Unedited (as usual)

Happy reading.

~*~*~*~

I could see him looking at me in my peripheral vision. It was easy to tell with those big blue orbs that were practically piercing my soul. I slowly turned my body to the right, thinking that once I caught him staring, he'd look away, get embarrassed or something. But he didn't. He just kept on staring. His face started inching ever so slowly towards mine, his eyes examining my features, before settling on his intended target. My lips. I swallowed nervously. It's not like I'd never kissed a guy before, because I had, in like freshman year, but that was a dare and the guy was just as inexperienced as I was. His hands moved to gently cup my face and my eyes subconsciously fluttered closed. He was so close to me that I could hear and feel his breath on my face, and then...

"I told you they were up here you freaktard, her shoes are at the bottom of the stairs!"

There was a bunch of mumbling as I heard footsteps on the steps.

My eyes shot open and I instinctively took a step back, consequently pulling my face out of his grip. Ryan was looking in the direction of the voices with his jaw taunt and a pissed expression on his face.

I saw the duo emerge, a girl with red hair, and a guy with light brown hair. Tara and Kyle.

They walked over to where we stood.

"You missed your crowning," Tara said to Ryan.

He frowned. "What?"

"You were prom king dude," Kyle clarified.

His face contorted in disgust. "Who was queen?" He glanced at me, then looked back at Kyle.

"Take a guess, I dare you."

"Erika," I answered for him.

"How'd you guess?" Tara asked dryly.

"Telepathy."

"I want to knock that stupid crown off her big ass head and then rip out those fucking extensions!" She seethed.

"Woah, easy tiger," Kyle said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

She glared at him. "Why tiger? Is it because of my hair? Did you just compare me to a killer? You know what? I'm leaving, and don't follow me or I'll kick you in the family jewels." She stomped across the pavement, disappearing down the stairs.

I threw back my head and laughed. Kyle stared at me passively.

"Why are you still here?"

"She told me not to follow her."

"You're not the one she's upset with, you just happened to say something that offended her."

"Okay...so what do I do?"

"Follow her dammit!"

He scurried after her.

"She's so going to kick him in the balls isn't she?" Ryan asked.

"Yup."

~*~*~*~*~

The car ride home mostly consisted of Kyle keeling over in pain and Tara apologising profusely for kicking him where the sun don't shine. They were in the backseat, and considering that Kyle wasn't exactly in any condition to drive, Ryan had offered.

We pulled up outside Tara's house, Tara claiming that she'd take care of Kyle, seeing as it was her fault that he was almost castrated.

Ryan and I decided to walk home so we wouldn't have to return Mr Wards car the next day, or run the risk of someone accidentally scratching it, then both of us having to cough up the money for repairs. It wasn't far so I didn't mind, my toes didn't like it though. I yanked the hem of my dress up to my knees in an unladylike manor, removing the toe squashers from my feet.

Ryan untied his bow tie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt.

"That thing has been choking me all night," he admitted as we walked side by side along the cracked sidewalk. The pavement was twisted and buckled like some major earthquake had hit it, except everything around it sat perfectly in its place. I knew what had caused it; the tree roots. It amazed me how something so gentle and peaceful looking could cause so much damage. Kind of like my mother, except she was more like a tornado, her actual being was the eye, calm looking, but deceptive. And the raging storm around her was the trouble she caused everywhere she went. The rubble being spun in every which direction? The people caught in the vicious cycle who couldn't get out.

Not that I was bitter or anything...

"You're very quiet sunshine," Ryan observed.

I blinked, narrowly avoiding a street light with my face.

My eyes widened. Woah, nice save.

I glanced sideways at him. "I'm just thinking."

"Me too," he replied.

"About..?"

"This fight I've got coming up."

"Oh?" I said with interest, encouraging him to go on.

"There's this guy right, he's undefeated-"

"I thought you were undefeated," I interrupted.

"I am, but you haven't seen this guy sunshine. He's like a tank, or a bulldozer. I swear he could just sit on me the entire time and win."

"Have you looked in the mirror lately? Or noticed that you have to duck so you don't decapitate yourself on door frames?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure I'm tall, taller than the guy I'm fighting, and sure that's an advantage, but he just gives me the chills, and not the kind of chills you get when you eat ice cream either."

Ice cream sounds so good right now.

"If you're so worried about this fight then just pull out," I reasoned.

"Can't, it's tomorrow."

