Scandalous

[Waddle]

I really do love her.[/i] It was an easy realization that didn't surprise Vaughn. It hadn't shocked him when he'd first thought it. He'd never felt like this before, and he liked how he felt. Warm... Bah, it sounded so sappy that he shoved the thoughts away. He wasn't the very sappy type. Sure, he could be every now and again, but when it involved himself, it was a different matter. Just thinking about it sent heat to his face. Shoving it away, he gulped and squeezed August's hand just a little. They were walking in the gardens. She hadn't said anything in quite a while, which was a mixed blessing and curse. There were several things Vaughn would have liked to mention to her. Most of the time, she started the conversation about those things, but since she didn't, he didn't point it out. Being around her made him feel so impaired, and yet complete.

Two children, a boy and a girl, around the age of five, were screaming with laughter at something a dark-haired man standing with them had said. he was holding their hands, and had a satisfied smile on his face. He quieted them with a soft word, then continued what appeared to be a story he had been telling them.

Vaughn smiled to himself as he took a mental picture of the moment. The delighted faces of the children and the man's smile would soon be copied almost exactly onto paper. Gesturing with an elbow, Vaughn sat down on a nearby bench and put the notepad that had been in the hand that wasn't holding August's onto his lap. He regretted letting go of her hand, but he needed to write something down for her. Something important, before he chickened out. Flicking open the small box of writing utensils at attached to his belt, Vaughn picked out a simple pencil without looking and flipped open to an empty page in the notebook. It was kind of hard - most every page had a doodling of some sort on it. Finally finding one, Vaughn wrote in his slanted cursive. "I think I love you."

It was five words, only three of which mattered, but it was still simple. He showed the note to August, then smiled hesitantly at her. She was too beautiful. Nothing could compare, not even her twin sister, who Vaughn had met only once and never wished to meet again. He'd first mistaken her for August, and since August hadn't been around, he'd almost kissed her. Journey had whirled, punched him on the jaw, then cursed at him. He'd managed to explain to her and, although she hadn't apologized, she made it clear that she hadn't meant to overreact like she had. Vaughn's jaw still ached, even though the swelling had gone down and the bruise had disappeared.

Yanking his mind away from the past and back to the present, Vaughn awaited August's reply. They were nineteen. Maybe they were too young. Maybe he was telling her this too quickly. They hadn't been together long. But doing stupid things often worked for the lucky. Vaughn had never been really lucky, but he'd never been that unlucky either. Actually, he didn't believe in luck. It was just superstitious mumbo jumbo to him, nothing to worry about. It was hard to imagine August shoving his offer - Offer? Well... There's really no other way to put it.[/color] - back down his throat, but there was always a chance... A chance that something very, very bad would happen.[/size]

[Anty]

Pierce, boxer in training, worker of McDonald's, and lover of August. No, no, no. That was all wrong. He didn't love August. They were no more than friends. That was the conclusion he had come to. At Adrienne's house. He lived there now. Addy was a strict roomie though, and Pierce wasn't allowed in the house before she got home. That's why he was entering the park now. He had just gotten out of trianing, which explains why he was covered in sweat and fresh bruises.

Pierce sat down on one of the swings, his favorite place to go. He could sit and watch small children play, just like he and Anthony used to do. Before Anthony was sent away. He remembered that day... though he just listened on the other side of the door as Anthony and his parents argued.

Something distracted him. Two kids, a boy and a girl, ran past him, giggling, and were soon followed by a man, mid-twenties. He looked surprisingly enthused to be chasing little kids around a park. Surely he couldn't be their father. He watched them, trying to figure out their story, but his dislexia got in the way. A boy and a girl. A girl. Named August. She was sitting beside a boy. He was smiling an innocent smile, and they were both looking down at a sheet of paper...

His legs felt numb as he walked towards them. Millions of thoughts surging in his mind. Was August cheating on him? It couldn't be cheating if you weren't dating... Pierce had ended a few months back.

