I breathlessly stared at Antonio, at a complete loss for words. Where did he come from? What was he doing here?

An answer to my latter question formed pretty quickly. From the bedroom Antonio had just come out of, a curvy girl emerged. She was twirling her golden hair and had a pouty look on her face.

"Baby, come back," the short blonde whined.

Oh, I thought. Makes sense.

Antonio's eyes ripped away from me to the girl. He opened his mouth, but just then, he was abruptly punched in the face. Of course, the assailant was Buzz. I briefly wondered how he had recovered so quickly.

"Should've known it was you, Brown," Buzz sent a bitter laugh Antonio's way.

"Who else?" Antonio dryly stated, nonchalantly wiping at his bloody nose.

In a blink, he punched Buzz right back. The fight was in full swing.

"Yo, fight!" a kid near the stairs hollered. As if that was a trigger word, nearly everyone within hearing range hurried over to witness the brawl. Cheers and shouts filled the air. What was this, a football game?

"Damn! Antonio and Buzz again?" A girl winced. "Didn't they just fight, like, yesterday?"

My mouth dropped open. Before I could even dwell on the girl's words, a crash made me jump and face the fight once more. Antonio had, again, shoved Buzz into the wall. This time, Buzz had rammed into a glass portrait and it had shattered.

"You're dead, Brown!"

Buzz landed a punch on Antonio's shoulder.

Antonio laughed, eyes practically glittering with amusement. "That's the best you got?"

"Think this is funny?" Buzz growled, swinging at Antonio and missing.

"A bit, yeah."

Antonio launched a punch so heavy that Buzz doubled over and let out a pained cry. That wasn't even the end of it. Antonio kicked Buzz's abdomen, making him roll over and collapse onto his back. The relentless attack against Buzz continued. Even I had to wince. It was clear who was winning. Before the brutal fight could escalate more than it already had, the host of the party pushed through the crowd.

"Guys, cut it out!" He frantically shouted, looking at the broken glass on the floor in horror. When no one listened, he miserably shook his head. "Mom's gonna kill me."

I winced in sympathy before focusing back on the fight. I was on the tip of my toes. Two guys attempted to wrench the boys apart, but Antonio wasn't letting up.

"I've never seen them go at it like this," a voice in the crowd yelped, sounding half-afraid, half-excited.

"Me neither, what do you think they're fightin' over this time?" another voice questioned.

"Who the hell knows when it comes to them," the other one laughed.

Though, the motivation of the fight became clear soon enough.

"Say it," Antonio growled, maintaining a taut headlock on Buzz.

I wondered what he was talking about. Some, including me, held their breaths to hear what was being said.

"I-I'll never do it again," Buzz moaned, clutching his head.

"Never do what?" Antonio barked, his hold tightening.

"I'll never force myself on a girl," Buzz wheezed.

A couple people gasped. A stiff nod from Antonio concluded the fight. He let go of Buzz and pushed away the guys who had attempted to stop the fight. Buzz's limp body lay in a bloody heap on the ground for all to see. I would've thought he was dead if it weren't for the way he pitifully wheezed. I had to remind myself not to feel bad. After all, Buzz had assaulted me. I only shuddered to think of the gruesome act he may have committed if Antonio hadn't come at just the right time.

Everyone watched in awe as Antonio spectated the blood on his knuckles like nothing. Then, his dark eyes landed on me.

"Let's go."

I did a double take. Though, Antonio left no room for discussion. He walked directly up to me and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. He didn't even have to push through he crowd. Everyone moved for him.

I could see the way their eyes watched us. Whispers followed after us–who is she? How does Antonio know her? Do you think they were fighting over her? Where is he taking her?

The last question, even I didn't know the answer to.

I was left with no choice but to follow after Antonio, who breezed down the stairs and walked out of the house.

"Antonio, wait!" I shouted. He was going too fast.

Though, he only stopped when we were outside and away from everyone's prying eyes. I could admit that the coolness of the air and the stillness of the night relaxed me. It was then, that Antonio turned around and analyzed me up and down. His gaze was nothing like Buzz's... no, Antonio's was warm and attentive. The pure care in his eyes heated up my insides.

"Are you okay, Flower?" He asked with a concerned expression.

Flower. Again with that strange nickname.

"I will be," I swallowed. "But not if it wasn't for you. I thought he was gonna..."

Antonio frowned and nodded in understanding. Those dark eyes of his never left mine when he said, "Let me know if Buzz—or anyone, for that matter—ever bothers you again."

I silently mulled over his words. An unspoken promise to protect me. I couldn't help but smile at him, even after the trauma I'd been put through tonight. His dark eyes thoughtfully flickered up to the starry night sky. There was a faint bruise on his cheek, but it was nothing in comparison to how much he'd roughed up his opponent. I wondered where he learned how to fight like that...

Antonio rummaged through his messy hair and opened his mouth. Though, I never got the chance to hear what he was going to say, for he was abruptly interrupted.

"Rose!"

We ripped our eyes away from each other, to see a more than drunk Lily running over. She latched her arms around me.

"Rosey. Rosey Posey," she said with a sloppy smile, holding onto me. "I looked all over for you."

"How much did you have to drink while I was gone?" I skeptically questioned, prying her pale arms off of me.

"Just a little," she slurred, frowning when I made her let go of me. "Where were you? I thought you left me. I wasn't surprised though."

"What? I would never," I said, adamantly shaking my head. "I'll tell you what happened when you're, well, not drunk."

"Hey, is this Lonely Lily?" Antonio asked in surprise, staring at her.

We both looked at him in dismay. Before I could jump to defend Lily, she beat me to it.

"My name is Willy," she frowned, upset.

"Your name is Lily," I corrected, refraining from laughing.

"That's what I said, silly," she rolled her blue eyes.

