TW: VIOLENCE, mentions of blood, gaslighting, threats

I knew after my outburst it was coming, but I thought my friends would give me a little more time.

"So," Dex started, "how are we killing Noah?" I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness. He was literally a cinnamon roll, he couldn't hurt a fly.

After everything that went down between Marella and I, then my little flinching thing too, I had basically been cornered until I told them everything. Including the fact that he was getting jealous of me talking to my own cousin, which made everyone hate him that much more.

"Ooh! We'll add you to the group chat!" Biana exclaimed, pulling out her phone. I got the notification a few seconds later.

"'How to kill Noah and get away with it?' How long have you guys had this?" I asked them.

"Umm, I think we made it around when you guys started dating." Biana responded. My jaw dropped.

"You knew he was bad for that long and didn't bother to tell me?!" They all look guilty, good.

"He told me he would hurt you." Keefe didn't just look guilty, he looked like he was about to cry. I walked up to him and hugged him. He jumped a little, probably surprised by my action.

Biana jumped in first, then Linh, then eventually everyone was in the hug. It felt... really nice.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a-"

Aww, Tam cares. But Linh wouldn't let him finish his sentence, sadly.

"Hey Noah." I walk up to him, waving. We were in the school parking lot. Biana, Linh, and Marella were standing a ways back, recording, while Dex, Keefe, Tam, and Fitz were standing with me, just in case.

Noah glared over my shoulder at them.

"What're they doing here?" He sounded angry, and I knew he'd definitely be pissed at me if we were still going to be dating by the end of this.

"They're here in case you decide to try something."

"Oh please, what would I try with you? You know I love you. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, ever." I raised my eyebrows when he brought out the L word. The last time he said it, it was right before he told me he wanted me to stop hanging around Keefe as much. It's like it's the only card he knows how to play. Too bad it won't work.

"You know. Keefe knows. You told him yourself." Now his eyes narrowed. His gaze focused on Keefe.

"I told you what would happen if you told her." He took a step closer to me, looking like he was about to furry growl. Keefe stepped right next to me before Noah could get any closer. Then stepped a little in front of me, protecting me. My heart warmed. Keefe was protecting me. No one's ever really done that for me before. Granted I've never been in this situation before-

"You're not gonna get any closer to her if you know what's good for you." Why couldn't I find a guy like Keefe? You know what, Keefe's my new standard. If my next guy is anything less, I don't want him.

"C'mon Sophie." So the attention's back on me. Great. "I would never hurt you. Please, believe me. I wanted Keefe to back off, that's it." Lies.

"And why are you so threatened by Keefe? If you really didn't want to hurt me, you'd know I'd be hurt by no longer being friends with Keefe. So unless you want to admit you're lying, why would you want me to stay away from Keefe?" Noah looked around frantically, trying to come up with a new lie.

"He's in love with you." He suddenly blurted. Keefe stiffened from his spot in front of me. Meanwhile I just laughed.

"Yeah right. You're actually crazy, y'know that? Just admit you're lying, it's worse for you if you don't." I could hear a sound behind me where the others were, vaguely sounding like a hand hitting a forehead. Hmm, I wonder what that was about.

"Please Sophie. I'm not lying. I just love you and know what's best for you. And those guys aren't. Believe me. Please." He might as well have been on his knees begging, that's how pathetic and desperate he sounded.

"No. I know what's best for me, and it's definitely not you. That's why we're breaking up. And I never want to see you near me or any of my friends ever again. If you come near any of them, I won't hesitate to sic Grady on you. And you've seen his bat collection. You should be grateful I haven't told him all of this now, or you'd be done for." I could see him visibly shudder before regaining composure.

"No Sophie, please. I love you, don't break up with me." I hadn't noticed it but he was getting closer and closer. Meanwhile Keefe was looking at me, not him, so he hadn't noticed either. He was making sure I was okay, that I would keep standing my ground.

"No. We're done Noah." Just to rub it in a little more, I added, "I hate you."

He lunged, tackling me to the ground and punching me square in the nose faster than anyone could react. Keefe quickly threw him off me and pinned him hard into the cement, bashing Noah's face in with his fists. Over and over and over. It was halfway scary, halfway mega hot.

