The Last Argument

I bit hard on my lip at the bolt of pain that shot through my spine. Dominic luckily stopped at the sound of my little accident and turned quickly to come to my side. He knelt to my level. "Shit, Lily, are you okay?"

I scrunched my nose, regretting moving my hip where the pain was focalised. Luckily, it didn't feel serious, but it would likely bruise badly. I took his hand as he helped me to my feet. "I'm alright." I turned to the guy who bumped into me and glared at him. Realizing he was the fourth guy in Ryan's group just further aggravated me. "Can't you watch where you're going? At least, I don't know, apologize. Or is that a completely foregin notion to you?"

His brows drew down in a scowl, eyes shooting me a similar glare, the blue of them glacial and chilling. "You weren't exactly watching where you're going either, so aren't you going to apologize?"

"You ran into me!" I shot back. The nerve of this guy.

"Piss off." He murmured under his breath, looking bored out of his mind. Dominic suddenly stepped in and glared at him. "The hell is your problem?"

"Who the- The asshole started but stopped in his track when he saw Dom. His brows furrowed. "Dominic?"

"Adam." Dom stated, his anger simmering down a notch although the tension hadn't completely left his body. Did he know him?

The guy with the icy blue eyes didn't even look back at me. "Whatever."

"That wasn't cool, man." Dominic said seriously. I could practically feel the awkwardness in the air. "You should apologize for hurting her."

The somewhat mild temperament instantly vanished from the guy's demeanour as his eyes hardened and his frown deepened. "It's none of your business so stay out of it, Hughes."

I scoffed disbelievingly, cutting off Dom's reply whatever it would have been. "I can speak for myself, and after consideration, I don't need an apology from an asshole."

"Neither do I care for an entitled little- He stopped mid-sentence. Eyes boring into mine for a second too long that it began making me uncomfortable. I frowned in confusion. He looked like he almost recognizes me, but that couldn't be true because I've never met this guy before. I'm pretty sure I haven't anyway.

"Cut it out, Adam." Dom sighed, giving him a pointed look. "This isn't like you."

I wanted to question Dom's statement. The guy looked at me one last time before he turned and walked away without a word, leaving me confused and frustrated while Dom beside me was still reeling with anger. He directed his attention back to the table where those jerks sat. His determined gait had caught their attention.

I held his arm to try and stop him. "Hey, hey, calm down." I admonished sternly. "You can't do anything reckless, okay? It's not worth it."

"What do you mean it's not worth it, Lily?" He huffed in annoyance. "Did you hear what they were saying about you and Maddie? How are you so calm about it?"

"How is she so calm about what?" A very familiar voice jumped from behind Dominic and cut our conversation short. Maddie wore a confused look on her face as she stared from a seriously livid Dominic to me. I sighed and tried to communicate through a look that she shouldn't be asking any further questions, but what do I know. Of course Maddie will go on doing exactly that. "What's wrong?"

"What is wrong is that you're dating a fucking Ryan Cullen! Truly Madeline, you couldn't have done better?"

Maddie visibly flinched from Dom's unexpected hostile answer, and she looked at me, caught off guard. Like someone who didn't know exactly what was happening or how to react, she frowned. "What the hell are you trying to say?"

This line of conversation was clearly going off the rails. I tried to immediately butt in. "Hey, stop it now. Let's all take a breather and then calml-

"No." Dom cut me off, giving me a stern gaze then turning to Madeline. "You," He motioned back towards the general direction of those guys. "Need to re-evaluate your choice of relationship material, and stop getting her involved." He pointed at me, anger rolling off him in restrained waves. "You didn't hear half the things they said and what they might think, and maybe you don't care about it that much, but Lilianne is clearly uncomfortable with this situation, so maybe you should consider what you ask of her before you do."

"Woah, okay!" Maddie sneered with indignation. She was flustered, angry and most imporantn of all, she was on the defensive now. "Last time I checked, you weren't her lawyer or spokesperson. What even gives you the right to meddle between us? We've been friends for more years than you can count on both hands! And I did not ask your approval of my dating life anyway."

My stomach curled in unease. There is nothing I hate more than this, and there's no way to make them both calm down now and see reason. "Maddie."

She shot me a disbelieving glare. "Don't Maddie me! Didn't you hear what he said? Why is he even here? I only remember inviting you-

"Maddie, shut up for a second." I huffed, burying my hand in my hair, appalled to even look at Dominic, not knowing how to apologize to him for dragging him into this. This was on me. If only I came here on my own, none of this would have happened. Though, these two definitely harbour some less than friendly feelings towards each other. I thought they were only joking around, having a teasing playful friendship, but clearly something was lost in translation. I didn't want them to fight. Fuck's sake, aside from them being my only friends, at the heart of it, Dom had good intentions and Maddie's misunderstandings are fuelling her pettiness. I breathed deeply. "He's here because I asked him, okay? He's just being a good friend."

