Helloooo people! Missed me? Because I know I missed you. All the problems with my laptop have been solved, and all my greatest fortune (this story) was still on the laptop when I opened it, so I am happy to announce that I will get back to posting! I hope you guys are as glad about it as I am, and I hope that, unlike me, you didn't forget a lot of the story so far - I guess I should go do some reading so that I don't mess up the rest of the story.
But enough of my babbling. You waited long enough for an update, and I thank you for being so patient and understanding!
Hope you enjoy the chapter, and see you in 2 weeks!
CHAPTER 15 - Did you just compliment me?
Rose's POV
I am forced to pair up with Aaron and there's no way out for me. There went my nice climbing escapade. To shit.
The second I get close to him, he talks to me and I ignore him as best as I can. I can endure that, but I draw the line at the moment he touches my hand on a rock.
"If you do that one more time, I swear to god I'm undoing your safety carabiner."
"Rose. Come on. Don't make me look bad. You have to talk to me."
"Why would I?"
"I want to know you better. I want to be your friend."
"You want to know something about me? Fine. Know that if you wouldn't have had any gear to save you from this fall, I would have pushed you and I would have been glad to see you break your neck."
"What's with this attitude?"
I can't help but laugh. "You're actually asking me that? You fucker. Keep away from me, or I'll hurt you. I mean it, Aaron."
I want to move away from him, but he stops me once more. He is holding me by my upper arm now. Tightly. That will leave a bruise, enough to complement the one I already have from that pig the other day.
"What have I done to you?"
"Absolutely fucking nothing. You're a damned saint."
"You cannot keep on doing this to me. I will look bad."
"And why the fuck do you think I care?"
I try to get out of his grip, but it only gets tighter.
"Don't you dare leave."
"Watch me," I say ripping myself from him.
Dimitri's POV
I don't know what's going on between them, what they're talking about, but I can tell how anxious she is.
After her verbal exchange with Aaron, she wants to move away from him I guess, but it takes her a while to figure out a route on those false rocks. And I'd bet my money that her hands are trembling. I'm afraid that will not end well. I can only be thankful that after she moved left enough, she is now trying to descend.
Until it happens. She slips.
She is still high when she falls, and I know the cord will keep her safe so that she won't be hitting the ground. But it doesn't do its job, not fully. It doesn't rip or anything, but as the chord stops her, she dangles horizontally in the air and ends up slamming her right shoulder against the wall. Hard.
The instructors pull her down and I am the first to get to her, along with other instructors.
I take her good hand in mine and she squeezes until her knuckles turn white.
"My arm, oh, it hurts so badly. Did I break it? Is it bleeding? Is it bad?"
I take a quick look and see no blood. Of course, that doesn't mean the bone couldn't be broken.
"There's no blood. Take it easy, okay?"
"We have a doctor here. Let's take her there."
"I'll pick you up now, okay?"
"Yeah."
I pick her up and cuddle her to my chest, careful not to move her arm too much as I move.
"You're alright? Am I hurting you?"
"No. It's fine."
I follow a man and he takes us into a little doctor's office.
I sit her on a chair, and as we wait for the doctor to come, she looks anxious and doesn't stop looking around the room.
"Hey, what happened?"
"I just… it hurts so badly. What if I broke it? What if I… what if it's fucked up? What if I can't use it anymore… What do I do then? Oh, god…"
"Hey, hey." I cup her cheeks and make her look at me. "It will be alright. If anything is wrong, we'll deal with it. Ivan knows a couple of great doctors, okay? It will be alright."
"You promise?"
I wipe the only tear that fell from her eyes and nod.
"I promise. It will be alright. Do you need anything?"
"No. I'll be fine. I just… I'll be fine. I'm just a little scared, that's all."
The doctor comes in eventually and examines her.
"Please tell me it's nothing bad. I can't have it broken."
"I can't tell you that without a doubt. We'll need an X-ray for that, Miss. All I can do now is immobilize it so that nothing worse will happen until you get to a hospital."
As everyone else goes back to the complex, I take Rose to the hospital for the X-ray.
Getting out of the doctor's office, she seems surprised to see me there.
"You stayed."
"Shouldn't I have? You didn't want me here?"