Dex ran over to me, breaking my attention from the fight. He gently touched my nose and I winced, noticing the throbbing of pain. I could feel the blood gushing without even having to see it.

"I think this is a new record for the longest you've gone without getting hurt." I laughed gently while he shook his head, hiding his own laughter.

We both turned our attention back to the fight. Noah had gotten Keefe off at some point and punched him hard in the stomach. Keefe doubled over for a second before straightening out and making his hand fly right into Noah's eye. I cheered for Keefe, which I could tell made Noah even angrier. It distracted him for a few seconds, allowing Keefe to get his jaw in a massive uppercut. Noah fell backwards, landing hard on the cement and groaning. It kind of felt like one of those dramatic slow motion movie scenes, where the bad guy goes flying ten feet in the air after the punch.

Keefe looked over at me, scanning for injuries. He noticed my gushing nose, then gave Noah a matching one.

"Let's go." He said, angrily. Even being mad, he gently grabbed my hand and pulled me up, lightly placing his hand on the small of my back to guide me away. We started walking when we heard a scream and a splatter. We all turned around to see Noah covered in bird poop, a bunch of birds having flown over and all pooped at just the right moment. I turned to Dex and he must've had the same thought as me.

We both said at the same time, "Karma is my boyfriend," then laughed. Biana squealed at the Taylor Swift reference. Keefe chuckled slightly before turning me back around and leading us all to Marella's massive and bright van that we all rode in.

It was bright blue, with the back opened up and benches along the sides. It couldn't have been up to safety regulations, but it was good for fitting our whole group. Marella and Linh sat in the front while everyone else herded into the back.

Before anyone had the chance to check on me, I grabbed Keefe's hands with my bloody fingers, checking his own cracked and bleeding knuckles.

"Those are gonna be a massive pain." I told him. Dex handed me the first aid kit that Marella kept under one of the seats. I used rubbing alcohol to clean the cuts, then wrapped bandages around his knuckles firmly so it wouldn't come loose. None of the punches Noah gave him would do anything more than bruise, so he was fine after that. Then all the attention got turned back to me.

"Marella," Dex said, "can you take us to the hospital?" She gave a thumbs up from the front seat.

"Wait, I don't need to go to the hospital. It's just a bloody nose." I leaned forward and pinched it to show them I was fine, but I was not expecting the amount of pain that bombarded me from just making contact with it. I winced and my eyes watered slightly.

"No Sophie, it's definitely broken. If the size and crookedness doesn't give it away, then the way you just flinched does." I rolled my eyes at my cousin's protectiveness, but was also secretly grateful he cared so much.

After we got to the hospital, I just had to have my nose realigned and splinted, then I was good to go. Marella dropped Dex and I off at our houses, but Keefe got out too, saying he just wanted to make sure I'd be alright.

The three of us hung out in my room for a bit longer watching some shows before Keefe left. Dex and I tried to write (key word: tried) some new songs, but after a while he jumped through the window to his own house, leaving me with my thoughts.

Ding.

I checked my phone for the notification.

Unknown: I'm going to kill you.

It would've scared me, if I didn't know it was Noah. I knew he was a sore loser when we were dating for even just small things. He just lost his girlfriend and a fight in less than ten minutes.

I sent a screenshot to the group chat and they all said they'd stay near me at school, so he wouldn't be able to corner me and actually kill me.

I love having friends that are willing to stick their necks out and protect me.

And I especially love Keefe-

Wait. What?

YOURE WELCOMEEEEEE!!!! We get Soah break up, Keefe and Noah fight, and slightly less oblivious Sophie! You all should be happy, it's everything you wanted. Also thank you to Emeline_Avery for the karma is my boyfriend idea! Also, I changed the last chapter, so everything from the fight is written differently (and in my opinion better) but it's the same at its base. One more quick note, please either respect the writing or don't comment, and please keep comments appropriate. I accept supportive comments and constructive critism, when commented in a positive and polite manner. I will block you from commenting and delete your comments if you choose to be inappropriate or rude. Love you all so much and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

Avery, out ->

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