I Just Wanted to be Edgy Too

Chapter Thirty-Two

Van

I let him have at me. Better me than her.

Barns didn't hold back, and the fear that crippled me was heightened by the thought of him doing this to her. He smashed his fists into my stomach until I fell to my knees and tried to find air for my lungs.

Ellie started yelling then. Begging him to get off of me and stop. The scene unfolded like a movie in front of me, except it was a movie I was in. I couldn't stop it, couldn't slow it down.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Ellie? You'd rather have this? He won't even fight back." A kick to the ribs sent me falling over on my side.

"Just stop! Please." She was crying and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

"You cheated on me and now you're going to expect me to stop." There was no question in Barns' tone. His mind was made up.

"Barns, just listen, please."

He moved quickly to her, pinning her against the wall the same way he had done to me. I clambered on shaking limbs to try to reach her. He wasn't going to touch her, not anymore.

"There's nothing you can say that will change any of this. You think that anyone would treat you the way I have over the years? Do you think you'll find any better? Does he know your secrets? Does he know about your fucked up family? About what we went through?" Tears fell harder down her face as he pressed his body into hers. "Is he anything like me?" He smiled fiercely at me as he pressed himself further into her, a dog marking his territory, she recoiled into the wall.

I found my footing and charged at him, slamming him into the table under the mirror, the vase on top crashing to the floor and shattering, along with the two of us. I swung at him, hard; knuckles cracking as they skimmed his nose, his cheek. Blood instantly stained my hands, but not all my blood.

Ellie was instantly at my side, gripping my arm and holding back my fist. "Stop. It's not worth it." My face turned to her instinctively, and that's when Barns took another swing, hitting me in the jaw and sending me falling backwards. Ellie screamed again, this time it was muffled as the scene around me blurred.

Barns crawled to Ellie on all fours before standing and taking another swing - the same he had at me - only this time it was aimed at her. I yelled. Ellie fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, landing hard on her side. I sank to her, cradling her head in my lap. Barns punched the wall next to me as several people stepped into the hallway and stared between us. One man yelled as Barns continued to pound the wall with angry fists.

I patted Ellie's face softly, wincing at the pain in my hand. It looked broken. Steve was going to kill me if it meant I couldn't play. "Ellie, open your eyes."

At first, she didn't. But after a few attempts at begging her to wake up, her eyes fluttered open, resting on me. A small smile formed in the crease of her lips, but faded as her hand found her face. She rubbed her face and whimpered.

"It's alright love. You're going to be okay. We need to go. Can you stand?" I looked around me trying to figure out our quickest exit. She needed to be somewhere safe.

Ellie half nodded as we fumbled slowly, finding our footing and leaning into each other for support. She swayed on her feet before resting her eyes on Barns.

Barns.

I almost forgot he was there. He was busy yelling and working his way down the wall, hands bloodied, sweat pouring from him. I could hear more doors opening down the hallway, people asking what was going on. The sign for the stairs on the other side of the elevator swam into view and and I nodded at it.