Chapter Twenty

Justin's P.O.V.



I don't even know what to do with this girl any more. I'm trying so hard to get through to her and there's moments where I think we're getting somewhere. We've had moments when she's normal and she talks to me properly. They might not be for any great length and they may few and far between, but they've been there all the same. Then she just switches and loses her mind completely. If she's right and she never hits someone who doesn't deserve it, then Mike must have done something she feels is wrong. Now, that could be something simple like he looked at her the wrong way, but Ariya lives by a different set of rules to everyone else. Life would be so much easier if she would just let us know what those rules are. Then we could try to minimize the damage and stop all of this stupid fighting and anger flying around.

I sigh and shake my head as I watch Ariya sitting on the rock, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She's really angry, and it all happened in only a few seconds. That's quite something. There's no build up; it's normal to livid in like 2 seconds flat. It's not normal and it's not healthy.

I leave Miss Flynn to her own devices. I can't deal with her until I figure out what actually went down.

I grab Mike's elbow and assess the damage. She got a couple good hits in, yet again. She uses the element of surprise to her advantage.

“What happened, Mike?”

“She just exploded. Did I hit her? I kind of didn't mean to, but she would have done some serious damage if I didn't at least try to defend myself...”

“I'm sure she'll live. I didn't notice any damage, but I'll take a look later. You must have said or done something to set her off. I haven't seen her go like that for no reason, even if it's some messed up reason on her part.”

“She was taunting Lou, coz she's scared of Ariya. I told her to leave Lou alone. Then I mentioned something about her being a nightmare for her parents when she was a teenager...”

I let out a deep breath and click my tongue. “Touchy subject, man.”

“What? Why?”

“I can't really reveal that information. She obviously doesn't want people to know, or she would had said something. I'm trying to gain her trust and telling you that would betray that and ruin what little I've already built. I'm not excusing what she's done, just don't talk about her home life. I will deal with her...”

“Really? Coz you don't seem to be doing a great job of that so far...”

I shoot him a look, letting him know he's crossed the line here. I expect that of Ariya and to some extent, Todd, but not him. I know he's angry, frustrated and he wants to protect Lou, but he knows the chain of command.

“You really want to go there? You want to argue with me on this?”

He sighs and looks at the floor before saying, “I'm just finding this one really difficult. She's hard work and I never know what to expect with her.”

“Expect her to be angry and explode at any moment. That's what I have to do. She's got issues man, big ones, and I'm trying to get to the root of them. That's the only way we're going to stop this pattern she has going on in her life. I'm not just going to turn her out without at least giving her some help. You should know I'm not about doing things that way. If I do that, then she'll just get in trouble again. I'm trying to stop that; that's the whole point of trialling this scheme. You have to be the bigger person and rise above it. Understood?”

“Yes sir. I'll try.”

“Good. Help Lou with dinner while I take Ariya for a walk.”

He nods and heads back to the fire to help Lou. I take a few deep breaths and prepare to deal with the mess that is known as Ariya Flynn. As I get closer, I see that she has a bloody nose and a red mark on her cheek, a bruise will probably form in the next few days.

“Come on. We're taking a walk.”

I hear her mumble, “Great” as she stands. I hand her a Kleenex and say, “You've got a bloody nose. He got in a couple good shots, huh?”

“Didn't really notice.”

“That's not surprising really. You were wild again.”

“I wasn't out of control, if that's what you're thinking.”

“I don't know if that's any better to be honest. Knowing you were in control, yet you still decided to go at him doesn't fill me with the greatest confidence. So, explain yourself.”

“Why bother? You already spoke to Mike, so you'll just take his side on the matter. What's the point?”

“You really think that little of me, after all the stuff you've thrown at me? You do realize I've been on your side a lot more than I probably should, right? While I don't agree with the way you handle things, I understand this is a completely different way of life for you. I appreciate that you have anger issues and I've tried to help you work those out without beating on the rest of my guests. So, at least do me the courtesy of explaining what just went down.”

She doesn't throw a joke about the end of my sentence, which means she's either not listening or she's thinking about something. I'll guess the latter, judging by the look on her face. She sighs before explaining the events leading up to her attacking Mike.

After she finishes her account of things, which is almost identical to Mike's, she says, “I would like to point out that Louise has no reason to be scared of me. I've never tried to hit her and I won't. I have no reason to hurt her.”

“While you know that, we don't. I appreciate that you haven't tried to do anything to her, but she's nervous and you don't make the situation any better. I don't blame her for being scared of you. You're unpredictable. Do you see how you would make her feel that way?”

“No. I've only ever hit people that ask for it. Surely she should see that...”

I sigh, “You really don't get people, do you?”

She looks confused and the expression on her face is kind of cute. I'm momentarily distracted before I continue, “Just because the way you act makes sense to you, doesn't mean everyone sees it that way. Despite what you think, it's not normal to fly off the handle just because someone made a comment about your parents.”

I see her stiffen at the word parents. It certainly is a touchy subject.

“Not everyone knows you were raised in the system, Ariya.”

She looks shocked, but covers it quickly, “You didn't tell him?”

“No. Why would I do that? That's your story to tell, not mine. I don't breach the confidence of people who tell me things. Whatever you tell me stays between us.”

“Right.”

She doesn't believe me, but I'll work on that later.

“Your actions are not giving us any reason to think you won't hurt any one of us. If Lou slips up and says something you don't like, are you going to go all primal on her?”

“No.”

“Why not? If she makes you angry, or breaks you set of rules then why wouldn't you?”

“Coz she's a girl. She can't handle that. Besides, she wouldn't do or say anything to offend anyone. She hasn't got enough backbone. Don't look at me like that, I just call it as I see it.”

“I don't understand you, Miss Flynn.”

“Don't call me that. And you're not supposed to understand me. You're supposed to sign me off so I can go back to the city. Just do that and we'll be cool.”

“No can do, I'm afraid. I have to be sure you're ready to go back. At the moment, you definitely aren't ready.”

“I even did the whole talking thing and you're telling me I'm not ready.”

I chuckle, “You did very well with this whole 'talking thing', but that's only the tip of the iceberg. You have to actually be able to let comments slide and hold a proper conversation. Not just explaining why you launched yourself at someone's throat...”

“It wasn't his throat. I went for his face first. Choking someone is cowardly. At least have the guts to fight properly. That's like bringing a weapon. Just cowardly.”

She's certainly a piece of work, that's for sure. There's more to this story than I realized. She's got a lot of history and I'm only just starting to strip away the layers. It's only a matter of time before I figure out what happened.