tiny & vicious || h.s ✔️

~46~

The air then fell eerily quiet. I reduced my steps to small footsteps, holding my gun infront of me. I peered around the corner quickly. No one was there. The hallway waws completely empty. It was silent, and if I wasn't so detail oriented, I would've missed it. Across the hall, I could see a small red stain on the stone walls. It was a handprint. I looked down the hall again, knowing she was close by.

Out of nowhere, I felt a blinding pain in my skull as a brick slammed into my face. I groaned, falling to the floor. Through my blurry vision, I could see her. Well, her boot. A large boot smacked me in the nose and I collapsed again. "Why are you following me?" She growled, going for another hit. This time, I saw it coming. Her boot came crashing down again but I caught it and pulled her forward. She fell on her back with a groan. I lifted myself quickly and straddled her waist. She was blindingly furious. I pinned her hands to the floor before speaking.

"I don't remember your father teaching you to fight without dignity. You could have atleast waited for me to get up." I chuckled. She gritted her teeth and kneed me in the leg before flipping our positions.

"How do you know my father?" She gritted, placing a hit to my face. I immediately caught her fist again. "Well, he wasn't at our wedding, but I do recall meeting him when he kindly kidnapped me" I quipped back and that seemed to make her angrier. She went for another punch but I smoothly moved my head to the side, watching her slam her fist into the hard marble. She barely flinched but her small moment of distraction allowed me to launch her into a wall with my legs. She slammed into the brick before briskly jumping to her feet again. "I don't know you" She screamed, falling into a split and hitting me across the legs, tripping me over again. "Yes you do!" I yelled back. She wrapped her legs around my neck and elbowed me in the head. I stood from the ground, not being able to see anything. I charged forward into the wall, ignoring the blinding pain in my skull. She briskly folded into a flip and landed on the ground in perfect form behind me.

"I really don't know where you've gotten all this energy Aria. I thought we were old." I breathed, holding up one finger before regaining my strength. My eyes raked over her figure. Warm blood trickling down the side of her head and her knuckles were red. Her hands were still stained with the blood of her recent victim. There was dirt and blood all over her dressing gown and small cuts all over her legs.

I also had bruises and cuts all over my arms and legs and brick dust all over my face, thanks to my kind beloved.

I held up my fists, watching her circle me like a shark. Her breaths were coming out in an unsteady pattern and her fists were not as high. She was tired. I could see it. A few more rounds and she would be out. But I on the other hand, were exhausted.

"Ok, can we put this to res-" In the middle of my sentence, a knife whizzed past my eye line.

"Fuck, Aria" I growled, breathless. She smirked, pulling out more knives. Did she store those in her bra? I questioned shockingly before side stepping her again.

"Okay, I'm done playing your games" I growled. I was starting to get irritated with her. I charged forward, hitting the knives out of her hands and flipping her onto the ground. We were in the same position as before but now I wasn't backing down. She still had one remaining knife, so I slammed her hand into the ground, punching it and effectively taking the knife out of her hand. She groaned in pain as her hands slammed into the cracked marble.

"Are you done?" I boomed. She stared at me with undying hatred. This whole time she had barely spoken. She was so angry that I had the upper hand. I stared into her angry orbs, watching as the blood fell from her lips. She went to hit me again, but I stifled it, pinning her arms and legs to the floor.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled into her face. She flinched and met my gaze with a harsh stare.

While we had a stare-off, I could hear small steps coming down the hallway. In my momentary distraction, my wife slammed her fist into the side of my head and flipped us again. As she landed on top of me, I saw the glint of her knife ready to stab me in the eyes. I closed my eyes, knowing I was in an impossible position. But then, she stopped. Nothing hit me. I was okay.

I opened my eyes, seeing her hands stopped mid-air. I looked at her, seeing her gaze was somewhere else. I looked to my right.

My beautiful Blair.

Tears fell from her eyes as she yelled. "Mama, what are you doing!" She screamed in terror. Aria froze again, dropping the knife from her hold and getting up. Blair rushed towards me, falling to the floor and examining me for wounds. I smiled, seeing my baby and knowing that her mother would never hurt her. Still, I had to be careful and that broke my heart. I pulled Blair to me and sat up.

Aria stood a few feet away from me, her eyes fixated on our daughter. She was confused. She didn't know why Blair was being so nice to me. I looked my daughter in her worried eyes as the pads of her small fingertips touched the blood.

Then, her brows knitted together and an angry expression settled on her face.

She got up from my lap and stalked over to her mother.

"What did you do!" She yelled. It was a bit comical to see my small daughter stand up to her mother who loomed over her with bloody wounds. The power in my daughter's eyes didn't fade.

"I said. What. Did. You. Do." She growled. Aria looked into her eyes, speechless. She didn't know what to say. "I-" She stuttered. She felt the accusation. She could feel the anger.

"I" She looked at me and then furrowed her eyebrows. "Who is he?" She pointed to me and looked at Blair. Blair bawled her fists and let out a breathe. "He is my dad" She growled. "Your husband, your king, your pancake partner, you know your EVERYTHING" She huffed before stamping her foot. Aria looked at me incredulously. After a second, my lips tipped into a smile and I gazed at her. I gave her a little salute and Blair giggled.

Aria shook her head and fell to her knees. She looked at Blair apologetically and held her shaky hand. I could see a silent apology and forgiveness between them before Blair crashed into her arms. Tears fell down Aria's eyes as she also gave me a silent apology. And then the impossible happened, the cold eyes, the distant eyes that saw me with such hatred suddenly turned to ones of warmth and knowing. Ones of love. And then I knew, she remembered me.