A Fall From Grace

Chapter 11

In the blink of an eye, Derek is away from Gracie's side and on Darby. Darby takes the brunt of the sudden attack but manages to get his hands up to brace himself from the impact. 

"Damnit!" Gracie curses the air and springs into action. 

Gracie knows that Darby is one tough guy, all things considered. But Derek just so happens to be a pro-UFC fighter with a win-loss record of 18-3. And all three of those losses in the arena were either due to submission or popular decision in favor of the other person. AKA, Derek has never taken a loss by KO or even TKO. 

"Derek, knock it the fuck off." Gracie rushes around the table to yank her ex back by the shirt. 

"Gracie, don't." Darby barks at her before she can even get a step in. "You'll get hurt." He adds as he barely dodges a punch from Derek who is still livid and swinging. 

Gracie comes to a halt a couple of feet away from the fighting pair and watches in frustration as Derek continues to try and hit Darby. Thankfully, Darby is smaller and much faster than Derek. So he is able to keep the raging bull of a man at bay for the time being. 

The commotion brings the restaurant staff to the scene and Gracie shakes her head in embarrassment. 

"I am so sorry for this." She shakes her head when one of the managers comes to confront her. "Have you called the cops yet? If not, please don't. I can break them up. And again, I am so sorry for this." She asks the manager. 

"Just get them out of here. Now." The manager sighs heavily but gives Gracie the benefit of the doubt. 

When Gracie turns back to the fight Derek has Darby on the floor of the restaurant and is about to start raining down punches. Gracie has seen enough of the man fights to know that either she needs to end this now or Darby is definitely going to be in some trouble. 

"That is enough, you idiotic fucking juvenile." Gracie trudges over to the pair and yanks Derek back as hard as she can by the back of the shirt. 

The force is enough to get Derek off of Darby for a moment and Gracie instantly steps between the two of them. Derek gets to his feet lightening quick and advances towards Gracie, but she doesn't flinch when he approaches her. 

"Are you done acting like a fucking moron?" Gracie asks in a surprisingly calm tone. 

"Move," Derek warns her with a scowl. 

"Screw off." Gracie huffs. "Turn around and leave right now Derek, or the manager calls the cops." She points a finger behind her at the manager holding a phone in his hand. "Tell me something. How are those sponsors going to feel when they find out you have a habit of starting bar fights with your ex-girlfriend and her friends? Because I can and will call them as soon as I get a chance." She lays down her threat with a calm tone. 

"Whatever." Derek huffs loudly. "You aren't even worth it, Grace. Hey buddy, you can have her. She's damaged goods anyway." He stares at Darby for a moment but storms off. 

Gracie keeps her eyes on Derek until he is out the door before she turns back to Darby who is barely picking himself off of the floor. She quickly rushes over to help him back to his feet. 

"Shit, he got you in the nose, didn't he? Asshole." Gracie sees blood oozing from Darby's nose and shakes her head. "I'm so sorry for that, Darby." She helps him over to a chair so he can sit. 

"I'm okay, Gracie." Darby insists and takes a breath. "But man can that guy hit. He was on me before I even knew he moved." He shakes his head. 

"Yeah, well there is a reason why he's only lost 3 of 21 UFC matches." Gracie laughs a bit to lighten the mood. 

"The guy is a UFC fighter?" Darby chuckles. "Damn, no wonder he hits so damn hard. Are you okay? You shouldn't have grabbed him like that. He could have hurt you." He switches to scolding Gracie mildly for her recklessness. 

"Derek? Hurt me? No." Gracie shakes her head. "He's got a temper, yeah, but Derek would never hit a woman." She insists. "I was perfectly safe, Darby. Trust me. Now hold still and let me look at your nose." She plucks a napkin from the bar and hands it to Darby to clean his face. 

"Ouch." Darby flinches under Gracie's touch. 

"You may have broken it." Gracie frowns, her brows knitted in concentration. 

"Wouldnt be the first time." Darby shrugs. "And it probably won't be the last either." He adds. 

Gracie talks to the manager of the restaurant again and clears up the incident while also making sure that she leaves a more than generous tip for the trouble. When Darby's nose stops bleeding she carts him back to her place so she can get a proper look at the damage. 

"Take a seat on any of the barstools in the kitchen. I'm just going to grab my bag from the closet." Gracie sends Darby to her kitchen as soon as they are both inside the house. 

Darby does as told and heads into the kitchen. Gracie comes back a few seconds later with a large medical bag in her hand. 

"Okay. How many times did he hit you?" Gracie unzips her bag and pulls a few things out. 

"No clue." Darby shrugs. "More than once for sure though." He makes a guess. 

"You could have a concussion. How does your head feel?" Gracie replies, switching over to work mode for the moment. 

"It's okay." Darby shrugs again. "Really Gracie, I'm good." He insists again. 

"Do you have a medical degree? No? Then, hush." Gracie replies with determination. 

Darby sits in silence and watches Gracie fawn over his nose for about ten minutes before she determines that it is not in fact broken. 

"Was Derek always that short-tempered when he was with you?" Darby asks Gracie once she's putting her medical supplies up. 

"Not always no." Gracie shrugs. "I mean he's always been a stubborn asshole. That's partly why I liked him in the first place. I have bad taste in men, trust me." She chuckles. "He was this dynamite upstart that was headstrong and always getting himself into fights that he couldn't win when I met him. We just kind of clicked, I guess." She shrugs. 

"What happened? Because I know for a fact that your dad hates the guy." Darby presses on a bit more for some more information. 

"He started winning." Gracie laughs at the ridiculousness of it all. "And the more wins that he racked up the more Derek started losing that upstart charm that I liked so much. He just changed I guess. And eventually, I had enough of his bad attitude, so we broke it off." 

"He seems like a swell dude." Darby jokes. 

"Oh yeah." Gracie laughs with him. "Anyway, how does your nose feel now?" She asks him. 

"It's starting to hurt less," Darby replies. "But I have a feeling that it's going to hurt like a bitch in the morning." 

"Oh, it definitely will." Gracie nods. "It's late though, and you shouldn't drive home with an injury like that. So you're crashing here tonight. Doctors orders." She informs Darby. 

"Whatever you say, doc." Darby nods. 

"I'll go grab you a pillow and blanket, you can crash on the couch." Gracie turns and heads back out of the room. 

Darby sits and watches her walk off, his nose still throbbing in pain from the blow. A plan for petty revenge boils in the back of his mind for a second. Yeah sure, Gracie said that she was sure her ex wouldn't have hurt her. But at that moment Darby still felt more worried than he'd like to admit. And the bastard should pay for getting in her face like that. And making that comment about her. 

Gracie is one of the sweetest and smartest women that Darby has ever met. And he'd take a thousand hits to the face from her ex if it meant that Gracie didn't have to put herself in danger like that again. He's positive about that.