I Just Wanted to be Edgy Too

Chapter Fifty-Six

Van

Larry's eyes widened as he stepped in front of me, planting himself in my line of sight. "Van..."

I shook my head and pressed the phone further into my ear, and waited for a response.

"Did you actually think it was a good idea to send her home? What kind of boyfriend are you? Shit, even I kept her around. Speaks volumes of your character don't you think?"

"How...where is she?" The words tumbled out of my mouth in a rushed exhale.

"Oh she's fine. She's asleep. Called it an early night."

"What do you want?"

Larry banged on the window with his fist and several people turned to look at him, some waved and others grabbed their phones and took more pictures. He caught the attention of a security guard who moved quickly through the crowd and opened the door to us. I'm not sure what Larry said to him, his words were rushed and I could only focus on the sound of Barns breathing on the other end of the phone. The only thing I heard him say was "get them all, tell them it's Barns."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and sank to the ground, my back pressed into the brick wall for support.

"I think you know what I want. What I've always wanted. Her. And considering that you're so far away, it shouldn't be a problem for me."

I closed my eyes as panic set in. I knew what he was capable of. I'd lived through it, and so did Ellie. Barely. What if this time...what if she didn't.

Barns laughed again. "I told you to stay away from her, but you couldn't. Did you think I was just going to disappear? Did you really think I'd just never see her again? Do you have any idea how much she means to me?"

I shook my head and clenched my jaw together.

"She obviously doesn't mean that much to you if you could just leave her. You just let her get on a plane and go home, you didn't even fight for her to stay." He clicked his tongue.

My head was spinning at his words. I felt like I was going to throw up. I heard the rest of them before I saw them. Heard the scraping of their boots as they exited the bar, rushing over to where I was crumpled on the ground. Bondy lowered himself to my level first, his eyes were on fire as they peered at me from under the brim of his hat. His face was stained in worry, fear coating the edges.

"Just leave her alone, Barns. Please. Just...just don't hurt her. She doesn't deserve that. Save it up for me, you can take it out on me." I knew I sounded like a kid whining about, but it was warranted. I didn't have anything else to offer him. There was nothing I could do right now.

I heard Blakes murmur the word fuck as Larry yelled into his phone. Maybe he was talking to Steve, or maybe someone else. I didn't know, and I couldn't think of anything else other than Ellie in that moment. Bob's gaze swam into my line of sight next, as he knelt next to Bondy, his left arm finding my shoulder and resting on it.

"What makes you think she doesn't want me here?" Barns voice cut through the chaos around me. My throat was dry, constricting as I sucked in deep breaths and shifted my eyes between Bob and Bondy.

"Because I know she doesn't. She told me."

"What if she changed her mind?"

Doubt settled into the corners of my mind, blanketing my vision with nothing more than blackness. I knew better than this. I knew Ellie. She wasn't going to go back to him. Not now. Not after everything thematic happened between us.

"Starting to question things yet, McCann?"

I shook my head as if he could see me. "No."

"Do you really think I'm the type of person who is just going to sneak into her life and make her be with me?"