𝘽-𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙚

Ｐｉｎｇ Ｐｏｎｇ

Ｔｈｉｒｔｙ Ｎｉｎｅ-Ｐｉｎｇ Ｐｏｎｇ

"Thanks, Charlotte." I say, closing the door of her Corvette. She smiles and leans close to me,

"No, thank YOU. Not many people know how to deal with my episodes and you dealt with them perfectly." She grabs my hand and squeezes it thankfully.

"It's what friends do," I say, squeezing her hand back and looking at myself in the mirror.

"Crap," I mutter, looking at myself. I had a light bruise near my collarbone from where Matteo pinned me against the wall. It was light right now, meaning it would darken at night, showing it off to Rhys. I slowly rubbed my hand over the darkened area, wincing when pain shot through my collarbone.

"What?" Charlotte asks, her eyes scanning over me, stopping at the bruise. She lightly reaches her hand over the area but draws it back quickly when I flinch backwards. Her eyes narrow as a determined look shows on her face,

"I'm gonna kill the kid." She mutters, twisting the key, getting a growl from the old car. I sigh, as much as I want Matteo to go die in a hole, Charlotte screaming at him would catch Archie's attention. Oh well, should I spare him?

I suddenly move towards Charlotte and look her dead in the eyes, making sure that my point gets across,

"Don't Charlotte. I can cover it up for now." She looks at me, her face in frown from not getting to beat someone up.

"Not fair." She mutters, pressing her foot on the accelerator, leaving me in front of my house.

While I walked up the driveway I saw a new silver car on the concrete. It looked to be company owned, meaning that it most likely belonged to Rhys.

"Wow. Looks like somebody had a good day at work." I say, lightly running my hands over the cool chrome of the car. I continue running my hand against the car until I reach the door. I scour along the edges of the frame, trying to look for a doorbell.

"Really? Now I'm locked outside of my own house." I frown and pull out my phone, dialing Rhys's number,

"Yessum?" He picks up the phone and a light pink dusts itself on my cheeks from the embarrassment that I would have to endure.

"Hey Rhys, um would you mind opening the door? I couldn't find the doorbell." I say sheepishly, playing the loose fabric on my backpack. I hear a slight chuckle and look down, my eyes falling on the bruise.

Oh crap, the bruise! I have to find a way to hide it quickly. I wedge the phone in between my shoulder and my head, quickly combing my fingers through my matted hair. My blonde hair finally covers my bruise, just as the door opens, revealing Rhys.

"Ok, this is how to get someone to open the door." He takes the golden knocker and bangs it on the door getting a loud knock from it.

"Got it Londoner?" He asks teasingly as I whack him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" He rubs the now sore spot on the back of his head as I walk into the house, determined to change out of the shirt. I walk upstairs to my room and pull out a set of PJs, then walking into the mysterious bathroom to change.

"Finally, my hair is loose." I mutter, taking my hair out of it's ponytail, lightly massaging the tension out of my scalp. My hair falls in front of my face as I tuck it behind my ears, my baby hairs flying up creating a fuzzy halo.

My sock covered feet walk down the stairs as I rub my eyes sleepily.

"Rhys, I'm hungry." I yawn out, sitting on the couch, leaning heavily against the Totoro pillows.

"Ok Talulah what do yo- WOAH! Have you been canoodling?" He asks, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. I blink heavily before peering at him, making sure he wasn't drunk.

"Are you high on Redbull?" I ask, swinging my feet on the floor and standing up. Rhys shakes his head,

"No, answer the question."

"Nooooo?" My voice comes out nasally and high pitched, making me cringe.

"Then what's that?" He asks pointing at the bruise on my neck. I look down and my eyebrows raise, time to come up with a story.

"I- I got a- a ping pong, yes a ping pong ball slammed into my collarbone." I say internally face palming at my response. Out of the thousands of excuses I chose a ping pong ball? Lovely.

"A ping pong ball?" He stares at me quizzically as I nod my head,

"Yup, you know me, all clumsy and what not." As I turn away from Rhys my face reddens,

"All clumsy and what not? Really Talulah? Really?" I mutter harsly under my breath. A small stinging sensation is suddenly felt on my thigh,

"Ow!"I look down and see that Rhys had chucked a ping pong ball at me with all his might.

"What was that for?" I screech and rub the sensitive area, paling when I see that Rhys's face has darkened and his smile which I loved so much, has vanished.

"For lying to me. Now Talulah, what actually happened huh? Tell Ree-Ree the truth." Oh boy, he was trying really hard right now. I had called him Ree-Ree when I was younger because I wanted to make someone a nickname and that was his. He used it as a last attempt to get me to tell him things.

"I-I" I was planning to lie again but when I saw the genuinely concerned look on Rhys's face I change my mind,

"Someone pushed me against the wall today at work. They were drunk out of their mind." I say quietly, looking down to avoid judgement. I hear Rhys mutter something in Korean and look at the bruise.

"Aish, you have got to start telling me the truth." He mutters before bringing a first aid kit close to me. I shift away, not wanting to hear a lecture from him. He clicks his tongue, his brotherly side coming out and grabs my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Stay still Tal."