Nic
The cool air outside really calms him down, as he walks towards his car. But halfway there he changes his mind. He doesn't want to drive around. He doesn't want to meet anyone else. There had been enough surprises for one day. And Mephisto needs a little exercise. So he turns around and walks through the garden and straight into the field behind it. Mephisto barks happily and jumps around, chasing butterflies and bees. Nic smiles slightly, but his face darkens as his mind jumps back to the recent encounter with Hannah. This hole thing has teared up old wounds, which he thought had healed a long time ago. But now he stands corrected. Nothing has healed. He still loves her. And now it's too late. She is married to another man.

Nic
He takes a long walk with Mephisto through the forest and the fields, the endless nature. It could be calming and enjoyable, if he wouldn't think about Hannah all the time. He tries to suppress the thoughts, to think about something else, but it's just no use. His mind jumps back to her every few minutes. There's still some anger inside of him, but it's fading. He now is more sad, than angry. What is he supposed to do now? Ignore his feelings towards her? Ignore her? Wait till this godforsaken week is over and then leave without another word? This might be the smartest thing, but he knows, that he isn't going to be able to avoid her.

Nic
It's almost dark when Nic returns from his stroll. He's unsure what to do next. He doesn't want to go into the house, where his little sister waits with these accusing eyes always on him and where his father sits, silently hating him. So he just walks by the door and climbs into his car. Mephisto jumps on the passenger seat. He's pretty wiped out after this long walk.
Nic starts the motor and turns the car around to drive into the heart of the city. On one hand, he doesn't want to meet anyone else, but on the other hand, he really needs a drink after this hard day. Tomorrow morning is his mother's funeral and even though he doesn't let anyone see it, he is heartbroken over her death. When he got word from it, he ran from his camp and disappeared for almost two days during with he drank way too much and shot things with his gun. He couldn't control his grieve and his anger. Anger, that he missed the chance to make his mother happy just one more time before her death by showing up. He'll never be able to make up for this now.
As he thinks about this, the grieve, mixed with the anger and pain about Hannah, rises up once more. He grinds his teeth and is pretty relieved, when he reaches the town bar. He parks his car, gets out and walks towards the door, together with Mephisto. Dogs are still allowed inside. Good. Because he hates leaving his best friend in the car.
As he opens the door, cigarette smoke greets him, mixed with a strong smell of alcohol. He relaxes at once. He enters the bar and looks around. It looks just like he remembered it. Even the barkeeper is the same. The old Miller. The bar is never crowded. But today it seems even more deserted. A few guys in his age are playing cards in the corner, but he doesn't pay much attention to them. He walks straight to the bar, where he orders himself a very strong drink. The old Miller eyes him up for a minute before saying. "So you really showed up, eh?" he takes a glass and starts filling it with the amber liquid but doesn't take his eye off of you. "Dominic Bowker. Never thought I'd see you again to be honest. I remember you and little Rebecca trying to convince me to serve you beer even though you were to young." he smiles grumpily and puts the glass in front of me. "Nice of you to come to your mothers funeral. Would have been even nicer if you'd showed up before she died. She always talked about you, you know. She came here very often, after you left. She needed someone to talk to. She was heart broken." I swallow hard and try to remain calm, but this hole thing tears on my self control. "Eh.. but I get it. You don't need to apologize. My sons in the army too. I'm sure they wouldn't let you leave during your operation in war. It's just rather sad you know. I always liked your family." he shrugs and then leaves to serve the table with the card players. I follow him with my eyes and regret coming here. I should have known, that the old Miller wouldn't leave me appearing uncommented. I take the glass with the liquor and drink all of it in one draw. I really need another one.

