They say, all good boys go to heaven, but bad boys bring heaven to you

-Julia Michaels

"Oh yeah?" I raised an eyebrow at him in a challenging way.

"Let's cut the small talk, hm?" He said, folding his arms on his chest. "Stay away from her."

I stared at him for two seconds straight, and then burst out laughing. I bent over with laughter, my shoulders shaking. "It's funny you think you can ask me to stay away from my fucking girlfriend."

"She is using you." He hissed out. "She is using you to try and replace me. But she won't be successful."

"Yeah, she wouldn't." I nodded. "Because I am not you. I am nothing like you. I would never, ever leave her because of some stupid law order."

He flinched visibly. "You do not have any right to say something you know nothing about."

"Sure, Noah. She's not looking for your replacement. If she was she would probably be with some prissy idiot who thinks he's better from everyone and takes her for granted. Instead, she's with me. And there has not been a second since I've met her when I took her for granted."

"You think you have everything figured out, don't you?" He shook his head. "You think you've got her for life. You're wrong, Theodore. Amelia is scared of commitments. She'll run away in the opposite direction when things start getting complicated."

"Keep your opinions to yourself, would you?" But his words hit hard. Because I knew they were true.

He might have seen the expression on my face, because he smirked. "She didn't confess. I know that look. She doesn't reciprocate your feelings."

"Shut up." I spat out. His words were making me angry. His words were making me lose hope.

"She will never reciprocate your feelings. You know why?" When I didn't say anything, he continued. "Because in her heart, it'll always be me."

"SHUT UP!"

"She may say she doesn't love me, but she'll always love me. I'm the one she wants. I'm the only one she'll always want. You ever wonder why she didn't say she loves you back? Because she doesn't, and she never will."

My fists clenched at my sides. I was a second away from swinging it in his face.

"No girl would even talk to her ex boyfriend if she loved someone else. But she is. She tries not to but she does talk to me."

I was shaking with anger. I hated that his words were getting to me. I hated that he was saying all the right things to get me riled up and I was getting riled up. I hated that as much as I didn't want to believe him, he was saying the truth. Everything he was saying was true in a twisted way.

"It won't be long before she willingly gives herself to me. Everything. And then she'll forget your name, because the only name on her lips would be mine. The only name she'll be screaming would be mine. Because I will give her something you can never." Then he gave me a sick smirk, his whole body screaming his cockiness. "Pleasure."

My fist connected with his jaw before he could say another word. His head flung back, I smirked when I heard the sickening crunch of a bone. "Do not ever talk about her that way."

His fist came at me, but he was slow, giving me enough time to duck. When he tried punching me again, I blocked him.

"Why?" He panted. "You afraid it's the truth? You scared you would never be able to make her feel like I did, and will do in future?"

My jaw tightened. "No." I dug my nails in my palm to stop myself from hitting him again.

He chuckled. "She will never give herself to you. She will never give herself to anyone but me."

I wanted to laugh in his face, call out his bluff. But I didn't. Because that was mine and Mia's personal matter. The fact that I'd made love to her wasn't something I'd go shouting to the entire world. It was for me, for her, for us, and it would always be ours. I had no intention of sharing my sexual life with this pathetic asshole, especially since it involved my angel. He would have been bleeding on the floor if it were up to me, but I was not hitting him because of my team and Mia. Honestly, I really thought I was showing him much more patience than I thought I could.

"It's a pity, Theodore." He clicked his tongue at me, his eyes were laughing at me. It was that moment when I knew his next words would unleash the beast inside me. It was his expression that told me he would be on the ground the next second, because what he would say would make me furious. "She has the sweetest taste. It's a pity you won't ever be able to-"

My fist connected with his jaw again.

I could have controlled myself if he said something to me, but the fact that he was talking about her in such a disgusting way was something I couldn't tolerate. I held him by his jaw, keeping my grip tight enough to hurt. His weak punches made me want to pity him. And then he raised his leg and kicked me in the stomach. I bent down, losing my grip. It wasn't that strong but it was still painful. That made me madder.

"I marked her mine, Theodore." He hissed. "I kissed her lips. I touched her body. I licked her sweet spots. I bit her skin and-"

I pounced.

He fell down on the ground, his eyes closed, hands coming up to shield him from me. But the devil inside me was unleashed. He was talking about my angel as if she was a fucking toy, and he was going to regret it. His face was a mess, blood pooling around his nose, his eyes turned black. At that moment, even if he got me kicked off the team, I would momentarily feel satisfied for punching the shit out of him when he talked about my girlfriend like that.

