The Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

After Andy dropped me off so I could get ready, I had to call Erika to talk about what happened with her and Joe. I just hope they're not still together. I really don’t wanna be a cock block.

“Hello?” She said mid laugh.

“Um, am I interrupting something?” I asked.

“Not really, Joe and me are just getting food.” Joe must have said something, cause I heard her tell him shut up.

“Well I guess I’ll just talk to you tonight then. You two crazy kids have fun.” I teased

Now she was telling me to shut up, and I heard some slight embarrassment in her voice. Then she just hung up on me.

They're so cute, and so perfect for each other really. It wouldn't really seem like it, but they balance each other out. And unlike Luis, Joe was able to have really intelligent conversations with her. She needed that, and I'm happy Joe came into our lives.

I laughed, and went up to my bathroom to take a shower. Before I had the chance to get in, my doorbell rang. I yelled downstairs to my mom to ask her if she could get it, but the lack of response told me she wasn’t there.

As I headed downstairs, it became evident that someone was banging on the door, and I was really scared to open it. I was really quiet going up to the door to look through the peep hole. It was the familiar face of Damien, and he seemed to be drunk. So I grabbed the home phone from the kitchen, and dialed Andys number.

“Hello?” I heard him say on the other line, a bit confused. He just dropped me off.

“I need you to come back. Damien is here and he’s banging on my door, drunk off his ass.”

“I’m turning around right now. I’ll be there in 5 minutes” then I heard a click, and the line end. He sounded so angry. I’m really afraid of whats about to go down. Maybe if I don’t say anything, he’ll think no ones home, but that didn’t work.

“I know you're there Nicolette… I… I saw that stupid boy…boyfriend of yours drop you off”

Dammit

“What do you want Damien?” I yelled through the door.

Slurred, he yelled back “I.. I’m not taking no for an answer Nic..Nicolette” Hiccuping between words. “Let me in! Lets… come on lets talk about this.”

“I’m not gonna talk to you like this. And I’m definitely not gonna let you in.”

He got really mad, and started banging on the door again. This time more violently. Andy please get here soon. I felt the pressure of the door as he started to ram his body against it, trying to break it down.

“Stop that Damien! You're gonna break my door!” I screamed. I was getting really scared. I had no idea he could get this violent.

He kept on like this for a few minutes until I opened the door and he fell through my doorway. I hoped once I opened the door he would calm down.

As he was getting up, I started slapping his body, screaming at him “What the hell are you thinking?” And more profanities, but he was fuming. He started fighting me back, grabbing hold of my wrists so I would stop hitting him. I made a mistake opening the door. He pinned me up against the wall and started screaming in my face.

“LISTEN TO ME NICOLETTE!” I could smell the alcohol on his breath. His face was so close to mine I could see my own reflection in his eyes.

Tears started rolling down my face and I hoped to god Andy would show up soon.

“I KNOW YOURE NOT GIVING UP ON US! YOU CAN’T I WONT LET THAT HAPPEN”

I begged for him to stop, but he was just getting more upset with me, banging his fist against the wall. But I finally heard a car pulling up fast, and a door open, I fought to break loose, but his restraint tightened.

“ANDY” I screamed, tears pouring down my face. He ran through the door, and pushed Damien off of me. He fell back onto the floor and clumsily got up, then charged at Andy full speed. But just like Aaron, he was no match for Andy. All it took was one swing and Damien was on the ground, but that wasn't enough for Andy. He got on top of him and started wailing on him. I’ve never seen Andy so mad, but I wasn’t about to stop him. I was shaking on the ground, in tears, shocked about what had just happened.

Andy finally stopped after he got quite a few good hits in, and picked him up violently. I could see that he had blood on his hands. “YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW! IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” He screamed in Damiens face, and he nodded and ran out.

He then turned his attention towards me, and his angry expression faltered when he saw me, to a look of concern and pure pity. He knelt down and I immediately lunged into his arms and started crying hysterically.

After a few minutes, I tried to explain what happened.

“I… I thought, if I…I… had let him…. in, he would… calm down.” I choked out.

“No, no no baby, you don’t have to explain, this wasn’t your fault. I’m just glad you called me.” He comforted me, and held me tightly in those familiar arms that make me feel safe.

“Come on, lets get out of the doorway” He carried me up for off of the floor and into the living room. He sat me on the couch and just sat there, holding me for what seemed like forever, and telling me it was going to be okay, and that it was over, until I finally calmed down.

Andy was the most amazing person that has ever come into my life. I felt so safe with him, and there was no one else who would be willing to do that for me.

“I love you” I weakly got out, and looked up at him. “More than you will ever imagine. I just feel like, like theres no way for me to possibly express how much I love you Andy Hurley. In this god forsaken world, I feel so lucky that I picked that seat next to you on our first day. You are the better half of me, and I will spend every single day we have together to show you that I am so grateful to have you.”

I saw a small smile form across his face. And he softly kissed my forehead, then moved his lips down, right next to my ear. “I love you too. And I’ll never stop.”

I buried my head into his neck and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up on the couch a few hours later, I looked around the room for Andy but he wasn't there. I got up and headed to the kitchen, and I found him and my mom, sitting at the breakfast bar talking.

My mom caught my gaze and set down her cup of tea, and headed over towards me, enveloping me in a hug.

“Oh sweetie. Andy told me what happened. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, I feel horrible.” She gushed, her voice cracked a little.

“It’s okay mom. You’re not obligated to be here all the time. You didn’t know what was going on.” I tried to assure her.

“Well, thank god for your boyfriend here. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.” She finally let go of me, and looked seriously at me. “We’re gonna file a police report and get a restraining order okay?”

I nodded in agreement. I was finally getting rid of Damien, it wasn't the way I imagined, but at least it was finally happening.

“I’m gonna go call a lawyer. We’ll get this taken care of as soon as possible” And she went into the other room.

I looked over at Andy who was still leaning up against the island and walked up to him.

“Do you want some tea?” He offered.

“Yes please”

As he poured me a cup of tea, I thought about all the drama I had put Andy through since the moment I met him. I felt horrible about it.

“Am I worth all of this to you?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, baffled.

“I mean, ever since we met, I’ve put you through so much drama and it’s not fair to you. I just want to know, it it worth being with me?”

He looked shocked, like he couldn't believe I asked him that. “Of course it is Nicolette. I love you more than anything, and I meant what I said earlier, I’ll always love you. Sure it sucks that we go through all this drama, but the thing that keeps me going is knowing that I have someone that will go through it with me.”

“I’m sorry, I just feel bad about it sometimes. You don’t deserve to go through this.” I started tearing up again. He came up and leaned down to be face level with me.

“Baby, no one deserves to go through this. But people do, and they get through it. We’ll get through it too.”

I just nodded and pulled him in for a hug.

“Oh shit, what time is it?” I asked.

“8 O’Clock” Andy said.

“Erika is probably wondering where I’m at.” I got up off the stool.

“I already told her that we weren't going to Petes tonight. I didn’t tell her why because I wasn't sure if you wanted me too. I told her you’ll talk to her tomorrow. No one knows what happened Except us and your mom.”

“Good. I don’t want Erika being here with me after today. I want her to enjoy herself tonight.”

“Yeah. And honestly, Pete and Joe would probably hunt Damien down and kill him.” He chuckled.

“Really? Wow, I didn’t think they would do something like that for me.” I confessed.

“Oh yeah. They love you, and Erika. You guys are important to Joe and me, and we’re all like brothers.”

‘Wow’ I thought to myself. It’s nice to know that I have a group of friends that care about me so much. And I’m happy that Erika was included it that group. I’m really lucky.