(Warning, this chapter will have some violence and more harsh language than usual.)
I do not own Doki Doki Literature Club, nor do I own any of the characters portrayed within this story.
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*taptaptap* There was a light tapping on my bedroom door.
"Hey guys? You should probably get up now. I made breakfast and I don't want it to get cold." Naomi's voice came through the door, followed by her footsteps going away from the door, going back down the stairs. She was up WAY earlier than I normally get up, and she woke us up before my actual alarm went off.
I rubbed my eyes, and sat up. Natalie turned over.
"Was… was the Naomi's voice?" She asked.
"Yeah, long story short, she's going to be living with us for a little while." I said, getting up from the bed.
"SHE IS WHAT?!" Natalie exclaimed.
"Relax! I can explain."
I went on to explain how she came over in the middle of the night, and asked to stay here. I also had to explain to her how I told Naomi about us two already living here together, and exactly the reason why Natalie was staying here.
"So you told her everything?" She asked, annoyed.
"Not everything! I just told her what you did, why we weren't in school, and that the therapist recommended us living together! She doesn't know anything about us, or even that we sleep in the same bed, I told her I sleep on the floor."
"That's not what matters. Why didn't you wake me up or something? We could've avoided telling her the truth!" She said.
"But… did we have to? She was really understanding, and was even worried about you!"
"I wanted to tell everyone when I was ready." She said, sharply.
"Natalie, her Dad was abusing her. Are you telling me you don't feel sorry for her? I know how she feels. How could I have turned her away? She's our friend!" I said.
"I… yes, I do feel bad… but…" She trailed off.
"But what?" I demanded.
"I just… I don't like the idea of her being here with us. Can't she stay in my house? Nobody is staying there." She said.
"No, she can't be alone. What if her Dad comes looking for her? She needs someone to protect her. She needs us, just like I need you, and you need me."
"And you would just put your life on the line for her? We don't know what type of person her Dad is, he could hurt you!"
I couldn't believe what she was saying. Did she have no faith in me?
"Yes, I would. I was vulnerable once. I know how she feels, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." My voice cracked.
She looked me over. "Why're you so intent on defending her?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"It's not like that! I feel like I've justified my actions well enough, haven't I?"
She looked away from me. I continued.
"Look, I get it. I'm sorry that I told her about you, I shouldn't have said anything without your permission. I'm sorry. But Naomi needs our help. She doesn't have anyone else to turn to, and as far as I'm concerned, she is welcomed to stay in my house for as long as she needs to. Everyone has their own right to safety and happiness." I said firmly. "She's my friend. She's your friend too, right?"
"Y-Yeah…" she said, unconfidently.
"Then act like it."
With that, I stood up, and made my way downstairs
Natalie wasn't acting herself this morning. How could she even have to think about letting Naomi stay. How selfish was she? I've already done so much for her, and I would do more. But how, now that another person is in need, does she not want me to help her? I had to leave the room before I said something I would regret.
Naomi was already dressed in some nicer school clothes, and ready for school a few hours before school was even starting. And, on top of that, she made breakfast for three people. What time did she get up?
She had made waffles, eggs, toast and bacon, all cooked to perfection, and arranged perfectly on three different plates around the table, accompanied with milk. I didn't even know I had this much food in my house.
Natalie made her way down the stair shortly after me.
"Wow Naomi, this looks amazing! What's the occasion?" I asked.
"It's nothing special, I just wanted to do something as a way to say thank you for letting me stay here with you guys." She said, smiling.
Natalie and I took our seats with Naomi, and we all started eating.
"Natalie, I'm really sorry to hear about everything that happened recently. Are you okay? You can always talk to me if you need someone to talk to." Naomi said.
"Thanks. And I'm okay. I have Nick here to thank for that though." She said, standoffishly.
"Yeah, he's been a real life saver for us recently, hasn't he?" Naomi said, laughing lightly.
"Yeah…" She paused, and looked at everything Naomi had made on the table in front of us, then met my eyes, and turned to her. "Y-You can talk to me too if you ever need anything. And… although it's not my right to say, you're welcome here any time, all the time. I-I guess what I mean is I look forward to living with you." She said, with an innocent smile.
"Thanks! I look forward to living with you too." She said back, taking a bite of her eggs.