"No, it's not about that. I just… you wasted a lot of your day on me."
"It's my job." but that's not why I stayed. I wouldn't have left for anything in the world.
"Thank you. And thank you for… I freaked out earlier."
This happens a lot to her these past few days. I wonder what changed. She's always on edge and it usually ends up in panic, sometimes in anger, but it's always bad.
"It's alright. And things are alright now, aren't they? Nothing's broken, right?"
"Yeah. Things are fine. I just need to take it easy for a while. My shoulder is a little fucked up. But nothing that a little rest wouldn't mend."
"Didn't they put it in a cast?"
"It's not that bad. I just can't do any complex movements."
"You got bruised."
She has gotten rid of her blouse and as she's only in a T-shirt, I can see those. Even though the bruised spots are way lower than her shoulder, which is weird. What is even weirder, is a bruise on her other arm.
Her eyes widen. "On, I must have managed to hit one of those griping thingies. Those are pretty solid, you know? It's nothing. I easily bruise, you don't have to worry. It will pass soon."
I'm not buying it, but I let it pass. I wouldn't like to add to her rising anxiety. But I cannot help but wonder, did Aaron grip her that hard?
I need to keep an eye on this guy. I knew he is bad news, but I didn't think he'd bother Rose like this.
Rose's POV
The ride in the car was silent but enjoyable, as Dimitri bought me ice cream and I even think I caught some sleep because I wake up as he is lightly shaking me.
"Hey. We're back."
He wants to make sure I get to my room safely, and as we need to follow the same route, Dimitri lets me lead the way and the fact that he is behind me makes me overly conscious of the way I walk. Or could it be that I'm sleepy and in a painkiller-induced haze? Yeah, I'll blame it on that.
Whatever the excuse, I miss a stair.
"Oh, God!"
He gets a hold of my waist, pulling me to him and gluing my back onto his chest, keeping me steady, supporting my weight on him.
I pull away as fast as I can.
"Oh my God. Did I hit you? Did I step on your foot?" I know for sure I did, I don't know why I want the confirmation.
"Don't worry about me. I'm good."
"You're sure? I have-"
"Are you okay?" He ignores my question.
"Yeah, I am. I am fine. Thanks for catching me. It could have ended way worse than this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure. Let's just go upstairs." I feel the need to cry and to hell if I am doing it in front of him again.
But my legs are unsteady. I can't walk right. Something doesn't feel right. I don't feel right.
"Let me carry you."
"No! Definitely not."
"It's just up to your room."
It would be stupid of me to argue.
"Okay. But only to my room."
He nods and picks me up. Unlike earlier when he carried me, this time I tilt my head and I look at him. I even find myself smiling.
"What?"
"You have nice eyes."
"Huh?"
"Your eyes. They're… really beautiful. And calming."
"Did you just compliment me?"
I smile once more. "Must be the pain talking."
"Maybe the painkillers."
"Those too." He smiles in response. "I'm sorry you have to do this. I'm so gawky."
He laughs. "You're the only person I know to use that word."
"It still describes me best."
As he carries me up the stairs, Cathleen exits her room and sees us. Fuck. I forgot we share the same floor.
But Dimitri doesn't seem to care about her presence, just nods at her and moves on.
He gets me inside my room and lies me in bed.
"You need any help?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. Only if you… let's blame it on the painkillers if it seems odd to you when I ask you to stay five more minutes."
He smiles. "Yeah, let's blame it on the painkillers."
"So it did seem odd."
"Rather unexpected. You didn't want me around much these days."
"Yeah… I tend to do shit like that. You don't have to stay though."
"It doesn't mind me," he says as he takes a seat on the edge of the bed.
All that follows is silence, as we look at each other. How come I put myself willingly in this situation?
"Can you wake me up tomorrow? I don't think I'll hear my alarm."
"Sure."
And now, maybe I should do the thing I planned to do when I asked him to stay. What I've been gathering the courage to do for so long.
"I shouldn't have been that mean to you."
"What?"
"When I said you're dead to me. I shouldn't have said that."
"I shouldn't have decided for you either."
"Still, I was rather harsh."
"And I betrayed your trust."
Yeah, he did, and it hurt. "But my words hurt too." I saw it on his face when I said it. "Can you forgive me?"