From behind her, a swarm of people walked out of the front door.

"Where's everyone going?" I asked in confusion.

"Party's over," Antonio said knowingly. "Always is after a fight."

He seemed used to this. I hummed thoughtfully. While people began to walk around us, Antonio looked down at the two of us.

"I'll walk you girls home," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

My hazel eyes suddenly bulged. "No, we can't go home like this."

I glanced at Lily's drunken figure, who was looking up at the stars and laughing. "They're so tiny," she giggled.

"Jo will kill me," I muttered, shaking my head.

Jo was mostly easygoing, but even she had rules set in place. Lily's piss drunk state would not be taken lightly.

"Who's Jo? Your mom?" Antonio curiously asked, his inquisitive eyes flicking over my face.

I froze at the question, looking away from him.

"Uh, yeah..." I trailed off. "Look, Lily. Maybe we should go to your house instead."

The mere suggestion made her gasp. She almost instantly sobered up. "What? No! I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!"

"Well, we can't go to my house," I dramatically huffed.

"Nor mine," she retorted.

"Alright, alright," Antonio shook his head at the pair of us. "We'll head over to my place."

We both glanced at him strangely.

"That wasn't an option," Lily stated. Though, I wasn't as quick to shut down the idea.

"Where would I sleep?" I curiously asked.

"You could always sleep with me," Antonio coyly shrugged.

"Zip it, Brown," I smacked his shoulder.

He snickered and lazily raised up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright. The two of you could stay in the guest room."

"That's better," I stiffly nodded before hesitantly glancing at Lily for approval. "It's either that or be grounded until senior year."

Lily shrugged. "Antonio's house it is."

I couldn't believe she was being so nonchalant about this. I knew that when she was sober in the morning, she'd freak.

"Okay," I exhaled. "I'll text Jo and say I'm sleeping over at your house. You text your mom and say–"

"Done!" Lily interrupted with a wide smile, her phone chiming with the sent whoosh.

"Alright, let's go. Dad's out of town, so it'll be easy to sneak you two in." Just as Antonio was about to lead us away, a nasally drawl made us each halt.

"Babe, where are you going?" Standing on the front porch of the house was the curvy blonde Antonio had been with earlier, right before he saved me from Buzz's attack. I grimaced to think of what they'd been doing in that bedroom.

"I'm going home, Beth, and you should too," his voice was stiff and irritated.

"What, you'd rather be with these two losers over me?" Beth shrilly demanded. Her voice was so loud that those around us began to stare.

Lily and I shared equal looks of incredulity.

"They're not losers," he snapped. "And I'm not your babe."

The blonde huffed and ran back inside. A couple of onlookers giggled into their mouths.

"Sorry about that," Antonio muttered as he promptly began to lead us away from the party. Though, he didn't look all that sorry.

"Am I dreaming, or did Antonio Brown just defend us from Beth's wrath," Lily dramatically whispered while Antonio was ahead of us, clutching onto my arm.

"You act like he's some celebrity. He's just a boy," I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah, and Beth is just a girl," Lily sarcastically said.

"Well, isn't she?" I laughed.

Her blue eyes bulged. "Absolutely not—she's practically the spawn of Satan." I almost giggled, but there wasn't a hint of amusement behind her eyes. "In the ninth grade, she dumped her iced coffee underneath a girl's shirt because she was wearing the same shoes as her."

"Poor girl," I offhandedly winced.

"Yeah. Poor girl was me," Lily bitterly scoffed.

"Are you serious?" I gasped. "Lils, that's horrible!"

"You're telling me," she solemnly nodded. "I couldn't bring myself to walk into the cafeteria for a month. Anyways, I'm only telling you this so you know to watch out for Beth. She's pure evil, and she's been obsessed with Antonio ever since she first laid eyes on him in freshman year. Anyone who stands in her way of him is dead meat."

"She sounds awful, but I'm not scared of her," I shrugged.

"Words of a newbie. You'll learn soon enough," Lily sympathetically patted my head. I laughed and swatted her hand away.

Just then, Antonio hollered out at us. "Speed it up, you two. My house is a long walk from here, and at the rate you're going, we won't be there until sunrise."

Lily and I shared looks and sped up. "I thought you lived around here," I said once we finally caught up to him.

"Kind of. I live on the other side of town," he vaguely said.

"Where the houses are bigger and the people are richer!" Lily sung, running in front of us to gallop. "That kinda rhymed," she shouted from ahead.

We laughed at her behavior. Clearly, the effects of the alcohol she'd consumed hadn't quite worn off. Meanwhile, Antonio gazed down at me. "My friend is coming over in the morning. I hope you don't mind."

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll be long gone by then," I replied.

A shiver overtook me as goosebumps arose on my skinny arms. As it got later in the night, it also got colder. I hadn't realized Antonio was taking off his leather jacket until he'd wrapped it around my shoulders.

I looked at him in surprise. "No, you don't have t–"

"Just take it," he ordered.

All he was left in was a thin black t-shirt that accentuated his arm muscles.

"B-But I'm not cold," I stuttered as I violently trembled.

He gave me a deadpan look. Even a blind man would be able to see I was lying.

"Alright, fine." My cheeks faintly reddened. "I'll give it back when we get home."

Something I said seemed to make him frown. "Yeah. Home."

We hadn't even realized how far ahead Lily was, until a car loudly honked and we snapped our heads up. There she was, doing cartwheels in the middle of the empty road. A lone car was waiting for her to move.

We both ran over. With his longer limbs, Antonio reached her first and tugged her away, waving at the car to apologize. By the time I reached them, I was breathless. Antonio was scolding her and Lily was laughing.

I couldn't lie, I was a little surprised that Antonio was so caring. Maybe I'd misjudged him.

• • •