Luke and I got home around 7 at night from being out and about all day. I had then stayed up until midnight cramming in more study time. We both had finals tomorrow then our Christmas break followed right after and we were planning on leaving right after our classes ended. We both had yet to pack either, leave it to us to procrastinate on nearly everything.
I'd been asleep for maybe two hours, at least that's what it had felt like. But when I had woken up in the middle of the night, my phone beamed '4:00 AM'. I had woken up from a few loud noises from the floor above us and then their voices, loud voices might I add, were easily heard too.
A crash fully woke me up and I sat straight up in bed. The yelling from two people were muffled, but it was very obvious that they were fighting. Then it had come to my attention that it was Cianna fighting with a boy. I'd guessed it was Ellis, but I'd never actually been in a verbal fight with him.
Stomping and another crash had gotten me out of bed, making me worried if I should do something. I pulled a jacket over my head and left my room, smoothing it out once I turned on a light in the kitchen. I noticed it was one of Luke's and reminded myself to tell him again not to put his laundry with mine.
I shook my head as I walked to my front door, mumbling on about who knows. I turned on another light, one we had that brightened the space right outside our door. I tried to make as less possible noise as I could with the jiggling of the lock and soon enough I was able to slowly pull open my door.
The creak of mine was barely heard under the slamming of one above me. I flinched lightly, not expecting the loud bang. I took in a deep breath as I heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs and at this point I hadn't known who to expect, but they were definitely coming from Cianna's place.
They trudged down the stairs and soon Ellis' shaggy blonde hair was in my sight. I breathed back out and watched him make his way down the last steps. He must have noticed that my light was on and he looked straight towards my door then to me who was hiding behind it.
The first thing I noticed was the evident blood that was running down his face. There was a small stream dripping from his nose then down onto his lips which then made my eyes fall to his hand that had just wiped under his bottom lip.
I peered back up to his eyes, seeing a light ring of purple forming on top of his cheek. It had scared me to see him like this since I had no clue as to what had happened, but I was able to feel his own pain in my stomach.
I glanced down to the floor once I noticed he stopped walking and we had just been staring at each other for the past few seconds. I inhaled deeply, then stepped back, opening my door all the way as a gesture for him to come in. Even after what he had done, no one should be roaming the streets of Manhattan in December at 4am. Especially with a bloodied face that I wasn't too sure I wanted to know about.
I heard his shoes tap along the ground, coming closer with each second until he had stepped inside my house. I shut the door behind him and finally looked back up to him, seeing his injuries were a lot more unsettling this close up.
"I have a first aid kit in the kitchen." I quietly said, looking between him and the ground. He nodded once, trailing behind me as I led him to the kitchen. "Sit here." I muttered, pointing to one of the bar stools that had made him just my height.
I shuffled around under the counter searching for our first aid kit. After a bit of digging I pulled it out and slid it towards his direction and washed my hands just to be safe. I looked over my shoulder as I heard him fumbling with the plastic box.
"Hey, I'll do it." I said, breaking the silence between us. He stared at me as I dried off my hands and walked towards him, becoming rather curious as to what had happened that put him in this state.
I had a wet towel in one hand as I easily opened the box with the other. "This might hurt a little." I told him as I brought to towel up to his lips. There was noticeable cut on his top lip and he winced the second I put it on. "Sorry." I whispered, scrunching my nose.
I dabbed a few more times and tossed the towel aside seeing that the blood had stopped. I couldn't do much more than give him a pain killer and a bag of ice, so that's just what I did.
"Do you want to tell me how this happened or do you want me to suggest that you just fell?" I asked, carefully pressing the small bag of ice under his eyes. To my surprise he let out a gentle laugh.
"I actually did fall which caused me to get this bruise." He explained. I nodded once, not wanting to push the story but still grew more interested. He cleared his throat, taking my bag of ice from my hand and setting in down on the counter.
"Cianna and I were fighting and it eventually ended in her throwing all of my stuff at me as I left, which including my back pack that held my textbooks." He went on, referring to his now blackened eye that was actually caused by a book hitting him. "But, uh, she went all psycho and lashed out on me a hit me in the face." He looked to the side, raising his eyebrows.
"Are you going to do anything about it?" I questioned, surprised at the fact that someone had the audacity to even lay a hand on someone they claimed they loved. "Like press charges or anything?" I shook my head as he did too.
"I don't want to make it a big deal. The second she did it she felt bad about it and I know she did." He sighed, still keeping quiet.
"What are you going to do then?" I leaned against the counter and let out a light yawn, almost forgetting it was so late.
"I'll stay at my brother's for a few days then come back for my stuff. I was going to break up with her anyways." He shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
"Oh." Was all I managed to get out. He nodded his head a couple times.
"So how are you and Luke?" He suddenly asked, gesturing towards my torso. I looked down to Luke's jacket that I had on then back up to Ellis.
"I'm good. I'm pretty sure Luke is too he's-"
"I meant your guys' relationship." He interrupted.
"Relationship?" "We're not together."
