past//present

past//present-2

"She said no." you look up to see him. The look in his eyes made your heart speed up. They were almost black.

The first guy turns around; nose to nose with Eric. All you can think about it how much his breath stank and how Eric wasn't even flinching at the smell of it. You can't hear what the guy was saying but you can feel all eyes on the three of you. Whether it was from all the attention or the situation at hand you shifted uncomfortably but backed away a bit to get a better angle of the guys.

Just then Eric shoves the guy hard in the chest; causing him to stumble and knock your drink out of your hand. Thankfully you were wearing your boots but of course that happened... it was a triple. The first guy regains his balance and swings on Eric, catching him on his mouth. In a swift motion Eric's attention has left the impact on his face and is on the offender again. He lands one blow to the man and knocks him to the floor but he continues to keep hitting him in the face. You call out his name to get his attention, to get his focus on you instead; anything to get him to stop but your voice is small. Luckily Brennan is there instantly pulling Eric off the man.
"Eric, bro. He's not worth it dude. He's not worth it." He's got Eric's arms behind his back to restrain him enough to get him up and put some space between the two men. The dark eyes land on yours again but you couldn't tell what they were saying and without a word Eric walks off towards a deeper part of the house.

Realizing all eyes were back on you, you take in the scene in front of you. The first guy is slowly getting up but there is blood all over his face and liquor on the floor from your drink. Leah is by your side with a worried look on her face.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She puts a comforting hand on your arm.
"He touched me but Eric intervened before it turned into anything worse." You say looking at the guy sitting on the floor. It was a sad sight honestly.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Brennan asked this time. "As soon as he can walk he's gone. I ain't having that shit tonight."
"Yeah, I'm fine, man, uhh.." you can feel your cheeks heat up a bit "where did Eric run off to?" You give Leah a quick 'I know I shouldn't but I'm still going to' look which she returned with a slight smirk accompanied with an almost oblivious eye-roll. 
"I'm sure he went to his room. Up the stairs, down the hall, last door on the left." You nod in acknowledgment.
"Thanks again." You say to Brennan. "You don't mind?" Turning to Leah. You want to make sure you're not putting her in any uncomfortable situations.
"Not at all." She gives you a genuine smile, one that you haven't seen in a minute. She is a stand up comedian and one of the best that you've seen (possibly biased but you'd would always deny it) but you haven't seen a genuine smile because of a man recently so this one was really comforting and, of course, she could always text you if anything. You'd just be right upstairs.

-

Walking up to the door you can hear water running from inside of it.
"Eric?" You knock twice before opening it slowly, waiting for a voice that doesn't come.
Making your way into the bedroom you can see the bathroom light on to the left of the doorway and know the water running is coming from inside. The room is somewhat messy. A more accurate description would be lived in but with clothes around and bottles of alcohol, some empty and some half full. Just inside the doorway on the right was two huge bookshelves full of books. At first glance, there weren't really any that you recognized. The blinds were closed while the curtains were open. They were a navy blue color and kind of matched the bed sheets which were slept in and unkempt. You didn't notice any women's clothes on the floor so that was a good sign to your weakening control.

Once you get to the bathroom door you push it open slightly so you can walk in. Eric is standing at the sink, shirtless, washing the blood from his hands. He doesn't acknowledge you.
"Eric?"
Nothing.
You walk behind him to the other side of the sink to make sure to not scare him even though he is aware you're there. Leaning against the sink and watching him he seems out of it.
"Here, let me help." You squeeze some soap into your fingers and take his left hand in yours. Gently washing the blood and dirt from his cuts you look up to see that he is already looking at you. This time, however, you get a clear view of his eyes. His pupils are still big but you can see just how blue they are. When you realize your staring you turn back to his big hands and feel a blush creep back across your cheeks.
"I'm sorry if I scared you." His deep voice cut through the silence while you were rinsing the first hand off and moving to clean the right.
"You didn't scare me." Looking back up to meet his gaze.
"I don't know what got into me. I'm honestly a chill person." He laughed nervously. "What's your name since you already know mine?" His tones seemed laced with something you couldn't quite decipher.
"Summer." You said with a smile at the thought of him wanting to know your name.  Why were you feeling so timid? This normally wasn't like you but it was like you were under his spell.
"All done!" You say turning off the water and looking for a towel which you found on the back of the door.
"You didn't have to follow me ya know."
"I wanted to." You see a smile twitch at his lips. He wanted to hear that. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"And why wouldn't I be?" It was more of a statement than a question; laced with the same cockiness that showed on the couch downstairs.
Without saying anything you reached up and touched the cut on his lip from the punch that had landed. His lips parted slightly at the contact and you could feel your heart speed up again. You were losing the battle of control over yourself.
"I guess I should thank you." Your voice barely legible over the music from downstairs. With your thumb still slightly  on his bottom lip and your hand on his jawline you could feel him clench his jaw. Finally meeting his gaze, that was all that you could take. You had to feel his lips on yours.