Falling Into A Hole (Phen)

[Georgina Speer]

It was no use.

She had no way of talking to Phen, it was stupid of her to even think that it was a possibility. She didn't have any way of contacting him, and she didn't want to ask anyone to help her on that matter. As well as that, her mind still taunted her. It was as if Kodi had set up camp in her subconscious and was just lounging there drinking a cold one, adding negative commentary to everything she did. She hated it, but she just ended up agreeing with it. Trying to fight it now brought back the memories... the worst of it. It all seemed quite blurred together now, but all she could recall was intensely sharp pains, and his demonic voice. Time had definitely affected the memory, making it seem worse every-time she was reminded of it. It was an ongoing torturous nightmare that she had no control over.

The main reason she had wanted to talk to Phen, was that she trusted him almost instantaneously when she had first met him, which was an ignorant move on your part, and another reason was that she wanted to know he was safe and alright. Why d'you care? It ain't like he actually gives a fuck about you! Kodi had mentioned Phen's name one too many times... you could never be too careful.

But after all her effort, she came up dry. So she went to her regular hideout, as of recently... the library. She felt she could hide there, no-one she knew usually stayed in the library for more than a few minutes, so she could avoid confrontation, or any similar situation, coz yer too fuckin' weak t'deal with yer issues! It also didn't seem like a place Kodi would want to be around, she felt safer there.

So there she was, scanning the racks. She was honestly a fan of reading, but recently she had been more into reading fanfiction than any modern literature. She picked out the book 'Ender's Game', the movie had come out kind of recently, and after watching it, she was interested in learning more of the details of the whole world.

She opened the book in front of her line of vision and began reading the foreword as she walked to her usual hiding spac- seat. She was too engrossed in her reading to notice the obstacle that stuck out slightly, a pair of crutches. She caught her foot on them and came tumbling down, pulling the sticks with her. Clumsy slut, should've been watchin' where you were fuckin' goin'! Her book flew off to the right a little bit and underneath a nearby table. George pulled herself off of the floor into a sitting position and rubbed her knee; she had scraped it along the floor when she fell. She curled up a little and rolled onto her knees, scanning the room for her book. She was trying not to be rude, but she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself. She stammered out a shaky apology, "S-s-s-so s-sorry, I sh-should've been w-watching where I was..." she looked up at the owner of the crutches.

And froze.

Phoenix.

The pixie.

And he was hurt?

He probably deserved it.

Her mind raced with constant contrasting thoughts, those of her pessimistic inner demons colliding with her natural thoughts. She liked Phen, and she really wanted to talk to him about everything, but as soon as he was there...

... she couldn't.

She lowered her eyesight swiftly, avoiding the possibility of eye contact, and hoping to avoid being recognized by him. Maybe just seeing him would be comfort enough?

She tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear, tried to keep facing the floor and shuffled over to her book, which she had now spotted. She just... she didn't know what to think anymore. When she wasn't around Jack, she wasn't herself. She didn't want Phen to see her like she was.

She didn't want him to hate her, like she was almost perfectly certain he did.

[Deleted]

Phoenix and Oriel were practically never apart these days, it seemed. However, Phen was alone in the library today, having the urge to actually find something to read or work on winter break homework now that he had glasses and didn't get such a bad headache when he tried for too long. He'd asked Oriel if he wanted to come, but his boyfriend apparently had something to work on in the computer labs, so they'd gone their separate ways for the time being. Even so, Phen was texting him, having a hard time staying away from Oriel even for such a short time.

He hadn't heard of the confrontation between Kodi and George. He didn't follow gossip well, especially the kind that involved that asshole. Even though he'd been okay with letting Oriel have some 'fun' with the dentokinetic, that didn't mean he liked Kodi. Far from it. He just loved Oriel too much to say no.

But anyway. He was therefore blissfully unaware of any drama and pain going on in his new friend's life. Well, he hadn't really seen George since the day she'd comforted him and tucked him off to sleep, but they'd connected in a way that made Phen feel like they'd known each other forever. Had he known what had happened, he would have chased her down and paid her back for all the kindness she'd showed him.

He'd set himself up at a somewhat secluded table away from the majority of the people in the library, preferring to hide himself away when he was by himself. He'd sat his crutches against his chair, carefully propped his injured leg on another seat, and eased himself back into a comfortable position without bumping his still-shattered wings. They were slowly healing, but it was a pain to have them out all the time, especially when he had to sit or lay down. He'd got into the habit of sleeping on his stomach on top of Oriel every night for comfort's sake.