He was standing in front of them now. He ripped the paper from the boy's hands and looked at it. But he wasn't reading it. He couldn't read. But he already knew what it would have said. He invisioned himself strangling him. Strangling him so hard he would choke and bleed. But why? He didn't love August, and he never really did. He had even told her that. But right now... This was love. And jealousy. And betrayal. And this boy must suffer. He grabbed the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the bench with brute strength. And then gave him an underhand punch to the throat. The boy tumbled over the bench and onto his ass. "Suck my dick, bitch."

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

It was amazing how a little piece of paper could make her so happy. Well, it wasn't really the paper that made her happy. The paper was nothing special, but the message was what made August's heart beat far too fast and far too loud. She bit her bottom lip gently and stared at the paper with uplifted eyebrows. There were either too many thoughts going too fast for her mind to process or no thoughts at all. She could hear the blood rushing past her ears. Maybe those were the thoughts, buzzing around in her head, too shy to make themselves words. Finally August remembered to open her mouth, though she couldn't think of anything to say. What were you suppose to say at a moment like this? "I love you too" would be a good start. She tried, but it felt like her throat closed up. She couldn't say it back, but she really really wanted to. August swallowed hard and tried again. Maybe she just had to let some of her thoughts out. They were probably getting all cramped up in her head and started buzzing around her throat. That was it.

She hadn't even said a word before something distracted her. It got dark all of a sudden. August looked up at the sky. Maybe the sun had gone to sleep early. No, that wasn't it. Pierce was standing in front of her. Surprisingly, she wasn't surprised. She was just hurt. August couldn't look at his without thinking of what he said and how he said it. He didn't love her, but Vaughn did. August looked down at her hands in her lap. She couldn't really look at Pierce anymore. She'd been happy but now she wasn't. A little part of her was happy to see Pierce, but the majority was not. She wanted him to go away and she almost said it too. August felt the hair on the back of her neck rise when Pierce lifted Vaughn off the bench. She shut her eyes tight. Please. Please, don't punch him. Pleas- Too late. August stood up. Just sitting there made her feel dumb. Standing up made her closer to Pierce, which made her hurt more. There wasn't even enough room. He was already standing really close to the bench. August moved back until the bench dug into the back of her knees. It still wasn't enough space. "Pierce!" She sounded like a mother scolding her child, which was so wrong. Her and Pierce had made out in a tub. He told her he didn't love her and just left after that. It had been months and she hadn't seen him. She still didn't know how she felt about that. When he was here, she wanted him gone, and when he wasn't around, she missed him so bad. Pierce always made things more complicated then they needed to be. The little part of her that was happy to see him wanted to kiss him, but the big part that wanted him to leave stopped her. He wouldn't even like it anyway. He doesn't love you, remember?

That hurt. Suck his.. what? No way was he talking to her. She couldn't help but look at his crotch though. Wouldn't be so bad- August stopped the thought right there. Her face got really hot really fast and she looked up at his face instead, which was arguably worse. "Um.." It was probably the smartest thing she'd said the entire hour. August turned around fast and put her knees on the bench. She leaned over to take a good look at Vaughn. "I love you too. Maybe she said it because Pierce was there. Maybe she said it because she wanted him to know before he took his back. Or maybe she said it because she really did love him too. There were probably a lot of reasons she said it. August leaned down and gave him a real quick apology-kiss. "Sorry." She always hung out with the worst people, and normally that effected no one but her, but there was always the rare person who wasn't all that bad that got hurt because of her and the people she associated with.

[Mothtoto.]

"And then, the Tickle Monster attacked!" Matthew yelled with a smile. The little boy and girl, Tucker and Alex, ran from him, giddy with laughter. He ran after them with his arms outstretched, prepared to tickle. He chased them until he caught up with them, when he grabbed Alex up with a scoop of his arm and began to tickle her. But then he was distracted by a tugging at his pant leg. He looked down to see little Tucker looking into his face. Just that brought a grin to his lips. He dropped the girl onto her feet, thinking Tucker was feeling left out. But he soon learned it wasn't that as the boy's face turned to a scene only twenty feet away.

