Break of Dawn

21 | bad guy, good guy (part 2)

RORY SAT ALONE by the bar, her back facing the table where her group was seated, eyes stuck on a couple waiting for their score after a performance of Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

Pepe's, aside from its questionable carding policy, was also extremely versatile. The bar had a 360 countertop that was stuck in the middle of the very large and dark space, there was a dinning area by the windows in the front, the pool tables were on the left of the bar and a small stage area was on the right, one where they seldom held nice performances and mostly always did Karaoke nights. There were some darts in the back wall near the bathrooms, a Jukebox right next to the kitchen, and a couple of pinball machines in the far left corner that had seen better days - the whole place felt like the result of some crazy brainstorming on college bar ideas.

"So, Alex Scavo's not your type, huh?" Collin said leaning his back against the bar beside her - the scene feeling like too much of an deja-vu from the night they met.

If there was one person she really didn't want to discuss her brother with, it was Collin-freaking-Whitaker.

"Not the best opening, don't you think?" She retorted dryly, flagging down the bartender for a drink.

"I'm sorry" He deflated apologetically and fidgeted with the water bottle in his hands while Rory ordered a gin and tonic to the blonde guy behind the bar "Are you okay?"

Even through the cacophony of the TV, and people talking, and balls being cued, and the faint sound of someone singing Nickelback on the karaoke, she still caught genuine worry in his voice.

She sighed "Yeah, why?" Rory looked up at him and saw the moment he turned his face back to her, eyebrows creased and lips pursed downward. It was a new look on him, the first time she was seeing worry instead of tranquillity in his ocean of eyes.

"I know Fayaz can be a bit too much sometimes" He stated knowingly, stalling while the bartender handed her the drink "I'm sorry about that."

"I don't think you're the one who should be apologizing."

"Well, someone has to, right?" Collin turned his body towards her, leaning his left forearm against the bar "This is gonna sound like I'm making excuses for him, but Dex is a good guy, he's just feeling a bit under attack right now. You probably heard about the article on the school paper, right?" Rory nodded taking a sip of the G&T- she had in fact heard about it, as well as read it.

Damien had forwarded her the link to say that he had been mentioned and that Fayaz had been crushed - not that he really cared about the latter. The opinion piece that was currently on the first page of the Lochlan Herald website and circulating around sports Twitter, was eight hundred words worth of reasons why Dexter Fayaz was a sloppy system quarterback - which basically meant he only flourished in the team because of the rest of the offensive players.

"He told me you criticized him for something, whatever it was probably just added salt to the injury." Rory arched an eyebrow and huffed, trying really hard not to roll her eyes.

It was unbelievable that Collin was trying to gaslight her into believing she was somehow to blame for Fayaz' terrible behavior - that it wasn't the quarterback's fault that he was really bad at receiving feedback, it was her fault for saying something.

"It does sound like you're making excuses for him" She stressed sternly "And I did not criticize him, but even if I had, that still doesn't give him the right to patronize me."