Phen was pretty engrossed in his book when the jolt of his crutches clattering to the floor made him jump, and he whirled around to see who had hit them. "George?" he murmured, watching with wide eyes as she sat up and fumbled for something. As she started stammering out an apology, he smiled faintly and replied,"Don't worry about it, I'm sorry they were in your way!" He began to hobble up and over to where she was, hoping she hadn't hurt herself. "Are you alr-?"

It was then that he noticed something was off. The way she wasn't looking at him, the conflicting emotions flashing across her face, the way she seemed to be shaky in her movements. As she reached for her book, worry lit up his features and he kneeled down beside her as much as he could manage with his injured limbs. "George?" he breathed. "H-hey, what's... Did I do something wrong?" He began to panic that she was mad or upset with him for some reason. She couldn't be that angry over his crutches being in the way, right? He reached out and tried to touch her hand. "P-please look at me, I'm.... I'm sorry for whatever I did."

Would she talk? Run? Phoenix didn't know what to do. "Please talk to me," he begged.

[Georgina Speer]

Ever since... it happened, George had seperated herself from her friends, and she had quite a few of them. They were bound to think something was up. She hadn't really thought about any possible gossip or rumours that had been going around. The only person she had told about the confrontation with Kodi was Jack, and the detail in that was minuscule. Unless Kodi himself had been going around spreading rumours about her (which she highly doubted) If there was any gossip, it was purely made of guesses and assumptions. It was probably for the best that Phen didn't follow the gossip, because he'd probably end up hearing something he didn't want to know.

...

He recognized her.

She wasn't prepared for this.

You shouldn't fuck 'round 'less yer willin' t'deal with the consequences, ya hussy!

She stayed silent, but for Phen's sake, not because she had something against him. She was alright, only had a bit of carpet burn on her knee. Luckily, her jaw had avoided hitting anything. She continued to try and hide her face, he'd probably notice the half ton of make-up covering up her bruise otherwise. And he looked like he had enough to deal with for the time being, with what seemed like a broken leg and broken wings. It didn't look fun, and it would be unfair to load her problems onto his back.

She noticed his slight struggle to get down to her level on the floor, it made her feel really, really guilty. Well, if ya weren't so weak an' pathetic, it wouldn't be a problem!

No.

No no no no no.

Phen couldn't think any of this was his fault.

It was all her, she was worthless, and stupid, and a waste of oxygen. He was good hearted and strong, and didn't deserve to even be around scum like her. As he apologized for something that had nothing to do with him, she just felt worse and worse. That's what ya fuckin' get. When he tried to touch her hand... she snatched it away. She was comfortable around Phen before, but she felt so... violated now. Kodi had almost bitten her neck! Making physical contact just seemed all the more... dangerous now. As soon as her hand was away from his, she regretted it, but couldn't force herself to put it back, she physically just couldn't do it!

Her jaw twinged and it pushed her chin up, making her look him right in the eyes, her facial expression was a mixture between the feelings of isolation, pain and apologeticness. She had stuck up for him... well, kind of. She'd done a crap job of it, but she'd done it all the same. She'd stuck up for him, and now she couldn't even talk to him? Pathetic.

She just continued to look into his eyes, like she was suddenly mute. And then her body started moving automatically. She looked around sharply and, after spotting no lurking passers-by, set her eyes back on Phen. Without breaking that eye contact, she brought up her sleeve and, wincing from the pain, wiped her jaw, so the purpley-brown bruise was obvious now. Still looking into his eyes, she spoke with a voice that sounded dead, that was not her own,

"Not your fault."

[Deleted]

Phoenix really hardly knew George. He didn't really know what she was like besides the kindness she'd showed him, and her playful attitude and bright, cheery smile. All of that seemed to be gone now as Phen stared with his lips slightly open, not meaning to be rude but thrown off by her silence and seemingly completely different personality. He didn't notice the make-up yet - he wasn't very observant, really - but he could tell she was in some sort of pain, emotional or physical, or both, just by looking at her. That, at least, was obvious.

He jolted as she tugged her hand away, retracting his own and clutching it against his chest. "George?" he said again, he voice faint and anxious. His instincts were to pull her close and hug her, but given how she'd just reacted, he didn't know if she would appreciate that or not. So he just sat there, eyes wide, scrambling to find something to say that would make this better. But he didn't know what was wrong, so he didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry..." he whispered again, this time for touching her when she obviously didn't want to be.

