Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Lydia’s P.O.V

“Avery!” I called out loud enough so that the man could hear me over the blare of the music, slamming the door against the wall as I barged in.

I was hoping to get someone else’s attention as well but with the sound this loud, I had my doubts if the man on top of Avery could hear me either.

But it worked. The man got startled enough to jump off Avery and she took the opportunity to jump out of bed. But the sheets got tangled with her feet and Avery landed on the floor hard.

“What the fuck!” the man cursed, finally able to snap out of his confusion. “Who the fuck are you? And where do you think you’re going little slut?”

I jumped in before the man could hurt Avery and helped her untangle the sheets from her feet. “Come on!” I whispered to her urgently. “Your brother is here! Go!”

Pulling her up to her feet, I barely moved my head out of the way of a flying punch that Avery’s captor sent my way, but thankfully, it only grazed my cheek. The sting was instant and I could feel some kind of a metal slicing through my skin, a ring probably, but I wasn’t badly hurt and I’d been able to avert any damages to my head.

“You bitch!” The man spat and came at us again, but this time i was ready for him and I caught his hand mid-punch and twisted it behind his back, hearing a satisfying crunch as his shoulder joint dislocated.

The man fell to the floor writhing in pain and cuddling his broken hand and I was thankful for the low lighting for the first time because it made me difficult to recognize. Leaving him on the floor, I took Avery’s hand and we both ran out into the hallway but not before shutting and locking the door behind us.

“Avery!” Gorge’s voice rang out from the other end of the hallway as he came bounding down towards us. He had her wrapped in his arms a second later, both brother and sister holding on for dear life as they reassured each other that they were safe. Both were also more than a little teary eyed.

Another door opened a split second later and Lyric came out of it looking worried, but as soon as he saw George and Avery together, his expression eased up.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Lyric said over the music and ushered us all out of the house.

“Thank you!” Avery told me as soon as we were a good distance away from Connor’s house and able to hear our voices once again. “I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened if you hadn’t gotten to me on time.”

“Next time, don’t take invites from men like him.” I warned her. “And you shouldn’t be at a college party anyway.”

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” George hung his head in shame. “I was the one who told her that I was going to this really cool party and all. If I hadn’t bragged about it so much, she wouldn’t have gotten interested and come here.”

“Let’s just forget whose fault it is and make sure this never happens again, okay?” Lyric cut in. “Get home now, it’s late. Do you have a ride?”

“I have my car,” George said, pointing to a pick-up truck not too far away from where we were standing. “Do you guys need a ride?”

“Y-“

“No, I’ll be dropping Lydia off.” Lyric cut me off. “I have my bike.”

“Okay…I guess, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” With that George and Avery walked off towards their car and drove off soon after.

“I could’ve gotten a ride from them,” I raised my eyebrow at him,

“Yes. But they live in the opposite direction and then I wouldn’t have been able to take care of you.” He said nonchalantly as we walked to where his bike was parked.

“Take care of me?” I frowned. “What do you mean?”

But instead of answering me, Lyric pulled back his seat to reveal the storage and took out a mini first aid kit from inside it. Using a cotton swab from the box, he dipped it in some antiseptic liquid and turned towards me with the swab in hand.

Gently, he tilted my face up and dabbed the swab on my cheek. I hissed at the sting of the antiseptic and closed my eyes, but then I felt Lyric’s soft breath on my cheeks as he blew on the wound. I’d almost forgotten I was hit, but looks like Lyric didn’t fail to notice.

“Having a rough day, I see.” He spoke next to my ear, his breath warm against my cheek. His touch was gentle, comforting, almost careful. And it made me want to melt into his arms; a most illogical thought that I shouldn’t even be having.

“That’s the downside of associating with you.” I told him half-heartedly.

Lyric gave me a loopside smile as he threw away the swab and put a band-aid on top of the cut. “You were brave tonight.”

“You’re welcome.” I shrugged.

“I didn’t say thank you.” He frowned.

“No, but I guess that’s as close to a thank you as I can get out of you.” I told him while picking out the passengers helmet that was inside the storage compartment. “Let’s go. It’s getting late and I’m hungry.”

“That almost sounds like an invitation.” Lyric said with a smirk as he closed the seat back up and got on top of his bike.

“Too bad it’s not.” I put on the helmet and got on behind him. He might be willing to crack his head open in case we fall off, but I already had a bullet inside my head. If I ended up dying because of his mistake, my brothers will come find me in hell and murder me once again.

“How about dinner then?” Lyric asked hopefully.

“I’m not cooking for you.” Was my instant reply.

“No one’s cooking. I know a place that’s still open. Wanna have dinner with me?” he asked, looking back over his shoulders at me.

“Why are you asking me out all of a sudden?” I asked point blank. “Look, I don’t need babysit-”

“Chill out kitty cat, I have a crippled older brother who got his legs exploded while working for the army.” Lyric said deadpan. “I have plenty of people to babysit but unfortunately, you don’t make the list. So are you in for dinner or not? Because it’s you who’ll either have to get cooking this time of the night or eat soggy instant noodles. The choice is yours.”

Damnit! I hated it when he made sense. To cook or not to cook? I thought about it in my head. I’d had an exhausting day and it would be a hassle to go home and make something, but then again, having dinner with Lyric? I guess since I’d managed to survive the entire day I could stay in his company a bit longer.

“Fine.” I told him, unwillingly putting my hands on his shoulders for support. “Let’s go grab dinner.”

And then I was off to have dinner with a guy I was starting to sort-off like, for the first time in the past three years.