past//present

past//present-9

Making your way back to the kitchen you notice that Andy was talking to some model. "She is cute but she isn't you" you thought slightly to yourself. Then kicked yourself for being a bitch. You took your seat next to Caity again and caught sight of Leah. She was whispering and giggling with Taddie. Those two were inseparable and you loved it. There was never anything negative between them; they knew what they had and how it was going to work.

You decided to check your phone while you had a second. You had lots of comments on the stories you posted. Mostly asking if you and Andy were back together and you what happened to the guy from last night. You saw that Eric had viewed the stories which gave you a twinge of guilt but he didn't seemed fazed by them. You decided you should text him:

Make it home safe. Kinda regret not sneaking off somewhere.. ;)

You flinched at the cringiness but sent it anyways. Almost immediately you got a reply.

Eric: Just walked in my room. The bed looks oddly big..and lonely

He gave you butterflies. Only because it was new and he was fun? Exciting? He was sweet and stood up for you. Different than what his music leads on but you figured that goes back to yours and Gus' conversation from earlier. You peaked up at Andy who was still fully in a conversation with that same chick. She seemed nice enough and he seemed to be taking a liking to her... maybe this is what you two needed.
Just as you were getting ready to reply, Ricky comes in through the back door. He looks around for a minute until his eyes land on yours. Slowly, he makes his way over to you, looking as if he doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself.
"Hey," he says gingerly. There isn't an ounce of malice in his voice.
"Hi, Ricky." You don't say it rude but you're not super nice about it either. He knows you don't want to talk to him or maybe he thinks you're just playing hard to get.
"I think I'm gonna head out of here..." his sentence trails off as if trying to see how you feel. At this point Caity turns to you slightly, having finished her conversation, and notices who you're talking to. You can almost feel her tense up; no one wants trouble but sometimes it seems that's all Ricky brings.
"Okay, be careful going home." He leans in close to you so listening ears can't hear.
"Wanna get out of here with me?" His breath brushes against your face, it smells of alcohol and some sort of vape.
You shake your head slowly as an answer. He leans back in to whisper again. You look past him and see that Leah is on high alert for you but keeping in her same spot.
"Come on, baby. It would be fun just like old times; it ain't gotta mean nothing." He tried to give you puppy dog eyes and slight smile but all you could see in him is him fucking another girl in the house. Literally while you were there.
"No, Ricky. We're over." Again, you didn't say it mean just as a reminder.
"So where's your guy at then?" He's yelling now and louder than he needs to over the music. You roll your eyes because here we go again. "I can see Andy found himself a new little piece of ass." He's pointing to where they are at. Andy is watching his every move. Those words stung like a slap across your face. "Or that little scrawny kid with the hair. Where's he?" He was looking around dramatically.
"Ricky please stop. I don't want to fight with you tonight. Please." You were keeping your tone an even level but almost begging him to leave.
He leaned in close to your face again but this time he wasn't facing your ear. He was facing you. Directly in your face. He didn't lower his voice either.
"That's right, Summer. Everyone leaves you because they all realize what a piece of shit you are." Before you could even react, a drink was splashing in his face. Caity had thrown her whole drink at him. You wiped the droplets from your face that had splashed from his and cocked your right arm back. You were tired of these stupid men thinking that would walk all over you and touch all over you and say whatever they wanted. Just as your arm was bounding back, he looked up to find the culprit of the drink and your fist connected with his nose. A solid land but he recovered quickly and hit your eye as a rebound. As soon as his hit landed, everything was a blur. You saw through blurred, dark vision Caity jump from her seat and attack Ricky and then you could hear Andy's voice close by talking to you. He was telling you that you were okay and that you were safe. His voice was laced with panic and worry. Right before everything went black, you saw Scott and Aristos also jump in on Ricky and his friends. Everything was a mess.

~~

As you woke the next morning, your eyes were blinded by the pounding in your head. This was the worst migraine you've ever had. You turn slowly to get up and get to the bathroom when Andy suddenly sat up beside you. You were in his bed, fully clothed, but in his bed regardless. It was a safe spot for you but in this moment you were full of pain and anxiety of the unknown from last night; you couldn't remember much.
"Woah woah Summer. Please be careful. Take it slow."
"What happened last night? My head is killing me." You turned to look at Andy through squinted eyes. You saw his reaction and immediately the events of last night flashed through your mind. Fucking Ricky.
You stood up shakily to get to the bathroom but Andy was by your side in case you got too dizzy.
You looked in the mirror and gasped. There was a huge knot on your eyebrow and your eye was black. You couldn't help but cry at the sight. It would go away but why does this kind of shit always happen to you?? With tears streaming down your face silently you turned to Andy who had the saddest look on his face.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there. You're so beautiful and I should've kicked him out the second he walked in the door."
He wrapped you in his arms with your face resting against his tattooed chest.
"This isn't your fault." You said in between sobs. You full heartedly believed that.
"Let's go get you some ice, yeah?" He pulled away to look in your eyes. Wiping the tears from your cheeks as he did so. You nodded in response. As he went to grab a shirt, you pulled your phone from your pocket. You had a bunch of missed calls and texts as the word must've already gotten out. Sigh.