Faster than any words could leave my mouth, Eli has his hands around Tommy's neck, pulling him up from Janet's body and shoving him into the fridge with a forceful push. Ouch.

I cringe from the sound that Tommy's head makes when it hits the stainless steel behind him. For a moment, it looks like that was all Eli planned to do because the two men find themselves in a silent stare down for a few seconds. Well, silent except for the heavy breathing and panting.

Tommy, Isabelle, Tess, Simon and I are frozen still as we watch the scene unfold, hoping that Eli just lets it go and this whole thing will be over. I have a feeling that is wishful thinking on our part, though. And turns out I was right. Instead of apologizing or trying to talk his way out, Tommy smirks. A smug, sly grin and not a second later, Eli's fist brutally connects with the side of Tommy's face. Bennett springs into action, trying to get between a barely struggling Eli, who delivers blow after blow at Tommy's face, and a very struggling Tommy who still manages to get a few hits in Eli's ribs and jaw.

Something nudges my side, momentarily distracting me from the fighting giants. Tess tilts her head to the ground and I take a look to find Janet sitting there, nearly naked. Her thong bunched at her ankles, her bra dangling off of one arm and her face, she looks smug, pleased, and heavily intoxicated. Isabelle is crouched down next to her, talking to her in a low voice. After a few words have been exchanged, Isa gets up and walks over to us, asking Tess to call a cab. Tess nods and I look at Isa in question.

"She told me her address, I'm taking her home. I don't think she will be of any good here tonight, she might just make things worse," she explains and I nod in agreement.

Tess and Isabelle bend down to help Janet up after helping her to put her underwear back on and throwing her coat over her lingerie-clad body. When they walk past me, I grab Janet's wrist.

"Did he force you?" I ask her, remembering the time Tommy cornered me in the kitchen.

"Don't fucking touch me, you homewrecker," Janet sneers and rips her hand from my grasp. Okay, I tried.

Tess and Simon follow Isa outside, they offered to help take Janet home in case she gets rowdy.

The scuffling and grunting in the background pulls my attention back to the men and I see Ben has managed to somewhat break up the fight. Tommy is leaning against the stove, his nose clearly broken and his left eye swollen shut. He definitely needs some medical attention. My gaze finds Eli, his knuckles bloodied and his lip sports a nasty cut, along with his eyebrow. He is clutching his side, his breath raging in and out. Bennett has his arms around him, trying to hold him back from charging at Tommy again. This looks bad but both men are breathing and alive, I guess it could've been much worse. Thank god Ben was here to help.

"Should I call an ambulance?" I direct my question at Bennett.

He goes to say something but Tommy beats him to it. "Would you be so kind, angel? Unless you are the one who'd like to tend to my wounds."

A hateful growl sounds from Eli and he looks ready to pounce again. Bennett is really struggling to hold him back.

"No, I don't think it'll be good to have them together in one house for much longer," Ben says. "I will drive that asshole over there to the hospital, you calm down Eli, alright?"

"Okay," I nod hastily and quickly walk over to them, trying to direct Eli's attention to me so Ben can get out with Tommy.

"Hey, big boy," I whisper, trying to lighten the mood. It doesn't work. "Eli? Look at me," I take his uninjured hand and squeeze. His eyes land on our hands. I nod at Ben who lets go of his hold on his best friend and rushes over to Tommy, dragging him out of the house. I let out a relieved sigh, thankful that the physical fighting has stopped for the night.

The tip of my tongue itches, wanting to lecture him about how violence is never the answer but I know it won't get me far. Not right now, at least.

"Let's get you cleaned up, hm?" My thumb strokes the back of his hand as I softly start to pull on it. It takes a while but he slowly starts to follow me into the bathroom. I sit him down on the edge of the bathtub and wet some towels with warm water. Under the sink, I find a first aid kit and take out the bottle of antiseptic.