Naomi and Natalie do have one thing in common, they don't always like to show weakness to each other. The other night, Naomi was a wreck and pretty emotional, but now she's acting pretty happy. Granted, she may be in a good mood because she's finally away from her dad, but it's completely different than how I quite literally just saw her. Maybe the cooking put her in a good mood. I know she's a good baker, but had no clue she could cook just as well.
After we had all finished around the same time, Natalie stood up and walked over to the sink, putting her dishes away.
"Thank you for the food, Naomi. It was really good!"
"I-It couldn't have been that good, but yeah, you're welcome I guess." She said, blushing and looking away.
That's more like Naomi.
"Do you want to hop in the shower first?" I asked Natalie.
"Yep! You take too long sometimes." She said, running up the stairs.
"Wha- Hey! Don't use up all the hot water!" I called after her, hoping she heard me.
"'Take too long' huh? What exactly do you do in the shower that takes so long?" Naomi teases with a smirk.
"Oh shut up. I don't even take that long. It's Natalie that takes long. She uses up the hot water all the time and forces me to take cold showers."
I stood up, and took mine and Naomi's dishes over to the sink, and started to wash them.
"Do… do you want any help with that?" She asked.
"Nah, I'm alright. I'm used to doing it on my own."
"That's weird. I'm not used to seeing a guy do dishes." She said.
"Well normally I cook our meals too, but you beat me to that this morning. It was better than anything I would've made anyways though."
We were silent for a little bit, myself washing dishes, and Naomi sitting at the table doing whatever, I had my back to her so I couldn't see her. I spoke up.
"Also, just so you know, I explained everything to Natalie about why you showed up, so… Yeah."
"Oh… okay, that's fine. She has a right to know."
She pauses.
"So... Can I ask you something kind of personal about her?" She asked.
"Sure, what's up?" I asked.
"What exactly happened leading up to you… finding her? And what was it like?" She asked.
Well, that was certainly personal. The cats already out of the bag, it wouldn't hurt to talk about it with her.
"Natalie wanted to tell you guys on her own time, but since you're a special case, I'll make an exception. But this conversation stays between us." I said.
She smiled when I said, 'special case' and nodded. I went on.
"The few days before I found her, I noticed she kept acting more and more out of character. I stopped in to see her, and we talked for a while, and she basically told me she has symptoms of depression, and that they only started kicking in after her and I started talking again, when she had me join the literature club. We're childhood friends, but we haven't hung out together since we were younger, and we hadn't talked in a while."
She nodded, thinking. "Okay, what about the day you found her?" She asked. This was starting to feel like an interrogation.
"Well… the day after we talked, I texted her in the morning and didn't get a message back. She normally answered right away, even if my texts had woken her up, she would've immediately texted back. I panicked. I ran to her house, let myself in, and found her… hanging from the banister in her room by her neck. Luckily the rope she used was weak, and I cut her down with a pair of scissors that were on her desk. She was conscious, but wasn't able to speak. I called the paramedics, and rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital."
"Holy shit…" Naomi was at a loss for words. I continued, again.
"I stayed in the hospital room with her after she was treated and spent the night, not only because I wanted to but because she asked me to as well. After we had stayed for a night, her voice was back, and the hospital let us leave the next day since the only damage she did to herself was hurt her esophagus and give herself some bruises and abrasions. I invited her to spend the night because I didn't want her to be by herself, then the next day we went to the therapist, and he said that she… depends on me? And that if she were to be separated from me it would be dangerous. So since neither of us have parents home, he advised us to live together. So ever since then, we've been living together."
"My god… Natalie is always so happy. I can't believe she would do something like that." She said.
"Yeah, me either." I said plainly.
Again, another awkward silence fell upon us, and Naomi broke it.
"Can I ask you a personal question about you now?" She asked.
"Umm… I guess so." I said
"D-do you… do you like her?" She asked.
That was an odd question, but I figured I'd tell her the truth, why not.
"If you want me to be honest with you? I think I do, but at the same time I don't. I get a lot of mixed feeling when I'm around her, but I also don't know if I have feelings for other people or not. I've just been really confused about it all lately. We sort of confessed to each other the day before she… you know… but nothing came of it afterwards and we still act like friends and everything. Do you think it might've just been a 'heat of the moment' kind of thing? I ju-"
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, so you guys confessed, but you still act like friends, and you think you may like other people as well? Who else do you like? Who is it?" She asked, in a confusingly excited manner.
