The Only Rule

Chapter 2a: Nine-O

"See y'all tonight at Emporio?" Dominic asked the bros, his tone flat, more out of habit than enthusiasm. His arms crossed tight as he stood on one of the steps. Though..

His eyes weren't even on them.

Tyler, already sliding out of his seat, flung his bag over his shoulder with a grin as he teased, "Yeah bro, you can invite your girlfriend if you'd like," bouncing his right brow mischievously as he nudged Liam, who's also sliding from the seat behind him with a grin. And for once, Dominic's gaze snapped to them—more like a glare, though.

"Stop talking nonsense, would ya?"

"Come on, maaaan~ We know you want her to comeeee~" Liam slung his own bag over his shoulder, couldn't resist jumping in.

Rolling his eyes, Dominic gave a sarcastic retort, "You slept the whole class, Wyatt. What do you know?"

Without missing a beat, Liam stretched out his arm, to dramatically throw it over both Dominic and Tyler's shoulders, pulling them closer. "After nine years," he paused and bounced his brows to Tyler, confirming backup as Tyler reciprocated with a loud laugh—so he switched back his attention to Dom, flipping his hand who's been dangling on Dom's shoulder.. to boast, "We can read you like flipping the back of our hands."

Struggling under his bro's grip, Dominic gruntled, "Shut up."

"Should we remind him how he was for the past hour, Liam my bro?" Tyler excitedly offered as Dominic continued his growl. Mirroring his bro, grinning from ear to ear, Liam nodded in agreed excitement as he made an Oscar worthy performance.

"Once upon a time.. in a lecture class faaaar~ far away from home~ Dominic met a girl.. who bumped into him in the hall~"

Tyler, caught up in the moment, elbowed Liam with unnecessary enthusiasm, trying to wake him from his peaceful nap. His eyes hadn’t left the scene unfolding beside him, and he definitely wasn’t about to let Liam miss out.

Pissed, Liam slapped Tyler’s hand away, his face contorted in irritation as he groaned, "Stop. f*****g. bothering me! I’m trying to sleep Goddammit—"

”Stop whining like a f*****g baby and look. to your right!” Cavill hissed.

Still grumbling, Wyatt shot him a death glare—but did as told. “I swear, if this is just some bullshit you—” and he stopped mid-sentence, eyes finally catching sight of Dominic and the girl exchanging serious intense glances. "f*****g hell, Cavill. What. is your point—“

Before Liam could finish, Tyler grabbed him by the cheeks, forcibly tilting his head downwards to the scene.. below. And that’s when Liam finally saw it.

“What the f**k—“

“That’s what I’m talking about you airhead,”

If this wasn’t urgent, he’d be decking Tyler by now. But for the moment, he was just. stunned. Liam blinked, still processing the sight. Until.. with mouth slightly open, he muttered,

“What kind of rom-com s**t did we stumble into?”

"Dominic's in loooove~"

"Stop stop stop—alright. I get it." Dominic groaned, dragging his hand down his face.

“Admit it, man. You were practically writing love letters back then,” Tyler chuckled, clearly proud of their little performance.

“Our bro’s got it baad~” Liam chimed in, bouncing his eyebrows teasingly.

“Real bad,” Tyler added with a wink.

Dominic rolled his eyes, but even he couldn’t help the small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Liam folded his arms across his chest and leaned in, one brow arched as he challenged, "Ok—now that you remember~ Don't be a chicken and ask her."

Liam Wyatt.

Truly a master of leading people to their painful death.

"Do I really have to—"

”Or should I make a bet—“

“NO!”

Two people disagree in unison. Flinching by themselves, they looked at each other in a startle, quickly realizing the traumatic shout they engaged. Clearly it drew attention, but also—

Her, included.

Dominic noticed her and her friend turning around, both glancing up curiously, until the friend leaned in, whispering something. Though she quickly turned away, he surely caught that faint smirk playing on her lips.

Meanwhile, Liam stared at his bros with a sorry look, hesitating, ”I see some unhealed wounds in the two of you, and I get it. I’m sorry,” when Dominic glanced back at them—still with a little smirk on his lips, “now let’s move on—”

“Just—go! Don’t be a p***y!” Tyler pushed Dominic forward.

“Okay okay!” Dominic swatted his friends’ hands, annoyed, before with determination in his eyes, he muttered, “Watch me.”

Grinning, Tyler and Liam followed closely behind as their favorite bro enthusiastically jogged down the steps. Well, this is the moment of truth.

Just as she and her friend were about to exit, a hand reached out to block the door, causing both girls to stop in surprise. Her friend turned—and once she noticed who, her face lit up instantly. With a Flynn Ryder rizz, Hunt striked,

“Hello, ladies.”

”Why hello handsome,” the friend responded, beaming.

Dominic chuckled at the much taller girl—but his eyes met hers for a brief moment before saying, "There's this bar called Emporio. The others will hang out there tonight. Do.. you—" he trailed off as he noticed her kept glancing over his shoulder.

"Your.. friends..” she hesitantly asked with a raised eyebrow. Confused, he followed her gaze—only to see Tyler and Liam frozen with their mouths hanging open. Hunt closed his eyes and threw back his head in irritation as the girl continued, “They.. want to say something..?"

