The Taste of Chaos

5

This isn't how it was supposed to go, Richie was supposed to come home with me, and everything would have been fine. But this Nikki girl and Will made a mess of everything.

The people in the bar gather around and I can feel the electric feeling of excitement in the air.

Will manages to flip Jake over, holding his arms under his knees. He takes advantage and lands punch after punch on his face, and I fear for his life. There's a scream, and I realize it's me when suddenly Richie is in front of me. Nikki isn't anywhere to be seen, and he shouts something but I can't hear him. I stare at Jake's bloody face, Wills bloody knuckles, and my hands shake. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Slowly, my hearing returns.

"Will!" Luc shouts. He and Castien grab each arm and pull him off of Jake, "That's enough! You'll kill him!"

Will is breathing hard, he has blood on his shirt, though I'm sure it isn't his. Jake lays huffing on the ground, and I rush to his side. I ignore everyone else, can only focus on him without having an anxiety attack. His eyes blur, and I fear Will did more damage than we can see. I glance back, eyes finding his and he stares at me with his ice blue eyes. I shiver, blame it on the fear of seeing the fight and nothing else.

He pulls himself away from his friends and wipes a thumb over his mouth, the only spot where Jake managed to land a punch.

"We better go before Ricardo calls the cops." Castien says, eyes on the back of the bar where the bartender talks on the phone. Will nods once before shoving his way to the back door.

No one questions where Nikki is.

Richie holds Luc’s shoulder to keep him from leaving. "We have to take them home." He says, his head nodding in my direction.

He probably thinks Jake can't drive in this condition either.

***

Luc’s car is a nice one, and I almost feel bad for the blood stain Jake leaves in the back seat.

"Dont worry about it." He says.

“Do you know what happened?” I ask. Luc’s green eyes pierce into me and I suck in a breath.

"I'm not sure what happened back there, but you should ask your boyfriend." He answers.

I stare at him through his rearview mirror, letting his green eyes pierce through me. Richie doesn't say anything from the passenger side, and for a moment, I think he's mad at me. I can see the bruises on his knuckles, and I'm curious what happened to the bubblegum girl.

The rest of the ride is in silence. Luc doesn’t even turn on the radio.

He stops in front of my parents house, and I can't find it in myself to be embarrassed by how huge and unnecessary it is.

"Ice his nose, I'm not sure if he needs stitches, but just in case get him checked out." Luc says. I nod my head, unable to form words. When I step out, so does Richie. He looks tired, and he frowns up at the house.

"You can still come back, y'know. " I say as I stand beside him, mistaking his gaze for one of longing. Luc helps get Jake to his feet.

"It's not that I can't come back," Richie says softly. His eyes stay on the house, and for a moment I think he misses it. Then he looks at me, "I don't want to come back." I frown and bite the inside of my cheek. He turns around and helps Luc get Jake out of his car. I follow, and Jake wraps his arm around my shoulder so I can help him stand.

"Thank you for driving us." I tell Luc. He gives a nod in return, eyes roaming over my figure, almost as if he were searching for something. When Luc doesn’t move right away, Richie glares at him.

“If you don’t take your ass inside the car.” Richie’s fists curl at his side, and my eyes widen at the sudden offensive look in his eyes. How could he threaten his friend like that?

Luc glares back, not wanting to back down. Eventually he grumbles under his breath and his shoulders slouched forward. He climbs into the drivers seat.

When the door is shut, Richie turns to me, "Go on. I'll call you." He nodded towards the elegant house behind me.

"You will?" I'm skeptical, find it hard to believe since he didn't do it before.

"I will. Don't tell mom about this." He waves to Jake.

"What am I going to tell her?" I ask with wide eyes. How in the world am I going to explain Jake’s state to her?

"Say you guys got mugged or something." He shrugs. "Anyways, I have to go."

I want to hug him, almost reach out for him but then I remember I need to hold Jake up. I watch them leave before helping Jake up the steps to the front door.

"Yvette won't believe we were mugged." Jake grumbles as he staggers up the porch.

"She might." I say, almost shrug with him on me. The excuse forms in my head, "We'll say we went to the movies, and these thugs tried to rob you." I nod my head as I say it, the only way I can convince myself that it is believable. When Jake doesn't say anything, I stop before the door and look at him. I cringe at the blood that's dried over his top lip, I don’t think I’ll be able to see him the same as before. "Please, Jake. She can't know. She'll be angry with me."

"Then maybe we shouldn't have gone at all." Jake snaps back, and I blame his anger on the event that just happened, he didn’t mean to take it out on me.. "Look at me, Jessica. I got beat to a pulp because you couldn't stay away."

My frown deepens, and I look away in guilt, "Why did Will get so mad?" I ask him. I remember Landon saying to ask him. Maybe now wasn’t the best time, but I need to know.

"How would I know? The guy is nuts. Now can we just go inside, in case you forgot, my face is broken." Jake stumbles forward, and quickly move with him. I can only hope that Jake will go along with the fabricated lie Richie came up with..