"Can you forgive me too?"
"I kind of already did." it's something about him that makes it hard for me not to.
He nods, then becomes dead serious.
"You scared me out there, you know? Seeing you fall from that height…"
"I'm fine now."
He smiles and bends a little closer toward me, arranging my blanket, and it could be those damned pills again, but I kind of think about kissing him right now.
Someone clears their throat. Looking past Dimitri, I see it's Ivan, standing in the frame of the door.
Ivan's POV
Rose's back stiffens at my sight, as well as her eyes widen. I'm still not her favorite person.
"Hello there, kiddo."
"What are you doing here?"
I lift my hands, defensively.
"I just came up to bring the ice Dimitri asked for. I just found out what happened and wanted to be helpful." I wish I was there. Last night too.
I hand the package to him and he places it on her shoulder.
"And if I'm already here, Rose, do you mind if we talk-"
"She's had a long day. She should rest," Dimitri intervenes.
It was a thoughtful comment, considering what she had to go through. But to Rose, the comment doesn't seem a nice one.
"She can decide for herself, thank you very much."
He told me he always seems to fuck something up with her and now it's no different.
She even smiles at me, maybe just in spite of him, and I kind of feel sorry for bringing this talk up.
"Ivan, it would be my pleasure to talk to you."
"I guess I'll leave then." I feel the irritation in Dimitri's voice, but he kind of brought it onto himself. He got burned once with deciding stuff for her.
A couple of minutes later, I am knocking on his door.
"What happened?" He welcomes me inside.
"She fell asleep two minutes into our conversation so I let her rest."
Dimitri's POV
The next morning, it's not me knocking first at Rose's door. As I climb up the stairs, I see Aaron standing there. This guy needs to stop finding his way around her.
She didn't welcome him inside, she has only her head out the door and they're talking. I see her looking somewhat distressed, but I don't approach them. I've learned my lesson. I wait at a respectful distance as so not to hear their conversation, and even if I wanted to hear it, it's quite hard as they're whispering to each other. I can only figure out her tone, which is not good news.
When she catches my eye, I try to see if she needs any help to get rid of him. I'd be more than happy to. He seems to be bugging her and I haven't yet figured out why there's this tension between them.
She shakes her head. She doesn't need my help, so I sit away until they finish.
Disappointed by the result of the conversation, Aaron leaves, passing by me like I wasn't even there.
She opens the door wide now, and gestures for me to come.
"I need to get dressed. It will take me a minute. You're welcome to wait inside."
She is in the bathroom, changing, and I'm waiting on the bed.
"Dimitri?"
"Yes?"
"I think I need your help."
"With what?"
"I managed my pants, but I can't do T-shirt. My shoulder hurts."
When I understand what that implies, I get up to my feet.
"I could go look for someone."
"That will take a lot. The activities start in ten minutes."
She opens the bathroom door and she comes out, and the sight of her makes me smile. She has managed to get her wounded arm out of the hole of the old T-shirt, and now that arm is kind of stuck under the tight material.
"And I mean… I know it was unfortunate, but you've already seen plenty when I was dressed in that nightie…"
Yeah, I remember that damned nightie.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, let's be done with it."
I don't know if I should be glad or not that she fell asleep with her bra on.
But now I don't have time for that. I need to keep myself practical. I shouldn't even be thinking these thoughts.
"Turn around."
I can manage this with her back turned to me too. It's the best approach.
Trying not to look down too much, I lift her T-shirt and take care of the hole for the head, then, I free her left hand, and eventually, slip the whole thing off. I do the same with the clean T-shirt, only in reverse order.
"Neat, comrade. You didn't even touch my breasts," she adds, jokingly.
"You wanted me to?"
What kind of response is that? What was I thinking? Why did I open my mouth? I swear to god, sometimes I'm so stupid.
She gulps and looks down.
"Could I bother you for one more thing?"
Changing the subject. Okay, we need that, after my blunder.
"What?"
"Would you catch my hair?"
"Sure."
She talks as I do it, and I find it safe to not interrupt.
"I never liked him. And I just don't trust him. Aaron, I mean," she explains to me. "I figured you'd want to ask so I saved you the trouble. The fact that he keeps on insisting to talk to me is annoying me the most."
