Aedus nodded to what Lydia and stated simply “ I understand.” Apparently, she was ok with being told what to do. He had to resist punching Eli again as he talked down to Lydia. He hadn’t learned anything he just knew that she was kneeling next to him.

Aedus put his hands up in a gesture that said he’d go along easily; his temple throbbed lightly to the bass of the song. He looked too Lydia from the side as she joined them on the way out, at least the crowd parted for them this way.

His lips perked slightly as he watched her pout her way from the club. She was on the side of them had been tagged twice and had a light red bruise. He knew how to take a punch too, most of the shock was avoided by moving away from it, if you resisted the movement you absorbed the damage but when you went with it there was a lot less to absorb.

“You know, this isn’t the only club in town.” He was tempting a lot; it would probably be the end of a relationship, a toxic one, but still he was right in the way that he had made assumptions.

At first they walked in silence, the mass clearing a way for them. Dia felt a distinctively awkward atmosphere as they did so, and she wished she could just melt into the ground. She glanced at Aedus, for a brief second, checking to see if he had sustained any surprise injuries. Besides the bruise starting to form on the side of his face, he seemed fairly unscathed. For that she was relieved, although she wasn’t quite sure why.

>> “You know, this isn’t the only club in town.”

She resisted rolling her eyes, and settled for a slight smirk. “I’d love to, honestly…but I have to make sure he won’t attack anyone else tonight. But maybe another time?” Essentially, she was taking a rain check. She wasn’t sure how wise her choice was, but she liked Aedus, violence and such aside. She thought she might like to get to know him better.

“You probably think he’s a horrible guy, that he doesn’t know how to treat a girl right at all,” she said suddenly, holding open the door for her companion, “And based on tonight, I wouldn’t blame you.

“I’ll admit, I’ve almost never seen him like this, not this jealous, at least. It was a shock. I never thought he’d pick a fight. But you don’t know how much he’s helped me out. This is going to sound corny and fake, but honestly? Without him, I don’t know where I’d be. He gave me a starting point in my life.” Without him, she’d probably be homeless and confused and cold at night.

She didn’t know why she was spilling her guts all of a sudden. Essentially, Aedus was still a stranger. She didn’t even know his last name. And yet here she was, trying to make her relationship seem not so one-sided and harsh.

Lydia shivered slightly as a cold breeze blew past, and cursed herself for leaving her jacket in the car. She thought it’d be more convenient, but the autumn evening was freezing. Thin, short dresses did not offer much protection against the elements.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I was just being civilized today. I know how to fend for myself, at least when it comes to Eli. Believe me, he’s getting a stern talk when we get home.”

He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a random piece of paper and snatched a pin from the pocket of the bouncer before he left, His scribbled phone number found the paper before the bouncer could punch him. He handed the bouncer his pen back and Lydia the piece of paper.

Aedus opened his mouth to reply when she was holding the door open and talking about how she didn’t blame him for thinking he was a bad guy. She picked back up before he could decide how to put it gently. He listened to her speak her piece before he started.

“look, I don’t think he is horrible, I think he is brash, I think he talks down to you in anger and the way he orders you around he apparently thinks he owns you, It’s great to help people but just because he helped you find a place to start, doesn’t mean you should take that from him.” If he had a jacket he would have left that with her. but as it was. He started to unbutton his shirt and then unrolled the sleeves. He handed her the shirt, it would at least keep her a little bit warmer while she waited. “You can let him throw it away later, and if he has a problem with it tell him not to make you wait in the cold next time.”

Aedus couldn’t help but believe her when she said she could take care of herself. “He doesn’t hit you does he?” He wouldn’t have assumed so, except that he had no control of himself tonight, and she said she could fend for herself. She shouldn’t have to.”

>> “look, I don’t think he is horrible, I think he is brash, I think he talks down to you in anger and the way he orders you around he apparently thinks he owns you, It’s great to help people but just because he helped you find a place to start, doesn’t mean you should take that from him.”

Lydia looked down at her feet for a moment, mulling over her response. What he was saying was true, at least some of it. And she’d already started an honesty trend, so she supposed she should continue it. “I…it’s true I’ve noticed that he has a bit of a…controlling streak. But he hasn’t really acted on it much. Probably the most I’ve seen of it ever, was just now.” She bit her lip, thinking about what Aedus must’ve seen.

Was it really that bad? And sure she was saying that Eli normally wasn’t like this, that his controlling traits were not as dominant on normal days. But what if this was just the start? She’d seen how low he could sink. What was to stop him the next time?

While her mind jumped to all sorts of conclusions, Aedus was unbuttoning and shrugging off his shirt. She nearly jumped when he held it up to her, and took it apologetically. He was wearing nothing but a thin piece of fabric underneath, and the cool winds were still flying around….but she was freezing, so she shakily slipped the shirt on. It smelled good.

>> “You can let him throw it away later, and if he has a problem with it tell him not to make you wait in the cold next time.”

“No, I’ll wash it and return it to you, if you’re still up for meeting again. And, er, he probably forgot I left my jacket in the car.”

>> “He doesn’t hit you does he?”

Lydia nearly choked. “No! No…no. No. He doesn’t.” The sheer bluntness of the question, plus its partially out-of-the-blue apparition, knocked her unsteady and caused her to stammer her answer out like an idiot.

He looked into her eyes and he believed her in spite of the answer’s shock, she didn’t look ashamed and he hadn’t noticed any bruises. “Yeah I’d like to meet up again, and Sorry, I had to ask.” He was too, sorry that he had to ask, no one deserved to be treated like that, and she was sitting here defending him the whole time too. He was convinced that he hadn’t hit and more so that she could take care of herself.

“You’ve got my number. Give me a call and we’ll figure out where to meet.” He smiled genuinely, “It was nice meeting you Lydia.” He glanced at a car that whipped into a parking space. “That looks like your ride I’ll go ahead and leave you here; I don’t want to stir things up more than I already have.” He had no Idea what he drove, He figured it would be expensive, and driven poorly. And the car fit the profile. So he sighed and went on his way, he didn’t bother waving to her as he left, not out of spite but out of consideration for her drive home, the shirt was already going to be trouble enough.

As he walked away he imagined how his night might have gone without the interruption of a certain Neanderthal. as He went and thought about how much fun he'd been having before Eli showed up, His mood slowly soured into a grumpiness that he tried to avoid, he hated it when he was one the people on the street that he might avoid if given the chance.

>> “Yeah I’d like to meet up again, and Sorry, I had to ask.”

She gave a nervous chuckle and nodded, understanding for the most part. He was just concerned…but had Eli’s behavior really given off that sort of image? That was disconcerting. But at least Aedus wanted to meet again. She wanted to make friends, and here was a great candidate.

>> “You’ve got my number. Give me a call and we’ll figure out where to meet. It was nice meeting you Lydia. That looks like your ride I’ll go ahead and leave you here; I don’t want to stir things up more than I already have.”

At this reminder, Lydia slipped the slip of paper into her clutch, as to prevent its loss, and smiled at her companion before he took off. “Nice meeting you too, I think. See you later,” she said, waving to his back, as Eli’s car rolled around the curb. She gave a sigh and prepared herself for whatever was going to happen on the ride home, whether it be yelling or apologizing or silence.

She really hoped it would be one of the latter, she did not feel like having a scream-fest at the moment. She felt tired, really, and just wanted to wipe off her shoddily-applied makeup and crawl into bed.

((Continues here for Lydia.))