31: Hurricane

Sorry most of the pictures are dark. It was nighttime, and I didn't want to try to make it look otherwise.
Also, I jump around from different perspectives much more often than normal because of the way this chapter flows. Of course, we start in Erin's perspective:

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     "There you are."

       A sudden jolt of adrenaline rushes through me as the frighteningly-familiar voice carries over to me. No, I think as I can't get enough air into my lungs to respond. I can't move. I don't want to turn my head. Seeing him would only bring on more of the reality that he's here. How did he find me?!

      "You know, you really should wear a helmet if you're going to drive that thing," he says to me as he gets up and walks over.

       "Sean," I let out as a whisper.

        "The one and only!" he says joyfully. Hands on my shoulders turn me to face him, and I see that boyish grin that I used to love so much smiling at me.
      "What are you doing here?" I breathe.
      "I had to find you," he says, his hands on my shoulders feeling like lead weights. He puts on a more serious expression before he says, "Damn it, Erin. Do you have any idea how much it hurt me when you just up and disappeared? You didn't even tell Bill, and I had to deal with him asking me what I did with you. Then your mom tells me you moved out of town!"

       I try to turn my face away from his eyes, but he snaps his hands up to hold it in place.
       "I had to hire a private damn detective to find you. Why did you leave?"
      "Because I could no longer stand to be in the same town as you," I answer him with a glare. "You or her."

        "I never should've listened to that slut. I've told you this! She caught me in a weak moment, and I don't know what I was thinking. Nobody can compare to you," he says and starts to kiss my cheek.
      I try to back away, and that earns me his arm going around my waist to stop me. "Let go of me," I snap and push against him, dropping my keys in the sand in the process.
      "The last time I did that, you left me. Now, why the hell should I do it again?" A small scowl covers his features as he says, "I've missed you, Erin."
      "Well, I haven't missed you. I'm happy here."
      "You want us to live here? I can pull a few strings and probably get a transfer," he says with a touch of hope in his voice.

       "I don't want us to live here. I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"
      "Please don't say stuff like that," he says as he runs his thumb across my lips with his free hand. "I know. I was stupid, and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if that's what it takes. Erin, you've just got to forgive me! Here I made this tremendous effort to find you. I don't want it to be worthless. Did you think that I'd just give up and let you go? Give me a second chance. You can't just throw away all we had just like that."
      "Oh yes I can! You slept with my best friend."
      He growls, "And it was a mistake. We can work this out. I'm trying to fix it!" He starts backing up towards my house. His feet hit my keys, and quick as a blink, he bends down to pick them up. I use that opportunity to try and get away again.

    "No," he says in reaction to my escape attempt. "Let's go inside and talk about this. We can start over here, if you want. Take things slow." His eyes tell me that his definition and my definition of 'taking it slow' are two totally different things.
      I do not want to get in that house with him! My heart starts beating like crazy in my chest with the implication of what he meant when he said 'talk about this.' I know him too well to believe that all he wants is talking.
     "No, Sean!" I yell as my feet start sliding in the sand.
    "Please, Erin," he breathes just before he pulls my neck towards him and his lips press against mine. I try to scream and push away from him, but he uses that chance to invade my mouth with his tongue. My next noise is too quiet.
       I continue to try to get out of his too-tight hold of me as happier memories flood my mind. For instance, I remember the time when someone had bumped me on purpose in the hallway at school and then laughed when I'd dropped all the books I carried. He'd been nearby at the time and caught the dickhead that did it before forcing him to come over and apologize to me. Then he asked me out as he helped me pick up my books. I start shaking as I remember how nervous I'd been.
      Nooooo, I think as I try to shove those good memories away and remind myself what an asshole he is. I'd begun to kiss him back as I'd been remembering, and I stop that right now as I shove against him.

      He growls in aggravation as he finally abandons my mouth for my throat instead. "Don't say you feel nothing for me because that would be lying. Let's go inside and talk." He tries to pull me with him while he backs up without completely leaving my neck and shoulders alone.
      "No! Leave me alone, Sean!" I yell. I'm in danger, and I can't get him off of me by myself. All those people that frequent the diner, and no is coming out to help me. They don't know.
       "Help!" I yell, hoping that someone hears me.
       "Stop it, Erin," he snaps.
     Wait, what was that I'd once heard someone say? In this situation, you get better results with... "Fire! Help! Fire!"
        "What the hell are you talking about?" he asks as he starts to pick me up.

         "I think the lady isn't interested in kissing you, mister," I hear a voice from behind me say. I think it's my neighbor Mr. Strong.

          "Go mind your own damn business," Sean snaps.

           I continue to fight Sean. "No! Help. Please," I beg my neighbor.

