Ryan towered over me, his shoulders broad and powerful looking. His usually neat hair was parted at odd angles and his eyes were a faint crimson, opened wider than usual.
"Ryan?" I asked again. "What are you doing?"
He stumbled forward the slightest bit, almost treading on my legs. Once he held his arms out to his sides, he managed to regain his balance. In incredulity, I linked his uncoordinated movements back to the alcoholic stench.
"You're drunk?" I questioned more to myself in disbelief. I didn't think it was possible to enter the building intoxicated without getting caught, especially in broad daylight.
"Shut up, stupid girl," he snarled, his character nothing like I had ever seen in him before.
"Excuse me?" I asked, taking offense to his rude demeanor.
He crouched to his knees, moving his hands to the outside of my shoulders so I couldn't move. His breath washed over me and I wriggled my nose in disgust.
"I told you to shut up!" Suddenly, he brought his hand to my cheek, a strong stinging sensation following it. I cried out in pain, tears threatening to spill.
"I thought - you told me you didn't drink." I tried to stay calm despite the tingling on my face and my watering eyes. I still couldn't let myself believe that the person I thought to be sweet was causing me so much physical - and emotional - pain.
"I tell you a lot of things, T," he slurred, calling me that horrible nickname. He snickered drunkenly. "Did I ever tell you that I lied?"
I fell speechless, paralyzed in shock. So many angry accusations became stuck in my throat, unable to process into coherent sentences.
When his intoxicated mind realized I wasn't going to say anything, he proceeded. "You know what? I was going to stop cheating on you with that whore friend of yours. What's her name again? Sally? Sasha? Sophia?"
No, no, no. He was wrong, he had to be. I suspected he was hiding something, but nothing as horrid as this.
Ryan continued, as though he didn't know that I had had enough. "But you ... you've stopped giving me what I want. Why is that? I thought you loved me."
At that phrase, I almost laughed at how absurd it was to ever believe that. I never loved him. I just had nothing better to do with my life.
"Right now, I'd rather be lying on my death bed if it meant I didn't have to look at you!"
My ex-boyfriend's face quickly became tinted with rage, his forehead turning the colour of his bloodshot eyes. In one swift movement, he brought his chilled hand to my neck and raised my lolling head. Craze coloured his facial features.
My upper body was suspended from the ground, my nose nearly touching his. The little amounts of oxygen I was receiving evoked me to choke, gasping for air.
Ryan was breathing heavily, his teeth almost bared. "Don't lie, you little, idiotic cun-"
"Get the fuck off her!"
At the same time a low voice bellowed, Ryan's fingers slipped from my neck and the heavy weight lifted.
After that, it all happened like a film in slow motion:
A quick blur of matted hair and dark clothing knocked into Ryan, large hands hurling his body out of the way. I felt my head tip, gravity pulling my upper body back towards the carpet floor in a sickening rush.
A slice of agony was the last thing I sensed as my head collided with the hard ground.
-
What seemed like very few moments later, I awoke to the feel of thin sheets interwined in my fingers. I was rested on a cushioned surface and I immediately came to the conclusion that I was lying on a bed. Strange.
My eyelids were heavy, weighing down. I decided not to strain them and kept them shut.
I wriggled my toes against the warm covers and soon enough, my foggy mind became increasingly alert. I began to hear hushed murmurs beside me.
"It's only a mild head injury. You have nothing to worry about," a lady kindly reassured someone. There was some shuffling of feet.
"Are you sure?" a familiar voice asked, concern dripping off his question. I tensed as I recognised the voice to belong to Jake.
"I'm sure. Look, it could've been a lot worse if you weren't there at the right time."
That's when I remembered the feel of Ryan's hands clenched around my throat in attempt to suffocate me. That under his sweet and pleading facade, a cruel, conniving monster lurked.
That bastard.
And then there was the same addicting voice that was talking in the room now. How had he managed to keep Ryan away from me? How had he known where I was? And most importantly, why did he sound so enraged, like he was fueled off the sight of me getting hurt? What an extremely difficult puzzle piece he was. I didn't understand him at all.
"I know," he said simply. "I think I'll wait outside for a bit longer." And with that, I heard dull footsteps and the door swing open.
I faintly heard someone speak before Jake replied with a "No, not yet," and he then exited the room completely.
There was a slight pause. "How is she?" The voice of my mother quietly sounded.
"Mom?" I asked hazily, squinting my eyes open. The bright light glared menacingly, causing me to quickly shut them again.
"Oh, dear," the floor echoed the clicking of her heels as she rushed towards my bedside. Again, I tried opening my eyes as she embraced me nimbly and fought the white light.
As my eyes adjusted to my surroundings, I took in the polished furnishings and simple monitors placed around the room.
"Where am I?" I asked weakly, although I already knew the answer. I placed my elbows underneath me and lifted myself up into a sitting position. At the action, my head throbbed scantly. A breeze swept past my back and I realized I was wearing a hospital gown.
