“Try it. Go ahead just try it. Hurt her and I’ll rip your throat out.” As Orion hid in the trees outside, the girl of his dreams was moments away from being beaten by her latest pathetic excuse for a boyfriend. Orion promised to protect her and tonight was his time to prove it. He new that his life had been leading to this moment and how he wasn’t going to miss his chance to prove his worth to all those who doubted him
For the past two years of high school he had loved and admired Nicola, however was never able to articulate his feelings for her. So he felt he would show her instead. He made friends with one of hers in order to find out what she liked in a man.
He learned she liked kind and giving men so he joined most of the committees set up in his school. He did charity work for Children In Need, Comic Relief as well as for other local charities. With the help of his family and friends he also helped in the events organised by the committees, such as getting his uncle to DJ at dances, getting his mum, aunts and gran to bake for a week to completely stock their bake sales and even get his brother, who was studying graphic design, to print up amazing posters and tickets for all the events. Nicola saw all this yet she only saw him as a boy who could get things done, but not as someone she could socialise with. Orion however didn’t give up.
Her friend Amy told him, after he gave her an expensive bracelet for her birthday, that she also liked intelligent men. So Orion joined the school’s Young Enterprise company. With his ability to organise he became the Marketing Director for the company and with his help they were able to win the regional final and, when they went forth to represent the area, in the Scottish finals they were a close second place. As he was in a few of her classes he did his very best to prove to her and his teachers that would learn all there was to know about Modern Studies and Craft and Design. His Modern Studies teacher liked him because he had an uncle that lived in America who could send over information about elections and other topics they learned about in the course. Orion became friends with the staff of Craft and Design as he enjoyed carving, moulding and generally creating things by hand. The staff helped him to learn how pretty much all of the machinery worked and how to safely operate them. Nicola noticed this and asked his help with revision for Modern Studies and help in creating her items in Craft and Design. She talked to him now more freely but it was still about school and when he did pluck up the courage to ask her out she always gave him a load of excuses.
Once he got her cheap tickets to see a band she liked, Amy finally said that what Nicola really looked for was a man to protect her and look after her. He thought what sport he suited most. He had tried sponsored runs for the charity work he did but he didn’t have the long distance stamina to join the school team. He was a confident swimmer but lacked the courage to show off his body in front of the guys and girls that made up the swim team. Next to their honed and toned bodies he looked like a pale eel that had gone into the wrong room. He finally added up his skills, sprint stamina, great hand eye coordination, a strategic mind and a need to show off to others. BASKETBALL! It was so obvious he wondered why he never thought of it before. He initially just went to the Wednesday night drop in session to prove to himself he was good enough. One night the captain of the basketball team came along to see how people played. At 6 foot 10 it was hard not to see he had snuck in. When he saw how quick and aggressive Orion was on the court he asked him if he wanted to try out for the team. This involved a one on one match with someone already on the team. After half an hour of constant playing the rest of the team saw he had the right stamina, and he also beat the other player 21 points to 10, they felt he should join the team. It just so happens that Nicola is head cheerleader for the team. Orion was comfortable with long three point shots and always annoyed the defence on the other team by running up to the basket, only to turn round and shoot while jumping backwards. In defence he was quick and could get ahead of attacking players and stop their advance. However if his team was with him at their own end of the court he would watch as the opposing team would pass the ball round to the most open player. What he would do would be to back away from the closest player he was defending and make the opposing team think they were open, however he was always able to intercept there pass and sprint to the other end of the court and score before anyone realised what had happened. With Orion on there side, known as Beserker for his relentless attack on the other team, they won a lot of their matches. Nicola saw him perform and he saw her perform. That’s when he first noticed them. Bruises. Oh no! She went out with a lot of rough tough guys and, it turns out, very aggressive guys. When he asked about them she would go quiet for a second then say they were from accidents and falls during cheerleading practice. Yet he had his suspicions.
Growing up with two brothers Orion was used to fighting and felt he had a high tolerance for pain. Now he needed to be as strong as he could so he would pick fights and strength tests with his brothers. After a few months he not only learned how to not feel pain but also to show the enemy that they couldn’t hurt him. To prove to himself he could do it he would go out to bars and a local pool hall with friends. Late in the night everyone would be drunk but not him, he had drunk Coca-Cola all night and not vodka and coke as his friends and others thought. As he pretended to stagger home alone he was often approached by gangs of two or three neds. He would have a surprise for them and let’s just say he always made it home without a mark on him. Then he hit jackpot.