She opened her mouth half in an abandoned reply. I continued, shooting Dom a pointed look, "He could have put his words better, but he's got good intentions at the heart of it."

"Well okay." Maddie laughed mockingly, which is never a good sign. I was getting a headache from all this. "I didn't know it was such a task to ask you to be here. If it bothered you so much, you could have said no, you know. It's not like I could force you. I just thought- never mind. Whatever." And that was the moment she shut off and wouldn't hear reason no matter what I'd try. I, unfortunately, knew that from experience. And I also know it'll take her some time to process before she's even near ready to discuss this again. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood.

Before she could, Dom stepped in her way to stop her, surprising both of us. I stared wide eyed at Dominic's composed expression, but his lips drawn in a firm line was indication enough of his displeasure. "You don't get to end arguments and walk away whenever somebody says something you don't like." I winced at his tone, but Dom continued anyway. "You don't realize how unfair it is for those around you... people who actually care about you." He nodded towards the table where her boyfriend sat with his friends, now all of them alert and watching the scene carefully without butting in. "I didn't realize you could be as oblivious or self-important as the rest of them. If you need an offender, blame me all you want, but Lily, your best friend, is only ever trying to look out for you. That includes meeting your douchebag of a boyfriend and his asshole friends even when she doesn't want to."

Maddie blinked repeatedly up at him, averting her gaze as she bit her lip. I sighed and tried a gentler approach, taking a step closer to her. "Maddie. Neither of us are against you. We're not antagonizing you. You know I'd never take things like this lightly, but I concede that your boyfriend is a jerk."

That got her head to snap up and meet my gaze, even if she did with a clenched jaw and heated face. "What do you know... you're just making assumptions. He's good to me." She frowned as if she didn't believe what I was saying. "You didn't meet him. You didn't even give him a chance!"

"Trust me, I don't need to-

"No, the hell you don't!"

"Maddie-"

"No, it seems to me." She chuckled in disbelief. "Your new friend obviously has a an opinion loud and clear about Ryan even though he doesn't even know him. He clearly dislikes people like us-

"Us who, Maddie?" I retorted. I realized belatedly that maybe I shouldn't have, but that phrase triggered me. If she meant 'us' as a bunch of entitled rich jerks then I'd like to not be lumped with the group.. "Don't spew careless nonesense Maddie. You're better than that."

"Well I don't know!" She shot back. "You're the one blindly believing his every word when you've only known him for so long."

"You know damn well I am capable of thinking for myself Madeline." The implication that I'm so easy to manipulate after the shit I've lived through made me bristle. "I am capable of forming an opinion when I've been given enough to go off of, and I certainly know a jerk when I see one." I motioned to her boyfriend. "You wanted my opinion, didn't you? Well here it is." I gave her a pointed look. "That guy's trash and you should leave him, because you deserve so much better and you shouldn't hang out with guys like that."

"Well you know what I think?" She gestured towards Dom. "I think he clearly wants something from you and is playing the charming hero so that he could worm his way into your life with that holier than thou act." She looked at me meaningfully. "And you know exactly how guys like that are capable of breaking you."

I blinked at her twice, in disbelief of how low she'd stoop. Digging my nails in my palms I wondered at the lack of response that came to mind. After so much time, why did it still feel so raw and powerful enough to knock the breath out of my lungs?

"Right, Madeline." Dom chuckled, devoid of amusement. "Some great friend you are. Is that really how you think of me?"

The words they spoke afterwards blurred and escaped my focus. I watched them stare down each other, and for a moment none of it mattered.

"Lily." Dom was distantly talking. Something about how I could never believe those words. Something about how our friendship isn't that fickle. "Right, Lily?"

I snapped my unfocused eyes to his, as he lay his hand on my shoulder. I looked absently up at him, brows furrowed in confusion. Dom's lips pressed tightly together as he looked at me, assessing my silence. He retrieved his hand quickly, eyes flashing with something akin to betrayal. I could only imagine what was going on inside his mind, and it was not pleasant. I hadn't had any time to recollect my thoughts and explain to him how this has nothing to do with him. Madeline chose her words carefully enough to hurt me. While he had no idea about any of it, I couldn't expect him to interpret my silence in any favourable way. He shook his head resignedly. "You know what... forget it."

I realized he left only when the space grew quiet and empty. Except for myself and Madeline who stood now quietly. Snapping my head up to look at her, a miriad of emotions played out on her face. "There are limits you should never cross when you're speaking to someone you supposedly love and care about Madeline. Even when you want to hurt them. Especially then."

"Lily-" She started hesitantly, taking a step forward as I took one back. I could only walk away and end a conversation that is bound to get ugly with the kind of emotions and thoughts that ran inside my head.