Here We Go Again ✓

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE - She's worth it

Tyson's POV

“Ty, how did your nose break?” Alex queried, snuggling closer to me on the couch.

“When? The first or the second time?” She looked up with a curious expression. “I was just a kid the first time and it was my father’s doing. He was drunk and angry at something. I don’t really remember at what. Anyway, he needed to punch something and the first thing that he saw was me.” Her grip on my body tightened. Maybe it was to comfort me or perhaps it was because she got angry.

“The second was in a fight with some random from the Ring.”

The girl waited for me to go on and when I didn’t, she asked:

“And?”

“And what? That’s it. We were fighting, I got my nose broken and Angel drove me to the ER. I won the fight though.”

She smirked.

“You don’t remember who broke your nose but you remember that you kicked their ass?”

“Yep, that I do.”

She laughed full-heartedly.

“What about you?”

“Well, I never got my nose broken.”

“No, I mean, wouldn’t you remember kicking someone’s ass if they’d broken you nose?”

“Yeah, I probably would’ve.” She rearranged herself and winced slightly.

“How are the ribs?”

“I’ll survive,” she shrugged then grinned hugely.

“What’s so funny?”

“I just remembered knocking Stefan unconscious. And then his face once he woke up.”

I laughed as well.

Oh, that was a good memory indeed!

Their fight was tough and it was even tougher for me to stay out of it. I’d been riding an emotional rollercoaster the whole time: I was worried and angry; I felt helpless at being just a spectator but I knew I shouldn’t intervene. “That’s between the two of them, just stay out of it,” I kept repeating over and over in my head. When Alex had the upper hand, I rejoiced; when Stefan was victorious, I wanted to fling myself at him for hurting her. At a certain point it seemed that the girl was winning. She’d managed to kick the boy down to the cement floor. I almost screamed for happiness but a moment later he was on top of her and managed to pin her down. She tried to swirl, but it was useless. She’d hit her head pretty hard and I was afraid she might’ve gotten a concussion. I ran to her, ready to break by promise and beat her attacker to a pulp even though I knew she’d be angry with me for that. I didn’t care; I just wanted her to be safe.

But then she did it.

She performed the move I’d taught her, the same one I used on her when we first met. Stefan’s back was to the ground again and two well-aimed punches later, he was knocked out.

The fight had lasted no more than ten minutes and then it was over.

Alex had won.

She’d gotten up and spared a glance at him… then she’d run to me.

“I did it! I did it!” She’d kept on shouting as she’d wrapped her hands around my neck both from joy and to steady herself as she seemed lightheaded. “I did it!”

After the initial hype of glee, we pondered on what to do with the still unconscious Stefan. Alex insisted on waking him up even if it was for the sole purpose of seeing his face once he realized he’d lost. That was reason enough for me and once he opened his eyes, one of them bruised, I didn’t regret my decision: the look on his face – a mixture of disbelief and rage, made my day. The fact that his nose was still bleeding made things even better for me.