Dead Boy Walking [c]

"The best," he agreed.

His lips curled into a little grin when her fingers pressed gently to his forehead. It was a sort of affection that he'd never much had, and still didn't see much. Mads hadn't really been one for close relationships in his life. The roughness of his youth really didn't allow for such deep relationships, and Willow, once she'd saved him from his street life and dusted him off, had never been one for a close relationship herself. This sort of intimacy was foreign and new and he liked it.

Mads groaned lowly when she nudged him and shifted, pulling himself up and over her body, sliding into the space between her and the back of the couch, abandoning his whiskey bottle in the move, and laying more comfortably on the couch when she shifted off it to answer the door.

She rolled her eyes as he slid into the space that she was just in. Pushing back a few strands behind her ears to make herself feel a little presentable, she made her way to the corridor to open the front door.

"There better be a good reason your knocking on my- Antonio?!"

The man pushed the door open fully and stepped into the apartment before she could slam the door into his smarmy face.

"Nik. Nikcola. Sweet." He took another step in and she took an uneasy step back. "Listen, I'm so sorry-"

"Get the fuck out of my apartment."

She felt a sudden spike of fear. As much as she liked to say how capable she was, there was only so much she could to with someone who was twice her size and there was nothing stabable in reach.

Mads almost bolted upwards at the yelp of a name that he had definitely become accustomed to over many hours of constant bitching.

Somewhat groggy, but quickly clearing up, he stood and nimbly stepped around the bottle of whiskey on the floor.

He pushed his long hair from his face and straightened up, no longer hunched over in his usual way. It wasn't often that Mads stood to his full height. On stage, at times, yes. But out in the real world he tended to hunker over, condense himself, make himself seem smaller to fit in a bit better with others, at least on a physical standing.

Hunched like he usually was, it was easy to forget that he was actually a rather tall and imposing man. Standing like he was, he was over a foot taller than the woman he stepped up behind, and with his shoulders pushed back, it was plain to see the muscles borne of carting around stage props and lifting people during productions.

He'd heard the shit this man could get up to, and he wasn't going to let this man come in here and intimidate Nicola.

"Everything okay, babe?" His voice was chipper and one arm dropped around Nicola's tense shoulders, disarmingly relaxed. "Whos this?"

His smile at Antonio was cold.

The hand on her shoulder made her jump a little, feeling antsy before she relaxed into it. She didn't turn to look, but the flash of fear in Antonio's eyes told her that Mads looked intimidating. It was reassuring.

"Someone that needs to fucking leave."

Antonio bared his teeth as his lip curled, looking Mads up and down with disgust. He didn't take another inch forward.

"You're shacked up with his thug? Shit, common, Nik, I know you can do better than that." He placed a hand on his chest, and the other on the wall to support his weight heavily against it. "You really think he will be able to give you what you want? I know this is just a phase."

If the insults were supposed to hurt, this man was doing a poor job of making them hurt.

Thug? Common? They were only hurtful if Mads didn't accept those parts of himself. He had, though. A long time ago. He was the son of a single drug-addicted mother. He'd joined street gangs and fucked his life up before he even hit the age of ten.

What was it that dwarf in one of Nicola's show had said?

Never forget who you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you.

Thug? Common? Yes, he was was, and he knew that. He owned it.

"Maybe," Mads agreed with a lofty shrug. "From the looks of it, she goes through bad phases." His stare was pointed now, a slow creeping once-over that would leave Antonio feeling naked and vulnerable.

"Look, man, you've been harassing the girl for months. Do her a favour and fuck off, will you? If she wants you back, she'll come to you, yeah?"

His face twisted rather ugly as he was given the once-over. He shuffled a step back, before purposefully taking a few steps forward to close the gap between them.

"I think that is you that should fuck off. I know what type of guy you are; scum." He jabbed a finger into Mads shoulder in emphasis.

"Antonio," Nicola hissed, finding herself trapped between the two. But her exes train of thought was now solely on Mads.

"I know whats good for her, and it isn't fucked-up looking guys like you." He jabbed his finger into Mads shoulder again.

