Nori was minding her own business, adjusting the heat lamps over the 16th Century tulip she had been babying for the past two months, when something screamed in gibberish pierced the tranquillity of the flower shop. The blonde, terrified a sledgehammer wielding monster had come to make good on his murdering promise, flinched so violently she knocked the rare blossom off the table, causing it to shatter in a spectacular display. "Shit!" Nori cursed, bending down to scoop the little flower up as gently as possible. The just budding plant had been severed completely from it's stem, making it unsalvageable. The delicate flower had already had a buyer lined up and was so rare that it was worth a little more than the price of Nori's monthly rent. And now she was going to have to pay for it. Frustrated, Nori went to the front to see what made the noise, when she heard--

"She was good right? best piece of tail in Shine city right? bet she didnt ditch YOU on YOUR FIRST DATE RIGHT?!"

[i]'Nick?'[/i] Sure enough, there the radio host was, still as handsome as she had remembered, standing in front of her store and drenched to the bone. [i]'Why is he here?'[/i] she questioned internally, her stomach suddenly filled with nervous butterflies. Nori then saw that there was someone else on the side walk with the radio host, but she couldn't make out his face from where she was standing. Whoever the brunette was, he reared back and head butted the ever loving shit out of Nick and was advancing on him quickly. Nori felt a surge of protectiveness wash over her and sprinted to the door, throwing it open to intervene when she heard a very familiar voice scream, "We just met yesterday!"

"Kyle?" She breathed, dumbfounded. Nick punched the American straight in the face and Kyle answered by kneeing the radio host in the stomach and then used both hands to deliver an uppercut while shrieking, "WE JUST HAD NACHOS!"

[i]'Oh,'[/i] she realized numbly, [i]'They're talking about me.'[/i]

It was like a scene straight out of a young adult romance novel, the kind where the vampires are shiny and the werewolves all have perfect six pack abs. Where the two super hunks battle it out over some sulking, mouth breathing damsel to prove that they are somehow more deserving of her love because of their willingness to extract violence on her behalf.

But Nori was no damsel and she was not amused.

Ignoring the two men completely, Nori walked to the alley and started to undo the water hose they kept hooked up to tend the outside plants. Turning on the water and kinking the end to stop the flow momentarily, she marched back over to the two idiots and sprayed them both in the face. She continued to soak them for a good twenty seconds, until she was sure she got their attention. And then she continued for another twenty, just because it was extremely gratifying.

"Do I have your attention?" She asked them both levelly, dropping the hose and crossing her arms over her chest. In her rage she had forgotten her jacket inside and now was drenched from the rain, but she was so [i]furious[/i] that she didn't even care. "Good. Nick," she paused, turning to face the radio host completely. "I get it, I did a shitty thing. Yes, I should have called to let you know I wasn't showing up, but I didn't. [b]I'm sorry[/b]," she forced herself to meet his gaze head on, even though the look he was giving her made her heart ache. "You are one of the most sought after bachelors of this city, and I am just some girl who never went to college and is barely scraping by with two jobs. I'm so far behind on my rent that I'm about two weeks from being evicted. [b]I got scared.[/b] I knew if I went on that date with you that there was a chance you were going to realize I don't have all my shit together and then you wouldn't want me anymore."

"But even though I did something awful, that doesn't mean you get to beat up anybody that might like me," she scowled, jerking her hand toward Kyle. "Jesus Christ, Nick, I just met this guy yesterday! Despite the reputation I have for being a huge slut, I don't [b]actually[/b] go around throwing my cat at any man that gives me a second glance. I didn't realize you thought so lowly of me."

"And you," Nori growled, glaring at Kyle. "This is my place of business, my only real source of income. Do you know how much the club pays me?" The tattooed girl hissed, grinding her teeth together and flexing her fingers in fury. "[b][i]Forty dollars a goddamn set.[/i][/b] I will lose everything if I lose this job.  And you decide to just have a good old fashioned street brawl in front of it? If the owners find out I was involved in any part of this they will fire me."

"You're both grown men," she told them in a quieter voice, her body sagging as the fight went out of her. "If you want to fight in the street like children that's fine just...," Nori hesitated, trying and failing to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat, "...just keep it away from me."

Nori turned and shut the water off to the hose, before walking into the shop as quickly as possible. She was five seconds away from crying and she didn't want to do it in front of either of them.

[@Dynamo Frokane][@BeastofDestiny]