The Breakfast Club

[B e t h y <3]

Riley kicked Asher in the shin, pulled his hand free and punched him square in the jaw. This was war. Asher was not about to make a fool of Riley, the most wanted, attractive, and coolest guy in the school (in his own humble opinion). Riley was punching and kicking out of sheer anger. He wanted Morgan back. Not just for her body, either. Not that he'd ever admitt that. If anyone asked, he was fighting because Asher took away the joy for all the guys, not just him.

Morgan had finally gotten close enough to see. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, in Asher's case) Morgan was tall enough to see the fight. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Riley first. Then, she saw who he was throwing the ppunches at. Morgan bit the inside of her mouth, not sure if she should be worried or p`ssed off. SHe ran a hand through her hair, debating on whether or not she wanted to see this sh`t go down.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

It had been a long time since Asher had been punched, and he forgot about how much it hurt. A metallic tang filled his mouth; blood, from biting down hard on his tongue as a reaction from the impact of Riley's fist. He lifted a shaking hand to his face and rubbed his jawline, grimacing. Already he could feel it all building up; anger from Riley hitting him, confusion from the shouts of the surrounding crowd, a general sense of unease and discomfort of being close enough to Riley that he'd been smacked around the face by him. It wasn't like him to be unreasonable, or violent, or feel the urge to hurt someone, but all of that combined with his total resentment for the man in front of him was taking its toll, and Asher, usually calm personified, couldn't hold it in, and he returned the favour with a punch in the stomach.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Riley, obviously not happy with Asher fighting back, threw another punch to the side of Asher's head. Riley back up for a moment, looking around the crowd, making sure that Asher hadn't told Morgan. He spotted the only girl in the school with flaming hair. And he wasn't happy about it. Riley got more agresive with his throws, more powerful,too.

Morgan made eye contact with Riley. It was only for a split second, but he still knew she was here. Morgan turned her attention to Asher, trying to reassure herself that he would win. But she was getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. This had to stop. But it's not like she wanted to be the one to break up the fight. She needed back up.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Riley's next punch sent Asher to the floor, falling to his knees and clutching the side of his head, closing his eyes tightly. He took a shaky breath and cried out, "I don't want to fight you," his voice cracking. He didn't care that it made him look weak in front of all these people, he just couldn't stand being hit like this. It brought back flashbacks, and his mind was going crazy. When Riley didn't stop, he simply felt fear. He fell back again and spotted Morgan in the crowd as he did so. She shouldn't be there... She shouldn't be seeing this... Riley thinks I told her... And now she's watching while I fail her... He got up, more than a little unsteady on his feet, and tried to push Riley away from him, taking a swing at him, yet missing.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Morgan was through. She pushed past everyone in the crowd aside and stood in front of Riley, shoving him away from Asher. The crowd started to disperse. Everyone knew it wasn't a good idea to make Morgan mad. Morgan pulled Asher to his feet, not saying a word. More than anything, she was disappointed in Asher. And it hurt.

Riley backed up a couple feet, keeping his eyes on Asher. "Why'd you tell her?" he asked in a low, grumbling tone.

Morgan hadn't realized this was planned. She glared at Asher and said, "The real question is- why didn't you tell me?"

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Asher staggered a little but, wiping his brow with his sleeve and taking a few deep breaths. "I didn't tell her, you f'cking *****. Do you really think I would be that stupid, after what you told me you'd do? After all, I actually care about keeping her safe," he said to Riley. He'd gained a bit of stability, physically speaking, by this point, and it was then that he really lashed one out at him, and hit him square on the side of the head, and kicking behind his knee at the same time, to get him to the ground. Then Morgan spoke, and he was surprised by what she'd said. He turned to face her. "Why didn't I tell you?" he repeated incredulously. "I didn't tell you, because if I did, he told me he was going to hurt you in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine. I could never tell you when he threatened me with that," he said, his voice beginning to raise towards the end of his speaking.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Riley rubbed the side of his head. He was extremely close to giving up, but then Asher looked at Morgan, and Riley had the perfect opportunity. He got up quietly, still a little wobbly from Asher's blows. Riley grabbed Asher and put him in a headlock, before kicking right between his legs. He threw Asher to the ground and spat on him. Then he looked at Morgan. "See, babe? I'm the bigger man. He's just a boy who can't win." he told her, looking her up and down like a cat stalking its' prey.

Morgan drew back, slightly surprised Asher was raising his voice. "I thought you trusted me..." she stammered, looking anywhere but directly at him. When Riley spoke, she gave him a disguisted look. "Stop looking at me like I'm a piece of meat." she demanded, grinding her teeth. This was not a situation Morgan wanted to be in, and she started to leave.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Riley's next onslaught was, without a doubt, the most painful one. It was a low blow, but he expected nothing less, in some ways. He took a good while to compose himself, and then instead was hit with emotional pain when Morgan spoke. "You think it's because I didn't trust you? It's because I don't trust him, and you can see why. What good would telling you have done, Morgan? How could you have stopped it without letting him know I'd told you, and then getting hurt yourself? he said. He turned to Riley and said to him, "And as for you, just because you think you can beat the sh't out of me, it doesn't make you a better man."

 

[B e t h y <3]

"I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself, Asher. I could have at least known to get Sam down here, and I could just wait at home instead of seeing you like this! Do you really think I wanted to see you getting beat up? Because I swear, it hurt me, too. Why the h`ll were you fighting anyways? You and I both know that I'm done with Riley. Period." Morgan said, her voice raising, as well. She turned and started to walk away, pulling her keys out of her purse.

