Fighting for Her

Tommy's lips quivered into a pout while he slept. His breathing was steady, deep and long. Riley stared at him, her nose barely touching his. She wondered what he was dreaming about. She ran her tiny fingers along the front of his hair, but he slept unphased by her touch. He must be exhausted, she thought. She kissed him lightly on the lips and got out of bed. Her head was pounding from all the drinking she did the night before and her stomach wasn't faring any better.

Riley settled for a bowl of cereal and curled up on the couch. She felt a little more at ease now that things between her and Tommy were back to normal but she couldn't help but feel upset knowing that he was attacked last night. Her stomach tied in knots just thinking about it. Sure he was a fighter, but this was different. When he's in the ring, he has complete control. He knows what he has to do to defeat one man, not try to defend himself against three men. She rubbed her forehead, as if the gesture would make the unpleasant thoughts disappear.

The front door creaked open, letting a cold draft in, followed by Anna shaking her coat off and greeting the heat in the apartment with a smile. She laughed when she saw Riley snuggled under a quilt on the couch, eating her cereal like a child.

"Good morning, sunshine." Anna beamed. "Or should I say, afternoon?"

Riley pressed her lips together in a small smile, her eyes too tired to lift. "How are you not hungover? Or tired?"

"Because its two in the afternoon." Anna sat on the couch next to Riley and stuck her now bare feet under the blanket. "Did you just wake up?"

Riley nodded. "Pretty much. Tommy came over last night, or early this morning really. He's sleeping in my room right now." She spooned some cereal into her mouth, glad that it was now soggy since chewing seemed like a rigorous activity at the moment.

"He did? And you guys are okay?" She raided her eyebrows at her best friend.

"Yeah, yeah. We're fine." She smiled a little more now, just saying it out loud made her feel even more at ease.

"So the redhead was what? Nothing?" Anna asked.

"She was just Sam's girlfriend. Tommy's friend." Riley began to frown. "But, he was attacked last night. After we saw him at the pub, I guess. I don't really know what happened."

Anna sat up, her voice taking a more serious tone. "Attacked? By who?"

"No idea." Riley shook her head.

"You didn't ask?" Anna gave Riley a confused look.

"I know, I know." Riley put her cereal bowl on the coffee table. "I should have but we were a little busy." She didn't know whether to laugh or be disappointed in herself so she just stayed quiet. After a few moments of silence, her bedroom door opened and out walked Tommy. The cuts on his face were still red and he had bruising under his eye but the minor swelling had gone down a lot.

"Holy shit." Anna put her hand to her mouth and stood up. Tommy just stood there looking at the girls, unsure of what to say. Finally he just smiled and slumped to the kitchen. Anna turned to Riley with wide eyes. "Dude..."

Tommy came back with a glass of orange juice and sat on the couch next to Riley.

"How are you feeling?" Riley asked quietly.

He looked at her and chuckled. "Ri, I'm fine. I've had worse you know." He ran his palm over his messy hair.

"What happened?" Anna sat on the table across from Tommy, trying to get a better look at his injuries.