A young couple on a bench who had obviously been in the middle of something was interrupted by an emo boy of around the same age. The boy on the bench looked up at the emo kid, only to be punched in the throat. "Mr. Matt, why did he do that?", Tucker asked innocently. Matthew grabbed Alex and Tucker's hands, but didn't leave the park. "Well," he started, "I don't really know, but that, boys and girls, a very nice punch."

[Waddle]

Before any more doubts could fog his mind, a shadow fell over the both of them. Vaughn looked up, expecting to see anything but what he saw. Some emo punk was glaring at him. The note was torn from his hands. Vaughn when to stand, but before he could, he was grabbed by his shirt and dragged up. He wasn't fast enough to break free or to throw a punch. He was punched in the throat so hard that he tumbled, head over heels, over the bench and landed on his butt on the other side, choking and spluttering silently. Clawing at his throat, he tried to breathe, but air refused to go in or out of his lungs. The punk said something, and it took a few seconds for Vaughn to figure out what it was. If he had been able to reply, he wouldn't have. He was too confused. Who the hell was this guy?!

August was there. She kissed him and apologized. She shouldn't be apologizing. It wasn't her fault he'd been punched. Putting a hand on her arm, Vaughn shifted into a crouch. He still couldn't breathe, tears stung his eyes, but he ignored those. It might have been rude of him to just ignore August saying that she loved him too, but he wasn't about to let this guy get away with just randomly punching him. Vaughn hadn't met him in his entire life. Never even heard of him. He would have remembered him. It would be hard to forget a sweaty, bruise-covered, black-clad person like him.

Everyone was staring. Even the little kids. Nothing else had changed except for no one was moving, speaking, or hardly breathing. Then the babysitter of the kids said something to them. It caused Vaughn to laugh silently as he stood. He moved like a snake, putting one hand on the bench and leaping over it, the other drawing back and lashing out toward the kid's face.

Most people thought that knocking someone out with a punch was hard. Watching boxing, mixed martial arts, and other sports, someone would get that impression. With street fighting, anything was possible, including a knockout with one punch. It wasn't that hard to knock someone out. It just took a couple of times to master, and even then, sometimes it didn't work. Two ways, two hand forms.

The sword hand was his personal favorite. He held his hand out flat with the palm facing downwards and turned his wrist so that his fingers are pointing outwards. Right to the temple. The quickest way out of this. If only it would work.

[Anty]

Adrenaline. He couldn't think straight because of it. How could August date such a bitch? Pierce decided then and there that he would have to do her a favor by solving this. No more bitch after I'm done with him! he thought with a conceded smirk. But he also felt remorse. Stupid feelings, he thought spitefully. They always confused him, which caused him to do stupid things. Very stupid things, as he was about to do.

Then, as Pierce watched, August leaned over and kissed him. This only made him want to hurt himself. And how do you do that? Kill the bitch.

Blondie seemed to perk up after that. He jumped the bench, which was quite impressive, but he resembled something you would see on television, like Jackie Chan. Pierce, sizing him up, figured he could take him. But Blondie was silent, and that worried him.

Blondie struck, like a cobra, but Pierce anticipated a punch and it just brushed the side of his head.

Pierce snickered, because his next move was the one he had showed his trainer the first time they had met, which wasn't in the arena. He had been fooling around and tripped him. His trainer then suggested that he take up boxing, and that is the story.

He swung his leg around and caught it on Blondie's, then pulled back, successfully bringing Blondie to the ground.

He fell before him, and Pierce quickly took advantage of that, jumping onto him and strangling him. He twitched and coughed, which only made Pierce want to kill him even more. He wanted him to bleed, because he wanted August to be his. Without realizing it, Pierce had started to cry, and now he was sobbing. Yay for crying.