As she looked up at him, he unconsciously reached his hand out again, wavering and not touching her, but there all the same. He struggled to sit on his rump, his leg having cramped up from squatting on it for a while, and landed back heavily, wincing just a bit. He'd stay down here with her until she either talked, broke down, or ran away. He hoped it would be the first, but prepared for the other two.

When George started to reach up towards her face, still looking at him, Phen's gaze dropped down to where she was reaching, watching as she wiped at her chin, which apparently caused her pain judging from the look on her face. "What're you..." His voice caught and broke off as she pulled away, and he saw the dark, scary bruise she'd been hiding.

He gawked for a moment, then jolted forward, his heart hammering a million times a second. She was hurt. Someone had hurt George. "Who-?? How...!?" he demanded, ignoring the apathy in her voice and how she'd jolted away earlier, reaching up to gently take her chin in his hands so he could get a better look. Oriel had had bruises along his jaw that looked very similar to this after his fight with Kodi, and it made Phen instinctively assume that someone punched her. Someone punched George. What kind of asshole would do that?

"Who did this?" he asked her, making sure she was looking at him when he spoke. There was a hardness to his voice that he didn't even know he was capable of having. "I swear..." He let his threats go silent, realizing they were pointless without the person actually there. "Pl-please tell me what happened. I... I want to help you."

[Georgina Speer]

It was so difficult.

Phen had no idea how much George wanted to hug him and never let go. She needed to feel the comfort of another human being, to be close to something warm and alive, but everytime someone got close... a flash of sharp teeth... a fist flying her way... the blood... they all flashed into her vision. It was too much for her to handle.

'George?' She shivered a little, she couldn't even stand the sound of her own name. She looked at the floor, the library's carpet, and replied to his apology with the shake of her head. She was the one being cold and dismissive, not him. He didn't need to apologize.

This time, when his hand was offered, she glanced down at it for a few seconds, determining what to do. With her spare hand, she reached out and slowly and gently placed her hand in Phen's. It was better than nothing, and was easier for her to do, as she wasn't shocked, like she had been the first time.

Once her hand was away from her face, she braced herself for whatever the reaction would be. There was a beat, once it was clear to him, of complete and utter silence. As soon as he jolted forward, she tensed up. She answered his question uninformatively, by shaking her head again, but this time, her eyes were squeezed shut, her jaw clenched and her head contracted inwards, curling up slightly from the possible threat.

His fingers made contact with her chin, and she inhaled sharply, her facial muscles tightening even more, not from pain, but fear. She knew she was safe, it was Phen, Phen was a good person, but she couldn't cease the alarm bells that went off in her mind once he came near. She did her best not to move away, and slowly edged her eyed open, her facial muscles still tight. She looked at Phen with worried eyes.

'Who did this?'

She hugged herself, her face finally returning to normal. She could see his face, knew his name, but for some reason, she couldn't form his name. She tried her hardest, but all that came out was, "K-k-k... k-k... ko-k..." If he knew Kodi's name, he might've possibly been able to connect the dots, but the chances of that happening were pretty miniscule.

Tell him what happened?

She never wanted to relive that moment ever again. But she tried her best.

For Phoenix.

"I w-w-was on the f-first floor of the d-d-d-dorms..." She was stuttering like she was freezing, the words were so difficult to form. "A-a-and... and... h-he came along. H-he was ang-g-gry for some r-reason. He pun-" Her breath caught heavily. She calmed herself down slowly, by taking deep breathes, and finished the story from hell.

"H-he p-punched me. And alm-m-most bit m-me. A-and he s-spat bl-lood on me and w-w-wiped bl-lood on m-m-my n-neck."

She shivered and whimpered slightly, curling up into a ball.

"Phen..." she looked him in the eye, her own orbs glazed over slightly, on the verge of spilling over,

"Phen, I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-scared!"

[Deleted]

Phoenix noticed her tense up as he reached for her face, but this time he kept his gentle touch there; as long as she didn't push him away, he was going to do his best to keep some sort of contact between them. He knew he drew the most comfort when people offered there support through tactile touch, and hoped it would help at least a little with whatever George was going through. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise," he told her softly. Judging from her reactions, he thought she must be dealing with some sort of post-traumatic stress that he didn't want to make worse.

She seemed to relax a little, and Phen let out a relieved breath, though he was still worried sick. He let go of her chin and dropped his hands to take both of hers in his own, squeezing them carefully and giving her all the time she needed to respond.

It only took that first letter to make Phen's features darken into something murderous. He should have known. Who else would be so sick and cruel? "Kodi." It wasn't a question. It was a reaffirmation. Phen let out a low growl and looked away, not wanting George to see how much that name infuriated him.

