My famous foreign exchange student//Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Chapter 8

I watched as my best friend Jake just stood there, staring at Thomas. Thomas knit his eyebrows together, seemingly deep in concentration. Jake kept staring coldly at him, then looked up at me. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was shivering. He ran into the house and wrapped his arms around my waist. I slowly hugged him back, taken by surprise.
He stayed hugging me for quite a while, and I tried to push him slightly away. He must've sensed this, because he did let go. But, instead of backing away, he put his hands up to my face and kissed me. My eyes went wide, and I froze in shock.
I heard Thomas jump off the couch and run over, and Jakes hands left my face. When I looked over, I saw Thomas had grabbed Jakes shoulders and pushed him to the ground.
"Don't touch her!" Thomas yelled, holding the scruff of Jakes shirt in his hand. Jakes eyes went wild, and he reared back, throwing his fist at Thomas' jaw. His fist landed square in Thomas' face, and he jumped back in pain. I screamed, and grabbed Jakes shirt.
"Autumn, don't..." Thomas uttered. I looked over at him, and he had a bloody lip. I crawled over, and touched his lip. He winced, and I held his hand. I started crying, and gave Thomas a huge hug. That's when I knew... Jake has to be punished for this.
I turned around and looked at Jake, who's bloodshot eyes were full of hatred. I walked over to him, and he stood up.
"Jake, what do you THINK YOU'RE DOING?" I screamed at him.
"Autumn, it could've been us! That could be us, watching movies together and going for walks." He said, grabbing and tugging at his hair.
"Jake, no. We are FRIENDS. You just ruined even that, actually. How dare you go at Thomas like that? HOW DARE YOU?" I was beginning to get very mad at this point, and I knew my face was getting redder every second.
"I-I... I dunno, he deserves it. If it can't be me, then it can't be anyone."
"You're sick." Those were the words that set him off. He screamed, and I knew how all of this fuss had come about.
He was drunk.
Jake pushed past me and grabbed a vase, smashing it into the wall. He yelled and kicked the couch. My heart was racing, and I knew he was gonna hurt Thomas again. Thomas stood up, getting ready to dodge another punch. It was a good thing he did, because Jake threw another blow. Thomas ducked, and then kicked his leg out, swiping Jakes legs. Jake fell to the ground, scrambling around. When he finally stood up again, he yelled once more, and ran towards Thomas again, kicking him repeatedly. I screamed, and ran to Thomas. I held on to him, crying and using my hand to try and get Jake to stop.
But he didn't stop. He kept kicking. And then he missed. I felt the blow right on the side of my head, making my ears ring, as well as putting spots in my vision. I collapsed right next to Thomas, who picked me up, crying. Thomas held me close, and examined my head. Jake stepped back, his mouth hanging open. He just stared at me, astounded that he had actually kicked me so hard.
"Get out." Thomas whispered to him.
"Autumn, I-"
"GET OUT!"
I closed my eyes as I heard feet shuffling towards the door, and finally, the door closing shut.
Thomas and I remained on the floor, bruised and in tears. Thomas continued stroking my head where I was kicked, and I opened my eyes. Now, not only did he have a bloody lip, but a bruised cheekbone, bloody nose, and his head had a scrape. I gasped in horror, running my fingers along the wounds. He chuckled, and stroked my head even more.
"It's okay, I'll be fine. Just a few scratches, love. Don't worry," Thomas whispered.
"Tommy, I'm really sorry. I had no idea he was coming, and I sure as heck had no idea that was going to happen. I'm so sorry, this is all my-"
"Don't ever say this is your fault. None of this is your fault. He is just insane." Thomas replied.
"Yeah, insanely drunk... I could smell his breath when he yelled the first time." I said. Thomas nodded, and lay his head back down on the floor, closing his eyes. It was so hard to watch. I couldn't possibly just let this slide...
I got up and went to the kitchen, grabbing a cool, wet rag and an ice pack. When I returned to the living room, Thomas had already gotten himself to the couch and was laying there. I walked over, putting the ice pack on his side and the wet rag on his head. With his eyes still closed, he reached over to the ice pack and pressed it into his side, and then smiled.
"You always know what to do. Always." He whispered. I smiled, and went to lay on the other couch. I was in too much shock to feel any pain from my blow, so I just lay there, watching Thomas as he began to doze off.
'Wow,' I thought to myself. 'This has been the most eventful night of my life. I found out about a surprise trip with Thomas, my brother had a heart attack, I saved him, Jake came back, and he beat us up... I can't even believe any of this happened. It's so surreal, I mean... Dang.'