"You're in a hospital, sweetie." After thinking over it, her thoughts then recollected into her strict attitude: "Oh, you silly girl. You are never to go anywhere alone again!"
My head pulsed at her sudden raised voice, causing me to cringe. The other woman in the room noticed this and placed a hand on mother's shoulder.
"Mrs. Brooklyn. Your daughter needs rest." She looked to be in her mid-thirties, a white uniform disguising her body shape. Her cherry red cheeks were pulled up into an affectionate smile while her hair was tightened into a waterfall of rich brown.
"Right. Of course." Mother smiled quickly, seemingly fake. She looked towards the door and then glanced back at me. "Your father and I have been here for the past five hours. Jake has too."
"He has? Why?" I questioned in disbelief.
"He's a lovely gentleman, Tahli. You should be thankful he saved you from that wretched boy. He cares about you." I suppressed a sarcastic laugh at her statement. The pessimistic side to me was so in denial of him ever even thinking twice about me that I was oblivious to the fact that I was being rude.
"He-cares-about-me my ass."
"Tahli!"
"Mrs. Brooklyn, please keep your voice down." Her only reaction to the nurse's request was a burning glare in my direction. I rolled my eyes.
The white door opened quickly and the face of my father popped inside. Round glasses were perched on his nose, noticeably making his green eyes look bigger. His greying hair made him look older than he really was but it was good of him not to want to dye it. He once told me that hair turns grey faster if you were stressed and he often joked about it, saying that mother always got on his nerves. I think I was the only one that knew that inside, he wasn't really kidding.
"Would you like something from the cafeteria?" He asked mother casually. His eyes widened when he saw me propped up next to her. "Tahli. How are you feeling?"
A gave an encouraging smile. "I'm fine, Dad. Thanks."
"She's only showing a few symptoms of a concussion, it's nothing to be concerned of. She's doing well," the nurse interjected. "Perhaps I'll see when she can go home. You should be fine now," she said to me, smiling sweetly. After I returned the grin, she left the room.
"I think you should say a proper thank you to Jake. We'll buy you some dinner," mother said, retreating towards father and grabbing his arm. They shut the door quietly without waiting for a response.
I groaned miserably. I knew it could've been worse, but I would've been happier if anyone else had been there to stop Ryan instead of Jake.
After nearly a minute of anticipating a nervous breakdown from yours truly, the door opened at a painfully slow rate.
He stepped inside, his arms crossed awkwardly at his chest. He was still wearing his usual black tee, as well as his tight fitted jeans. Much to my surprise, a black eye was forming on the right side of his stunning face. He also sported a red cut right next to his lip piercing.
"What happened?" I was surprised at the growing worry that squirmed at the bottom of my stomach for him.
"Your boyfriend sure knows how to throw a punch," he said amusingly, a smirk playing at his lips. I laughed lightly but then felt it vanish as I remembered that that title didn't fit him anymore.
"I don't think he's my boyfriend anymore," I muttered glumly, not because I had lost Ryan but what I thought he was at first.
Jake rocked on the balls of his feet, pity dancing across his features. "Oh. I'm sorry. He's an asshole anyway ... he didn't deserve you." I smiled weakly at his contrast of personality to his usual character.
"Thank you."
"Yeah."
"No, really. Thank you. I could've ended up in a way worse condition. You've kinda saved my life." I chortled at myself. "Woah. I don't believe I just said that." I placed my hands over my cheeks as they began to burn.
He chuckled as he took in my embarrassed state. My God - forgive me, Lord - he was gorgeous when he laughed. His smile was crooked in a cute kind of way.
You are not falling for him. You're allowed to think he's good looking, right? Right?
"No need to thank me. I was just in the right place at the right time." Somehow disappointed at the thought that he probably would've helped any random person, I played with the blue material covering my chest. I then pondered over why he was down there in the first place.
"By the way, what were you doing down at the bottom floor?" I asked curiously. Something flashed across his face but he remained neutral.
"Got lost," he answered nonchalantly, reminding me that he was a new student. "What were you doing?"
It took me a few moments to remember what I was doing before the incident, but then I replied truthfully. "I was at my locker. It's been there ever since the new floor was added."
"Oh, right."
There was an awkward pause after he didn't give me anything to continue the conversation with. He unfolded his arms and streaked a bruised hand through his untidy hair, ruffling it more. His fingers took me back to the heart warming thought of him drawing me, and then to his pink lips near mine.
"So, what happened to 'stay away from me'?" I asked nervously yet lightheartedly, referring to what he had said only earlier today.
With a devilish smirk and a sinful wink, he spoke with the word, sexy coating his tongue; "it seems impossible when it comes to you, kitten."
-
kittenkittenkittenkitten jake why
okay so i'm updating very early to my usual once a week, only because i'm going away for the rest of the week and the next. I'll still go back to posting on the weekends soon though!
pleaseee make sure to vote if you liked this chapter. thanks loves x