15 - halloween

Amina

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Halloween weekend was finally upon us and I was ready to get completely wasted. After the stress of dealing with midterm exams, I was set on enjoying myself before diving in to prepare for finals.

Aaron and I were a bit rocky after everything that happened. He apologized several times and kept sending over flowers before I finally decided to give him a second chance. I was still weary though, aggression like that wasn't something I could ignore.

The biggest party of the semester was being thrown this weekend in downtown Los Angeles. The girls and I had already picked out our costumes. Since it was my first Halloween away from home, I wanted to go all out. I was dressing up as a sexy tuxedo bunny.

Despite it being almost November, Los Angeles was still warm this time of year. My hair was flat ironed and wore fishnet tights with my black body suit. The costume came with white cuff links, a bow tie, and ears to throw it all together. I added thigh-high black boots before putting on my makeup.

"I'm gonna see if he's here yet!" I call out to the girls as I enter the living room. I walk out of the apartment to look over the balcony for Aaron's car.

"Wow." I hear someone mumble from behind me. My eyes widen in surprise as I turn around. Dominic was sitting in his usual area with a blunt in his hand. "You going out?" He asks.

"Isn't that obvious?" I ask motioning to my outfit.

"The last time I saw this much of you was when I was lathering you up in the shower." He says with a chuckle.

My eyes widen again at his comment. I looked around behind me to make sure no one was around to hear what he had said. Especially Aaron.

"Can you not say things like that out loud?"

"Why? Your little boyfriend doesn't know that we hooked up?" He says in a teasing tone.

"Not yet, and I'd appreciate it if you don't tell him."

He shakes his head at me as he lets out a puff of smoke. "You can't build a relationship on lies. Not that I think you should continue building that relationship anyway."

I raise my brow, "You suddenly have a lot of opinions. What would you know about relationships Mr. Loner? And I'm not lying I just haven't told the whole truth yet."

"You learn a lot from observing in the background." Suddenly the sound of honking could be heard from behind the balcony. Dominic shakes his head again. "What a gentleman."

"Oh, hush." I opened the door to my apartment, announcing to the girls that our ride was here.

They both come out ready and in their costumes. Kendra was dressed as a ninja, a sexy one of course. Her long-sleeved black and red leather body suit clung to her body and her hair was out into two space buns.

Bianca comes out right after her wearing her simple cute nurse outfit. It was cute but not as sexy as you'd expect. She had a white tutu-like skirt and a little nurse hat to complete the outfit.

"Fishnets seem to be the theme huh?" I ask looking down at all of our costumes.

"Duh, it's Halloween. Let's go party!" Kendra cheers.

"Be safe." Dominic mutters as we make our way down the steps. By the tone of his voice, I'm sure he didn't expect us to hear him but I did.

As we approach Aaron's car, the smile on his face visibly drops. "Ami, what are you wearing?"

"My costume! You like?" I ask flirtatiously as I spin to show him.

He shakes his head in disapproval. "Maybe for the bedroom, not a party where everyone else can see."

Kendra scoffs, "It's a Halloween party! Every girl in there will be dressed the same way."

"Was I asking you?" He retorts, making Kendra's eyes widen, as do mine as his tone turns serious. "Go back upstairs and change."

It was my turn to scoff, "And what did I tell you about trying to boss me around? It's Halloween and I will do what I want."

"Yeah, women's rights!" Kendra exclaims. Bianca sat in the back quietly waiting to see how the situation would unfold.

"I'm not taking you to the party like that." Aaron says ignoring Kendra.

"Then I won't go with you. Simple." I retort back. "Come on guys."

The girls get out of the car, following behind me as I walk back to the apartment. "Fine then!" Aaron exclaims back at us.

"Ami, how are we getting there? I've been drinking already I can't drive." Kendra says as we walk.

"What! When did you start drinking?"

"While I got dressed." She giggled.

"Bianca what about you?"

"My cars at the shop remember?"

"Can't you drive Kendra's car?" I ask her.

Kendra shakes her head quickly, "I may be tipsy but I'm not stupid. Have you seen the way Bianca drives? I'm not letting her crash my baby."

"Hey! I'm not that bad."

"Let's just call an Uber." Kendra suggests.

I shake my head, "I already checked, it's high volume right now we'd have to pay like $50."

"To get downtown? That's ridiculous!"

I sigh as we reach the top of the stairs. "Trouble in paradise?" Dominic asks with a chuckle.

My eyes light up as an idea comes to mind. "Dominic?" I ask in a sweet tone as I approach him.

He looks up at me with an unamused look. "No." He states simply.

"You don't even know what I'm asking!"

