A/N: “Da” means “yes”.

*****

Alex POV

I was in the bad part of the town again. I knew I shouldn’t be here, but I couldn’t help myself. I missed the excitement in my life. Ever since I moved here I’ve stayed out of trouble. Well, apart from my fight with Tyson.

Tyson Williams.

One of the stars at the Ring. The boy was so good I’d heard of him all the way back home. Then again I used to roll with people connected to the Ring there.

The Ring was something like a… hmm… let’s just say it gave opportunities to make money. How you might ask? By providing a cop-free space for people to beat the crap out of each other under the ravenous applause of the crowd. Yes, the Ring was all about illegal fighting and the gambling that went along with it.

It was sort of an international chain with its own set of rules. No weapons or metal objects were allowed. The idea was to make a show, but whoever ran it didn’t want to leave corpses behind. From what I’d heard, they had quite a few cops in their pockets, but leaving a bloody trail was still not the smartest thing to do.

Of course there were the occasional slip-ups. And if things got too intense with the coppers, the Ring would simply disappear from that town.

I wondered for how long had Tyson worked there.

Speak of the devil! I just keep on running into that boy, don’t I?

*****

Tyson POV

The small figure was far, but I knew without a doubt it was Alex. So she came back here? Was she looking for me? Did she come to fight me? I hadn’t told her I lived around. But she could’ve heard that from someone at school. She could’ve heard that from Angel.

“One way to find out I guess!” I thought, approaching her. She had also noticed me and was coming my way.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I less-than-politely greeted.

“Decided to take a walk.” She shrugged.

“In this neighborhood?”

“What’s the matter? Worried about me?” She teased with a playful glint in her chocolate eyes.

“As if.” I snorted. “I’m just sick of seeing you everywhere I go.”

“Then stop looking!” She threw her hands in the air exasperated, all signs of her previous blithe behavior gone.

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

“I will, if I want to!” She replied taking a step towards me.

“No, you won’t!” I moved forward as well.

“Yes, I will!” She got even closer and flashed me one of her signature challenging glares.

I was sure we sounded like two little kids bickering right now. Regardless of that, I wasn’t backing down. No way was I going to let this girl win anything against me, even a dumb, childish quarrel.

“No, you won’t!” I snarled again.

“Yes, I will!” Alex hissed back.

We stared at each other and excitement ran through me as I knew the moment had come. At last! We were going to finish what we started weeks ago. And then we heard them again.

Those darn sirens!

I started running in the direction of my house. I was furious. I couldn’t believe we got interrupted again. And once more by those fucking sirens. It wasn’t so unusual in this neighborhood but still!

Arriving at my destination, I finally slowed down.

The porch boards creaked as I walked on them and reached with my right hand for my keys. Only my hand was already holding something… another hand. A small, pale, feminine hand with darkly polished fingernails. I looked at its owner’s face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked her for a second time tonight.

Alex burst out laughing. She had an obnoxiously loud laugh for a girl!

*****

Alex POV

“You mean to tell me you really didn’t realize you were dragging me with you?” I questioned with humor in my voice. He probably didn’t want to admit it because all he said was:

“Go. Away!” I didn’t move. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Oh, I heard you,” I answered amused. “But you’re still holding my hand captive.”

His face turned red from embarrassment. He looked kind of … cute like that.

“Oh, you’re blushing!” I teased him. “How… adorable!”

His face turned even redder.

“Don’t ever…” Tyson hissed, leaning slightly to my face in a threatening manner “… EVER call me adorable!”

He spat out the last word. Well, at least he didn’t deny the blushing.

“Now get lost!” He snarled at me, letting go of my limb.

“What? Aren’t you going to invite me in?” I asked innocently. “And I really, really wanted to see your bedroom.” I stated through a sigh, shaking my head in fake disappointment. Or maybe not that fake: I was curious as to how this boy’s room would look.

“Beat it!” He seemed angrier than before.

“Well, I guess I’m not getting a field trip into Ty’s world tonight,” I thought and turned on my heals, but managed to take only one step before the boy grabbed me again.

“Shit!” He cussed. I looked back and saw him staring at a car that had just turned round the corner and was coming our way. I couldn’t make out the exact model from this far, but I noticed it was an old, beat-up vehicle.