"Why does it matter to you?" I asked simply, turning to face her. To be fair, I was kind of annoyed that she interrupted me when I was trying to a heart to heart with her and trying to open up a little bit.
Her face suddenly got really red, and she lost her newfound confidence. "N-no reason! It's not like I-I was hoping it would be me or anything weird like that! D-don't get the wrong idea!"
"Umm… okay…" I said. "Anyways, yeah. I don't know what she and I are. At the very least, the absolute minimum, her and I are very close friends, especially with what's happened recently."
"So what you're saying is you're available?" She said, straightforwardly. "I-I mean, you guys aren't dating?"
"I guess so. Not yet at least. Why're you acting so weird this morning? Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Y-yes!" She stammered. "Very fine, actually, way better than fine currently, how are you?"
I just laughed lightly to myself, finished off the rest of the dishes, and put them away. Natalie was still in the shower.
"Hey, today I'm going to read with Ada at the club. I've been giving a lot of my attention to the manga recently and have been neglecting the book that she gave me. I don't want her to think I'm forgetting about her."
"Wha-? That's not fair!" She said.
"What do you mean it's not fair? Geez, if it's that big of a deal we can just read here at my house. You do technically live here now, and we will see each other after club time now." I suggested.
"I-It's not a big deal! I'm not worried in the slightest, but I mean if you're going to beg me to read with you after club time like you're doing now, I guess I can read with you." She said, with a smirk.
What? She was the one who made it seem like she wanted to read with me. Why is she reversing it back on me?.. You know what? I'm not going to argue with her.
"Thank you Naomi. It would truly mean a lot to me." I said sarcastically.
"Ha! I knew you actually wanted to. I-It's not like I was the one who wanted alone time with you or anything, dummy." She claimed.
With that Natalie called down from upstairs, signaling she was out of the shower, and to give her 10 minutes before coming up to get ready because she was getting changed.
"I'm… I'm gonna go chill in my new room. Don't come upstairs cause Natalie's changing." She said.
"Alright, that's fine." I said.
Naomi headed upstairs, and I straightened out the rest of the kitchen.
Naomi seems to be getting used to staying here already. I mean, she called the guest room 'her room', so I guess she at least plans to stay a while. I'm glad though. Although her and I like to give each other a hard time, it is kind of nice to have her around. And hey, we'll get to read manga together outside of the literature club, and I was kind of looking forward to it. Natalie seemed like she starting to warm up to her being around, or at least was making an effort to warm up to her being around.
After I was done, I called up the stairs.
"Can I come up now? I'd like to get ready too."
"Yeah, you're all good!" Natalie called.
I went upstairs, and into my room to get my outfit for the day. Naomi was fixing Natalie's hair in the mirror in my room. So much for her 'chilling in her room'.
I picked out a gray long sleeved shirt with a black accent, and black joggers.
"Good choice!" Natalie said, I turned to her reflection in the mirror, to which she smiled at me. I smiled back.
"Thanks." I said simply.
"U-Um, yeah. That'll match well. I-I guess." said Naomi, refusing to make eye contact with me.
"Uh, thanks." I said, turning to walk out the door.
In what I imagine was probably about twenty minutes, I was finished in the shower, dressed, and starting to do my hair, when there was a knock at the door.
"Are you almost done in there?" asked Naomi.
"I've only been in here for like twenty minutes, you were ready so much earlier than us. What could you possibly need?"
"I didn't brush my teeth yet, idiot! I was waiting till after we ate!" She snapped back.
"Well then you can wait five more minutes. I promise I'll be out of the way by then."
I could hear her stomping away, followed by a "better be" or something of the sorts. I only just realized how difficult it's going to be to have to share the only bathroom with a shower among three eighteen-year-old high school students every morning. We'll find out some sort of system.
I finished getting ready in what was probably record speed, and headed downstairs.
Naomi and Natalie came down shortly after me. We grabbed our stuff, and started to head for the door, until Natalie stops us.
"Hey guys? I just have one more thing that probably needs to be brought up."
"Okay. What is it?" I asked.
She was hesitant, but eventually responded. "Well… Nick, that car outside is yours, right? Could we maybe drive instead of walk?"
Natalie and I looked at each other, then back to her.
"I mean, yeah. I'm okay with that. But why?" I asked.
