The Reunion

The two women sitting at the registration table recognized Cate right away but for the life of them they couldn't place Zeke as one of their fellow classmates. They both looked over the printed rosters in front of them before finding his name and finally realizing that he had graduated with them, still looking at him skeptically as he scrawled his contact information onto the paper and unceremoniously slapped his nametag sticker on the front of his shirt. He caught the smile on Cate's face out of the corner of his eye and he couldn't help but notice the way she was biting her lip to keep from laughing. He was the last person anyone expected to graduate let alone to actually show up at the reunion, especially with Cate. And it was exhibited by the two most popular girls in school, who were still snobs in their own right, as they still sized him up. They may have been the skinny, pretty girls back in school that snubbed everybody, but now they were more than a little overweight and showing their age, and right back to being bitches when they saw that Cate had barely changed in looks since graduation. "I was the badass that rode the Harley," he said, straight-faced, and to only rub it in even more, he added, "and now I drive an Escalade."

As they walked down the cement path, his hand clasping hers, Cate looked over her shoulder at the two women who were staring after them open-mouthed, obviously struck dumbfounded by his comment when they realized exactly who he was all those years ago. She tried to hide her amusement, the two women were the biggest snobs and took being bitchy to the next level and for what reason, she never really knew but they had been disliked by a lot of the other girls in school. They weren't worth her time back then and they weren't worth her time now. She walked alongside Zeke as they made their way towards the rest of the people that were standing around catching up on old times and she looked up at him as she tried to keep from smirking. He said they were going to turn heads and turn them they did. "Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"Nah, but it was fun," Zeke said, smiling down at her as he gave her hand and affectionate squeeze. He knew Cate wouldn't say anything and he remembered how those girls had treated her in high school and he had to admit, it felt good to finally put them in their places after all these years. He could see that she was trying her hardest to keep from laughing and he only smiled even more. Maybe today was going to be better than he thought it was going to be, and to think he almost turned around and drove home yet again. A table holding the refreshments had been set up along the shady side of the building and he dug two bottles of water out of the ice-filled plastic tub and twisted off the caps before handing one to her. He looked at her over the tops of his sunglasses, a smirk forming on his mouth. "And don't tell me you weren't thinking about saying the same thing."

"Okay, I won't," Cate laughed as she took the bottle of water from him. She had been thinking the same thing or maybe even a few worse things to say to them but Zeke had beaten her to the punch. She smiled up at him. He wasn't even back in town for twenty-four hours and he was already stirring up trouble. Oh, this was going to be a fun filled day, she thought to herself as she took a sip of her water. She brushed a lock of wind-blown hair back from her face and searched through the crowd of people that were standing around the park, trying to find anyone familiar. She was looking in an entirely different direction when she heard someone call her name and she looked that way, seeing Jenny, Heidi and Loraine, her three closest friends from high school standing under the shade of the oak tree next to the veteran's memorial, waving at her to come over there with them. She hadn't seen them since graduation and she waved back, giving them the "one second" indication with her finger and turned back to Zeke. "The girls are here," she said with a smile. "I'm gonna go over and talk to them. Behave yourself."

Zeke looked over in the general direction of the memorial and saw the same three ladies standing there that Cate use to stand outside the school with every morning, which he had come to realize a long time ago was just a ploy to catch a glimpse of him on his Harley. Time had been good to them for the most part, they had what one would call a 'mom' body, but at least this time they were stylishly dress, not wearing clothes that showed as much skin a possible. He looked at Cate out of the corner of his eye as he brought the bottle of water up to his mouth. He smiled a cocky smile, the corner of his eyes crinkling behind his sunglasses. "I promise to stay out of trouble," he stated, making a crossing motion over his heart with his finger. When she glared at him, he laughed, and it only grew even louder when he heard everything she had to say about not being able to leave him alone for two seconds as she walked away. Oh, she knew him so well. He let out a hiss through gritted teeth, watching the sway of her hips beneath the drape of silk as she crossed the grass to join her long-lost friends. Was it hot out here or was it just him? He took a long drink of his ice-cold water when he should just pour it down the front of his pants. Either way, it didn't matter; nothing was going to cool him off.

