He Who Wants A Rose, Must Respect The Thorn

Red Mist

I stood frozen to the spot as about 6 bodies neared us. All I could see was Danny move in front of me and draw eyes away from me and O, as he greeted their team mate. 

I felt Olivia squeeze my hand as I tried so bad to try and hide from him. This was so incredibly awkward and I don't think I'd ever be ready to cross paths with him. "are you okay?" I heard her ask, as I still stared at him. Right as his eyes locked with mine. "ohmygodno" I breathed out as my body just had the wind knocked out of it. 

"Penelope!" A happy voice called my name, and a figure in a crisp white shirt blocked my view of Julian. I looked up to see- "Jimmy!" I beamed a smile, trying to cover up my pain. He stepped forward and gave me a little hug. "how are you?!" he beamed excitedly. "I'm good," liar "how are you?" I asked still aware there were still eyes watching us. "great! It's so awesome to see you" he said as enthusiastically as ever. "you too" I blushed as he stepped back, "maybe see you later?" he asked, making me smile. I nodded, unsure if I would but I would like to. "awesome" he smiled and walked away, with Gronk and two others I didn't know, behind him. Gronk gave me a brief nod and walked away. Olivia had moved over to Danny at this point, leaving the one and only "Tom" I smiled an honest smile his way. "Penny" he smiled, moving over to me. I felt so comfortable and accepted by him. "it's good to see you" he said, pulling me into an embrace. "you too" I squeaked as I got swallowed into his hug. "how's the city treating you now you call it home?" he smiled pulling back to look at me "good, I know I'm going to love it here" I nodded at him, trying to ignore the stare of the last Patriot that was in my presence. "G is always asking for you to come and visit again" he chuckled, making me smile. "I'd love to see her again" I admitted. "we'll have to set something up" he suggested making my face light up. "I'd love that" I nodded. "good. I'm sure I'll see you around later on" he said, glancing down to the person hovering to his right. "yeah, see you later" I smiled up at him and then he moved off to join his team mates.

My eyes immediately then went to the final player who had been standing there all this time. He stood there, just looking at me. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Partly because I felt so nervous around him, I didn't know how he would react to me. But mostly because of how good he looked. My eyes briefly took in his appearance, his boots, his dark tight fitting jeans, the white tee that clung to his rippling physique and the black raincoat he had covering it. His face was a little pink, almost like he'd been in sun a lot recently, and the scruff was still framing his face. His hair styled perfectly too. As perfect as him...

*cough* I snapped back to reality as I looked back to his eyes. But he wasn't looking at me now, he was looking behind me. I followed his gaze and it dawned on me, it wasn't J who coughed to get my attention. It was "Jake?" I questioned. So not expecting to see him here. "hey beautiful" he smiled, moving closer. I snapped my head back to look at Julian, but he'd disappeared.

..........

"how was he even invited?" Olivia asked as we stood at the mirrors in the bathroom. "Wyatt I assume." I huffed. "there I was about to actually TALK to J and he interrupts us" I say, talking animatedly with my hands, like I usually did when I was angry. "you were going to talk to him?!" Olivia gasped. I sighed and nodded. "but when I turned back to look at him, he'd disappeared... But I guess he wouldn't wanna talk to me anyway, when I went to reach out to him he looked a little weird..." I sighed, biting my lip. "you touched him?"
"oh relax" I rolled my eyes. "it's not like I was gonna grab his ass or anything" I sassed. "I doubt he'd complain..." she smirked. "nor would I" I replied before reapplying my lipstick. O gasped dramatically and I laughed.

"what you going to do about Jake?" she asked me as we checked over our overall appearances before we left the bathroom. I sighed and shrugged. "I can't exactly ignore him can I? But it is a little creepy that he's just turned up here like that when he knows I was gonna be here" I said. "are you going to talk to Jules?" she asked me as we exited the bathroom, walking right into the view of him at the bar with a blonde bimbo pawing at him. "what do you think?" I said, averting my eyes as fast as I could.

........

Not that much later, the image of the girl trying to be all over Julian would not leave my mind. But then when I saw her making her way through most of the guys in here, I knew she was just a tramp. I felt my eyes constantly searching for him amongst the crowds of people. What's wrong with me?! I snapped at myself. I was here with Danny and Olivia and well, Jake I guess....so what am I doing looking for my ex boyfriend? I knew I shouldn't care. But I did. And I spotted him. But he wasn't with his friends, or a girl. He was with Jake.

Meanwhile...

JULIAN'S POV

This was just bullshit man. Total bullshit. Why the fuck was I even here? I sat at the bar most of the night, knocking back the liqour. I didn't give a fuck. My girl was here with some asshole who was hanging out with my friends. He may as well take my freakin job. He had my whole world over there. I grunted at the situation, knowing I should just probably go home, but when did I ever do the sensible thing?

"Hey" I sighed, hearing him behind me. I threw back the remainder of my drink and slid the glass across the bartop. I turned around, getting up off my stool to see him standing there. "I'd offer to buy you a drink, but it already looks like you've had enough" he said. who the fuck was this guy? "I think you better keep your opinions to yourself" I said, my hands already balling into fists. "c'mon Edelman. It's obvious you're drowning your sorrows over here. You've not taken your eyes off her all night" he said. was this dude really gonna go there?! "I think you need to shut the fuck up before I make you" I warned him. He laughed at me, glancing over his shoulder, before taking a step towards me. "Just keep away from Penny, alright man" he hissed, "you had your chance with her, and you fucked it up. Now it's my turn. So back off so she can forget you" oh yeah he was... Without even thinking, I launched myself at him. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I pulled him hard up against me, my forehead smashing against his. "see this is the shit she needs to see. The real Edelman" He smirked, goading me more and more  "You really need to learn how to keep your fucking mouth shut" I spat at him, gripping his shirt harder. "I'm gonna break you" I snapped, readying my fist. 

"Edelman!" someone yelled and the next thing I know, Danny and Gronk had pulled me off him. "get him the fuck outside" I heard Tom's voice. Then it was all a blur til I was outside, being held back from coming back inside by Danny boy and Rob.