JC was so blinded by his anger, he could barely concentrate on the road in front of him.
'Son of a bitch. Who the hell does he think he is? Thinking he can touch her like that......over my dead body' his thoughts raced like that for the duration of the drive. Ducking between cars, changing lanes quickly, he sped up at every opportunity.
He knew damn well that at least one of the others were going to follow him. Probably Justin. Maybe Joey, too. But he was not going to let them stop him. Jimmy had gone too far.
His thoughts continued to race, barely making any sense, until one thought came into his already cluttered mind. 'Why didn't I stop it? I knew it was happening. All along. I knew. What kind of friend am I? I just dismissed it. I thought she would come to me if my assumptions were true. I should have just taken matters into my own hands a long time ago.' JC blamed himself over and over until pulling up outside Laurens apartment complex.
The usual 30 minute drive had taken him a little over 15. He honestly didn't even really remember driving. He was all of a sudden there, pulling up outside the main doors, stepping out and headed into the building. Entering the building, the night man nodded at the recognition of JC, who had been there many times. JC didn't stop, or even acknowledge his gesture. He simply continued on his way, stopping at the elevators. The doors opened immediately, and after stepping inside, he pushed the button for the fifth floor.
The ride to the desired floor seemed to take forever. JC was alone, accompanied only by his thoughts, which were still racing. They jumped between hatred for Jimmy, to blame for himself. The more he hated Jimmy, the more he blamed himself. The more he blamed himself, the more he hated Jimmy. It was a vicious cycle. He was finally broken from his thoughts by the sound of the bell, signaling he had reached the desired floor. JC stepped quickly from the elevator, and headed down the hall. His pace was quick, until he reached the door. 515. There he stood, with no thoughts in his head, at last. He stood there, enjoying it for a moment. He knew he had to calm himself before entering, because this was something that would surely get out of hand quickly. Of that he had no doubt. Just then, a thought managed its way into his mind. Lauren. Sitting on his couch, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Hands placed nervously in her lap, avoiding his gaze. The moment JC saw the bruises, he was numb. He felt nothing but anger. He didn't even bother to focus on her before he left the room. All he could see was the bruises. The bruises the man on the other side of this door caused. The bruises JC wish he had stopped.
His eyes flew open, anger settling back in. He knocked roughly on the door. He heard nothing on the other side, so repeated his action more forcefully. A moment later, the door opened. There stood Jimmy, with a look of boredom, and satisfaction playing across his face. That look made JC angrier.
"Can I help you?" Jimmy asked, boredom thick in his tone.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" JC tried to keep his voice calm. He didn't want to let Jimmy know just how angry he was just yet. But his anger was easily registered.
"Excuse me? Who the hell are you! Her defender? Knight in shining armor? If you've come here to reprimand me, don't waste your time. I don't give a shit." With those words said, Jimmy proceeded to shut the door in JCs face, but a foot blocked the completion of the attempt and with a hard shove, the door was thrown open, JC storming into the apartment. So much for keeping his cool.
"Well, you're going to give a shit! Because I give a shit! Now, I'm going to make this very clear for you. Stay away from her. Got it? It shouldn't be too hard for you, since you never seemed to care when she was here, not having her around should be commonplace." JC stalked towards Jimmy in a threatening manner. Jimmy was the same height as JC, but a little broader. JCs blue eyes burned into Jimmys green ones, noticing challenge staring back at him. Jimmy was not going to go down that easily.
He laughed bitterly "What I want to know is, why you give a shit? What's she to you? She's just another stupid bitch, and I'm sure you don't have any problem finding those. Why care so much about this one? What? You in love with her, or something?"
The feeling rising in his stomach at that last comment didn't go unnoticed, but JC dismissed it immediately. "My relationship with her is none of your business."
Jimmy looked at JC as if trying to read him, before he spoke, "Well, let me give you a little advice here, JC. Don't waste your time. She's not worth it. She never was, and never will be. She's just another whore...."
Jimmy didn't finish his sentence. Finishing a sentence is kind of hard when you have a fist plowing into the side of your jaw. Jimmy saw a flash of white for a moment before hitting the floor, his hands falling behind him to soften the impact. He sat there for a moment, stunned that JC had actually hit him. 'What did he expect?' JC thought to himself 'For me to sit here and take notes? Listen to him bash her?' He ignored the pain in his knuckles from the contact with Jimmys face.
Jimmy rose, pushing off the floor with one hand, the other at his side, fist balled tightly. But he didn't swing. "Did that feel good? Make you feel like a hero, coming to her rescue?" Jimmy paused to lightly graze his quickly swelling cheek. "Doesn't change the fact that she's still mine. She belongs to me. A little info JC.....I never lose, and I always get what I want. Don't think for one second I'm going to let her go without a fight." With that, Jimmy swung, a hard punch coming across JCs face. JC didn't feel a thing at that moment, although he knew he would later. After the inital shock, JC turned back to Jimmys smug face, throwing another hard punch, knocking Jimmy back to the ground.
He wasn't going to let her go without a fight, either.
"Justin, shut the hell up! You want me to drive through the other cars?" Joey said, not bothering to turn to Justin. He swerved the car between two trucks, and sped up. They were almost there. Just a couple more minutes.
"There's his car!" Justin pointed wildly, as if Joey was blind and couldn't see the car sitting in front of the building.