           "You need to let go of her," he says plainly, a threat in his voice.

           "So I can kick your ass?" Sean asks before throwing me to the side.

      "I'm giving you two seconds to turn your geeky ass around and get lost," Sean threatens as he advances on him.
       Mr. Strong's eyes jerk to the side in a wordless command to run. I don't think twice and make tracks to Bryce's house.

     "Erin! Get back here!" I hear just before a punch gets thrown. I don't turn around to see who punched whom. I swear it sounds like Sean grunts in pain as he hits the dirt, but that can't be.
        I keep running and pull my phone out of my pocket. My hands shake so much that I drop it in the dirt. Cursing, I pick it up and dust it off, not bothering to look around me. I'm afraid that if I see him coming I'll freeze up, so I keep heading to Bryce's house. Please, Bryce. Pick up your phone!
        He's just got to have a key hidden somewhere! I think frantically since I've realized there's no one at home. Pam and Simon are at their house, not Bryce's like they were last weekend. I'd forgotten, and I'd have to pass by my house again to get to them.
        I hear Bryce's moderately-happy voice answer the phone, "Erin! Did you -"
        "Please tell me you have a key hidden somewhere," I interrupt quietly and frantically.
        "Huh?"

        "Please, just tell me where!"
        "Erin, what's going on?"
        "It's Sean. I need to hide in your house. Please! He could be right behind me!" Even if that was Sean that hit the dirt a few seconds ago, no way did he stay down.

Bryce

      "Go around to the back. The left deck chair as you face the house. Lift up the armrest. There's a little pocket carved out." I give her quick instructions as Marie's head pops up and she watches me with alarm.
       "Got it," Erin says quietly. The slight crying in her voice tears me up. "I can hear him!" she whispers.
       "Get inside!" What's happened to make her so terrified? "Hide in the bathroom." There's nothing but a whimper on the other end of the line as Marie gets in the passenger side of my car.
       "What are you doing?" I ask Marie. Then I rethink and say, "No, wait. I could use someone like you."
       "I know," she says as we peal out of the parking lot, leaving Jones to manage the bar alone.
       We get to my house, and sure enough, I see a man wandering around, looking around all over the place like he's lost someone. Marie hops out of the car silently and hides behind my bushes. The man, Sean, turns around when I push my car door closed, and I finally see the face of the bastard that hurt Erin so bad. He smiles in a friendly way and walks towards me.

     "Hello. I wonder if you can help me. Did you see a blonde run this way?" he asks with that irritating smile still on his face. He has no idea who I am.
      Well, time to let him know. "You mean my girlfriend?" I ask, and the smile disappears.
      "Um, no. Her name is Erin, and -"
      "That's the one," I interrupt, watching his every move and happy I have a 'ninja' hiding near me. Still. I'd better not get interrupted as I beat the crap out of this motherfucker in a matter of seconds.
     "Well, now I can guess where she went. Who the fuck are you really?" he asks, glaring and standing with his feet apart. He watches me as closely as I watch him.
     "I'm the man that's picked up the pieces of her life and started putting them back together. Though, I need to thank you for being an asshole. If you weren't, she wouldn't be here." I shift my weight to my left foot. "And here is where she's going to stay, where she's better off."
     "Like you have any say about it," he snaps, and I can see the rage quickly building inside him.
     I shrug. "I don't, but I'm not the dick that cheated on her."

     The tense atmosphere around us ignites, and he charges at me after he says, "All you are is a fucking rebound!" I side-step and grab hold of neck just as his shoulder rams into my stomach.

     A distant roll of thunder rumbles through the sky as it starts to cloud up directly overhead. I waste no time in ramming my knee into his chest before I shove him into the dirt.

     Before he can get up, I pounce on him with my hands around his throat. For a moment, I'm reminded of last Friday night when Erin ran away from me. Her brokenhearted expression crosses my mind's eye. This asshole never deserved her, and the world would be better off without him.
      I hear Marie behind me say, "Bryce, don't."
      "I'm no fucking rebound," I growl. "She loves me."
      "Bullshit," he croaks. Then, unexpectedly, he somehow throws his legs up against my back, and I go face-first into the grass. As I work on spitting out the mouthful of dirt and grass I have, he gets up off of the ground. "So, she's in your house." Then he starts walking towards the front door.
      I work on getting up as fast as I can when I hear Marie again, "Oh, I don't think so. You're going to leave now."
       "I don't have time for this shit!" Sean yells. "Get out of my fucking way or I'll move you myself."
       "Hah!" Marie scoffs as she side-steps again to block his path.

     Another peal of thunder happens as Sean goes to punch Marie. Asshole! You'd really hit a girl?! Marie, of course, dodges him.