He took one last look at Cate as she joined her friends and shook his head in utter disbelief, like she had no reason to trust him. The smile that was plastered to his face was quickly removed when a bored looking husband of a classmate he couldn't even remember made a comment about his wife not trusting him either and Zeke chuckled. He thought about correcting him, but didn't, instead he struck up a conversation with the other guy and as they chatted, Zeke stood where he could keep an eye on Cate, not that he feared she was going to leave without him, it was just in his nature to watch over her. As he chit-chatted with the other guy, he found out that they both owned a Harley and they were knee deep in conversation about riding when they were joined by a third person, whom Zeke remembered from high school but never had a reason to talk to him until now; he also rode motorcycles.

They were talking about their motorcycles, their adventures across the States, about some of the best roads to ride for the scenery alone, when Zeke looked over at Cate again, watching as she reached up to wipe her hand across her cheek in a failed attempt to hide the tears that he knew she was shedding. Somebody had said something to upset her and he had a good idea what it was and he could see that her friends were trying to console her. And then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he watched as a tall, overweight man with thinning, greasy hair that reminded him of a sleazy used-car salesman limped across the grass towards Cate and her friends. There was no mistaking who the man was, he would never forget his face, and his grip instantly tightened on his bottle of water, the plastic crinkling and popping in his hand as what water was left in the bottle was forced out of the open top to run down his fist.

His eyes narrowed, focusing on George Hunsaker, his sworn enemy, his one way ticket to jail if he so much as took another swing at him. He watched him as he greeted one of the ladies with a kiss on the lips and a squeeze of her ass–obviously his spouse–and the other two with a hug and an equally unacceptable touch. He swore under his breath when the slimeball turned his attention to his Cate, saying something to her and his teeth clenched together so hard that he thought he chipped a tooth when he saw the asshole reach out to touch her arm. He watched as Cate recoiled from his touch, her voice carrying across the park as she yelled at him but the words were incomprehensible, watched as she quickly backed away from the one man that she hated the most, leaving the group as fast as she could to get far, far away from him. He threw the crumpled plastic bottle to the ground, growled out an "excuse me," to the other two men that were watching him and started marching across the grassy expanse of the park, his murderous gaze focused on the prick that dared to follow Cate as she tried to get away from him much like she had twenty years ago.

Zeke knew his past was going to come back to haunt him and today was that day. He didn't even look over his shoulder as Cate hurried past him towards the community building, his intense brown eyes were focused on one person, and one person only, scowling as the piece of shit has-been quarterback, a look of pure hated on his face, limped as fast as he could across the grass towards the woman he had no chance with back in high school and still had no chance with to this very day. He glared at George in smug satisfaction as he struggled to walk across the park, he had packed on seventy-five pounds of flab and his knee had never quite healed right from when he had kicked him in the patella twenty years ago. George had been unsuccessful with getting in Cate's pants back then, and despite the fact that he was married–he saw the ring on his left hand–he was determined to get her alone and try it again. He could be wrong though, but once a prick always a prick. He quickly stepped into the path of his out-of-shape sworn enemy, blocking his view to his intended target once again, and stormed right up to him, glaring at the other man as his hands doubled up into tight fists. "Remember me," Zeke hissed through gritted teeth as he drew his right fist back, watching as all the color drained from George's face the second he looked up at him.

