A/N- Nope, I still don't own anything except the plot! Thanks to everyone who reviewed

so far! I do know that the Dancing Dove wouldn't be in the "Protector of the Small"

series, but when I wrote chapter one, I didn't remember there being any other bar that the

characters would be at (thanks to BrittyWeasley for pointing out the existence of the

Jugged Hare. I'll use that as the bar next time) and Kel and Raoul were chanting just to

give Neal a hard time. But, truly, thanks for the reviews and tips. They really are a big

help. I'll try to keep them in mind when I write. Now, on with the story (by the way, it's

still being told from Neal's point-of-view)! I hope I don't disappoint anyone!


Loving My Best Friend


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Previously:

'Dom had his arms around Kel and was kissing her passionately. My eyes grew wide

as I took in the scene. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And my cousin was the cause of it. I

couldn't take it. I glared at him, my eyes bulging.

"YOU MISBEGOTTEN SON OF A STORMWING!!!"'

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Chapter Two:

Fights

Alright, alright. So maybe my reaction was a little over the top. But I couldn't help it! What

would you have done if you had seen your best friend being kissed by your cousin?! Would you

not have acted in a manner similar to mine? Well, enough about that. Here's what happened. Kel

reluctantly broke away from Dom's kiss and turned to look daggers at me. Mithros, if looks

could kill, I'd be a pile of Stormwing droppings by now.

But it wasn't Kel who spoke, it was Yuki. "Neal!" She exclaimed, "What is wrong with

you! If I did not know any better, I'd say you were jealous!"

I could feel the blood drain from my face. She was right. It probably did seem like I was

jealous. I looked around the table. Everyone was giving me wary looks. Say something, you

meathead! I thought to myself. You should know that I have to be pretty desperate to call

myself a meathead. And Mithros, was I desperate! What could I say to defend myself? I

opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to force some sound out. All that I managed to

get out was, "I, jealous, no, not..." I then pointed to Dom. "Bad!" I put my arm down and

thought, Oh yes, I'm sure that sounded educated!

Everyone continued to stare at me, Yuki and Kel with even more contempt than before.

Then Yuki stood up, threw her drink in my face, and ran out of the bar.

With a last glare at Dom I sprinted out the doors after my wife. Yuki refused to believe that

I was only looking out for Kel, and she kicked me out of our rooms. That night I slept on the

floor in the hall.

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The next morning I woke up with a throbbing headache (that ale was awful!) to find a note

next to me on the floor. It was from Yuki. It read- 'Dear Neal, I need some time alone. I have

gone to the market for the day. See you tonight. –Yuki P.S.: No, I have not forgiven you

yet.' I sighed and folded the note, putting it in my pocket as I stood up. Stiffly (that floor was

hard!), I rose and tried to enter our rooms, only to find them locked. I attempted to use a spell

to open the door, but found it was protected against magic. I scowled and stomped down the

hall, heading to the mess hall.

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After I had had some food I felt halfway human again, and I decided to take a walk around

the courtyard. The cold winter air bit at my bare face and hands as I stepped outside, but I

didn't feel like being inside so I sat down on a bench and looked out at the practice courts. Very

few people were in them, because not many people felt like freezing to death. I was enjoying the

silence, until, to my horror, I saw Dom stalking up the path towards me. When he saw me, his

face twisted into an angry mask and quickened his pace. Mental alarms started going off in my

mind. This was not going to be good.

Dom stopped in front of me and growled, "What were you thinking?!"

I smirked. "What was I thinking when?"

Dom took another step closer to me. "Don't get smart with me, Meathead. You know

when!" His voice was deadly quiet, and he was breathing heavily.

I decided it was better not to try and beat around the bush. "I thought you were, well, I

thought you were just teasing Kel, like you do all those other girls! Obviously I was wrong!"

"Obviously!" Dom yelled. He grabbed the front of my tunic in one hand and hauled me to

my feet. Our faces were less than five inches apart. "She dumped me, Neal. I love her, and she

dumped me. In front of everyone. And I was going to propose."

Propose? I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. He loves he, I thought, Dom loves

Kel. "Mithros, did I mess up," I whispered.

Dom released my tunic. "Yes, Neal, you did." He said, his words filled with venom. He

turned and took a step away from me.

I just stared at the ground. But the next thing I knew, a force like a boulder being thrown

off a catapult rammed into me. I hit the ground on my back, the wind knocked out of me. The

next thing I knew Dom, who was straddling my stomach, had started punching my face as hard

as he could, swearing at me the whole time. I felt my nose break as his fist connected with it and

my vision blurred with pain. I struggled to get my hands up as he continued to pummel me.

Finally, I latched onto Dom's neck. He choked and stopped hitting me, and I flung myself on top

of him, attempting to strangle him, blood dripping down my face. He gasped and broke my grip

on his neck, and we started to roll around on the path, trying to land punches and kicks on any

available space on each other's body. Now, neither of us has ever been overly aggressive

towards each other, but this time we didn't care if we killed each other. I've never wanted to

hurt someone I loved, and I mean really hurt them, that much in my entire life. Ever. We just lost

it. Suddenly, over the sound of our swearing, I heard another familiar voice yell, "Mithros!" and

then I felt someone seize me under the arms and haul me off my cousin, who was also being

dragged away. I struggled madly against my captor, trying to lunge at Dom again.

"What are you two doing?!" I heard Dom's holder demand, and I saw that Lord Raoul had

his arms clamped firmly around my struggling cousin.

"You could have killed each other!" My captor exclaimed, and I realized that it was Buri

who was holding me back.

"Stop it!" Raoul bellowed, "Both of you!"

That was not a tone you disobey.Immediately, we both stopped struggling and instead

started to give each other death glares.

"What were you doing?" Raoul continued, "For all the years I've known you, I've never

seen you two fight." He looked at me, and then at Dom. "At least not fight like this."

We continued to glare at each other. Raoul sighed. "You both need to go to the infirmary.

You can tell us what happened on the way there."

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"I'b sorry, Father," I said, holding a handkerchief to my broken nose, which was bleeding

profusely.

"Sorry!" My father yelled, "Raoul and Buri find you two trying to kill each other, and all

you can say is sorry!"

Dom and I stared at the floor of my father's office. As ashamed as I was of what I had

done, I still felt a sense of pride for the damage I had done to Dom, whose face was as purple

as a grape and very swollen. Of course, that's not saying he didn't do a good job on me. I

myself felt like my face was on fire, and I could tell I'd broken some ribs because it hurt to

move.

"I wish I'd ripped his head off," Dom muttered.

My father sighed and looked at us. "I'm just glad you didn't seriously hurt each other." He

smiled. "Because I'm not very good at reattaching heads."

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My wonderful father decided to make us suffer as punishment, and didn't heal our bruises,

only our cuts (and my breaks), and he banned me from using my Gift to finish healing myself. As

we walked stiffly out of his office and down a corridor, I looked up at Dom.

"You hate me, don't you."

He looked back at me and sighed. It was a depressing, sort of hollow sounding sigh. Then

he faced straight forward again and shook his head, not answering.

But that was answer enough for me. I think I preferred him yelling at me. At least it was

better than this silence.

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A/N- It's sad! Gasp! Who am I and what have I done with the real me?! I didn't know I

had it in me! I hope you liked it!