a/n: warning, Kayli is in this but, you know, Sang has some choice words about her ;)

Not wanting to be thoroughly questioned by my family, I drove to Knox's apartment and sent Karen the address. Knox wasn't home, thank god, which meant no questions would be asked by him either. Micah had questioned me when I left the house, but I lied through my teeth and told him I was going to hang out with my new guy friends. He wasn't exactly happy to hear that I was leaving to hang out with a bunch of guys, but he dealt with it and promised not to tell Zain.

I stood in the parking lot of Knox's apartment building, leaning against my mustang, twirling my key ring, staring at the bright pink kitty key chain on it. Every time I saw it, it brought a smile to my face. It was a gift to me from Knox as a joke, but I loved it. In my other hand, I gripped my phone tightly, once again my life line.

A beat up black truck pulled up beside me, and I straightened up, a grin forming. Karen poked her head out the passenger side window, a grin of her own on her face.

"Hey, cutie," she exclaimed, flicking hair away from her face. "Get in, and let's go."

Without hesitation, I shoved my keys into my pocket, then climbed into the backseat, Kayli holding the door open for me. I quietly thanked her, and she nodded, then turned and looked out the window. My eyebrows shot up at her blatant borderline rudeness, but shook it off and leaned forward to speak to Karen.

"Thank you for inviting me," I said softly then turned to look at Derrick. "Thank you for driving me."

"Of course!" Karen threw a smile at me over her shoulder. "You're a sweet girl and I enjoy spending time with you. But, same rules apply as at the races. You need to stay close to us, it can get kind of rowdy at these places."

I nodded, completely understanding what she had meant, especially after meeting that asshole Greg at the races. Guilt formed a tight knot in my stomach as I thought about how Kota had rescued me from that and how upset the boys would be with me if they found out I went to something like this without telling them. I took deep breath, reassuring myself that I deserved to have fun sometimes.

The ride was rather entertaining. Karen kept singing along badly to the radio, causing both Derrick and Kayli to whine at her to be quiet. I laughed, and encouraged her to sing louder, the two of us sharing conspiratorial smiles. Whenever Karen wasn't singing, her and Derrick were talking. I remained quiet, mostly, and just enjoyed listening to them talking. Kayli didn't talk very much at all, only occasionally interjecting something every once and awhile.

As we pulled into the parking lot of a brick building that looked rather unassuming, both Karen and Kayli straightened up in their seats. The car hadn't come to a full stop before Kayli was jumping out of it and bolting across the parking lot to someone leaning against a car. Karen helped me out of the truck, both of us giggling when I nearly tripped.

"Karen," Derrick said, his voice serious. "Please, for the love of God, do not taunt any fighters tonight."

Karen flashed me a grin then looked at Derrick, pasting an innocent look on her face. "Derrick, I have never done something like that in my life. I'm a very well behaved angel and I resent those kind of statements being made about me."

Derrick only stared at her, flabbergasted, and she burst into laughter then hooked arms with me and lead me into the building. Music was being played from somewhere, and people's voices echoed and bounced off the walls. I winced at the noise level but the smile remained on my face. Karen scanned the area, as if looking for anyone she knew, but then gently lead me in the direction of some benches. I took a seat on them while she stood in front of me, untying the flannel from around her waist and dropping it next to me. I assumed it was meant to save a seat.

"So," I said, feeling slightly awkward. "Kayli is a ball of sunshine..."

Karen erupted into laughter at my words, shaking her head. My cheeks burned, and I ducked my head down, realizing that probably wasn't the best thing to say. I didn't know Kayli personally and it was wrong of me to insult her like that to one of her friends, though Karen seemed more amused than anything else.

"Sang, you're so cute," she ruffled my hair, grinning. "Kayli and I aren't super good friends, or anything. Actually, I don't even know if she has friends, but if you take the time to talk to her, she'd probably warm up to you."

"No use if she doesn't do friends," I mumbled with a small shrug, sending Karen spiralling into laughter once again.

Derrick joined us not long after that conversation, and after he arrived, we sat on the benches, people watching and talking. Karen and Derrick bantered about who they thought was going to win tonight, and not having any idea who anyone was, I only nodded along. Karen often had me agreeing with her, just to frustrate Derrick. I thought he was about to snap when Karen smacked both our arms and announced that the fights were about to start.

My eyes were drawn to the ring, excitement bubbling in me to watch it occur. The excitement died just as quickly as it formed. Many things happened after that point, and my life turned into a mess after these events. It was a pivotal point in my life, and yet I had been so unaware of it at the moment.

First thing to occur, the fighters walked into the ring, and I jolted to my feet, hearing my heartbeat in my ears. "What the fuck," came from my mouth, and before Karen could stop me, I was tearing my way through the crowd to get closer to the ring. Surely, my eyes had to be playing tricks on me.

Stopping a few feet away from the ring, nausea rolled through me, and the roaring in my ears grew so loud that I could barely even hear Karen and Derrick calling my name in concern. Soft, sweet, precious Silas was standing in the ring, his face hard and concentrated on his opponent. Black dots swam in front of my vision and the rising hysteria of an anxiety attack enveloped me. I wanted to shout his name or cry or something, but I was frozen in my spot, staring wide eyed at my friend.

