EDITED VERSION: Chapter Nine

Once Nathan managed to get me off the countertop a couple of hours later, he dropped me off at our apartment before heading out to get himself a new pack of cigarettes. Though he was determined not to let me out of his sight, wanting to make sure I got to the apartment without puking in the elevator, but I insisted I was perfectly capable of doing it myself. I only had that one shot with Sam and the mojito with Nathan. I stepped out of the elevator and walked slowly down the hall that led to our apartment. Finally, when I reached the door, I noticed someone standing beside it.

His red hair was tucked underneath his camo baseball cap. When he caught sight of me, his eyes narrowed. "Audrey, are you drunk?"

I stared at him, fighting hard to concentrate on the figure in front of me. I may not be drunk, but the lights were so bright in the hallway compared to the dimness of the club and I still needed to adjust. "Who are yo-" I stopped when I got closer and immediately sobered. "Kieran, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't answer my question," he snapped. "Are you drunk?"

I pulled my keys out of my clutch and ignored his question. "You shouldn't be here."

"And you shouldn't be acting like a slut seeing as we broke up like two seconds ago, but here you are doing just that," he retorted with so much venom I winced. "So much for coming here to work things out."

I got the door open but my hands were shaking, not sure how to go about this. Nathan should be home in a few minutes, the store was only a block away. If Kieran wanted to talk, we could talk, but I was keeping my distance. Before I let him inside, I said, "My roommate should be home in a few minutes. So, if you want to talk we can, but once they get here, you have to leave because they have an early shift tomorrow. And for your information, I haven't even looked at a guy in a romantic way since we broke up."

Kieran tilted his head backward and let out a menacing chuckle as he stepped through the door. "Don't lie to me. You have been acting like a slut ever since you've gotten here."

"Excuse me?" I nearly yelled. "I have not been acting like a slut! I have done absolutely nothing to have you believe I am a slut."

Kieran shook his head, muttering under his breath.

The room went into an uncomfortable silence and I sighed as I poured Kieran a glass of water. I didn't take a genius to know that he had been drinking tonight and that he needed to sober up. "Here," I said, handing him the glass. "You're drunk, you need something to drink."

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Kieran boomed, causing me to flinch at his volume.

I stayed silent and looked at the floor once I sat down on the couch.

Kieran started to pace in the living room, grasping onto his glass of water so tightly his knuckles were white. "I have tried to be patient with you. I tried to support your ridiculous dream of being a writer but enough is enough. Tomorrow, you are flying back with me to Trillium."

I jumped to my feet, heat rising from my toes all the way to my chest. "I am not going anywhere, Kieran. I like it here, I'm not just going to pack up everything and leave. This is my home now."

"You only like it here because I'm not around to keep you from acting like a whore," Kieran barked back, continuing to clutch his glass. "Having two roommates that are guys, going to party after party, having a best friend basically whoring herself to everyone."

"I am not a slut," I whispered, hugging myself to feel some sort of comfort. "Neither is Samara."

Kieran just ignored me and chuckled again. "Honestly, I should be thanking you for your behaviour. Now I don't feel so bad about sleeping with Abigail when you and I were still together."

"WHAT?" I shout at Kieran without even thinking about how he'd react to me raising my voice at him. "Why would you do that to me?"

"No, why did you do this to me!" Kieran snapped. Throwing the glass of water just past the top of my head. Shards of glass rained everywhere and I felt some sprinkle into my hair. I stood still, afraid to move with glass all over the floor and Kieran's unpredictable behaviour.

Kieran let out a small chuckle as he stalked over to me, glass crunching under his feet. He grabbed both my arms tightly, causing me to flinch and I let out a little yelp as I felt bruises starting to form. Just before I could beg Kieran to stop, somebody came from behind him and tackled him to the ground, causing Kieran to let go instantly.

"GET OFF OF ME YOU DICK!" I heard Kieran gasp out as the man threw a punch, landing right on Kieran's left eye.

I stood there, both stunned and unsure of what to do. For one, I didn't know if I should move to break up the fight seeing there was glass everywhere, but secondly, I didn't know if I wanted to.

"Audrey, go to your room and stay there until this asshole is gone," Nathan commanded from the floor. He looked at me with a deeply pleading look.

"No," I said. "Let him go, he needs to leave, now. I don't want to see him ever again."

"Your wish is my command," Nathan replied. He got off of Kieran but never let go of his shirt as he did so.

Kieran stood too and suddenly, it was like I was seeing him for the first time. His cinnamon-coloured hair was tossed in a drunken mess, his eyes were dull and his left eye was beginning to swell, and his dress shirt was littered with alcohol stains and glass shards.