      I've got to get her to teach me how to do that. It's like it's automatic with her... like she doesn't even think, I think as Marie throws Sean to the ground. His head smacks the pavement, and he doesn't move. He's still breathing. Damn.
       She stands fully back up as I say, "Well, he's not going anywhere."
       Marie's pride is almost palpable as she stands and watches him quietly.
     "Let me go check on Erin. I'll call Jesse, and we'll take and dump this asshole somewhere." I'm happy she took him out, but I wish I'd done it. I'm not finished with him; however, I still need to go check on Erin.

       I check the downstairs bathroom first, and I find her there, crying while curled into a tight ball. "Erin," I breathe as I crouch on the floor next to her. I desperately want to hold her, but the tight ball she's curled into prevents me from doing so.
      "Is he gone?" she asks as I tilt her head up. Tear stains cover her cheeks, and I reach up to wipe them away. A loud crack sounds overhead as a lightning bolt must've struck somewhere nearby. It's going to pour any minute now with as hot a day as it was.
       "He's... down for the count." I quickly text Jesse come by house need help with problem asap, and then I return my attention to her. "Tell me what happened," I request as I try to get her arms to let go of her legs. I get that she's a little afraid he showed up out of nowhere, but this is more than that.

Marie

     I'd foolishly gone and watched the gathering storm from the beach. I didn't expect the asshole to get up.
     After a few minutes, I hear someone yelling for Erin from the other side of the house. Shit.

      "I thought I told you to leave," I say harshly as I run over to him.
      He half-turns in my direction and looks at me like I'm nothing but an annoying fly. "You again. Mind your own business and get lost, you little French bitch."

     I let my anger from the insult cloud my thinking for only a few seconds, and I don't see the punch coming. I feel my body falling to the ground, and I'm unable to stop it from landing hard on the grass. My world gets a little fuzzy.

Jesse

     I get a text from Bryce after I get home from Pam's. Scowling as I read it, I wonder what the heck is going on. A problem. What problem? I think as I walk over to his house.
      When I get there, I see Marie of all people running up to some strange guy. I hear him call her a bitch and punch her.

     It starts raining, and rage boils instantaneously inside of me.

    "I am more than capable of taking care of myself," runs through my mind as I remember what Marie said just last night.
      The asshole says, "I owed you that. Now leave me the fuck alone. This isn't your damn fight!"
      He turns away from her and acts like he's about to try the front door. I have no idea who this guy is, but I want to rip him to shreds.

    He doesn't see me coming before I grab the scruff of his shirt, pull him back and slam him against the side of Bryce's house. The rain gets heavier as he looks at me with a 'what the fuck?!' expression on his face.
     "So you like to punch girls?" I ask him threateningly.
     The previous expression leaves his face as he replies, "When they've karate-chopped my head into the pavement, yes."
      I punch him. In doing so, I've released him from the wall a little. He recovers and tries to punch me back, but I lean away from his swing. We continue like this for a little while, sometimes making contact, sometimes missing.

     I hear a groaning sound come from Marie, and I decide I've had enough of this bullshit. As much as I love a good fight, I need to cut this one short. He lands a few feet away after my kick sends him back.

     The bastard lies on the ground as the rain continues to pick up, and he coughs. Marie looks out of it, and she closes her eyes to keep out the rain.
     "Marie?" I ask as I crouch down and reach over to shield her face from the rain. I need to get her inside. She looks over at me like she's annoyed I'm here. I guess that means she's okay. "Marie, we need to get you inside."
     "I'm fine," she lightly snaps. "It's not the first time I've been punched in the jaw."
     "Let me help you up," I say, ignoring her wordless plea to leave her alone. As she tries to bat my hand away, I just get hold of it and also get my other hand around the back of her neck to help her sit up. When she does, she holds her head like she's dizzy.

    "You sonofabitch!" I hear Bryce growl from behind me.
    "Holy shit," the bastard says as he starts to sit up.
    "Go inside to 'talk' huh?" Bryce continues. "You thought you could just waltz in and try something like that?"
     "I love her, and I had to try to make her remember she still loves me. I was planning on talking..."
     "Would that be before or after you rape her?"
      Holy shit. This must be the ex.

