Love That's Sweet

Chapter Four

Lucas POV

One Accident After Another

Luckily for me, it was a slow day, so Kim decided to let me go home early. She figured I must have been tired after the day I had had. She was right. The good news was it was still light out, no sign of rain yet, though it was sure to come a little later in the year. I didn't live that far anyways, so there wasn't much to complain about even if it had been raining. Just when I thought my day would soon be over, turning past an alley, I ran into another problem. Actually, it was an old one.

"YOU!" Eric cried out, running up towards me.

"Oh great, this can't be good." I thought out loud, turning around slowly to see what he wanted this time.

To my surprise he was alone. At first it seemed kind of odd, but then I figured he wanted to get back at me on his own, and with no witnesses, so even if he lost again it wouldn't be as embarrassing for him as it had been during lunch.

"You think this is over?" He asked. "You think you can just walk up here and beat me up without suffering the consequences..."

Is this guy serious?

"Well you see," I started explaining myself, "I'm actually not in the mood to deal with you right now. I've had a rough day and a slow one at work, so if you could just step aside so I could get home—"

"Oh no," he blocked me and pushed me further into the alley, "you're not getting out of this one."

"Ugh." Dropping my bag, I put my fists up in the air as a joke, but it only made him angrier.

I honestly didn't think I'd have the energy to keep up with him this time, so I guessed I would end up coming out of this really fucked up, if I came out of this at all. Eric readied himself and came at me with full force, but stopped just before making any contact.

"Ahh! Look at who we got here," a big guy yelled out, followed by a couple of thugs, who all showed up out of nowhere. "Eric. It's been a long time, buddy."

"Friends of yours?" I asked him, though he had suddenly lost complete interest in me upon seeing them.

"You know, we've been lookin' for you for a while now," the large guy continued talking, giving me a chance to silently slide past all of them.

Eric didn't reply back, he just went after the guys. I thought they'd be dead, better them than me, but they managed to overpower him pretty quickly. It was actually kind of hard to watch, which is all I did at first. Two of the thugs managed to hold Eric down, enough at least for the big guy and another thug to pound him in the gut with ease. These guys also weren't afraid to use weapons. One guy held a bat, another used a crowbar. I wasn't afraid to use weapons either.

They must have forgotten about me, all caught up in ganging up on Eric, so they didn't see it coming when I knocked one out using the lid of an old garbage can nearby. With that guy's bat, I was able to knock out another one. Unfortunately, my luck ran out when the guy with the crowbar knocked the bat out of my hands, or so I thought.

"Look here, you little turd," the larger guy approached me, "I don't know who you are, but it'd be wise of you to just butt out of this. We got business with this asshole, but we're not afraid of dealing with you too. Get lost now, and I promise you won't get hurt."

Who the hell do these lowlifes think they are?

With all of them now back on their feet, I was beginning to think it was best to do as they said and scram. Hadn't I done enough today. Just as I was ready to run away, I looked down and saw Eric bleeding, nearly passed out, on the floor. I don't know why, but that's when I knew I couldn't just leave. Even if this asshole did deserve what was coming to him, I couldn't be part of it.

"Not leaving? Fine then, suit yourself."

I quickly fell on my knees and shielded Eric with my body. It wouldn't help much, but it was something. Preparing for the amount of pain I'd be feeling after this, I sighed in frustration.

Damn it! Why do I have to be such a nice person?