Found

Chapter 26

Peri woke up on in the nurses room on a bed with Garnet, Lapis, Pearl and Amethyst all around her. She sat up and sharp pains raked through her face and body. She winced and felt around her face carefully.
" You best not move around too much there Peridot. You're all banged up from that fight early. Gotta say, I'm proud of you for sticking up for Lapis." Garnet said with a sound of approval hanging on her voice.
Peri looked over at Lapis, who had her head in her hands.
" Lapis, are you alright?"
" I'm fine." Lapis responded without lifting her head.
" Well it doesn't seem that way. Won't you look at me so I can see that you're fine?" Peridot asked, trying to keep her shaky voice as calm as she could. With a sigh Lapis looked up into Peri's eyes. Peridot saw no bruises on her face, and that made her feel better. Lapis looked on with an expression of horror. It wasn't long before she looked away again.
" Hey, I know I'm not the best looking but come on..." Peri said, trying to be cheerful. " It's not that, not that at all. It's what Malachite did to to you. Your face is all banged up and bruised. You have cuts everywhere and your body is bruised as well. I can't believe I couldn't do anything to help you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Lapis said, tears flowing from her eyes yet again.
" Well it does hurt, but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, I've been beaten up before. It's really nothing new. You weren't really going to go back to him were you?"
" Of course not! I just wanted him to stop hitting you is all! Everytime a hit landed it felt like I was dying. Like I was losing some part of myself again." Lapis cried out, looking up again. " I thought he was going to kill you.."
" I understand." Said Peri, looking down. Garnet patted her back softly while Pearl and Amethyst gave sad but reassuring smiles.
" I was afraid that if I didn't keep his focus on me, that he would do this to you!" Peridot exclaimed, making a wide gesture around her face.
" I couldn't live with myself if I let that happen to you.." Lapis looked at her once again, and took in everything. Peri looked ok, she was just alittle banged up. She had a bruise under her eye, and a split lil. Her glasses her cracked and broken, and her hair was a mess. Lapis sighed and decided to be satisfied that Peridot would be okay.
" I'm, I don't mean to be rude, but what is your connection with this Malachite person?" Pearl said, rasing her hand alittle bit."
" Yea, I was wondering the same thing Lapis. You should explain this to us." Said Garnet agreeing. Lapis looked around the room at all the expectant eyes and sighed deeply.
" Okay, okay. Sometime ago Malachite and I dated. We found each other in high school and linked up. He was disrespectful, a bully and just mean spirited. But at the time that attracted me. We started to hang out at this little spot he and his friends had found. They were like any other high school gang. They had rivals from other schools, but never seemed to lose and of the fights. Mainly because of how brutal they were. They did as they pleased, and I wanted some of that. Pretty soon we officially got together. It didn't take long for me to follow in his footsteps. Beating up girls, failing classes cause I was never there, talking back to my mom, you get the point." Lapis paused to see if anyone was going to say something, but when all was quiet she continued.
" This continued for about three years, and slowly I got tired of it all. I just couldn't handle the constant rude remarks, the gross comments and everything else. I tried breaking up with him multiple times and failed. He always knew what to say to bring me back. Eventually I was able to put a stop to it, and managed to keep myself away from him. Once I graduated from high school, I didn't see him again. Until today. He'll be back and his goons will be with him. And that scares the hell outta me." Everyone had stayed quiet while Lapis talked, and once she had finished, the silence continued. Finally Peridot spoke up.
" Well he can't have you, and I'm willing to go through all this again to make sure that doesn't happen."
" Peri I don't want that to happen though. What if he brings weapons? What if he shoots or stabs you? God if that happened I'd never be the same. I love you too much to let anything like that happen." Garnet cleared her throat and looked Lapis in the eyes.
" You're forgetting that you have friends here. Friends that can fight mind you. There's no way Malachite will be coming back to harm either of you. Not while we're here." Garnet said, gesturing to Amethyst and Pearl.
" Yea!"
" That is correct. We've held our own before, believe it or not. I've had my fair share of fights too." Pearl said, smiling and raising her head high. Peridot sat quietly, not saying anything as the others talked amoungst themselves. Lapis noticed this and stood up. Walking over and taking her hand gently.
" You're.. you're not thinking about breaking up with me, are you?" Asked Lapis, in a whispered tone. Peridot looked down at their intertwined hands and then into her deep blue eyes. She held her gaze for a second before raising her hand slowly up to Lapis' cheek.
" Well of course not you clod. We'll get through this together, all of us. Now help me off this bed. I want to go home." Lapis smiled and did so, pushing away the blanket and carefully watching as Peridot made her painful way off the bed. All together they helped her to Garnet's car, and drove both Lapis and Peridot to her apartment. They waited till they were safely inside before leaving. Lapis watched her car pull away before turning her attention to Peri. Peridot, who had found some ice and was laying in the bed, let out a sigh. Lapis gently got in next to her and ran her hand through her hair, fixing it the best she could. Soon enough Peri drifted off to sleep, with Lapis not too far behind her. That night Lapis had nightmares of things happening to Peri. A few times she woke up to check on and found her sleeping soundly.
' I need to protect her, and I know one way that I can. I'll have to talk to Malachite myself and end this once and for all.' she thought to herself. She kept coming up with different plans before she fell asleep again. Would it be a good idea for her to confront him so soon? What would happen if she did? And would she bring someone with her?