"Sorry, I just figured that you two would've gotten together after we-"
"It's fine." I quickly said, this time cutting him off. He brought the towel back over his lip, but hadn't quite got the spot right. "Here, let me help you." I insisted. I took the towel from his hands, focusing on not hitting the cut on his lip too hard. His stare on me was practically burning through me as I moved the towel back to the side.
We sat staring at each other for a few seconds the I could feel my breath hitch as he began leaning into me. We weren't that far apart to begin with, a few inches at most. Right as his lips ere about to brush up against mine, I firmly grabbed his shoulders to stop him.
"I don't fall for the bad boy persona." I whispered. His eyes fell from my lips to the ground as he pulled back with a hand rubbing the back of his neck, mumbling a few apologies.
"Autumn?" A voice rang through the house, a very deep and sleepy one might I add. I leaned back on my heels, seeing that Luke had just walked into my room probably thinking I was on the phone with someone from the talking I was doing.
"Stay here." I told Ellis, rushing off to my room to find Luke. I stepped inside my room as I pulled my sleeves down and nearly bumped right into him.
"What are you doing awake?" I asked, grabbing onto his shoulders like I had just done with Ellis.
"I should be asking the same thing." He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. He tried to take a step around me, but I stopped him before he could. He stared down at me with a confused stare.
"Ellis is here." I stated. His confused look easily switched to an irritated or angry one, it was hard to decipher.
"Why?" He coldly said. I sighed as I shut my door, not wanting Ellis to hear anything that Luke might possibly say about him. "What is he doing here?" He asked again. I sighed lightly, not knowing of what Luke might do.
"He's a little beat up." I kept it vague, not wanting to go into much detail.
"By who?" He scoffed, crossing his arms. I pursed my lips together lightly.
"Cianna." I admitted.
"Cianna? Little 5 foot Cianna kicked his ass?" He laughed. "It serves him right."
"Don't say that." I scolded. "No one deserves to get hit by their significant other. No matter how much you despise them." I laid a hand on his shoulder only for his to swat it off.
"He didn't try to pull anything did he?" He asked, more calm this time.
"No." I lied, swiftly turning my back to him so I could help the bloodied boy in my kitchen. I was yanked back by my wrist and was forced to spin towards Luke again. "What-"
He cut me off my kissing me harder than normal, but only for a few short seconds. I hadn't been given time to actually react, but the smirk on Luke's lips showed that it was enough for him.
"You're a bad liar." He whispered on my lips. I tugged my bottom on in between teeth just as he let go of my wrist.
"And you're a bad roommate." I replied. I hit his bare stomach with the back of my hand, making him lunge over the slightest bit. "Put a shirt on and come help me." I told him as I went to walk back out of my room. I opened the door as he followed close behind. "And don't be too rough on him, a lot is probably going through his head." I explained, earning a nod from him.
I waited for Luke outside his room and tapped my foot lightly in nervousness of Luke and Ellis actually being in the same room. Just then, Luke had stepped out of his room and gestured for me to follow him.
"Feeling any better?" I asked Ellis as we walked into the kitchen, this time with Luke behind me. He looked up spotting Luke instantly and soon turning back to me as I now stood in front of him.
"Not really." He confessed. "It's only been half an hour." He lightly laughed, pressing the bag of ice to his cheek. I felt Luke rest his head on my shoulder as he stood behind me, intently scanning Ellis' cuts and bruises.
"Not even a little?" I questioned.
"Well, yeah, a little." He nodded his head to the side, trying to avoid Luke's eyes.
"What are you doing?" I moved my head to where I could look at Luke whose head still rested on my shoulder.
"Nothing." He sighed, standing up right and draping his arms over my shoulders, locking his fingers with his own in front of my chest. "So Cianna did some damage?" He said. Ellis looked up to me immediately which I returned with an apologetic look.
"Only my lip." He pointed out as he took a towel to it once again.
"Why'd she even do it?" Luke narrowed his eyes at Ellis, shaking his head a few times. His initial reaction was that he deserved to get hit, but now seeing that the situation was completely wrong his feelings immediately softened.
"Luke." I groaned, not wanting to make Ellis feel anymore uncomfortable than he probably did.
"It's fine." He told me then turned back to the boy behind me. "We were just fighting, that's all." He said as nonchalantly as he could, making the both of us nosy.
"About what?" Luke asked, still dropping questions onto him. My hands raised up around Luke's forearms and I gripped them tightly, making sure he got the point to shut up, but he didn't fully come across it.
Ellis shrugged his shoulders and dropped his hands the edge of the bar stool, gripping it lightly. "It was something stupid." He informed us, his eyes going from my grip on Luke's arms to Luke himself. "I should probably head out." Ellis stood up, now towering over me.
"I can call you a cab." I offered, wiggling my way out of Luke's arms to follow Ellis to the door. He shooed me off, opening my front door. There was no way I was letting him walk all the way down to his brother's house by himself.
"Thanks, by the way." He gave me his infamous polite smile, which brought another option, maybe a terrible option into my head.
"Why don't you just stay here tonight?" I quickly asked, stopping him before he could get any further out the door. He slowly turned on his heels to face me then looked back at Luke who was standing in the middle of the living room with more than a displeased look on his face.
Ellis looked down at me, his polite smile turning into a smug one. "I'm perfectly fine with that."