HI!

Yes, this took forever, I'm aware. Let's skip the explanation and apologies, just read what you've been waiting for.

I'm still looking for people to shoutout, just saying!

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Thalia Lively

My vision was blurred by my breath hitting the winter cold air, creating a fog in front of my face that hid the chaos that was vastly rising in front of me. Every inch of my being was consumed in anxiety and worry as I stood numbly in the deepest corner of the parking lot, watching a scene I so desperately wanted to stop. My heart skipped what felt like ten beats as soon as my vision was cleared and my eyes started to zone back into Nathan who was the first one to throw a heavy punch.

I didn't have time to concentrate on the freezing cold air that was piercing at my skin, even going through my jeans and hitting my legs. I was a hundred percent focused on Nathan and James who were having a stare off. I watched James closely, noticing that Nathan's killer punch didn't set him off yet. I could see blood coming out of the corners of his mouth but he didn't seem to mind, instead a grin evilly made its way onto his face. Even through the darkness, I could still see the dangerous look that possessed James' eyes and I started feeling uneasy. There was something about James, I couldn't pinpoint what was setting me off by him, other than the fact that I find him insane.

"Are you sure you want to do this right now? Even in front of your girlfriend— oh wait, she doesn't mean shit to you, that part seemed to have slipped my mind." James smirked, taking a step closer to Nathan. James' backup took a step with him, each of them keeping an eye on at least one of the boys. James wiped the corners of his mouth, looking at the blood on his fingers afterwards then kissed his teeth disapprovingly. "Got me good, I'll give you that."

Without anyone seeing it coming, James swung at Nathan within seconds. Nathan caught on but it was almost too late once James just barely missed him. My breath started to speed up and I knew what the outcome was going to be once I saw the boys fly into action along with Nathan. Carter was the first one to attack when he saw one of the other guys sneakily walking to help James. My heart stopped when Nathan lunged at James, taking him down easily and started continuously punching him with no remorse. Austin appeared in front of me and roughly grabbed my elbow causing my attention to go onto him.

"Thalia, leave. You're going to get hurt one way or another, please just listen to me." He pleaded with his eyes and I didn't have time to respond since someone came up behind him and attempted to grab him but thankfully Austin was quicker.

I watched Austin get angrier by the second, eventually finding the persons pressure point and knocking them out. He successfully and skillfully did it, dropping the persons body down then looking back at me. "I won't tell you twice." He warned then ran back to help the others. It was uneven, and I could see Emmett fighting two people at once. I had two options, leave or stay. It was simple and the logical option was to leave. This wasn't any of my business, and I could get hurt. But I didn't care if I got hurt, I couldn't leave and I didn't want to. I was not about to leave and continue my night wondering about what happened.

For gods sake, there's an unconscious body laying in front of me. That could've been any of the boys and I wouldn't be able be okay with myself knowing I left and just saved myself. Their words cut deep, but this wasn't a time to put emotions first, they were getting more brutal by the second.

I heard a loud groan coming from my right and I turned my head to see Ethan fighting two guys at once. He was doing well at first but once one of them pulled out a short chain and wrapped it around their fists, it was game over. They had a weapon in a fistfight, like having more people on their side wasn't enough. I was beginning to process this information more in depth once I realized that they need more people and weapons to take down the boys. I scoffed to myself, and stood in the same place for a couple more seconds. I couldn't just stand here doing nothing, if I wasn't going to leave, I needed to stay and help. Standing here, watching my friends— no, these guys, wasn't doing me any good. If anything I looked stupid.

Without a second thought, I looked around for a weapon and my eyes caught sight of a crowbar on the back of an old looking truck. I raced over and grabbed it, quickly making my way next to Ethan. Just as one of the guys were about to catch Ethan off guard, I swung at him with the crowbar, hitting him straight in the chest. My eyes widened at my actions and I turned to look at Ethan who also looked at me with wide eyes. I was expecting him to hit me with the typical 'go home' speech but he didn't, instead he just stepped in front of me as I was about to get jumped on. I handed him the crowbar quickly and silently, no word being exchanged between us as he took it and successfully hit the guy on the back of his knee causing him to fall over.