"Look I'm sure you'll be fine," I reassured, "Besides, if this guy really is what you say he is, then I doubt Arnie would let him step foot in the ring."

"I don't think Arnie is quite the same man you remember sunshine, he made a few bad choices and now he has to live with the consequences. Anyway, even if Arnie was the same guy, something tells me Höllenhund doesn't exactly play by the rules."

"Hollen what now?"

"Höllenhund, that's what he calls himself. It's German for hellhound."

"Oh you really are screwed."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. And you haven't even seen the guy yet."

"I take it he's not the long-walks-on- the-beach type?"

"I would say he's more the I'll-crush-your-skull-with-my-thumb-and-index finger type."

"Charming."

"Tell me about it."

"If you're that worried then I'll come, and if the guy, what's his name? Hollyjollyjerkface?"

"Höllenhund," he corrected with an amused smile.

"Right, Höllenhund, if he tries anything I'll kick him in the jewels."

"Sunshine I really don't want you to be around all those perverted assholes that come to watch."

I snorted. "Don't worry about me, I can hold my own."

"I don't doubt that, but-"

"Good, I'll be there. What time?"

He sighed, knowing I wasn't going to drop the subject. "Ten."

"So I'll meet you there at nine, seeing as you just told me the wrong time."

He looked at me, dumbfounded. "How did you...?"

"You told me to come an hour later so when I got there the fight would already be over, smart move, but Arnies fights always start at nine."

"What are you, a walking lie detector?"

"Nope, I just know stuff, there's a difference."

Silence settled over us as we crossed to our street. I knew my dad was still up as we got closer to the neighbouring houses in which we both lived, as the light from the living room cast shadows onto the grass of the front yard. We reached the path that led to my front door first, and we walked side by side to the porch.

"So..." Ryan said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"So..." I repeated.

His eyes explored my face again, hesitating on my lips before he stepped forward. I felt his hands rest gently on my face just as they had done on the roof. My eyes fluttered shut on their own accord, and even with my eyes closed I could sense that his face was moving closer to mine. The next thing I felt wasn't exactly what I had expected-a feather touch to my forehead-then nothing. His hands left my face, taking the warmth with it. My brow crinkled in confusion as my eyes snapped open. I just caught sight of a cheeky smirk before he was swallowed up by the darkness.

I huffed. Unbelievable.

~*~*~*~*~

"It was so slow and passionate, and his lips don't even get me started. I swear he has the softest lips in the history of soft lips. Remind me to ask him what lip balm he uses." She pondered for a moment while I waited not so patiently on the other end of the line. "Did I tell you that his back looks even sexier without a shirt?"

"About a million times," I said rolling my eyes.

"Geez, no need to get snappy," Tara said lightly.

Don't get me wrong, I was happy for her. However, I was not happy about hearing her sexual encounters in extreme detail that should not under any circumstance be shared with another human being, or any being for that matter. I have a feeling that Tara didn't think the phrase 'too much information' applied to her.

"And his ass is so squeezable," she continued, oblivious the fact that sometimes sharing is not caring.

"Oh my god, stop," I groaned.

She giggled in response.

"You have no shame." I shook my head, covering my face with my free hand.

"Ugh, you're a buzzkill."

"And you're horny."

"Not any more, Kyle took care of that last night."

"Gross."

"Sex is a very natural process-"

"I'm hanging up on you."

"-and nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm going to punch you the next time I see you."

"Aww, I love you too."

"Get a life."

"Get laid."

"So you're saying I should turn into a chicken egg?"

"What?"

"They get laid all the time."

"You're so weird."

"Yet you're still talking to me."

"Yeah, why is that? I thought you said you were going to hang up on me."

"But I'm bored, and you're the best source of entertainment I could find."

"Oh, well in that case, I feel honoured," she said sarcastically.

"You should."

She muttered something under her breath.

"What?" I said, my brow crinkling in confusion.

"You're such a little cocksucker!" She suddenly screeched, causing me to pull the phone away from my ear.

"I really hope you were talking to someone else-"

"Shut up you little shithead, I swear to god if you drop that..." Her sentence trailed off.

"You have no idea how attracted my hand is towards your face right now. You are seriously digging your own grave, and don't worry I've already built the coffin."

The talking ceased.

"Yeah you better run!"

"I'm taking it you weren't talking to me," I said, rejoining the conversation.

