Cove's outfit above^^^
Cove's POV
I woke up with dread filling every inch of my body. Today I have tutoring, meaning I have to face Brad.
What if I accidentally do something bad to him again? No, don't think like that. Everything will be fine and I'll be more careful this time.
Plus, River said that there's no way that I actually hurt him, and it makes sense. I mean all I did was push him on the carpet, and there's no need to bring up old things.
Today's a new day, maybe Brad and I can even start over! With those thoughts in mind, I pushed myself out of bed and started a nice warm shower.
After a quick shower, I pulled on a simple outfit consisting of a dusty pink tied-up shirt and ripped denim jeans. My school doesn't really have a dress code, so as long as you're not just wearing a bra and underwear, they don't really care.
I put my hair in a half-up half-down style, then I applied some light sparkly lipgloss. Once I grabbed all my things, I headed downstairs to grab breakfast.
Since I spent some much time this morning giving myself a pep talk, I don't really have time to make anything for breakfast. Instead, I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and a glass of chocolate milk.
I'm kinda in a chocolaty mood today. Who am I kidding? I'm always in a chocolaty mood. How could I not love chocolate? It's delicious.
I only had the chance to take a single bite from my muffin before there was a knock on the door. I set my glass on the counter and skipped to the door with my muffin still in hand.
"Morning River!" I beamed once the door was open. He smiled down at me and walked inside.
"Good morning baby."
"I like your shirt!" I complimented. Today's he's wearing a grey shirt and black pants. I don't think I've ever seen him wear something that's not all black, so it's a nice change.
He playfully narrowed his eyes at me as he plopped down on the couch and made himself at home. I sat down next to him and continued to eat my delicious muffin.
"Thank you," he husked. I gave him a cheeky smile in return and scooted closer to him. We sat in silence until I finished eating and jumped up to chug my glass of chocolate milk, then put my dishes in the sink.
"Let's go!" I chirped while grabbing my backpack and skipping to the door. River followed and we walked out to his car, hand in hand.
He opened the door for me and I mumbled a small 'thank you'. He then went to his side and started to drive.
Once we got got to school, he parked up front in 'his spot'. We made light conversation on the way here, and I think River can tell that I'm getting kinda anxious
"Ready?" He asked as we got out and grabbed our bags.
"Ready."
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It's a few hours later and right now it's time for lunch. I headed straight to the cafeteria without waiting for River because I'm STARVING. Hopefully he understands, because this is a life or death situation.
I sat down at a random table in the middle of the cafeteria and was soon joined by my friends. I did make sure to leave room for River next to me though.
"Cove your finally joining us!" Leah's voice sounded from behind me before she sat down on my left. I nodded and gave her an apologetic smile, which she simply shrugged off.
"Sooo, did you get that cute guy's number yet? I asked while wiggling my eyebrows. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red and she covered her face with her hands. I take that as a yes.
"Cute guy? I hope that you're talking about me sweetheart."
I turned around to see no other then Brad and a few of his guy friends standing in a group behind me. What is he doing here?
"Oh, hi Brad," I greeted, mustering up the best smile possible. As hard as it is, I really want to get on his good side and make up for what I did last time.
He gave me a smile in return and came closer to me. "Hi baby girl," he purred in my ear. I shivered in disgust and leaned away from him.
There was an awkward silence that lasted about 30 seconds where Brad stared into my eyes and I looked everywhere but in his own.
Noticing my discomfort, Leah stepped in like the angel that she is. "Don't you have somewhere to be Brad? Aren't the any other girls that you can flirt with who actually want your attention?" She practically growled.
Brad's eyes filled with anger and he finally moved away from me, only to go towards Leah. She looked surprised at his sudden movement, yet she didn't show a single ounce of fear.
"No one asked you girl, now you better shut the h*ll up before I-" I cut him off by lightly pushing on his chest, trying to create some distance between him and Leah before he did something bad.
His eyes snapped towards mine, and if possible, they filled with even more anger. I quickly dropped my hands and cowered back in fear, but it's too late now.
He glared at me with an unreadable expression before slowly stalking towards me like a predator would to it's prey.