"You shouldn't still be here." Ethan said to me lowly but his eyes were trained on the other boys, looking for anyone that needed help.

"I'm not leaving you guys here like this." I stated, looking down but my eyes were fighting me to look at Nathan. I found myself being too scared to see what he was up to, so I kept my eyes away from him. I held my head high and looked at Ethan who nodded at me.

"Oh, fuck." He said and started sprinting off, and that caught my attention in milliseconds. I started sprinting behind him and I gasped at the scene in front of me. Those two guys who were fighting Ethan, weren't the only ones who had weapons, it seems the guy Carter was fighting had their own way of winning. I raced to Carter's side as some blood gushed out of his arm, a clear knife wound was able to be seen even though we were covered in this skies darkness. He winced harshly when I grabbed him arm lightly, his wild eyes meeting my own.

"I'm going to try to stop any more blood from coming out, okay? Just give me a second." I said softly but directly and he nodded at me after a few seconds. I heard a ripping sound from behind me and I looked up to see Ethan holding a piece of his shirt in his hands. He ripped the bottom of his shirt so that I could use it to wrap Carter's arm, causing me to look up at him gratefully. I started by wiping around the wound so I could have a better look at how bad it was, but the amount of dark blood pouring out wasn't helping. I started getting anxious but I pushed every thought and emotion to the back of my mind, I needed to do this quickly before he lost any more blood.

I positioned his arm in front of me, making him close his eyes painfully. I muttered an apology then wrapped Ethan's shirt around his arm tightly, receiving a loud groan and a stomp from Carter. I was finished quickly and he was jumping back to his feet instantly, resulting in me trying to push him back down.

"I'm fine." He looked down at me then looked behind me, cursing in the process. I turned around also, my eyes widening. There, behind me, was a group of guys all bloodied. It seems as if everyone had stopped fighting except two people.

I watched James' crew get up and anxiously look at James. "James." One of them called out, looking down at their watch with wide eyes. I observed them closely, noticing how they all of a sudden got antsy and worried. I finally got the courage to look towards Nathan and I immediately regretted it. James got his fair share of hits in but I can thankfully say Nathan won this one since he was sticking more punches in.

"Fuck!" Emmett said loudly, looking towards a diner worker who was watching the sight with scared eyes, her phone fumbling in her hands as I assume she had the intention of calling 911. Austin rushed over to Nathan and tried to get him off of James but it was no use, Nathan was being driven by pure rage, hatred but also guilt.

"James, we have to leave, now!" One of the other guys yelled, looking around frantically. James didn't seem to care since he continued smiling at Nathan while he was getting punched and I could only assume that pissed Nathan off even more. I subconsciously started walking towards Nathan, wanting it this to stop.

"Hope you're enjoying this because this is exactly what you're going to look like as soon as he gets out. Well that's if he spares you after what you did." James spit blood out of his mouth, turning his head towards the side in the process. Nathan didn't respond, instead he hit him with another deadly punch that made me inwardly cringe. Watching this made my insides turn, and I turned to Carter but he was too busy mimicking Nathan's dame raged expression. Ethan, I guess left to get his car since I saw him pulling up beside us. The girl that was going to call the police was trying to get into her car and some of the other guys seemed to have noticed. James' friends ran to her and Emmett followed.

Emmett stepped in front of the girl, blocking the others way to her. "Leave." He looked at her and she obeyed within seconds, sending him a grateful look as she rushed inside of her car.

"Carter, stop him!" I finally spoke out and looked to Carter for help. James had the upper hand now, he finally managed to push Nathan off of him. I looked up at Carter with teary eyes, my anxiety getting the best of me once I saw Nathan not fighting back.

