My hand flew out, and I grabbed hold of Declan, using every last ounce of my strength to drag my mate away. Darragh was curled up on the floor, covered in blood. I felt sick. It was everywhere – all over his shirt, Declan and now me too… I tried to get my mate’s attention, but his eyes were fixed ahead through the crowd. Tess. Before I’d had a chance to even think, the stupid bitch turned and ran, disappearing through the madness.
“Declan—”
He was off like a flash, barrelling after his girl. I was powerless to stop him. Nothing would be getting between Declan and what he wanted. Not now, not ever. I didn’t have time to worry about it. My attention snapped back to Darragh and I knelt down, getting a hold of him and hauling him to his feet. He was conscious but dazed and with the help of a few other fellas, I managed to get him to the edge of the riot.
“C’mon, fella,” I muttered, breathing hard as I supported Darragh’s weight and led him back towards his ma’s place. “Y’alright, now. Let’s get ya cleaned up.”
Where was Ronan? I hadn’t seen him since I’d followed Declan into this madness. What if he was injured too? Just the thought of it made me feel cold and nauseous. Darragh and I limped up the gravel path and his ma caught sight of us approaching immediately, sprinting over to meet us.
“Feck, what happened?” she cried, ignoring her son’s protests as she grabbed his battered, swollen face.
“Things got outta control,” I said, panting as I carefully lowered Darragh into one of the chairs.
“It always feckin’ does!” Fiadh yelled. “I warned the pair o’ em not ta get involved, but would they listen?”
“He’s alright, eh, fella?” I said, resting my hand on Darragh’s shoulder before turning to his ma. “Y’got somethin’ t’ clean him up wi’, now?”
She nodded, hastily clambering into her caravan. I could hear the noise of cupboards being emptied inside before she reappeared with an old ice cream tub, filled with first aid supplies. She held it out to me, hands shaking.
“Grab me some water an’ a towel,” I instructed. “Can’t see feck all wi’ all the blood.”
Fiadh returned quickly with a towel and a bottle of water. I soaked the end, ringing it out slightly before cautiously dabbing the blood away from Darragh’s face.
“Thatfeckin’hurts!” he grumbled, voice rough with a distinct nasally quality. Blood had poured from his nose, and I found myself hoping it wasn’t broken.
“Ah, shut ya wind baggin’,” I teased, trying to keep the atmosphere light as I cleaned him up. “Y’just been knocked about a bit. Ya’ll be fine, like.”
“What the feck happened?” Darragh asked, squinting up at me through an eye that was already blackening and swelling beneath a painful bruise.
I hesitated before answering, aware that Ronan’s ma was listening intently beside me. I could feel her eyes on me, and I was suddenlyembarrassedto admit Declan had been what happened. It was rare I was fazed by my mate’s explosive temper, and it suddenly struck me that I really cared what these folks thought of me.
“Ya’d have y’hands on the wrong girl, that’s f’sure,” I replied.
Quickas a flash, Fiadh smacked her hand into the back of Darragh’s head with little regard to the beating he had just taken. He yelled out in pain.
“Y’stupid wee fecker!” she scolded. “Didn’t I always be tellin’ ya t’ keep y’hands t’ yourself?”
“‘Ey! I didn’t know she was spoken for, like,” Darragh grumbled with a frown, rubbing the back of his head.
“Y’face certainly found out the hard way, aye?”
At that, I chuckled, earning myself a playful nudge.
“An’ y’can shut the feck up, an’ all, now,” he muttered.
“Sayin’ nothin’,” I replied, still smirking as I continued to clean Darragh up. After I’d stemmed the flow of blood, I sat back and brushed off my hands. “There. Ya’ll live, but that shirt has seen better days, like.”
Darragh looked down at his chest with a low groan as he spotted the dark crimson smears all over it. I knew from personal experience that it wasn’t going to wash out. I was just getting to my feet when Ronan jogged over to us. His eyes jumped between me, Darragh and his ma.
“The feck happened t’ ya?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Ronan hadn’t seen Declan beating the hell out of his cousin. I was sure the full story would reach him eventually, but for now I didn’t have to worry about him judging my questionable choice in mates.
“Met wi’ the business end o’ a fist, like. Ain’t that obvious, now?” Darragh snapped, holding a bloodied towel to his face. “Me feckin’ head is bangin’, like.”
I didn’t like to say Darragh had gotten lucky. I’d seen Declan manage to knock bigger fellas than him clean out before now. Things could have been much worse.
“What’s goin’ on back there?” I asked, jerking my chin back towards the chaos.