"It's just… It's just my dad. I don't think he would come after me or anything, I don't feel safe walking out in the open. If he would come looking for me and saw me walking with you guys in the street, I wouldn't want him to hurt one of you guys…"
"Are you implying that he would try to hurt us if he found out you were with us?" Natalie suddenly asks, her normal innocent and happy tone shifting to an uncharacteristically serious one.
"N-No! Not exactly! I don't know. I just want to make sure I'm not seen by him, that's all! It's unlikely that, even if he were looking for me, he would even be in this area. He has no idea where I went."
I put a hand on Natalie's shoulder, and gave her a little nudge, then spoke up to Naomi.
"That'll be fine. Walking can take a few minutes, but if we drive, we'll be there in no time. It could make mornings a little easier as well because we won't have to get ready as early as well. We're killing two birds with one stone."
"Alright, thank you Nick." Naomi said.
We headed out the door, and walked to my car. It only had two doors, so I had to pull the seat back for one of the girls. They took the time to argue which one had to sit in the back.
"I call a shotgun!" said Natalie.
"Wha- that's not fair! I should get the front!" replied Natalie.
"Why should you get the front? You're littler than me! You'll fit past the seat better! I've sat there before, it's not bad at all." Natalie snaps back.
"Exactly, you've sat there before, so you can sit there again." Naomi says with a smirk.
"Nick!" They both said in unison, turning to me.
"What? Why is it my decision? Why does it even matter?! It's a minute drive. Probably less!"
They argued for a little longer after I couldn't pick between the two, and the came to the conclusion that Naomi would sit in the front after she threatened to never bake anything again for Natalie. As you can imagine, with her love of food, she complied and took the back seat.
After what was literally a minute drive, we arrived at the school. I let the girls out at the front entrance, we said our goodbyes, and I went to find a parking spot.
I parked down the road since I hadn't gotten a parking pass from the school's office yet. I walked through the front gate, and went to my homeroom, but not before stopping to get the pass.
.
Before I knew it, I was back in the club with all four of the girls. Everyone was in their normal spots, as the usual. I took a seat next to Ada.
"Oh, hello Nick. How are you?" She asked.
"I'm breathing Ada, that's all that matters." I said with a chuckle. "Do you want to continue our book? We haven't had the chance to read together for a while."
"Of course! That would be lovely. Let me fetch my book."
She got up from her seat gracefully, grabbed her book from her book bag, and reassumed her position.
"Where were we…" She said quietly to herself, flipping through the pages.
Her and I did exactly what we did the first time. We sat shoulder to shoulder, reading together, her a little faster than I. After I would finish, my hand would pass the page over to her hand, and the page would flutter down onto the other side of the book. It was somewhat peaceful. To just sit there, in our own silence and our own company, letting our minds experience tranquility together.
I noticed I wasn't looking at the page anymore, but rather, staring at her, looking down at the book.
"Did you finish this page yet? This one is taking you somewhat longer than you usually take." She asked.
My heart skipped a beat.
"Oh! Yeah, sorry." I said, passing the page over.
After getting through the third chapter, I checked the time and noticed it was almost the time that we normally share poems.
"Why don't we go ahead and stop here, we can pick back up next time. It's getting interesting though, I'm really enjoying the book." I said.
"Ah, yes. That's fine. And I'm glad." She said with a smile, blushing slightly.
She is acting surprisingly… calm, today. I wonder if she's finally getting used to me being in the literature club?
Before Marissa could announce it like she normally does, we were all actually ready to share poems already. I think now that everybody has done it, we weren't as shy about sharing.
The poem sharing processes went almost exactly the same as yesterday, with the only difference being the poems. This time I went from Marissa, to Natalie, to Ada, to Naomi. Everyone had written their poems in their respective styles, with the exception of Naomi.
I passed my poem to her, and she passed her to me.
I read through her poem.
Safety
I feel those familiar feelings
Those feelings, rushing through me
The ones paired with beatings
Threatening my safety
I run, and run and run
And go as far as I can, see
But no matter where I go
These feelings are always with me.
However, it has changed
Those feelings that I can't see
They truly aren't around
Because it's you that is with me
I feel safer when I'm with you
Like nothing can truly hurt me
These feelings, are certainly true
You, are my safety.