"Theo, get off." I felt hands around me. I jerked them away.

My knee was in between his legs, pressing hard. My arm hurt from the constant punches I was throwing on his face, but it didn't matter. People had gathered around us in a crowd, looking at the fight like thirsty civilians. It wasn't as if this kind of brawl happened everyday. The asshole beneath me was near to losing consciousness.

Teach him, teach him what happens when he messes with you. My inner voice hissed at me.

"Theo! Stop! Theo."

"You'll kill him. Fucking stop!"

I felt arms around me again. But this time I felt the tingles down till my toes. My fist momentarily stopped.

"Theo," I heard my angel call me. "Please, stop." Her voice broke off at the end. She sounded as if she was about to cry. That made me jerk to reality. I got up, blinking, turning around.

She flinched away.

My blood turned cold. No, she couldn't be afraid of me. I would torture myself rather than hurt her intentionally. Her eyes flickered over to her ex lover lying beaten up on the ground, his mouth open but no words coming out. For a second I saw a flicker of sadness and hurt in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had come. And when her eyes came to rest on me, the pain in them increased. Emotions like disbelief and shock ran on her face.

I looked down at the thought of her thinking of me as a monster. But when she flung her arms around me, I didn't know how to react. I stood there, astounded. When I heard her sob in my neck, my hands unfroze. I clutched her tightly, burying my face in her neck, pulling her so close to me that there was no space for air.

"I love you." I whispered in her neck. "Tell me he doesn't mean anything to you."

"Theo-"

"Tell me I'm the only one."

"You're the only one, Theo." She said quietly. She looked at my face, gently stroking my cheek where the bastard had managed to land a punch. I hissed when her finger landed on the sorest spot. Her eyes were shining with tears, and I wiped off the ones that had already fallen.

She tugged at my hand, pulling me away from the scene. I saw her looking back at Noah one last time, before she took me to the infirmary. I sat down on one of the beds as she wet a cloth, her expression still solemn, not saying a word. She wordlessly wiped my cheek as I looked up at her. She was trying her best not to cry, I could see it.

"Angel-"

"Why did you have to do that?" She asked softly. "Why?"

"Because he needed to know I wouldn't tolerate him talking shit about you."

"Even if he gets you off the team?"

"Even if he gets me off the team." I cupped her face. "I love football, Mia. But you are my world. It's hard for me to imagine my life without football, but imagining my life without you makes me want to choke."

Her eyes watered more.

"And he can't get me off the team. Coach assured me I would play no matter what."

"You can't take that for granted, Theo. There are situations he cannot protect you from." She said, grabbing the first aid kit from a drawer.

"I know."

"You almost killed him. I couldn't-I wasn't able to reach you. What if I hadn't come? You weren't listening-"

"Angel," I got up and made her look at me. "You did come, you did stop me. So there's no need thinking about that now."

"You looked so furious." She looked down. "I've seen you beat someone up at the club but this was so much worse. You-you looked like you wanted to kill him."

"That guy at the club tried to touch you. Noah talked about you as if you were a filthy, dirty little toy. There's a difference." Then I hesitantly asked her. "Are you scared of...of me?"

She looked up, surprised. "I'm not scared of you, Theo. I'm scared of what you might have done if I hadn't come. I'm scared of what you might do in future if I'm not there."

"But you'll be there." I murmured. When she didn't say anything, I sighed. "I'm sorry I let his words get to me. But he was saying the truth, and it just...it just snapped something inside me. I'm not sorry I punched him, Mia. He deserved that. But I'm sorry for giving him a reaction when I'd promised you I would try not to."

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my chest. I twirled a strand of her hair around my finger. I saw a stretcher being pulled into the infirmary, the beaten up figure lying on it, his eyes still closed.

Mia moved away away from me, towards them "Is he gonna be okay?" I heard her ask.

"Yeah, just some time." The nurse replied.

She came to me again, grabbing my raw knuckles. They didn't even hurt when she brushed her fingers on my red skin. She bandaged them just like she'd done after the club fight, and I stroked her cheek in return when she was done. Her eyes had dried off from the tears, but she still had that solemn and painful expression on her face.

"Let me take you home." I whispered to her.

She snorted. "You're not driving. I'll take you home."

I let her pull me out of the infirmary. She didn't push me away when I grabbed her close to me and tucked her to my side. She sighed contently when I pressed my lips to her forehead, and sunk into my embrace.

I'll deal with the consequences later. I had her now, it was all okay.

*