Curious

57

I speed walk towards him, scared of the anger that I saw in his eyes right before he stormed off. A couple hundred feet away from the entrance of the restaurant there's a parking lot where I can now see Juan and the guy who still has a firm grip on poor Laila. "Let go of her, man." I can hear Juan say as I jog up next to him.

"This doesn't concern you." the guy spits out, visibly tightening his grip on Laila. She tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth, clearly in pain.

Juan steps closer to him, making my heart drop. "I said let go of her." he says calmly yet it sounds incredibly intimidating. Juan is maybe an inch taller then this guy but the jerk looks incredibly fit as well.

"And what if I don't?" he challenges, causing a small yelp to escape Laila's lips from how much tighter he grips her arm. She doesn't even try to stop him, she barely even moves under his hold although she's clearly in pain.

"You're about to find out if you don't fucking let go of her." Juan's voice raises the slightest bit.

"Is this the loser you tried to leave me for?" the guy turns his attention to Laila who is now squirming under his hold.

I jump when Juan's fist suddenly collides with the guys jaw, causing his hold to loosen on Laila enough for her to run into my arms. She has tears streaming down her face and her breathing is heavy. I hold her shaking body in my arms as I look down at the two guys tumbling on the floor in complete shock. Juan is on top of the guy and punches him over and over again until he gets a shot to his side which causes him to roll off of the guy in obvious pain. I let go of Laila and run towards Juan. "Call for help!" I shout back at Laila. She nods, wiping her nose as she runs for the luau full of people. "Get off of him!" I screech, trying to pull this huge guy off of Juan.

"Get the fuck off of me you dumb bitch." he shouts, flinging an arm back at me quickly. I continue to try and pull the guy off of Juan, until I feel his fist collide with the side of my cheek. I stumble back when I'm pushed out of the way by three men and a scared Laila who follows closely behind.

They easily take the guy off of Juan. Juan stands up probably the quickest I've ever seen him move before his gaze lands on my bleeding cheek, not taking the help one man was offering. Before anyone has a chance to react, Juan lunges toward the guy, landing another few punches on him before being yanked away by the same guy who had offered him help to get up just seconds ago. He almost gets out of his hold before I run over to him. "Juan stop!" I plead, pushing him back. It's no use, Juan just continues to try and lunge back at him, even with me in front of him. My sandals slide on the pavement as he continues to get closer and closer to the guy.

"Get the hell out of here before we call the cops, Kael!" shouts the man whos struggling to hold back Juan with me.

The guy who I now know to be Kael, spits blood out to the side. "Let me go and I'll leave." he growls out, struggling to get out of the two large men's hold. Both men look at each other before finally letting him go. He walks over to me, caressing my cheek, right below my gashed cheek. "Sorry about that, babe." he smiles, revealing a mouth dripping with blood.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Juan shouts, shoving him so hard that he loses some balance. The man holding back Juan has to tighten his hold on him again. Kael simply laughs, glad that he was able to push Juan's buttons one last time before walking off. He flips us off the entire time until he reaches his car, gets in, and drives away.

We all stand in silence as we watch him drive off into the distance. "Is it safe to let you go, big guy?" asks the man who still has a strong hold on Juan.

Juan nods slowly, still not taking his gaze off of the direction Kael left in. "Yeah."

He gives Juan a hard pat on the chest before letting him go. "You put up a good fight." he chuckles. "What's your name?" he asks, now standing in front of us.

"Juan Luis." Juan answers lowly.

He extends a hand to Juan, shaking it firmly. "I'm Zeki, thank you for saving my daughter from that monster." the man nods.

Juan's eyes find Laila's still scared and teary ones and he smiles. "Of course."

She wipes away a few tears that fall from the eye contact with Juan and walks over to the both of us, taking our hands. "Let's go get you guys cleaned up."

~~~

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, mi amor." Juan frowns, caressing the skin around my wounded cheek.

I smile sadly, shaking my head. "I don't know what I was thinking trying to separate a fight all by myself." I roll my eyes.

Laila left us all alone in the break room while she tried to find an first aid kit. "Found it." she says, walking back into the room, causing Juan and I to take a seat on opposite sides of the tiny table that's against one of the walls. "Let's do the lady first." she smiles, pulling up a chair in front of me. She opens up the first aid kit and pulling out a box of Band-Aids and cleansing wipes. "I don't think he got you too badly, I'm sure a band aid will do just fine." she nods.

"Who was that, Laila?" I ask, as she opens up a pack of cleansing wipes.

She inhales deeply, shrugging, gently beginning to clean my bloody cheek. "My special someone Juan was referring to." she doesn't take her attention off of the task at hand.

I try not to react as the wipe stings my skin. "Why was he so aggressive with you?" I ask as she begins to open up a band aid.

She scratches her brow bone, looking at my cut. "I guess he's always been that way. Well, in recent months he's been like that. Him and I have always been on and off, ever since we were in middle school." she places the band aid carefully on my cheek before kissing it gently. She stares at my cheek for a few seconds before continuing. "We've been off for the last couple of weeks." she laughs, shaking her head. "All of the bruises had finally gone away, why do you think I'm wearing something that shows off so much skin?" she asks, gesturing at her outfit. "It's the first time I've been able to wear something like this without covering my body in pounds of makeup."

My heart actually breaks for her. She's so young and beautiful, she shouldn't have to be dealing with any of this. "Is this the first time you've seen him in weeks?" I ask.

She nods, moving her chair in front of Juan who is giving her a look of pure awe. I know he's thinking the exact same things I am. "Yeah, he had left me alone up until a few nights ago. He had been texting me constantly but I never answered. I was in such a rush to leave work last night because I was scared he would try to show up here." she scoffs, beginning to clean a cut on Juan's jaw. When Juan flinches she frowns. "I'm so sorry you guys had to get involved." she apologizes.

Juan shakes his head. "I wasn't gonna let him hurt you like that." he looks over at me. "And she wasn't going to let me try and save you all alone." he chuckles.

"Still, I should've just handled him alone." she sighs, continuing to wipe his wounds clean. "I mean, now that pretty face of yours is going to be scarred." she frowns.

I shrug. "Like you said, it isnt that deep, maybe it wont leave a scar." I try to give her a reassuring smile.

She looks at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Maybe." she smiles sadly, looking back at Juans bloody face.

I dont understand how she can look so calm after all of this, its like she's just used to it by now. My eyes land on her already bruised arm and I feel like wrapping my arms around her and telling her that things don't always have to be like this.

A/n
Hey guys! Let me know what you thought about this chapter! I'll try to have a new chapter up by tomorrow.