An arm wound around my waist and I gagged, shoving at the man's chest, sending a glare. He was handsome, but I was in no state to deal with some flirt trying to cop a feel or a quickie. I needed to get out of there, and clear my head, but this man was not about to allow it.

"Hey, beautiful," he cooed in my ear, pulling me against his side. I squirmed and tried to throw my elbow into his ribs, tears forming in my eyes. The only thing I could think at the moment was that I had made a horrible mistake. "Rocky hasn't seen you around here before. Why don't you come sit with me?"

"Rocky," a sharp and smoky voice reached my ears. "Why are you harassing the little girl? Shouldn't you be supporting your best friend?"

"I am," the man, who I assumed was Rocky, replied. "But this cutie here is going to support him with Rocky. Aren't you, doll?"

I cringed as he ran his fingers down my face and shoved at him again, crying out in panic. "Let me go! Let me go!"

I turned my head to plead with the girl who had joined us, but her dark brown eyes glinted with cruelty and humor. She wasn't about to help me; she found my situation amusing. A sob tore from my throat and I clawed at his arm, wondering where the hell Karen and Derrick had gone and if they were even still looking for me.

"If you want to keep breathing, I recommend you let her the fuck go."

North. Grumpy, protective, health freak North. He was here, but of course he was, considering his best friend was in the ring. The arms that had been keeping me caged in released me and I tumbled to the ground, curling in on myself. I was in the middle of a full on panic attack, and I wasn't exactly pleased to be having it in such a dangerous place.

"Wait, to Volto hears about her," reached my ears and I covered my face, trembling.

"Sang!"

Arms wound around me and I inhaled the sugary sweet scent of vanilla, before clinging to Luke. I was pissed and confused and terrified, but I needed the comfort of someone holding me. I rested my chin on his shoulder, looking past him to see North and Rocky arguing, the girl resting a hand on North's arm, only for him to turn on her. Two familiar faces stepped into the argument: Mr. Blackbourne and Axel. My head began to throb as I tried to put the pieces together.

"Sang," I tore my eyes away from the altercation and looked into Gabriel's crystal blue eyes. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

I was just beginning to calm down, hiccuping and sniffling, and I wiped at my nose, glaring. "I could ask the same of you."

He winced at the harshness in my voice, but I wasn't feeling so forgiving in the moment, especially not after Rocky feeling me up and seeing Silas in the ring. I felt like laying down, and that was exactly what I did in the middle of the floor, pressing my cheek against the cool cement. My mind was swimming, and I wasn't sure what to do.

Kota's commanding voice washed over me, and I closed my eyes, listening to it.

"Luke, take Sang to the car. Gabriel, go with her. Victor and Nathan will come with you. Head straight to Nathan's. Silas, Owen, North, and I will be there as soon as we can. Sean was going to head here after his shift, but I've already informed him of the change in plan. Don't answer any questions until Owen and I get there."

Part of me wanted to lash out and hit something at his words, but the other part of me, the winning side, was too fucking tired to do anything but let Luke scoop me up into his arms and cradle me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest, wondering how things might have been different if I had never decided to come to that fight, or at least inform the boys that I was going.

I was set in the back seat of a black Jeep, one that seemed familiar, but I couldn't exactly place. I buried my face into the leather upholstery, steadying my breathing, wanting to make sure no other anxiety attacks hit me. I flinched when the door to the Jeep opened again, but relaxed at the sight of Nathan's frowning face.

"Peanut," he muttered, and I crawled across the seat and threw myself at him. His strong arms held me against him tightly, rubbing my back.

"Guys, sit down and buckle up," Luke instructed us from the front seat, uncharacteristically serious. My heart ached at the severity of the entire situation. I was angry, but I was also awfully upset.

The car ride was silent and solemn, and I spent the entirety of it curled up against Nathan, with Victor holding my hand and rubbing soothing patterns onto my hand. I was nearly asleep by the time we arrived at Nathan's house, and even though I assured him that I could walk, Victor carried me anyways, his fire eyes dim with concern for me.

I sat in an armchair, curled up, staring into space. Luke and Gabriel sat by my feet, like guard dogs, daring anyone to come into the house and mess with me. Even though I was irritated with them, I appreciated it so much, that I pressed a kiss to each of their heads. Nathan brought me a bottle of water that I quietly thanked him for, too out of it to do anything more than just press my face against the arm of the chair and wait for the others to arrive.

We didn't have to wait long.

Maybe fifteen minutes after we had arrived, the others came rolling in, all of them in varying stages of panic and upset. North was furious, that much I could tell, and Silas shoved him onto the couch, sending him a warning glare. I pretended not to notice the blood on both boys' knuckles. Sean sent me a soft look when he entered, a look that I ignored.

My anger bloomed into fury when Mr. Blackbourne and Kota walked in, looking calm as could be. I wanted to swing at them, I wanted to shout, but more than anything, I wanted an explanation as to what the fuck happened tonight.

I sat up straight and met Mr. Blackbourne's eyes; grey and green clashing.

"Owen Blackbourne, you have got a hell of a lot of explaining to do to me." 

a/n: Shit is about to get crazy after this... Tell me what you think, also, the Toma boys will be coming about in a bit, so look forward to them.

Song: Perfect Places by Lorde

xoxo,

ry.