"Nico! What the fuck is your problem, man?" Jason's voice shouted from behind me, making me jump.
Dominic turned my body and carefully pushed me behind him.
"My problem? What the fuck is yours?" Dominic bellowed.
"Mine? What do you mean-"
"You fucking touched her!" Dominic roared, making me jump.
"Who?" Jason asked then laughed when I poked my head out from behind Dominic only to retreat back behind him. "Bronagh? You jumped on me because of that fat bitch?"
I dropped his bag and gripped onto Dominic's waist when he tried to dart forward. "Stop!" I screamed.
Dominic tried to shake me off him but, in doing so, his elbow hit off my cheekbone, making me hiss. Dominic didn't notice that he hit me, but Damien did.
"Dominic!" he roared.
Dominic snapped his head in Damien's direction.
"You're scaring her, bro."
Dominic growled as he turned and looked back to Jason and snarled. "Put a finger on her again, and I'll kill you. Call her names again, and I'll kill you. If you so much as look at her again, I'll fucking kill you. Understand, man?"
Jason shook his head at Dominic. "What fuckin' ever, man," he said then turned to Micah, who was fussing over his face and kissing him, which Jason's friends found amusing.
Dominic turned and bent down to pick up his bag, he threw it to Damien then looked to me. "Turn around and walk," he said.
I turned and began to walk through the crowd of students that had formed to watch the fight. I carefully made my way through until I was walking down the path on my own. I lifted my hand to my right cheekbone and held it there because it was throbbing pretty badly. My eye was hurting as well, and I resisted the urge to cry again because if I started, I probably wouldn't stop.
"Bronagh!" I heard his voice shout from behind me.
I couldn't face him, not after what he had done and what he said, I still couldn't believe he said I was his. I broke out into a run when he called me and winced every time my feet pounded against the ground because the pouncing of my body made my trembling face hurt even more.
"Bronagh, for fuck's sake, don't run from me!"
I ran faster; I cut through some gardens until I was in a housing estate lower down the mountain side, and yet I still kept running. It was my top speed, but it still wasn't good enough. His arms enclosed around me, and he actually lifted me up into the air to stop me running completely.
"Oh, my God!" I squeaked out not liking the sensation of being held up off the ground.
"Will you stop running from me?" Dominic said into my hair.
I didn't know whether he meant every time I saw him or just now.
"No!" I snapped, not liking him telling me what to do.
I felt the vibrations of his growl against the back of my head as he adjusted his hold on me. I was acutely aware of his arms wrapped around me, oh and his body pressed against mine!
"Put me down!" I snapped again, trying to sound really mad rather than breathless.
"No," he replied, calmly.
I squealed in frustration and slapped at his arms. "What do you mean no? Put me fuckin' down, you big bastard!" I snarled.
I heard a chuckle escape from him, and it made me see red.
"I swear to God, I'm goin' to kick the fuck outta you for doin' this to me!" I promised.
In one swift motion, I was placed on the ground and turned to face him. It made me gasp, because I wasn't expecting him to do that.
"Doing what to you? Defending you?" Dominic asked, his eyes narrowed.
Great, now he was mad at me.
"Eh, yeah!" I shouted. "Ever since I met you - which unbelievably has only been five weeks - you have been nothin' but a pain in me arse. You tease me, make fun of me, and today you made me feel like absolute crap, so excuse the fuck out of me for bein' pissed at your mood swings. You go from bullyin' me to defendin' me all in the space of a few hours. Who the fuck does that?"
Dominic looked at my eyes before zoning his gaze on my right cheek.
"Did he fucking hit you in the face?" he asked, his voice venomous.
I snorted and rolled my eyes at the subject change.
"No, you did that!"
Dominic looked like I slapped him across the face.
"Me? I didn't-"
"Yeah, you did. When I tried to stop you from goin' for Jason the second time, your elbow hit me in the face."
His face visibly paled.
"Bronagh, I'm… I'm so sorry. I would never hit a girl; I swear I didn't mean it," he insisted as he lifted his hands and ran his fingertips over my cheekbone, making me wince because it was really tender.
He looked distraught by this and pulled me towards him. "Come with me, please?" he asked.
I pulled out of his hold.
"No, I have to go home and get ice-"
"I'll ice it for you. Please, pretty girl, it would make me feel better if you let me take care of you."
I stared at him; I still couldn't believe he gave me that nickname.
I continued to stare at him and wondered what the hell was happening. I was so confused that it actually made my head hurt.
"Are you Damien?" I asked curiously, my left eyebrow raised.
Dominic just looked at me for a long moment before he shook his head.
"Are you serious? Can you not tell the differences between us?"
"Sure I can; your hair colour is different, you have dimples when you smile, and he doesn't; he is right-handed, and you are left. He is nice, and you aren't. That's why I'm askin' if you're him because you've been awfully nice to me these last twenty minutes, got your face smashed in and all."
Dominic sort of smiled for a moment before he glared at me. "I handed that prick's ass to him, not the other way around, babe."
"Babe?" I spluttered. "You're sayin' I'm yours and callin' me babe now? I think Jason hit you too hard on the head there, buddy."
Dominic rolled his eyes and muttered, "Shut up."
I sighed, closed my eyes, and rubbed my temples.
Dominic stepped towards me again; I could feel how close he was to me.
"Come back to my house with me so I can help you, Damien will be there incase you're afraid."
I opened my eyes and studied his face; his eyebrow was cut, and some blood surrounded it, his jaw was swollen, and his chin looked like it was bruising also.
"I think you need the help more than I do. Your face is pretty messed up," I commented.
Dominic laughed.
I sighed then, shocked that I was actually agreeing to this.
"Okay, lead the way."
Dominic smiled and gestured for me to walk back the way I just ran. I did so, and he fell in step with me. We didn't speak, but it wasn't awkward or anything. We walked until we headed past our school, and I whistled when we entered Upton.
"You live in Upton? You must have a shitload of money," I muttered.
"And why is that?" Dominic's voice asked, amused.
I shrugged as we walked through the very clean housing estate. "Because it's not a council estate, you own the houses, and nobody rents them out because they are too nice not to live in."
Dominic played with his hands like he was nervous which caught my attention, but I didn't say anything about it.
"Where do you live?" he asked me after a moment.
"About a ten minute walk from here, down on Old Isle Green. It's practically a dump compared to this estate."
"Does that matter to you?"
I shook my head, kind of shocked that I was having a legit conversation with him. While that was mildly shocking, the extreme shock factor was that I was actually enjoying it. "No, I like where I live. I like me house and me road. I'm sort of intimidated by bein' here for some reason, and I don't know why. Wait, I do, it's probably because it's perfect and me bein' here messes that up," I laughed.