∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Elias glanced towards the building when Eri hadn’t come back after a while. He knew there could have been a line for the bathroom with all the people in attendance. He spotted her after a few seconds, talking to some guy, and normally, he wouldn’tcare about something like that, except he could tell she was uncomfortable.
Maneuvering through the crowd, he headed in her direction as she stepped around the man. She scanned the crowd, and when her eyes landed on him, he could see relief settle in them as they approached each other. Before they could meet in the middle, the man grabbed her arm.
“Stop, or I’ll—”
Elias stepped between them, removing the other man’s hand from Eri’s arm. “Back the hell up. That’s what you’ll do,” he cut him off.
He didn’t know what was going on, but his girlfriend was off. Her energy was off, and he couldn’t pinpoint one emotion she was feeling. It all felt unpleasant, and it put him on alert. His instincts told him he knew exactly who the man in front of him was.
“Don’t waste your time. She’s a tease that’ll lead you on and give you absolutely nothing.”
That sentence told Elias he was correct in his assumption, and as his anger spiked, he reached behind him, placed his hand on Eri’s stomach, and gave her a soft push. He didn’t want her to get hurt or caught in the crossfire, and it was the most he could manage before his anger boiled over, and he punched the other man in the face.
All Elias saw was red as he heard Eri relay what happened over again in his head. He wasn’t sure how many blows he landed before the other man attempted to swing back. He didn’t care where they were or about the surrounding people. All that mattered was making this man hurt more than Eri had. He heard footsteps approaching.
“What’s happening?” he vaguely heard Avian ask.
“That’s him, and he grabbed me,” Eri replied.
“The man who assaulted you,” Avian whispered, and it was only then that Elias noticed that, other than the sounds of his fist connecting with flesh and cartilage cracking, all had gone quiet. There weren’t even the usual cheers that happened when fights broke out. Eri must have nodded in response.
More footsteps and then, “Shouldn’t you try to break this up?” Nesiah asked.
“Nah,” Marco responded. “If I get any closer, I might help him.”
When the other man fell to the ground, Elias took the opportunity to stomp him. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t fight back. It didn’t matter when he stopped moving. Nothing mattered but inflicting as much damage as he could.
And then he was pulled off of him, held back by two sets of hands as a female security guard stepped between him and the man on the ground.
“They’re not hurting him. Please don’t hit anyone,” Avian said quickly, and Elias glanced over to find her standing in front of his cousin.
“She’s right. I’m fine,” he stated, because he had a feeling Marco would start swinging at any moment if he thought he wasn’t.
“Let’s get them inside and separated,” someone holding him said, and they began steering him inside, still holding him as if they thought he’d attack again, and they were right.
“I’m coming too,” Eri replied.
“Ma’am, why don’t you—”
“No, I’m coming.”
He was led to one of the rooms inside the building, and the two men who had been holding him left him and Eri with the female security guard. He assumed so they could go get that bastard off the ground.
“Are you okay?” his girlfriend asked as soon as the door closed.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m…” she trailed off.
“Tell me the truth, Amate.”
“No, not really. I wasn’t prepared for that.”
“Do you have your ID on you?” the security guard asked. “You’ll need it when the police come.”
“No,” Eri started, turning to her. “Don’t call the police.”