As she began to stammer out the story, Phoenix continued to hold her hands, hoping to give her some form of strength to get through telling what he heard with horror was something awful. His mouth twisted into a harsh, hating scowl. He was fighting off the want to go and find Kodi and pummel him right now, only he knew he'd likely just end up getting beat himself; he didn't have the strength for something like that. He could call Oriel, but he didn't want his boyfriend to get hurt too...

"That sick, twisted bastard," he hissed, his cheeks and neck flushed with rage. He was distracted from his anger, however, when George said his name, and he snapped back to look at her and saw the tears in her eyes. He immediately softened, reaching up to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest. He knew he wasn't broad or strong, and may not have the most protective, secure hugs, but what he lacked in structure, he made up for in sincerity.

"Shhh," he hushed, rocking carefully so as not to hurt his injured leg. "You're okay now. He's not gonna hurt you again. I won't let him." He reached his hand up to stroke through her hair, continuing to make soft, soothing sounds. Phen wasn't extremely experienced in this comforting stuff, but he had enough instinct to think he was at least helping a little. "You don't gotta be scared. I'm... I'm gonna take care of it, okay? You don't have t'worry about him anymore."

He was going to tell Oriel. He had to. And maybe a school authority, too. But for now, he didn't want George to leave his sight. "He's hurt me too," he told her softly. "But Oriel made sure he won't do it again. We'll do the same for you. Okay?" He didn't know that Jack was already going to be on it.

[Georgina Speer]

You're kiddin', righ'? Holy shit, you're such a pathetic excuse for a human!

She felt the warmth of Phen's hands envelope her own and she let him take them up, as if she was a rag doll. They had gone limp and loose, like her spirit.

'Kodi.'

Just the sound of his name made her whimper, curl up and, automatically, her hand reached up to hold her jaw, taking Phen's arm with her. She never knew that one word could have such an effect on a person, yet here she was, struggling to even sit still at the thought of his existence. She realized that if she was ever worried about where he may or may not be, she could just track him, but... she was paranoid as it was, she'd end up with multiple bouts of amnesia and migraines like before if she wasn't careful.

But Phen... Phen was scaring her now. He wasn't light and fluffy and friendly, he seemed dark, ruthless, dangerous. He scowled in the same way, but fueled with hatred, instead of sick pleasure. She didn't want to see any similarities between Phen and Kodi. His words were sharp now, anxious her distraction couldn't have come early enough.

Wha', are ya gonna break down now? Get a grip, ya fucking fairy.

And suddenly...there was Phen.

Good Phen.

She practically fell into his embrace, tears falling from her eyes like they were rainclouds. She had been holding that in all day. She usually surpressed it until she was at her dorm, and everytime she'd only just about make it before the flood gates would open. She was having a hard beliving him, "H-how w-will you s-s-stop him?"

She frowned, looking up at him. "He hurt you? ... h-how?"

The mention of Oriel was pretty welcome, she had a small trust of Oriel and if he had been able to protect Phen, he could protect her. But...

"No."

She put her head in his chest, "You can't anyone about this. You can't."

[Deleted]

Phen let out a worried, anxious breath seeing how George reacted to just Kodi's name. He had been scared of the guy at first, too; scared he'd come back for revenge, or go after Oriel, or something. But he'd only suffered a little bit; George had obviously taken more from the cruel hick than he had. It took a lot for someone to break down like this.

Had he known what George was thinking, the similarities between himself and Kodi, the darkness in his voice and the violence his brain urged him to commit, he would have been horrified. It was true he had a rough past - he'd been in countless scuffles back in Seattle, threatened and given threats over deals and gang problems. His past was far from flawless, and Kodi's behavior had a way of sparking that old, twisted fucker Phoenix used to be, before Hammel, and then, after the only person he'd loved had left him and he'd spiraled into a two-year long depression where his dust was the only thing keeping him barely functioning. He'd done things during those times he regretted, looking back. But he knew that he still had the capacity to become that again, if, God forbid, Oriel left him, or something went horribly wrong in his life and he turned back to chemicals...

But not now. Now, he was clean and kind and didn't want to think about the various things he'd like to do to Kodi. He focused on keeping his dark thoughts away by comforting George; she needed all the support she could get.