Carter didn't move nor did he bother answering me, instead he watched Nathan closely. I looked over to Ethan and Emmett who stood next to Ethan's car, hoping they'd do something but they as well just watched Nathan regretfully.

"Why aren't you guys doing anything?" I yelled at them, getting angry at the fact that now they're just standing around. They didn't even look at me and that was enough to have me make up my mind. I started making my way to Nathan hurriedly, wanting to stop it myself somehow but Austin gripped my arm, making me come to a halt.

"He's losing! Why aren't you helping?" I exclaimed, looking at Austin with accusing eyes. I looked back at Nathan, and my heart jumped to my throat and I couldn't breathe anymore. Why isn't he fighting back, why's he doing this? I let a tear drop my face but I managed to hold back a sob.

"His guilt got the best of him." Austin said lowly and I struggled to get out of his grip.

"What guilt? Just let me go!" I pushed him away from me and looked at everyone else who avoided my eyes.

I breathed heavily then turned back to Nathan who managed to stop a punch coming his way all of a sudden. My heart jumped up slightly at that action, hole rising in me as I watched him slowly avoid the fist coming towards him. He was too slow his one time and James got him straight in the eye which made me subconsciously yell out to Nathan.

"Nathan!" I yelled his name and Austin grabbed a hold of me again but this time I didn't fight against it. Nathan looked at me briefly then within seconds Nathan mustered up enough energy to catch James off guard and push him off.

Nathan stood up and spit blood on the floor, wiping the corners of his mouth after wards. He then looked towards James who was still on the floor coughing painfully. Nathan picked him up by the shirt and gave him one last bone breaking punch which made my heart jump to my throat and made me turn away instantly. I've never seen Nathan like this before and now I knew there was way more than what meets the eye with him.

One of James' friends came and started pulling him away but James resisted, and stayed in place in front of Nathan. His smirk was long gone, this time James stared at Nathan with nothing but anger.

"You're going to pay for what happened last year, and I will stop at nothing until you feel my wrath." My eyebrows furrowed at the sadness that crossed James' eyes briefly in the beginning. I couldn't stop the million questions that clouded my thoughts, I held myself back from asking them out loud though.

"I pay for it every fucking day, I have to live with the guilt. But it's funny that you seem to pin it all on me when it was you who put him in the damn car!" Nathan growled and tried lunging again but I forcefully got out of Austin grasp and raced in front of Nathan. Once I got in front of him, I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. But it never came.

I opened my eyes and saw Nathan staring down at me with his fist raised. I raised my own hand and grabbed his fist, pulling it down while I looked up at him with cautious eyes. I could see him clenching his jaw then he adverted his eyes from mine and looked towards James. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in for so long. The winter wind finally caught my attention and I muttered 'fuck' to myself as I shivered.

"James." One of the other guys called and showed James their phone which immediately diverted James' attention. The rest of his crew seemed to have left a while ago to get their cars and they pulled up behind James, all of them staring at hi impatiently. James cursed and he looked pissed but it wasn't directed at Nathan this time.

"January 30th." James said to Nathan then he left without another word. They all got into their cars and drove away, eventually leaving my sight. I looked up at Nathan and he moved away from me, grabbing his hair angrily.

"Damn it!" He yelled as he kicked a trash can nearby. I flinched and it seems like Austin was the only one who caught it as he looked at me questioningly.

"Let's go!" Ethan yelled from his car, hearing the faint police sirens coming this way most likely since that girl from earlier called them. Everyone flew into action and got into Ethan's car except Nathan and I. Ethan hesitantly nodded at us and then drove down the parking lot just like James had a few moments ago.

Nathan didn't say a word to me but instead just started walking and I followed absentmindedly. He stopped abruptly causing me to stop also, holding myself back from crashing into him since I didn't expect him to stop. He turned to his car, not bothering to make eye contact and I wasn't sure if I should follow him into his car.

