Once In A Lifetime • Link Neal

thirty-one.

listen; RITUAL - wouldn't be love 

"It wouldn't be love, if it didn't hurt nobody
Love, if it didn't cut so deep
Wouldn't be love, if it didn't leave you lonely
Love, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be love"

She sat in the passenger seat of Rhett's car, admiring the outside of Link's home. It wasn't enormous, like the surrounding homes, but it looked...Nice. She absentmindedly wondered what the inside looked like, gaze lingering on the yellow light illuminating the windows, before the front door suddenly opened. It was Rhett, his face contorted into one of anger as he stomped his way down the concrete steps. 

She quickly shifted in her seat, catching sight of Link following suit, reaching one hand out to grasp Rhett's shoulder and turn him. Lucy swallowed thickly as she reached up to touch the handle, quickly realizing they were fighting. She could hear them yell through the confines of the SUV, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She seemed to be frozen for a moment, watching Rhett gesture toward the car, toward her, with a furious shout. 

Lucy quickly yanked the handle, hopping out of the lifted vehicle with a hand on the door, when another figure emerged from the house. Lucy halted in her steps, the blondes gaze finding hers as though she was magnetic, and she didn't fail to miss the searing burn she held. 

"It's not what it looked like, Rhett. I'm serious, I didn't-I wouldn't do that, you know me!" Link's voice caught her attention, tearing her gaze from Christy's to see him shouting in Rhett's direction. She was thrown off guard by the tone of his voice, earnest, pleading. Her stomach flipped at the sight, and what could have possibly led up to this in the first place. 

"Hard to say that when I see you two makin' out in the fuckin' kitchen. What, did you just want me to distract her so you can run back to your cheatin' wife?" Rhett countered, his words spit with venom. 

"Rhett! That's not what happened, would you just listen to what I'm tryin' to fucking say?" Link argued, before suddenly realizing Lucy was standing beside the car. He stopped, eyes wide with realization as he stood there. 

Her knuckles were white as she grasped the car door, red rimmed eyes tearing from his face. She hesitated a moment, unsure of what to do. There were so many eyes on her, their expressions ranging from shocked to resent, and she couldn't take it. She quickly reached back into the car, grabbing her purse from the floorboard before pivoting on a heel and walking away. 

"Lucy! Wait, please! I-"

"Stop, Link." Rhett quickly sidestepped the man, hands grasping Link's broad shoulders. The brunette flipped his gaze up, a threatening glare burning right through Rhett. 

"You don't tell me what to do, Rhett. You don't have any right to stop me, you don't know what happened-"

"I know that right now, you don't deserve her." He cut him off, hands tightening on his shoulders in a silent threat. The words seemed to strike him right in the chest, eyes wide as he gaped at Rhett. "She's been through enough shit, man. What makes you so special? Why do you get to be the one to hurt her, and move on like nothing happened?" 

Link was fuming, hands quickly reaching up to throw Rhett's grasp off, before he impulsively shoved the taller man back, 

"You don't know her! You spend one night with her and all of a sudden you think you fucking know her? You don't know shit, Rhett!" Link hadn't been this angry in some time, the feeling overwhelming him as he quickly glanced past Rhett's tall stature to see she had disappeared. 

"Leave her alone, man. At least for tonight." Rhett countered, lowering his voice in an attempt to bring Link down with it. Reaching a hand upwards, he placed it back on the brunettes shoulders, bringing his attention to him.