He felt his shirt dampening with tears, but he ignored it. If she needed to cry, then he would give her all the time she needed. Phen brushed her hair, rubbed her back, did all the soothing things he could think of, especially those that Oriel did to him whenever he was about to have a panic attack from a feeling a relapse of his addiction. How will you stop him? Phoenix bit his lip. There was nothing he could personally actually do to stop Kodi from attacking again, apart from threats that the guy would likely laugh at anyway. He said the only thing he could. "Don't worry about it. I promise it won't happen again." He mustered as much strength into his words as he could, hoping she would take them to heart. "He's not the type t'come for seconds anyway. He's too much of a coward." He'd never heard of him doing it twice, at least.

At her question, Phen hesitated, then pulled back just enough so he could tug down the collar of his neck to reveal the two puncture wounds on his shoulder that Kodi had given him a while back. They were faded now, but still there. "Bit me like a vampire. He's a creep. You... You should have seen him when Oriel was done with him though." Kodi'd definitely received the worst wounds out of the three of them. He fucking deserved it. "He ain't gonna mess with us again. And... And you're gonna be in that circle now, too."

But then she was begging him not to tell anyone about it, and Phen blinked, holding her head against him as he mulled this over. He... Wouldn't be able to help as much if he was the only one that knew. "Are you sure?" he said quietly, squeezing her gently. "If Kodi knows you're with us, he ain't gonna do shit t'you." He would respect her wishes if she insisted, though. He'd figure something else out.

[Georgina Speer]

George had no idea about Phoenix. All she knew of him was what she had seen that night when he had been crying about Oriel, and he just seemed like the most adorable human being to ever exist. And nothing else. If she knew about his past... well, she would look at him a little differently, but not because she had suddenly lost all her respect for him, no, the opposite would be the case. For someone to struggle with the worst things in life and come out of it like he had, was very creditable. She would also probably be even more thankful that he was clean now, he wouldn't want to see the past Phen.

It felt so weird to have the roles reversed... if she was still herself, she probably would've quoted something Phen had said the first time they'd met, along the lines of 'I'll get your shirt wet.', but she couldn't bring herself to form the words. She realized something, though...

...Phen was a lot better at comforting than Jack.

Jack had been really... nice and stuff, but he had had no idea what he was doing. Phen seemed a lot more comfortable, and he was really helping her. When he answered, it seemed heart-felt, but... empty. Coward? The fuckin' coward here is that fuckin' pixie. She didn't know what else to do, so she just nodded, and took it in. He seemed quite... finished when had gone that day, but she couldn't help but be scared for her skin.

She gasped at the reveal of the marks on his shoulder and shook her head, slowly reaching out and stroking a finger over them tentatively. So, he would actually bite people? That wasn't just an empty threat? She shuddered, and felt a small fire ignite in her core. He could hurt her, sure, what worse could he do now? I could do so much more. But other people? Her friends? No. She knew she was helpless to actually stop him from doing anything, but... it wasn't right. And this possible protection sounded good...

...but, but she couldn't. She was possibly putting other people in harm's way, and... enough people hated her as it was. She didn't want that number to increase. And if people found out about everything with Kodi... their suspicions would become truths. Because she was weak, and ignorant. Rarely, she would have a feeling of... power. She would try to overcome all of the negative thoughts, but they just came back and slapped her in the face. So much so that she was just taking it as the truth.

She hid her face as much as she could in that moment, something dark coming out, "It's too late for that." He'd already done shit to her. And he could do more, so much more. And was she sure about anything anymore? Not really. "I-I-I... I don't know." Her tears were lessening, but a few still trickled down her cheeks. She wanted all the madness, the practically constant taunts in her head to all stop as soon as possible, but... she was crumbling. She didn't exactly have an outside option. Of course, she remembered Jack's reaction to what Kodi did but... he would just get hurt. She pondered on the idea of telling Phen that Jack knew... it felt unnecessary.

Just like yer exis'ance, ya slut!

[Deleted]

Phoenix himself had no idea how comforting he was being. He was just trying to do what he thought he would appreciate if their positions were switched, and hoping it would be enough. He knew he usually just needed to be held and talked soothingly to until his panic attacks passed, but... That was different. Oriel was his life, and Phen relied on him for everything. It made sense that Oriel was able to comfort him. But Phoenix, he barely knew George, and had no idea whether he would have the same effect or not. This was different than a panic attack, too; this was a real, tangible problem, and not just in her head. Not all of it, at least.

He tilted his head to the side as George softly touched the marks, features tightening just a little. They didn't bother him too much now, but for a while after the attack, he'd even freaked out sometimes when Oriel got too close to the wound. The psychological damage of Kodi's attacks was as bad, if not worse, than the physical. "He... He didn't actually bite you, did he?" he asked carefully. He'd heard George's story, but he wanted to make sure she wasn't keeping anything from him.

