Some Unholy War // Tom Holland

six

Her smiled faded as she entered the apartment, it was a mess, like usual and there were even more holes in the wall than there were this afternoon when she left.

"Where the hell have you been?" Raymond seethed as she set her bag on the ground next to the coatrack. She didn't answer him, which made him even more angry.

"Hey! Look at me when I'm fucking talking to you!" He pushed her into the wall, her shoulder almost getting stuck in the hole in the wall. She looked up at him, his eyes filled with rage and she knew what was coming, she was prepared for days like this ever since the store went bankrupt.

"First you don't answer my texts, you don't come home until the middle of the night, not to mention you don't even have a fucking job. I'm done with you, Y/N, so fucking done." He said, spitting in her face as he yelled, getting closer to her, towing over her shaking figure. He pressed his right hand against her throat, squeezing it and pushing her body harder against the wall.

"Now you're going to tell me where you were, and then you're going to go back to the diner tomorrow afternoon."

She choked for breath as he held her neck tighter, tears running down her face, she couldn't speak even if she wanted to, which she didn't want to. Raymond couldn't control her anymore, she wouldn't let him.

"Tell me, you bitch, where the fuck were you?" He yelled through gritted teeth, pressing harder on her windpipe, at this point she isn't able to breathe and she hits the wall behind her, trying to escape his grasp. She felt her brain losing oxygen, slipping in and out of consciousness. He lets her go and picks up his keys off of the table next to the table. Y/N doubles over and coughs, trying to catch her breath as it comes back to her, her head spinning.

"Get out. I want you the fuck out of my house before I get back." He leaves her bent over clutching her throat, coughing, with tear stained cheeks.

It takes her a while to regain the strength to gather her things. She packed her clothes in her suitcase and a few boxes that were laying around from online shopping orders. She didn't have much else that was hers, other than her cellphone charger and a few books.

As she left the apartment, she realized she had nowhere to go. It would be embarrassing if she called Tom, seeing as he still didn't know she lived with Raymond. She wasn't sure if her friend, Yvonne was in town, they hadn't spoken in almost two months.

She ended up staying at the Motel 6 on the corner of Cherry and Topaz, it was the cheapest thing that she could afford for the next few days. It was uncomfortable and dirty, but it was better than sleeping under a bridge somewhere.

The next day, Tom tells her that she doesn't have to be there until an hour before the fight is supposed to begin at seven o'clock, so she takes her time getting ready, inspecting the bruises on her neck, wondering how she was going to explain them, because Tom would ask. She opted to wear a turtleneck, even though it was almost 80 degrees outside, it was better than being bombarded with questions.

She shows up and Tom is already warming up and stretching, he's shirtless and wearing the same tight white trunks that Y/N saw him in the last time he fought.

"Hey," She whispered to him while walking into the room.

"Hey! I'm glad you're here, I was starting to get nervous." He laughed, visibly relaxing in his stance.

"There's no need to be nervous, Tom, you're going to do great, I promise, you're 'The Hammer', you've got this. Now Harrison needs me to do a few things before the fight starts, why don't you go and watch a few of the opening fights." She said, smiling at him and then left the room. Tom took her advice and put on his robe to check out the other fights going on before his.

He stood by the door for a while, watching the screen as the junior fighters fought for the small crowd that hadn't quite filled the arena yet.

"Ready for your fight?" A man asked him as Tom turned his head to look at him.

"Yeah, and you are?" Tom cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Ivan, nice to meet you. My brother and I are big fans." He held out his hand for Tom to shake, which he did. They made small talk, Ivan being obviously drunk, asking about Tom's fighting and Tom only half-paying attention to what Ivan was saying to him, until he made a comment that sparked his interest.

"Yeah, I own this 24-hour diner over on 5th and Cherry, we were doing really well, that is, up until my best waitress quit on me. Like the audacity, I give her a job as a favor and then she just quits on me with no warning. I don't have anyone else that's willing to work from 3 til 9." He slurred a little, taking another swig of his beer.

"A job as a favor?" Tom asked, already knowing the waitress Ivan was talking about.

"Yeah, when my brother moved out here with her, they were dating and they tried to open a record store, which went belly-up in a matter of months. And she couldn't get a job to save her life, so because she was with Ray, I gave her a job. But then she quit on me just like that, but I guess she got what she had coming to her though." Ivan rambled on, making it hard for Tom to understand what he was saying.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ray kicked her out last night because of all of her bullshit. She'd been out all hours of the day and night for the last two nights, and she didn't answer any of his texts. The nerve of this girl, for real, like Ray was nice enough to give her a place to live after she dumped his ass and she pulls this shit on him? Personally I don't know why he was doing all that for her, it's not like she was putting out." Ivan continued to talk and Tom walked away from him, starting to get angry about Y/N's situation, why anyone would treat her with anything but respect baffled Tom. He wanted to protect her.