George was surprised, or rather shocked, to see Cate at the reunion. He hadn't seen her since that Memorial Day weekend two decades ago; he had spent all of the following week in the hospital undergoing knee and shoulder surgery and had to miss graduation and the entire summer due to physical therapy. And now, after all these years, he sees her again, and even though there's no going back to the past, he just wanted to say hi to her when all of a sudden she started throwing out false accusations and walking away from him yet again. Instinctively he went after her despite his wife's hysterical state and had just about caught up with her when, out of nowhere, his nemesis materialized–he would never forget the scarred face of the man that had ruined his life for as long as he lived–to block his path with the bulk of his powerfully built body as he started marching towards him, the same rage burning in his coffee-brown eyes that had been flaming in them two decades ago.

George never expected to see Zeke for the rest of his life, he figured he had been beaten and left for dead in a ditch somewhere or was rotting in a prison cell, he was after all a no good piece of dog shit that would never amount to nothing, and the one person that had single-handedly ruined his life. But as he looked at him now–broader through the shoulders, more muscular, hair cut extremely short–he felt all the blood drain from his face, felt his Adam's apple bob in his throat when he swallowed, heard his words echoing through his brain that had been spoken to him in anger all those years ago. He could see the rage in his eyes, his nostrils flaring with every breath, and before he could even open his mouth to say a single word, before he could even turn to hobble the other direction, Zeke's fist connected sharply with his jaw, snapping his head to the side as he lost his balance and fell backwards onto his fat ass in the grass, two dozen eyes staring at him.

Zeke was oblivious to everyone around him as they watched with baited breath as he stood over George, his hands fisted at his sides, waiting to see what he would do next. But he just glared down at the other man in pure Alpha male satisfaction instead, his chest heaving with every deep breath he drew in in an effort to control the rage, the hatred that still burned inside him. Some things never changed; he was still the badass of Humboldt County and this flabby pig was still the chicken shit slimeball that only learned things the hard way. A part of him wanted to beat the shit out of him yet again, but he was obviously still the better man and George had to live with the humiliation of being knocked on his ass whereas he would have to live out the rest of his days in a jail cell if this escalated any further and he carried out his threat from all those years ago. "I warned you not to touch Cate," Zeke swore, glaring down at the other man as he flexed his sore hand.

"Sorry... I... I... didn't..." George muttered, staring up at Zeke in utter fear for his life, his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. He was fucked, and not in a good way. He had five children to support and only two of them were his wife's and even though the thought of having his dead corpse pissed on was far more appealing than having his wife find out the entire truth, he decided that she would be more lenient on him than Zeke. Before he gave the other man a chance to even reach down and grab the front of his shirt to haul him to his feet, he scooted backwards, dragging his fat ass across the grass, his eyes never leaving Zeke. He rolled his flabby body over to get onto his knees, struggling even more to get to his feet and hobbled away as fast as he could from the other man. He couldn't ram his car into a tree this time to conceal the bruises and broken bones; he had to endure the utter humiliation of being defeated by his nemesis right here as he made his escape, running away from his wife and from the entire alumni that was laughing at him.

Zeke drew in a deep breath that shook his entire body and watched in contented satisfaction as George hobbled away, his dick tucked between his legs, his clueless wife following along behind him, chewing him up one side and down the other. He jammed his shaking hands through his short hair as he turned on his heel, walking back towards the community building, through the throng of classmates that were staring at him, some with mouths agape, the others just eyeing him curiously. All of them were at a loss for words even though he knew what was running through their shocked minds, the question that had gone unanswered for twenty years, what had really happened to the star quarterback that Memorial Day weekend. And he had just answered it with one good hard blow of his fist that had his hand hurting like hell. But damn it felt good to hit him again. He pushed his way into the building, ignoring their stares, ignoring their comments as he headed towards the bathroom, towards the one person that was hurting the most. His Catie-girl.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cate brushed past the two women that were setting up the food tables in a beeline for the bathroom, the sound of her shoes slapping on the soles of her feet echoing through the building as she hurried across the chipped linoleum floor towards the bathroom. She slapped her open palm against the door and pushed it open, taking a deep breath as she ducked into the refuge of the ladies room. She braced her hands on the counter and squeezed her eyes shut; letting out the breath she had been holding, the effort shaking her entire body as she struggled to hold back the tears. She never should have come to the damn reunion. She couldn't deal with any of this. Their lives were so much better than hers; all three of them married with children and either stay-at-home moms or working full-time jobs to give their children the lives they deserved. And here she was– She had to be strong, she couldn't take anti-depressants for the rest of her life, but just hearing about her friends' lives and their happy families sent a tidal wave of emotions crashing down on her, the loss of her own child still weighing heavily on her heart.

