Meet Me in the Bathroom

Bad Guys

"Hey!" I greet Nick after opening the door for him. "How was your first day?"

"It was alright." he shrugs. "There's a really cute chick who works in the kitchen."

"Ooh, get in there, Nicky!" I giggle, standing on my toes and ruffling his hair. "Quit being so tall."

"Quit being so short." he chuckles, using my shoulder as an arm rest.

"I'm not short." I pull away and cross my arms.

He flashes a sarcastic smile. "Sure, you aren't."

"Well, sorry I'm not a fucking giant like all of you are." I frown.

"Fab included?" he raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not Fab...but you're all pretty damn tall."

"Are you guys bullying little Fab behind his back?" Julian walks in and leans against the counter. "Not cool."

"Hey, Jules." Nick greets Julian by handing him a lit cigarette.

"What's up." Julian places the cigarette between his lips. "Thanks, man. So what's this about a girl I hear?"

"Just this cute chick at work." Nick shrugs. "Oh...and she's invited me to her friend's party tonight...said I could bring whoever. You guys in?"

"Hell yeah." Julian nods, before turning to me with a quizzical look.

"Yeah, alright." I agree.

Nick's phone rings and he answers it. We wait for him to talk, or tell us who it is, but he just stands there nodding with a strange look on his face.

"Everything okay, Nick?" I ask, puffing on Julian's cigarette and handing it back to him.

Nick stuffs his phone back in his pocket. "I think Fab's in trouble."

"What?" I furrow my brow.

"He just...he sounded really panicky...said he went to go find a dealer and it didn't turn out too great."

"Shit...where the fuck is he?!" I ask, wide-eyed. "We've gotta go find him!"

"He said he'd text the name of the s-" Nicks phone beeps and he looks at it with a frown. "Yep, he's given us a street name. Let's go."

I nod and follow Nick to the door, but stop when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't want you going...you could get hurt." Julian tells me with a worried look. "It's probably not gonna be safe."

"I'm going." I pull away and open the front door. "I'll be fine, Jules. Nothing will happen." I roll my eyes.

~~~

After jogging for what seemed like half an hour, we finally approach the street Fab said he'd be on.

"Fab?!" I call out as I look around. "Fabrizio?!"

The street is really grungy and sketchy and there seems to be no one on it except for Nick, Julian and I.

"Yo, Fab man!" Julian yells. "It's us!"

We pause when we hear rustling in an alleyway.

Julian pushes me back when I try to look. "I'll check it out."

I frown at him and cross my arms in response, staying beside Nick.

Seconds later we hear Julian call out to us. "Guys, I found him!"

Nick and I share a glance at each other before running towards the alley and over to Julian.

I look over Julian's shoulder and see Fab sitting against a wall with a busted lip and a scratched cheek. His jacket is ripped and dirty and he struggles to lift himself up.

"Oh my god, Fabrizio!" I run over to him, kneel down and hold his face in my hands, making him look up at me. "What happened?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." he forces a smile. "Just ran into some bad guys."

I furiously shake my head as I pull off the cardigan I'd slipped on before we left and dab at his wounds with it. He winces as I wipe off the blood from his lip, still holding his head towards me.

"Jade, I'm fine...really." he smiles again.

"Make yourselves useful!" I turn around and point a finger at Julian and Nick, who are just watching the situation unfold. "Help him up!"

Nick and Julian run over without saying a word and help him up.

"Hold this on your cheek." I ball up the cardigan and press it on Fab's bloody cheek, waiting for him to take it from me. "We should get out of here incase those guys come back."

"I'm good...thanks guys." Fab holds the fabric on his cheek and pulls away from Julian and Nick with a smile.

"I hope you guys still aren't still planning on going to that party tonight." I say as I walk closely to Fab, still really worried about him.

Fab perks up. "A party?"

"That's my man!" Julian chuckles, patting Fab on the back.

"Are you fucking serious?" I stare at Fab in disbelief. "You just got your ass kicked and you wanna go to a fucking party?! You could have a concussion you don't know about!"

"Jade, I'm fine!" Fab steps away from me and shakes his head. "Chill!"

"Oh, well sorry for caring!" I walk further away from him with a frown on my face. "Remind me not to give a fuck ever again."

"Jade, wait!" Fab calls behind me as I start to speed-walk. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's cool." I pick up my pace a little. "I'll see you guys at the apartment."