And... As much as Phen hated Kodi, and wanted to put a stop to what he was doing, he knew there was little he could do besides going to an adult and getting him locked up or something. But Phen was... Well, he was stubborn, for one thing, and adults intimidated him. He'd likely keep this to himself and George and Oriel and try to not think about what else Kodi was doing. It was sick, and pathetic, but what could he do? He just wanted to protect the people he cared about, and right now the most important person to protect was George.

He didn't think she was weak at all. Phen thought she was incredibly brave for even telling him.

Phoenix let out a hard breath, squeezing her even tighter. "I know. I know he did awful things t'you," he murmured, wishing for the millionth time he was better with words. "But it won't happen again. You... You can even come and sleep in our room if you need to." "Our" meaning, technically, Oriel's, but Phen basically lived there now anyway. "Whatever you want or need. We'll keep you safe." At least until something was done. Because something would be done, Phen was sure.

"If it's okay, I'm goin' t'tell Oriel," he told her, gently but firmly. "Trust me, he can handle Kodi. He's done it before, and he'll do it again." Phoenix hated the thought of his boyfriend confronting the hick, but he had enough confidence in Oriel to feel like he'd be alright. He finally pulled away a bit, looking George in the eyes so she could see how determined he was. "Alright? It's goin' t'be okay."

[Georgina Speer]

George's hand almost threw itself away from him once she noticed his reaction to her touch. The tension that tightened on his face was much like her own, and she didn't want to upset him. He's a fuckin' weak pixie, he couldn't handle one little bite. Instead of jolting backwards, she swiftly moved her hand away and looked away from him, at the floor again. She was ashamed of her ignorance. There's a lot've things you should be ashamed of. Yer naivety is only one of them.

She shook her head, and her eyeline moved from the floor to the wall on her right, which was lined with books, "He didn't. B-but..." She shivered and winced, as if he was there again now. She could practically feel his breath down her neck. She pulled back from the hug a little and looked Phen in the eye as she did her next movements. She made her hand into a clawed structure and placed it very close to her neck. She tried to be brave and strong about it, but even though she was the one holding her own hand there, she felt herself becoming more and more nervous. Her breathing quickened ever so slightly, "... he was this close."

She hadn't exactly told him the whole story. She dropped her hand down and sighed heavily, some late tears silently making their departure. "I-It wasn't too bad at first, I think." She gulped and reccounted what she could remember, trying to block out the sound of Kodi's voice, the look on his face. "He called me a... whore. And a s-s-slut. And he threatened me loads of times." Her palm suddenly made contact with her forehead and she grabbed some of her hair, tugging on it, clenching her eyes shut and tightening her jaw, "God, I was so fucking stupid!"

She let go of herself and looked him again, and allowed her body and brain to subconsciously do the work, "I... I spat on him." She sounded so idiotic, saying it out loud. She sighed and looked away from him again, "I think that was the tipping point, he seemed more... manic after that." She sighed and frowned, her jaw stabbing a sharp pain into her at the movement.

"Um..." she felt her stomach tighten. Did she want to tell him what she'd done? She looked him in the eyes and nodded to herself, approving her own request. Her nodding turned into shaking and she breathed out a whisper of a laugh, laughing at her own recklessness, "I punched him back." she mumbled. Her punching fist tightened and features intensified at the thought, with a dark smirk etched onto her face, pretty proud of her own feat, "Right in the teeth." She tried to forget about the consequences of her actions, but they came to mind all the same, and it felt like some of the colour had disappeared from her face, and her features drooped a little again. "But... he started, started bleeding buckets." She played with her hands, watching them move around each other, "It was after then that he... he..." she repeated what she had done earlier, bringing a claw-like hand up to her face, and then around to her neck like he had done. Her fingers tightened and locked in position, so she put her hand in her lap, trying to hide it's seizing, "That was where he wiped the blood too." she breathed out the words.

She shook her head at his offer, "I couldn't. Wouldn't be fair on the pair of you." That was only partially the reason why she didn't want to join them. She was also aware that she was certain the pair would detest of her presence. If not whilst she was awake, then when she slept. She had been suffering with nightmares because of Kodi. One of the worst was when she had been tracking Phen for some reason, and he ran into Kodi, and Kodi just began pummeling him and all she could do was watch in horror as it all happened. And when Kodi left, after punches, kicks and bites, she couldn't leave the vision. So she could only watch as her friend lay on the cold ground without any aid. She woke up crying from that one. She had woken up screaming from another, which she didn't want to go into detail about at all. When her dorm-mates came to see what the problem was, she just said she thought she saw a really big spider, and it was left at that.