"I'm not giving you a ride." He says nonchalantly.

"Oh come on, please? I'll pay you back the gas money."

He shakes his head, "I don't want your money."

"Fine then, I'll owe you a favor."

He raises a brow, "A favor huh?"

I nod, "Anything."

His eyes narrow, "Be careful what you promise."

"Anything." I repeat.

He looks me over before thinking, "Fine. Let me get my keys."

I smile widely as he gets up from his seat before turning to the girls. As he goes inside Kendra shakes her head. "You whore."

"Hey! You're welcome."

"What do you think he'll make you do?" Bianca asks quietly.

I shrug, "Probably wash his car."

"Probably suck his dick." Kendra says at the same time making me gasp.

"Your mind is always in the gutter, it isn't even like that. We're just friends."

"Friends that have fucked." She chuckles making me hush her.

"Alright let's go." Dominic says as he comes out with his keys in his hands. He locks the door behind him before turning to us.

He unlocks his car, allowing us to each get in. I get into the passenger seat as Bianca and Kendra get into the back.

"Thanks again for giving us a ride." I say as we get onto the freeway.

"Just don't back out on that favor when the time comes."

We arrive at the party shortly after, pulling up to the building. We all say thank you again as we get out of the car. "What time will you be done?"

I hover down to the passenger side window to speak to him, "Not sure. You don't have to pick us up."

"How are you getting home then?"

"Probably catch a ride? Maybe Aaron will stop crying by then and give us a ride back."

He chuckles, "Well if he doesn't, call me."

"You sure? We'll be out pretty late."

"Call me." He repeats.

"Dominic I don't even have your number."

He sighs, reaching his hand out to me. "Give me your phone."

I pull it out from my bra and hand it to him, making him raise an eyebrow. "I don't have any pants on where else is it supposed to go?"

He chuckles before dialing his number into my phone and handing it back to me. "Call me."

"Yes sir." I laugh as I place it back into my costume. I waved him off before heading toward the girls who were waiting for me in front of the building.

"That boy is totally into you." Kendra chuckles.

"Oh shut up. Let's go party!" I exclaim excitedly as we enter the function.

Most of the girls were all dressed the same, just as we were. Slutty outfits and fishnets, but hey that's what Halloween's about right? I saw a slutty clowns, slutty cats, slutty superheroes, even a slutty nun.

Guys were dressed in pretty basic costumes, some not in costumes at all.

We began dancing around and having fun, taking a few trips to the bar and enjoying ourselves. "I love this song!" I exclaim at the bar to the girls as a Pop Smoke song blasts through the speakers.

I head to the dance floor in excitement before the girls can follow. As I'm dancing, I notice a familiar face from the corner of my eye. Aaron was dancing with another girl, and quite explicitly.

I stopped dancing and before I knew it I was moving my feet. I came from behind him, yanking his arm to get his attention. "What the hell?" I exclaim as he turns around.

"What are you doing here?" He asks me in surprise.

I furrow my brows in anger, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Is there a problem?" The girl asks.

I put my hand up, not acknowledging her. Aaron sighs, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the dance floor. We were outside now where the music wasn't as loud.

"You're a fucking asshole you know that?"

"How did you get here?" He asks, repeating his prior question.

"Don't worry about that! I'm not the one who needs to explain myself right now."

"It was just a dance. I thought you weren't coming."

"And that makes it okay?"

"Don't try to play innocent, it was Dominic that dropped you off didn't he?"

I scoff, "Only because you left us on the side of the road!"

"Stop trying to be the fucking victim! I left you at your apartment after you refused to ride with me!"

"Because you were trying to make me change!"

His eyes widen in frustration as he points at my outfit, "Look at what you're wearing! You're dressed like a whore!"

I gasped, "The girl you were dancing with was wearing way less!"

He sighs, "This conversation is going nowhere."

"Good, because I'm done with all of this. I am sick of your bullshit! We're done." As I attempt to walk away he grabs my arm.

"Like hell we are." He pulls my arm rather aggressively dragging me further away from the entrance.

"Let go of me!" I exclaim as I struggle out of his grip.

Suddenly we were out of sight on the side of the building. I was pushed against the wall and Aaron was on top of me, holding me by my neck against the cold bricks.

"We are not breaking up." He says seriously.

"Aaron you're hurting me." I gasp out as a tear falls from my eye.

"And you are going to stay the hell away from Dominic, understood?"

"Aaron-"

Suddenly Aaron is pulled off of me and I'm able to breathe again. To my surprise, Dominic was in front of me, on top of Aaron punching him repeatedly.