"I'm the scum?"

His smile didn't drop, but it did twitch into something different. Just a twitch off saccharine.

"The phone stalking, making your friends text, badgering, wheedling, please take me back, Ill be better, do better, love better, fuck better kid. That the kind of scum that I am?"

He hadn't raised his voice, but his words were getting more stern, developing more of an edge that'd almost be considered dangerous.

Mads moved, turning sideways so Nicola had an escape, gently pulling her from between the two of them. The looks of this said it was going to go tits up far too soon, and he didn't want Nicola within punching distance.

"Look, Antonio, if she was still interested, I'd step aside, but you've been harassing her non-stop for too long. You're starting to scare her. That's not cool. Just leave, and leave her be, yeah?"

Nicola stepped out between them after Mads tugged on her arm. She hovered at a distance, frozen in place. She knew what she should do; go and inconspicuously grab her phone to call the police. Yet her feet wouldn't move and she couldn't tear her eyes off the two men, worried for Mads.

Antonios face twisted into furious at Mads implications

"She won't let me speak to her, that's why! I know she will come around, so step aside."

Antonio filled into the space Nicola previously occupied so they were chest to chest. He snarled up at Mads. There was only an inch between them, and he was fairly broad across the chest.

"Come on, you can't really believe you are worth anything to her?" The tone of his voice dropped a bit as if he was speaking guy to guy. "I know Nik, she wouldn't want to be seen with someone like you. She needs a man to take care of her. Make her look good. You really think you can do that?"

"You think maybe she won't let you because she doesn't want to speak to you right now, man?"

He didn't even tense when Antonio stepped forwards to try and intimidate him, just arched his brows upwards in incredulous disbelief. Did the guy really think that was going to scare him? He was more scared of Nicola.

"Worth something to her?" Now Mads laughed, taking a step back and gesturing to the woman they were talking about. "Have you seen her? I'm not worth shit. I'm just something fun for her to play with until another partner comes along."

That was pretty abundantly clear between Nicola and Mads, but he supposed if Antonio was walking in on them, he wouldn't know the nuances of their relationship.

"I know I can't do that, buddy, but I think it's up to the lady to decide who she wants to be seen with and who she wants taking care of her, yeah? Your be better, do better, fuck better mantra doesn't work so well when you're still being a douche to get her attention."

"Mads," Nicola said softly as he gestured over to her.

There was more she wanted to say on that, but she kept it to herself. This wasn't the time nor the place.

Antonio snorted.

"I'm the douche here?" He asked in genuine disbelief. "If you're not worth shit then get the fuck out of my way." He took a step to Mads and shoved him back a little. "I really don't have time for you."

"Yeah, you kinda are, buddy."

He took a step back to balance himself when he was shoved, finding his way in between Antonio and Nicola like some kind of human shield.

"I'm not the one that barged in here, trespassing on private property, I might add, to harass the woman that I've been stalking for months. I'm not the one scaring the woman with macho bullshit and shittily concealed threats. I'm not the one interrupting Cloe and Tia's bitching session." He tacked that last one to the end with dry humour.

"Do you want to leave before I call the cops?"

Nicola's lips quirked up when Mads tacked on that dry quip, appreciating it for what it is. She watched on as Antonio's lips turned thin as if he sucked something sour, but he seemed to be finally backing down, reevaluating the tattooed man in front of him.

He looked past Mads to catch Nicola's eye.

"You really want to be with a man like this? Seriously?"

Nicola's frown deepened, and her arms remained crossed tight across her chest.

"Better then you have ever fucking been."

Antonio shook his head before levelling with Mads. He stared him out for a few seconds before he spat on the ground in front of him as he turned to leave.

He didn't even twitch when he was spat at. He just stood and watched as the man deflated and turned to leave.

He watched him until the doorway was empty and he heard the quiet whir of the elevator down the hall.

"Well, now that's over, I need that straw and we need to find out whether those bitches overhear Chloe and Tia bitching." He shifted, stepping over the gob of spit to close and lock the apartment door, then made his way to the kitchen.

