Once A Fighter

Chapter 10

Matthew's P.O.V.-

"Alright I'm bringin' the little man to school, guys." Josh yelled to the rest of the house. It was 7:30 and he and Levi were walking out the front door. Ria was still asleep.

Zach walked down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. He looked exhausted. "Morning." He yawned as he grabbed a cup of coffee.

"Did you sleep at all?" I asked him. The scratches on his face were still red but healing. Zach shook his head. 

"I kept going over Ria's files. I need to know how to help her." He said.

"Why don't we take her to a real doctor?" Sam piped up from the table. Both Zach and I turned and groaned at his stupidity. His eyes widened when he realized what he said was a mistake. "Because then it'd be easier for her father to find her. Right."

It would be almost impossible to take Ria to a doctor, because that would mean using her real name and filling out files. Her father is a smart man and would definitely be smart enough to check the hospitals and local doctor's offices.

"I can make some breakfast for us. She'll probably be hungry. I know I am." Sam said. He's always been the one to crack a joke or say something stupid but when it comes down to it, we can really count on him.

"Did anyone make any coffee yet?" Zach asked as he stumbled into the kitchen. I handed him a cup and sat down at the counter. 

"Find anything new in her files?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing we don't know. Just that her dad's a dick and she's been through hell."

"And it fucked her up." Sam piped in. "You could see the terror in her eyes last night. Like she wasn't even here."

Zach groaned. "How are we supposed to make her feel safe here? She's gotta trust us." 

"Do you know if she slept at all after the nightmare?" I asked Zach, considering he was with her.

"I tried to calm her down but she was pretty frantic so I gave her that shot. Then she just kept mumbling 'please don't hurt me, please.' God, it was sad." He replied.

Just then, a groggy, messy haired, tired eyed girl walked into the kitchen and stared at us. "Where's Levi?" She demanded. Her shirt was riding up her body so you could see her toned stomach and her arms were visible, and clearly very muscular.

Zach stood up. "Josh brought him to school. We figured you could use a day off, considering what...happened last night." Ria's forehead creased when he said that and then her eyes popped open and she mumbled "shit" under her breath, then turned to walk out.

"No, it's okay!" I said to her. "We were expecting it honestly. With everything you've been through."

"Yeah, after reading your files.." Sam started to say but then realized the mistake that had just come out of his mouth. Ria's head snapped around and she started at him wide-eyed.

"Files?" She asked angrily. "You have FILES about me? So you can just automatically assume things? You have NO idea who I am or what I've been through. Where are these files? I need to see them. Now." 

"God dammit, Sam." Zach shook his head. "Ria, I'm sorry but we can't let you read them. They're private."

Ria scoffed. "They're about ME. They can't be private. I'll just find them myself." She turned to walk out of the kitchen again.

Sam grabbed her arm and her whole body tensed up, causing the rest of us to flinch. But instead of gearing up and attacking Sam, she just shook her arm free and left, not bothering to look at any of us.

I went to follow her but Zach shook his head and said he could handle it. 

********

*Zach's P.O.V*

Ria was walking quickly up the stairs so I jogged to catch up to her. 

"Ria, please talk to me." I begged her. She stopped in the middle of the staircase and turned to look at me.

"You want me to trust you, yet you keep files about me hidden as if I'm some sort of nut job." She looked at me, and her eyes were stone cold. 

"Please Ria, let's sit down and I can explain it to you." I told her. I figured it would be best if she didn't have the pressure of being surrounded by multiple strangers. She stared at me a little while longer and then nodded. We continued up the stairs then sat on a couch in the living room.

"There are reasons you can't read the files." I told her.

"Like what?" She asked.

"There are things in that file that...you may not remember. And one of our goals is to get you to remember these things on your own. In your own time." I explained to her as gently as possible.

She looked at me, confused. "Things I don't remember? What do you mean?"

I sighed. "Listen, if it was up to me, I would choose to let you read the files if you wished. But nobody else thinks that it's a good idea. These are smart guys taking care of you, okay? You have to trust us."

She shook her head and stood up. "The only reason I'm here is because Levi needs protection. And I can no longer give it to him."