February 8th, 2016
Though Aidan had referred to it as “Bumfuck” more than once in the past few weeks, Oklahoma City and its 600,000+ population wasn't exactly a podunk in the middle of nowhere. She wasn't sure whether she would rate it better than Canada, but at least it was slightly warmer, for the moment. An early morning workout after an overnight flight hadn't been enough to quell her restlessness. She didn't want to go out but she didn't want to stay in her hotel room, either. She hadn't even booked one with a pool.
In the end, the urge to do something had won out and she had cleaned up before taking a stroll down the street. She ducked into the first half-way decent place she came across and took up residence at the far end of the bar where she had every intention of disappearing into her drinks and shutting out the existence of everyone but the bartender. She had started early, and on a Monday no less, so for most of the evening it had worked out nicely.
It wasn't until after midnight that her quiet, alcohol-fueled introspection was interrupted. She looked up when another glass was put in front of her before she had finished the one in her hand. The bartender knew the question before she ever had to ask it, indicating that someone had bought the drink for her and making a little gesture in the direction of the man. By her estimate he was a few years younger than she was, sporting the slightly unshaven and messy hair look that was making its way around again. He gave her his best attempt at a smoldering look, to which she forced a smile and tipped her glass.
But she wasn't interested.
Her eyes dropped back to the rings of condensation on the bar in front of her where several glasses had already come and gone. Too much. Too much in her fucking head. Training at Whisper's place had put it off only for a while. The jaunt up to Canada to watch Devin Hawk compete had come and gone so quickly it almost couldn't be counted as a distraction.
All the lies. All the deception. Everyone's secrets on top of her own. Bryan's secrets, Cyrus' secrets... It had been building and building. Now, finally, over the next two days it would finally come to a head and she could stop monitoring her every word and thought. It couldn't come soon enough. Her match couldn't come soon enough. Everything inside of her wanted to spill out into the ring. Every demon wanted to taste fresh blood. She just wanted to let them out to run.
She looked up again when the bartender was once more in front of her. A glance to the clock told her that what had felt like seconds had been ten minutes. Without realizing it, she had finished off both glasses of whiskey. He said something to her. Over the din of the crowd it sounded like, “You shouldn't mix drinking and thinking.” The smile she gave him was small, but less forced.
He was right.
Aidan set several bills down on the counter, putting one of her empty glasses on top of them. The ground didn't try to move under her feet, so she knew she must not have been that far gone. The air outside was colder than she remembered, prompting her to zip up her jacket and turn up the collar so the fuzzy inside touched her neck.
She stepped out of the way of a small group trying to squeeze into the bar and stopped to look either way down the side walk. For a second or two she couldn't remember which way her hotel was. When she finally took a step, it didn't work. Disoriented and almost tripping, she finally realized that someone had taken hold of her arm and kept her from walking.
“Hey.”
It was drink man.
After carefully disengaging her arm, she reached up and rubbed at her forehead to buy herself a few moments to think. She even put on a little smile.
“Hey. Listen, I appreciate the drink, I do, but today is just not the day for me to be chasing one night stands. I've got a big thing coming up for my job and I need to go get some sleep so I can concentrate. Thank you, though. I'm flattered, I really am. It's just not a good day.”
“Come on, there's still plenty of night left. You've got time.”
She faked a laugh.
“I wish that I did, but unfortunately I don't. My days start early.”
She didn't wish that she had time. She just wanted him to fuck off. The bouncer was busy checking IDs and hadn't noticed anything yet.
“There are plenty of prospects still inside, and a few of them are better looking than I am. It's cold out here and your chances are good. Why don't you head back inside and hit them up?”
Had she not been slightly intoxicated she never would have made the decision to turn her back on him, but her inhibited conscience didn't think he really looked like a trouble maker. Her conscience was wrong, though. As soon as she tried to leave again he grabbed her arm for a second time and his grip was tight when he spun her back around.
The bouncer had noticed by now and she could see him call for some back up since he couldn't leave the door untended. All she had to do was buy some time. But the demons were aching to run, tired of being on a leash.