He was a mess. But he was no longer my mess.

"Get out," I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

Kieran did not budge. "Audrey I-"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Leave before I make you leave in an ambulance."

"Sure, get your other boyfriend to defend you," Kieran laughed. "You never could defend yourself, always had someone else do it for you."

"You know what, Kieran? I am done wasting my time on you. You broke up with me because you couldn't get past your own insecurities. That's not my fault, nor is it my problem. I'm glad we're done," I stormed over to him and slapped him on the right side of his face. "Now get the hell out of my apartment and don't you ever talk to me again or else I'm going to the police. Got it?"

I opened the door and Nathan basically dragged him out but Kieran turned back. "You're going to regret this."

"I highly doubt that," Nathan bit back, slamming the door shut.

Nathan turned back to me, concern etched onto his face, he stepped towards me and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. "I should clean the glass."

"No," Nathan said softly. "You need to sit down and relax."

"It's my fault that this happened, please let me clean it," I sighed, feeling completely drained.

Nathan only shook his head and walked over to the television. He turned it on, put on a show, and walked to his room. I raised a brow as I waited for him to return. When he did, he was clutching a hoodie and some sweats. "Here, that dress looks like it's uncomfortable."

He handed me the clothes, pulled the garbage can from the kitchen into the living room, and patted the couch as he sat. "Before you get changed, let me help you get the glass out of your hair."

I nodded my head faintly, scared that moving it too much would cause the glass to get into my eyes. I sat beside Nathan and looked at his hands as they approached my hair. There were more bruises on his knuckles, but they didn't look like they were from tonight, as some were such a deep purple they were nearly black and others looked like a sick-looking green. I sucked in a breath, knowing I was going to regret what I was about to say. "Those bruises aren't from bar fights, are they?"

Nathan dropped a piece of glass into the bin and hesitated to reach for another, but he did nonetheless. "Your ex just came back out of nowhere, attacked you, and you're concerned about my hands?"

"I'm not just concerned about your hands," I said with such conviction, it even caught me off guard. I looked at Nathan and his hazel eyes glittered. "I'm concerned about you. Are you okay, Nate?"

Nathan plucked out a few pieces of glass and sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "I'm doing just fine, princess. Now, go get changed."

As I got changed in the bathroom, I took a long look in the mirror. My eyes were smudged with mascara and tear stains and my face looked uncharacteristically pale. My once slightly curled hair now fell flat on my shoulders and back. The bruises were now prominent on both my arms and I winced as I threw over the hoodie.

Fighting back tears, I washed my face and then tied my honey blonde hair into a bun. But I couldn't hold off the waterworks any longer, turning the sink back on, I sat on the bathroom floor and buried my face in my hands as I sobbed. I thought being far away would keep Kieran at bay, but he came here anyway. What if he came back? I fought the thought away, desperately not wanting to think about the possibility of that whatsoever. I never wanted to think of Kieran again.

With a deep sense of determination, I wiped away my tears and washed my face once again in hopes the swelling under my eyes would go down. When I left the bathroom, I was greeted by the smell of chocolate and cinnamon coming from the living room and kitchen area.

"Nathan, what is that smell?" I asked as I rounded the corner.

I then found Nathan in the living room with a large mug of hot chocolate and one of the leftover Cinnabons that Darian and I got for breakfast. "I thought you'd need some comfort food."

I smiled a little. "You thought right. Thank you."

"Anything for my roomie," Nathan smirked. He pointed to the floor and then the television. "Glass is cleaned and I even put on that lame show you like. You know, the one with McSteam Pot?"

"You mean McSteamy?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I was close enough."

A few episodes later, Nathan and I were still watching the show despite it being nearly three in the morning. He seemed to enjoy the show and was now convinced he could become a surgeon.

"Thank you for helping me with Kieran," I said suddenly, turning to face Nathan. "He can be hard to handle sometimes."

Nathan paused the show and shrugged. "You don't have to thank me. It should have never happened in the first place. If he really loved you, he wouldn't have hurt you in any way."

I nodded my head. "Still, thank you for stepping in. Not many people would do what you had done."

"Those people are idiots," he responded. "I'm just glad I got here when I did."

I cocked my head. "So am I."

"How are you feeling princess?" Nathan asked softly, changing the topic.

"Tired," I sighed and then I felt a pang of guilt. "I am so sorry. You wanted to sleep because of your early shift and it's almost three in the morning."

"Audrey," Nathan chuckled. "It's perfectly okay. Plus, I'm really enjoying your lame surgeon show."

I crossed my arms and pouted. "It's not lame."

"Princess," he said, "It's lame."