Snapped Strings

Glass Shards

The next month went in a flash. Nat started working in the bar with me and Nick often sang random bouts of karaoke with her, much to the delight of the customers. It was one of those evenings when Bruce came into the bar. He sat down in front of me and ordered a whiskey. "Got a date for the next gig?" He asked me, downing the entire glass. I passed him another measure of his favourite tipple. "Probably next Thursday. Is that alright for you?" He nodded and then looked over to the stage where Nat and Nick were singing a medley of Ed Sheeran.

"You're just a small bump unborn, in four months you're brought to life."

"I didn't realise Nat was going to be here?" Bruce mumbled. "She's been here every day for the past month actually," I said, wiping down the bar area. Bruce looked confused. "Why? She only comes here when she has to." I felt slightly hurt at his remark but brushed it off. Trying to act as casual as I could, I said, "Oh, well she's been living with me." To my surprise, Bruce shattered the glass in his hand. Everyone stopped singing along to Nat and Nick, turning to face Bruce and his very bloody hand. I sighed and called Nick over. "Bruce, follow me and I'll get you patched up."

I took him through to Nick's office and tried to find the first aid kit. After a quick, but thorough, search I couldn't find one. "Sorry about this," I muttered. "You're going to have to come upstairs with me. I'm not sure what Nick's done with the first aid kit." Bruce grumbled something but I ignored him. When we got upstairs, I asked him to run his hand under the tap to remove the blood. Then I found my own first aid kit and got out a bandage. 

When I saw his messed-up hand cleaned up, I didn't flinch at the sight of glass piercing his skin. "You've got some serious guts," Bruce said, wincing as I put his hand in a bowl of warm water. "I'm used to drunks getting in all sorts of mess." He grunted and remained silent as I removed each shard of glass with perfect precision and dropped it onto a piece of kitchen towel. It wasn't long before his hand was glass-free and I wrapped it up in the bandage. "You're going to need to go to your doctor's at some point this week to get this looked at."

Bruce moaned so I gave him a stern look. "I know our glasses are clean because I help wash them. However, yours had whiskey in it and I don't know how clean your hand was before you shattered the glass. You could be at risk of infection." I started to pack my kit away and poured the water down the sink as he sat down on my sofa. "You didn't learn this on drunks, did you?" He said just loud enough to hear. I lent against the sink and sighed. "No, you're right."

I went into my living space and sat beside him. "Where?" He asked. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Nat opened the door. "Bruce! Are you alright?" She ran to his side and held his injured hand in her own, examining it closely. Now I wanted Bruce gone. "Bruce was just going actually." I said bluntly. Nat gave me a look, telling me to behave. "Looks like you're in good hands." She said to Bruce. He nodded. "A bit too good if you ask me." 

I rolled my eyes as Bruce told Nat about the 'unlimited skill and precision' of how I removed the glass. She raised an eyebrow at me and I put my head in my hands. "I was in the military for six years and part of my training included high-level first aid." Both Nat and Bruce gasped. "Bruce can leave now. I need to go and help Nick clean up downstairs. Knowing him, he'll get glass in him as well." I muttered. I opened the door for Bruce to leave and Nat pushed him towards the doorway. "I'll talk to you downstairs in a minute," she said to him. 

I closed the door firmly behind Bruce's ungrateful behind and apologised to Nat. "Why are you saying sorry? You haven' done anything wrong you idiot." She said. "Well," I stuttered. "I didn't tell you so I thought-" I was cut off by a sensual kiss. Her touch on my waist, the smell of her hair, the taste of her lips. God she was perfect. "Don't be sorry if you haven't done anything wrong." She said, taking a breath. We smiled and put our foreheads together. Our moment was broken as I heard a crash from the bar.

"I think we should go and help Nick," I said slowly. Nat nodded, giggling, and we made our way to the bar. Although she was the best thing to have happened to me, there were still so many nagging thoughts in the back of my mind. Why wouldn't she go to her own home? What happened between her and Bruce? What had she done before finding music? I decided to ask her later, focusing on helping Nick first. That man couldn't see for toffee.

A/N: It hurts so much to make Bruce a jealous ex </3 Needs must though. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Things are about to get interesting...