A Light in the Darkness [MrMista, Izzy, Zoph]

I tore my eyes away from Jaden's handsome face. I couldn't deal with this, with him, couldn't deal with the way I didn't understand him like I had thought I did. I abruptly turned my back on him, just in time to see the kid yell at us to go away and start trying to walk away.
It was awful. He was hobbling more than walking and I thought I glimpsed tears on his face and again I could barely believe that my Jaden was the same fucking Jaden that did this to somebody. I could not stand to watch him anymore. I caught up with him in a second.
"Hey, listen, kid, where do you think you're going?" I said. "School isn't over and wherever you live I doubt it's close enough for you to walk there like... that. You seriously need to go to the nurse, if not a fucking hospital." I recklessly put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, glancing back at Jaden, wondering what the hell he would do. I felt like I needed to test him-- did I even know him anymore?

Ronny felt a hand on his shoulder, and he winced in anticipation, expecting the pain to come at any moment. But the grip wasn’t hard, merely firm enough to stop him from going anywhere.

"Hey, listen, kid, where do you think you're going?" the voice was loud and clear, and Ronny looked up to see that it was Brynna, not Jaden, who was blocking his exit. "School isn't over and wherever you live I doubt it's close enough for you to walk there like... that. You seriously need to go to the nurse, if not a fucking hospital." Ronny opened his mouth, ready to reply. He had no clue what he would say, but he knew the girl’s suggestion was not going to come to fruition. Before he could say anything, however, his face was suddenly thrust into shadow, as Jaden closed the distance between them. Once again, Ronny prepared himself for the brutal collision of Jaden’s fist and -

"She's right, you know. Think I may have hit you a little too hard..."

What?! There was no way those words had just escaped Jaden’s lips. The brute would never apologize for tormenting Ronny. Just the thought of beating the kid would normally put a cruel smile on the hulking boy’s face.

It had to be a dream. There was no other explanation. In what world did people, especially Jaden, offer to help Ronny? It just couldn’t be real. There was no way four years of cruelty could vanish that quickly, unless Ronny wasn’t in school, but rather fast asleep. Hell, maybe he was still unconscious on the ground, and this was his twisted version of reality where suddenly his life is no longer a living hell.

But the pain Ronny felt spoke the truth. The aches across his stomach and deep in his chest made it painfully clear that this was no dream. So what was going on?

That was when all of the pieces in Ronny’s head clicked together. Jaden had stopped beating Ronny the moment Brynna had arrived. He had reached for her hand and since that moment hadn’t left her side. When she gave him a hurt look, his features had softened, melted into an expression Ronny had never seen on the guy. Ronny realized at that moment that Brynna and Jaden were more than friends. Maybe, just maybe, she could be the only person who could handle Jaden. No, there was no maybe. She… had power over him.

The gears in Ronny’s head started to turn as he tried to figure out his best course of action. The pain had faded after the last flare, and now it was nothing more than a constant dull ache. He could think clearly.

“I have to get her on my side,” he concluded. This girl, barely taller than Ronny himself, and certainly nowhere near as muscular as Jaden, could tame the brute better than a man could train his dog. As long as she would come to Ronny’s defense, Jaden wouldn’t dare lay a finger on him. Ronny’s face stayed calm, but on the inside, he was doing somersaults and backflips from the sheer thought of what this meant. He had found Jaden’s weakness, and he would exploit it her to the utmost degree.

Step 1: Gain her sympathy.

He had basically done it already.

Ronny shifted his gaze so that he was looking right into Brynna’s pale blue eyes, filled with what seemed like genuine concern, and smiled to the best of his ability. He raised the pitch of his voice, sounding even more childlike than before, radiating an aura of innocence. “I appreciate the concern, really I do. But trust me, I’ve felt worse. Ask your boyfriend, I’m sure he’d love to enlighten you.” He laughed slightly. “Yeah, we’ve had plenty of ‘great’ times together. And don’t worry about school being over. I end classes early today. I was actually on my way out before our little incident. I can’t go to the nurse or the hospital, but I live close enough to walk, so I trust I’ll be OK. It was nice meeting you though. You definitely saved me today. If it weren’t for you, I would still be on the ground right now. But if you could speak to Jaden about limiting this kind of ‘messing around’ I’d really appreciate it.”

He started to walk off, but turned back to give Brynna one more look, eyes wide as he spoke. “You know, you’re the first person in four years to come to my defense? No matter what happens, I’ll never forget that.”

Hook, line, and sinker. She was his without a doubt.

Though, that last line of his was true. It took a special kind of person to act the way Brynna did. Maybe, just maybe, she could be more than just Jaden’s leash. Maybe she could be someone Ronny could actually get along with.

No, at least not yet. She was dangerous, even if she was helpful. Ronny couldn’t let himself grow close to her. Besides, she treated him with kindness because she had thought he was a little kid. She didn’t know he was the same age as her, right? It doesn’t matter though. He’d already admitted to it, and if she didn’t catch on, Jaden would definitely let her know at some point. The thank you had been a slip-up, more of a legitimately emotional response than the careful monologue that had preceded it. Now, Ronny could only hope that he hadn’t deprived himself of the single safeguard he might have had against Jaden.

I wasn't listening to Olemander-- all of my attention was focused on Brynna as I tried to read the reasoning behind her actions. Watching the changing expressions of her face while she spoke with Olemander, I could tell that she genuinely cared about Olemander-- I just didn't get why. Empathy had never been one of my strengths, and for the first time in years, I felt like my lack of it had made a wall of misunderstanding between us.
I felt a little reassured when she stepped back and intertwined her long fingers with mine.
"And you're going to tell me why you decided to beat up some kid half your age."
Her words, spoken casually, did not trip me up. I was perfectly confident in my reasons for 'beating up' Olemander.
So I looked down at her, affection for her clear in my brown eyes, and answered her question with a small, rueful shake of the head. "He was practically asking for it."