“I guess you’ll get your wish after all,” Tyson stated bitterly, before pushing me rather violently into his house.

*****

Tyson POV

“Beat it!” I was getting angrier by the minute.

Alex actually turned to leave. Yes! Miracles do happen! I looked up and saw the all too familiar car approaching. Before the girl could move away I clutched her arm again.

“Shit!” I muttered. She looked at me with confusion and I tried to make my face unreadable.

“I guess you’ll get your wish after all.” I said before pushing her into the house and rushing her upstairs.

I wasn’t sure why I’d done that. I guess I just didn’t want her to be seen by the driver of that car - my father. My “sperm donor” was closer to the truth because he was never a real dad to me.

Why did he have to come back tonight? I hadn’t seen him in weeks and I was hoping to turn that into months.

I pushed open the door to my room and made a gesture with my hand for Alex to go in first. Surprisingly, she obeyed and I followed her, closing the door behind us. I waited for her to query as to why I was doing this: that seemed like a natural thing, given the circumstances. But the girl appeared to be waiting for me to bring it up as she kept silent.

“I’m not telling you why I did this.” I finally spoke firmly. “But I have my reasons. Trust me: you better sleep here tonight than go downstairs.”

I knew he was already in the house; I could hear him moving around on the first floor. He wasn’t even trying to keep quiet as he was bumping into furniture, too drunk to keep his balance. With each collision, he’d let out a cuss.

“So let me get a few things straight,” Alex started, looking at me dead in the eye and studiedly ignoring the sounds from downstairs. “Number one: you can’t stand me. Number two: you don’t want to see me. Number three: regardless of numbers one and two, you want me to sleep in your room. And number four: you won’t even explain why. Am I getting this right?”

“Pretty much.” I muttered, realizing how idiotic that sounded.

“Oh!” She kept quiet for a while and gazed around the room. “Since I’m a guest I get the bed, right?”

“What?”

“Apparently I’m sleeping here tonight and since you’re the host and there is only one single bed, I’m using it, right?”

I stared at her. She agreed? She actually agreed? I thought she was going to protest and start a fight; something I didn’t want for once. But no; all she said was “Oh”.

“Are you out of your mind?” I couldn’t help but asking. “How can you agree to this so easily after you have so many reasons not to?”

“Did you want me to disagree with you?”

“No. But I expected you to!”

“And I usually would’ve but you seem to have your reasons. Besides, we’ve already slept in the same room when we were babysitting. So the way I see it, it’s pretty simple: I’m staying here.”

“Just like that?”

“Da. Just like that.”

*****

Alex POV

I was listening to the verbal battle between the voices in my head.

It started with me feeling guilty about letting Tyson sleep on the hard floor while I was tucked in his bed. It wasn’t the best of beds, but it was still better than where he was currently lying. I was just about to offer him to join me when one of the voices said:

“Let the boy suffer! He practically kidnapped you!” Mean Alex ordered.

“Or maybe he saved you from whoever is downstairs.” Nice Alex contradicted.

I thought about that. I had a suspicion that whoever was driving that car was the same person currently resigning on the first floor. A parent perhaps?

Mean Alex: “Does it really matter? Even if he is trying to protect you, he is still the same self-centered asshole!”

Nice Alex: “How can he be a self-centered asshole if he is both protecting her and offering her his bed?”

Nice Alex had a point. It was not fair for him to sleep there after being nice to me. Well, as nice as Tyson Williams can be.

Mean Alex: “I can’t believe you’re still even considering that!”

Nice Alex: “She is considering it because unlike you she actually has a conscience. Just like me.”

Mean Alex: “Listen here, bitch! I got our girl out of trouble plenty of times without you and your overrated conscience!”

Nice Alex: “Oh, yeah? Thanks to me she made friends – real friends, ones she can depend on!”

“Girls, we’re getting off topic here!” I scolded.

I heard Tyson groan and shift on the floor. Nice Alex seemed to have won: I was going to offer him to join me.

Mean Alex: “If he’s joining you then at least fuck him; the boy’s hotter than Hell!”

Mean Alex, you’re a slut! 

“Hey, Ty?” I called out quietly. “Why don’t you join me in bed?”