Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. Well? What did you expect?
If you review this chapter, you will get a… KAI PLUSHIE!
Last time: The girls went to 'Soundwaves'. Mariah, Hilary and Emily got drunk. Some men walked up to them. Raven told the others to leave and fought the men until one got out a gun. Suddenly a metal object (HINT HINT coughBeybladecough) knocked the gun out of his hands and he was knocked unconscious at the feet of…
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Chapter seventeen: Girls Night Out 3: AftermathShe was about to say something when suddenly there was a sound of metal hitting bone. The man cursed out loud and his gun dropped to the floor.
Raven turned and was about to punch the guy when she realised he was on the floor, standing at the feet of…
"TALA?" Raven exclaimed, not quite believe what she saw.
He stood there arrogantly, smirking broadly. Tala then looked her up and down.
"Nice legs." He remarked. Raven clenched her fists into balls and growled.
What the HELL was he doing there? What kind of game was he playing?
Maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe the sleaze-ball had knocked her unconscious and she was in the land of la-la.
Or maybe, he's really standing there and he's ogling me like I'm some sort of object for his amusement.
Raven, in her fury, went to punch him but she was slow from exhaustion. He grabbed her fist.
"Hn. You're becoming soft. And foolish. You know you should keep a constant eye on your opponents."
She ripped her hand out of his hold. She was about to ask him "What the hell are you doing here?" when it was suddenly said, without her lips moving. Raven then realised it was Mariah who had spoken.
Apparently, Mariah and the others had sobered up and now were being pushed forward by Bryan and Spencer.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Mariah spat. "You can't take me back! I'd die first!"
"Ease up. We're not under Boris' contract anymore. Since a certain someone ratted out four of our bases, and Boris was sent to jail."
Raven crossed her arms arrogantly. "Payback is so sweet. Though I had hoped that you had been caught as well. But beggars can't be choosers. What are you doing here?"
"Why are you suddenly on the defence? I saved your life."
"I could have handled it myself!"
"Yeah right, a gun pointed to your head is definitely handling it."
"I don't need you, Ivanov. Stop trying to be a hero!"
"I saved you from a pack of wolves and you hit my head with a fucking rock and tell my I'm a 'perverted bastard'!"
"I tried to say sorry for doing that but you called me a 'moody bitch' and then refused to accept my apology!"
"Am I missing something?" Hilary asked. Raven turned angrily and picked up her denim jacket.
"I'm going back."
"Why are you so difficult?" Tala asked angrily. "I've saved your life twice and you just refuse to accept that maybe you need help!"
"I don't need help. Not from you. Not from Boris. No-one."
"I should have just let you die the first time. But now I'm really pissed that I stopped you dying the second time."
"I told you that I was handling it!"
"Right…"
"Fuck off, Tala. No one asked you to suddenly appear and become the knight in shining armour."
"Guys! Tala, Raven's thankful that you saved her life both times and Raven, Tala was just trying to be nice." Mariah said.
"Why do you care, Mariah? Boris captured you."
"But Tala was being told to."
"Hn."
Raven walked away from the group, muttering curses about Tala and Boris. She didn't understand Mariah. Was she retarded or something? Tala worked for Boris!
But so did you.
She cursed angrily and glared at her bare feet. They were really starting to hurt now.
Stupid Mariah.
Stupid Tala.
Stupid Boris.
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"Oh no, what if there's more guys around?" Hilary asked as they saw Raven storm away.
"I'll go after her. I still got to talk with her." Tala said.
"Are you sure that's wise? I mean… she doesn't exactly sound like she wants to talk to you."
"It's fine. Get a taxi or something."
"Tala? What should we do?" Spencer asked.
"Go back."
"You sure? I mean… last time you talked to her it ended up in a punching match." Bryan said, remembering how hard it was to pull Tala back.
Actually, Tala thought, Last time it ended up with her kissing me and then her knocking me unconscious.
"I'm sure, Bryan."
"If you say so."
Bryan and Spencer shrugged their shoulders and Mariah called a cab on her cell phone. Tala chased after Raven.
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Mariah opened the door silently, tiptoeing in so not to wake up the boys and for them to fuss over how late it was.
The corridor was suddenly illuminated, temporarily blinding her and the other two.
"WHERE WERE YOU?" A chorus of voices questioned, deafening them as well. Their eyes focused on Lee, Kai, Ray, Tyson and Max tapping their feet, glaring at them. Kenny looked concerned and Gary was holding a sleeping Kevin.
"Erm… partying?" Hilary said.
"We were so worried!" Tyson exclaimed as he hugged Hilary tightly.
Kai wanted to hug Mariah, oh God, it was so hard to not rush over to her and pick her up, squeeze her tight and never let go. He wanted to grab her and rush to some deserted island so no one else could disturb them.
Instead, Ray rushed over to her. Ray picked her up. Ray squeezed her tight. Ray. Ray. Ray. Ray. Ray. RAY!
He felt the green-eyed monster once again threaten to take over his body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It was getting more difficult now. He had this urge to snatch Mariah and chuck the rest of them out of his house. But he knew that Ray would kill him.
