The larger man snarled and then lunged at him. Tristan sidestepped to the side, being between the angry bull and Henry, allowing the older man to dash out of the shop.
Tristan grabbed the earnest, throwing towards the infuriated criminal. As he backed up, he looked towards the counter where Marie was cowering, before cursing seeing the skinny man grab her. He picked another pot and threw it directly at the thin man, causing him to yelp and let out a cry as the glass shattered on his back. This made Tristan smirk before the larger and now pissed off thug tackled him to the ground, glass cutting into his cheek.
The big bull held him down, holding the knife over his porcelain face with an ugly grin. “I’m going to cut that pretty face of yours so bad, ain’t no one gonna want you.”
Tristan’s world froze, those words triggering a memory, “What...?”
“Your bitch mama won’t want you.” The large man leered over him, the knife leaving a slight cut as he licked his lips tauntingly, “Too bad, you sure are pretty...”
Tristan’s blue eyes widened, a tempest causing thunderous waves to crash in those depths. He clenched his fist, taking deep, shuddering breaths before releasing a snarl. Before the knife could hit him, he took hold of a shard of glass, taking aim before slashing at the man’s eye. He gashed it again, destroying that leering gaze, making sure that the criminal will NEVER LOOK AT HIM LIKE THAT AGAIN.
...Never again.
As the larger man screamed, Tristan shoved him back, barely containing his rage. Memories, thousands of horrible memories caused that storm. He was struggling to control it, gripping the glass tightly in his hand as he stared with hatred at the screaming man, a low whistling hiss escaping his lips.
He was going to kill him.
The skinnier man released a shout in a high-pitched squeak, “TAKE IT, EASY LADY!” He held his hands up, the knife dropped as he backed away from the counter.
Marie stood up with a pistol leveled between those beady eyes, “Get the FUCK out of my store!”
That sudden, harsh word knocked Tristan back to reality, and he dropped the glass, moving away from the still whimpering man. His heart was pounding hard in her chest, almost bursting. His bottom lip trembled, shock washing over him from what had happened. He leaned back against the shelves as the skinny man took hold of his partner, both sprinting out of the store.
Tristan looked down, seeing blood drops from the man he maimed, his blue eyes fluttering, the clouds covering his eyes.
“Young man... young man!”
He blinked, looking up suddenly, his head turning to that voice. The bright red rose was before his eyes, the largest one from the bouquet. He looked from that rose to the teary face of Marie.
The older woman was blubbering, her own bottom lip trembling. She abandoned the gun on the ground as her hand gripped the rose, shaking, “It was the only one that made it. Oh, young man, thank you! Thank you!”
Tristan gently took hold of that rose, his fingers digging into that thorn, the pain awakened him a little more. He took a deep, shuddering breath, shoving his guilt deep down into his stomach before he smiled down at Marie, “I’m happy to help. I’m sorry about the store, I should’ve been more careful.”
Marie shook her head vigorously, “Oh nonsense! It was those assholes who made this mess! And Dante?! What would they want with us?”
Tristan flinched, shaking his head, “I’m pretty sure that these two have nothing to with them.” He looked towards the door, hearing multiple footsteps. He hissed; his shoulder and back sore from the impact to the ground as he turned to face the concerned and out of breath Henry, followed by a man in a suit, holding a Glock 19.
That was a police-issued gun; Henry brought back a cop.
This was taking precious time out of his day.
“Marie! Thank god!” Henry moved past Tristan, his arms wrapping around the shaken woman.
Tristan smiled softly, seeing the two alive and reunited, and he slowly tried to walk away, hoping not to get noticed.
Too late.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him, “What the hell happened here?!” Bright violet eyes turned to glare into his blue eyes, “Did you have anything to do with this?!”
Tristan flinched, taking a deep breath before he was about to speak.
“That young man saved us! He was the on taking on those two stubborn punks who wrecked our store!” Henry shouted out, holding his wife close, those eyes filled with nothing but gratitude.
Tristan’s eyes widened before they closed, and he grinned, “It was nothing! I just wanted to help.”
The officer looked at the couple, and the boy he was addressing, his lips pursed together, “So you saw the two that did all this then?”
Tristan’s smile faded, “... Yes, officer.”
The officer looked him up and down; there was a bruise forming on his eye. He had various cuts on his cheeks, near his chin. He may have been bracing the younger man’s shoulders. It shouldn’t cause those baby blue eyes to twitch in telltale signs of pain, “So then, hero, you’re going to need to give me a statement.”
The young man balked, shaking his head, “Look, I don’t have the time. I need to get new groceries-”
“Listen, kid, apparently there are two assholes kept shouting out ‘Dante’ as they messed up this store. That could mean they’re connected and may bring reinforcements. Now I doubt it because the Dante family aren’t known to hit little Ma and Pa flower shops, but we can’t take the risk.”
Tristan frowned, seeing sobbing Marie clutching her husband. The only comfort the old man could provide was just patting her back. Tristan’s’ brow furrowed, chewing his bottom lip, “I still don’t-”
“Also,” The officer sighed, letting go of the young mans’ shoulder. He ran same hand through his blond hair, slicking a few loose bangs away from his face.
“You are in rough shape. It’s a good thing you did over here. You can handle yourself from the sounds of it, but you need to get to the hospital.”
“Officer, I...you see...” Tristan sighed in defeat, looking down at the rose in his hand, frowning, “I have a date tonight.”
“I’ll try to get you out of there quickly, but you still need to be looked at, and I need a statement.” The officer gave a reassuring smirk, “I’m sure your ‘rose’ will understand.”
Tristan looked down at the cut on his finger, giving a weak smile, “... I hope so.”
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