Gage's POV

By late evening, I was becoming desperate. My initial drunkenness had worn off along with my anger hours ago, fear and anxiousness steadily taking its place. Ari never missed any of my texts, nor my phone calls, not even after an argument. So, I had either pushed too far, or something had happened to her.

Scenarios played out in my head, each more gruesome and disturbing than the next. I had also tried to reach Nate a couple of times, yet it seemed to go directly to voicemail. But it was hardly surprising. I'd never seen him take his phone off mute under any circumstances. I was ashamed that I had fallen asleep in my drunken stupor, wasting precious hours. Now, my phone indicating close to midnight I still was yet to receive a message or call back. I hastily tugged on the first pair of shoes in sight and stumbled towards the door, walking briskly to her house.

Despite the myriad scenarios playing in my head, what I came to witness on Ari's doorstep seemed to root me to the spot. Imagining Ari in the arms of any other man had always been that one thought that made my blood boil, yet the man was always faceless, nameless. And most certainly not someone I considered my best friend. Nathan held her with seeming gentleness and as she pulled away, he swept back in to place a calculated kiss on her cheek, which predictably earned him a faint dusting of pink along her cheekbones.

I'd always known Ariana to be one looking for a gentle and careful lover, one to shower her in affection, compliments, and unnecessary expensive (and quite difficult to find) tulip bouquets. Although I often ranted to Nate about how I found it hard to balance my more impulsive and callous nature with her needs, he had never shown any signs of being the most interested listener. But watching him now, caressing her arm and most likely whispering some nonsense yet unbearably sweet nothings in her ear, I shook with barely contained rage at both my foolishness and his audacity. Suddenly, the idea that I had somehow misplaced the movie tickets seemed stupid, my mind clicking and whirring as it dawned on me that Nate had stolen my date idea, as well as my very date.

I was torn between walking out of the bush currently functioning as my hiding spot and making a scene or waiting for Nathan to leave and confronting him man to man. I was spared from making a decision that I would have later most likely regretted by Nathan walking away, while Ari remained in the hallway of her block, staring longingly after him. Tearing my eyes away from the sight of her so enamored with another guy, I swallowed down the bile that had risen in my throat and followed after Nathan, mind set on ending the charade I had set in motion.

Nate's POV

Although Gage had always been gullible by nature, I had never expected him to take the bait so well. Having spotted him hiding in the bushes with the corner of my eye, I felt compelled to only instigate him further with a kiss on Ari's cheek, which was sure to make him go mad with rage. And knowing Gage, his solution for any conflict had been threats and shows of physical strength. He was yet to master the skill of diplomacy, or understand the impact of some calculated words can make someone's head roil, hours and even days after a punch to the jaw would've stopped throbbing. I could easily see him tailing me, failing miserably at concealing his bulk in the few shadows. I walked, slowly, deliberately, almost strutting with no destination in mind, taking random turn here and there and generally taking my time, if only to annoy him with my very attitude.

Knowing his patience was wearing thin, I let him catch up to me, phone kept handy, pulling on a mask of utter surprise as he grabbed me by my collar and threw me into the nearest wall, which I let myself hit with an audible crunch. Yet before I could crumple to the floor, he pulled me up by the lapels of my leather jacket, forcing me to look straight into his eyes. The unchecked rage, along with the one glimmer of hurt made me feel like fighting the smile threatening to overtake my face, instead asking with some fabricated surprise and hurt of my own "What was that for?"

I'm quite certain he didn't register much more than the tone of my voice, making him push me harder into the brick wall "What the fuck Nate? I didn't ask you to make a move on my girl when I set this in motion!" his sense of hurt and betrayal was even more obvious in his words than his eyes, yet I didn't miss the edge of anger to them, which I planned to sharpen to my advantage.

   "She deserves someone to treat her right, just as I've said before. When it became obvious you were too mentally slow to take the hint, I decided to do it myself" The obvious disinterest in my voice seemed to do the trick, as his fist connected with my left eye, his next words anything but hurt. "If you ever dare to come close to her again, or contact her in any shape or form, I swear on everything I hold dear under the sky that I will end you" he paused, as if thinking for a fitting ending to his oh so macho threat "slowly and painfully" Huh. In all honesty, I was expecting much more creativity from his part, but he seemed satisfied, a stupidly smug smirk making him look ghastly under the fluorescent lights, which he probably thought to be an intimidating image.

The only thing his approach managed to do was prove his lack of intellect, and I was tempted to ask if that was his whole repertoire for tonight, but not wanting to push my luck, I stayed quiet. "Keep your distance from us both. Is that clear?" he said curtly, visibly holding himself back from acting in any way remorseful at shutting me out of his life. Fool. "Yes of course, please don't hit me." I tried to instill as much fear as I could in those sparse words, which wasn't very hard to do, as I was used to playing the meeker and more vulnerable one. And from the outside, it wasn't difficult to see why. His municipal bulk gained from vigorous training significantly dwarfed my slim frame, which I had always allowed to work to my advantage.

Seeing this, Ariana, like any other empathic citizen, would immediately shame Gage and seem appalled by him using superior strength to enforce submission.  But as she wasn't here to witness it hearing the brand-new recording on my phone would have to make do. Like hell I will Gage. This has only just now become interesting.

*Hi and a massive thank you to everyone who has read this far. I really hope you're enjoying it. If you did, make sure to give it a vote or comment any suggestions or thoughts down below. It would mean a lot to me :).*