Fighting for Her

Riley was tired of it. She was tired of him. The way he carried himself, the way he thought he could get away with something like this made her sick.

"Ri." Tommy nudged her with his elbow as he drove her truck to the diner.

"Huh?" She was lost in thought. She stared at Tommy who was looking at her with those patient blue eyes.

How can he be so calm about this? She thought.

"I was asking you if you were excited for this weekend?" He put his hand on her lap and smiled when she grasped it softly with both hands.

"This weekend?" She asked while averting her gaze from him back to the window, watching the blurred buildings pass them by.

"Anna's wedding." He stopped the truck at the red light and lifted his fingers to her chin, drawing her attention back to him. "Are you okay?" He asked, knowing that she wasn't. How could she forget her best friends wedding.

She stared back at him with a frown. "No. Yes. Ugh." She shook her head and put a hand on her forehead. "I'm excited yes, but I'm not okay. You shouldn't be okay. Why are you so calm?"

The car behind Tommy honked their horn. The light was green and Tommy let out a sigh. "People need to be more patient." He let off the brake and eased on the gas. "I'm calm because I have to be."

"No. You have to find him and make him pay." Riley swallowed the lump in her throat. The hairs on her neck stood up after she said it, make him pay. She wasn't a violent person. She was just fed up.

"Make him pay?" Tommy pulled the truck over and turned in his seat to face her completely. "Riley." He let out a deep breath and pulled her toward him. "Don't think that way. I'm gonna handle it. The last thing I want is for you to start thinking like fighter." He kissed the top of her head.

Riley didn't want him to see that she was now crying so she stayed in his arms, face pulled into his chest. She thought of what could have happened. She thought of Ryan's sly grin as he passed the man the envelope of money. She wiped her tears away from her face and pulled back from Tommy's grasp. She said as strong and steady as she could, "I hate him."

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"Are you sure about this?" Anna asked Riley as she placed a small duffle bag into the passenger seat of her SUV.

"Yes. Tommy isn't going to do anything about it." Riley got into Anna's car and adjusted the mirrors. She pulled the rear view down a bit, showing her own reflection. Her eyes were tired, her face pale from stress. She looked unfamiliar.

Good. She thought. She didn't want to remember herself this way.

"I just don't think its a very good idea." Anna slid into the passenger seat, clutching onto the duffle bag.

"Its fine. I have it all planned out." Riley switched the radio on and pressed the buttons until she was content with the music.

"Yeah but shouldn't we at least tell someone?" Anna lowered the music and stared at her best friend. She would do anything for her, but this just didn't seem smart.

"Anna. I got this." Riley twisted the volume nob until all that could be heard was the blaring guitars of Avenged Sevenfold. She needed this. Revenge. And it was going to be sweet.

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By the time the girls pulled up to Ryan's house it was past ten. It was pitch black, except for a few lamps outside people's gated driveways. Riley lowered the window and leaned out, ready to open the gate.

"What if he changed the combination?" Anna asked nervously.

"He's had the same combination for years. He hasn't changed it." She punched in the numbers and smiled when the gate began to slide open.

"You should leave it open so we can leave faster." Anna suggested.

"Good idea." Riley punched in the code again and pressed a yellow button making the gate freeze after it was fully open. Ryan's silver sports car was in the driveway, making Anna's heart skip a beat. She looked over at Riley who was cracking her knuckles.

"Maybe we should wait." Anna glanced at the side view mirror.

"For what? The drive was long enough. This is happening right now. But I can't do it without you, A." Riley's attention was on Anna, her eyes pleading for help.

"Okay. Fine." Anna knew there was no arguing with Riley when she was set on something.

"Just be ready okay?" Riley motioned to the duffle bag on Anna's lap. She smirked a little for reassurance and climbed out of the SUV. Her feet dragged, as they always did, up the driveway and to the front door. Before she rang the bell, she rubbed her eyes hard to make it look like she had been crying. She plastered a fake frown on her face and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened and Ryan stood before her, in his khaki pants and button up shirt. Riley's fake frown was replaced with a real one. She really hated him.

"Riley? What are you doing here?" He looked behind her, expecting to see Tommy but held a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone else but Riley and an empty SUV.

"Something terrible happened. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do." Riley whined and ran into Ryan's arms and squeezed him tight. She rolled her eyes when she knew he couldn't see her face. He was tense for a moment, unsure of what to make of this but then accepted her embrace. He smoothed the side of her hair. She tried her hardest not to cringe.

"Come inside and tell me what happened." He shut the door behind them, giving Anna the okay to sit back up in the SUV. She was ducked down so he wouldn't see her, but now she was up and ready. She unzipped the duffle bag and produced a hand held video camera. She got out of the car and walked up to the front of the house. The windows were big and wide, showing everything inside the living room. The plan was simple. Riley would go in and get Ryan to confess to what he did and Anna would get it all on tape. There was a problem, however. Anna realized that she couldn't hear anything that was going on in the house.

