words you hear on a sinking ship | lil peep

[12]

third person

allie hurried down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. she heard her brother's car brakes squeak as he came to a stop, she knew better than to turn around. she didn't want to see what was about to happen.

gus stood up from the lousy street bench they had been sitting on. brayden's car came to a rough halt. the car shifted to park and the drivers side door swung open. the aggression in the slam of the car door only began to foreshadow the interaction. i'm only a few seconds brayden's fists began to look white from clenching them so hard. "i'm gonna fucking kill you" brayden yelled at gus, stepping onto the curb.

"let's not get ahead of ourselves now. we have some stuff to talk about" gus said, trying to mediate. "i'll let my fucking fists do the talking" brayden growled. "what the fuck were you doing with my sister?" brayden screamed at gus, throwing the first punch towards his jaw. gus stepped back just in time, only feeling the brush of his fist across his skin. "why does it matter? who's been with your sister while she's obviously upset and struggling. it certainly wasn't you. it was me. you're a shit brother. if you weren't, maybe she'd come to you instead of me" gus told brayden, rubbing the situation in.

"so this has been going on huh?" brayden asked. "yeah. since you sent her on your drug deal. who the fuck does that man? you should have seen how fucking scared she was. she needs someone to protect her. she needs me". gus began to raise his voice, stepping closer to brayden.

"this is exactly what i didn't want to happen. you're the scum of the fucking earth gus. what in your fucked up little mind makes you think she needs you?" brayden asked. "where do you think she's been going when she disappears for hours, days even? to me. because she can't be around you. it's not like i'm forcing her" gus told him.

any ounce of emotion left on brayden's face fell, any sort of remorse vanished. his arm swung back full force, throwing a punch forward straight into gus' jaw again, but this time he landed it. amazingly, gus remained mostly unphased. "okay, okay tough guy. i see how you wanna play this. how about this? you knock me out and i'll leave your little sister alone okay?" gus asked, unable to contain his laughter.

"you think this is funny?" brayden asked, hostility strong in his tone. "kind of" gus chuckled. brayden swung at gus' head again, and again, and again. gus fell to the ground, his skull smacking the concrete. he laid there for a moment watching the blood pool around his face from his nose and lip. "you got a good swing on you" gus nodded approvingly. while brayden was caught slightly off guard, gus returned the hits at equal force. fragile bones in hands and faces cracked louder and louder with each hit.

both boys struggled, grunting in pain with each hit but continuing to relentlessly assault each other. "you're never going to be with her. i could never stand there and watch her lose herself to a complete fuck up like you" brayden told gus. "well, you can sit there and watch it instead" gus said, using the last of his energy to throw brayden to the ground. he fell almost completely limp to the bloody sidewalk. "what makes us so different brayden? i demand you supply. we're at both ends of the same fucking stick" gus scoffed at him, kicking him in the rib cage with no mercy.

gus bent down next to braydens beaten, weak body. "how about you let allie call her own shots from now on?" gus asked him. brayden was too weak to answer, only pushing out a couple incoherent noises. "just so you learn your lesson" gus said, reaching into his pocket. he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, opening it. he jabbed the knife into braydens side, easily breaking through the epithelia and subcutaneous tissue, slashing deep into his muscle.

brayden groaned in agony as gus twisted the blade into him. "don't fucking bother us" he stated as his final words for allie's brother. gus picked himself up, taking awkward and painful steps back in the direction of the house. brayden knew everything now, well almost everything. maybe this would show him he wasn't all he was hyping himself up to be.

gus took his phone out of his pocket, miraculously it wasn't busted. he had numerous missed calls and texts from allie. all telling him to be smart, not to hurt brayden, not to hurt himself, to just come home and they would deal with it together. gus did exactly the opposite of all of that, but she would have to understand. it was for her. and for them. that's who he was doing it for. allie and brayden both had to see that brayden was the fuck up here, this was all his fault. gus knew brayden would live to see another day, he didn't do anything lethal.

he knew he had to prepare himself to explain what happened to allie when he got home, and why he was all busted up. he knew she'd probably leave to go see brayden at the hospital, assuming someone would see his wounded body splayed across the sidewalk sometime soon. gus was the only one who would end this situation happy, but she would learn. deep down he knew this is what she wants. freedom. he tried to warn her, she didn't want to die with a guy like him. it was too late now though, she was his and he'd do anything for her, anything to protect her and give her anything she wanted.