requested by and dedicated to PunkRokGirl13. i really hope i did it right! i also apologize for how long this took to finish.

~ The Unforgiven ~

I sat motionlessly on the bed, listening to the key turn in the lock. He was home, and I couldn't have been less excited. Which was sad, because when you have a lover you're supposed to get happy at the thought of seeing them. But we were hardly even lovers anymore. I didn't think we ever had been...

"(Y/N)! I'm home, where are you?"

Was I supposed to answer? Last time I'd hit a nerve by doing so, but the time before that it was the opposite. I decided to answer and softly called, "in the room."

Joseph walked into the room, taking heavy steps. "Hey."

I jerked my head in greeting, not taking my eyes off the wall.

"Hey, is that how you say 'hello'?" There it was. The first remark in what was an obviously threatening tone, the first sign of slight hostility.

"No," I said, not wanting anything to come of it. "Hey. Good evening. How was your day?"

"Pure shit," he replied, flopping down on the bed next to me. "Did you make anything?"

He knew I hadn't. I didn't cook, I barely knew how. He just wanted any excuse to be mean.

"That's what I thought," Joseph snapped when I didn't answer. "Can you do anything?"

Again, I didn't reply. There was a time when I would have angrily fired back, but Joseph had sapped that life from me a long time ago.

"Hey, what the fuck? What's your problem? Why won't you talk?" He sat up and I could practically feel his eyes glaring holes into my back.

"No reason," I said, which was the wrong decision.

"That's not a fucking answer," he said.

"Well, sorry." That was another bad decision. He stood up, and I instinctively flinched and shied away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm going to sleep now. Don't wake me up unless the place is on fire. Actually, never mind, I'll notice. You can stay and burn."

And he was out like a light. He always slept for a long time and was a very heavy sleeper, so I took this opportunity to leave the apartment and head to the only place I knew I would find comfort.

***

I lightly knocked on the door of James's garage, taking care not to be too loud so as to not disturb anybody. A messy-haired Dave answered the door, looking like he'd been headbanging for the last two hours. It was so dark I could barely see his silhouette, but I would recognize that big front curl anywhere.

"Hey, (Y/N). What are you doing here?"

"I just came to hang out... But I can leave if you want."

"Naw, not at all. Come on." He opened the door all the way and stepped back, allowing me to come in.

"How did you even know it was me? You can't see anything in here." I stepped in and looked around as my eyes adjusted. I was able to make out the outline of James lying on his back on the couch, a guitar on his stomach. The sight of him made me smile-- I hadn't seen either of them in quite some time, but I'd especially missed James.

"Special powers. Just in case you can't see him, there's James."

"Hey, James, how are you?"

James sat up a little too fast, falling off the couch and nearly dropping the guitar. He caught it in time before saying something along the lines of "g- I mean, gr- I mean, I'm-- good-- great". Dave laughed at him as he shook his head and asked, "how are you?"

"Just fine," I said, laughing a little at how Dave was practically dying. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Not at all," James and Dave said in unison before Dave continued, "I'm actually headed out."

"Ask him where he's going," James said.

"Where are you going?"

"To the yard," he said with a proud look on his face.

"What?" Was there some kind of joke I was missing?

"Ask him why," James said with a sigh.

"Why? I mean, Dave, why are you going to the yard, and why do you seem so happy about it?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but James said it before he could. "He's building an amp-- trying to."

"I was gonna say it," Dave said, "but yeah. I am."

"Why isn't it in here?"

"James said it was too risky," he looked at the floor.

"It started smoking earlier!" James exclaimed. "And all he did was laugh and say it was cool then!"

Dave laughed and stepped out, throwing the door closed behind him. I could still hear him laughing, but the sound faded away as he made his way deeper into the yard.

"He's fuckin' crazy," James said, laughing a little. "Anyway, how have you been? Sorry it's dark in here, let me turn on the light really quick..."

"No, it's--" Too late. A bright yellow light filled the room, but he turned away to sit down as it did. I scrambled to cover my face with something before he could see it. However, before that could be accomplished, he looked back at me and caught sight of what I was trying to hide; a large, dark bruise on my cheekbone.

"Whoa, what happened? Who hit you?"

"No one. I was pulling my blanket up and accidentally punched myself." Nice. Like he was going to believe that.

"Hard enough to give yourself a bruise that big?" He asked, his left eye narrowing. "Come here. Tell me who did it."

"I-I can't," I said, sitting next to him. "You'll do something bad."

"(Y/N), if you're worried I'm going to do something bad, it's probably because it's supposed to happen. Come on, tell me who it was."

I filled my cheeks with air and slowly blew it out, letting my head fall. "It... it was Joseph."

I saw a little jolt pass through him out of the corner of my eye. "Your boyfriend?"

I nodded, feeling my eyes suddenly sting and water. No, come on, don't cry in front of James...

"(Y/N), why didn't you tell me sooner? Has he done it before? Wait, it doesn't matter either way. I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"No, no," I said, not looking up as I grabbed his arm to stop him when he started to stand up. My voice was surprisingly steady. "I'm used to it."

"He does it so often you're used to it? Do you realize how messed up that is? Man, I'm really gonna kill him."

"Please don't. It'll just cause another big problem."

"A dead guy can't cause any problems," he said flatly.

I looked up and met his eyes, and he blinked when he saw mine. "Oh, (Y/N), I'm so sorry... I should've known, I already knew that guy was a jackass."

A little puff of air escaped me, but I couldn't quite laugh. All I actually managed was more tears, and James noticed.

"Aw, come on. Please don't cry. I'm going to take care of this all, and you'll never have to worry about this kind of shit again." He put his arms around me and hugged me tightly, rubbing my back in a comforting manner.