Once he stood right in front of me, he roughly grabbed the sleeve my shirt and pulled me up, forcing me to stand on my feet.
I looked at him with fear in my eyes, waiting for him to say something. I messed up big time, and now he's furious.
"Don't you EVER, EVER do that again. You hear me little girl?" He fumed. I eagerly nodded in response as I tried to pry his hands away from me.
His eyes only got darker and his grip tightened, making me let out a small whimper.
What did I do wrong? I agreed to what said, isn't that what he wanted?! Also what's with people calling me little?
"P-please, please l-let g-" I started begging, but was cut of by a different voice. "Let go of her."
Brad stiffened as recognition crossed his face, but his grip only loosened a tiny bit. Not enough to let me escape his grasp.
"Let. Go. Of. Her. Now." River's voice went from calm and collected with a only a small bit of anger showing, to full on rage.
Brad's eyes immediately filled with fear and he quickly dropped me back on the seat, a soft thud sounding throughout the now completely silent cafeteria.
River started walking, and I heard his footsteps get closer and closer until he stood right in front of me. I looked up at him and found him looking somewhere else.
I was confused about what he's looking at until I felt his hands gently pull down my shirt that had risen up due to Brad pulling on my sleeve.
He then lifted me up from the seat and stood me next to him and turned to once again face the now slightly cowering Brad.
I watched in silence as they had a stare down, River obviously winning. He smirked victoriously before a different look covered his face.
Oh no. I know this look, this isn't going to end well.
What look does he have? You may ask. Well, he has the look that he gets before every fight that he's ever been in.
Not wanting River to get in a fight, I immediately took action and wrapped my arms around his middle. He looked down at me with confusion now covering his face, and I took that as a sign to continue.
"No," I mumbled into his shirt.
"No what?" He asked quietly, so that only I could hear.
"Can we go please?" I begged while looking up and giving him my best puppy dog eyes. He had a short internal debate before sighing and grabbing my hand, leading me out of the cafeteria.
I let out a breathe of relief as soon as the doors closed and it was just me and River. What just happened?
A fuming River took me all the way to the table outside that we usually sit at, then he sat down on the bench and lit a cigarette.
I awkwardly stood by myself a few feet away before thinking of a way to calm him down.
I slowly walked towards him, trying to sense if I'm doing the right thing. Once there were no objections, I climbed up to straddle his lap.
He let out a sigh and I laid my head on his shoulder since physical contact really seems to be helping. He put his cigarette out after a few minutes and started to stroke my hair.
"Baby I'm sorry," he whispered, finally breaking the silence. I looked at him confused, but he only smiled and pushed my head back into the crook of his neck.
"Why?" I mumbled while playing with the back of his shirt. He sighed and rubbed his spare hand up and down my back.
"I'm sorry for not checking up on you first, are you okay baby?" He asked. I smiled and pulled back from his hold in order to look him the eyes.
"I'm okay River, thank you." He smiled at my reply and pulled me back into a hug. He went silent for a few minutes, softly rubbing my back with his thumb while deep in thought.
"What happened before I got there?"
River's POV
It's currently lunch time and I went straight to my locker, only to see that Cove's not there waiting for me like she usually is.
I quickly checked her class to see if they're just getting out late or something, but it was deserted. Hmm, oh maybe she already went to our spot?
Nope. There's only one place left to check, and that is the cafeteria. She probably got caught up with her friends, or maybe she just got too hungry to wait for me. My bet's on the latter.
I walked inside the cafeteria and I quickly scanned over the area, looking for my girl. When I finally spotted her, my eyes instantly filled with rage at the sight before me.
Brad is holding her up by the sleeve of her shirt like a f*cking rag-doll. My poor baby, she looks absolutely terrified!! That son of a b*tch, who does he think he is?!
"Let go of her," I demanded in an overly calm tone as soon as I got within hearing distance. Fear crossed Brad's face, but he stood his ground continued to hold her by the sleeve.
"Let. Go. Of. Her. Now." My voice was no longer calm, and the rage inside of me became evident. By this time, the whole cafeteria went silent and everyone watched as he instantly let go and dropped her on the bench.
