Mike's arm settled around her shoulders as they set off across the parking lot. Theresa felt giddy, nervous and thrilled all at once. Two minutes into the party and already...

"How do you know Trey?" she asked.

"Work," he said, waving an ambiguous hand.

"Uh huh," she said, watching the hand.

"And you?"

She shrugged, leaning into Mike's sturdy frame. "He grew up next to me."

"Lucky him."

She beamed in spite of herself, and he pulled his arm tighter around her. This felt good. Public. Like a couple.

This was what she should have... what she deserved... Romance. Attention. Affection. Someone who wasn't so challenging, not so hard to read. Right now, it was easy to read Mike. He liked her. There was no question in her mind. She knew everything she needed to know. There was no reading between the lines, no insinuating, no guessing, no faltering.

Far away from the streetlights now, across the lawn, under the moonlight, he turned her around to kiss her and she collapsed against him.

This was exactly what she deserved.

She rolled her tongue in his mouth, pressing her lips against his as she did. Mike's kisses weren't like Ryan's. Mike's mouth moved hard, dry, fast. He sucked at her tongue, nipping, poking.

Theresa relented, submitting, kissing back, letting his tongue slide into every corner of her mouth. So fast. Ryan was nothing like this. This didn't feel quite as good, but that was okay, that didn't mean anything...

She let her hands slide down Mike's back, soft and slow. And yet he was moving so quickly, his hands already at her shirt as he pressed up against her-

She pulled back. "Wait," she said with a sigh, "I don't know if-"

He grabbed her tightly and shoved his tongue back into her mouth, hard, forceful, silencing her.

"Mmm!" She tried to smack his arms away, but he was much bigger, much stronger. She pulled her head back. "No, I only mean we should-"

He shook her, hard. "No, no, you can't... can't back down on me now!"

Theresa felt the panic setting in. She was losing control. A cold chill ran through her, along with the hot rush of fury. His hands were everywhere, moving around her, grabbing at her clothes.

"C'mon," he pleaded, and now her tank top was cast aside and his hands were at her jeans, still moving quickly, too quickly, too fast...

"No, not like – stop!" Theresa shrieked. She tried to smack him with her free arm, but he grabbed it.

"C'mon, pretty girl," he whispered. "Don't be like that." He fumbled at her pants and shoved his tongue back into her mouth. She tried to bite at it and he pulled back. "Bitch! Hey!"

He gave a great shove, and she fell backwards, but before she could scrabble away he was on top of her, pinning her in between his legs, and she felt her panic turn to pure terror.

"Get off me," Theresa grunted. She tried to free her hands, but they were pinned to her side as well. She fought to kick, but his weight was too strong a force against her. "No! Stop it!" There had to be a better way to get out of this. Play passive? Go along with him? Try and calm him down? The way he was struggling over her now, forcing himself into her mouth, there was no doubt that he was willing to hurt her. Plead with him? Humanize herself? She could taste the alcohol on his breath, and she knew exactly why he was out of control.

She had to do something, she had to act, she couldn't just sit back and let this happen... but -

"Hey! Knock it off!" The voice was all too familiar.

Theresa didn't know why hearing Ryan's voice should make this so much worse. It should have relieved her, made her feel safe, but it only made her feel lousy. Ryan was here. Ryan was watching. Ryan knew. Mike straightened up and she tried to follow, just to get up, just to get leverage.

Mike yelled something indecipherable at her, shoving her hard, and she fell back on the grass, landing hard on her arms as he took off running.

She heard two more sets of footsteps now, one coming towards her and one running away, in the darkness. Through the faint light of the moon she could barely make out the shape of the form coming towards her, the tall skinny one, just as familiar...

"You all right?" he asked, breathless, as he bent down over her with concern.

She covered her bra with her arms, looking away from him. "...Yeah. Super."

"Fuck," Eddie whispered to the side. "Hey. It's okay, you can quit shaking, we got you now." He put his arms over her shoulders, gently squeezing to try and reassure her.

She found herself cringing away from his touch. "My shirt's here... somewhere," she managed to say, and he released her to begin groping around in the grass. She relaxed immediately, shaking her shoulders out from where he had tried to massage her. "How did you...?"

"Ryan saw you," he said, and it was then that she heard the shouts, the grunts from across the field as Ryan finally tackled Mike.

"Ryan – no – Eddie?" she asked frantically. "He's gonna kill him, don't...!"

Eddie nodded at once and leapt to his feet, taking off in the direction of the scuffle. Alone in the grass, Theresa groped until her hands found the shirt, which she pulled on slowly. She reached down to fasten her jeans, but her hands were shaking too much. She couldn't maneuver the button, couldn't hold still.

She tried to take deep breaths. It was okay now. It was over...

She concentrated to fasten the pants, and started weakly towards the fight. Ryan was whaling on Mike now, which was almost impressive given the size difference between them, as Eddie tried ineffectively to stop him.

"Hey!" she called as she jogged across the field. "Ryan, cut it out!" Ryan sat on Mike's chest, pinning him to the ground.

"No – wait," Eddie was saying. "C'mon, man, you taught him a lesson already..."

With a grunt, Ryan launched another series of blows at Mike's face. He was like an animal, Theresa realized with shock. Unleashed, unhinged – there was a fury there she had seen before, and it terrified her.

She had to stop him. She had to save Ryan from himself. She did the only thing she could think of and jumped on his back, digging into his shoulders and pulling. Startled, Ryan launched backwards, to instinctively get her away from Mike, landing the two of them on the ground as Mike leapt to his feet and scurried away. The air in her chest was knocked out and Theresa gasped for her next breath, rolling on the grass as Ryan leapt off of her.

"Dammit, get him!" Ryan roared to Eddie.

