and breathed him in. She missed him. But she was still worried. She pulled her head back and stared at his face.

"Are you really okay?" Her voice cracked a bit.

"I'm tougher than you think, Ri." He kissed her forehead and was so happy to be back in her arms.