I slowly walked over to her, my eyes narrowing in on her shirt which is hiked up dangerously high. I reached forward and gently pulled it back down, then I lifted her up and pulled her into my side.
I then turned to face the now terrified Brad, his friends that were previously standing by him long gone. I don't blame them, I would have done them same if I were in their position.
We started each other down until he gave up and I smirked victoriously. My smirk quickly disappeared though as I unconsciously cracked my knuckles and prepared myself to beat the ever living sh*t out of him.
Just as I was about to step forward and throw my first swing, two small arms wrapped around my body. I quickly registered them as Cove's arms, and I gave her confused look.
"No," she mumbled into my side, making me even more confused.
"No what?" I asked quietly.
"Can we please go?" She pleaded, giving me the most irresistible puppy dog eyes possible. On one hand, I really want to cover Brad's body in bruises, but on the other, who am I too not give Cove what she wants?
I guess Brad can wait. I sighed and took her hand, then lead her out of the cafeteria and to the table outside. Once we got there, I pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke.
Cove stood near me, clearly deep in thought. I'm also deep in thought, so I didn't notice her coming towards me until she was already climbing into my lap.
I instantly wrapped my arms around her and she put her head on my shoulder. I put my cigarette out, deciding to started stroking her hair instead.
That's when it all hit me. Cove must feel terrible! How did I not make sure that she's okay yet?
I quickly apologized and she gave me a confused expression. I smiled down at her and pulled her closer.
"Why?" She asked in her angelic voice.
"I'm sorry for not checking up on you first, are you okay baby?" I asked softly. She pulled back from my embrace and looked in my eyes.
"I'm okay River, thank you," she replied. I couldn't help but smile as I pushed her head back on my shoulder.
While I was rubbing her back, I decided to ask her the question I've been wanting to ask for a while now.
"What happened before I got there."
Cove instantly stiffened and I started stroking her hair in order to relax her. Although I'm calm and patient on the outside, I'm dying to know in the inside.
"Well, I was talking to Leah, then he came. I said hi to be nice, and he leaned in my ear and whispered 'hi baby girl'. That made me uncomfortable, and I guess Leah noticed because she told him to go away," she started.
"That made him mad though, and he started to yell at Leah so I put my hand on his chest to create some distance. That made him even more mad and he pulled me up by my shirt."
At this point her voice was slightly cracking, so I pulled into a tight hug. I whispered words of encouragement to get her to continue, and after a few minutes she started talking again.
"I told him to let me go and I said that I was sorry! I said sorry but he still didn't let me go, and I didn't know what to do! I was so scared River, but then you came."
"Shh, it's okay baby," I cooed while rubbing her sides. She sniffled and laid her head on my chest while softly playing with them hem of my shirt.
"River," she hesitantly called after calming down. I hummed in response while continuing to run her sides and her back.
"I don't want to go to tutoring," she whined into my chest. My body instantly stiffened as the realization hit me. Nope, there's no way she's going, not after what just happened.
"Baby you're not going," I gridded out while pulling her closer in order to calm myself down.
"I have to! When I signed up, I agreed to a rule that says you have to go to at least 3 sessions before deciding whether or not you want to continue. I didn't think it would be an issue until now," she groaned.
I went silent. She can't be alone with Brad after what happened, I won't let that happen. I buried my head into Cove's neck while thinking of another option.
Nothing. I came up with nothing. There's no way around it, if she doesn't go today, she'll have to go eventually. As bad at it is, it's better for her to get it over with now.
"I'm sorry baby, I'll be right there with you, I promise." Cove whimpered in response and pushed herself farther in my arms.
As we sat in silence, I suddenly came up with a great idea. Maybe before it starts, I'll have a little "talk" with Brad. It may or may not end with him have a bruised rib cage, it depends whether or not he listens.
Just then, the lunch bell rang. I lifted Cove off my lap and placed her on the ground, then stood up and walked her to class.
I ended up skipping every class except for the one I have with Cove. Throughout the whole lesson, I sensed Cove getting more and more anxious.
I tried my best to calm her, but there's not much that I can do. She just has to get through this and one more after that, then it'll all be over.
When class ended, we walked to the library. I abruptly stopped as we reached the doors, making Cove look up at me with a confused look on her face.
