The girl on the bus

Chapter 7: How are you feeling?

Zed
I walk out of the bar, anger boiling trough me. I follow the dark alley leading to the back of the bar, and I can hear people laughing and talking. I can see clouds of smoke, leading up to them. Eye to eye with them now, there are three of them, all men dressed in black. They probably heard my footsteps, since they all turn around when I approach them.
"What do you want?" One of them grits out. They seem to be my age, so this must be them. I have no intention of talking to them or even replying to him either. I'm here to sort this out. I stretch my arm and deliver a strong punch to the guys jaw. He stumbles back in shock as the other two look at me.
"Oooh looks like you pissed someone off" Shorter guy on the left laughs looking at me amused. The guy that I hit before now stumbles back to me hitting me in my back.
"Fuck you" he spits pushing me away "what have I even done?" He asks
"Don't ever touch a girl like that" i answer, waiting for them to react. I don't feel anything besides anger. They are street thugs who attack the weak but get scared away when confronted. The guy I hit now looks at me.
"So you dating that freak?" he laughs as other two smirk I can't hold back anymore, how can he possibly say that about her. He is really close to me getting up in my face, I grit my fist and hit him in the face, this time not even holding back. I'm holding him with my left hand so he can't escape. The other two have moved away waiting for me to react but I'm focusing on him right now.
"You fucking listen to me" I say watching his blood run down his nose and lips "don't ever talk to her like that, and if I hear that you even so as approach her I'll find you and finish what I started, okay"
"Fuck whatever, she is fucked anyway" he rolls his eyes annoyed, I grip him by his collar
"Don't follow her anymore" I can feel him trying to move away but I won't let go, not until he stops.
"Answer me" I spit grabbing him even tighter
"Fuck calm down, I won't okay" he sighs " you wanted to hear that right? Let me go now" he says trying to move away
"Okay, watch it" I warn him before they walk away. I'm watching them pass the streets in to the dark alley and just as I'm about to make my way back I feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey, what are you doing here" a male voice asks, and it feels familiar, like I have heard him before. I turn around and face the unknown guy. It's Kai. I'm not in the mood to talk to him I'm still weirded out by the whole thing he had with Luke. But he still expects an answer,
"I came here for a friend" i reply dryly, he doesn't need to know the details anyway.
"Oh nice, I'm meeting some friends too" he replies smiling, and I almost feel bad for being so sharp with him.
"Is Luke doing okay, I'm still so sorry about the accident" he scratches the back of his head awkwardly
"Yes he is better don't worry" I try a bit nicer this time,
"I'm glad to hear that" he sighs
"Yes me too, anyway someone is waiting for me so I have to leave" I reply. I don't really feel like talking to him, i need to check on Tilly. He nods his head, probably feeling awkward.
"Yes of course, see you" he hurriedly adds
"See you" I reply already walking off. This guy is weird. What was he even doing here behind the bar. Whatever, I need to get back to Tilly.

I get back to the front office the bar and enter. I can see her, sitting on the same chair as before, sipping on a juice, or so it looks. The bartender is still there talking to her. He sees me first as Tilly is turned to face him, but as he smiles waving at me she turns around.
"Hey" i say breaking the silence once I'm standing by her,
"Thank you" she says standing up and throwing her hands around my neck, hugging me tightly.
"No problem" I say whispering in her ear as she loosens up in my arms. We say bye to the bartender as we walk out together. It's silent now. We are both walking towards my car, and none of us has said anything. I jiggle my car keys around my finger, unlocking the car.
"Hey do you want me to drive you home?" I ask opening the car door for her. She is surprised, her eyes are wide open and I sense her hesitation.
"That is okay I don't want to burden you, I'll walk" she mumbles
"What no, what are you talking about you are not burdening me" I sigh, defeated by the fact that she even thinks that.
"Well I did, you drove all the way here and had to deal with my problems" she says quietly, holding back her tears, making my heart brake for her.
"Tilly, I drove here because I care for you and I wanted to help, and after all that I'm not letting you walk home alone" why does she not get it? "If you want to walk or need air, I can walk you home, but I won't let you do it alone, it's dangerous" she lightly smiles as one singular tear falls down her pink cheeks. Letting my eyes travel around her I look at her shaking figure. It's only now that I realise how she is dressed. She is wearing oversized shorts and a pink top. She is shivering with cold, and I haven't even noticed until now.
"Are you cold?" I ask and she nods her head slowly
"Yes a bit" she giggles awkwardly.
"Let's get in the car I can turn on the heater for you" I say and she moves, sitting down on the passenger seat of my car. I close her door for her and get on the other side, so I can turn on the car.
"Is it any better?" I ask with the heater blasting warm air out. Currently digging trough my bag in the backseat I can't really hear her answer, but I did find a clean hoodie. I pull it out and climb back to my seat.
"Here" I put the hoodie in her lap, she puts it on and snuggles into it. The hoodie is really big on her and it makes this weird feeling in my stomach. I can't describe it but I like it, I love her wearing my clothes, it feels like a hug.
"Thank you" she smiles "I feel a lot better"
"Okay, I'm glad it's better, if you want I can raise the heater" I ramble but she stops me
"Thanks but it's warm enough, if you turn it on more, we might as well cook in here" she says giggling and it makes me laugh
"Okay" I reply moving the wheel around so we can drive off.
"I live on the Oak street 4, it's right down this road and after like ten minutes on the highway we turn left" she explains as I nod my head. I drive off, leaving this street and get on the highway.
"Are you okay?" I can't help but ask after some time. I know that she probably isn't, but I need her to talk. I need to know.
"Um yes, I was really scared" she looks down
"Has it happened before?" I dig a bit further
"To an extent, they go to a school near mine they often pick on me but it never went this far" she explains "I know them from before, we were classmates in elementary school, and I was their target, I thought they would stop, you know, since I went to another school but it hasn't." Listening to her I get this wave of sadness, she doesn't deserve any of this.
" I'm so sorry" I reply not knowing how to react to that
"It's okay, I got used to it" She shouldn't, no one should go trough this and get used to it.
"Tilly you have to tell me if that happens again" I sigh " promise me" I feel her eyes on me, glimmering with something I can't really recognise, hope?, trust? I can't tell but I get my answer when she answers "I promise"
"Do they know about it at home?" I ask, once again pushing my luck.
"Yes, my brother knows I told him, but he got really overprotective and drove me to school everyday watching over me like a hawk, I hated it so I asked him to stop" she rolls her eyes annoyed at her brother, but I can't help but imagine her brother parading around the school like her bodyguard scaring people away
"Why did you want him to stop?" I continue
"Are you kidding?" She laughs "it was embarrassing, I felt safe for a week but after a month of him treating me like a fragile doll and scaring my friends away I had enough of it"

