These Scars

Chapter Sixteen

I think it's needless to say that their training ended early today. That was the last training session until we start to film. Ian apparently had to stay a little longer at the nurse's building because they had to set his broken nose. Alexander had to go for like five minutes for them to examine the forming bruise on his jaw.

Jackie and Amandla immediately came to my room whenever they got back. They both seemed nervous and jumpy when they walked in.

"What the hell happened?" I ask them. They both exchange glances before turning back to me.

"Honestly, I don't know. Alexander said something and it's like Ian just lost it. He punched Alexander pretty hard on the jaw. I think everyone expected Alexander to go crazy. He didn't. He just pushed Ian back and hit him once. I think it broke his nose or something." Amandla says in a hushed tone.

"Oh God." I say, pushing my head down into my hands. "It's all my fault."

They both stay quiet. Jackie tries to say some comforting things but it's not helping.

"Is Ian back? I should probably go see if he's okay." I say.

"Yeah, but he's not looking too good. He's in his room." Jackie says.

I nod my head and stand up, grabbing the crutches that lean against my dresser. I can walk on my foot but it hurts really bad.

Amandla goes to open the door for me before her and Jackie go to their rooms. I hop down the hall, my arms immediately getting sore from rubbing against the crutches. Ian's room is on the totally opposite side of the floor.

"Where do you think you're going?" a stern voice asks behind me.

I look back, out of breath from hopping on the crutches, and meet eyes with Alexander. A large, purple bruise is swelling on the left side of his jaw.

"To see my...boyfriend." I tell him, grimacing at the word. "Heard you messed his face up."

"It was already messed up." He mumbles before swooping me up in his arms. I can't say I wasn't expecting that.

He carries all the way to Ian's room, carefully setting me down in front of the door. I stable myself on the crutches and thank him before he walks away. I knock twice on the door, yelling at Ian to let me in.

He does, but when the door swings open, I barely recognize him. His lip is busted open and his nose is terribly swollen and all sorts of wrong colors. The bruise extends just below his eyes, making them look swollen as well. I hop in on the crutches and he closes the door behind me.

"Did they give you an ice pack or something?" I ask him. I lean the crutches against the back wall.

"Yeah, it's right there." He says, it sounding slightly muffled. He sits on his bed and I hand him the ice pack. He presses it over his nose and lip, wincing a little.

I sit in the chair across from him, setting my elbows on my knees. "I want to hear the whole story."

I think he glares at me but it's hard to tell. "I can't talk real well, if you haven't noticed." He snaps.

"Oh, I've noticed. You're still going to tell me the story. No offense, but trying to fight Alexander was a stupid move." I tell him.

"No, really?" he asks sarcastically. "He was just saying stuff like you don't even like me and stuff like he always does. I got mad and just punched him. And he punched me back, only once. It was really hard though. So yeah."

I sigh and take the ice pack that he set beside him. I hold it up for him to take it and he does. "I told you not to listen to anything he says."

"Well, I did! I'm sorry for taking up for myself and you." He spits out. He coughs, sending spurts of blood that collected in his mouth out.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask him.

"I'm fine. He broke my nose, but they set it. Hurt worse than him actually punching me, you know?" he says. "Did you really mean what you said this morning?"

I stay silent. I don't want to hurt Ian. Especially since he got his nose broken over the whole deal between him and I.

Ian lets out a low laugh. "You didn't did you?" he asks, his voice croaking. He's visibly hurt.

"Of course I did." I blurt. Damn. Somebody shoot me or punch me or something.

Ian smiles, lighting up his entire bruised face. "Good. I did too."

Mentally, I'm punching myself in the gut as hard as I can. Physically, I'm smiling. Ian sets his hand, knuckles bruised and bloody, over mine. Why? Why does he have to do these things? He rubs his thumb over the top of my hand I really just want to take my hand away and slap him. It's not Ian's fault, I tell myself.

"Well, I guess we can't film until everyone's all back to normal." I say, changing the subject.

"Yeah, true. I think they're just working on Katniss and Peeta scenes in the arena until we get better. Look, I'm tired. Is alright if I just rest?" Ian asks me.

"Yeah that's fine." I say. I'm ready to leave.

He smiles at me as I get my crutches off the wall and walk out the door. I shut the door behind me and almost scream out of shock. As soon as I turn to walk, I see Alexander sitting against the wall by Ian's door.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I ask him. He smiles before standing up.

"No." He says, gesturing to the chord of his earbuds. I can't see them because he has the gray beanie pulled over his ears.

"Oh. Well. What are you doing?" I ask. He pulls the earbuds out and tucks them in his pocket. I can still hear the faint sound of music coming through them.

"Someone needs to carry you back to your room, don't they?" he asks with a smirk.

I roll my eyes. "No. I'm perfectly capable of-"

He hooks his arm around my back and under my knees just as he always does. I groan. I feel completely helpless when he does this. I can walk just fine.

He laughs as he walks down the halls, humming the tune to the song he was listening to. He drops me off in front of the door to my room.

"Thanks." I mumble while readjusting on the crutches.

"How was your boyfriend?" he asks in a hateful tone.

"Fine." I tell him. "I'm surprised he wasn't worse."

He smirks. "Me too. I guess we have a few off days now until your ankle gets better and Ian's face gets back to normal."

"Yeah." I agree.

"I guess I'll see you later." He tells me.

I nod my head as he turns on his heel to walk away. I watch him go down a few doors, his at the very end of the hall. He stops in the middle and turns back around to look at me. When he starts walking back, I'm a little confused as to what he's doing.

He stops in front of me, staring down. The smirk on his face grows wider and he pulls a card out of his pocket.

"You don't have a room key, do you?" He asks.

Now that I think about it, I don't. I guess I was too busy staring at Alexander to notice. I shake my head and he slides it across the handle of my door.

"Why do you have my room key?" I ask.

"Haven't you noticed? Everyone does." He chuckles before opening the door to my room. I walk in and he shuts the door behind me. Well, this was a weird day.