The Road to Defeat

THIRTEEN

Girls just wanna have fun

Emily was excited to say the least. She had a fun girls weekend planned for Lauren, Chloe and herself filled with fun activities. She had only informed the other two girls on her plans late the night before, and thankfully they were both free and able to join. Emily had not told the boys about the weekend either but they were always working anyway so she figured they might not even notice. Earlier that morning Emily had convinced Vincenzo to drive her into town to get lots of alcohol and party foods. Vincenzo and Emily were actually getting to know each other a lot more. All along Emily had a feeling that Vincenzo would be a good friend, Emily just had to crack the tough outer shell he had. And turns out it was actually a lot easier to do than she thought.

It was a really hot day out and the boys had an afternoon meeting. Unfortunately, they were actually understaffed that day so Vincenzo had to stand guard in the backyard, but Taehyung had asked her nicely to stay with him for the short duration of the meeting. Since it was nice out and there was nothing better to do, Emily just wandered around the pool area. It wasn't long before Emily had found a small toy water gun floating in the pool water, she sneakily picked it up and made sure it was filled with water. She made her way over to Vincenzo and quickly shot him with water. Before he could stop Emily from her mischievous actions, he was soaked.

Since then, Vincenzo had been a lot more relaxed around Emily. Everyone in the house seemed to notice the difference in behaviour between the two, everyone was pleased with the friendship so no one questioned it.

~~~ <> ~~~

Lauren skipped into the living room full of energy and ready to party. Emily watched as Lauren approached her in the living room.

"Are you really this excited?" Emily asked, surprised by the women's happiness. It wasn't unusual for Lauren to be so happy, but it was rare for her to be so happy that she was jumping around the place. Actually, Emily has only seen her get this happy once and that was because she beat Jeongguk in a fight that he was so certain he would win. Emily just giggled and shook her head at Lauren. Chloe had shortly arrived at the front door and Emily was quick to go get her; excited for the party to start.

Ultimately, the first thing that had to be done was crack open a bottle of wine. Lauren started off the night conversation with the details of what she had done today. The two girls were shocked to hear all of the things that Lauren was able to accomplish in her day so far. Emily and Chloe both had not had as much of an eventful day as the brunette haired women in front of them. Emily talked about how she had seemed to crack into Vincenzo's nice side, and Lauren laughed at that statement. Thankfully, Vincenzo had left the girls by themselves since Lauren was more than equipped to protect the other two girls from any harm.

"Vincenzo? Nice?" Lauren laughed to herself, "that man is way too cocky to be nice." The three girls laughed along to Lauren's statement, laughing even harder as Vincenzo walked past the room.

"I heard that," he said as he passed glaring at Lauren. Once the girls found a way to control their laughter, Lauren continued.

"He acts all mean but he is just a little puppy."

As the girls talked about everything, their alcohol intake increased. They had finished their wine long ago and were now on many different types of drinks. The more drinks that were consumed the more laughter seemed to sprout.

"What's going on here?" A curious Hoseok asked, while sitting himself on the couch beside Lauren.

"Girls night, duh!" The three tipsy girls said in sync, seemingly all thinking the same. Hoseok laughed but then started to get pouty about not being invited. It wasn't long before Yoongi made his way into the room not only looking for Hoseok but also wondering what all the commotion was about. Yoongi smirked, walking towards the group and, although there was still lots of couch space, decided to sit on Hoseok's lap. Hoseok wrapped his arms around his hyung and cuddled into his back. The three girls shared glances with each other before smirking toward the two boys in suspicion.

"They are having what they call a 'girls night' so we should probably leave them be," Hoseok said to Yoongi before the two got up and ran off somewhere together. The girls just shook their heads at the two boys and continued their night.

~~~ <> ~~~

A few hours later, it was safe to say the girls had been having a great time.

"Oh my god! I have the perfect idea!" Lauren spoke up, "We should go out and get some tattoos!" Lauren's excitement for the spontaneous adventure was quickly reflected on the girls in front of her. The three tipsy girls quickly got ready to leave. They collectively decided that they would sneak out without any of the boys, because they knew the boys wouldn't allow this. Emily called a taxi to the end of the driveway as the three were quietly slipping out the front door. Vincenzo was outside the door on guard, looking toward the three girls in question.

"Shhh you never saw us," Emily said quietly to him as they passed.

The girls laughed as they arrived in downtown Rome, with no plan or anything they began to wonder about looking for a tattoo shop.

"I swear it's just around the corner, I've been here so many times before." Lauren led the way to the, what should be, familiar tattoo shop. Chloe and Emily willingly followed behind Lauren, trusting her judgment of directions. The streets were dark as it was getting pretty late, and they were in a very secluded part of downtown where there weren't many working street lights. Emily talked to Chloe as the two mindlessly followed Lauren. Shortly Lauren abruptly stopped with her hands out to either side of her, stopping the two girls as well.

"I think we should head back," Lauren stated quietly. They were faced with a dark alleyway, the only light source being the 'Fresh Italian Cuisine' sign behind them, which itself seemed to be hanging by a thread. The end of the alley could not be seen; however, it was evident that it would only lead to a dead end. A loud bang sounded in front of them, followed by slow footsteps. Lauren took a step back, forcing the girls to step back as well. At this moment anyone would be scared, but Lauren wasn't; she was always prepared for action no matter the threat. A deep husky voice let out a laugh, but in no way was the situation fit for laughter.

"What are three pretty ladies like you doing out this late?" The smirk on the man's face was audible as he spoke, but he wasn't by himself. Five sets of feet stepped into focus, all of them being slightly older men from what Lauren could tell. However, Lauren continued to stay calm, she was good at this and she always seemed to know how to think on her feet. Continuing her slow steps backwards, one at a time, she handed Emily and Chloe each a throwing knife. Chloe gulped all of her anxiety down as she mentally prepared to fight, not having ever fought before. She looked at the knife in her hand before quickly looking toward Emily, Both girls nodded towards each other for reassurance.

The tallest man in front of them made the first move, swinging a quick punch toward Lauren. Fortunately Lauren was way faster than that. She dodged his punch then quickly threw a punch up toward his throat, making his tall farme stumble back. Emily and Chloe stepped back further and made their way to either side of Lauren. Emily was as ready as ever to fight, she had been training with Jeongguk more recently and although she hadn't been training long, she felt fairly confident. Chloe on the other hand didn't know a thing about combat whatsoever. She held the knife in her hand with all her strength and she wasn't about to back down. Lauren was fast with her movements and didnt stop fighting the tall man until he was unconscious. She had only seconds before her next competitor approached her, but she made sure that the two girls were holding up okay before continuing her battle. Emily approached a man that was trying to approach Lauren whilst she was fighting. She punched him hard in the jaw, with the small throwing knife in her hand so her knuckles didn't break. Chloe tried her best to do all she can, she slashed the man in front of her with the knife, but her guilt was starting to consume her. The man in front of her was a lot stronger and taller than her, it wasn't long before the man had her in a choke hold with a knife to her neck. Lauren was quick to assess the situation, kicking the man she was currently fighting to the ground then making her way over to Chloe.