    A siren sounds in the distance as I wordlessly convince Marie to let me help her stand up.
    "Don't, Bryce," Marie tells him. "He's not worth jail." It's now that I turn a little and see a gun in Bryce's hand.
     "He was trying to break into my house and take what's valuable to me. I'm well within my rights to shoot him," Bryce says with forced calm as he explains to Marie a mostly-obscure law.
    "Look, she never mentioned to me a boyfriend!" Sean cries out. "I'd never guessed she'd rebounded this fast."
     "I'm no fucking rebound."
     The man must've picked up Bryce's name from us. "Listen, Bryce, I came here to..." He pauses as a squad car pulls up on the street next to the house.
      Marie wobbles around now that I've pulled her up to a standing position.
     "Lower your weapon, Bryce," we hear Deputy Keilani say as he walks up to us in the pouring rain. He's been a deputy here for as long as I've been here and probably long before then too. He's a good patron of The Flamingo, and we've raised many a glass together. Of course, he's also broken up several parties I attended.
     "He's trying to break into my house... among other things," Bryce growls, but he puts his hand down at his side.
       "He also left Julian laying in the street. Maggie called, and I've come to get him."
       "What?!" the ex exclaims.

     Our friendly neighborhood cop comes over and arrests the ex. I can feel the irritation in Bryce that he didn't get to shoot him. I'm distracted by all this, however, when Marie stumbles again and holds her head.
      "I'm fine, Jesse. Leave me alone," she mumbles and continues to hold her head after I've rushed over and stopped her from falling. Damn, she's stubborn!
       "No, you're not. Let's get you inside and out of this crazy weather," I try to reason with her. She might need a doctor if she can't get her balance back.
       "I said leave me alone!" she snaps and jerks her arm out of my grasp.
       "I'm only trying to help!"
       "I want to go home," she says.
       Bryce speaks up from where he stands watching the bastard being led to the squad car, "I can take you home in a few minutes, if you'd like, Marie."
        "Thank you," she says stiltedly.
        I jump in. "I can take you." Then I turn to my friend and say, "Bryce, you don't have to. Stay here with Erin."
        She glares at me and says, "No thank you. I'd sooner walk. It's only water after all."

      "What is your problem?! It's only a ride!" I yell after she looks to be getting her balance back and walks away from me.
       "Not from you, it's not," she argues back, and I stand here in the pouring rain, dumfounded and mad, as she walks away and goes to sit in Bryce's car.

Erin

     The police officer asks me to come down to the station by tomorrow at the latest so that I can give my story about what happened in front of my house. I don't know what I can tell him. I ran away before any of whatever happened happened. Still, I agree to do as he asks, of course.

     Bryce looks exhausted for a moment as he looks at me and climbs the stairs. I don't care that he's soaked; I throw my arms around him anyway. I may despise Sean, but I'm glad Bryce didn't kill him.
      He sighs and wraps his arms around me, the gun still in his hand. He'd run off to get it after I told him what I feared Sean might have done if he'd gotten me inside my house.
      "Put that damn thing away, please," I say as I start to let go of him. He quickly stuffs the thing into the back of his pants and re-wraps his arms around my waist in an unspoken plea to just let him hold me for a minute. A few tears escape as I go ahead and let him. He holds me like his life depends on it.

     He clears his throat before he says quietly, "I'm going to call Pam and explain what happened and ask her to keep Adele for another night. Please stay here tonight."
      "I was hoping to," I get in quickly before he continues.
      "I'll help you upstairs if you want me to since I have to put the pistol away anyhow. Then I'm going to drive Marie home and be right back after I tell Jones to just close up the bar for the night." His arms tighten as he says, "Or, you could come with me if you want."
       The squad car drives away with my ex-fiance inside before I say, "I just want to go lie down." I feel exhausted from everything that's happened, and I don't think I can stand bouncing around everywhere while Bryce ties up all the loose ends of the day.
      "Okay," he whispers. I see him hold up a single finger for Marie to wait a minute before we go inside.

    He puts the safety back on his gun and kisses me quickly but intensely before he tells me he'll be right back. I lie down on the bed while I wait for him to come back. The rain comes down in buckets outside in the hurricane-like weather.
     I fall asleep almost immediately and dream about being back in high school, and I've forgotten my locker combination.

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Thanks, Valpre, for indirectly naming this chapter. ;)

Also, just so everyone knows, Sean did hope to accomplish just what Erin feared he would. He mistakenly thought that would work (try to make her willing, that is) to remind her how she felt about him. Only now is it occurring to him that she could possibly have fallen for someone else... something he thought would never happen.

Oh, and to those that noticed, yes, Sean's clothes magically changed back to the ones he wore to argue with Erin's brother. I'd changed him after saving the first time then I didn't save before I quit because I was content to start at that time of day again. I forgot to change him again when I reloaded the game. That, and I forgot to change Erin's hair for the bathroom shot. Oh well.

And another thing, I've never mentioned before that Marie speaks with an accent. I don't attempt to try and type how she talks because my French sucks. Really. Really really. So, that explains how Sean knew where she was from.