I cannot help but smile. That I know. Poor Ivan is having the same fate. Even though I wouldn't put him in the same category as Aaron.
I make sure the ponytail is not too tight, then turn her around to see it from the front. I managed quite well.
"Rose?"
"What?"
"I brought you something."
"What is it?"
"For your shoulder. You're up, so you made it clear you don't want to sit in bed so I thought a little extra support would be nice. You don't have to wear it if you don't-"
"Thanks. Would you help me put it on?"
Rose's POV
The second Emma sees me outside, she comes rushing to me, to inform me of the latest gossip.
It seems like I am the center of it and the source is none other than Cathleen.
She is going left and right, telling everyone that I got my marriage arranged by sleeping with some high-placed people. And she might have not said it directly, but she thinks there was a long list of people's bed's that I have been through. Even the King, some might say. Because, you know, she has the best source ever, her father. I mean, it makes sense because Ivan had so many options and those were good ones, but I came out of nowhere and he picked me? Don't you find that suspicious? I definitely have used my "charms" to get that marriage.
Hey, if the rumor would have been about my father, I would have believed it right away. He is the biggest kissass I know. But the fact that she went for me, I will not stand by and do nothing. I cannot stand her anymore and the bullying stops right now.
I head straight to where she is standing, chuckling and whispering to people, probably about me.
"What the fuck is your problem?"
"I beg your pardon?" of course she is playing the innocent.
"What have I done to you? Why do you have to be such a bitch?"
"Did you hit your head yesterday too? Because you are delusional. I have nothing against you, Rose."
"Of course you don't. You're just so nice, aren't you? You cannot be the one to spread rumors. But you know what else is nice? To see you've gotten yourself a hobby of spreading something other than your legs."
"No, darling, that's your element." with this comment she thinks she got me.
"I beg to differ. Because unlike you, I will have proof when I'll let shit spurt out of my mouth."
Thanks to Emma, my little blessing around here. I don't know if she has a personal vendetta against Cathleen, but she has all the necessary dirt, and I am more than glad to fight on her behalf too.
"You have nothing."
Just because I can be mean back toward her, I lean closer and whisper to her.
"What about fucking with a bunch of non-royals, huh?"
Not that to people normal in the head it would be that detrimental to hang out with them, but considering her self-imposed high reputation, to have someone say she has been in the company of such people would be a catastrophe.
She turns white as chalk. "You wouldn't dare."
"Maybe I wouldn't find much pleasure in telling everyone about you and the people you've slept with and the other disgusting things you did, but I do warn you, if you don't end up with the bullshit, I'm punching you in the face."
"Is that a threat?"
"I thought it sounded threatening enough, dear, but if you cannot figure it out on your own, then yes, that was a fucking threat."
"You don't want to play with me, Rose."
"You fucking started it! And who is going to stop me, by the way?"
"No one messes with me," she says, borderline hysteric.
I just laugh at her. "Trust me, I can be crazier than you. And you don't want me to prove it to you."
Having no comeback, she resumes to puffing and leaving, all hurt and battered, followed by her two faithful friends.
Let's hope I never hear of her again.
After I asserted my dominance in front of Cathleen, I decide to watch the little football game the guardians that are off duty started on the little field. There are some Moroi too, the more open-minded ones, Ivan included, who joined them after I told him to piss off.
To be honest, I have no reason to complain about my view. I can see a lot of stuff from the bleachers. And by a lot of stuff, I'm referring to Dimitri. I know, I'm a little ashamed of it, but I'm all alone here as Emma decided to go swimming with others and I'm getting bored.
He's somewhat taller than the guys he now hangs out with. It's often hard for me to look him in the eyes because of that, but his height is not the only one making me feel that way lately. The way he looks at me, man. It's intimidating at times, and other times… I'd rather not think about that.
How perfect he looks, it's a whole other story. His athletic body, the way those muscles are toned everywhere… I mean, when he carried me, I felt it all. I'm starting to feel warm all over just thinking about it! This is so not healthy for me.
But how can I be indifferent to him?! My body sure can't!
Passing the ball to another guy, he runs his fingers through his hair, revealing the sharp edges of his jaw and a playful smile. Oh, damn him! I shouldn't be liking that view of him! What the hell is wrong with me? I never checked out a guy in that way!