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

August knew about Pierce's boxing. She knew he was good, and judging from his current appearance, he had just got done practicing. The last thing she wanted was for them to fight. It could only end badly. Vaughn could fight to, but just looking at him he looked so delicate and breakable. His muscles were completely unexpected. She'd never seen them but she'd felt them when they hugged. August backed up a little. Her stomach was tight with tension and she started playing with her fingers nervously. "Please don't figh.." August let the sentence trail off, because it was pretty much futile. They weren't going to listen to her.

Vaughn was on the ground, and August's stomach just got tighter. Her toes curled up with worry and she bit her lip. It just kept getting worse. Pierce was choking him. She grabbed onto Pierce's arms and tried tugging them off. Her nails dug into his hands and she started scratching desperately. His grip was so tight. Vaughn wasn't looking good, being choked kind of did that to you. She could feel her eyes watering up, but the tears that fell on Vaughn's face didn't belong to her. August looked up into Pierce's face. Surely it couldn't have been his, but it was. He was sobbing. August had never seen Pierce cry this hard. Not in the entire time she knew him.

August tried pushing him off. She was pushing on his torso with her hands, but it wasn't working. Not in the slightest. August stood up, angry. This wasn't working. Nothing involving Pierce worked, because Pierce didn't make sense. He was too confusing. August wondered if even he understood himself. She couldn't help but look at Vaughn again and it scared her. She started backing up again. She just wanted to run. Running wouldn't make it go away but it was better than sticking around to watch. August backed up into something. She turned around fast to see a good looking man with dark hair and a cute nose. "Help? He was a stranger, but August was desperate. And the children at his side made him look like a good person.

[Short. But i don't care.]

[Waddle]

He missed. How could he have missed?! Cursing in his head, Vaughn lost more of his breath as he was flipped onto his back. Then the little breath he had recovered was driven from his lungs as the punk jumped onto him and was kept away as hands closed like a python's grip around his throat. Choking silently, Vaughn scrabbled underneath the guy, trying to toss him off, get him to loosen his fingers, get him to do anything except kill him. His eyes were bulging by the time August tried to help. Vaughn tried to tell her to go away, but she wasn't paying attention to his now-wet face. He didn't want her to get hurt by this psychopath. No... She must have known him. She'd called him by name. Pierce.

Why was his face wet? Vaughn's eyes flicked back to Pierce's face and he saw the punk was crying, sobbing uncontrollably. What kind of idiot attacked someone and cried about it? ... A psychopath.

His point proved all the more, Vaughn scrabbled for just a minute more. But no. He wasn't a crab and he wasn't about to let this punk-ass beat him.

Street fighters were taught to use whatever they could in a situation like this, and so Vaughn did. His long fingers dug into the dirt and scooped up one handful of dirt. He tossed it into Pierce's face. A momentary distraction. Pierce had to reel backwards just a bit, and Vaughn shoved his free hand under Pierce's left arm and grabbed onto his shoulder. With a fierce shove, he yanked the Pierce around so Pierce wasn't on top of him. He swung a leg into the air and smashed it down as hard as possible on Pierce's face, then proceeded to use his other foot to kick him hard in the head before releasing him. Rolling backwards, he almost came to his feet but stopped mid-way, so he was crouched on the ground, one hand digging into the dirt, the other by his side and fisted into a ball. He was still winded and panting hard, but he ignored it, instead focusing on Pierce.

He hoped and prayed Pierce wouldn't get up. Actually, he wanted him to get up (he even found himself begging him to in his head), but he didn't want to fight. Vaughn only knew what he knew because he had needed a way to defend himself and his work back in high school. I think that like it was a decade ago. It's not even been a year. Bloody hell, bugger and blast, if I'd known today would turn out like this, I would've never met up with August! Where even was she? Vaughn didn't dare to look around, so he barely tilted his head to the left. There - she was just in his sight, standing near the dark-haired babysitter and the two kids. Good, she was alright. His eyes snapped back to Pierce, and his breath evened out as he tried to steady himself before the next onslaught.