"My brother is the spawn of satan," she replied. "I want so badly to glue his mouth shut."

"Ah, there's that sisterly love."

~*~*~*~

I smacked his cheek with my palm.

"Ow, what was that for?" He exclaimed, frowning like a sad puppy as he rubbed as cheek with his glove.

"I told you, cover your damn face or he'll put his fist through it," I said loudly, almost shouting so he could hear me above the cheering.

"Okay, but how do I beat this guy? He's like the bigger, less obsessive version of Hitler."

"Okay firstly, you need to stop comparing everybody who has a moustache to Hitler. Just keep blocking and covering your face. He's slower than you, but stronger, so stay out of his way."

"That's not exactly easy to do in a twenty by twenty foot square, especially when he takes up half of it."

I whacked him again, jumping out of the ring.

"Any last words of advice sunshine?" He asked as he stood up.

"Don't get killed."

"Oh, that's great, inspirational really."

"Have fun?" I restated.

He gave me a blank look.

"Kick some ass?"

"Yeah, that's more like it."

He turned around to focus on the task at hand; not dying.

I watched on wearily as Ryan was slammed into the ropes again and again, unable to protect his face and escape the wrath of baldy at the same time. He was getting his ass handed to him by a guy who wasn't even in his weight division, which Arnie shouldn't have allowed.

The bell dinged, signalling the end of the round. I rushed to the edge of the ring while Hamish climbed through the ropes and wiped the blood from Ryan's face that was there as a result of a cut above his eyebrow.

"That bastard doesn't even look tired. How the hell am I going to beat him?" He panted.

"He has to have a weakness, everyone has a weakness," I reasoned.

"Yeah, his weakness is that his face stole the hair that was supposed to be on his head," he said, eyeing the walking tank with abundant facial hair and a shiny head.

"Right, interesting perspective. There's no way you can hit him enough times to actually get him to stay down-"

"You have no faith in me."

"It's true, if you move your hands to punch him, he'll knock you out. So you're just gonna have to hit him once and hit him hard."

"Yeah, that's if his skull isn't made of metal like his fists are," he muttered.

"Good luck dude," Hamish said, slapping him on the back, then jumping out of the ring. "Don't get killed."

Ryan glared at him. "Why is everyone saying that?"

"We don't want you to die, take it as a compliment," I grinned.

He shook his head. "I worry about you sunshine."

"I worry about me too, now go kick some baldy ass!"

He rolled his eyes but smiled.

I watched on nervously as once again Ryan was shoved into a corner and his ribs and abdomen were pummelled. I almost couldn't watch as the look on his face clearly showed that he was in pain. His facial expression suddenly changed to a look of determination which meant one of two things; he was either about to play his power move, or he was gritting his teeth and staying for the long haul.

I watched in amazement as the next few moments unfolded. Just when baldy was starting to think he'd won, Ryan delivered an awesome looking punch to his ribs with his left hand, causing baldy to stop punching Ryan and temporarily forget that protecting his face was an important aspect of boxing. His momentary surprise gave Ryan the perfect opportunity and he seised it, landing a knockout punch to baldy's chin, causing his head to abruptly snap backwards, followed by the rest of him. He was already taking a nap before his body hit the floor with a loud thud.

The crowd of people watching was rather torn, some booed at the fact that the giant had dropped, and others cheered at the fact that the underdog had come out on top. There was a ten second count down for baldy to rejoin the fight, but he was so out of it that he didn't move a muscle and was eventually carried off the platform on a stretcher.

Ryan was announced the winner of the fight and I jumped into the ring, crushing him into a hug. He groaned, reluctantly wrapping his arms around me.

"I think you just broke my ribs."

"You won!" I cheered, ignoring his comment.

"You seem surprised."

"Yeah, well I thought he was going to crush you."

"You people have no faith in me."

I shrugged. "Give me your hands."

He did as he was told, bringing his still gloved hands out in front of him.

I gently pulled them off as he flexed his fingers to get the blood circulating again.

"You should take an ice bath." I stated.

"I hate ice baths."

"Well it should stop most of the bruising and make any swelling go down." I reasoned.

"You're very convincing, I'll think about it."

~*~*~*~

Holy shit I updated. I have been suffering from a severe case of writers block and supernatural addiction. So...yeah.

Oh, and by the way 155k reads. I'll just let that sink in for a moment. My mind is officially blown, I hope you're happy.

Vote, comment, follow :)

Until next time.