It had Naomi's normal, simplistic writing style, that was for sure. Lots of repetition, similar sentence structure and end rhyme, and even a little alliteration. But it had some darker undertones, a reference to what I'm assuming is her father, and this seemed to be devoted to someone.
"So, Naomi, who'd you write this for?" I asked slyly.
"N-nobody!.. was it that obvious?.." She said quietly.
"Was what obvious?" I asked again.
"Nothing!" She snatches her poem back. "If you were going to make fun of me I wouldn't have shared with you!"
"Relax." I replied, chuckling. "I'm not making fun of you. I liked your poem. It was really well written, just like your last one. I just like to mess with you, that's all."
The poem was obviously written for someone. And I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but I think I had reason to believe it was about me, allowing her hospitality in my home. At least that's how I read it. Although that's just an assumption, or a guess. It could be for anyone now that I think about it. I don't know her that well.
"W-well of course you liked it! Someone with a feeble mind like yourself should be entranced by my poems!" She snapped.
I decided not to say anything back that could potentially hurt her feelings.
"That's exactly it Naomi, really hit the nail on the head with that one." I said sarcastically.
"W-Well… Yeah!" She crosses her arms and looks away.
I patted her head and smiled at her. "For real though, keep up the good work. You're an amazing writer, whether you believe it or not." I said confidently, looking her dead in the eyes.
Her mouth agape, giving me what seemed to be an expression that was either flattered or disgusted, she took a step back, and looked around the room. She then looks me back in the eyes, blushes and looks away, and turns to the first person she can find.
"…N-Natalie! I haven't shared with you yet!" She says, before scurrying off.
It really is fun to mess with her. She acts pretty tough, which I'm sure she is, but she's easy to fluster. Does that make me evil? I only do it because she has cute reactions. But seriously, I wonder who that poem was for? She obviously had strong feelings for whoever it was.
After everyone else finished sharing their poems together, everyone made their way out of the room, and thus ended another day at the literature club. Natalie, Naomi and I walked out to my car.
"Do you guys wanna go do something?" Naomi asks, after letting Natalie into the back seat.
"Like what?" I asked.
"I don't know. We could go see a movie, go somewhere to eat, you know, do somethin'." She said.
"Actually, there's a really cool coffee shop that just opened a few blocks away from our house that I've been wanting to go see. I heard they have really good food there too!" Natalie said, jumping at the chance to get food.
"I'm cool with that. Is that alright with you?" I said, turning to Naomi.
"Yeah! That sounds fun!" She exclaimed.
Following Natalie's directions, I drove us to the coffee shop, which was only about five minutes from our houses.
The shop was simply called "coffee" except the actual title was "Cof-E". It was obviously just built, and it looked very modern. Why did I not know about this? I guess I'm not a coffee fan, but if there's good food I thought I would've known about it.
I found a parking space, and we all made our way inside.
It was a spacious, yet quiet place. It wasn't very busy, but there were some people off to the sides mingling, some people with headphones in on their laptops, and more. There was a spiral staircase that led up to a loft where there were more tables, and even an outdoor seating area on a small part of the roof with couches and lawn chairs. It almost felt more like a bar. It was really trendy as far as coffee shops go and an awesome place, I couldn't believe it wasn't any busier.
"Woahhhh" Natalie and Naomi said in unison.
"You guys go ahead and order, I'll find us a seat." I said.
"Make sure it's upstairs! It looks so cool up there!" Natalie said.
"Yeah, I will." I assured her.
It was a little chillier today with the seasons changing, so I took a seat that was near a window indoors. Nobody was using the outside space anyways, so it would've looked odd if it were just the three of us out there.
Natalie came to find me, along with Naomi, both empty-handed.
"Did you guys not see anything you want?" I asked.
"N-noo…" Natalie said shyly.
It took me a minute to realize what was happening.
"You both don't have money." I stated.
Natalie looked away, pressing her finger tips together.
"I-I forgot to grab money when I left my house… although I didn't have any money to begin with…" Naomi said quietly.
I sighed, and pulled out my wallet. I handed Natalie a twenty.
"Thank you Nick!" She said, giving me a tight hug. Naomi had a jealous look.
"H-Hey!" She said.
We both turned to look at her.
"I-I just wanted to say… um… thank you too?" She said.
"Don't mention it. I'm used to having to pay for Natalie." I looked at her, to which she smiled embarrassedly. "I'll hold onto our seats, you guys go get what you want and when you come back I'll go get something." I said.