[Mothtoto.]

Matt watched the fighting in awe as he tightly gripped the hands of the children he was so fond of. He had never been in a fight. He wasn't exactly what you called tough and never had been. He was more of a... dork. And, well, he wasn't ashamed to admit it one bit. Matthew was always a thinker, a persuader. And he planned to use that when the young blond asked for his help. If he tried the other approach, the one based on his physical abilities, he would be pummeled, or at least fail to assist. At that thought, he was brought to a memory from the ghost of his past, high school-attending self.

Matt had been carrying a stack of fresh, newly drawn comic books that he had done and brought to school to show off to his small group of "friends" and his art teacher. Only, before he could show them to anyone, the group of thug-like jocks who enjoyed harassing so met up with him in the hall. They took the comics he put so much love and hard work into and destroyed them before his very eyes. This pissed him off so badly, he did something very rash. He actually tried to fight one of them for his comics. To get to the point, it ended with a black eye and a broken arm. After that, he swore he would never draw comics again, but that soon changed after he turned his life around. But since fighting had taken away something he loved, he decided to never resort to it again.

Still holding the hands of the children, he walked over to the two fighters. He tapped the dark-haired one on the should and cleared his throat. He knew kids loved him and listened to him, so he would treat them like kids. "Now now, boys. There's no need for that." Matthew sat down Indian-style on the ground, Alex and Tucker sitting beside him, and waited for the teenagers to settle.

[Anty]

Kissing and laughing. It all went through Pierce's mind as he strangled dear Blondie. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to make it go away, but they only became more vivid.

Pierce couldn't take anymore, and he opened his eyes. His grip loosened a little, and he got dirt thrown into face. His sobbing seemed to cease, only to be followed by coughing. He let go of Blondie and rubbed his eyes madly.

Unfortunate for him, Pierce didn't know Blondie was a street fighter. Now he was sitting on the ground-- where had Blondie gone?--, being slammed in the throat with this guy's ankle. Pierce fell onto his back, coughing. He wasn't sure what had happened. His first thought was a tree branch had broken off and caught him in the throat, and surely he was going to die, because right now breathing felt like a knife jabbing into his throat.

But maybe that was okay, death would be easier. A foot caught him in the chest, and he gasped for air. Something must have broken(besides his heart). It hurt even more to breathe. He sat up, thinking that would help, but it only seemed to make things worse. He looked to August, thinking maybe she could help, because Blondie would do just the opposite.

The man previously playing with the little kids came and sat by him. Maybe August was in love with him too? Pierce suddenly felt self conscience now, his face was covered in dirt and his eyeliner was running everywhere. "What are you doing?" he managed to ask in a weak, shaky voice. Was something wrong with August? He quickly turned his head to find her. Oh. Pierce coughed into his hand, and impulsively looked at it afterward. To find it covered in blood. "What the Hell?"

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

August didn't really know what the dark haired stranger was doing. She had expected some physical action, not words. Words made more sense, she came to realize. Both Vaughn and Pierce were very good at their style of fighting. It would have been dumb for Cute-Nose to just jump in. Too many people were fighting already. She followed him, feeling less like the practically 20 year old grown up she was and more like a stupid child listlessly following after whoever takes charge. August sat down between a little girl and Pierce. She felt weird between them, like she was sitting with strangers. The little girl was definitely a stranger, but Pierce wasn't, not until recently. It was amazing how a few months ago they were comfortable enough with each other to tongue in his brother's bathtub, but now she couldn't stand sitting a foot away.

August plucked a blade of grass from the ground and played with it. She still couldn't look up at Pierce, so instead she looked up for Vaughn. It didn't take long for her to find him, and she looked at him with an expression that practically begged him to sit down with her. The stranger was smarter than her. She would have just stood back and let them fight, because she didn't think she could stop it. He treated them like you would a child. She liked it. It took away all the responsibility and worry. She wasn't so pressured anymore.

