A/N: I double updated so please read episode 60 first.
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Sophia's P.O.V.
Wiping the blood from my busted lip with my wrist, I took one look at the smear of red on my skin. It was all that I needed to push me to the brink of madness. I lost it. I was no longer contemplating if I should or shouldn't seek out a less violent approach.
"You're dead to me." I sneered through clenched teeth, raising a hand to slap her across the face. We both tumbled to the hot asphalt. I quickly adjusted myself on top, sending my closed fist to her cheek, again and again. Adrenaline pumped through me, feeding me energy with the right amount of strength to continue this fight.
I couldn't see straight. I couldn't think straight. Bryce once told me how it felt to be in a fight, and how he couldn't stop himself whenever he started. I didn't get what he meant at the time, but I understood now. My knuckles felt numb, blocking the pain, but my arms never gave up. She made me bleed and I wouldn't stop until I saw her bleed, too.
A set of hands ripped me off of her. "Sophia, what the hell!?" Nicolas screeched, pushing me away from his cousin and on to the side of the parking lot. "You could've given her a concussion."
"She started it!" I screamed. "I wouldn't have touched her if she didn't punch me first."
"God, the both of you are in the wrong here. You were provoking her so she'd hit you."
"Maybe..." I muttered. "That still doesn't negate the glaring fact that she hit me first."
"Whatever. I'm done here." He picked up his cousin and helped her into the passenger seat, buckled her up, and then got into the driver's seat. They were gone faster than you could say killjoy.
Before they drove off, I got a glimpse of the damage I created on Brooklyn's face. She looked worse than how Remy looked after Bryce beat him to a pulp. I pummeled her with no remorse. My knuckles were caked in blood, mostly hers. The entire left side of her face was nothing but a downward river of crimson, dripping down to her collarbone.
I waited for a inflow of disappointment, but it didn't come. I wasn't embarrassed or mad at myself for doing what I did. It was odd and strangely satisfying.
"Am I supposed to feel like this?" I panted, catching my breath.
"You still feel buzzed from the fight, don't you?" Kelsey guessed correctly. "I get like that, too. You're still itching with excitement. It'll ease off eventually. Just relax for a bit. We don't have to go back to apartments yet."
"Okay." I got on to the hood of her car and so did she, resting her head on my shoulder.
"That was badass, Sophia. I've never seen you like that."
"Don't congratulate me." I played off how proud I was, but I couldn't even fool myself. I broke into a smile. "You thought that was badass?"
"Totally." She agreed. "Next time, don't let them get the first punch. Bryce said you're first self-defense class is tomorrow so I hope you learn how to dodge punches." She peered at the one mark Brooklyn left on me and gaped at the sight. "She really did get a good one."
"Is it that bad?"
"Yeah, it is. It'll heal up soon though." She hopped off the hood of the car and retrieved her car keys from her purse. "I'm more worried what Bryce will say when he sees it."
"He's only going to say one thing about it, but he won't be that serious. He's been in fights all the time."
Kelsey let out a big laugh. "You really are oblivious when it comes to how much he cares about you."
"I'm well aware."
"Not as much as you should be." We entered the car and she started it up, waiting a second after the engine began to roar. "Before you, Bryce used to get in fights all the time, sleep around, and drink obsessively on the weekends. He stopped that once he got with you."
"I know that." I assured her. "I appreciate how he's changed his ways."
"You really don't get it." Kelsey shook her head. "He was worse."
"I doubt it. I think you're talking about a different Bryce. I don't really see a change from when I first met him."
We allowed the topic to drop and put on some music instead.
"We should watch a movie tonight." Kelsey said randomly. "I have a private theater room at my parents place. We could go to Blockbuster and rent a movie. My parents are out of town again so it'll be just you, Conner, Bryce, Anthony, his girlfriend Tonya - and obviously me."
"I think that would be a great idea way to spend the night." I brightened up. My mood had shifted. "I'll tell Bryce about it when we get home."
Home. It felt so inviting how that rolled off my tongue. My home was somewhere else not that long ago, but in a short matter of time, that seemed to change. I would be leaving Los Angeles and finding a new home soon, but that didn't bother me because I knew Bryce would be there with me, too.
...
"What happened to you?" I'd never seen Bryce look so concerned. His face paled when his hand touched my chin, examining the bruise that already started to develop and my busted eyebrow that had blood trailing down the side of it. "I thought you said you were going to lunch with your friends?"
"We were." I uttered. "But there was a bit of a scuffle."
"With who?" his tone hardened. "Who hit you?"
"She beat the living snot out of Brooklyn Davis." Kelsey said, falling backwards on the sofa. "It was marvelous, Bryce. You should've seen her. She's actually a decent fighter."
"You fought Brooklyn?" Bryce didn't move his hand from my face. He transformed from a boyfriend to a smothering parent at the drop of a hat. "I thought you two were friends?"
"Keep up, Bryce!" Kelsey hollered. "They're no longer friends. Anyway, I've gotta go. I'll see you guys tonight."