"Okay!" Natalie said, almost skipping away as Naomi followed. She seemed in a good mood currently, which is always nice. Maybe she was just happy to get out of the house for once.
Natalie came back with what looked like a smoothie, and a glazed doughnut with sprinkles on it. Naomi had some sort of coffee drink, and a breakfast sandwich. Looks like this place only serves breakfast foods, so it'll be brunch for us.
I went down the stairs to the counter and order my things after Natalie had given me the change they got from when they ordered. I got an egg and bacon sandwich, a cinnamon roll, and a glass of ice water.
I made my way back up the stairs to our table. Naomi and Natalie were sitting on opposite sides of the table. I sat down next to Natalie.
"How is everything?" I asked the girls.
"It was really good!" Natalie said. I noticed she said 'was', and saw that she had finished everything before I had gotten back. Jesus, she can eat.
"Yeah, it's good so far. I could probably make something way better than this though." Naomi said.
"Ha, I'm sure you can." I said to her. "Admittedly it's just nice to not have to cook something for once."
I took a bite of my sandwich.
"Woah, what did you get Nick? It all looks so good!" Natalie said, eyeing my cinnamon roll.
"A cinnamon roll and a sandwich. The sandwich is a biscuit, but has egg and bacon in it." I said.
She was practically drooling.
"Do you wanna try some?" I asked, even though I knew that's exactly what she wanted.
"eheh, I mean… if you don't mind…" she said quietly, sliding my cinnamon roll over in front of her, slowly.
"W-wait, isn't that like… an indirect kiss?!" Naomi said suddenly.
I thought about it for a moment.
"I guess. I've never thought about it that way. But Natalie and I always share our food. We've done it since we were kids. I've just never cared."
Natalie took a rather large bite out of the roll, and slid the plate back over in front of me, except she was blushing and wouldn't look at me. I picked it up, and also took a bite out of it, to prove a point to Naomi.
Naomi was flabbergasted, and then cleared her throat.
"W-well… do you want to… try mine?" She said.
"Didn't you say you could make something better? I thought it wasn't that great? Plus, I have my own sandwich." I said simply.
"Fine! It's not like I wanted you to try it and get an indirect kiss or anything dumb like that. Y-you wouldn't want it anyways! I could make you something way better that you would totally like!" She pauses as we stared at her. "Not that I want to make you anything!"
Natalie and I looked at each other and giggled. Naomi crossed her arms and looked away.
After we had finished our food, we threw our stuff away, headed out to the car, and made our way home.
.
I pulled into the driveway, and let Natalie out of the back seat on my side. We started to walk to the front door.
"YOU!" A voice yelled in our direction.
I turned around to see a car was parked on the other side of the road, and a man was on the sidewalk in front of my yard.
Naomi gasped, and hid behind Natalie, who was to my left, but closer to the door than me.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"What are you doing with my daughter?" He demanded.
It was Naomi's dad, there's no other explanation. I was afraid this might happen.
"She's living with us. Is that a problem?" I said calmly.
"Yes, it is!" He began walking towards me. "I didn't give her permission to leave."
"I strongly advise you to stop right where you are." I said firmly.
He stopped, his angry gaze not leaving his face.
"I strongly advise that you return my daughter to me before you get hurt, boy." He snapped, mocking me.
"She's eighteen, and an adult. You don't have jurisdiction over her anymore, and she can do as she likes." I said firmly.
"N-Nick…" Natalie said quietly. Naomi was crying in fear behind her.
"Take her inside." I said to Natalie. She nodded.
I continued.
"She will be staying here as long as she likes, and that's the end of it." I said.
"Excuse me? Where do you get off?! She my daughter and she will be coming home with me tonight." He takes another step closer.
"Go home, Dad! I'm never coming back!" Naomi yelled through the door, behind Natalie.
It started to sprinkle outside.
"I know what you've done to her." I said plainly.
He stops.
"What did you say, you little punk? I didn't quite catch that." He asks.
"If you think I'm letting you get anywhere near her, you're sorely mistaken. I suggest you leave, because you're not getting the outcome you desire." I said.
He glares at me, then looks past me to the door, where Natalie and Naomi were watching.
"NAOMI ISLA ABERNATHY!" He shouts to get her attention. "I hope you're happy with your decision! Because now I have to beat the shit out of your little boyfriend here! It didn't have to come to this!" He says.