Before he got in, he looked at me finally. "The cops will be here in less than two minutes and counting." And I figured that was his way of telling me to hurry up and get in before they got here. I got into the passenger seat silently and we were out of the parking lot in seconds. It was a silent drive to my house, neither of us spoke and by the look on his face, he didn't want to talk.

"Emery and Maya are most likely at Riley's house." I told him with a quiet voice, realizing he should know where his little sisters went. He was so caught up with James that I don't think he knew Riley was with them. He didn't respond to me, he just simply continued looking forward. I felt a pain in my chest, remembering his earlier words.

His words replayed in my head over and over again and I was so caught up in them that I didn't notice we got to my house. I looked up at him and this time he was looking at me, but with a plain expression. I couldn't make out any emotion, no anger, no nothing. We sat in my driveway for a couple more seconds silently until I finally asked the question I've been dying to ask.

"What the hell happened back there?" I asked, refusing to make eye contact but I could feel him looking at me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him slowly nodding.

"Nothing of your concern." And that was when I was the one to lose it.

"None is my concern?" I looked at him, repeating his exact words. "None of my concern?" I repeated but louder than the first time, looking at him unbelievably. "I just watched you and the boys beat the living hell out of those guys over something I have no clue about, and don't even get me started on this James guy—"

"It's. None. Of. Your. Concern." He said, pausing in between words, giving me a look that made me back away slightly.

"Carter has a fucking knife wound, Ethan was fighting two guys who were each had chains on them as weapons and Austin knocked someone out in front of me." I said angrily but not loudly.

"Don't raise your voice, just improve your argument"

A voice suddenly entered my head and I can't remember who had said that to me, but it seemed to have stuck with me.

"I just want an explanation as to what happened back there." I said after a few seconds.

And here we were, staring at each other in his car that sat in my parking lot. He took a few moments before finally answering me, however it wasn't an answer I was expecting.

"I think you should be leaving." I gaped at him, giving him an incredulous look, until finally it all dawned on me.

"You're right, I should go. Why kind of idiot stays in a car with someone who doesn't give two shits about her." I spat, and continued once I saw that it caught him off guard. "I loved that whole 'I don't even know her nor do I care about her' speech you said back there."

"Don't start with this—" he began but I cut him off before he could continue jabbing a knife into my chest.

"No, lets start. I was beginning to trust you, I was beginning to trust all of you!" So much for the don't raise your voice part. "I never had friends, I never had anyone else there for me other than my family who are all gone except for Nonna. I was perfectly fine being by myself, so don't for a second think I'm going to let all of you make me look like a fool like that again. You guys don't know me? That's nice, I don't know you either." I quickly exited the car and made my way towards the door until his voice stopped me.

"Thalia." He called out, causing me to turn around. He was out of his car but he didn't make a move to come towards me, instead he stayed put beside his car.

"You all come into my life and act like I actually mean something then all of a sudden you don't know me? All of a sudden I'm just some girl you guys saw once or twice? I didn't need friends then, and I don't need them now." I said, angrily but in all honesty, my anger was driven by sadness.

"I don't even know why you stayed, who stays after seeing they were clearly unwanted." His sudden words cut deep and I stared at him unbelievably. He wasn't meeting my eyes, he kept them trained on the floor in front of him. I could see him clenching his jaw tightly and I felt a lump in my throat.

"I should've left." I said quietly.

"Yeah you should've." He replied abruptly.

"Anything else you want to get off of your chest?" I spat, angrily staring at him yet he still didn't want to meet my eyes.

"What happened back there was none of your concern, get that through your head." He said, running his hand through his hair while talking.

I nodded slowly. "So why are you still here? You don't know me, and I don't know you. Let's keep it that way." I said and it wasn't until now that he finally looked up at me. I stared him dead in the eyes and pushed my feelings away for the moment. I wasn't going to stand here and have him make me look stupid, and I did look stupid. I'm so stupid for even thinking I could trust them. Trust him.

"I should've never came to this stupid town, but it wasn't my fucking choice. Everyone I had was gone, all of them. Like one second there