Key To My Heart – Chapter Twenty – Knight In Shining Amour
Dawn POV
I walked through the doors of the Bronze with Janice, giggling with her about boys. "And speaking of which…" Janice nodded towards a group of boys laughing and pushing each other.
"Oh my God, is that Billy Nomen?" I gasped.
"The one and the same," Janice confirmed. "Come on, let's go say hi." I looked at her in horror. She just grinned, and walked over to them. I followed, heart pounding. "Hey," Janice greeted. There were five of them. Billy, Philip Rodgers, Alex Smith, and two others whose names I didn't know. All totally hot.
"Hey, um…" I could see Billy trying to remember our names. Not very confidence inspiring.
"Janice," Janice said. "And this is Dawn."
"Oh yeah," Billy said, nodding. I shifted my feet nervously.
"Dawn?" Alex asked. "Are you the chick with that psycho sister? The one with the weird name?"
I tried to think of something to say. One of the guys I didn't know punched him in the arm. "Dude!"
"What? I'm just saying."
The guy rolled his eyes and gave me a smile that made my knees go weak. "I'm Mark."
"Um, hi."
"Hey. You want a drink or something?"
"Uh yeah, sure, that'd be nice."
"Cool. Coke okay?" I nodded. "Be right back." So, he went to the bar and I tried to think of something cool to say…and failed. Janice was flirting like there was no tomorrow. God, how is she so confident? Mark came back and gave me my coke. "I asked for ice. That okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's great. Thanks."
My fingers brushed his as he handed it to me, and my heart started pounding. He flashed me another smile, and I swear I could have melted right there and then. I kept kind of quiet, but Mark kept on smiling at me every now and then. He's such a sweetie, and SO hot. And I also found out the other guys name, Richard. "Hey Dawn?" Janice called.
"Yeah?"
"Me and Billy are heading off."
I gave her wide eyes. She just winked at me, so totally at ease. God, how does she do that?
Richard got up. "Not without me you're not."
"What, you think I'm gonna try something?" Billy joked.
"If you do, I'm not missing it."
"Pervert," Janice teased.
"Damn right," Richard joked. They left, and I was left alone with the three other guys. Alex, Philip and oh so very hot Mark. I was suddenly uncomfterble. 'Oh come on girl, where's your sense of adventure?' I thought.
"I think they've got the right idea," Philip said. "C'mon, let's get outta this dump man." I was nervous, but I followed. Mark held his hand out, smiling. I hesitated, and then slipped my own hand into his. Warm. Not a vampire. Okay, that's good.
We started walking and we headed down this alley. Suddenly Mark shoved me againsed the wall and started kissing me. I shoved him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Huh?" Oh my God, he actually looks confused. "I thought you wanted this."
"No, I didn't. I wouldn't have minded if you kissed me…"
"So then you don't mind."
"What? Yes! Yes I do mind. When you're all like…"
"Like what?"
"Just…like!"
"Cock tease," Philip said. Alex snorted.
I glared at him. "Excuse me!"
"Guys, shut up," Mark said. "Dawn, come on, one kiss."
"No."
"Ah come on Dawn, one little kiss."
"Think she said no," a British voice said.
We all looked around. Oh crap, Raven.
"Get the fuck outta here," Philip snapped.
Raven leaned againsed the wall. "Nah, think I'll stick around."
"What's with the accent?" Alex asked, and not in a nice way.
Raven shrugged. "People usually 'ave th' accent of wherever they come from. Like you've got a California accent, y' dumb shit."
Alex walked up to him and stopped about two feet away. I saw them make eye contact, both tensing for a fight. This is bad, very bad. There's three of them and only one of him. Alex pulled out a cigarette and lit it, still keeping his eyes on Raven. He was posing, trying to look tough. As soon as the cigarette was lit, Raven stepped towards him, snatched it off him and stepped back, taking a drag and still looking him square in the eye. I tried to make him leave. "Raven, its okay I can handle this."
I saw Alex smirk. "Raven? What kind of name's…"
"Not one word," Raven snapped.
I pushed Mark away from me. "Look, I'm okay. Just chill, alright?"
Raven's eyes flicked to me, then back at Alex. "Fine. I'll walk away. But Dawn's comin' with me."
