To Love And To Lose

Not A Gun

October 7th, 2550AD

Three days after I was laid off, and I still woke up at 7AM, wondering why my alarm didn't go off two hours before.

I got out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping James beside me as I grabbed my towel and toothbrush from my dresser.

I crept silently down the hall past everyone's rooms, dressed only in my boxers, and was just about to open the door to the bathroom, when Serena opened it from the other side. The steam from a recent shower escaping into the hall and made me blink several times. She was wrapped with only a towel around her waist, and another wrapped up her hair, her breasts wet from the shower and exposed completely.

I felt my cheeks flame up as I stumbled back and hurriedly looked away.

"I.." I started, intending to apologize or excuse myself or something. Instead... "N-Nice twins.." I said, and could have kicked myself.

Serena simply glared at me and started walking down to her room with a muttered, "Asshole."

I stood there for a good ten minutes, the image of a half naked Serena in front of me, burned into my memory. Not that I'm saying it was a bad one.

Once I regained my composure, I got into the bathroom, locked the door and showered. I stood in the hot water, letting it mat my dark brown hair to my forehead and back of my neck. And for a while, the stress of my nightmares and losing my job, disappeared.

"I said leave me alone!" Shouted a voice that broke through my thoughts. "Let me go!" It took me a moment, but I realized that there was panic in that woman's tone as well as anger. I hurriedly shut off the water and pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans from my shelf in the bathroom closet, stumbling out the bathroom door as I pulled up my jeans. "Stop it!" Cried the woman and I ran to the window.

Two stories below, a black haired woman in a tight knee length dress with long sleeves and a low collar, was being held by the wrist by a milky skinned man dressed in black jeans and a blue hoodie. He was holding the woman around the waist with one arm, and holding her thin wrist tightly with his fat fingers. I put my towel over my shoulder and slipped on some sneakers as I ran down the stairs and out the front door.

"Hey. Hey!" I snapped and walked up to the man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" As I approached the two, I noticed how much shorter the man was than I am, and it almost made me laugh. Up close, the man was filthy and overweight. He reeked of cigarettes and vomit, it was disgusting even me.

"Taking this sweet lady out to breakfast." The man replied, ignoring me completely. His voice was raspy as if he had to clear his throat, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Sweet lady?" Repeated the woman, who I hadn't looked at until then. "You don't know me very well, beast." She hissed.

"Serena..?" I blinked in surprise, she looked so different than usual. She had straightened her hair and put on perfume, put on red lipstick and smokey eyed eyeshadow. She wore a necklace of black pearls, earrings and bracelet on her right wrist matching. Her dress was simple, long sleeves, low neckline, hem just barely reaching her knees. She even was wearing high heels, black pumps dusted with glitter.

I was so taken back with her dressed that way, that for a moment I forgot the foul smelling man holding tight to her left wrist. That is, until he punched me in the side of the head.

I stumbled and almost fell, my hands touching the pavement as I kept myself from greeting the ground with my face. I got back up and felt a trickle of blood down my cheek near my left eye from where the man's ring cut me.

Serena backed away with a gasp of surprise and tripped over her heels, landing on her backside on the pavement.

I glared at the man who raised his arms and shouted; "What're you gonna do?" He taunted. I felt myself getting angry, despite myself, and I walked up to him. He came at me again, swung a fist at my head. I dodged and slammed my fist into his stomach. He doubled over, coughing and swearing as he clutched his stomach, obviously never have been hit before.

"Back off." I warned, standing my ground as he straightened, his face red and his beady little eyes glaring at me under a sheen of sweat. He charged me and tackled me to the ground, his head jabbing into my stomach. I grunted and kneed him where no man should be kneed.

The man then backed off, falling to the ground and covering his balls with his hands. If I thought his face was red before, his head may as well have been an apple now.

"Just leave, now, and we'll forget that this ever happened." I said, hoping to end it there. The man spit onto the pavement and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he started to stand. His drunken state caused him to sway slightly in his fury.

"I'll not... Back down... To a stuck up, good for nothing.." The man got even more angry as he muttered incomprehensible nonsense.

As he spat at me, I went over and offered a hand to Serena, who was watching silently from her spot on the pavement. I helped her up and felt her shaking, though you couldn't see her fear.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, keeping my eyes fixed on hers even though she didn't take hers off of the man.

"I'm not some damsel in distress that you had to save.." She muttered, then her eyes went wide. "York he's got a knife!" As I turned around, she hid behind me, her trembling more obvious now.

I raised my hands slowly. "Hey man.. Take it easy, you don't want to do this."

"Oh ho! Not so brave now huh... Pretty boy?!" He hissed and I raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty boy..?" I shook my head. "Just, put the knife down.." I slowly took a step closer to him, but Serena grabbed my arm to try and keep me back.

"Give me the girl." The man snapped after a moment.

"What? No."

"I said hand her over!"

"And I said no! She doesn't want you and she never will!"

"So I'm not good enough for her?!"

"You never will be!"

"York!" I heard Serena scream before I saw the man lunge at me, knife aimed for my stomach. My eyes widened and I spun to grab Serena, closing my eyes as I waited for the blade to pierce my flesh.

"Dirtbag." I heard someone mutter, and steel crashing onto the pavement. I opened my eyes and turned around, the man who tried to stab me was only a foot away, and certainly within arms reach. He was being held tightly by the wrists by another man, his wrists small enough to be crushed under the larger man's hand.

"Michael.." I sighed in relief at the sight of the large man. He turned and looked at me with those unreadable brown eyes, and for a split second I thought he smiled.

Michael kicked the man in the stomach and sent him sprawling onto the ground near the trashcans, the ringing of the metal when the man's head hit the bins. I cringed at the kick, because I knew it to be a painful one. Michael and I had gotten in a fight before, I was lucky to have made it out with just a few broken ribs and a broken arm. this man would be lucky if his scull wasn't fractured.

Michael then walked over to Serena and I, then looked us both over. "You two alright?" He asked, his words a rare thing to hear unless you were Connor.

Serena nodded mutely beside me, unable to look at me as her face hardened to an unreadable mask.

"I need to go to work, York." She muttered and picked up her little black purse, and walked away.

Michael and I stared after her, wondering why she felt the need to flee so quickly on her own. Michael then looked at me and patted my shoulder with enough force to make it sore, which I assumed was unintentional. He was an awfully large man.

"Put some clothes on, Pretty Boy." He said and went back inside the house without another word, leaving me alone outside.

Such a strange household.