Dominic fought the urge to strangle his buddies on the spot as he exhaled a heavy breath and chuckled, “Sorry, they can be pretty dumb.”

She giggled, the sound lighting up his mood. He didn’t know whether it’s the shape of her full lips.. or the super white teeth that she had—but.. she’s cute. With a grin still plastered on his face, Dominic scoffed, “I don't know how I still stick with them anyway."

“Hey!” came Liam’s offended voice from behind him, but he just shook his head nonchalantly.

Giving the girls an apologetic laugh, he confirmed, "Yeah, I was about to ask if you guys could join us tonight."

“We could use the nice view,” Liam joined in, winking flirtatiously.

Her friend jumped in, nodding vigorously. “Oh absolutely, we’ll be there.” But then the girl snapped her head toward her friend, giving her a death glare. “What? I wouldn’t miss a hangout with a bunch of hot guys,” her friend said with a wink.

”God you’re embarrassing.” she cynically retorted.

Dominic stifled a laugh as Tyler grinned, pointing to the bold girl. “I like her already.”

Still, Dominic’s focus stayed on her as he beamed, “So, Emporio. 9 o’clock. How’s that sound?”

She exchanged a brief glance with her friend.. before finally nodding with a small smile.

“Yeah, sure. See you tonight—”

“See you tonight.”

Dominic cheered, unable to keep the goofy grin off his face. For a brief moment, they gazed at each other, and Dominic’s grin bloomed. But before he could say anything else, her friend grabbed her by the arm and said, “Ooookay, we have somewhere to be—see you guys!”

Waking up from their moment, they exchanged a quick nod, before she left the room. Dom coughed before gaining his composure and turned back to his friends, smug as ever,

"How's that for a chicken, huh?"

“Yeah—thanks for showing us your little eyes-f**k parade, man.” Liam scoffed, shaking his head as Tyler laughed amusingly. Dominic’s tongue protruded on his left cheek out of embarrassment, but he scoffed before turning away from his two bros.

Just as they reached the door, Tyler asked, “So, what’s her name?”

And Dominic froze mid-step.

His brain processed the colossal mistake he’d just made while Tyler and Liam kept walking.. until they noticed the missing space between them. Turning around, they saw him already massaging his temples, suddenly looking irritated.

“What now?” Tyler called out, already sensing something dumb about to be revealed. Dominic looked up, his tough-guy façade cracking as he gave them an apologetic, nervous laugh.

“I.. I haven’t asked her name yet..”

Tyler’s face immediately twisted, his eyebrows knitting together like he was about to explode. “Are you kidding me, Hunt?” Tyler snapped.

Dominic scratched the back of his head, letting out a weak laugh as Liam blinked, his eyes going wide with disbelief before he slapped a hand to his face, rubbing it like he was trying to wake up from a bad dream—

before he finally lost it.

“YOU STUPID—“

“b***h!”

Talia stood in the middle of the room, hands on her hips. You know that pose—she. is. out of it. And all you could do.. was nervously rub the back of your neck and offer a sheepish grin.

“Ren. You are not. this dumb!” Talia groaned in internal pain, rubbing her temples. Probably just convincing herself to not have an ill thinking about your intelligence.

“Sorry okay?!” you shouted, throwing your hands up defensively. “We were about to—but the announcement came out earlier than expected!”

Talia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait, so you didn’t get his number either?!”

You cringed and shook your head.

She let out an exasperated shriek, “Renata—how?! This level of disaster?! Do you really have to annoy me with every fiber of your being, sister?!” She flopped her body to the bed after flaunting her hands in the air. Giving up, she mumbled, “Thank God it worked, if it isn’t—then this—”

”I know right—?!”

”Do not wish you could change the subject, you—noob!” Talia grunted, throwing her hands.

“You’re the one—” you huffed, heading over to your closet instead, trying to find something to wear as you muttered, “whatever. Didn’t want to be pushy anyway! I’d rather die than come off desperate. So you know what?” Your ramble woke Talia like Viktor woke his Frankenstein. No difference, really. Same rolling eyes.. same.. stupid face.

“It’s all. his. fault.”

“Desperate? Oh, please. Honey, there’s a significant difference between desperate and not knowing his name,” Talia scoffed, stomping over to yank a blouse from the closet, “at least we know where and when,” she exhaled slowly.. finally implementing the breathing technique her pilates coach taught her—till she got reborn with a big smile on her face.

“We can salvage this.”

“Yeah, well, it’s my sleeping hour. Too tired~ Bad mood~ Might just skip it,” you said with a dramatic sigh, half-joking.

Talia’s jaw dropped. “Skip it? You baby! Now pick an outfit before I go nuts,” she yanked another shirt off the rack and threw it at you.

You caught it, giving her a sarcastic smile. “Thank you sooo much, bestie. I’m so glad you’re here to help with this life-altering decision.”

Talia rolled her eyes, stepping forward and grabbing more clothes. “You should be grateful to have a b***h like me. Without me you’d be wearing your ugly birkenstocks.”

”Hey! That baby is comfortable—“

”Shut up and wear it!”

Still clutching the outfit of her choice, you start to undress while rolling your eyes, eliciting a seething teeth from Talia.