Arden jumped when she saw him. She scrubbed the tears from her eyes and stood as tall and proud as she could muster. "You alright?" he asked, not really caring.
"Fine. I'm not feeling well, that's all."
Travis shrugged and stared down at the floor. "You want a ride home?"
To his surprise, she appeared to consider it. Then she looked up at him. "No thank you. There's Nick..."
"Of course."
"Plus you've got Kristen, right?"
He laughed bitterly. "It's not looking that way."
"Oh." She stared down at her feet a moment. "I'm sorry."
Travis stood there, not knowing why he was there at all. After a few moments he heaved a sigh. "Well, I'm going back to the party. You want me to tell your dumbass fiancé that you need him."
Arden's lips turned up in the hint of a smile. "No, thank you. I'll contact my dumbass fiancé myself."
He smiled at her. She had a way of lightening the mood, for which he was grateful. She smiled back at him. "Come on. I'm going back too." She walked toward him, took his arm and dragged him out of the kitchen. On their way back into the common room, they passed under the mistletoe. Travis stopped, caught her by the elbow and spun her around. He grinned mischievously before swooping down to kiss her. It was a light, friendly kiss. Nothing terribly passionate about it if it weren't for the fact that it reignited his longing for her. But there was no need to show her how weak he was. Not again.
She looked startled at first and then smiled. Her cheeks were a pleasant shade of pink. He winked at her and strode off to rescue Dustin from the future in-laws. The poor guy looked scared to death.
He was halfway to the table when he was suddenly shoved from behind. He stumbled forward a step before catching himself. He smiled because he knew it was Nick. He balled up his fist, spun around and slugged Nick square on the nose. Nick flew back, landing on his back and sliding backwards on the floor. A second later, blood started pouring from his nostrils and tears filled his eyes. He scrambled to his feet faster than Travis would have thought possible.
They looked at each other and reached a silent agreement. Travis led the way outside. The brisk air felt good on his hot skin. He shoved his sleeves up, walked out into the street and turned to wait for Nick. Nick appeared two seconds later and was followed by Arden, Shannon and Alice. Russell and Vince ambled out and leaned against the wall.
Travis grinned at Nick. "You just made a bad night so much better."
Then, faster than Travis could duck, Nick took a swing at him. It connected and knocked Travis back a half-step. He tasted blood on his lip and laughed.
"Stay away from her," Nick said.
He swung again, but this time Travis ducked and hit him with an upper-cut in the stomach. Nick bent over, gasping for breath, so Travis yanked him up by the hair and swung again, hitting him in the jaw. Nick stumbled backwards and would have fallen except that he landed against a parked car.
Dustin and Emma came running out. "For fuck's sake, Travis," Dustin yelled. "You're thirty-four years old."
"Leave me alone, Dustin. This is my Christmas present to myself."
"No," Dustin said, coming towards him. Nick was pulling himself back up and Dustin shoved him. "Stay down," he said. He got in Travis's face. "This is over. Go start the car." They'd driven there together, Dustin and Emma, Travis and Kristen.
Travis shook his head. "I'm not done with him."
Arden was at Nick's side and they were arguing.
"You're done. Go start the car, I said."
Travis looked at him, his smile dying on his face. He shoved Dustin hard on the chest, but Dustin didn't shove back. "You're no goddamn fun anymore, you know that?" Travis shouted.
Dustin's expression remained stern. Travis spared one last look for Arden who met his eyes for a moment. She didn't seem angry. Shocked, maybe. Then he turned and strode down the street to his car. He got in, started the engine and waited for the air coming from the vents to warm up.
Several minutes later, Dustin climbed in the passenger side. "Brody's taking Kristen home. Emma's going back with her parents...who, thank God, didn't come out to witness that ridiculous display. I swear to God, I can't take you anywhere."
"If you were any kind of brother you'd have helped me beat him up." Travis didn't really mean it. The adrenaline had drained and he was left feeling more depressed than he had before. He sighed and put the car into gear.
"You shouldn't have kissed her. You knew he'd be watching."
Travis didn't answer. He just said his prayer over and over in his mind until he fell asleep in his bed that night.