"It'll be okay," he said softly, gently moving side to side as he held me. It was a very soothing motion, and for once I felt safe and comforted, even a little relaxed. For a second there I believed him, and I allowed myself to dream beyond the abusive man, even if just for a second.

A sudden knock on the door made me jump, but James didn't let go. Dave entered the garage without waiting for a 'come in' and sat, not noticing us as he grabbed a beer. He looked up and his eyes met mine. I watched him processing as he carefully set down his drink.

"What's the matter? (Y/N), you okay?" He stood up and tossed James a slightly aggravated look.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just my jerk of a boyfriend."

"What did that asshole do?"

I sighed and gestured to my face. He gasped a little, finally noticing what was wrong.

"That piece of shit... What..."

James stood up. "Dave, you mind staying with (Y/N)? I have an errand to run."

Dave nodded dutifully as I asked, "where are you going?"

He didn't respond, just gave me us a slight nod before leaving.

***

"So, do you want to talk about it?"

Dave and I were waiting for James to come back. Dave had made me a cup of chocolate and was now sitting cross-legged on the floor with me, trying to cheer me up.

"Not right now, but thanks for asking," I said. "How's the band?"

"Good, really good. We're working on a bunch of songs for the album. They're all pretty good."

"Make sure you tell me when it comes out. I want to be the first to buy it."

He laughed. "Sure, I'll tell you."

A few minutes passed in silence. I looked around the room a few times before speaking again. "Can I... can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

I wasn't sure if I should even tell him, but I took a deep breath and continued. "I used to like James. A lot. But he never seemed to be interested at all in me, so when Joseph asked, I said yes. I thought I'd get over James and really start liking Joseph, but that asshole just ruined my life and made me wish I could have James even more."

Dave sat back onto his behind and gave me a strange look. "What kind of logic... why didn't you just ask him out yourself? He probably likes you too, but he isn't that bold a guy when it comes to actual romance. Of course he didn't make a move."

"Because of course I have the courage to do that," I scoffed. "I would never."

"Give it a shot," Dave shrugged. "Might be worth it."

"It would. But I'm too scared to break up with Joseph, as much as I would like to. What if he came after me? I don't know if he would even care that much, but he has a lot of pride-- he wouldn't let me get away easy."

"Trust," he said, and that was it.

There was a knock on the door a while later. Dave motioned for me to stay where I was and stood up.

"Who's there?"

"Who else?" came James's voice.

Dave scoffed and opened the door, then went out the back again, leaving James and I alone.

"Now will you tell me where you were?"

"Nowhere," he said. "Are you okay?"

I noticed him wince a little when he sat and stood up. "Please don't tell me you actually fought him..."

He gave me a sheepish grin. "Hey, on the bright side, he'll never bother you again--"

"Thank you." I sat back down and put my arm around his shoulders, though I couldn't quite do it because they were broad and he was much taller than I was. "I can't believe you did that. I'm really sorry you went through all that trouble because of me, though."

"It wasn't trouble," he said, "I enjoyed doing it. It was really satisfying."

"I... I'm glad you think so," I said, shaking away the slightly bewildered look I knew had taken over my face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He just kinda got me in the gut but I'm alright."

"Are you sure? Do you need anything?"

"No, and I'm sure, (Y/N). Stop doubting my fighting ability."

I laughed and he granted me a goofy smile. "No, I'm not. Seriously, thank you. I might never have broken up with him if it wasn't for you. Well... never have dealt with him."

"Wait, what about your stuff? And where will you go?"

"I can go get it when he's at work. I'll just see if his car is there. And... I don't actually know."

"You're more than welcome to stay here, if you want. I got room."

"I can't do that, I would be in the way. It would be a bother to you."

"No you wouldn't! It wouldn't. Really, I promise. It'll be fun, we can... uh... write songs, play board games..."

"James, do you own a single board game?"

"Well, no, but Dave does. I'll tell him to bring it, and we can play it."

"You'd sit through a board game with me?"

He looked around the floor and shrugged. "Yeah, of course. If you wanted to, I mean."

"Thanks. I'm not gonna make you do that, though. Can I really stay?"

"I already said, (Y/N), yeah. Nothing would make me happier."

I thought about it for a few moments before agreeing. "I'll room here if you let me help you with anything I can."

"Fine. Great! Help me finish this song. See, I can't get the chorus right..."

***

It was four in the morning when we finished the song and called it time to go to sleep. James fixed a place for me on one of the two couches in the garage-- now the second couch-bed in there. He sat down on it next to me, listening to the quiet music coming from the radio.

"Well, it's been a long day." He thought for a moment before adding, "it was a fun day."

"And if I'm to stay, we'll have a lot more like it," I grinned.

"Good, I can't wait."

He patted me on the knee and made to stand up, but I stopped him. "Uh, wait."

He sat again and asked, "yeah?"

Damn, I hadn't thought I'd get this far. Now all I had to do was ask...

"I just wanted to ask if you... uh, sorry, I don't really know how to say this... Would you maybe... What would you say..."

Maybe I'd be able to finish my sentence if he wasn't leaning so close to me, dammit... wait.

I was still mumbling a ton of nonsense, but he must've known what I was getting at. He slowly and gently put a hand under my chin and guided my face closer to his, until I was finally able to shut up because then he was kissing me.

My initial thought was that Dave had been right, but in the following seconds I forgot who Dave even was. All I could think about was the one here with me now-- my favorite person in the world, James.

He moved back a minute or so later. "So, what were you saying?"

***

me, ready to publish this part but having anxiety over doing so: *closes eyes and hits publish*
*misses*

also i'm terrible at endings, this i know. i just hope i got it right-- i was going to include the actual fight, but i realized i'm pretty bad at writing fight scenes :( still, hope you enjoyed! until next time ~