James tried taking another step forward but halted. Victor yanked him back by his shirt, forcing his anger to derail from its' initial target. Victor stepped in front of him, placing his hands on his shoulders.
Why was he in the way? Why was he protecting this man?
Victor's jaw was set; he was frowning; his breathing was deep but shaky. James didn't want to grab him or shove him to the side.
"Don't," Victor said again.
The man let out a short chuckle. "I don't know what Victor told you, but judging by your outrage, I'm betting he's making up stories again."
Again. James felt a burning in his stomach. He wanted to approach the man also, but Victor remained unmoving, a barrier between him and his stepdad.
James dragged his tongue over his teeth. "What did you say?"
"I said he's a liar." The man shrugged, leaning casually against the wall.
James wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. "What did you say?" He grabbed Victor's hands and took them off his shoulders.
"Yes." The certainty in his voice was infuriating. "He's acting up for attention." The man paused for a moment. "Just like his mother."
James held Victor's shoulders and pushed him aside. "I don't need Victor to tell me anything, you fuckhead!" He reached out and grabbed the man's shirt.
"I said, stop it!" Victor didn't shout, but it wasn't far off. He intervened between them and pushed them apart. "Stop it." He coughed, then forced a breath in.
"I had enough! Stop fucking around and get in the car, we're going home." The man sunk his fingers into Victor's arm and dragged him so hard that he stumbled.
"I'm not going." Victor tried pulling himself free. He gasped, fishing out his inhaler from his pocket. He couldn't open it with one shaky hand.
James made a fist and aimed for the jaw. Then a book flew into the man's head.
"He said he's not going!" Ollie snapped. "What's so hard to understand! He's not leaving!"
James wasn't sure what happened in the next few moments.
He saw the man toss Victor away, like a ragdoll.
He saw him trying to walk towards Oliver.
And then Victor's fear turned into panic, then rage.
Victor pushed his stepdad once. Then he did it again.
"Get out of my way, you little –" he started, but stopped.
Victor punched him in the nose. The man cursed, outrage and shock evident on his face. James was confident this never happened before, but it sure made him feel an odd sense of pride. He wanted to kiss Victor right then and there.
Then his stepdad slapped Vic across the face. The sound echoed in James' ears. He was so surprised that for the first few seconds, he couldn't move.
"Get out," Victor said, struggling to open his inhaler.
Oliver took off the cap for him. Victor needed a few puffs to start breathing normally again, yet he still seemed like his legs were going to fail him soon.
"You're so stubborn," the man said as if he hadn't just been punched. "I think you forget your place. If you get expelled, you're going to lose your inheritance; you know that, right?"
"I don't really care," Victor said. He didn't look well.
"Ok." The man smiled. "Maybe you'll care if I go to the police and press charges against your thug here?"
Victor frowned. "What?"
"Assault." The man pointed at his face. "I think you'd care then."
"You want to lie about that?" James asked, approaching the man. He wasn't about to take shit for something he didn't do. "You want to tell people I've assaulted you? You want to tell people I've hit you?"
James clenched his fist. Might as well do it if he was going to suffer the repercussions regardless.
Author's note<3:
All I can say is *ugh*, what an asshole, right?! Look at him, trying to get people expelled! How are we still feeling about being violent?