she's mine.

59

I wanted to ask.. I really did, but I couldn't bare the idea of hearing that my brother had been the one to do this to him coming from those bruised lips. So instead, I tried to keep quiet while I sat on Eli's lap and wiped the blood from his collar.

I wondered if he noticed his fingers trailing over my skin. I was answered when I saw the small smile curling his lips up when my goosebumps exposed what his touch did to me. He could be so sweet, I thought as his fingers ran up and down my spine softly. I was gentle as I wiped away the blood and dirt, but finally, I couldn't help myself- I asked.

"What happened?" I whispered as I glanced back to the door. I saw the others all conversing in the hallway. I was surprised they hadn't come in yet, but I could see Jonny standing with his back to us and his arms crossed as he blocked the entrance.

Eli hesitated and glanced to the door. The pit in my stomach became immensely painful as he looked to my brother with a reproachful look. How could he?? How could Jonny do this!??!

I stood before I could think about what I was doing, "Jonny!" I yelled at my brother as I spun around. Jonny turned at the sound of me screeching his name to cautiously entered the room. "How could you?? How could you do this to someone?? Let alone HIM! You tyrant, you psychotic tyrant!! You-" I stomped to the door. But I was cut off from my rant when a hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me from storming through my brother. I spun to see Eli sitting up and wincing. Why was he stopping me??

"Rai," he breathed and I shied away from his injured body. It was too much to look at, too gruesome for me to bare. The bruises were getting darker by the second and his eye that was almost completely shut looked as if it were actually bleeding. He must have popped a blood vessel in his eye. I couldn't handle seeing him like this. Nobody had ever made me cry or even see me cry as many times as Eli, now it seemed to be a regular thing as the tears burned in the back of my eyes. I forced my eyes shut to keep from crying.

I felt his body heat stand in front of me as I kept my eyes shut. He cupped my face in his hands. "He didn't do this to me," he said and I heard Jonny's footsteps as he walked further into the room, closer to us.

"But-" I started, opening my eyes.

"He didn't," he repeated and I let out a breath as I realized he was serious. Jonny was quiet, but I felt him watching us. Eli's hands slipped from my face when I shifted to look at my brother. "Then what happened?" I asked them both.

The two boys glanced at each other before answering, and I had a theory, a theory that maybe I didn't want to know the answer to all the questions I asked.

My theory was confirmed when Eli slid his hand into mine, to help brace me.

Jonny spoke first, "Your boy here thinks he's Romeo or something. He bout got himself killed for you." I glanced up at Eli, but he didn't look at me. He kept his eyes on Jonny. My eyes shifted back to him as well as he continued. "He went to give himself to those idiots who work for Rock. Took a good beating for you and all. If I wouldn't have showed up, you would be dating a raisin instead of this sorry sucker," he jabbed a thumb in Eli's direction.

Jonny spoke as if he were trying to lighten the mood with the jokes, but his face and undertone were hard and serious. He sounded the same he had when he first started to fight. The street fights were the worst he said. He never wanted to talk about them, but when he did.. It was as if he had seen the most savage parts of people come out. It was not something he liked to see.

"I found him a bloody mess and got him out of there," Jonny's tone lightened.

"Not without knocking me out yourself," Eli laughed, not realizing that had just opened another can of worms for me. I wondered why he was laughing. He was funny right now, and I didn't understand why this was so comical to him. My head swiveled between the two again.