"That's quite the ambitious claim. Are you sure you can back that up?" I say.
"You just signed your death warrant, kid." He suddenly charges at me.
He takes a swing at me, to which I dodge, and shove him backwards.
He tuns around and takes another swing, which I counter which a swift punch to the gut. He keels over and coughs.
Its pouring now.
"As much as you deserve it, I don't want to hurt you. But I will if I have to. This is your last chance, leave now or suffer the cons-"
He suddenly grabs my legs, and brings me to the ground.
"You got a lot of nerve!" He shouts.
He brings a fist down into the side of my head, then the other side. I put both arms up to block three more blows. I manage to wiggle free, and deliver a kick to his chest. This knocks him back, and gives me some breathing room. I notice my ear is bleeding where he struck me. For an older guy, he does hit hard.
"Kick his ass, Nick!" Naomi screamed from the door. Natalie covers her mouth with her hand.
He stands back up, and charges once more. I side step his charge, and trip him to the ground. This time I'm on top.
"Where do you get off, abusing an innocent girl?!"
I strike him across the face.
"What type of man hits a woman?!"
I hit him again, harder this time.
"What sorry excuse of a man, doesn't provide for his own daughter?!"
I push his hands out of the way of his face, and land a blow right on the bridge of his nose.
"What kind of parent displaces their anger onto their child?!"
Another blow.
"She's done nothing to you, and you've made her life a living hell!"
Another hit, harder than before.
"You're worthless. An angry man with no shame. Your own bad energy will be your undoing!"
I land another final hit, right into the side of his head.
I stand up, and stand aside.
"Leave. Now." I demand.
He pants, speaking between breaths. "Alright kid, you win, just let me-"
He suddenly stands up quickly, pulling a knife from his jacket, and slashes diagonally from the left part of my stomach diagonally upward to the right part of my chest, cutting my shirt open and my body as well.
"NICK!" Natalie and Naomi yell in unison.
It was a sensation I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. It burnt like hell. It was raining, but I felt like I was on fire.
I take a few steps back, then fall to my knees.
"You act like you know it all, but your ignorance will lead to your down-"
I side sweep his leg, and he hits the ground again, dropping his knife. I pick it up, and plunge it into his thigh, purposely, in one swift motion. I wasn't going to kill him. He lets out a wail as I pull the knife back out.
I stand back up, and stomp on his new stab wound.
"I'm not saying it again. Leave." I say, speaking between breathes.
He stares at me through a black eye, and grimaces as he stands up. He limps back over to his car, and drives off.
"This isn't over!" He yells back at me.
I threw the knife aside, and walked back over to the front door. I opened up the door, and went inside, only to be greeted by Natalie looking me over.
"N-Nick, you're hurt really bad! We need to take you to the hospital!" Natalie urges.
"D-don't worry about me, I'm fine, really." I try to reassure her.
"You have a gash from your stomach to your chest! You're bleeding! What part of this could be fine?!" Natalie says.
I started to get really woozy
"I'm… I'm…"
I fell to my knees once again, and hit the floor.
.
Oh god… my head…
And… my chest…
What happened?
I woke up on the couch in the living room. I didn't have a shirt on, and my core was wrapped in… old clothes? My head had a towel around it, covering my right ear.
I looked around the room. Naomi was to my left, who was asleep, upright. She was seated next to my head, facing me, with her head resting right on top of my shoulder. Natalie was also asleep, but she was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs and had her head resting right next to mine on the arm rest of the couch.
I looked to the clock in the kitchen. It was two o clock in the morning.
What the hell is going on?
I reached up and tapped Natalie on the leg.
"…hm?... Nick?"
She paused, looking at me. Then she got off her chair, knelt down, and hugged me around the neck.
"I-I was so scared." She released her grip on me. Her movement woke Naomi up.
"N-Nick!" She was next to ensnare me. "I-I'm so sorry about what happened! Are you okay? Do you feel alright?"
Everything was just so confusing.
"Um… guys? What exactly happened?" I asked.
.
(With Christmas and New Years coming up, I'm not sure how much writing I'll be able to get done. So, as an early Christmas present, I wrote an extra-long, action-packed chapter, although this is exactly how I intended this chapter to go, it just worked out. Happy Holidays everyone!)