"Leave now," Ian said to Nora coldly as he held Eddie by his collar and continued hitting him and Nora couldn't help but flinch.
"I'm not leaving Ian, but you have to leave him, you are gonna kill him if this continues," Nora said as she looked at Eddie who looked unconscious but was still breathing.
Ian kept on hitting and hitting him until he was a little bit satisfied. How dare this little thing touch Nora to the extent that she was bleeding.
"I think we should go check on them, it has been quite some time since they left," Zach said and he stood up and Zoe and Jasmine also stood up
"You should stay here Jas, incase they come back, Zoe said and Jasmine nodded looking worried.
"Take your phone with you so you can call me," she said and Zack and Zoe left.
"Come here,Nora, Ian said and Nora moved closer in fear. He grabbed her hand and took her to the sink, away from Eddie's unconscious body and he washed his hand without saying anything. The door opened and Zach and Zoe entered.
"What the hell happened here," Zach said as he walked over to check if Eddie was still breathing.
"Nora are you okay? Omg you are bleeding," Zoe walked to Nora looking at her head with worried eyes. "I'm fine, just a little blood," she said but she could tell it was not little because the blood was still streaming down her face.
"Zach, can you help me?" Ian asked and Zach nodded without asking any question. He called a passing waiter to bring a blanket. When the waiter returned with the blanket he used it to cover Eddie's head while Zoe called Jasmine to tell her what had happened and she rushed over.
The waiter took care of the blood on the floor while Jasmine looked at Nora in guilt.
"I'm so..sorry. I...I," Jasmine started sobbing. Nora hugged her.
"It's not your fault, you had no idea this was going to happen and I don't blame you for it, you don't have to feel guilty about it," she said patting Jasmine's back as she cried.
"I..should get going, I'll take him to the hospital, I'm deeply sorry, Nora," Jasmine said before walking to Zach side and they both held each of Eddie's hands.
"We will get going Nora, get well, Jasmine didn't mean any harm," Zach said before they all left leaving Nora and Ian alone. Nora thoughts were messed up when without warning Ian put his hand around her waist and made her sit at the tip of the sink and she sucked in her breath..Ian took some tissues and started wiping her face.
"I..I'm sorry are you hurt? Did he hit you?" She asked in a tiny voice. "Silly girl, you are the one who's hurt not me, I'm sorry if I came too late to save you," he said smiling but his eyes said otherwise.
"It's not your fault and you saved me right on time," she said placing her hand on his cheek and he stilled as he looked at her warm brown eyes. Nora didn't even know when her hand reached his cheek and her hand moved to his hair and they kept staring at each other. She seemed so drawn to his deep blue eyes and seemed to be pulling her inside as if he could see through her soul. The toilet was filled with silence until a lady walked in.
"If you guys want to do such things get yourself a room. Why do it in a place where people enter," she said slamming the door shut. Nora looked so embarrassed, her cheeks burning from the heat while Ian cleared his throat.
"I didn't mean to..uhh..we should go," Nora stammered as she got down from the sink and adjusted her dress, not daring to meet Ian's eyes as she looked at other things except his eyes.
"Yeah, we should go home, we don't want your mom declaring you missing because it quite late." Ian said acting as if he wasn't just about to kiss her. "I'm not a child, my mom won't do such a thing," Nora said as she glared at him, meeting his eyes before lowering her gaze and walking to the door. She immediately called the driver to pick her up while she called her mother to tell her she was on her way home now. She couldn't dare tell her mother what happened today or else she may have to be homeschooled again. They went back to where they were sitting to wait for the driver. When he came, they both went outside. "You can ride with me, since we live in the same neighborhood, that's much better than you taking a taxi," Nora said.
"It's fine, I don't want to make you uncomfortable," he said. "It's okay, you don't make me uncomfortable at all," she said and they both entered the car.
"There was silence in the car, with the two of them thinking about something until Nora decided to talk. "If you are not too tired would you like to come to my house? My mom has been asking about you so I just want you to stop by."
"Hmm okay, I can always create some time," he said and she smiled before they stopped talking and only stared at each other before they both faced the window.
"Gosh this is so awkward, who told you to move so close to him as if you were going in for a kiss, stupid," Nora cursed in her mind as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When they finally got to Nora's house they were greeted by Nora's mom at the door. "Well look who decided that she had a home somewhere and a mother," Nora's mom sniggered. "Were you trying to give me an heart attack," she glared before looking at Ian with doe like eyes. "If Ian had not called me, God knows what would have happened," Mrs Smith said. She moved toward Nora before hitting her on her shoulder.
"Ouch! Mom! What was that for?" Nora screamed and her eyes fell on her Ian. When did he call her mom? The only thing she could think of that time was about what happened in the toilet and how she missed an opportunity to kiss Ian. Now that she thought about it, she could feel her cheeks and ears turn slightly red.
"Alright that's enough chattering, let's go inside," Mrs Smith said and walked up to Ian, held his hand gently and entered the house. Nora facepalm herself, "Hello mom, you daughter is still out here."
"What are you doing standing there, come inside already," Mrs Smith rolled her eyes.
Nora entered and the three of them settled down in the dining room. The maids served the food and they ate quietly. Nora kept frowning whenever she remembered the bathroom scene of Eddie but when she remembered the part where she almost kissed Ian she blushed and her mom noticed.
"Nora are you okay? Your face is red, do you have a fever," she asked worriedly. Nora cleared her throat, "The food is spicy so it..uhm..the heat must have touched my face." Her mom's eyes narrowed, definitely not buying the lie. "You do know you are bad at lying right? Anyways, how was your date? I didn't know Ian was also part of the outing?" Mrs Smith asked curiously.
Nora face turned sour and she lost her appetite, seeing that Nora wasn't in the mood to talk as she held her cutleries so tight that her knuckles turned white, Ian decided to explain.
"We had a lot of fun that we lost track of time and uh..Nora bumped her head so hard on the table, so that also took some time to treat."
"Oh my! Why didn't you tell me that she was injured?" Mrs Smith exclaimed and hurriedly took Nora's hand, she checked it then, she touched her neck then her head.
"Ouch!" Nora flinched in pain.
" It must hurt so much, before you go to bed make sure you put some ointment on it," Mrs Smith said. " Mom, it's not serious, don't worry, I just hit my head cause I was laughing so hard at a joke," Nora lied as she threw a shady glare at Ian. She felt bad lying to her mom but she couldn't do anything about it.
"Rita! Get me a bandage," Mrs Smith shouted to a maid even after hearing Nora's explanation. Ian looked lost as he stared at his plate and he looked like he was thinking about something that he didn't notice when the maid came back and when the bandage was put on Nora's head.
"... It was hiding so well under your bangs where you planning to hide it away from me," Mrs Smith frowned. Nora looked at Ian and then his food. "Doesn't look like he took more than three spoon, he's thinking so deeply," she thought.
"Mom, I think Ian needs to go home, it's already late you see," she said so loud so it will reach Ian's ears and thankfully he snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Nora.
"Okay, you should visit often. Should I walk you to the door?" Mrs Smith asked. "No it's fine ma'am," Ian muttered and he stood up and Nora trailed behind him.
When they got to the gate he turned around and looked at Nora. "You should go inside, I'll go from here." Are you okay? You look lost? Did Eddie hurt you? Are you having a fever?" Nora asked worriedly taking a step forward but he took a step back. Nora felt a lump in her throat. "Did he just avoid her touch. It hurts!"
"You should go back inside, good night," he said before walking away. She stared at his back feeling a little sad, she thought they had established something between them but when that happened he seemed to build walls to block it out. She sighed and went inside.