I place all the things I need on the counter next to the tub and step between his spread legs. I smooth out his disheveled hair a little and grab the wet towel, cleaning out the cuts on his lip and eyebrow and wiping away the blood on his skin. I throw the towel over the edge of the bathtub, grab a cotton pad and spray it generously with antiseptic. Gently, I press it against his wounds and he hisses sharply from the sting, his hands shooting out to grab the back of my thighs in a bruising grip.

"Sorry," I wince.

I carefully proceed to clean his cuts before stepping back, letting his hands fall from my thighs. After tossing the blood-soaked cotton into the trash, I gently grab his hand, examining his very bruised knuckles. Blood covers his whole hand in streaks and I feel myself getting nauseous.

"Um, I think you should rinse them under warm water." Turning around, I turn the tap at the sink on.

"Shit," Eli softly curses.

"What is it?" I ask, spinning toward him.

"Turn back around," he orders while grabbing the wet towel next to him.

I do as he says and he wipes at something on the back of my thigh.

"I got blood on you," he explains. I don't say anything to that.

He then gets up and rinses his hands under the stream of warm water, coloring it red.

"I will look for some bandages," I say, opening the first aid kit again.

"I don't need any," Eli grumbles.

"Are you sure?" I hesitate.

"Yes, Romy. I'm sure."

After he dried his hands and tossed the dirty towel into the hamper he goes to walk out of the room. I grab his hand as he passes me, making him stop.

For the first time since before the fight, his eyes meet mine. They are sad. Hurt. Angry. Exhausted. Obviously, I feel for him, despite the distaste I have for his violent actions.

I want to say something, anything to comfort him but I don't know what to say. This is a lot. Even for me, a bystander to the situation, if you will. I don't want to imagine what he must feel right now.

Instead of saying anything, I sling my arms around his middle, hugging him. He stiffens for a second but soon wraps his arms around my body and kisses the top of my head. He squeezes me once before breaking up our hug. I look at his face and his eyes glaze over before the rage is back to dominating his expression.

Without another word, he storms out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. I follow, finding him hunched over his bed, shirtless, and carelessly throwing clothes into a duffle bag. He grabs a clean shirt and quickly pulls it over his head, covering the bruises forming on his ribs.

"What are you doing?" I carefully question him.

"Pack a bag," he gruffly orders.

"What?" I ask.

"I think you heard me, pack a fucking bag, Romy."

"But... why? For what? Where are you going?"

"I need to get away, okay?!" His voice raises, slightly startling me. He notices and goes on in a calmer but still rough voice. "I just need to get away for a while. Away from this house, my past, him. I would like you to come with me but I get it if you don't want to. In case you do, go and pack a bag. Now."

"O-okay. But where are we going?"

"Romy!" he barks out in annoyance and pinches the bridge of his nose. I flinch at his tone, my eyes brimming with tears but I push them away.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I'll go pack my bag," I snap at him and rush out into the hallway.

My nose hits something solid and I take a step back, finding Ben in front of me, Tess and Simon right behind him.

"Where are you rushing off to? Is Eli alright?" Ben asks.

"Hey babes, are you crying?" Tess follows up on her brother's question and I break. The tears now freely running down my face. In less than a second, I am in Tess's arms.

"He is okay, he's in his room. He is going away but won't tell me where and he told me to come with him so I was on my way to pack a bag and then I ran into you guys and I am so confused and overwhelmed. I don't just want to leave if you don't want me to go because we are here on vacation together and I- I don't know," I sob and Tess soothingly rubs my back.

"It's okay, honey. It's all good. Do you want to go with him?"

"Yes, I think so," I sniffle.

"Okay, then go with him. It's totally fine by me. I have Simon here now, right Simon?"

"Uh yes, yes that's right," he jumps in.

"Okay, thank you, Tess," I mumble into her shoulder and she laughs lightly.

"Go pack a bag, have a nice trip, where ever it'll be, and don't worry. It's all gonna be fine. Call me if you need anything," she reassures me as I straighten up and wipe away my tears. Bennett is no longer in the hallway with us, I assume he went to talk to Eli.

I hug Simon and Tess goodbye before I go to my room to pack a duffle bag.

"Ready?" Eli appears in my doorway after a short while.

