The Host Club

Never Again

Saturday morning couldn't have came soon enough. I hadn't exactly been avoiding Haden, I just didn't feel the need to see him all the time. I had been going through testing in all of my classes; which came before anything else. So I had limited time in the host club for the past week.
After the night we had patched things up, he had gone back to his normal self, well, still sick and all. He actually had just gotten better- Along with his brother.
Today, Beth and I had a small park day planned. I hadn't seen her much and it made me sad- seeing we were each other's only friends.
I rolled over in bed and gathered my blankets, holding them close to me. I didn't even want to get up...
"Breakfast!" My dad called. "Hurry up! I want to see you before I leave!" He sang.
I sighed heavily and got out of bed, putting on my lounge shorts and a small camisol. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Beth sitting at the table, mowing down on some French toast my dad made.
I smiled at her, "what are you doing here?"
"It's our date day, silly!" She said through bites of food. I wasn't hungry so I just had orange juice as I sat down across from her. "Plus, I figured you would forget or ditch me. So I came early." She looked at my father and smiled, "plus your father is lovely!"
"Oh!" My father giggled. "Where have you been keeping her?!" He yelled at me. "I love her!"
I rolled my eyes, "you're going to be late, Dad."
He cussed under his breath and kissed my hair before hurrying out the door.
"Bye dad." I mutter with a slight chuckle, sipping my orange juice. "What a surprise to see you here this early."
"Well! You're burning daylight!" She pushed out of her chair. "Let's pick you out a girly outfit!" She exclaimed happily as she invaded my room. As I approached, I saw her throwing clothes around, repeating "no" more times then needed.
"Find anything yet?" I asked while laughing.
"This!" She yelled, holding up a light purple tank top type shirt, and a pair of short shorts my dad bought me... A long time ago.
I rolled my eyes, "daisy Dukes aren't my style."
"I frankly don't care." She mused, grabbing a cute push up bra and thong from my drawer. "Put his outfit on and deal with it."
She slammed the door, so I just stripped and put on my assigned outfit. The shorts were far to short, all of my leg being exposed. and the shirt was longer in the back then it was in the front, the bottom line of my belly peaking out.
"This is horrible." I told her.
"You look sexy!" She said happily. "You look like an actual girl." She said with a chuckle before looping her arm with mine.
"I'm not going out in public like this." I warned.
"Sure YA are!" She said as we skipped our shoes on. And actually, now that I got a good look at her, she was wearing short shorts and a crop top, showing more skin then I was... And for some reason it just made me feel better. If she could do it; then so could I.
It didn't take us long to get to the park, so soon we were swinging on the swings and laughing about random things that we found funny.
It was rare to go out with Beth and her not to get hit on. So, seeing I was here as a girl, I didn't have to put up the front of a jealous boyfriend.
"Hey there." A tall boy said, leaning on the pole of the swing set. His gaze was obviously at her chest, her boobs popping out.
"Hi." She sang happily.
"So. You know, are you single?" He smiled a bit. "I know I am."
"Well." She threw a glance at me with a smile. "I actually have a boyfriend."
We snickered together. It was all fun and games until the Attention was turned toward me.
"Well, what about you, buttercup?" His voice was sly as he swung around the pole.
"Taken." I muttered, averting my eyes. I felt uneasy at the way the guy was now looking at us.
He clicked his tongue a few times before he left, shaking his head and Disappearing behind some trees.
Beth jumped off the swings and I followed suit, walking Fast out of the park as we laughed to each other.
When we thought we were safe, we stopped, laughing to each other. "I thought we were dead." She whispered harshly, containing her laughter as we began walking again.
"I thought-" I was cut off by a group of guys stepping out in front of us.
"Well, look who we have here." The guy that had just been talking to us purred.
Beth laced her fingers through mine, "so what? You had to bring your friends?" She scoffed, "how pathetic."
"Now now girls." He said, taking fab step forward toward us, closing in. "Don't make this hard on us."
I felt someone bump into our backs, Turning to see even taller men In black jackets. We tried to scurry away, but we found ourselves getting caught in the arms of the enemy.
I could feel his hands on my waist, tightly holding onto me so I couldn't move. "Let me go." I said, attempting to wiggle out of his embrace. His hand slowly moved down, holding my hip. "Get your hands off me!" I yelled loudly, a hand firmly Grasping my mouth now. The hand traveled back, firmly grasping my ass as I tried so hard to get away from him.
I threw a glance over at Beth who was jerking away from a few guys, their hands in places I wish they never were.
What was going to happen? It was the middle of the day, in the most populated place around here- and no one was stopping to see what was going on?
we were going to get raped. It was the blunt truth. I felt tears well in my eyes as another hand began to caress me.