"Let me guess what you're thinking of. Or should I say, who you're thinking of?"
Emma takes me by surprise as she takes a seat next to me. Or should I say, catches me red-handed? She said she won't be around!
I look down into my sketchbook, this time actually drawing rather than keeping it on my knees for a potential excuse for my presence here. Thank god I already had started a sketch and the page wasn't blank. Having this excuse definitely is worth the little pain I feel in my shoulder.
"I wasn't thinking of him."
She has a thing for teasing me about Ivan, at times taking it too far and wanting to find out spicy stuff about us, and I told her countless times there is no spicy thing between us.
"Not of him, huh?" she throws me a suspicious look. I do nothing but continue to draw. "Then were you checking out his playmates? Did someone catch your attention?"
Yes, it did, and I kind of want to slap myself for that.
"Of course not. I wasn't checking out anyone." Was I that obvious, though? What if someone else observed that?
"Maybe you should."
"I should do what?"
"Check someone out."
"Who is there to check out anyway?"
"You know I'm talking about Ivan so stop denying. I am talking about the fact that you should be checking him out. He's a catch."
"Emma, I am not into him in that way. I told you. I don't want to have anything to do with him." not after all the things she told me.
"Well, all the women around here seem to be into him in that way."
"So I've seen." If she's trying to make me jealous, she won't succeed. I couldn't be more indifferent about him. "Then let them have him. I bet he'll try his luck with enough of them soon enough. And he'll score. Over and over again."
She smiles, like knowing something I don't.
"But not with you."
"Of course not. I already told him he doesn't stand a chance. And he was explicit enough about still being interested in me."
"But? Is there a but?"
"But I have the feeling he's the kind of guy that doesn't give up easily."
He even told me he's patient. And he keeps on nagging me. First, it was that friendship thing, and who knows how long it will take for him to ask for more? I know he said he'd never force such a thing on me, but can I trust that?
Maybe he wants to prove to me that he can have anyone he sets his eyes on. Including me. He wants to prove me wrong? Did I hurt his ego by telling him to piss off? Is he looking for revenge now? Is this just a game for him to get back at me for my rejection? I honestly don't know.
"Isn't that a good thing? To be persistent in life?"
"Not when I'm the prize. Especially then. I don't want to be his prize."
"You have that bad of an opinion about him?"
"Shouldn't I? I think I'm more than entitled to. You know, you yourself told me plenty about his escapades."
"Yeah, from before."
"But how can you be sure he's still not doing that? A habit remains a habit." she has no answer, and I push it further. "Tell me it's not true. You've been living at the Court for so long. He has been there plenty of times since I entered his life. You must have seen something."
"I can only tell you that I haven't seen him do that stuff lately."
"This is why you're here? To plead for his cause?"
She shrugs. "I'm not here to change your opinion of him. That's all between you two."
"Then? What are you here for?"
She shrugs. "Right now, or in general?"
I roll my eyes. "I don't want an existentialist answer."
"I thought you might need a friend."
"Do I look that lonely?"
"I've seen no one was playing with you."
I smile. "I'm a little disabled. I'm no good for playing."
The only one who wanted to offer me his company so far, is not welcomed around me, so he resumed to playing football.
Being remembered about it, I throw one more look toward the game.
Oh, Ivan is looking at us. With a smile, he waves. I refuse to do it back. Only Emma responds to him.
"Maybe if you'd give him a chance-"
"Do you want to give him a chance?"
I'm beginning to get cranky about her trying to shove him into my face. Did someone pay her to do that?
"Do you want me to leave?"
"You can stay. Only if you don't talk to me about him."
"Deal."
Things change when Cathleen comes to the field. I get a little distracted because I want to see what she's up to.
She goes straight to the guys. Straight to Ivan, to be more precise. And as much as I want that not to bother me, it does. I know I'm irrational!
As irresistible as she is to anyone, all the guys there are trying to flirt with her. Even Dimitri smiles at whatever stupid thing she may have said. Why wouldn't he, after all? I may hate her, but I must acknowledge she's hot. Hot in a way only a true Moroi woman would. Tall and slender, with blonde, long, straight hair, and wonderful green eyes. What could you wish more? In comparison to her, I am merely mediocre. Anyone would be attracted to her. Why wouldn't Dimitri be too?
