Page 80 of F*ck You

As he lunged for me, I dodged and rolled over to the stove. It didn’t take long for him to regain his balance. The blood pouring from his neck should slow him down soon. Reaching up, I wrapped my hand around the handle of the nearest pan, and when he flung himself forward again, I pulled the pan down with all my strength and smacked him in the balls with a full skillet of frying bacon.

Grease flew everywhere, and he immediately stripped off his shorts to reveal a shriveled and heavily blistering penis.

If it wasn’t for the situation I was currently in, I would have chuckled, which would have been horribly inappropriate, but that was who I was, horribly inappropriate.

Using my hands to grip the edge of the counter, I pulled myself up on shaking legs and faced him. I was ready to attack, to make it so he could never hurt me or anyone else ever again. I was no longer the fractured girl who drank away her feelings. I’d found nothing but loneliness at the bottom of the bottle, and now I was stronger and ready to fight for the life I deserved. For the life I finally decided I was worthy of having.

The radio belted out a new song, a faster and more upbeat one as I reached for the kettle. Nothing like boiling water over already blistering skin from hot grease.

Swaying my hips to the beat of the music, I put my full strength behind my swing and nearly fell forward.

My strike was too slow. Todd was being pulled out of my reach, and the stream of boiling water hit the floor where he used to be. Frowning, I looked up and saw two familiar figures throwing punches as they dragged him away.

“What are you doing? He’s mine to take out.” My voice was stable as I found my courage again.

Chase’s head snapped up, his beautiful blue eyes now showing the depths of the ocean where he no doubt wished to bury Todd. He paused with his hand around Todd’s throat, his fingers hesitating in their squeeze, the indents his grip made on his skin evident in the fluorescent lighting. His eyes looked me up and down and softened with concern as he took in my blood-soaked form.

His arm shook with the desire to break Todd’s neck while simultaneously holding my body covered in blood that wasn’t even my own.

“Starfish…” Larsen paused too, his strong hands holding Todd’s arms behind his back so he couldn’t fight them off. They each had a knee planted across his lap to keep his legs from swinging. “What did he do to you?”

I hated that look of pity, the one people gave you when they realized just how fucked up you were. The one where you knew they saw you as a helpless kitten in the rain, not realizing you were a dragon about to fuck up someone’s life really badly. Couldn’t they see I was breathing fucking fire over here?

Ignoring the pain shooting down my legs, I stepped forward to the pathetic man between them. He used to be stronger, and not long ago, he had the upper hand against me. Now, however, he looked every inch the pathetic loser he really was. Now he looked as evil on the outside as he was on the inside, and the world got to see it.

You could only hide your inner demons for so long before they broke out and took full control.

“You don’t own me.” My voice was steady with my building confidence. “Never have, never will.” With my last words, I tipped the kettle, but stopped right as the water reached the tip of the spout. I watched his eyes widen as he struggled with no luck. I let one single drop fall, landing on the exposed thigh between the knees of the other two, and a roar ripped from his throat as the scalding water burned his skin.

“I should pour this whole thing on you right now as payback, but I won’t.” I gritted my teeth when I saw the faint look of relief on his face. I hated it. I hated everything about him. “I won’t, because that would make me just as bad as you, and I won’t let that happen. I’m not like you, and I never will be. Regardless of my anger issues, I think I’ve already made my point that you won’t win here. You never will. With an internal demon like that, you’ll never find joy.”

Sirens blared in the distance, and I saw the looks exchanged between Chase and Larsen. Someone had alerted the police, and that would make this all the easier.

Kneeling down so I was right in front of his face, I leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “You’ve lucked out this time, but next time I will, without a doubt, put a knife through your groin.” I leaned back and nodded at them to let up their grips on his legs. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, I stood up and gave one good hard kick between the legs. “Now you’ll hopefully think twice about ever cheating on another girl again the way you did with me. That is, if those will even work anymore.”

I set the kettle down on the countertop and only had to wait another minute before two cops ran through the open door. They spotted Todd being restrained on the floor, and I could hear the click of the cuffs around his wrists through his still screaming agony.

The two cops dragged him out, and a third entered the condo. She spotted me, and I saw the look in her eyes as she walked forward. It wasn’t the look of pity I expected from everyone else, it was a look of pride, one telling me I was still alive and managed to gain the upper hand on my own.

After a series of questions, I declined an ambulance and opted to be taken care of here instead. I knew my injuries and would make an appointment later if needed.

“These kinds of situations don’t always end this well. I’m glad to see you’re much stronger than you look. You did good.” The cop shook my hand with a smile before leaving, and I wrapped my arms around Larsen, since he was nearest, and sagged into him.

I felt Chase behind me, and he placed his palm against my upper back to squeeze my shoulder while Larsen wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that for a long time. Larsen eventually had to reach over and shut off the stove as the smell of burning pancake got to be too bad for us, and then he immediately returned his arm back to its spot around me.

Neither of them cared that I was covering them in blood, they only wanted to hold me and make sure I was okay, and I wanted to do the same with them.

At some point, we ended up in the bathroom and they helped clean my wounds. They took my clothes down to the washer and retrieved every bit of first aid items they owned. Most of the blood on me wasn’t mine, and the blood coming from me was from my mouth. Chase frowned at the bruises appearing around my wrists, and I watched the heat in his eyes that contrasted with the gentle touch of his fingers. His jaw clenched as he bent down to place a kiss against each wrist, a promise to do so until the last bruise was gone.

Neither of us said much. I couldn’t seem to find the words to tell the story, to assure them it wasn’t nearly as bad as they thought. Instead, I wanted to drift to sleep surrounded by their comforting heat.

None of us were hungry, so foregoing lunch, we ended up lying in my bed with me placed between them. Larsen snuggled up to my back, and I winced when he jolted the spot above my lower back. After a moment’s hesitation, he lifted up the bottom of my shirt to reveal what was most likely a large bruise.

“Starfish…what happened back here?” His tone was hard, and I knew he was thinking the worst, so I rushed to reassure him.

“It’s nothing, really. It’s from being pinned with my back against the countertop. I figured it might bruise pretty badly, but that’s all it should be and nothing more. I promise.” My voice was tired as I spoke into Chase’s chest, whose arms tightened around me a fraction more.

“I love you, Starfish. Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Larsen’s heart thudded hard against my back at his declaration, and the butterflies in my stomach roared to life.

“Always stay with us, pretty girl.” Chase placed a kiss on my forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you guys too.” My heart felt so light at how easy it was to say those few simple words that held so much meaning.

Without another sound, we all held each other as we laid this day to rest, promising a fresh start tomorrow where I could return to my new life and never look back.

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