It was the end of term and Nicola was having a summer party and she had invited him along. When he arrived he met Amy who pointed out Nicola’s boyfriend. He looked like an extra from Braveheart. Short red hair, tall, tattoos on both arms and a flat forehead. Sure he looked like he could protect her but who would protect her from him. Orion knew he could and would prove it to her. During the party they played a number of games and when someone suggested an arm wrestling contest he couldn’t believe his luck. Orion beat Amy when she was using two hands. He and Bryan, Nicola’s boyfriend, defeated all the other party goers then had a final showdown with each other. When Orion saw Bryan’s tattoos which seemed stretched out over his muscles he knew that if he didn’t win then she would never trust him. As the wrestling began they both knew it was a close match-up. First Orion pushed off quickly and took Bryan by surprise. He fought back and for about two minutes, but for them felt like a lifetime, there was a stalemate and even though the others were cheering for their favourite to win, the competitors heard nothing. Bryan knew that Orion was interested in Nicola and was determined to beat him down and show he would never have her. As his muscles tired he tried to crush Orion’s hand. However Orion was defiant. He was the school’s champion of a game called ‘mercy’ where the objective is to crush the opponent’s fingers, as champion Orion had nearly had his fingers broken in many situations. However he had practiced and even did press-ups while balanced on his fingers, and no matter how hard Bryan or anyone else tried they were unable to crush his hands. Orion felt Bryan’s hand close round his but he saw it as a desperate tactic by a tired weakling. He on the other hand had plenty left to give. Orion believed in the power of love and knew that he was meant to win this match so gave it all, diverting all energy into his arm he slammed Bryan’s arm into the table. Looking to Nicola for her expression, he thought he would see intrigue and respect, instead he saw shock and a sense of almost panic.
While other games got under way, she and Bryan went into the kitchen for drinks. When she came back out she was rubbing her left forearm, as she was only wearing a t-shirt Orion saw she was trying to cover a slowly forming bruise. Bryan had hit her, he couldn’t believe it. With all her friends in the other room he had the audacity to attack her. Now he realised what had happened. He had beaten Bryan, and now he had taken it out on her.
Amy told him later that Bryan was a proud man and after the match he had warned Nicola, if she left him for Orion or anyone else he would send her and her entire family to the morgue. That was the last straw, no one threatened the girl of his dreams and got away with it. Orion felt it was up to him to protect her. At first he wrote letters to her to tell her that there were people willing to help her if she just asked. He never signed the letters as he wanted to see who she would turn to for help. He wrote one letter a week, and for about five weeks she still hadn’t said anything to anyone. Then one day she didn’t come into school, he heard from Amy that Bryan had found the letters and had accused her of cheating on him. He broke her jaw in three places. Jesus Christ!
Orion went to see her in hospital. When he got there she was sound asleep and he didn’t want to wake her. He whispered in her ear “A friend is here to help, you will never be hurt again. I don’t ask for anything in return. I swear to god that you will never be hurt again.” When she woke up she would tell people she heard the voice of a guardian angel. He felt like that now, her guardian now and was determined to prove it.
The next night he went out and saw Bryan go into a car park with a jumped up VW Golf with custom wheels, lights and a stupid big ass spoiler in Ranger’s blue. When Bryan walked out Orion went in. He went in planning on only smashing the windows. Instead he left the windows and only smashed the lights, slashed the tires and ripped the horrific spoiler clean off. The police never worked out who had done it and Bryan didn’t feel anyone he knew was stupid enough to do it so blamed it on a stupid gang of Neds. Orion felt a personal victory and knew this would be the start of the end of Bryan.
When Nicola got out of hospital he went to see her. As he got close to his house he saw a repaired blue VW Golf outside. He wasn’t scared of Bryan but was just worried that he might hurt Nicola if he showed up, so he went home.
A few months passed and everything seemed to be going well, until one day Nicola came in with a large bruise on her face. If anyone asked she said she had fallen in cheerleading practice but, as Amy told him Bryan had gone to hers, drunk, and had beaten her.
Tonight her family was out and she and Bryan were having a night in. This is where we began the story. Orion decided tonight was the night that Bryan would be out of the picture. Things started off okay with the two of them watching a film. The lights were off in the room so it was hard to see just how much of the film they actually saw. About an hour into the film Nicola left the room and came back two minutes later with drinks. The lights were still off and as she came in she tripped and spilled the drinks over Bryan. He jumped up and slammed her against the wall. “You stupid bitch, your gonna to pay for that.” Orion ran to the front door and rang the bell. He ran back to the window to see Bryan throw her to the ground and leave the room. He went through the window and hid Nicola in the corner. He hit the lights and waited for Bryan, who appeared seconds later. As Bryan pushed open the door Orion pushed against the door and smashed him in the face. Bryan shoved his way in and punched him in the stomach. Briefly winded Orion fought for breath and rugby tackled Bryan and shoved him straight through the glass coffee table in the middle of the room. Bryan got up and slammed Orion against the wall, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off his feet, Orion tried to think of away out of it when he was rescued. Looking over Bryans shoulder he saw Nicola stand and walk up behind Bryan. With the two glasses, that had held the drinks, she smashed both of them over his head. Bryan barely seemed to notice, he dropped Orion, turned and punched her in the face and broke her nose with the force. As Nicola dropped in a heap Orion ran and jumped on his back. He wrapped his legs round Bryan’s waist and his arms round Bryan’s neck. He clung on for dear life as Bryan struggled and slammed him into every wall in the room. Eventually he passed out and collapsed to the floor. Orion got up and went to see Nicola. They knelt on the floor together and she fell weeping into his arms. They had done it; they had fought through adversity and ended up depending on each other.
Orion and Nicola helped each other through High School and eventually went to university together. He never cheated on her and she never left him, she always felt safe as long as he was around.
OOOh what a sweet story!!!
That's so cute! I love it. :wub: :D