Chapter 9

  "Good morning guys!" Hanna chimed, walking in to Central Perk.

  "Morning, Hanna! Muffin?" Monica asked. "it doesn't have nuts in it, I swear!"

  Hanna giggled and took one.

  "Thanks Mon."

Central Perk smelled of it's usual scents. Coffee beans, sweet pastries, and the cinnamon candle the seemed to burn 24/7. There was something else in the air, something heavy.

  Hanna took a seat beside Joey on the couch. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

  She took a bite of her muffin, completely oblivious to their expectant stares.

  She looked up and cocked an eyebrow.

  "....what?" She asked her mouth filled with muffin.

  "Tell us about your date, Hanna!" Rachel demanded excitedly.

   "Yeah! What kind of a guy is he? How far did you guys go?" Monica leaned in.

  Hanna flushed at the sudden questions.

   "Well...um...his name is Pierce. He's tall, with dirty blonde curly hair, and these striking blue eyes. He's nice, I guess." Hanna replied nonchalantly. She left out the part where shes already known Pierce for four years, and he's responsible for her move to New York. Her stomach burned with a feeling of regret.

Joey stared at the floor. Hanna didn't notice, she was too busy pondering over the mess she had made with Pierce.

Just then, the bell rang signaling the door opened. Hanna glanced towards the door, doing a double take when she saw who it was. 

"It's Pierce." Hanna whispered. She stood up swiftly, walking to meet him.

  "Hi, Pierce." Hanna forced a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you want to go to a club down the road with me tonight. There's going to be a band playing, I think you'll like them." He moved in close to her, placing his hands on her arms. Hanna stepped backwards slightly.

  "Mmm....I don't know, Pierce. You know that's not really my scene." Hanna murmmered.

  "Oh, come on Hanna. Live a little. We did something you liked to do already, so now you have to do something I like to do. Besides, we won't be in the city forever." He pressed on. He was right, they did do something she liked to do. They had eaten at a small corner cafe the previous day. That was the date Monica had asked her about earlier. Hanna's eyes snapped to his as she processed his last sentence.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, come on, Hanna. Look, I'm sorry. I jumped the gun. It just slipped out."

"I'm not going back to Atlanta, Pierce. This is where I live now."

"Well, I'm sure I can change your mind." He nodded. "So, club tonight?"

  Hanna bit her lip. She could sense a hint of aggression in his tone. Her stomach churned. She didn't like it.

  But, still she said,

  "Alright."

He leaned in, kissing her on the lips quickly before walking out. He had moved so quickly that she hadn't even had the time to flinch. Hanna wondered if he had done it on purpose.

She turned around to find everyone staring at her. Hanna breathed in sharply.

"Wow, so you two are already casually kissing?" Monica asked, her eyebrows raised. Hanna laughed half-heartedly.

"Yea, I guess so."

"He's really cute, Hanna." Rachel smiled, patting her knee.

"Yea, he is." Hanna realized that she wasn't going to be able to keep this secret forever. But now definitely wasn't the time to spill.

"I'm gonna head back to my apartment. It was nice to see you guys." Hanna got up, leaving her half eaten muffin on the table.

~~~~~~~~

Pierce showed up to Hanna's door with a rose and his dashing smile.

He kissed her lips. Her hands gripped the door to keep her from instinctively pulling away.

"Ready?" Pierce cocked an eyebrow after he pulled away from the kiss.

Hanna nodded. He grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway. He looked back at her.

"You are so beautiful."

  She smiled gently. She couldn't help it, the compliment was nice.

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You could hear the loud music from down the street. Hanna's heart raced. Places like these with Pierce made a deep sense of dread settle in her stomach. Drunk Pierce was never good. But maybe this would be different.

They walked into the club and were met with crowds of people dancing in one mass.

Pierce never let go of her hand as he led her through the crazy crowd and to a small table in the corner.

"I'm gonna go order us some drinks." He yelled in her ear so she could hear. She nodded, sighing.  Her heart was beating so fast that it was making her limbs tingle. The anxiety was coming to the surface from so many nights like this one, and they all end in one way. She hated feeling so anxious, so she thought if she drank she would loosen up.

Pierce returned within minutes. He had shots in his hand and two large beers. He handed her a shot and they clinked their glasses. Hanna downed her shot with an oddly satisfying burn in her throat. Tears even sprang to her eyes because of it. He smiled at her.

"Cmon, lets go dance." Pierce said extending his hand.

"No, Pierce, I really don't think that's a good idea."She trailed off.

"Come on, Hanna! It's just dancing." He paused and grinned. "Is it because Im a better dancer than you?" He laughed. "Oh come on, Hanna. This city has turned you soft." This time, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

Hanna sighed silently as she got pulled onto the dance floor. Pierce first stopped by the bar and ordered each of them two more shots. Hanna took them, not wanting him to be upset with her or think that she wasn't having a good time. She wasn't, but she didn't want him to know.

Not too long after, Hanna was feeling really sick and light headed, but she stayed and half heartedly danced with Pierce.

When Pierce announced he needed to go to the bathroom, Hanna took this chance to go sit down for a moment. When she sat down, a guy showed up and sat down beside her. He was obviously completely wasted. He whistled in her ear.

"Hey girl, I think you're real hot. I say we go back to my hotel room, have a couple drinks. That sound good?" He got dangerously close to her neck as he spoke loudly into her ear.

"Uh..." Hanna scrunched her nose in disgust as she smelled the alcohol that wreaked from his breath. "I'm here with someone, and you are absolutely wasted." She scooted away from him slightly. She prayed that Pierce would come, but also prayed that he wouldn't in fear that he would do something to this drunk guy, or even her.

The universe granted her wish....in both ways.

  Pierce walked up with two more shots in his hand. He stared at us for a moment as if trying to understand what was going on.

The alcohol in his system had pulled the wool over his eyes, because he immediately targeted her. Maybe it wasn't the alcohol, maybe he just existed to target her, to hurt her. It really was supposed to be over between them, but she'd let him come back because he was familiar, and now she was paying for it, yet again.

"Hanna?" He questioned taking a step closer to her.

"Yo, is this guy bothering you?" The drunk guy said from beside Hanna and pointed at Pierce. Hanna flinched.

Bad move.

"Hanna, do you know this guy?" Pierce pointed back at him.

"I-Um. No." She stuttered.

"Are you lying? Have you been seeing someone this whole time?" Pierce was obviously beginning to get angry.

"No, Pierce I really don't know him. He just walked up to me and..." She avoided his gaze. She knew she didn't do anything wrong but she couldn't help but feel ashamed.

"And you thought it'd be funny for me to find you about to screw this random ass guy that you found in a bar?" He raised his voice.

The drunk guy got up, but had to hold on to the table. Hanna was trembling.

"Look man, I don't want no trouble." He spouted.

"Get outta my face." Pierce shoved him.

The other guy put his hands up and backed away, but Pierce was going to fight and there was nothing she could do about it.

Pierce threw a quick left hook at the guy. Hanna squealed.

"Pierce, stop it!" She yelled. Hanna tried to pull back on his shoulders as Pierce began to go ape shit crazy on the poor guy. He just shook her off as the guy was getting the shit beat out of him. Hanna couldn't take it anymore, even though she knew that this was gonna hurt.

She jumped in between them.

"Pierce, stop this!" Hanna screamed. Then Hanna saw a sight from Pierce she never thought she'd see again, his fist was coming at her face.

Hanna was on the ground after that.

She forgot what had happened until she felt something warm run down her cheek and onto her lips. She licked her lips. A metallic taste filled her mouth.

Blood.

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