Fighting For Her - A 'Warrior' Fanfiction

Get Over It

Oh shit.

Riley stepped to Tommy's side and kept her gaze on her feet. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, so she stuffed them into her jacket pockets. Tommy stood in the living room frozen and glaring at Brendan. Riley didn't know what else to do or if she should say something so she stood by his side frozen too. The tension in the room was almost unbearable. Luckily, Paddy broke the silence first.

"Tommy," He cleared his throat. "Brendan came to see you."

Riley glanced over at Tess who was holding Brendan's hand, her eyes fixed on Tommy. Riley contemplated grabbing Tommy's hand for support but they were stuck at his sides balled into fists. He didn't say a word, just heaved his chest up and down with a heavy breath.

"Pop told me you were back from Iraq." Brendan said with a steady voice. He was probably the most calm out of everyone in the room. His blue eyes were lighter than Tommy's and stared at his brother with remorse.

Tommy's jaw was clenched shut, his eyes burning with anger. He flexed his hands open, standing rigid beside Riley. She took the opportunity and grabbed his hand and laced her fingers in between his own. He glanced quickly at her, then back at Brendan who spoke again.

"He tells me you guys are training together for SPARTA. Looks like it'll be like old times. You and me in the ring." Brendan gave Tommy a small smile, hoping Riley's presence calmed his younger brother down a bit.

"Old times?" Tommy's muscles tensed up again. "You wanna talk about old times?"

The smile on Brendan's face fell. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Tommy, how was I supposed to know I was never going to see you again... or Ma."

"You had a choice. And you chose not to come." Tommy's words stung Brendan.

"Jesus, Tommy. I was 16. What the hell did I know?" Brendan dropped his hands, clearly agitated.

"You were supposed to come with us. Mom needed you. I needed you. You were my big brother and
you bailed on me. You bailed on us. And for what?" Tommy glared at his brother. Riley kept a tight grip on Tommy's hand. She didn't want to let go in fear that he might take a swing at his brother at any moment.

"I didn't know Tommy! I didn't even know she was sick. I never even got the chance to say goodbye to my own mother. You had no right to keep that from me! That was not your decision to make!" Brendan's arms tightened and his jaw tense.

Tommy was like a wall, not budging, the blaze in his eyes set to stone.

"I fell in love Tommy. What was I supposed to do?" Brendan let out a sigh.

"Yeah. You chose the old man and the girl." Tommy nodded his head towards Paddy and then at Tess.

"She's my wife Tommy." Brendan walked closer to Tommy. Riley figured this would be a good time to get Tess out of the line of fire. She spoke before Tommy could give his rebuttal.

"Tess. Let's go in the kitchen." Riley felt Tommy loosen his grip on her hand before he dropped it with a little more force than normal. She looked at him with an arched eye brow.

"You know her?" He spat the words, in shock.

Oh shit.

"Um..." Riley chewed on the inside of her cheek, not knowing what to say. Tess stepped forward and filled in the blanks.

"I asked her to bring you here so you and Brendan could work this out." She was fearless, and spoke without a hitch.

Tommy didn't even turn to face her, he just stared at Riley. "You knew about this?" He pointed a large finger at Brendan.