Thomas quietly began to snore knocking me out of my thoughts. I watched him sleep, and he looked so young... Which is VERY young since he doesn't look his age at all in the first place. At that point I closed my own eyes, and fell asleep within minutes.
****
When I woke up, it was around 11:30 am. He sun was streaming in through the windows, and it was quite warm. I felt something peculiar on my head, and when I reached up, I felt a rag on my head. When I took the rag off, I also felt a large bandage.
Thomas.
I smiled to myself, grateful for someone like him.
As I gained my senses, I smelt something sweet coming from the kitchen. I got up and followed the scent, closing my eyes. I walked blindly into he kitchen, right into Thomas. I opened my eyes, looking into his chocolate brown ones. He smiled down at me, and I smiled up at him.
"You're cooking?" I asked.
"Mhmm!" He exclaimed proudly. He stood up straighter for emphasis, and walked over to the stove. He told me to sit in the dining room and wait because he wanted to surprise me after a horrible night. So I obliged, and waited in the dining room. After about 5 minutes, Thomas walked in with two plated of strawberry pancakes. They looked like something off a website or a magazine, they were perfect. Golden brown with strawberries and syrup running down the sides of the pancakes, all topped with whipped cream.
"Oh, Thomas! They look perfect!" I said as he set a plate in front of me. He sat down and began eating his, so I ate mine. They melted in my mouth, they were so good.
"How's your head?" I asked.
"It's sitting on my shoulders, you know... Being a head." He replied, taking another bite.
"You know what I mean, Sangster," I said, giggling a bit.
"I know, and I can't feel much pain at all. How about you?"
"It actually doesn't hurt much at all thanks to you." I said.
Just then, the phone rang.
"You should get that," Thomas said.
"I will get that," I replied. I jumped up and ran over to the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Autumn?" My moms voice rang through the phone.
"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.
"Hon, we are at the hospital, and we've been talking to the doctor. He wants us to take him to Denver, they think there might be something wrong... Something worse than the heart attack he had last night."
"Oh my god, will he be okay?" I asked, frightened.
"I hope so, but we will be gone for a month to a month and a half. You are gonna have to look over yourself and Thomas, and make sure he makes it to the set of that movie when he needs to be."
"Will do, mom. Do you need your bags packed?" I asked.
"No, your father and I came home and did that very early this morning. And by the way, Thomas told me what happened with Jake. I'm gonna call him later."
"It's fine, mom. We handled it."
"Okay.. But I'm still calling him. I've gotta go, honey. Love you!"
"Love you too, mom. Bye!"
The lone cut off, leaving me alone in the room. I got up and told Thomas the news.
"I hope Riley gets better..."
"Yeah, me too." I replied.
"Well, where were we? Before... Everything? Ah, yes. Clue #2. We are taking a plane, because out destination is not in this country." Thomas said. I walked over to him, and grabbed his hand.
"Let's go for a walk, I'm gonna try and get you to tell me where we are going."
Thomas hopped right up, and we walked hand in hand out of the house. We got about halfway to the park when he finally told me where we were going.
"WE'RE GOING TO YOUR PARENTS' HOUSE?" I exclaimed, suddenly very excited. I jumped up, smiling.
"Yeah, love. And remember, we leave on Friday, which is the day after tomorrow."
"Okay!" I said, as Thomas and I walked to the park. Right then, Isabella ran up to is.
"What are you guys doing? Are you insane! They're gonna see you!" She yelled. I have her a questioning look. She looked behind her, and instantly locked fingers with Thomas and nestled up into his side. My heart popped, and it hurt to watch.
"Isabella, what are you doing?" Thomas asked.
"Thomas, the Paps will be here. I overheard that they were looking for you. They will surely be here soon, and they need to see you with me. And Thomas, what happened to your head and lip?" She asked. Thomas just shook his head, and looked over at me.
Sure enough, the Paps came over the hill with their cameras, and Isabella used her free arm to wrap around Thomas' waist. My heart took another beating, and Thomas whispered something only audible to me.
"Autumn, I'm really sorry for what's about to happen. None of it is my doing. I'm really sorry."
And with that, Thomas and Isabella walked over towards the Paps, flirting with each other, Thomas playfully shoving her. She would shove him back and kiss his cheek. They held hands, and walked along the stream. I couldn't watch, so I turned around and walked home.
Maybe it was a bad idea to go for a walk today...