"Shit." she cursed to herself. Surely Riley knew this, she thought. "Dammit." Anna cursed again, this time ducking by the bushes when she saw Riley and Ryan walk into the living room. Anna reached for her phone, but remembered it was in the car. She couldn't leave now, so she flipped the camera on and recorded what she saw. Ryan put his arm around a crying Riley and seemed to be comforting her. Anna wondered what they were saying.

Riley was a good actress, Anna thought. If the roles were reversed and Anna had to do this, was no way she'd be able to keep her cool. Anna checked the camera to make sure it was recording. It was. She whipped her head back to the window when she saw movement. Ryan was on top of Riley who was struggling to push him off.

"Shit shit shit!" Anna was about to run to the front door when Riley landed a mean right hook to Ryan's face. She kicked him off of her and hopped off the couch. Anna began banging on the window and motioning for Riley to leave but it was too dark outside. Riley couldn't see what Anna was trying to say. As Riley was trying to see outside, Ryan grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her into him. His arms were wrapped around Riley's chest, restraining her. She closed her eyes and thought of Tommy and what he does in the ring. She opened her eyes and kicked her foot behind his, sending them both toppling to the floor. Riley wriggled out of his grasp and placed her hands on the window. Ryan was just as quick, behind her pressing her against the glass. He grabbed the back of her head and slammed it against the window. Anna screamed at the sight of Riley's blood. As she turned to run for the front door, she saw two headlights pulling past the open gate and into the driveway. The car came screeching to a halt. Noah jumped out of the driver side and ran to Anna who was hysterical. The tears were flowing down her face and the sobbing was making it hard to understand. Tommy jumped out of the passenger seat about to run for the front door but stopped when he saw Anna's state.

"Where is she?" He grabbed Anna by the shoulders.

"In-in-inside. Hurry!" Anna sobbed out loud and pulled Noah towards the house.

Tommy flung the front door open and ran into the living room. Riley wasn't there. He walked slowly inside, surveying the damage. There was blood on the window and on the floor beneath it, a broken lamp and some more blood smears on the wall leading into another hallway. Tommy walked past the blood and closed his eyes hoping it wasn't Riley's.

Then he heard her scream.

He flew into the hall, passing a couple closed doors on the way. He knew what signs to look for and what not to waste his time with. It was part of his Marine training. He spotted the sign he was looking for, a small smear of blood on the door frame and kicked the bedroom door open. Riley was on top of Ryan, pulling him up by the collar and punching him in the face. She froze when she saw Tommy in the doorway. Her nose was bloody, dripping on to the rest of her. Her pants were pulled down slightly and her hair a mess.

Before Tommy could swoop in and get her out, Ryan swung forward and landed a hard punch right on the side of Riley's face. She fell backwards off the bed and landed on her side. Tommy didn't hesitate. He ripped Ryan off the bed and swung his measly body into a wall, causing a gaping hole in the sheet rock. Riley had hurt him pretty bad, he already had a clearly broken nose and pieces of lamp in his hair but Tommy didn't care. He slammed his foot in Ryan's chest again and again and again until Anna's hand brought him back to reality. She rested her hand on his shoulder, and pulled him away.

"We need to get her to a hospital." Anna pointed at Riley who was curled up on the floor next to the dresser.

He glared back and Ryan's unconscious body before switching the beast off and tending to Riley. He picked her up gently and cradled her in his arms. She groaned softly and he could feel the grip she had on his shirt tighten.

"What the fuck were you two thinking?" Tommy asked Anna who stood there looking at her best friend helpless in a giants arms.

"Just take her to the hospital. I have to finish this." She tossed him her keys and turned to Noah. "Help me bring him to the car." She pointed at Ryan.

"What?" Tommy and Noah both said together.

"Look. You need to go. Now. Take her to the hospital." She stuck a bossy finger at Tommy. "And you need to help me finish this stupid plan. Otherwise this," she looked over at Riley, "is going to be for nothing." Her voice was fierce and she was showing no fear anymore. As the boys just stood there, she clapped her hands together. "Now! Let's go!"

Tommy grunted and left, walking slowly as to not hurt Riley anymore then she already was. Anna looked over at Noah and gave him raised eyebrows.

"Lets do this."

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Noah pulled up to the curb of the police station slowly. He put the car in park and opened the back door. He pulled Ryan out and laid him on the concrete in front of the precinct doors. Anna hopped out and stuck the video tape to Ryan's chest. She peered down at him, a worthless man who beat up a girl who was worth more than anyone she had ever known.

Anna reached down and slapped Ryan in the face.

"Anna, lets go." Noah called after her.

When she got into the car, she smiled to herself. "Finally, its over."