"Eddie, don't," Theresa insisted, weakly as her breath returned. Eddie looked back and forth between them for a moment, but didn't move.

Ryan whirled on her, crouched in the grass like a tiger, the fury still just as present on his face, reflecting the distant lights. "What'd you do that for?"

"You were gonna kill him."

"Maybe! He deserved it!"

"Nothing happened, Ryan. I'm okay," she said quietly.

"Nothing happened?" he asked, his face turning red. "Nothing happened?"

"I'm fine, I mean, it's not like he... did... anything," she said, shivering as she said the word aloud.

"He was gonna," Eddie said quietly. She felt another involuntary shiver. "Hey, it's okay, baby, we're here." He knelt beside her.

"What were you doing going off with him?" Ryan demanded, still frozen in place, ice crystals hanging off his every word.

"I thought we were gonna... I don't know, make out." She realized how dumb and childish it sounded even as she said it.

"Yeah, you didn't think nothing," Ryan snapped, leaping up to tower over her. "You don't even know the guy."

"His name is Mike, and he's from Los Serranos. And Trey does," she said defensively, staring back up at him. "They work together."

"Work together," Ryan muttered. "Work together, work, work, dammit, Theresa!" and she jumped even as Eddie did. "That's not a recommendation, all right? It's a fucking warning signal..." He turned and walked a couple of steps away, turning his face to the ground as if to hide something, still muttering to himself. "Worked with Trey..."

She wiped frantically at her eyes with the heel of her hand, suddenly ashamed. She wasn't gonna cry. Not here. Not in front of Eddie and Ryan. "It's not like... I was fine, it was okay, until..."

"Until you told him to stop?" Ryan asked, fuming. "Then it's not okay, dammit!"

Eddie's eyes flicked back and forth between them quickly. "Guys – hey, Ryan, man, calm down, she's not the one you should be mad at."

"Yes, she is!" Ryan shouted, his voice breaking. "She should know better! How long have you lived in Chino, Theresa? Your whole life? You know how this stuff works. What are you doing going off with a guy like him? By yourself?"

"What are you really mad about?" she asked, suddenly curious. "The fact that I went off with a guy like him, or the fact that I went off with a guy?"

His look was ice cold. "Like him," he said in a low tone, and his voice left no question in her mind. She looked down, ashamed, hiding behind long, dark strands of hair.

"You know, it's not like he was wearing a sign that said, 'hi, I don't take no for an answer'!"

"Well, unless his sign said, 'I do take no for an answer,' you've got to be more careful than that!" Again she pushed frantically at her eyes with the heel of her hand, still trying to contain the sob that was lurking just behind her exterior.

"I'll talk to Trey," Eddie said, standing up, almost as if he was trying to draw Ryan's attention away from her. "Find out more about this Mike kid, but if we ever see him back in Chino there's gonna be problems."

"No," Theresa pleaded quickly. "Don't start something. Anything... Just – nothing happened, I'm okay, let it go, all right? I don't want some big gang feud coming out of this, or-"

"He attacked you, Theresa," Ryan said, staring at her with a solemn, expressionless face. "And anybody who tries to hurt you is gonna have to deal with me. And Eddie. And Trey and Arturo."

"No," she said again, struggling to her feet finally. Eddie stretched a hand out to assist her and she accepted. "No, please, don't tell Turo."

"Why wouldn't we?" Ryan demanded angrily.

"Cause as bad as you just were? He's only gonna be worse." She brushed the grass from her pants, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

"So? Mike deserves it!"

"I don't want you to tell Arturo." She didn't want to see any of her guys in trouble over this. Not Ryan, not Arturo, not Eddie. Not because of her.

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you went off with that crazy guy. I'm telling him anyway." Ryan folded his arms.

"C'mon, cut it out," Theresa snapped. "I said no already."

She could see the fury building in Ryan again, the darkening of his face, tightening of his fists. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tensed, bracing.

"C'mon, Theresa," Eddie said, pulling her aside. "Let's just get you home."

She shook him off. "No. I want you and Ryan to promise me you won't tell Arturo."

"Fine, fine, just come with me." Eddie reached for her again.

"No," Ryan said, setting his jaw. "No, I can't promise that."

"Who the hell are you to think you're king of the world?" Theresa yelled at him, breaking away from Eddie. She knew she'd said too much, way too much, but she couldn't stop it now. It was on its way out, and it wasn't going to stop just because something in the back of her mind was hissing at her to shut up, shut the hell up, cut it out now before things got even worse. "You just think with your fists, you don't listen to a goddamn thing! I tell you what, Ryan Atwood, you are just like him!"

Ryan stared at her in horror, his arms hanging limp at his sides. "What the hell?"

"You heard me!"

His fists tightened again, clenching from tension, turning white at the knuckles. "Shut the hell up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"You see?" she asked Eddie, with a choked laugh, her hand gesturing stiffly.

"We're going," Eddie said, his voice even.

"Damn straight," Theresa said, glaring back at Ryan.

"Hey, man, if you find Arturo, just – just tell him she wasn't feeling well," Eddie said quietly.

Ryan looked back and forth between them. Clearly he didn't want to give in to her, but when it was Eddie, too... he looked up to Eddie, didn't want to cross him, Theresa thought bitterly. She would never have that kind of influence on Ryan.

Ryan turned and stormed off across the field, vanishing into the darkness. "Don't you dare tell my brother!" Theresa yelled after him, knowing it was pointless.

"He's not," Eddie assured her. "Hey. Give him a little time."

His voice was so soft, so reassuring. So comforting. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve his pity, his affection. She felt a tear finally sliding out of her eye and hurriedly wiped it away. Couldn't be so vulnerable – not in front of Eddie...

"Let me take you home?"

She sniffed and nodded, grateful. Theresa followed Eddie through the field, away from Ryan, towards the safety of her home.