The sound of footsteps woke her. She could hear the crunch of gravel and tried her best to open her eyes. It was then that she realized she was being carried bridal style in someone's arms. She peaked up at the person holding her and saw him.
The convenient store guy.
She breathed out a sigh of relief and as she slipped back into the blackness she heard his voice.
"Don't worry your safe."
It was a door slamming that woke her the second time. She was startled and confused but when she tried to sit up a wave of nausea ran through her.
"Dammit ash shut the fuck up." She heard him say.
When she looked up she saw him. His eyebrows were creased in worry and his hand was replacing a wet rag on her forehead.
"Do you remember what happened ?" He asked.
"What's your name? I don't know it right? Im not having amnesia or anything?" She asked ignoring his question.
"Nah don't worry I never told you." He laughed.
She looked up at him waiting.
"Fez."He rasped, "you can call me Fez."
Scarlett smiled. Of course he would have a name like that.
"Scarlett, nice to meet you. The last thing I remember is trying to step in after that guy-" she stopped as she recalled what happened. Someone had shoved her. She didn't know if she was a little high and drunk or if it was a concussion but she felt out of it. Fez helped her sit up. And looked her dead in the eyes.
"Don't worry," he said "Caleb won't be messing with you again I promise you that."
As he was talking she looked down at his knuckles. They were cut up and bloody and she could see a little blood on his neck. She just nodded grabbed the wet rag he had placed on her and started whipping away the blood on his neck and hands. He didn't refuse though he just stared at her. Fez hadn't realized how beautiful she was. Of course he thought she was hot when he saw her earlier in the night. And he couldn't lie and say the way she was hitting that joint didn't make him focus on her even more. But beautiful hadn't crossed his mind until just now.
He was focusing in on her full lips as she interrupted his thought.
"Do you think I have a concussion?" She asked.
He thought about it for a second. That asshole had pushed her back so hard that he made her start bleeding from hitting her head on the corner of the table but, it didn't look deep and it had stopped bleeding since they got back to his place.
"Maybe," Fez told her "but your head stopped bleeding and you seem okay now." She nodded in response and slowly rose from where she was sitting to look out the window of the small apartment. It was still dark out and when she found her phone in her back pocket she saw the time read 3:07am. Fez had probably carried her home from the party at only 11 after all everything had only happened in a couple of hours.
"You didn't have to stay up with me. Im sorry Fez. I didn't mean for this to happen. Im gonna call Rue and Jules they're probably worried." She said.
"Hey don't say that, It was no problem. And when I saw rue was texting you a couple of hours ago I told her you were here." Fez said scratching his head.
"Okay well I should probably be go-" Scarlett was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. Fez's eyes instantly looked panicked and he rose his finger up to his lips as If to tell her to be quiet.
"Ashtray they here." He yelled down the hallway. Scarlett hadn't even thought about who had walked in when she woke up but walking up the hallway was a kid who looked about 13 covered in tattoos.
"Listen," Fez said interrupting her thoughts "imma need you to act cool okay, the guys coming up here ain't the type to be messing around with, okay? Just sit and don't talk to them" he said reaching into the couch pulling out a gun. Scarlett swallowed thickly and took a seat nodding.
She could see Ashtray standing in the corner of the room looking at her like she needed to take this seriously. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen a gun in person but she didn't like the way it made her feel. Fez, in her short time of knowing him, felt safe to be around. He felt very protective and she hadn't had time to think about what an amazing guy he had been for keeping her safe from Caleb. She sat there crossing and uncrossing her legs and nervously readjusting on the couch. The door opened and immediately the atmosphere changed. Scarlett tried to relax back into the couch folding her legs cross legged. A loud voice boomed through the apartment sending a shiver down her back.
"Fezco baby you ready for m-" his voice cut short, "well well well what do we have here fezzy who is this?" she looked up at the loud man to see a face covered in tattoos and a grimy smile. The mans eyes flicked from Scarlett to Fez and then back again. He then took a seat so close to her that his knee was touching her leg. It felt all too familiar but she wasn't going to scoot away, Fez had warned her to play it cool.
"This is my friend, Scarlett. She stopped by a little bit ago she was just leaving." Fez said cooly moving his arm to hang across the couch he was sitting on that was directly in front of them.
He met Scarlett's eyes but before she could get up to start to leave the man next to her said, "No I want her to stay. Maybe we can all have a little fun."
It was then that Scarlett looked up to see that the man hadn't come in alone, behind him was a young skinny white guy removing many baggies from his not-so-new briefcase.
"Alright here's the money I owe you." Fez said handing the man a large stack of cash.
"Alright, Alright. Don't be rushin' me out like that Fezco. 'Cause boy do I got some goodies for you. Aye Johnny, show Fezzy boy what we brought him." As he said this Scarlett watched the skinny man bring him a baggie of pills and a baggie full of white powder. Scarlett was no stranger to cocaine she just didn't really mess with anything other than weed and alcohol.
Back home most of her friends dabbled in it on the weekends but she just didn't enjoy it and wasn't interested in that kind of high.
"So ms.Scarlett which would you prefer?" He asked.
"Nah man she's good." Fez said.
"Hey! Let the lady speak for herself" he shouted cause Scarlett to scream internally.
"No, really I'm good. Thanks tho." She said as casually as possible.
"Im not doing this with you again man." Fez said "I don't like it when you do this shit."
"Oh yeah how is your little friend Rue, Fez. Did she like what I gave her?" The scary man asked.
Scarlett looked at Fez confused. Fez looked back angrily. At this point, she was understanding that Fez was a dealer and although that didn't faze her much, she was confused on why he was mentioning Rue.
How would a scary guy like this even know who Rue is? The girl who had barely sipped the water bottle earlier and who had declined a smoke when we were all walking together to the party.
"Okay," the man said "I'll pick for you" the man began to tap his finger on each baggie and when Scarlett looked at Ashtray he had a very blank expression on his face as he met eyes with Fez.
Fez gripped something in the couch. Scarlett knew exactly what that meant and she didn't want this happening.
The man giggled and said "my mother told me to pick the very best one and you are It". The man picked the pills and began to crush It up with the mug on the coffee table. Scarlett's eyes tried to meet Fez's but he wouldn't look away from the man.
"I'm not fucking doing this with you again man" Fez said.
The man just laughed in response.
She knew she couldn't let Fez do this again but, especially not with a guy like this. She wouldn't allow him to stick his neck out again for her.
The man licked his finger and stuck it in the baggie then leaned back into the couch rubbing Scarlett's leg and held his finger under her nose.
She had seen the amount. It was a lot and she had no idea what it was and from the look on Fez and Ashtray's faces they didn't seem too sure either.
Scarlett hadn't realized though that the man had been covering the baggie the whole time when the skinny man handed him the baggie, when he was crushing It up, and even as he held It to Scarlett's nose it was not facing the boys.
She didn't sniff. The man noticed.
He stuck his second finger in the baggie and lifted both fingers to her nostrils. He was blocking her view of Fez and Ashtray and she had no idea who had the gun or if It was still in the couch. Panic struck and she knew what she had to do.
She met the mans eyes and sniffed as hard as she could against both of his fingers.
"Wowza," the man said "that'll be on the House Fez no need to pay me back. I'll leave all the goodies here and I'll be back soon enough. Don't disappoint me man this is the good stuff and I want a quick turn around," he walked to the door with the skinny man in front of him and as they opened the door he laughed and said "I like this one fezzy she'll be extra fun for you tonight" and with that he slammed the door shut.