Safe.

Safe didn't seem to be a term that held much meaning anymore, to George at least. She did her best to look at him when he did the same to her. She wasn't certain if she could let Phoenix tell Oriel about it, but there was something in the determination of his face that made her feel like it would be alright. She nodded, "O-o-ok." She wasn't really certain what would result of Oriel knowing, but she didn't mind as long as it wouldn't draw too much attention to her situation. She smiled meekly and gently, "Thank you, so much." She put her head against her chest. She felt a kind of... relief. She was tense and tight, but calmer, less stressed. It felt... nice.

[Deleted]

Phoenix watched worriedly as George lifted her hand, tensing a little as she formed it into a claw and held it up against her own throat. He nodded as she spoke, still holding onto her as long as she would let him and wanted him to. "Th-that's what he does," he mumbled. "He doesn't just hurt people, he f-freaks them out until they can't walk around without constantly looking over their shoulder." He'd done that for a while after the attack, half-expecting Kodi to leap on him out of nowhere whenever Oriel wasn't around. He couldn't imagine how much harder it was for George, not having the relief of having someone to protect her (as far as Phen knew).

He fell silent again as George fleshed her story out more, giving Phoenix details that made hid rage boil even more. He even started to shake a little, but still he held on, waiting until she was finished explaining what had happened until he spoke again. "Well, I think you were really damn brave to even try t'fight back," he told her quietly. "I'm sure it threw him off, at least. I know it may have made things worse..." he trailed off, sighing. "But he might think you're too much trouble t'come back at again." Bullies likes weak targets, like himself. If George had really hit him, Kodi would do best to stay away.

As she talked about Kodi bleeding all over and what he'd done to her after that, Phoenix shook his head and tried to pull her close again. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he mumbled, not knowing what else to say. "At... At least you got him back, if only a little." And, if Phen had his way, there would be more coming for the creep in way of a protective boyfriend. "And he'll get his coming. You just wait." One of these days, Phoenix was sure, Kodi'd try to hurt the wrong person, and he'd get what he deserved.

He frowned as she turned down his offer, and shook his head. "I wouldn't mind at all," he told her honestly. He couldn't say the same for Oriel, but Phen was pretty sure the boy would want to do it if it made George feel better. "But if you don't want to... I understand." He had had nightmares afterwards, too; he guessed she was probably having the same. "I just know that I sleep better when there's someone else there. Maybe you have someone else you could be with, too?" For all he knew, she could have someone she was already going to. He hoped she did. He didn't feel like he was being all that much help at all.

At least she agreed to let him tell Oriel. This made Phoenix relax more, and he hugged her again tight. "No need t'thank me," he mumbled, cheeks flushing. "I just want to make sure you're alright." He held her for another couple of moments, however long she wanted, before he finally pulled away. "I can go talk to him now, if you want," he said, wobbling up to stand and offering a hand down to her. Phen grabbed his phone, not bothering to put his books away. "He's just in the computer lab. You can come, or you don't have to. Whichever you'd prefer." He needed to go see Oriel now anyway; he was shaken up, and, if he wasn't careful, might slip into a panic attack.

[Georgina Speer]

George nodded in agreement with Phen. He'd really played with her head, and she wasn't afraid in the way that Phoenix described it. She had a feeling that he wouldn't just jump her and attack her, but it was just some of the scenarios that played out in her head. Hammel could have pretty crowded areas sometimes, and she remembered being scared to join the crowd simply because she thought she might bump into him, or that he might find her and pull her along until they were far anyway enough from everyone else to that he could attack her again. From her point of view, it felt like a game of cat and mouse, even though she hadn't seen him since it happened.

Although she was proud of her achievement, punching Kodi didn't seem brave to her. It seemed naive and careless. And she hoped that would be the case. The idea of even seeing Kodi again was one that petrified her to the core. She wouldn't be able to be as strong as she first was if that that happened, no matter how hard she tried.

She let Phen bring her nearer again willingly, she wanted all the warmth she could get. And the idea of anyone else getting hurt because of Kodi nudged her brain a little, but Phen seemed dead set on the idea that he would get his just desserts, as it were. If anything, she didn't want anymore drama, she just wanted it to all be done with and forgotten. She'd be back to normal at some point, it'd be OK.