Riley looked from Morgan to Asher, and back to Morgan. When she had said that she was completely done with Riley, he turned away, looking like a little puppy dog. He actually thought that beating the sh`t out of Asher would help his cause. dumb`ss.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't think it through that far. In case you haven't noticed, I don't fight people very often, and now I'm fighting with two of you," Asher replied. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I thought, if you didn't know, you wouldn't be able to." Her question about why they were actually fighting in the first place was a good one. He supposed that at the time he thought he'd have to fight Riley to stay with Morgan, or something ridiculous like that, which once he'd gotten there, as he'd already said, he'd realised was a load of total crap. He sighed and called after her, "And are you done with me now? I know I was wrong, but you're wrong for thinking I did this for all the wrong reasons. You know, I did it because... Because.." He cut off, realising that she wouldn't want to hear what he was going to say.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Morgan turned around, now practically screaming. She didn't answer any of his questions, but merely shouted, "Well? Why? Why, why, why? It's not like you could've kept it a secret. I would have seen the bruises, you know." Tears were stinging her green eyes, and she was about to start pulling out her hair. She wasn't done with Asher, she was done with Riley causing Asher to do sh`t like this.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

"I know. But I didn't think of any of that," Asher replied, a hint of desperation about his tone. "I didn't think of any of it because all I thought about was that I was going to do it, and take whatever sh't he had to give me, instead of it being you, because," he took a tentative step forward, and cleared his throat, because something like tears were choking them up, "Because I love you, Morgan. Because I realised I love you more than anything, and if he hurt me, even if it was a lot, and it kept him from wanting to hurt you, it would be totally worth it."

 

[B e t h y <3]

Morgan's stomach dropped, and she suddenly got extremely nauseous. "I-I..." Morgan attempted to say something, but she just couldn't bring herself to reply. She was far from ready to use the 'l word' again. She ran a hand through her red hair, tentatively. She just stood there, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

"I'm sorry," Asher said to her, softly now, "I'm sorry it had to come out like this, and I knew... I knew this would happen. But you have to understand that I can't help the way I feel about you. And if you don't.. love me, that's okay. I told you right from the start that that would always be okay with me. But I had to tell you, because it's the only thing I understand that really drives me to do these completely stupid things because I think they'll help you." He straightened up considerably and looked towards his car. "I'll just... I.. I'll go now. Before I do anything else completely stupid."

 

[B e t h y <3]

Morgan didn't say anything, at first. She was still trying to process the fact that someone actually loved her. Not like the way her brothers loved her, but in the way that everyone dreams about. She wiped some of her tears on the back of her hand, watching him go.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Asher got into his car, having somehow resisted countless temptations to look back. He was barely composed as he attempted to start it up, and it took him several shots before his hand was actually steady enough to turn the key in the ignition successfully. He then drove out of the school car park, heading straight for home, gripping the steering wheel with implausible force. He was so dam'n angry; he was angry, predominantly at himself, for being such an *****, for fighting with Riley, for arguing with Morgan, and for the things he said to her; and angry at Riley, for being such a d'ck; he was hurt that Morgan had thought he'd done what he did because he didn't trust her, and for all the other wrong reasons, but for her he also felt great sympathy, because he and Riley had put her through it, and because she'd talked a lot of sense back there, too. But that she couldn't tell him that she loved him neither bothered him, nor surprised him in any way. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and he found himself wondering: How did it happen to him? When? Why? Was it completely irrational and ridiculous? He wished he knew the answers, but also feared them, too.

 

[B e t h y <3]

It took Morgan a moment to realize what she had just done. She started to watch Asher drive away, and then snapped out of her trance, only to find herself running after the car. She figured Asher didn't want to talk to her at the moment, but she had to talk to him. She couldn't say the "L word". Not yet, anyways.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Asher hadn't been driving too quickly, because he didn't have the concentration for that at that moment, so Morgan did, eventually appear behind the car. He thought he was hallucinating when he spotted her in his rearview mirror, looking between it and through the windscreen several times before he slowed up and took a look out of the back window. Sure enough, she was there- unless he really was delirious to the point at which it seemed that real-, and he panicked for a minute because he had no idea what she wanted or what he could possibly say. But he did stop for her, his hands beginning to shake again.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Morgan stopped by the driver's side window and gave Asher a little wave. "Asher- I-I would really like to say it to you, too. But at this point, it's just too soon for me. And no- I'm not done with you. Far from it actually. But I just didn't understand why you felt the need to protect me. No one's ever protected me, remember?"

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Asher didn't say anything for a moment, and rather than first addressing what she'd said to him, he opened the passenger side door for her and said to her, "You don't need to stand out there, you know. You should get in.. I think it might rain, anyway." He would just prefer to talk to her if she was sat there with him. He switched off the engine, took off his seatbelt so he could face her slightly, and waited for her, and it was then that he tried to find the words to reply to what she'd told him. "I'm not angry that you can't say it, you know," he said, first and foremost, "I understand why you can't. Going from one extreme to another, I've always thought that, whether we went out for ten minutes or ten years and, even if I loved you with all my heart, you could never tell me you loved me, it would be fine with me. And it'll always be that way, okay?" He continued, "I'm sorry that if telling you how I felt made you uncomfortable or scared you, I just.. I just thought you should know how much you mean to me, that's all I wanted." He was looking straight into her eyes now as he spoke. "But I'm glad you're not done with me. I was so afraid I'd screwed this up with you."