The moment the car stopped, Justin was out, flying up the step, and through the front door. He didn't event wait for Joey. Joey quickly turned the car off, grabbed the keys and followed Justin. He could see his curly head running for the elevator. The doors opened the moment Joey reached Justins side, and they both stepped it. Joey hit the button for the fifth floor, and stepped back. Both men stood in silence. Not that there was any point in talking, anyway.
The door swung open, and they bounded out, speeding down the hall. Justin was walking quickly, his long legs making the pace easier for him than Joey. They reached the door to apartment 515, noticing it was ajar. They heard nothing on the other side. Justin turned and looked at Joey, neither knowing what to expect. Jesus, did they kill each other?
Pushing the door open slowly, Justin entered first. He looked around the living room, then the kitchen on the right side of him. Looking down, he noticed a body slumped on the floor, eyes closed. 'Oh shit,' Justin though to himself
Just then, JC appeared through a room in the back of the apartment, a box in his hands. His cheek was swollen, and Justin noticed his right knuckles were split, blood lightly grazing the top of the first two.
"Jesus, JC. Did you kill him?" Joey asked, his wide eyed stare not wavering from Jimmys body, laying sprawled on the floor.
"He's unconscious, you idiot." Justin answered not bothering to look at Joey. He walked towards JC tentatively. "What the hell happened?"
"Something that should have happened a long time ago." JC said, gathering items from the living room and tossing them in the box that was now placed on the coffee table. JC stepped roughly over Jimmys body to reach a picture on the table at the far end of the couch. "Here, J, take this. Go and start gathering everything that is Laurens from the bathroom" JC passed Justin a garbage bag that had been strewn across the floor. Several others lay there waiting to be filled.
"JC, what are you doing?" Justin could only stare at his friend, the bag dangling from his grasp.
"Like I said, something that I should have done a long time ago." JC still didn't meet Justins eyes. "I'm moving her in with me. She's not coming back here. Ever. He's never going to do this to her again."
Justin could only stare at JC, who was walking around the room quickly gathering items that he knew belonged to Lauren.
After the shock had worn off, Joey stepped up to the pair. Without saying a word, he picked up one of the bags that lay on the floor, and headed to the bathroom. "Com'on, J. Lets get this done before dickweed wakes up"
Luckily, JC had been there several times, so knew what belonged to Lauren. Well, most of it, anyway. He gathered things from every room, scanning each thoroughly, making sure not to forget anything. Her clothes, photos, even her videos were all gathered up and placed in the bags and boxes. By the time they were done about 20 minutes later, they had about 3 small boxes and 5 bags. Since there was the three of them, gathering everything hadn't taken that long. Surprisingly, Jimmy had still not woken up. Probably lucky for him, because the more Justin and Joey thought about it, the more they wish they had been the ones to knock him out. If he was to wake up, they would be helping JC kick his ass, rather than stopping him.
"Is that everything?" Justin asked, scanning the bedroom once more.
"I think so. Anything we forgot, she can tell us and we'll come back for later." JC answered, doing his own mental checklist through the room.
"Okay, you guys. I think we should go back to the house. The longer we take, the more worried the others back at the house are going to get" For once, Joey was the voice of reason.
They headed to the living room, peaking into the bathroom once more, and scanning the living room to make sure nothing was forgotten. Hauling all the items at once, they headed downstairs. They didn't want to have to return, so they were determined to only make the one trip.
They loaded everything into JC and Joeys cars, and headed home. Justin rode with JC, feeling he may need the reassurance.
They rode in silence for the majority of the drive. Finally, Justin turned to JC. He looked at him closely for a few minutes, trying to decide what to say. What did someone say at a time like this? Thinking about what JC had done, Justin knew that he would have done the same thing if anyone even thought of touching Britney that way. Justin knew his temper was easily sparked, and everyone always teased him about it. They would joke about any poor moron that pissed Justin off. Lauren was just a close friend to Justin, but even he had wanted a piece of Jimmy after seeing the damage he left on her body. He could only imagine the thoughts and feelings raging through JC.
"I know I'm pretty, but you can stop staring at me, J." JCs sarcastic tone broke Justin from his thoughts. He hadn't even realized he had been staring. "Don't tell me I'm gonna have to put you through a 12 step program to get over your lust for me?"
"Whatever." Justin turned back to the window, rather surprised at JCs light hearted jokes. He was joking at a time like this? Turning back to his friend, he finally spoke "C, you okay?"
"Fine" JCs face immediately dropped, returning to the emotionless stone it had been back at the apartment.
"You sure? Cause no one would blame you if you needed to let off a little more steam." Justin tried to reassure JC, although he knew he wasn't doing a very good job. He wasn't even convincing himself. God, he sucked at this.
"Justin, I'm fine." JC answer sharply, still not turning his gaze from the road. Justin took the sign, and left it alone.
Moments later, the silence was broken again. "No, I'm not fine" JC said, gripping the wheel tighter. "Would you be fine? If some ass hole beat the shit out of Britney, would you be fine?" JCs voice filling with anger, as he finally turned his eyes towards his young friend.
"Truth?" Justin looked forward, breaking away from JCs stern look. "Id kill him. Hell, I wanted to kill Jimmy." he confessed.
"Truth?" JC replied, turning his eyes back to the road ahead of him. "Me too."
