Ready or Not

Chapter 24

When Warren saw you earlier today and you told him that ridiculous story about you biting your lip, he did not believe you at all. Warren had bitten his lip hundreds of times while chewing before and the result never looked like that. However, he had accidentally gotten backhanded on his lip by Peter when the two of them were just kids while rough housing. Afterwards, Warren had sported a fat lip that looked just like the one you have. Peter was grounded for a week over that one.

The reason why Warren didn't press the matter with you at the moment was because you looked so flustered and desperate about it. But he knows that your busted lip has a story that you are not willing to tell. More than a little worried about what is going on with you, especially at the wake of the shiner that you had on your face for weeks, all of it points to something unsavory and perhaps even dangerous. So, after he finished teaching his undergraduate class, he texts the three other men that know and care about you.

Warren:
Guess who I ran into on campus today.
I'm more than a little concerned because she was sporting a fat lip.

Nate:
Who?

Joonie:
Please, please don't tell me it was my Buttercup.

Eric:
No, that can't be.

Warren:
Joonie guessed correctly.
She had a busted lip and she said she bit it while chewing.
I'm sorry, but I've bitten my lips plenty of times and it never looked like that.
Either she fell or...

Joonie:
FUCK!

Eric:
Okay, let's just think this through here.
I've known Austin for years.
I've known his ex-girlfriends before.
None of them ever said anything about a violent streak
None of them ever had a busted lip or any sign of injury. 
I can't believe that he would be out and out hitting her.

Joonie:
I fucking had a bad feeling about that bruise on her face few weeks ago. 
I need to get her away from him before he does something irreparable.

Nate:
Woah, woah, woah... let's not jump to any conclusion yet.

Warren
Can you guys come by my place later today?
I should be home by 3:00.
I don't want to talk about this like this.

The four men agree to meet at Warren's apartment around 3:00 PM, and by the time 3:30 rolls around, they are all assembled in Warren's place.

They are sitting around the living room, and everyone can feel Namjoon's agitation. Eric starts, "Okay, we need to start by making the best assumption and then the worst assumption about this situation and see what evidence we can come up with to support either case."

Warren says, "The best assumption for what I saw is what she told me. That she bit her lip chewing, and it swelled up."

Namjoon says, "The worst assumption is that he is outright hitting her."

Everyone winces at that thought.

Nate says, "Okay, then what evidence do we have to support that she bit her lip?"

Warren replies, "Just her word."

Nate asks, "Anything else?"

All four men shake their head no.

"Alright, then what about for the worst assumption?" asks Nate.

Eric answers, "We don't have any solid evidence that says that he is hitting her. What we do have is that she was sporting a giant bruise on her face a few weeks back and told us that she hit her head on a counter as she fell. Also, that at the time of the said fall, Austin was with her. Another fact, perhaps not evidence, is that when she had sustained the two injuries to her face, which was in a very short time frame, she was in a relationship with Austin. That's it. That's all we've got."