Nomad 101 (Completed)

Chapter 23

Sorry for the short chapter, this one didn't want to be any longer. Thank you for the awesome comments last chapter. Everyone had me cracking up. I'm going to try to get the next chapter up shortly.

***

**| Sang's POV |**

Tent City was awake and excited as I worked my way towards Gypsy's tent, rubbing at my shoulder. I was still reeling from what just happened.

Those three men. Chasing me. Taunting me. Cornering me.

Nathan and Raven. Saving me.

I shook my head of all my confusing thoughts. I wasn't sure what to think about them. They were dangerous and yet they saved me. When I moved slowly out of the alley, I kept expecting them to reach out to me, to do what those men were going to do, but they kept still. Didn't even twitch as I walked by them and ran away.

The boys were sitting around one of the campfires when I got back.

"Why are you still up?" I asked. It was now after one in the morning. I glanced around the campsite and realized there were too many people up and about considering it was so late at night.

Their heads whipped up and then they were on their feet.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked, the playful gone from his brown eyes as they roamed over my face.

I frowned. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Why the fuck are you running late?" Gabriel asked.

"Probably because I was at fucking work," I replied and held back a smirk when he flinched.

"You need to stop doing that," Gabriel said. "I'm an idiot with my word choices but you're better than I am."

I shook my head. "You only think you're an idiot," I said and sat down. A moment later they settled down around me.

Marc was staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Where did that bruise come from?"

"What bruise?"

He reached out and cupped my face. His thumb ran along my jaw and I winced at the tender spot. When did that happen?

He let go and cocked an eyebrow.

I sighed and played with a strand of my hair. "I ran into some people."

Gabriel moved and when I glanced at him, his eyes were narrowed on my face. "Ran into as in 'Hey, buddy, how's it going?' or ran into as in 'Oops, so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.' Or more of an 'Oh shit' moment?"

"Uh."

"Sang," Luke said, dragging my name out in a warning.

"Okay!" I huffed. "It was an 'Oh shit' moment. They attacked, I ran, they trapped me, and then I was saved."

"And they got close enough to bruise you?" Marc asked through gritted teeth.

I touched the tender area and winced. "I'm not really sure where the bruise came from."

"Did they touch you?"

"They never had a chance."

"Who the fuck helped you? Why didn't they fucking walk you back?" Gabriel asked.

"Two men who own a gym. Raven and Nathan, I think. They wanted to fucking walk me back but I insisted on them not doing that."

"Raven and Nathan?" Luke asked.

I nodded.

"The idiots should have walked you back," Gabriel grumbled.

"Well, I didn't want two strangers following me back to where I sleep," I snapped.

"Don't mind him," Luke intervened.

I glared at Gabriel before sighing and nodding. "Sorry. I'm tired and it's been a long night. I just need some sleep."

"You need a lot of sleep," Marc said. "You're exhausted."

I shrugged. "It comes and goes in stages."

"What does that mean?" Luke asked.

"I mean I go through phases, right now I'm in the restless phase. In a few days, I'll be in a hyper phase. It happens. The streets make it hard to rest properly.

"So these two guys, Raven and Nathan, what did they look like?" Luke asked.

"Uh, big, strong, Raven had some piercings and tattoos. I still think he's part of a gang."

Gabriel snorted but I ignored him.

"Nathan was big, reddish brown hair."

"And they helped you?" Marc asked.

"Yes," I huffed. "It isn't a hard story to understand."

"Sorry," Marc raised his hands. "I'm just glad you found two men nice enough to help you."

"I know. I'm still surprised. In my experience, people like to avoid conflict."

Music filled the air and I stood up, looking around. A few tents away, a group of people with instruments gathered together.

I laughed and looked at the boys around me, glad to have something to distract them from having to explain about what happened earlier. "And it looks like a celebration tonight. You haven't really enjoyed life until you've joined in on a Tent City party. We don't have much but times like these is when we really feel like a real community."

They began singing and playing. I grabbed onto Luke since he seemed like the one to enjoy this the most. I dragged him up to his feet and into the crowd. We got as close as we could and then began dancing. I hopped and spun, acting like a complete idiot but that was okay because everyone else around me danced like idiots too.

I didn't dance for long but I did manage to dance with Gabriel and Marc too. I was actually surprised I got to dance with Marc. I didn't think he would join in but he was right there with us, jumping around and spinning. It was fun and uplifting, being surrounded by the three of them as we danced. They effectively kept the men away from me with their bubble of protection while ignoring any girls who approached them.

If I weren't careful, I was going to get used to having them around.