Unless you kill him. The Green-Eyed Monster whispered. Kai immediately ignored the thought. That was just stupid. How could he think such a thing? What the hell was wrong with him? Now he was starting to scare himself.
Suddenly, he realised that one of the girls were missing.
"Where's Raven?" he asked.
The girls shifted uncomfortably.
"Emily? Are those Raven's boots?" Max asked.
"Erm…" Emily began.
xxx
What was he supposed to say?
He knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to say, "You punched me after you kissed me. I should be angry. But I'm not. Not with you. I'm angry with myself. I'm angry with myself because I'm not angry with you. And I can't stop thinking about you. But then again, I am partly angry with you because now I can't get any sleep. And it's your entire fault. So I want you to punch some sense into me."
It sounded… ok… right?
No. It didn't. He was rambling.
Damn! This was so unlike him! He was Tala! The cold, uncaring Russian!
He knew Bryan and Spencer were laughing at him. They had always looked at each other knowingly every single morning since then when he would have to wash his sheets because of a certain dream involving Raven and the last time he saw her.
Except, it didn't end with him being knocked unconscious.
Since when did this happen? Since when did he find Raven… in that way? What the hell happened!
Tala found Raven sitting against a tree in the park. She had her knees pulled up to her knees and her head bowed though he knew she knew he was there.
"What do you want?" her voice sounded croaky like she had been… crying?
He didn't say anything; he just crouched by her and looked at his hands nervously. He forgot what he wanted to say. He forgot why he was sitting there. He even forgot his own damn name!
She finally looked at him. He caught her gaze and suddenly felt hot.
Now he remembered why he was sitting there.
Raven stood up, dusting herself off then walking away.
"Raven?"
"Go home, Tala."
"We have to talk."
Raven did not answer; instead she carried on walking away. Tala stood up and followed her. She ended up in a dead end alley and turned to face Tala with an angry look on her face, her hands on her hips.
"Well, you want to talk. Talk."
Tala's mouth was dry. What was he supposed to say again?
"Let me guess. You want to know why I punched you the other day."
"That would be a good start." Tala said, crossing his arms, finally regaining his voice. If she wanted an argument, he would be happy to comply. Maybe she would punch him again.
Oh great, how stupid do I sound? I want her to hit me.
"Because I wanted to get Mariah's beyblade so she could escape."
"But why did you do… that thing. Why couldn't you just punch me?"
"I had to catch you unprepared."
"Well done. You succeeded."
"Look, Tala, it didn't mean anything."
That was the answer he was dreading. Sure, he wanted an answer, but he didn't want that one. He was so stupid. Who cared if it didn't mean anything?
"Yeah, you're right. It meant nothing."
"Good."
"Good."
"Fine."
"Fine."
BUT IT WASN'T FINE!
She went to move past him but he grabbed her arm. She shrugged it off.
"What?"
"It's not fine."
"What do you mean? What do you want me to do?"
Perfect opportunity there. But nope, his pride stood in the way. "Apologise."
"Apologise? You've got to be kidding me."
"No. I want you to apologise."
Raven glared at him then stared at her feet. "I'm sorry I punched you." She muttered.
"And?"
"I'm sorry for anything else I have done in the present or will do in the future. Excluding you getting in my business when I was handling it."
"You would have died."
"No, I was handling it."
"Ok, exactly what were you going to do?"
"Why do you care if I had died? It doesn't affect you. Heck, my death would have made the world a better place."
She walked out of the alley when she heard Tala mutter something.
"What?"
Tala took a deep breath. "I would have cared, all right? Since that thing you did I can't stop thinking about you. That's why I wasn't at Boris' bases. I quit. Because it was constantly reminding me of you. I thought it would get better but it just got worse."
"What are you saying, Tala? That you suddenly love me? Pfft. Whatever. First of all, there is no such thing as love and second of all, our relationship would not work out since we hate each other."
"What makes you think that I hate you?"
"Don't kid yourself. We have a 'hate' relationship. I hate you. You hate me. I insult you. You insult me. It's how we go. That's the chain. We're not friends, we're not lovers, we're just colleagues who happen to find each other bloody annoying. Except we're not colleagues anymore. It would not work."
"Don't you think I know that? It's your fault for doing that thing."
"What do you want me to do? I can't erase it. I've already reluctantly apologised. Do you want me to reject you? Is that it? Fine. I hate you. Fuck off you ugly son of a bitch. Don't come near me. Go back to your Mama. Is that what you wanted me to say? Well it's all true. I hate you. I can't stand the sight of you."
Tala was staring at his feet, his hands clenched angrily. He was silently seething with anger.
"There. Now go home, Ivanov. I don't love you. I hate you."
She made to leave the alley yet again when suddenly she was violently pinned against the cold, brick wall on the side of the alley.
A gun to her head had not scared her.
Boris holding a belt or whip had not scared her.
Seeing a dead person had not scared her.
But this… this was scaring her.
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O.O
That was some complete randomness. I wasn't even sure if I was going bring Tala back but you know… go with the flow…
That was such a long chapter!
Next chapter: Fear of Fury
Quote: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion… and by opinion I mean WHAT I WANT TO HEAR!