She frowned, "Well, I don't really... I've only told one other person about this. And all they know is that Kodi hit me. They were worried and angry and stuff, but I... I can't. I-I've been fine the last few nights, I'll be fine." That last sentence was a white lie, but she didn't want Phen worrying about her. And she would ask Jack to stay with her, but... he didn't seem to be the type to be all cuddly and loving and stuff. Knowing him, he'd probably just keep her up all night playing video games or something.

Even that sounded better than the nightmares; I mean, if she didn't sleep, she couldn't have dreams, so she wouldn't be scared! Maybe that was the solution she needed...

It was really heart-warming, what he said. George couldn't help but smile a little wider. She stayed wrapped around him for as long as possible until he, sadly, pulled away. She sighed and listened to him, nodding. "I-I think I should come with you." She rubbed the back of her neck, "I-I-If that's alright with y-you, of course." She took his hand and carefully pulled herself up, completely oblivious of the book she'd left under the table. It probably wouldn't be a huge problem anyway, the librarian was extremely organized; she could be gone 2 minutes and it would probably be back on it's place in the shelves.

She leaned forwards, grabbed his crutches and pulled them up, offering them to him. She wondered if she should ask why he was all bandaged up... but he would most likely dismiss his own problem anyway. That reminded her... her bruise. Her hand subconsciously went up to touch it, and thought for a moment... her bag was in her dorm room, along with the rest of her makeup.

She was going to have to walk around, parading the dark damage on her face for all the see. She didn't like that... but what else could she do? And if anyone asked, she still had her excuse. Stairs were very dangerous, it was believable.

[Deleted]

So she had told someone else. That made Phen feel a little better; he did wonder, though, who it was, and if they'd already thought about going after Kodi themselves. "Well... Okay," he replied uneasily. He wanted to find out more, but he didn't feel like it was his business asking more about it. "But don't hesitate to ask me or Oriel for help if you need it, okay?" he told her. "Whatever you need, whenever. Here, let me give you my phone number." Assuming she would offer her phone, he'd punch in his information and hand it back. "Even if it's the middle of the night and you just need someone to talk to." Phoenix smiled, giving George a ruffle on the head. He was doing his best to hide how upset he still was.

"Okay, sure," he nodded when she agreed to come with him. He was glad she was, actually; knowing Oriel, he'd probably storm off to find Kodi as soon as Phen told him, and Phoenix didn't really want to be by himself now. "Of course it's okay!" He helped her to her feet awkwardly, trying not to put too much weight on his bad leg, and hugged her again once she was standing. "You'll get t'see him when he's less manipulatin' and more... Well, protective," he said quietly with a smile.

He blinked as she grabbed his crutches and offered them to him, flushing and smiling again as he took them gently. "Thanks," he mumbled. Phen wondered if she wondered what had happened to him, but she didn't ask, so he didn't say anything. Hopefully she hadn't heard the false rumors that Oriel had done it to him. He noticed her reach up to touch the bruise, and an idea came to him. "Um, if you w-want t'hide it..." he started, reaching for his bag and fumbling around until he pulled out a scarf. He got cold easily, so he usually had one on him. "You can wrap this around?"

Whatever she chose, He'd tug his bag over his shoulder and adjust his crutches under his arms, texting Oriel to make sure he was still in the computer labs as they headed off. They were gonna get this handled. He knew they would.

[Georgina Speer]

Georgina dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone when he offered his phone number. She unlocked it with a passcode (you could never trust people these days) and handed it over, taking it back once he was done. She wasn't sure how much she appriciated her hair ruffle, but it made her giggle a little all the same.

"Sounds... nice," she said, with a smirk. She accepted the hug when it came her way and tried to imagine a protective Oriel... it wasn't difficult. She had experienced a minorly caring Oriel because of what had happened when she had had that temporary amnesia a few months ago, but she was pretty certain he didn't make Phen he was a princess for laughs.

Usually, George was quite deep within the gossip web, but as of recently, since she hadn't been contacting people, she had no idea that Oriel was being 'accused' of breaking his own boyfriend's leg, but even if she did find out, she would be furious. Oriel was a little twisted, sure, but for someone to think that he would be so violent? That would be atrocious.

Her eyes widened when she saw the scarf, and she took it gently from him, without speaking. She wrapped it around her neck and chin and tucked it into itself. "Thanks." She whispered out. She waited patiently as he adjusted himself and sent the text. Once he was ready, they set off.

She couldn't thank Phen enough for this, even though she couldn't actually form the grateful words.