Allured

Ch. 7

Raul quickened his pace as he went through the crowed to where those people were. Scanning the area, he tried to look for the cry he recognized to only be tackled by the one he was looking for. He felt her tears as she held onto him tightly. Wrapping his arms around her instantly, he leaned his head against hers to hopefully help comfort her.

He pulled away and looked her over. He saw the welt forming on her face. "What happened?" He asked, growing angry for her.

"He got touchy. I said no. Called each other names but he got physical." Banu murmured, moving back and burying her face against him again. "Thankfully it didn't go any further."

"Always a trouble-maker." Raul murmured, rubbing her back. Over her head, he glared at the man that was forced to sit while two other men surrounded him. It was Fenton, but thankfully Lennart and Gaston had him watched as they spoke to him. Fenton had some scratches on his face and a good split lip and a bruise at the head. "Don't worry; he won't be near you again for a real long time."

Theron had moved past me to go over to the three to speak to them after silencing listening behind them. Raul didn't know what he said, but Fenton looked animated about the chat, clearly angry. To Raul's surprise, Theron kept calm as he spoke to them quietly.

Lennart and Gaston nodded in agreement before grabbing Fenton, escorting him out of the festival. Obviously, Fenton was being sent home and would be supervised. Well, Raul assumed so as that what they usually did when the drunk did something that wasn't acceptable around here.

"Come on, Banny, let's take you home." Raul told her, rubbing her shoulders. "If it makes you feel safer, you can stay at my place."

She nodded. "Please."

"Anything." Raul answered, still rubbing her shoulders to help comfort her. He glanced up as Theron came back over to them, looking angry about what happened.

"I'm sorry that happened." Theron told them both. "Do you need escort home? Don't worry about Fenton. He's out of the games and isn't allowed to drink during the days of the games."

"That's all?" Raul asked, anger spiking again. "That's all he gets punished for?"

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can do." Theron told him, not exactly happy about it either.

"Well, she's not going to need an escort as I'll be taking her home." Raul said, still angry for Banu's behalf. "If Fenton does something again to her, I will kill him for it. No one should ever do that to a woman no matter how angry you are about a rejection."

"I agree, but I can't do anything more." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Please try to understand that I can't do everything."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't forget." Raul said, knowing well that he was not being understanding at all. "We'll be leaving. See you tomorrow, maybe." Before Theron could respond, he moved himself and Banu away from them to hurry back home.

"Can I get a bit more special treatment?" Banu asked, trying to bring back her teasing. Back to being brave or at least, try to be.

"Just tonight." Raul answered before he decided to suddenly pick Banu up bridal style. She hugged him and buried her face into his neck, where he felt her tears start up again. "It's okay." He murmured as he carried her. "We're best friends but no more drinking for you for a while either. Take it easy for a couple days. You can stay at my house as long as you want. Just take your time to be able to put this behind you."

Silently, she nodded. He didn't blame her for her silence or her tears. As far as he remembers, this was her first physical assault. Sure, she had some close calls especially with sexual harassment, but that was because it was on men that wouldn't do more than that.

"I'll make sure that Welch comes visit you and even Parnell. It's been a while since you chatted with them too." He rubbed her arm. "They're nice guys. You should depend on them more too since all of us knew each other since we were young."

Banu shrugged against him but didn't answer. Raul was okay with that as he reached his home. "Alright, I'm not going to carry you in like this. The whole walk to here was long enough for special treatment." He told her, setting her down on her feet and entangled her arms from him. "You go clean up and go straight to bed. Put something cold against your cheek as well." He smoothed her hair back to look at the bruise that will form tomorrow on her face. "I'm going to sleep in the living room."

"But—"

"No." Raul said, firmly. "I'm not sharing a bed with you. I love you as a sister, Banu and I'm deeply sorry for what happened. I need to set boundaries with you and this is going to be one of them. You actually got hit. What about next time, huh?"

She flinched. "I..." Her gaze was down casted.

"Please, Banu, reflect on yourself a bit more." Raul said, more gently. He opened the door and waved her towards it. "We'll have a talk about your reflection in two days when you'll feel better than today or tomorrow."

She didn't answer as she quickly retreated inside. He watched her go in and sighed deeply. In a way, he feels bad for her, but, at the same time, he was grateful for the distraction from Theron. Though, he was angry that Theron couldn't do more to the male that hurt Banu, he was glad to be away from their conversation as it was getting personal fast.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at the sky, letting out a deep breath. "Day one, over." Now how will the rest go from here on out?