Save Me, Soldier

Chapter Fifteen;

CHRIS'S POV

I found the meeting with Aaron not as awkward as I thought it was going to be. Even though he is like Peyton's older brother, we managed to get along and actually have a chance of becoming friends, dare I say it. I hope I didn't just jinx that, because how great would it be for Peyton to have her best friend and her boyfriend getting along?

Aaron and I are wearing pretty much the same thing, it's kind of weird. It's like we think alike. We must, because we both have great taste in women. He picked a great friend to become best friends with. Peyton is smart, beautiful, funny, nice, thoughtful, caring, everything you want in a girl. I hope she feels the same way about me.

I wanted to ask Aaron if he'd be okay with me dating his best friend, but I don't know how he'd take it. I don't know if he'd care, I think he would though. Why else would he be here if he didn't care what Peyton did? Because he does care, and I admire him for that.

TED ends, and after many laughs, we stand up as the lights on the theater slowly turn back on. I stretch, and so does Aaron. Peyton smiles and picks up all of our garbage off the ground.

"You guys were incredibly messy" She says. I nod my head and fist pump with Aaron, and we lean down to help Peyton with the garbage. 

We walk out of the theater and into the dark, night streets. Aaron is flirting with a brown haired beauty in line for the late show, which leaves me with Peyton. I take her hands in mine and smile down at her, looking into her eyes. Those beautiful, ocean blue eyes get me every time.

Just as I'm about to say something, someone screams Peyton's name. I suspect it would have been Aaron, calling for her to go home. Peyton and I both turn to where the voice was coming from, and when I see it I can't believe my eyes.

Standing in front of us is a tall, broad shouldered, and blond boy. He looks like he works out all the time, and I start to wonder why he's here. I guess I shouldn't be quick to ask questions, he probably just came for a movie like I did.

"Hey Peyton!! Where have you been baby girl?" He asks, breaking my hold on Peyton and then giving her a hug.

I look at Peyton, she's got a smile on her face and she wraps her arms around Jeremy's body. She looks at Jeremy with a weird, questioning look on her face.

"Where have I been? Jeremy , you haven't called me since New Years" She says .Jeremy shakes his head, and has a seductive looking smile on his face. He pushes her against the doors of the movie theater and my mouth drops open. Peyton doesn't look at me for reassurance but I feel like I should be doing something to rescue her.

"We've hung out since then, heck, I bet you couldn't stop thinking about me" Jeremy cooes in her ear. She tries to push him off of her, but he doesn't budge. I look over at Aaron, he's still flirting with that girl in line.

"Jeremy, you're an asshole. You didn't even try and call me after the last time we hung out. Get off of me" Peyton demands. Again, Jeremy doesn't move. He presses himself up against her tighter and holds her against the wall.

I grit my teeth, I can't stand this. I wanted to let them just talk to each other, because of the good boyfriend that I am. But no, he had to become an asshole and ruin my good boyfriend attitude.

"Hey, what do you say you get off of my girl" I say, pushing his shoulder back making him lose his balance. He looks me in the eyes, and I feel fear crashing through my veins.

He pushes me off of him and he takes the collar of my shirt in his hands. He punches me in the mouth, and pain shoots through me. I bring my hand up to my face and see that blood is falling from my lip. I look over at Jeremy, and he's ready to fight.

"Your girl, huh, seems to me she wanted nothing to do with you when we were making out on New Years Eve" He says, throwing it in my face.

"Shut up Jeremy! You didn't call me back and you expect me to just fall all over you when you show up somewhere? No, I don't think I'm going to. I hate you, Jeremy!" Peyton yells. Jeremy shakes his head and laughs.

"I think your way more into me than you think you are" Jeremy caresses her face with his left hand, and she pushes him off of her.

I walk over to him and throw him against the walls of the movie theater. He crashes to the ground, but grabs my foot and pull me down. He stands right back up and kicks me in the side of my gut. I can't breath for a moment, but my senses come back to me when I hear Peyton scream.

He hit her. He punched a girl.

By now, everyone is watching us. Aaron walks over to me and gets me up off the ground, then runs over to Peyton. She's bleeding a little, he got her right on the side of the cheek. He's wearing a high school ring, so it cut her face up a little bit.

Aaron is sitting on the ground with Peyton, making sure she's alright. I take one look at Jeremy, and rage fills my emotions. Under no circumstances do you ever hit a girl. EVER.

I dash towards Jeremy, getting him under my hold. I smack him in the face with my fist, and he falls back word a little. I punch him in the gut, and then in the side, and suddenly, it's like he's my own personal punching bag.

"Get off of me you dirty son of a bitch! You stupid country boys don't know when to stay down!" He yells, grabbing the collar of my shirt and punching me in the gut. I lose my breath for a moment, but focus on why we're fighting.

I whale him in the face for a couple more minutes, and he can't even touch me. I'm so infuriated, I can't believe he hit Peyton for not agreeing with him. I can't believe he punched her. I want to inflict as much pain into him as I can.

He's spitting up blood by the time I'm done with him. He's laying on the ground in pain. I straddle him to the ground and continuously punch him straight in the face.

"If I ever see your face around here again I swear to god I'll-" Aaron puts a hand on my shoulder and I look over at him.

"Come on Chris, you've proved your point. Besides, Peyton needs you right now" He tells me. I stand up and kick Jeremy in the side before walking over to Peyton.

"Oh, you'll see me again. I'll have Peyton all over me before you know it" Jeremy says. I can hear the smug smirk behind his words, and I clutch my fists at my sides.

She's sitting on the ground with a bunch of napkins pressed against her cut . I lean down in front of her and ask her to show it to me. She shakes her head.

"It's nothing Chris, don't worry" She smiles, but I can tell there's force behind it.

"No, Peyton I want to help you. Please" I beg. She shakes her head and grabs Aaron's free hand. She stands up without a problem, and so do I.

"Let's go back into the theater and get you cleaned up" She says, taking my hand and leading me into the theater. I guess I was so concerned about her wounds that I didn't think about the blood that was pouring out of my lip.

Peyton's a fighter. That's all I can say.

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PEYTON'S POV

I look at Chris's wound, desperately wanting to do something about it. He looks like he might need some stitches, but for now all I can do is clean it up and dis-infect it with the movie theater's first aid kit.

"Listen, I had a great time tonight even if Jeremy did decide to show up and be kind of an asshole. It's because I was with you, I love the time we spend together" I tell him, putting a little bit of poly sporeen on his lip. He takes it from me and puts some on my cut, too.

"Peyton, we should get going. It's a little late and you've got another exam tomorrow" Aaron tells me. I nod my head and give Chris a kiss on the cheek before I walk out of the little medical room we're in.