⚣Loving the Golden Boy

6 - Control

"Austin and Maren got in a fight."

Ronan

Phone calls after midnight are often bearers of bad news – so when my phone goes off at one in the morning, I'm expecting the worse.

Did Jamie come home last night?

Did he do something stupid?

Am I being called in to identify a body?

I blink away the sleepiness in my eyes and focus on the irritatingly bright screen in front of me, reading the number displayed above an accept and reject button.

It's the Maas boy; never misses a practice; a defensive mid I stole from the Griffins.

The one that's getting way too close to Austin.

I furiously accept the call and bring it to my ear.

"What." I growl into the phone, sitting up to reach for the bedside lamp.

"Coach, its bad – " He's drunk, slurring into the mic. Maas' voice drowns out into the background for a moment, where I can barely hear him talking with party-goers.

"Has anyone seen Ryan? Where's Aus? Oh my god, get Maren off of her!"

I rub at my eyes again, yawning into the bedroom air. That is, until I hear Maren.

"What's Davis doing? Maas!" I swing my legs over the bedside, pawing at my sheets in attempt to find my shirt.

"Coach – I couldn't do anything – Austin and Maren got into a fight." He says, voice shaking through my phone's speakers.

"Security's shown up; Austin is underage and drunk off his ass, we're hiding him in a broom closet." Maas adds before I can say anything.

"Okay," I groan, drawing fingers through my messy bed-hair. "I'll be there right away."

I arrive at the campus dorm shaking with fury. Austin can't even walk; he's practically thrown into my arms by Rupert Maas and some tall, dumb-looking boy wearing a thong as a collar.

"What about Davis?" I growl, wrapping an arm around Austin in order to hold him up.

"Is he alright? What about Devons? McDonald?" I ask – trying to hide the worry in my tone. Austin's head lolls back and forth against my chest, murmuring drunken slurs.

Rupert's eyes wander to my shoes, looking like a guilty dog who's betrayed their owner.

"Dan is alright; he's staying in my room tonight, I don't want him doing anything stupid."

"He already has." I cut off, a snarl in my voice.

"And...Maren is...well, we think his nose is broken —" Rupert explains, interrupted by Austin's sudden cheering.

"Shut up." I hiss at him, slapping the back of his head. His arms snake around my torso – I let a hand rest on his back.

"Security took him to the hospital; Chris insisted that he rides along."

I shake my head in disappointment, "I told you this would happen, Maas." I scowl, "I told you this would happen."

"Coach –"

"Are you going to play striker now? No, Maas..." I glare hard at him; he's wearing a stupid blue bandana around his forehead. The other kid already left, giving me the opportunity to scold Rupert properly.