"No she's not," Mark said, and grabbed my wrist. Raven pushed Alex away from him and took a step towards us, and then Alex smashed Raven's head into the wall. Was that…? No, it can't be. It's just; I could have sworn I heard a growl coming from Raven. Alex had his hands in fists, and Raven slowly straightened.
"Y' don't wanna do that again."
"Oh yeah tough guy!" Alex yelled. "Bring it on!"
"Look, there's no need to fight," I said. "Raven, just go, I'm fine."
"I said she's comin' with me," Raven said.
"Hey! What am I, a damsel in distress?" I snapped.
Raven looked at me, and I think he was trying to hold back a smile. "No offence duck, I'm sure you can 'andle these twats, but I go, sommat 'appens, I'm gonna feel guilty."
"Look, we've not going to try anything," Mark said.
"Then y' won't mind 'er leavin' with me. Now."
"Fuck off!" Alex snapped and shoved Raven into the wall again. Raven glared at him, took a drag of the cigarette, and then wrapped his hand around Alex's throat, yanked him towards him and cracked his forehead into Alex's nose. Alex howled in pain and Raven let go of him. He sank to his knees, clutching his nose. It was pouring with blood.
"Son of a bitch," Philip said. Mark let go of me and the two made their way towards him.
"Stop it!" I yelled. They ignored me. Raven took another drag of the cigarette then threw it to the ground. Mark threw punch at him but Raven grabbed his fist and twisted his arm. Mark screamed, and Philip raised his fist, but Raven kicked him in between the legs. He let out a "off" then fell to the ground, holding himself. Raven swept Mark's legs out from under him then kicked him in the jaw. He looked at me.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine."
He nodded and then went over to Alex and ripped his jacket off. "Oh, you are so not going to rob him," I said.
Raven gave a look of disbelief. "You jokin'? I would be seen dead in this. I just want some fags." He rutted around in Alex's pockets and found what he was looking for. "Bingo." He put them in his pocket and dropped the jacket. "Shall we go?"
I nodded. We walked out the alley, and I for some reason I was both mad at him and grateful. "I could have taken care of them you know."
"Never said you couldn't of."
"But…I do appreciate the help. Thanks."
"No problem. I'm a knight in bloody armour."
He pulled out another cigarette and lit it. "You know, you're going to catch cancer."
He laughed. "Don't worry, I not."
"You will."
"Wotever you say love."
I suddenly noticed some red on the corner of his mouth. It looked like…like blood. "Um, Raven?"
"Yeah?"
"You've got some…" I pointed.
"Ay?" He wipped it off and looked at it. "Oh, sorry. 'Ad a McDonalds earlier. Must a got a bit of ketchup on me."
My heart started pounding. Please don't let him be a vampire. On impulse, I grabbed his hand. Oh thank God, it's warm. He's not a vampire. Raven gave a weird look, and for a second I was confused, and then I realised I was holding his hand. I let go of it. "Sorry."
He smiled. "I don't mind." He held it out, and I slowly put my hand in his. We walked in silence, and eventually got to my house.
"Well, this is my stop," I said. He looked at the house.
"Nice place."
"Thanks." I was still holding his hand, and neither one of us seemed to want to let go. "I've got to go in," I said.
"Yeah." He let go of me. I was a little disappointed, but I really did have to go. I smiled at him, and made my way up the driveway, and then before I lost my nerve, I turned around. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. I like to be spontaneous."
"Wanna do something?"
He smiled at me. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Cool. So, um…"
"I'll let you decide. Want me to swing by tomorrow?"
"Okay, cool."
"I'll come by about seven. That okay?"
"Yeah, that's cool."
"Cheers." He smiled again, and then walked off, hands in his pockets. I watched him go and then went inside. Willow practically pounced on me.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"Oh, just some guy I met."
"Oh really? And am I going to meet this guy?"
"He's coming round tomorrow at about seven."
"What's he like?"
"Willow, chill with the mom tone. You know you can't do it, and he's not like that anyway. He's…sweet."
Willow lost the tone and smiled. "So? Tell me about him!" I giggled, and we spent the next half an hour talking about him. Willow didn't mind.