From what I can interpret with the information I'm given, she said that she wants to play too and her request is met with excitement from everyone. Dimitri included. He smiles at her once more and he passes her the ball, and all the guys get closer, starting to explain her stuff about the game.
When I had enough of that shitshow and avert my glance, I meet Emma's. I kind of forgot about her.
"You hate that, don't you?"
"Hate what?"
"Her."
"Because of how much of a bitch she is? Of course."
"Because of what she does with your guy."
"Hey!" I punch her arm playfully, restraining myself from doing it harder. "Dimi-" I gulp his name down and feign some more frustration, praying she didn't hear it. "Dim that fantasy down, will you? I don't hate that he's flirting with her. And Ivan is not my guy. I thought I told you I don't want you to talk about him that way." I gather my things and hurriedly stuff them in my bag. "I'll see you later, when you stop speaking stupid things."
Seeing her smile at me, I don't feel like I'm the one who has won here. I feel like by getting angry and leaving, I have just confirmed to her something that isn't, at all, true. I mean, yes, I don't like the fact that he's flirting with her, but for different reasons than she thinks. And I mean it when I say that he is not my guy and I don't want him to be!
As I was too caught up in my inner monologue, trying to prove myself right to myself, I didn't realize the path I took on my way back to the main building. I chose the shortest one. The one that passes close to them.
To my absolute luck, the ball they were playing with comes flying toward me.
I heard someone calling for me to dodge, but it's too late. I only got to turn around and see it coming at me, full speed, then I feel it almost blow my head off my neck.
The next thing I know is that I'm spread on the grass, and someone's annoying laugh rings in my ears. Cathleen's laugh. That bitch! I will rip her head off!
I try to shoot up to my feet, but of course it's a stupid move. I'm too dizzy for such hasty movements, and I land back on my bum. From this position I can see her leaning onto a guy, and oh, that smile on her lips. She did it on purpose! I don't know who hit that ball, but I bet it was her who came up with the idea, and that guy is on it too!
Soon, there is someone who is blocking my view. The last people I needed to come and help me.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ivan is the only one that speaks.
"Yeah." I slap his hand away when he extends it my way, and I look past him toward that bitch.
"Do you… can you stand?" Like he hasn't already seen I can't.
Still, I decide to pretend.
"I didn't get hit by a rock, Zeklos."
He extends that hand to me again, which I refuse to take, again, despite my legs feeling shaky. I'd rather fall once more onto my ass than interact with him when she is around. I wouldn't want her to understand things wrongly more than she already did. I have seen the way she looks at me, like I am her rival in all this. But she has no idea how happy I would be if she would just fuck him and take his mind off me. Even though only god knows she would be a crappy queen.
Of course, he seems bothered by my reaction and shows it to me by pinning me with his stare as I get up. He'll get over it. But maybe, if I'm rude enough, he will leave me alone at some point.
"I guess that if I ask you if you need someone to take you to your room and lie down for a second, you wouldn't let me offer my help."
"You amaze me. You're so astute. You graduated from Harvard, I guess?"
Smiling, he shakes his head. "What's with the attitude? I'm not the one who hit you."
I got hit because of him! It's just the same.
"Hey, you're still playing or what? Get that ball here already!"
"You should go. Your mates are waiting for you."
"And leave you like this? I don't think so."
"I don't need your help. Nor yours," I add and shake my hand toward my guardian.
"What if you have a concussion?" Dimitri intervenes and makes things more dramatic.
"I'd rather die than have you around. Any of you, for what matters."
"Oh, but I'd like to watch." Ivan throws the ball back and tells them that he's out of the game. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere to sit, at least."
He reaches for my elbow, but I pull away.
"Don't… leave me alone. I mean it. If you touch me, I will hurt you."
"Okay. No touching. But I am still coming. Dimitri-"
"Gods, you're all over me like a rash. Worse!"
I guess he expects me to go toward the complex, but I don't move.
I have a bad thought and I know I promised myself I won't do such reckless things so often, but she asked for it. Plenty of times. Even after I threatened her.
