“I told you to keep your townie f**king ass away from my girl,” Jordan told him in a scary voice.

“We were just talking,” I said, but Jordan wasn't listening. Because he was too busy moving passed Riley and landing a punch straight on Eli's face.

I heard a sickening crunch before Eli went to the floor. “Jordan!” I screamed, trying to pull his arm. Jordan wrenched his arm from my fingers and leaned down and punched Eli in the face again. Eli twisted to the right and came up onto his feet, blood flowing from his nose. It looked crooked and I worried Jordan had broken it.

Eli's fist shot out and connected with Jordan's jaw, causing his head to whip around. “Stop it!” I screamed. Jordan launched at Eli again and all I could see was a flurry of fists and feet and blood.

“Riley, help me stop them!” I cried out as I moved to try and grab one of them. But I couldn't get close to them. I heard the sound of fists against skin and blood sprayed across the carpet.

“Stop it, or I'll call the cops!” Riley yelled. Eli and Jordan didn't stop. I started sobbing. What the hell were we going to do? They knocked over the coffee table, sent glasses shattering to the floor. Pictures were banged off the walls.

Riley pulled her phone out and was getting ready to dial 911, when Eli's cousin and girlfriend appeared in the doorway. “What the hell is going on in here?” Cicely asked, taking in the sight of Eli and Jordan hammering it out to the death.

“Is that f**king Eli?” Raymond demanded. I nodded.

Then Raymond was in there, pulling Jordan off of his cousin. Raymond was a big guy. He out-weighed Jordan by at least thirty pounds. He yanked on Jordan's arms and hauled him up to his feet. “Fucking stop it!” Raymond roared. For such a chilled out stoner, he was kind of intimidating.

Eli got to his feet, blood running down his face. I jumped in front of him and held my hands up. “Please, just stop,” I begged, my eyes pleading with him. I looked over my shoulder at Jordan, who was shaking in his fury. Jordan had busted his lip and there was a nasty cut above his eye. His cheek was swollen and he watched me calm Eli down with a look that made me tremble.

“Get out of here, Eli,” Raymond ordered. Eli hesitated, looking at me.

“I'm not sure I should leave Maysie with this f**king lunatic,” he said, shooting a murderous look in Jordan's direction.

“Get the hell away from her, or I'll break your f**king arms!” Jordan yelled, struggling against Raymond's hold. Riley stood in the corner with Cicely, her face pale. Our eyes met and my friend mouthed “I'm sorry.”

I shook my head and turned back to Eli. “Just get out of here. I'm fine. I'm so sorry this happened.” My shoulders slumped. Eli looked as though he wanted to put an arm around me but shooting a look at Jordan, he must have thought better of it.

“Okay, but you know how to find me if you need me,” he told me.

“Thanks,” I murmured. Eli started out the door and turned around before leaving.

“And that fighting thing...uh, yeah, maybe we should re-think that.” He glared at Jordan and then with a final smile to me, he left.

“Now, can I let you go? Are you done?” Raymond asked Jordan, giving him a little shake. Jordan's shoulders were tense but he nodded. Raymond loosened his grip and Jordan yanked free, breathing heavily.

“We okay here?” Raymond asked me.

“Yeah, we're fine. Thank you so much,” I whispered, my voice failing me. Raymond looked at me for a minute then he collected Cicely and left, closing the door on his way out.

Jordan stood in the middle of my trashed living room, taking deep breaths. I was in absolute shock with what had just happened. Why the hell was he even here? But his lip was bleeding pretty badly, so I took a hesitant step toward him.

“Jordan, let me clean you up,” I suggested softly, not sure what he would do. I could see the fine tremors going through his body.

He wouldn't look at me. “I can do it,” he said shortly and turned toward the bathroom without another word.

Once we heard the click of the bathroom door closing, I whipped around to look at Riley. “What is he doing here?” I hissed. Riley winced.

“I'm so sorry, I should have called. But he was at Barton's. And he had been drinking since early afternoon. He was a freaking mess. I just thought if I could get you guys to talk, then you could figure your shit out.” Riley looked over her shoulder, to make sure the bathroom door was still closed.

Then she looked back at me. “I had no idea Eli would be here,” she said in accusation.

I glared at her. “Eli was up here bumming a smoke. Then we got to talking. NOTHING happened,” I said through gritted teeth. Riley sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples.

“That was crazy, Mays. Remind me in the future that drunk Jordan isn't a happy Jordan.”

I groaned. “Great, now I have to go deal with angry, drunk Jordan. Thanks. Next time, call, before you stick your nose into my business,” I said angrily. I knew Riley was just trying to help, but dear god, what a mess.

“I should go talk to him.” I sighed. Riley nodded.

“I'll try and get the blood out of the carpet,” she offered dryly. I left Riley to clean up the living room and I knocked softly on the bathroom door.

“Jordan, can I come in?” I said through the wood. I didn't get a response. So I just went on in. Jordan was standing at the sink, wiping his lip and jaw with a wet washcloth. He didn't look my way when I came in. In fact he didn't acknowledge me at all.