Tommy sighed and leaned back into the couch and told the girls everything.

~~~

"Are you sure you don't want to stay over again? It's no problem if you do." Sam asked as he pulled his jacket on.

"Nah. Thanks though. I should probably go find Riley and talk to her." Tommy pulled his own jacket on and said his goodbyes to Sam and Mia and headed out into the cold night. He figured they might have gone to the bar him and Noah had taken them a couple nights ago, so he began walking in that direction. He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed Riley's number. After the fourth ring, it went to voice mail. Her tried again and again until her phone went straight to voice mail. He was beyond frustrated.

After a few more minutes he finally reached the bar. It was getting late and the bar was close to empty. No girls, no Riley. He sighed. He walked toward the rear looking for the bathroom, passing a few pool tables on the way.

"Yo, wanna get a game in?" A short, stubby man with a patchy beard called over to Tommy.

"Nah." Tommy said shortly, and kept walking.

"Come on. We're down one guy." The short man called out to him again but this time Tommy didn't even respond. He found the door to the bathroom and swung it open. A second after, the door swung open again. Tommy glanced to the side and saw the same short man standing next to a skinny man and a bigger guy who Tommy remembered from the other night.

"It'll be quick." Shorty said.

"What?" Tommy grunted, clearly annoyed.

"The game. It'll be quick." Shorty repeated.

"I'm good." Tommy zipped his pants up and walked over to the sink.

"Hear that, Jay? He's good." Skinny piped in. Tommy wasn't in the mood. He dried his hands and headed for the door but was blocked by Shorty and Skinny.

Jay stood behind them and took a swig of his beer. "Yeah, I heard." The glint of a gold tooth showed as he spoke.

Tommy glared at the three of them. "You gonna move?"

"Yeah, but you ain't." Shorty took a swing at Tommy, who backed up in time to avoid the punch.

"That's not a real good idea." Tommy said.

Skinny laughed and swung twice at Tommy. The first punch missed and the second was blocked by Tommy's arm. He pushed Skinny into Jay who stumbled back against the wall. Tommy looked over at Shorty who backed up and waited for Jay to do something. Stumbling to his feet, Jay lurched forward and knocked Tommy on his back, landing in a few punches. Tommy's fist collided with Jay's jaw, sending him reeling back. Before Tommy could get back up, Shorty and Skinny were on him landing blow after blow. Finally, Tommy grabbed Skinny by the collar and threw him against one of the stalls. Shorty scampered back, allowing Tommy to get on his feet again. With one quick move, Tommy grabbed Shorty by the shoulders and kneed him right in the stomach, folding him over like a flimsy piece of paper. As Jay stood in the corner, still holding his jaw, Tommy looked over at Skinny who was now slowly rising to a stance.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea." Tommy repeated. He grabbed Skinny by the collar again and swung him into Shorty, who fell like two bowling pins. They laid in a mangled mess on the floor, groaning. They wouldn't be getting up for a while, he thought. Jay finally let go of his face and ran at Tommy. He pinned him against the wall, bringing his knee up to Tommy's stomach. Tommy froze for a moment, gathering his strength. He gave one final push and punched Jay, sending him back. Jay reached down and swung a beer bottle toward Tommy. It hit him right in the temple, cracking on impact. Tommy instantly ducked down, holding the side of his face and when he looked back up, Jay was gone.

~~~

"That's crazy!" Anna said, eyes as big as saucers.

Tommy shrugged. He stared at Riley who was deep in thought with her mouth open.

"Did you say a gold tooth?" She asked, swinging her head towards Anna.

"Yeah. He was at the bar the other night when you and Anna got drunk. Noah had to carry Anna to the truck." Tommy laughed, as if what he just told them was no big deal.

"Anna! The guy! From the bar!" Riley was shouting now and using a lot of hand gestures.

"Yeah, that's what I just said." Tommy was confused. He stared at the girls who seemed as if they were putting pieces of a puzzle together.

"Oh my god!" Anna said, cupping her mouth again.

"You guys, its okay. They were just assholes lookin' for a fight." Tommy rubbed his knuckles. They were sore, but nothing a good workout wouldn't fix.

"No, you don't understand. We saw him last night!" Riley exclaimed.

"Saw who?" Tommy furrowed his brows.

"That guy! With the gold tooth! I knew I remembered him from somewhere, and you're right! It was from that bar the other night." Riley was talking really fast, and Tommy was lost.

"Okay..."

"We saw him collecting like a manila envelope or something. Probably full of money." Anna was talking fast now too.

"He was with..." Riley stopped. The puzzle was complete. She knew who attacked Tommy. Well, not exactly, but she knew who was behind it and that was good enough for her. "That fuck." She said, eyes burning with rage.

"What? Slow down Ri! What are you guys talking about?" Tommy put his hands on Riley's shoulders to steady her. She was shaking, angry and enraged. He looked at Anna who was pale now, hands covering her mouth. "He was with who, Riley?"

Riley spat the name out with such anger it made her scream. "Ryan!"