By Your Side

Chapter 30: Did You Hit Her

James crouched down between the girls and watched as Clare turned Hannah's head to face him. It was the first time he got a really good view of the bruise and seeing the concern in Hannah's eyes to keep her secret James knew he had to play dumb.

"Shit? Are you okay Hannah?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"Nathan."

All three of there heads turned as they heard Nathan's footsteps enter the house again, Clare stayed with her on the ground to console her. While James stood up and finally confronted Nathan as he walked back into the room.

"Hey man what's happen-"

Before Nathan could finish his sentence, James grabbed him by the shoulders and the box he was carrying fell out of his hands and crashed against the ground. Forcing Nathan backward till they were outside, James shoved him up again the brick wall.

"Dude, what the hell is going on?"

"Shut up Nathan. I'm only going to ask you one question!"

"You're scaring me, man."

A look of death crossed James' face as his eyes started slicing the boy apart, his one hand clenched into a fist beside him as he raised Nathan's collar higher forcing the jock to take struggled breaths.

"Did you hit Hannah!"

"What?"

"Did. You. Hit. Hannah!"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"We all know about the bruise."

"What bruise?"

Fuming with anger, James couldn't take it anymore as he raised his fist in the air and wound back before unleashing it at full force.

"James!"

His fist stopped an inch away from Nathan's nose, and Clare stood at the threshold with her eyes wide in terror. James turned to face her as she shook her head.

"You don't have to do this."

"But he hit-"

"Hannah is going to call the police; they'll sort it out."

The thought passed through his mind as he released his grasp on Nathan, who was now sobbing uncontrollably as he fell to his knees. Clare grabbed James' arms and pushed him forward as they walked back to the car.

"C'mon let's go back to the hotel, Hannah said she'd call if she needed anything."

"Are you sure about this Clare?"

"Yes. Now get in."

James and Clare both got into the car and started it as Hannah walked back out onto the step with her phone to her ear. The car pulled out of the driveway stall and down the road as Hannah's terrified sadness turned into a menacing grin.

Lowering the phone from her ear, she walked over to Nathan broken body and squatted down in front of him. The boy looked up at her, and his tears stopped when he saw the darkness in her soul.

"You should have been more like James."

Before he could do anything, Hannah struck him in the head with one blow knocking him out almost instantly. For a moment she stood over his body, shaking her head back and forth before she picked up his arms and dragged him back into the condo, slamming the door behind her.

###

The rest of James and Clare's afternoon went on without a hitch. The two of them adventured around the city and acted like typical tourists while the thought of Hannah remained on the back of their minds as they bought the occasional gift for their friends and families and went to see some of the other sights around town.

When it was starting to get late, the two of them headed back up to the hotel room with a pizza for their dinner. If it wasn't for the box, the two of them couldn't keep their hands off of each other, as they entered the hotel room they threw the box on the bed and then grabbed some paper towels.

They handed each other some before getting on the bed and kept the box between them, as they started to eat. It wasn't the most regal feast they could have had yet they laughed at one another as they slowly started getting covered in tomato sauce.

"Y'know we're probably the least fancy people in this hotel."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well look at us covered in sauce, eating pizza on a bed while there's a four star restaurant just downstairs."

"I guess, I like this though. It's more intimate, and besides, we can have cold pizza for breakfast, with a side of saucy kisses."

"True."

The two of them began to laugh at the remarks when Clare's phone suddenly started to shake again on the bed. Immediately Clare looked down at it thinking of the worst case scenario when she saw Hannah's name pop up on the screen.

"Who is it?"

"Hannah, she's calling me."

"Really?"

"Yea hold on."

Clare accepted the call and raised the phone to her ear.

"Clare, are you there? I need help."

"Yes I'm here, Hannah. What's wrong?"

"It's Nathan, the cops took him away but now he's back, and I don't know what to do."

"Lock the doors Hannah we'll be right over."

"Hurry."

Then the phone went silent as the call abruptly ended.

"What's the matter, Clare?"

"It's Nathan, somehow he got out of police custody and is back at Hannah's threatening her. She sounded terrified."

"Shit. I'll go over."

"I'm coming too."

"No you stay here, If he's dangerous, I don't want you getting hurt. I need you here as back up."

"Fine. Be careful though."

James rushed to the door with Clare, hot on his heels to give him one last kiss. It didn't last long though as James bolted down the hallway and into the elevator. His foot tapped quickly, as he looked down at his phone when a notification flashed and a ten percent battery warning popped up.

"Shit."

The elevator door opened at the lobby, and he slid the phone back into his pocket, before running out the main entrance. The valet turned to look at him, watching as James blazed right past and straight for the car parked off to the side. In only a few seconds he had the car started and was speeding down the street to rescue the girl that had captured his heart all those years ago.