Maybe I could just shut to all out. Pretend like none of this is happening.... I never should have gotten out of bed this morning...
A shrill laugh echoed around us, my head jerking at the familiar sound. Usually, his laugh was full of happiness and childishness, but this time, it was full of menacing and anger.
Honey stood there; Haden, Kris and Tanner not far behind. The men began to chuckle, shaking their heads and up roaring in laughter.
"What are you going to do, little boy?" One man said.
"You're so cute, Id hate to break you." Another chimed in.
Haden's eyes met mine for a brief second, his face was hard and unreadable. But as soon as he looked away, as if he didn't recognize me, they were soon looking at me again, such a fury burning behind them it hurt. I wiggled a bit, trying to move forward him but I was quickly moved back.
Haden's eyes traveled to the men holding me as he slowly bent down to honey and whispered in his ear.
Honeys eyes grew wide as he looked around, his eyes finally meeting mine. "Let them go!" He yelled furiously.
That only made the men laugh harder.
Without any warning, the four of them sprang at the guys. Honey was the smallest, but he was fighting three of them at once, kicking and jabbing.
Haden charged at the men around me, and that's all I could focus on. The swift movements of his arms, his legs, his dodges and ducks. His groans, his grunts, his battle cries.
The man that held me threw me to the ground. I was glad to crawl away from him, right into the arms of Beth who sat there with her arms open as she beckoned for me. I wrapped her tightly in my arms and held her close as she cried to me.
The guys took care of all of them, and were soon just standing there with ragged breath. Haden lingered over the man that held me, staring down at him intently. I could still feel their hands on me...
A hand was set on my shoulder, and I was quick to jerk away.
"Hey, hey." Kris cooed in my ear as he knelt down next to us. "It's alright. Everything's okay." He let back my hair, then Beth's. "I can't believe this just happened."
Haden pivoted, peeking back at us, then looking at Kris. Their eyes met briefly before Kris shook his head and helped us up. "Let's go to our place. You can rest while they take care of these guys."
Tanner picked Beth up, and took her quickly to the apartment. She was more shaken up then I had been. I stood up and walked with Kris, me arm looped tightly with his.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
"Would anyone be okay after that?" I asked quietly, my voice monotone. "Those men-" I couldn't finish my sentence, a shudder taking over my body.
He hushed me, "you don't have to talk about it." He said softly, "I'm just glad Honey came to us when he said he saw those guys near campus."
I looked at him, "they've done this before?" He nodded. "And what happened?"
"They were thrown in jail- but only served a 60 day trial." He sighed, " they won't get that lucky this time." He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "They shouldn't have touched you- That was their biggest mistake."
"Why?" I asked faintly.
He shook his head, "Haden isn't a forgiving person." He reassured me. "He can be very cruel."
"So then-"
"You're better off not questioning it."
That ended our conversation. I found myself just going into Haden's room and hiding under his blankets. Soon the sun began to set.
I pulled out the phone he had given me, and quickly typed a message.
I really need you
I sent quickly. When the phone vibrated I was quick to swipe and read.
I love you.
I smiled faintly at the screen, but locked it and tucked it under my pillow.
It wasn't long after that that Haden showed up. He knocked softly on the door, peeking it open and peering in.
"Can I come in?" He asked softly.
"Please do." I whispered.
He slowly made his way over to me, as if not to scare me or startle me. He ducked under the covers and laid on the bed next to me. I was kind of glad he didn't touch me, because I honestly wasn't sure how I would react. So I tucked myself into him, resting my head on his chest.
It was quiet for a while, as we just laid there together. I listened to his breathing and the thumping of his heart.
"Hadlie." He whispered so quietly I barely heard it.
"Yes?"
He took in a breath as if to talk, but slowly let it out. He sighed, his arm that held me holding me a bit tighter now. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Not saving you..." He leaned his chin to my head. "For not being your hero. The one time you needed me most-" he cut him self off.
"But in the end you saved me." I said. "And thank you. So much for saving me."
His hand rubbed my back softly, "Hadlie, I need you to let me know what's going on from now on." He whispered. "If something like this happens again... I need to know that I can keep an eye on you... Keep you safe."
"Somehow you always manage to keep me safe." I whispered. "But I promise, you will always know from now on."
He was quiet for a few seconds- "I wanted to kill him." He confessed. "For touching you the way he did."
I was scared to ask what he had done, scared to know the anger my boyfriend could wield. "What-"
"I broke his hands..." He said, reading my mind. "I don't want him touching any more girls like he touched you." His other hand reached over and set gently on my chest, trailing it down tenderly until he reached my belly button. "Never again." He whispered to himself, pulling me closer.
"I love you." I whispered to him, kissing his jaw softly.
"And I love you." He sighed.