"Yeah," I nod and walk over to him and his outstretched hand, fitting my own in his.

He doesn't let go of my hand until we reach his truck. Once we are seated inside, he grabs it again after starting the vehicle and reversing out of the driveway. Like he constantly needs to reassure himself that I am still there. Or maybe he wants to reassure me that he is still here. Maybe it's both, I don't know. I can tell he is still fuming, but it's more on the inside now, less on the outside.

"Where are we going?" I dare ask once more.

"My parents."

"Oh," is all I manage at first. "How long until we get there?"

"About two and a half hours. Try to get some rest."

I look at the time. 4:17am. It's like my body just now caught up with reality and the tiredness hits me at high speed. I yawn and look down at my clubbing outfit. Tight black jean shorts, a deep blue crop top, and white sneakers. I wish I had some sweatpants or cotton shorts and an oversized T-shirt right now. I slip out of my sneakers and rest my feet on the dashboard. A quick glance at Eli tells me that he noticed but doesn't seem to care. I really want to change into some comfortable clothes and I think about just grabbing my bag from the backseat but remembering the last time I took off my seatbelt while driving, I decide against it.

"Hey," I address Eli.

"Yes?" he softly grumbles.

"Can we pull over so I can get changed into some comfier clothes?" He is dressed in dark jeans and a T-shirt which I guess is comfortable enough since that's what he usually wears.

"Can it wait until we're at the next gas station? I need to fill up the tank."

"Yes, of course," I nod.

I look down at our still intertwined hands and examine the bruises and cuts on his knuckles.

"Does it still hurt?" I ask.

"Not really. It'll be worse in a few hours, once all the adrenaline has left my body."

"I see."

"You wanna know why I don't drink?" Eli changes the topic.

"Um, yes. If you want to tell me."

He clears his throat. "I was very close to being an addict - toward the end of my marriage. I didn't know then but Janet has been a drunk since she was a teen. I now know she went to rehab before we knew each other and she seemingly was all better when we met. She never told me about that part of her past." His jaw flexes and his hands have the steering wheel in a death grip.

"Of course, we drank but never excessively or regularly. But something changed and she started to drink fairly frequently. At least two glasses of wine each evening. It soon turned into a bottle. She urged me to drink with her and I was so in love, I did almost everything she wanted. At one point, she would only sleep with me when we were drunk. I started associating love, affection, and sex with my wife with alcohol, so I started to drink more."

"Shit." The little curse word escapes me before I can catch it. He throws a quick glance at me before focusing back on the road. "Sorry, go on," I tell him sheepishly.

He shakes his head as if to say 'don't worry about it' before he starts talking again. "When I showed symptoms of withdrawal, Ben noticed. He helped me out of it, got me into rehab. When Janet found out I was getting help, she was furious. Told me that I betrayed her. I found out soon after that she was cheating on me. Luckily, I wasn't in too deep so I only needed a few weeks of rehab to get over that shit with the booze. I never touched a drop since. Well, not voluntarily at least," he angrily spits out the last part.

Not wanting to have the focus be on Tommy, I divert the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you. That sounds truly terrible. Do you know what made her start drinking again?"

"No idea. To be honest, I am not sure she ever fully recovered before we got married. I am starting to think she was just really good at hiding it."

"Yeah, maybe. But you're very observant. I feel like you would've noticed something like that."

"I don't know. I was so in love, I didn't even notice myself becoming an alcoholic," he scoffs, sounding utterly disappointed in himself.

"Don't beat yourself up. As you said, you were in love."

"I'm not sure that's a good enough excuse," he shrugs. "Ah, there's a gas station. Get ready to get changed, I don't want to lose too much time, okay?" he gently asks.

"Aye aye, captain," I salute, excited to finally change into something comfortable. I see Eli's lips move up a teeny bit at the corners at my antics. Not quite a smile but close. He pulls into the gas station and moves to hop out of the truck but I hold him back by his biceps.

"Thank you for trusting me with your story," I smile at him and place a chaste kiss on his jaw.

"Thank you for listening," he says and pecks my lips before jumping out of his seat.