"Rose? Are we going or not?"
"Wait for me for a second. I have something to take care of."
I walk to Cathleen and stand in front of her, as she is still smiling at me.
"I warned you."
"Oh, come on, you wouldn't dare-"
I punch her without hesitation. The guy next to her didn't see it coming and he didn't manage to grab me before I planted the punch. But Dimitri is there to stop me as I prepare for a second one.
"This is enough," he whispers to me, and I must say he's right. I don't resist him so he frees me soon enough.
It takes her a second to process the fact that there's now blood gushing out of her nose. I didn't expect that to happen when I hit her with my left fist, but I guess anger took care of the fact that I didn't use my dominant hand.
"You fucking-"
"What? I warned you. You didn't listen."
She wants to fight back, probably to jump on me, but I just take a step back and turn to my side, and by extending my leg, I make her trip. She spreads herself on the grass, embarrassing herself. Good. Let her know how that feels.
She gets up pretty fast and comes facing me, thinking she looks threatening. She's rather pathetic, if you ask me.
"I will fucking ruin you!"
"Oh, hun, if you'd know how many people told me that."
I turn around and close my ears to all her threats. I make my way back to Ivan.
"I'm ready to go to my room. And if you wouldn't mind, I'd like someone to lean on."
I feel even dizzier than earlier, for I had a little too much action after that hit in the head. Plus, like this, I can prove to Cathleen that Ivan is mine.
He shakes his head, smiling, as he extends his elbow so that I could latch onto it.
"Was that necessary?"
"Shut up, it's your fault I had to do it."
"What? How?"
"Oh, come on, she's so into you everyone knows it. She wanted your attention and because you're supposed to be with me, she was making my life hard to get back at me. And I wasn't going to stand by and let her do it."
We walk in silence for a few minutes.
"You play well," I try to make pleasant conversation.
"You've been watching me play?"
"I have been watching the whole team play. It's not my fault you were part of it."
Some more silence follows, which he decides to fill.
"How's your shoulder feeling?"
"It's fine. Thanks to this thing Dimitri gave me."
"So that means you're coming to the party tonight?"
"What party?"
"There is a big place rented for us. I told you about it last night, don't you remember? You said you'll think about it."
"I don't remember. What party? Why is it thrown?"
"It's the usual Christmas party. No one else told you? You didn't hear anyone talk about it?"
"No." not even Emma mentioned it. "I didn't know about that. And I am not going. I don't have anything elegant to wear anyway."
"That could be solved."
"Not in a million years I am spending your money for that."
"But you kind of have to." yeah, thanks to my father leaving me broke. "You're one of the main attractions there. You have to come."
"What?"
"You're the center of attention these days. You know, you're the future Queen and all. It wouldn't be right if you wouldn't come."
Goddammit, I hate this so much.
"Okay, I'll find a way to go." He opens his mouth. "Without getting indebted to you. God knows how you might want to take advantage of that."
Keeping to his word, he makes sure I get to my room safely. He is even nice enough not to say 'I told you so' when I start seeing little green starts as we're going up the stairs and need more than the support the banister offers.
My eyes fixated on his shoes, I fidget my fingers along the side of my bag.
"Thanks, I guess," I finally mumble.
"Huh? What was that?" He cannot stop himself from teasing.
"You're going to glow about it, aren't you?"
"I wasn't going to say anything more."
"The fuck you weren't. You were even going to add an 'I told you so', weren't you?"
"I don't think me saying it would make any difference. I don't think that rubbing it in your face would change anything."
"It would make you feel better to gloat."
"It really wouldn't. You're sure you're feeling fine?" I nod. "You know where to find me if you need something. Or if you feel too sick, I don't know, hit a pipe, okay? I'll come."
"I won't need it. I'm fine now." I turn to unlock my door.
"By the way, nice punch."
"You think that?" it's the second time he compliments me on that.
"Yeah. Everyone will see it. I saw a guy filming it."
"You're kidding."
"Not at all. It's there to be kept for eternity. The rumors about you will be proven to be true."
"And what do you believe about those rumors?"
"I like them. I like it that you're a badass." I don't know how to react to his compliment, so I say nothing, which makes things weird. "Now go, rest a little before the party."
"See you, then. Tonight."