"Wait here," is all I said before going inside and looking around for Brad. I soon spotted him sitting alone at a table with a pissed off look on his face.
As soon as he noticed me walking towards him without a certain blonde girl by my side, his body stiffened and his breaths became quicker.
"Where's Cov-" I cut him off with a sharp punch to the cheek. Mistake number one, don't ever say her name again.
"Dude what the he-" I cut him off again, this time with a punch to his jaw. Mistake number two, don't ever call me dude. We're not friends.
He clutched his jaw and opened his mouth to say something else, but before a single word could leave his mouth, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the chair and onto his feet.
"Don't ever pull something like that ever again," I seethed while slamming him against one of the bookshelves and wrapping my hand around his throat.
"If I see ever you even looking in her direction again outside of this room, then.." I adjusted my hand to completely cut off his supply of oxygen.
I only left it there for a few seconds before moving it back to the previous position.
"Got it?"
He nodded vigorously as tears formed in his eyes and his hands weakly tried to pry my fingers off his neck.
"Good," I chuckled darkly before finally letting go. I watched in amusement as he dropped to the ground and gasped for air, his arms shooting up and grasping at his throat.
It took a few minutes before he finally collected himself and crawled back into the chair. I gave him an extra minute after that to make it seems like nothing ever happened, then I left to go collect my angel.
As turned around, I made sure to briefly flash my gun. Due to the sound of a gasp behind me, I knew that he saw it.
"She is to never know about any of this," I ordered while motioning to my gun in a threatening manner.
Eventually, the time will come where she figures everything out. But that time is not yet because as far as I know, so far she doesn't suspect a thing. And I want to keep it like that for as long as possible.
Cove's POV
As I stood at the doors waiting for River to come out, I tried to give myself another mini pep talk. It's okay, you can do this!
Who am I kidding, I can't do this. I'd much rather be with River, curled up in bed watching movies and eating tons of snacks until it got dark.
I wonder how Brad is going to react. Will he make me apologize? Oh, or maybe he'll apologize! Or even better, maybe he'll fire me! Or maybe-
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of the door opening, then River walking out.
"It's okay, you can come inside now," he said.
I nodded and took his hand and we walked inside. The first thing I noticed was Brad sitting alone at table with his head down and hands slightly trembling.
Is he okay? What happened! I speed walked over to him and tapped his shoulder, making him look up at me with wet eyes.
No no no no no, was he crying!? His eyes widened at the sight of me and he frantically looked around the room.
His eyes briefly locked with somebody else's and instantly filled with fear as tears started running down his cheeks.
One thing about me is that I cannot stand seeing someone cry. I don't care what they've done, if somebody starts crying it makes me instantly sad and I find the need to comfort them.
"Brad what's wrong? What happened, why are you crying?" I questioned while moving closer to him. I heard a growl come from behind me before I pulled back against a hard chest.
"Baby, leave it. He's. Fine," River demanded as softly as he could muster while trying to keep his cool. I looked at Brad to see pure terror written all over his face.
Okay what is with people being so scared of River? I know that it's kinda hypocritical coming from me since I was super scared when I bumped into him, but this is on a whole new level.
Seriously people! He's not going to tie you up, murder you, burn your body and leave it in a ditch, never to be seen again.
I know that he shot someone, but as far as I know he didn't kill them. Plus, that was completely out of self defense. The guy was going to kidnap me for gosh sake.
I nodded into River shirt and he whispered a 'good girl' in my ear before planting a small kiss on the crown of my head and walking away, leaving me flushed and blushing unnatural shades of red.
I stood in the same spot for what felt like hours before finally finding the courage to look up and meet Brad's gaze. As soon as we made eye contact, he swore and turned away.
"Let's just do the math homework," he muttered while looking down at the table. I nodded my head in agreement, then sat down at the table and got out my things.
The rest of tutoring was spent with me doing most of the talking and Brad barely saying 5 words total. This time River came and got me, then he drove me home.
I did some homework, watched a bit of tv and went to bed, all with one sole question on my mind.
What did River do to make all these people so scared of him?
3821 words
This one is really long, I hope you enjoy it <3