He didn't say anything until he returned to the open area between the livingroom and apartment door, carrying a piece of kitchen roll, with a straw tucked behind one ear.

He knelt to wipe up the spit, and turned pale eyes up to Nicola. "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm just- Shit, I really didn't think it would come to that."

She leaned against the wall before sliding down, he thighs pressed against still crossed arms. If she uncrossed them she knew her hand would be shaking a little.

"If you weren't there..."

A number of scenarios cropped up in her head that didn't bear thinking about.

"Fuck, I'm so mad at myself."

"But I was - am - here," he assured.

After wiping up the spit and tossing the balled up tissue in the nearest bin - perfect land, score one for Mads - he shifted to sit down next to not so subtly falling apart Nicola.

He kept his eyes on the wall opposite. Nobody wanted to break down under someone else's watchful eye.

"It seemed like he'd given up, at least for now. You should be free for some time, at least. If you hear any more from him, though, call the cops."

She took in a few deep breaths before slowly exhaling, attempting to hold the cracks together before she completely fell apart.

"I probably should have phoned them a few months ago. I just didn't want to deal with the hassle on top of work."

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back so it hit the wall, forcibly trying to calm her tensed muscles. Then she learned a little over, so her head rested against Mads shoulder.

"Am I not doing my job as stress relief well enough?" he asked with a quiet, teasing chuckle, reaching up to ruffle her hair.

"I can be here when you call, if it helps."

Don't fall apart alone, was left unspoken but very much in the air.

This wasn't something she should be doing alone. Mads wasn't going to let her do it alone if he could help it.

She let out a short, slightly shaken, laugh.

"Thanks," she said, after a beat of silence, lightly patting his bicep as she said that.

She took in a few more slow, deep breaths, steadying her heartbeat and attempting to calm herself further down, comforted by the warmth of the person next to her.

"I need a stiff drink."

"I have a straw and a bottle of whiskey."

Mads plucked the straw from behind his ear and held it out between them. His eyebrows shifted in amused perversion, wagging up and down suggestively.

"The world our oyster with a straw and a bottle of booze."

He rested his chin against her temple, his eyes slipping half closed.

"Wanna go watch Chloe get the bitch kicked out of her?"

Nicola laughed short and softly again, leaning further into him.

"Exactly what I need."

She couldn't give much of a fuck about backwash now.

"And that is exactly what I want to do."

It would take her mind off this incident and the what-ifs. But she didn't budge, comfortable leaning into Mads on the floor.

"Let's go get shitfaced and bitch about Chloe."

He shifted her gently and hopped nimbly to his feet, turning on his heel and holding his hands out to Nicola. One still had the straw, caught between his thumb and the side of his hand.

"I'm on Chole's side on this. I think Tia is a cunt."

She took Mads hand and stood up before she pushed a few of the loose strands behind her ear. After a minor almost break down and a little bit of comforting, she felt a lot more herself. Even if she was still mad about not doing anything or letting it get this few.

She made her way back over to the lounge to curl up on the couch.

"Having some asshole come into my house uninvited is exhausting."

"But Tia did not need to do that to Chloe. That was so not right. Tia's a cunt, too."

He followed her to the couch and settled once again on his stomach between her thighs, his head laying on her stomach.

"I know. You tell me every time I'm here. Someday you'll build the stamina needed to keep up with me." He tilted his head up, chin resting on her stomach, and a grin on his face. His tongue caught between his teeth in mischief.

"Oi."

She gently karate chopped him on the top of his head.

"I have plenty of stamina, thank you very much. I have never once said that - except that one time - and that was only because it was busy at work."

Okay, maybe a few times. She was a busy woman.

She started the program again but didn't pay it any mind, looking at the man resting on her stomach.

Nicola actually had more stamina than him, when she had the time to enjoy herself. Mads' appetite was quite voracious, but Nicola's blew his out of the park at times.

He wasn't going to admit that, though.

"That one time? I could at least four times you've left me high and dry. Do you just not love my cock? Is that it?"

Mads gave a dramatic swoon and buried his face in Nicola's stomach.