Every Little Thing

No Matter The Cost

*Trigger Warning: Pew Pew Violence*

Walking down the long hall to the parking lot felt like it took forever, despite the speed at which I was moving. Opening the door, I started making my way to the bus, though the voices I heard made me falter. I could make out Lily's voice simply by sound, though what she was saying I couldn't make out. Next came a male voice, one I didn't recognize, but what he said was clear. His voice was much louder, yelling at her that he loved her and how dare she try to hide from him. It took a split second to realize who this guy was. He had found her, her stalker was here, and she was in danger. Quietly putting my bags down, I ducked behind some cars, slowly making my way to them. When I spotted them, I saw the anger and panic on Lily's face, noticing that she was trying to back away from him yet he kept advancing at her, clearly losing his composure with each passing second as she tried to tell him to calmly go away.

Slipping out of my sandals to keep my movements quiet, I inched closer, ducking from car to car as he continued to yell, "Why are you doing this?! I know you love me! We are together! Stop saying we aren't!" He had Lily nearly backed up to the bus as this point, and my heart was racing. I didn't want to risk this guy seeing me and escalating, thus putting Lily in more danger. At the same time, I wanted so badly to intervene, to protect her. "Dammit, Ross! Will you get it through your head that we aren't together! I don't want you near me! In fact, you're violating the restraining order right now, and I could have you arrested! Just leave before I call the cops!" She shouted, trying to hide the fear in her voice, but I could hear it plain as day.

Getting a better look at this Ross guy, I could see that he was around 5'10", maybe 5'11". He had muscle, but I wasn't sure if he knew how to use it. His hair looked to be dark brown. He had a slight tan, strong jaw, a relatively good-looking guy. I couldn't falt Lily for getting involved with him, to be honest, though I was sad that she had. I wanted to be her first, but I knew I couldn't be angry about it, she has every right and freedom to make her own choices.

"You wouldn't dare!" He snapped as he kept advancing towards her, effectively backing her into the side of the bus. "Fuck off!" I heard her snap and watched as she shoved him back. Moving around the side of a car where he couldn't see me, I didn't make it two steps before I heard what sounded like a slap and a pained cry from Lily. Clenching my jaw I moved faster as I heard him shout, "Stop denying what I know you feel!" Rounding the car I saw Lily holding her face and fighting back tears. It looked like he was getting ready to slap her again. Reaching up I grabbed his wrist, spun him around and without hesitating, shot my head forward, headbutting him hard.

Hearing him yelp and watching as he stumbled back, I wasted no time, ignoring the pain in the head as I began my assault. "Caleb!" I heard Lily shout as I connected my fist with his temple. "Get back inside, Lily." I instructed in as calm of a voice as I could manage before striking him again in the face. My hits were calculated, aiming for the areas of his face that would cause the most pain. "Caleb stop! Please!" I heard Lily cry out, a slight desperation in her voice. By the sixth hit to this monsters face he had the sense to block me and shoved me back, rather, he tried to. Taking a slight step back I glanced at Lily and let out a frustrated huff. "Lily! Leave!" I snapped and turned back to Ross, only to see the end of a mini 9mm pistol aimed directly at me. Quickly grabbing his wrist as Lily screamed for us to stop I pushed his hand up, away from my face and grabbed him by the neck.

At least I got one thing right, all that muscle and no clue how to use it. Sweeping my leg forward I hooked his and pulled his feet out from under him. As we both hit the ground he screamed in anger and struggled against me. "She's mine! She may have whored around with you but she's mine!" He screamed, clearly out of his damn mind. "She belongs to no one you psycho!" I snarled out as he fought to point the gun at me once more. He managed to get a couple blows in on my side and face with his free hand, as I still had hold of his neck, pushing just hard enough to cut off most of his air supply.

"She belongs to me!" He snapped just before I delivered another headbutt, pushing his armed hand away once more while he was disoriented. At this point, I wasn't sure if Lily had run back inside. All I knew was I didn't hear her anymore. "How are you so God damn pathetic?" I hissed, "Stalking a woman, hitting her, yet you can't stand your ground in an actual fight. You're nothing, insignificant, and worthless." He screamed in anger at this, sending another blow to my side. I felt him shift his legs, trying to knee me in the groin, so I adjusted to prevent him from doing so.

In the middle of moving, I felt his armed hand slip free for a split second, and a deafening shot rang out. Pain shot through my left lower abdomen, and my vision blurred though I could see the panic on Ross's face. In seconds, the world spun, and I soon found myself on my back with Ross nowhere in sight.

All I could do was lay there as the adrenaline slowly wore off and the searing pain took over. The kind of pain where you couldn't make a sound other than choked groans. I could feel my blood running from the wound, and the last thing I could clearly see was Jace appearing over me before the world went dark.