"Spineless son of a bitch!" Dominic exclaims as he takes several blows to Aaron's face. I stood there in complete shock, trying to catch my breath and processing what had just happened and what was currently happening.

I could still feel Aaron's hands around my neck and just stared blankly at the one-sided fight until some other people finally noticed and began to break it up. I had never seen Dominic so angry. The same Dominic who always looked angry, but this was another level.

His eyes were dark as he scowled at Aaron's already swollen and bleeding face. A large man I didn't recognize held him back as he tried to lunge at Aaron again.

"You sucker punched me you bitch!" Aaron seethes as another man holds him back.

"Ami, are you okay?" Someone asks from beside me. I registered the voice to be Bianca's and turned to look at her, nodding slowly.

"I think we should head back home. Isaiah can give us a ride." Kendra says as she leads me away. As I'm being turned away I briefly catch Dominic's eye. He looks away from me before breaking out of the man's arms and making his way to his car.

I wanted to stop and check on him but I didn't know what to say. I wanted to know if he was okay and tell him that I was thankful he stepped in when he did.

Isaiah was waiting for us at the entrance of the party with Caleb by his side. "You're bruising." He comments as he examines me.

Caleb raises a brow in concern, "Did one of them do this?" He asks, the anger written across his face.

"Can you guys just drive me home?"

"Ami if Aaron laid a finger on you-" Caleb begins but is quickly interrupted.

Isaiah stops him when he sees the look on my face, my eyes brimmed with tears again. "Let's just get them home."

He sighs before nodding and I sigh in relief. We followed them to the car and the drive back was silent. Nobody questioned me which I was thankful for.

"Call us tomorrow Ami. Good night guys." Caleb says as we get out of the car.

"Good night." We respond in unison.

When I get to my room I take the makeup off my face and take a shower before changing into some comfier clothes. As I moisturized my skin I noticed the bruises on my neck that were starting to appear.

I couldn't help but remember the anger in Aaron's eyes as he pinned me to the wall. For someone who I thought cared about me to show so much anger and to actually hurt me. It was terrifying.

Then I thought about Dominic. Where did he come from? Had he been waiting for us the whole time? Was he okay?

I couldn't help but feel that the answers to all my questions were right next door. Out of impulse, I put on my slippers, and the next thing I knew I was in front of his door. Despite the fact that it was 3 in the morning, I knocked.

"Dominic." I called softly hoping he'd hear me. Or that he was home at all. The door opened slightly after a few moments. "Are you okay?" I asked immediately before he could say anything.

He sighs, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Let me in."

He hesitates before opening the door for me to enter his apartment. When I get in I finally get a better view of his face. I gasp, "Your eye." I walk over and cradle the side of his face where under his eye has been bruised.

"You should see the other guy." He says with a smirk before looking down at my neck. His expression changes as he scans me over. "I should've killed him."

"I'm fine." I respond gently, "Why did you come back to the party?"

"I was just in the area." He says nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Liar." I say with a smirk, before looking at him seriously. "But thank you. If you didn't step in I-"

"Don't thank me for doing what anyone would've done." He says in a serious tone.

"But you did it, so I'm thanking you." He didn't respond but remained silent as I let go of his face. "You were right about him, everyone was. I feel so stupid." I reply as I take a seat on the couch. He takes a seat beside me silently, seemingly unsure of what to say. "Do you need ice for your eye?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I think it'll be fine." There was silence again. My reasonings for coming over were quite rash, maybe I shouldn't have come. I had nothing else to say to him thanks to his lack of responses.

"You're not stupid." Dominic says breaking the silence.

I glance at him questioningly, "Huh?"

"You liked the guy didn't you?"

"Yeah, but still."

He shrugs, "Love does that sometimes."

I raise a brow, "I wouldn't take it that far. I didn't love him. We only dated for a couple of weeks."

"I don't think there's a time limit on love."

"How would you know? Have you ever been?" He looks down, avoiding my gaze as he ignores the question once again. I sigh, before speaking again. "I like the idea of love though."

This time he responds, still looking down as if in thought. "It's not the fairytale you think it is. It can easily turn into something dark and twisted." His expression and demeanor had gone dark as he stared at the ground in front of him.

"Wow, who broke your heart?" I ask jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

He looks up at the time, ignoring my question. "It's pretty late, we should head to bed. Want me to walk you to your place?"

"I live right next door I think I can make it on my own."

He smirks, "Alright then. I'll see you around. Call me if Aaron tries to get at you again."

"I'll be fine." I say before standing up to leave, but he catches my wrist gently making me look down at him.

"I'm serious."

I nod silently, assuring him that I know.

———

Yikes.

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-AuggiePooh_