Territorial / Simon Minter

10

Emily and I had not long made it home. I walked into the apartment and spread myself, flat out, across the sofa. I could hear the pleasing sound of the kettle being boiled. Knowing the one thing that could calm me down after a busy day was a warm cup of tea. 

The incessant banging on the front door broke my relaxation. I groaned as i lifted myself from my position on the sofa and went to answer the door. The banging continued.

"I'm coming!" Now was not the time for someone to test my patience. I swung the door open harshly and was met by Ethan.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, is Simon here?" The question caught me off guard.

"Why would Simon be here?" I gestured to the almost empty living room, apart from Emily cautiously carrying our cups of tea in from the kitchen.

"He left the house earlier. He looked drunk and he kept mumbling your name. I thought you might've seen him" Ethan's face looked disappointed and worried.

"He turned up to our work earlier, started saying all this shit to me. Asking me if i missed him or something" I shrugged it off like it was no big deal, the confusion on Ethan's face evident.

"We don't know where he is. He hasn't come home. We just don't want him to get in trouble by myself, especially in his current state." Ethan was starting to panic.

"Come on. We'll help you find him" Emily grabbed her car keys from the hook behind the door, and yet again, our tea was left to go cold.

Emily, Ethan and i piled into Emily's fiesta. Ethan informed us that Josh, Tobi and Vik were already in Josh's car scanning the streets. We drove down various streets and slowed down when passing each alley way. Simon could be in danger. 

The boys kept calling him but he was not picking up. We were driving down an unknown street, the sky was becoming darker and the street lights were turning themselves on. In the distance i could see a figure hunched against the corner of a building. His knees were buckled and he had his head in his hands.

"Wait, pull up over here" I could not be sure that it was him. But the tall figure and spiky hair was not to go unnoticed. Emily slowed the car and pulled towards the curb. I jumped out before the car had even stopped and ran towards the hunched figure.

I could hear him groaning, in pain. My heart clenched as i realised that i had been correct. It was Simon.

"Simon?" I called, coming closer. He removed his head from his hands and his tired eyes met mine. 

"Zoe?" He looked shocked, slowly getting to his feet and wincing. Someone must have beat him up pretty good. 

"Simon, are you okay?" As i reached him, my instinct was to wrap my arms around his torso and pull him closer to me. I heard his breath catch, he was obviously not expecting me to pull him into a hug. The worrying and seeing him look so hurt must have fueled me to do this. I felt his arms wrap around my small shoulders, i was shocked to have him reciprocate the gesture. "Simon, what happened?"

"Some guys jumped me, there was too many of them to get out of their unharmed you know? But i did some damage" He pulled away from me and there was a small smile playing on his lips. He was glad he was able to cause "some damage" on this big group of guys. I found myself smiling back at him. But when i caught sight of his split lip and bloody eye, my smile slowly faded.

"He's here, we've found him. Man, what the fuck?" I could hear Ethan voice coming behind me. He had obviously called the boys, to let him know that Simon was with us, he was safe. Simon reluctantly removed his gaze from mine and moved it to his cursing friend.

"Mate, i'm alright" 

"Why the fuck were you out, causing trouble by yourself?" Ethan was pissed off, it wasn't hard to tell.

"I'm not sure" Simon's eyes flicked by towards me. I couldn't help but remember his anger as he left my work earlier. Was it something i said? If anyone was meant to be annoyed about that situation, it was me. He full on insulted me. 

"Let's just get back to the house, the boys are worried sick." Ethan put his arm under Simon's shoulder as they hobbled back towards Emily's car. 

"Try not to get blood on my seats" Emily attempted to make a small joke, to try and lighten the mood. I saw the corners of Simon's mouth twitch into a smile. I gave her a small nod, to let her know it was appreciated.

I climbed into the back of the car, next to Simon. Ethan sat in the front and gave Emily the directions to their house. I was quite excited to see where these guys lived. I was watching out of the window, watching as the trees lining the road blurred as we drove past. I turned my attention back to Simon, seeing that his attention was already on me.

I grabbed his hand and rubbed my thumb lightly over his cut knuckles, he flinched but did not remove his hand from my own. When i glanced back up at his face, i shook my head lightly, showing my disapproval towards his acts today. He gave me a small smile, then turned his head towards the window.

"Pull in here" Ethan's voice pulled me from staring at Simon. I let go of Simon's hand and took a look at where we were pulling in to. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my lips as i witnessed the house in front of me. The whole outside was made of brick and the window sills were all painted white, it looked so elegant! The driveway was huge, big enough to fit a good 15 cars, and still have space! 

"This house is amazing" The boys chuckled at my astonishment, as Emily picked a place to park her car.

"Are you going to come in?" Ethan was asking Emily, however i was already getting out of the car and waiting to go inside. I wanted to see the inside of this beauty. 

"I guess" I laughed at Emily's politeness. Ethan walked round to the other side of the car to help Simon out.

"Mate, i'm fine, seriously! I've been worse than this before" I did not even want to think of a time where Simon had looked worse than he did right now. We followed the boys up the driveway and i could not contain my excitement as Ethan was fumbling with the keys in the lock.

"Fucking hell" I slapped my hand over my mouth after my vulgar statement. I couldn't help it, the interior of the house was better than the exterior! In the middle of the foyer, there was a grand spiral staircase that ran up to the second floor. The floor was all made of wood and the walls were all a polished white. I did not expect the boys to live in a place that looked so formal.

I followed the boys into the kitchen and Simon filled up a glass of water. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"Where the hell have you been?" I had never seen this guy, that appeared in front of us, before. His messy hair was blonde and his voice seemed too loud to have come out of his mouth. 

"Harry, shut the fuck up. My headache is so bad right now" Simon groaned as he bent his head over the sink, cup of water still in hand.

"Harry, this is Emily and this is Zoe" I waved my hand towards the guy, who seems to be called Harry. 

"Hey guys, it's nice to meet you" He had a huge grin on his face, it looked mischievous.

"Yeah, you too" Emily's small voice spoke up from beside me.

"I need to sit down" We all followed Simon into the living room. There were too black, leather sofas facing a huge TV in the corner of the room.

"You guys live like royalty" I announced as i plonked myself on the sofa between Simon and Emily.

"Yeah, we're a pretty big deal" I looked towards Simon and he winked at me. Well if that wasn't a sight to remember.