"You're coming over again?" Bryce dropped his hand from my face. "There's only so much of you I can tolerate in a twenty-four hour time frame without wanting to off myself. Please let it be a short visit."
"Haha." She stuck out her tongue. "I know you love me. And that's why we're all hanging out tonight at my parent's place after picking a movie at Blockbuster."
"I'm not in the mood." Bryce groaned.
"Well then get into the mood." She said and flew open the door, exiting from the apartment. "I'll be back at eight!" She cried out as the door closed behind her.
"She's too much sometimes." Bryce slightly shook his head. The humor in his lovely eyes faded when they locked with mine. His frown reemerged, stronger than ever. Tapping his index finger to the bruise, he asked, "Does that hurt?"
"A little, but not that much. It hurts more when I smile."
He exhaled in distress and intertwined our fingers. "I have bandaids in my bathroom. I need to clean that open wound before it gets infected."
I would've offered to disinfect the wound myself, but he was already halfway up the stairs and I felt exhausted from fighting.
I propped myself up on to the bathroom counters and let Bryce move in between my legs to get a good view of the injury.
Because grinning only intensified the pain, I refrained from laughing when Bryce started gently brushing wet paper towels on my cheek and eyebrow to clean off any blood. The level of concentration on his face made him appear adorable and cute.
"What?" He paused, setting his large hands on either side of my waist. "Am I making dumb faces?"
"Dumb isn't the word I'd use."
"Then what?" he smiled. I realized how much I loved being at eye-level with him. It gave me the perfect excuse to stare into his emerald eyes. And because of the mint green shirt he was wearing, they looked more vibrant.
Drapping my arms over his shoulder, I peered into him and gave him a brief kiss, only lasting a bit over four seconds. It killed me a little bit inside when I cut the kiss short. "Nothing." I whispered. "I'm just thinking of how lucky I am that I have you in my life."
"How bad did you get hit?" he chuckled and the corners of his eyes crinkled from how hard he was laughing. "You're not lucky for having me. I've put you in danger more than I can keep up with. I could say that about you, but it doesn't make much sense for you to say it."
Pressing a finger to his lip, I hushed him and lowered my hand. "Don't ruin the moment."
"I'm not trying to. I'm being truthful." He stated blatantly. "The only reason you see me as a good person is because of how nice I am to you. I don't treat anyone else like this. I'm a horrible person." He said in a way that wasn't bashful. "But luckily you're a good influence on me. However, I may be a bad influence on you." He added, staring at my bruise.
"You're not horrible. Don't say that."
"I am horrible."
"I don't like it when you say stuff like that about yourself. I don't think you're mean to people." I disagreed while he returned to cleaning up the wound. I winched when he started using alcohol pads to disinfect it. "You're sweet, you're kind - "
"To you. I'm like that with you," he finished my sentance. "You can ask anyone who has known me for years. I'm a terrible person. If you saw the things I did when you aren't around, you wouldn't call me anything other than a monster. There isn't an ounce in me that holds compasion - at least, there never was before. I feel like that's different now."
"What changed it?"
"You." He answered. "You breathed humanity back into me. Not that long ago, there was a moment when I could've hurt someone. It was when I was getting Mister Santiagos drugs for him months ago when he was still alive. I had a chance to hurt one of the guards, but when I saw him, I couldn't see myself do it. The old me would've done it without pausing, but I just couldn't. It really made Conner mad. Frankly, my entire personality change has been ticking him off more and more. He doesn't like how nice he thinks I'm starting to get when it comes to the crucial stuff and how I've used a lot of man-power to protect you."
"You can't honestly expect me to believe that you turned those tendencies off like a switch because me." I exclaimed baffled as he put on the bandaid on my chin. "I think you've always been this way. You've just realized it."
"No, I haven't always been this way." He shook his head, piercing his eyes into me. "You're by far the best thing that's ever happened to me. You make me want to be better than the person I was the day before, and that's not something I've ever felt until I met you."
"I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you?" I repeated his response in astonishment. "You mean even...before me?"
"You're talking about Julia, aren't you?" I nodded my head and he carried on. "You shouldn't compare yourself to a drug addict. I cared for her, sure, but I'm not even all that positive if it was even love. The more I think about it, the more I notice how messed up things were. I still fought, I still got in trouble, I still went to parties, and drank way too much than I should've. I felt as if the only real driving force of the relationship was my money and the access I had to my dad's business. I know, without a doubt, that if I met you sooner in life that I wouldn't have even noticed her."
A warm rush of sensations reached my toes and lit my face up despite the pain that pinched my cheek. I was at a lose of words so I settled with an earnest: "I love you" whispered over his lips as I kissed him, wanting it to lead to something more.
"How much longer do you think we have until Kelsey comes back?" I asked in between kisses, moving my mouth to his neck.
"About four hours."
I reeled back, making eye-contact. "That's enough time."
"Oh yeah?" He smirked. "To do what?"
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A/N: Please remember to vote on both chapters :)