August got on her hands and knees and crawled to the other side of Pierce. That way Vaughn and Pierce wouldn't have to sit next to each other. That would only bring more trouble. Hesitantly, she gathered up the courage to look at Pierce. It was only a quick glance out of the corner of her eye and she looked back down at the floor right after. Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Something wasn't right with his face. She looked back up at him, curiosity giving her courage. It wasn't his running eyeliner. It wasn't his red eyes, or his bruises. August couldn't pin it. She had been staring at his face intently, but now it was just tenderly. He looked so bad right now. Using the end of sleeve, she gently wiped away some of the running eyeliner. She was afraid to press down any harder, not sure what was make-up and what was a bruise.

August didn't notice how close she was getting to Pierce's face. She missed him so much, wasn't it natural to want to kiss him? It's only a "Hello, welcome back. I missed you" kiss. Nothing romantic.. She tried to convince herself, but it wasn't working. If she kissed him, she'd regret it.. but it'd feel so good. Her face got really warm. She had to keep reminding herself he didn't love her. August backed up and stared at the ground again, scooting away an inch or two. She couldn't help but glance back up again. Without the running eyeliner, she finally pinned what was wrong. There was some blood on his lip. "You're bleeding!" She always stated the obvious. It reminded her of how her and Vaughn met. Vaughn.. August looked at him, worried. Maybe he hadn't seen how dangerously close she had been to his face. Maybe he wouldn't think much of it. Maybe he'd just think she was being kind by cleaning up his face. August stared down at her fiddling finger out of guilt. He wasn't dumb.

[Waddle]

It took several seconds for Vaughn to notice the babysitter who was now sitting close to them, calmly addressing them as if they were the same age as the two children he had been with. He was so focused on Pierce that if someone had been coming up behind him, he would never have noticed it. The thought flashed across his mind and he quickly glanced back over one shoulder, then the other, then back again, before slowly getting down on both knees. He was still tense and ready to jump anywhere if need be, but he wasn't threatening. Seeing Pierce gasping and choking for breath made Vaughn want to laugh, but he was still recovering from almost being choked to death. He registered that his throat seared inside and out with agony, he couldn't draw a full breath. He coughed, and even that was silent. It took a small time for him to recovered, and he was still panting, and August was beside Pierce, very, very close to him.

A mix of dismay and fury would've brought red to his face, if it wasn't already red. His mouth snapped closed, and he wished he knew what the hell was going on. Most people might resume the fight, but Vaughn knew it was a huge possibility that he would not win and could be seriously injured, if not killed. It was too late to not have made an enemy of this guy, and there was no going back. Nor would Vaughn get on his hands and knees in an attempt to change it, because there was that fury there. And a sick sense of satisfaction at the bruise blooming on Peirce's eyeliner-smeared face.

Glancing around once again, Vaughn shifted off his legs and stretched them out straight, leaning back on the heels of his hands. A twinge raced up from the lower part of his right leg. He'd probably pulled a muscle when he'd hit Pierce with his ankle. Routinely, he moved his feet in circles, nothing else. Clockwise four times, counter-clockwise four times, then repeated. He focused on that, his breathing, and ignoring the pain of both physical and emotional wounds. Was August cheating on him? No, probably not. She didn't seem to be the type to be able to cheat. But I never have read people well. He'd been wrong many times before, and that had been one of the many reasons he had withdrawn himself from society. He'd withdrawn himself and, hence, had never met the likes of Pierce. Pierce was a mystery to him, and he wanted to know everything.

Actually, he wanted to know just about why Pierce had grabbed and punched him, why August was so close to him. He could care less about Pierce's story. Vaughn looked up hesitantly at the two, then to the babysitter, then to the crowd that was still watching, and finally to his rotating feet again. The red was still in his cheeks, but it wasn't from lack of oxygen anymore - it was just that mix of dismay and fury. He could feel tendons stretching, muscles rhythmically tensing and relaxing. Clockwise four, counter four, clockwise four, counter four.