Because of You.

Chapter VI. Dreams

You feel gentle arms around you, someone screaming your name, Bobby??? Nooo, it's a much softer voice that you hardly ever hear, Jimmy, he's panicking, which is rare, so if he's panicking it must not be good... 

He's yelling at Bobby to give you space, to just give you space, there's something rushing down the side of your face, metallic, warm, very red, something that Jimmy's fingers are busy combatting, wiping away with his fingers, that blood, it's on your lip and it's in the fibers of your gi, part of it now. 

You need something familiar so you focus on the hazy form of Bobby beside you, he's repeating your name, feeble tones, the other is Jimmy, their concerned faces as the paramedics lift you up, take you off the mat and back into the locker room to be examined for any really bad injuries, you feel Jimmy holding your hand and gently look up at him and the lights swaying above, giving him an encouraging smile, or what you hope is encouraging "Di— I win?" You ask, smiling a little to show him that you aren't that hurt and that the blood is from the hit you took in the face, how hard it hit your teeth and your nose, he only looks more worried and winces before he shrugs and nods, returning your smile "Yeah, surprisingly you did, you won the match against your opponent, but honestly I thought you were a goner there, you scared me so much," you see him withholding worry for you, smiling when he looks like all he wants to do is grimace, he wipes a thumb under your nose and across your lip, lingering on your lips for a minute before handing you an ice pack and reluctantly stepping while the medics tell you that it was lucky that you didn't get a concussion or even a broken nose from the hit you took, you see Jimmy look relieved, his eyes never leaving you, you see the gentle flick of his tongue wetting dry nervous lips, he steps forward again and your fingers make contact with his over the ice pack he's returned to you. 

"Bobby?" Another nervous pass over his lips "He's pissed at you," you groan audibly and Jimmy's grip on your shoulder slackens, fingers running over your skin as you sigh softly "I know, What's new? Ou-ch," wincing, you find Jimmy looking at you, studying you "Jimmy, I want to thank you for everything — you are a really good person and —," before you go on you stop yourself, leaning forward tentatively, you grab him by the front of his gi and pull him in, kissing him with the taste of iron and spearmint gum, and it feels wrong, but it feels right as well, you don't think about it, just go with it, because he certainly is, half shock and half — you feel as if he's waited for this and he's suddenly— there's a satisfaction at being kissed like this, the feeling of someone's lips on yours, how earnestly he's trying not to hurt you, to be very gentle with your injuries, how nervous he is, but there's also a sting in it, one from the contact on your cut lip, the other in the fact that he's not Bobby. 

And just as if you summoned him. You pull away sharply with the footsteps to see a smile fall from Jimmy's lips as a frantic and worried looking Bobby comes around the corner, he stops when he sees the last bit of the kiss and his jaw tightens "Nice to see Jimmy's already taking care of you," Jimmy's mute now, you notice that he can't speak, that he's looking like he wants to so bad, but can't, he points at the ice pack, the only sound in the room being the subtle crack of an ice cube 

An eyebrow raises just under Bobby's bangs and you mirror it "Jimmy was just getting me an ice pack, since no one else did, he's very sweet you know, would make a great boyfriend —," there's no reason why you're saying this — your brain tells you, but if it's out of jealousy or something else, you don't know why you're saying it. 

"Well I I'm so glad that you're both happy together, hope you have a thousand kids with those fat cheeks and prepubescent faces," you roll your eyes, but something about his comment spurs you on, maybe it's out of some sudden spite because this is ridiculous, but you give a little smile and wipe the last dregs of blood away "Could you picture that hmmm? Boy, I could have a ton of cute little kids, a whole mess of them, all with pretty brown eyes and —," "Do you ever shut up? Sometimes I don't want to hear about things like this, honestly, what you do is your business," you raise an eyebrow just a little more "Or — you mean — Who I do..." that's it, he's fuming, and the comment makes him even more angry than the kiss did 

"You are the most — I came back here because I was worried about you!" 

You feel your throat tighten a little and you can't even start to wonder how Jimmy feels, he's standing there like a limp duck, caught between two snarling hunting dogs and he seems to shrink a little, his two best friends going at each other, you wonder how he feels. 

"Well you haven't cared in a while so don't start caring now thank you," you spit out and feel instant regret, but you are both too stubborn to back down, it's something that drew you together in the first place. 

Bobby's the first to leave, back to the tournament and you feel a surge of anger at him for just giving up, for seeing a kiss that meant absolutely nothing — you frown... there's a bit of attraction there, a little too much to not have anything behind that kiss, but Jimmy is not Bobby Brown... 

He's hovering by the wall when you finally come back down out of your thoughts and he taps your head a few times "Yeah... yep, definitely — you must have a concussion if you decided to do something that stupid," it gets a smile out of you, which feels nice since all you want to do is be angry at your best friend turned crush turned — he was never your boyfriend, you both were in the wrong places at the wrong times, a missed connection. 

And maybe the brunette in front of you is just what you need to distract you from your mixed feelings. Maybe it's selfish, but you ask Jimmy for a date. 

You aren't there to see Bobby get disqualified, aren't there when Johnny loses to a kid who is basically a beginner... you're in the parking lot though, Jimmy subtly pressing you behind him when the verbal abuse starts happening, when Johnny starts gasping for breath, you almost cry out when Bobby tries protecting Johnny and gets hurt for it, there's tears rushing down your face, tears which Jimmy tries to stop, but you have to admit to yourself that Jimmy Jones is not and can never be Bobby Brown... but for now, he'll be what you need, he's someone to make you feel less alone, and that is something good, something good when everything is going wrong.