We reached her house far too soon, as she points to the small house on our left surrounded by trees and a small garden. This neighbourhood is nice, there is just a ew houses around making it really peaceful. Her house is cream coloured, with a porch in front of it.
"Well thank you for the drive" she says unbuckling her seatbelt
"Yes of course, anytime" I reply as she climbs out of the car.
"Hey Tilly, you can call me if you need a drive anywhere okay?" I say as she smiles
"Thanks, and you can call me if you need anything other that that because I'm a terrible driver" she laughs crouching so I can see her trough the car door.
"Okay noted" I reply holding back my laugh
"Umm I guess I'll see you, goodbye " she waves at me before she turns around walking to her porch. I watch her open the door and get inside. I feel reassured once she is inside and safe. Driving home I couldn't help but smile to myself. She is really cute. Remembering her laughs and giggles when I said anything funny makes my head all warm and dizzy. I'm scared, because I haven't felt like this before. I had a girlfriend in the past but I can't recall if I ever felt like I do now. This is a lot different.

Halfway home I realise what I was doing before I went to help Tilly. Shit. I stop the car on the gas station and check my phone. Five missed calls from Theo and three from Luke. I haven't said anything before I left and I probably got them worried. I immediately dial Theo's number and wait for him to answer. It doesn't take long until I hear his angered voice.
"Where the fuck did you go, and why didn't you tell us?" He yells in my ear. And I don't know what to do. It feels wrong to lie but It feels wrong to tell the truth too, especially since it's not my place to tell.
"I had to help Tilly" i decide on the truth
"What?" He asks a bit calmer this time
"I'm sorry it was an emergency and I was in a hurry I didn't mean to make you worry" I reply honestly
"Fuck, it's okay you have us a heart attack, you were gone for two hours" he says and I can hear Luke in the background "what did he say?"
"He said he helped some girl named Tilly, it was urgent, but he is okay" I hear Theo explains to Luke
"Anyway you can come back to Luke's, we are alone, other people went home they were tired" he says and Luke busts in once again "yes what a bunch of party poopers" with his annoyed voice
"Well Luke to be fair it's about four in the morning, people sleep at this time" I laugh
"Not us, get your ass back here" he yells before Theo cuts him off
"Get here and be safe"
"Yeah, it's only five minutes I'll be there soon"
He hangs up the phone and I drive to Luke's apartment. We are in luck, since tomorrow, or should I say today, we don't have any trainings and we can rest. I don't know if I could have a workout right now, I'm completely destroyed. I need to sleep. Luke and Theo are waiting for me, right by the door. I lock the car and walk up to them.
"Hey" I greet them as they smirk
"Ditching us for a girl" Luke rolls his eyes playfully before letting me in. Deciding it was to late to go back home we crashed at Luke's, sleeping on his ginormous couch. It was his sisters couch before she moved and bought a new one. So it's a family couch and she gave it to Luke. It always comes in handy and it's really comfortable. I lay down scrolling trough my phone for a bit. Theo is deep asleep by now, and I keep tossing around, my head still wrapped around Tilly. And as if she could sense that I'm still awake my phone rings. She is calling me.
"Hey" her soft voice says
"Hey" I reply, waiting for her to say something,
"Can't sleep?" She asks
"Nah, I'm at friends house and my brother is snoring in my ear, I doubt I'll sleep peacefully tonight" I laugh and I can hear her giggles trough the phone.
"I forgot to give you your hoodie back" I hear her whisper, and I remember her wearing it in my car. The memory itself makes shivers run down my spine, it looked so adorable on her.
"That is okay you can keep it" I reply quietly not wanting to wake Theo up.
"Really?" She says exited
"Yes of course" I try not to smile at her,
"I was kind off hoping you would say that, it's really comfortable"
"Is it now?" I laugh a bit
"Yes it feels like I'm wrapped in a cloud" she giggles and that does it I laugh again trying not to be to loud,
"I'm glad you like it" I reply between laughs.

We talked for a while after that, I can't even remember a thing we said but it was probably some dumb shit since I kept laughing but it was fun. I like her laugh. It feels fresh and genuine and really happy. We stayed awake until I could hear her yawning and tiredly replying to me. It was five in the morning when she said she was sleepy and wished goodnight to me. For some reason it was only now that I was alone with my thoughts, that I became really tired. I haven't felt my tiredness when I was talking to her, I was too distracted. My eyes felt heavy and before I could know i fell asleep.