“Go ahead and try it you little fuck boy. I'll lay you out faster than your daddy always did your mommy.”
His eyes went wide at the sudden change in her demeanor. For a moment he seemed to reconsider, but the blatant challenge was too much for his insecure masculinity to stand. He tightened his hold on her arm even more and yanked her toward him.
Before she had the chance to throw the first punch his grip tore free and Fuck Boy suddenly found himself against the wall. He didn't take a punch well either as the first shot caught him right in the gut. It was a mercy really, because it would have broken his jaw. The movement happened too quickly for her to understand what she was seeing at first, but it slowly dawned on her. When a second bouncer arrived he pulled her carefully away from the fight.
“Let them go, the big guy is a friend of mine. Liam, stop!”
Confusion, relief, anger, mistrust, and several things she couldn't place all swirled through her head at once. Why was he here? Obviously he had to have been following her, which didn't sit well. But this didn't need to get worse.
“Stop, he's done.”
She hadn't honestly expected him to listen, but the giant ginger left the little frat fuck on his ass on the sidewalk and turned back to her. All she could do was stare at him for a while. He was about to step forward, probably to ask her if she was okay, when she caught the movement behind him.
“Look out!”
Drink man had pried a board off of one of the discarded pallets and swung hard. Liam got his arm up in time. The wood splintered, but she knew it had hurt. The bouncers rushed in, and Liam was going to as well, but she stepped in front of him.
“Let it go, come on. They've got it. Let it go.”
She should have been berating him for following her. Instead her eyes dropped down to where he was holding his arm close to his body and flexing his fingers to test his movement. The anger was still on his face, but she could read more, too.
“Are you alright?”
“I'm fine.”
“Come on, let's go. Let me see.”
They left the bar behind even as he kept looking over his shoulder, obviously wanting to go back and continue the fight. She used the distraction to her advantage, flagging down a cab and ushering him inside before he realized what she was doing. Once they were seated, he finally seemed to realize it, giving her a look.
“Take us to the nearest hospital, please.”
The look turned to a glare and he started to protest, but she cut him off.
“Just humor me, please. I won't start yelling about you stalking me if you just humor me.”
“I'm not stalking you.”
“Well obviously you followed me here.”
She watched him try to come up with a good reason for several seconds.
“After you called to ask for my help in New York, I just wanted to be sure that everything was alright.”
“It is. It's all taken care of, everything is done and you don't have to worry about it. You don't need to worry anyway. I'm not your responsibility.”
“Are you alright?”
“I'm fine. You should have let me hit him.”
“You would have gotten yourself into trouble. Isn't that what you've been trying to do?”
“Don't lecture me. I'll do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want. I'm not a child, and I'm not under anyone's thumb.”
The awkward silence hung for a while before he finally leaned back in the seat. He wasn't conceding, he wasn't giving up, but for now they weren't arguing. He would have had a hell of a time trying to defend himself anyway.
The trip to the hospital was a short one. In spite of his protests, she paid for the cab ride. They had to wait in the emergency room for quite some time, but eventually he got in to have some x-rays taken. She had to wait in the lobby, which was fine with her. She didn't want more awkward conversation, and she didn't want to start a fight.
When he finally emerged his jacket was slung over one shoulder and his left arm was in a cast from wrist to elbow. She immediately frowned, but forced herself to not look more concerned than she thought she should.
“See. I was right.”
He made a dismissive gesture.
“It's a hairline fracture. I'll be out of this thing in a few weeks. I would have been fine.”
She almost rolled her eyes, but she probably would have said the same thing. Now, though, she had no idea what to say. They were here, and this was done. At least he felt as awkward as she did, judging by the way he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Do you want me to walk you back?”
“No. That's alright. I'm going to take another cab. ...I appreciate the gesture, and I'm sorry you got hurt tonight, but stop following me.”
She turned on her heel before he could say anything else. She didn't want to give him the chance to talk. He was too good at talking, and she didn't like where that might lead.