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There was instantly a commotion in the hallway; Wren could hear Josh yelling and eventually heard Sebastian yelling back at him. Knowing the original plan wasn't going to work anyway she took a breath to steady herself and stepped out into the hallway.
"There you are, you little bitch," Josh slurred, obviously having taken advantage of the bar since she'd seen him last.
"Hey, watch it, dude," Sebastian said, his jaw clenching between words.
"You fuckin' watch it, you prick. First you come out of a fuckin' bathroom with my girl and then you're telling me what to do? I don't think so," Josh hollered, taking a step closer to Sebastian.
"Don't fucking do this, okay? Don't," Wren said to Josh, stepping between him and Sebastian. Sebastian's hand was instantly on her forearm, trying to pull her back and out of the way. She stood firm, looking Josh in the eye.
"Oh, now you're fuckin' tellin' me what to do too, huh? Come on. We're going home," Josh demanded, and she shook her head, mustering more courage than she'd been able to dredge up in a long time.
"You know what, Josh? Fuck you, okay? I'm not coming home with you, in fact I could easily never see you again in my entire fucking life and be perfectly happy," she said, her voice full of rage. Josh blinked hard, processing her words.
Without saying anything else, he grabbed her, pulling her away from Sebastian. He held her roughly, squeezing her arms in a way that she knew was bound to be a bruise the next morning. He stared at her, seemingly in a state of shock that she'd spoken up like she had. Then, as he stared at her, he spit in her face. She gasped, shocked. He gasped back at her, clearly making fun of her and then pushed her to the floor roughly. She crawled backwards and shoved herself into a corner as sobs took over her body.
"No fucking way," Sebastian spoke up angrily, chasing after Josh as he walked away. He grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around.
Josh caught him with a punch right to the nose and Wren called out, frantic. Sebastian caught him back, landing two solid punches to his stomach and then sending a rough knee right to the groin. Josh collapsed to the floor just as the venue's security finally showed their faces and started screaming about how all three of them needed to get out.
Sebastian's face appeared in front of Wren right as she was launching into a panic attack. Blood poured from his nose, but somehow he managed to keep his voice level and calm.
"Hey, we've gotta go, okay? Wren?" he said her name gently, putting his hand on her arm. She flinched at first, too far into the panic attack to distinguish the fact that he obviously wasn't going to hurt her.
"I can't... I can't," she mumbled through sobs, shaking her head.
"Yes, you can. You can. Here, how about this. Can I carry you?" he asked, extending his hands towards her with the palms up in surrender. She looked at him, her eyes bleary with tears and panic surging through her whole body and mustered the best version of a nod she could. "Yeah? Okay, here we go," he said, slipping his arms around her. In a second, he was carrying her bridal-style.
She leaned into his chest, doing her best to breathe. He carried her wordlessly out of the venue and to a mid-sized black car that he unlocked with a key fob he'd pulled from his pocket.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked her, and she shook her head. "Do you have anywhere safe to go?" he asked, and she shook her head again, still crying.
"I d-don't have a-anyone or anything," she managed, her voice quiet and sad.
"Okay. Do you... want to come to my apartment?" he asked slowly, like he was trying to keep her calm. She looked at him, her eyes still full of tears. "I have a guest room with a comfy bed and a hot shower, at least. Then you can figure out the rest in the morning," he told her, coaxing gently.
She studied him, trying to figure out if she could trust him. She'd always liked him in high school; she'd even had what she probably would've called a crush on him. Not that it mattered right then and there, but he was easily the best sex she'd ever had, even though they'd both been awkward teenagers.
As he stood there looking at her in question, there was just something about him that was so endearing. She felt close to him, even though it had been years and years since she'd seen him. He smiled as he looked back at her, biting his lip expectantly.
"Yeah... Yeah, sure," she said, taking a deep breath. He smiled again, nodding.
"Yeah?" he asked, and she nodded back.
"Yeah."
"Good. Not to concern you or anything, but we should really go then. He's on his way over here, and he doesn't look happy," Sebastian told her, and she looked up just in time to see Josh hurrying towards them. He wasn't close enough that she could hear, but he was screaming something.
She slipped into the passenger seat of the car as Sebastian held the door open for her. She watched Josh closely, feeling a bit of a sense of accomplishment when they drove off, leaving him screaming in the dust.
"Wait, do you need to go to the hospital?" she asked, realizing for the first time that his nose seemed to still be bleeding onto his t-shirt.
"No. It's broken, I think, but it has been before. It's no big deal. I'll just pop it back into place and it'll be fine," he told her, and she shook her head.
"Are you sure?" she asked, and he chuckled lightly.
"Yeah. It's totally fine, Wren," he told her, his tone nonchalant.
"Thank you for saving me," she blurted, not sure how else to put it. He looked across the car at her, his eyes kind.
"You're welcome," he said simply, smiling at her again.
