Verial 147

Chapter 9: Know Your Shit

As Ian steps through the door I jump on his back, knocking his knife from his hand and pulling my knife to his throat. "I told you to leave me alone."

He still chuckles, "Come on Jupe, just let me talk to you. Let me apologize."

I scoff, "I think you said enough."

"Come on, can you stop this. At least leave my throat alone, honestly threatening people against their lives won't solve all your problems."

"It seems to be solving this one."

He lets out a little laugh at that, "If I didn't want to hurt you the knife would be at your throat instead of mine."

I roll my eyes, "You don't have to worry about hurting me, nothing hurts me anymore. And I'd like to see you get out of this." I pull the knife a little closer to him.

He gulps, looking defeated, he chokes out, "I'm sorry for this."

I'm confused for a second, "For wha-"

He rushes backwards, hitting me against the wall since I'm on his back, which causes the wind to be knocked right out of me. I drop the knife and let go of my hold on him. Ian catches the knife as it drops. He turns around quickly, smiling. I finally catch my breath and jump up to my feet again.

He goes to grab my arm but I roll to the side of him. Before he can turn around I quickly kick his side, then roll over the bed. I hold my arms up, ready for what's coming. He rolls after me, landing a punch right above my head as I duck. 

I breathe heavily, speaking through gritted teeth, "It wasn't your place to say everything you said." I roll again into the bigger part of the room.

"And it wasn't your place to say I'm like a little kid." He rolls after me.

"What I said was a simple joke, but you have no idea what really happened with my cousin's family." I elbow him sharply in the thigh as he tries to grab my arm.

"Really, because no one in that room knew about that? I understand not telling me, but you know everything about them, yet none of them know the real you." He goes for a punch in my gut but I grab his hand in a lock before he hits me.

"What do you know about the real me? I loved my cousin, she was everything to me. She was my person, the only one I trusted. I lost a piece of myself that day." I go to punch him in the jaw, but he grabs my hand.

"And so has every person here. We've all lost a piece of ourselves. The difference is the people out there really lost a piece of themselves, as well as their person. They were superhuman and lost the person they loved the most and themselves at the same time." He pushes me back to the point where I'm lifted up and can't move since the wall is behind me and Ian is in front of me.

My words come out in an angry whisper, "And yet they all still have someone. Someone who loves them. Matthew has his cousin. Turner still has both her parents. Connors has his daughter. And who do I have? Me." I go to kick him but he blocks it with his leg.

He suddenly looks sad, definitely angry, but a little tearful too. "You forgot me. Who do I have? My dad left my mom after my sister was born, my mom died soon after. Knight killed my sister, before my eyes. So yeah, I'm an ass, but at least if I left, everyone would forget me. Just like you did, just like everyone I loved did. So next time you complain about how bad it is for you, know the same thing happened to me. Know your shit before you start a fight." He pushes me harder against the wall.

"You think I didn't know about all of that? Did you think I wouldn't read into you before actually letting you join the team? The night after you first came I searched you up, I know what you went through. And you want to know what, you still have relatives. They might have forgotten you, but they're alive. You could go home, you have a home to go to. I'd rather be forgotten by living people than have no one left to remember me. The last home I really had was with my aunt and uncle. And when he was drunk, he hit me and my cousin. So yeah, I was mad the day he hit her hard. But I wasn't near that stove, if you think I started that fire think again. I loved my second family." I hit my forehead down against his. He lets out a strain of curse words, and while he's distracted I knee him in the stomach.