And then he had to show up! And to make matters worse, Loraine had married him! He was the last person she ever wanted to see and she had to get away from all them as fast as she could, needing time to herself to recuperate. She curled her fingers around the edge of the counter, her knuckles turning white, struggling to stay upright as she felt her legs start to tremble. Her friends never knew what had happened to her; obviously George had kept it a secret or everyone would've known how he shattered his knee. They had all been living in a fantasy world and she finally allowed the truth to come out after all these years, telling her so-called friend exactly the type of man she had married even if she didn't want to believe her, the truth expressed across George's quickly reddening face. She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down the best she could. She heard the door being pushed open and she opened her eyes to see Zeke's blurry reflection in the mirror as he stepped uninvited into the ladies room behind her. She knew he had confronted George, it was in his nature, but she didn't stay around long enough to find out the extent of the damage to the other man's body. "I'm fine, Zeke," Cate said, lying through her teeth.

"And those are tears of joy? Clearly this was an error on my part," Zeke said, stepping into the first stall and yanking off a handful of tissue from the dispenser. He looked down at her, at her reflection in the mirror as he handed her the much softer paper to dry her eyes with. He had been watching her as she'd been talking to her friends, laughing and catching up on old times and he could only begin to speculate, or rather he knew, that when to conversation had turned to children, Cate couldn't hold herself together any longer and then he had to show up and she had to get away from all of them. Part of him wanted to march out there and chew those bitches up one side and down the other and the other part of him just wanted to put her in a room where no one could ever hurt her again. But he couldn't do either at the moment, he had already knocked the worthless slime on his ass and he was getting an ass-chewing from his wife, so he just stood rooted in place, his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to control his own emotions and watched her as she dabbed at her eyes, fixing her make-up the best that she could. "I'm taking you home."

She looked at his reflection in the mirror as she wiped the streaks of mascara from her cheeks. He was right back to watching over her once again, protecting her from anyone that could hurt her, and as much as she loved that about him, she was an adult now, not a scared teenager that needed the big badass to fight her battles for her. She thought she could handle her friends bragging about their children and when they asked her why she didn't have any kids yet, the pain was just too much and she blurted out the truth. And then when George showed up...she walked hastily away from them, leaving them standing there in shock, not even giving them a chance to console her. She looked at her own reflection again, there was no hiding the red puffiness around her eyes and she drew in a ragged breath, slowly letting it back out as she turned around, leaning her hips against the edge of the counter. She looked up at Zeke, her tattooed knight in shiny luxury vehicle. His stance was steadfast, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest, his hot coffee brown eyes focused on her. She could see the telltale red marks on his knuckles, the rage that still burned in his eyes. "You hit him, didn't you?"

"Nope. He walked into my fist," Zeke corrected. His hand still hurt but the pain was fleeting. The door started to open and with lightning-quick reflexes, Zeke took one step forward and slapped his palm against the door, holding it shut in the face to the woman that dared to interrupt them. He reached out with his other hand and brushed the lock of hair back from her face that was clinging to her tear-dampened cheek. He gazed down into those forget-me-not blue eyes as he caressed her cheek with his calloused fingertips. She was so strong, yet just as fragile and when she looked up him with eyes that only saw him for the man that he was, he felt his heart lurch in his chest. If she only knew how he truly felt about her... He knew he couldn't protect her from everyone; he just didn't want anyone to hurt her ever again even if it was unintentional. "You, Catie-girl, are the only reason why I stopped at one swing."