Nic
After a few rounds he starts to calm down again, even with the old Miller talking about how much his mother missed him. After a while, he just tunes out and concentrates on drinking, because he needs to brace himself for what's coming tomorrow.
After another few rounds, the card players get up and come to the bar, where they - while talking loudly with one another - order another round of beers. Nic turns his head towards the group and raises an eyebrow. He knows them. Of course he does. Everyone knows everyone in this godforsaken town! They used to be the 'cool-kids' in high school. One of them - the leader of the group by the name of John - notices Nic and stops laughing at once. "Well, well, well." he walks towards him and wears a smug smile. "If it isn't little Bowker Niccy." Nic tenses and his hand cramps around his beer bottle. He tries not to pay attention to them, but since he's already on edge tonight, it's kind of hard...
Especially when John starts talking again. "Hey! Bowker. I'm talking to you!" Nic turns his head and tries to remain calm, but looking very annoyed and pissed as he says: "John." and nods. John seems to be rather drunk, because he can't walk straight anymore. He uses the bar to hold himself up. "We all thought you died in war. Shame, really, that you didn't." for some reason he really seems pissed at Nic. His tone gets rather nasty. "You left everyone behind, you know. Even your little, innocent sister. Little Beccy." Nic tenses even more, but doesn't say anything. "And this hot piece of ass, Hannah. I tried to score with her for years, but she found herself another Nic. Must be hell being back but not being able to fuck her. She looks even better now that shes a mom, don't you think." 'Don't do it. Stay calm. Don't listen to this clown. Just stand up and leave.' Nic pays his drinks and stands up, but John isn't finished yet. "But she is nothing compared to your little sister. That chick has gorgeous tits! I'd love to hit that again." Nic freezes and turns around to look at John. "Liar." he says, his voice nothing more than a cold whisper. "Rebecca would've never slept with a scumbag like you!" Johns friends laugh and John comes closer. "Scumbag am I, huh? At least I never abandoned my sister while she was one the verge of killing herself." he says. Nic clenches his fits and tries to calm himself down once more, even though he already sees red. "But she found herself a great replacement, didn't she guys?" he looks over his shoulder to his friends who cheer and laugh once more, before taking another step towards Nic. He's taller than Nic. "We all had our... fun with her. We fucked that little slut until she cried..." he doesn't get any further than that, because Nic's fist silences him pretty fast. All the anger Nic had bottled up inside of him breaks through. And since he is a trained soldier who is familiar with almost every fighting technique there is, John doesn't stand a chance. At least until his friends join in to help and it's 5 to 1. Nic fights them off for a while, but he's drunk himself after all and at least, they get the upper hand. They're about to injure him seriously, when John suddenly let's out a howl of pain. Mephisto has joined the fight. He bit him right into his right hand and is now shaking his head to tear it away. "Mephisto! No!" Nic yells, but it's too late. Johns friends pounce onto Mephisto now who whines in pain as they beat him. At once Nic gets up and tries to help his best friend. "Leave him be!" he yells, but before he can do anything else, the door bursts open and policemen are storming inside. The old Miller must have called them. They separate the fighting men and Nic crawls towards his dog who is lying on the ground, whimpering in pain. "It's okay. You're going to be okay." he says in a calming voice, as he gently strokes his head. Mephisto looks at him and it breaks Nics heart to see him this way. The Policemen take John and his group into custody. Obviously, this is not their first bar fight interrupted by the police. Even in their teen years they always caused problems. Then, they turn towards Nic. "Dominic Bowker. We have to take you to the station too. We understand you started this fight?" Nic doesn't get up, but nods curtly. The Policeman who talked to him gives the other ones a sign and they leave the bar. The man sighs and says: "You're allowed to take your dog to the vet, but you have to come into the station for questioning tomorrow afternoon. If you don't show up, you'll be arrested. Do you understand?" Nic nods again and still doesn't move away from Mephisto. "Okay." the Policeman sighs once more and then leaves. Nic pulls his mobilephone out of his pocket and dials his uncle Jerry's number. He can't drive. He is injured and drunk and Mephisto really needs some medical help.

Nic
Jerry comes as fast as he can and he really seems worried about Mephisto, because he doesn't lecture Nic about his short temper. He just helps him get Mephisto into his car and then drives to the vet. I don't know the vet. I didn't even know, there was a vet. It must be pretty new. Or at least relatively new. Somewhere in the last nine years..
Jerry urges Nic to wait in front of the practice, which is closed at this time. But Jerry seems to know the vet, because he hurries towards a house on the other side, while I wait with the very heavy Mephisto in my hands. Adrenaline is still pumping through my veins, but the pain has started to set in. My face must look like hell. My whole body aches. I know, that I'll feel this for another week. But that doesn't concern me at all. All I care about right now is Mephisto. He's breathing rather slowly. "Come on Buddy. You can do this." I try to calm him and me down at the same time, but it's not really working on any of us.
Jerry takes his time, but finally I see him accompanied by three people. One man, who must be the vet and... my heart stops for a second there... his wife. Hannah. And Hannah is not alone. She holds a little girl on the hand. Her daughter. I remember John's words. 'She looks even better now that shes a mom, don't you think?' So... this is Markus?
I'm starting to fell jealous again, when Mephisto whimpers once more and I remember, that now is not the right time.

Nic
I'm more than suspicious about Hannahs husband fixing Mephisto up, and I want to stay inside the room with him, to support him, but Hannah convinces me, that I can't do anything for him at the moment and so I follow her outside. The anger towards John and his friends still seethes inside of me, but the worry about Mephisto is stronger at the moment. Even stronger than the dislike for Markus..
As Hannah starts to clean my wounds, I show no sign of pain. Ignoring pain and having absolute control over it is something you learn, when you're in the army. I look at her, and I feel the need to explain it to her. She must think I'm some sort of psycho or something. I'd hate it if she thought I'd just start a bar fight out of nowhere. "John and his guys were there." I say. "They... said things.. about you and Rebecca. I couldn't control it... It just happened. Then Mephisto tried to help me and they turned on him..." I glance at the room, where Markus takes care of my dog and sorrow lies in my look. "If something bad happened and he's not going to get better, I'll never forgive myself for it." I whisper. In this moment everything this day has brought me just breaks over me like a wave of negativity. I've never been ashamed to cry in front of Hannah. But I' haven't cried in a long time, so I simply look like I'm on the verge of tears, while I beat myself up over all that I've done, and most of all, over the fact that my best friend is in surgery because I couldn't keep my cools. "I should have just walked away... I shouldn't have let them provoke me like that.."

Nic
Hannah has always been a lot like Helen. At first this had weirded him out, but after considering what that meant, he loved her even more for that. Hannah was as warm-hearted and nurturing as his mother has been. But she was something else as well. She was strong. He had always known, that he could rely on her in bad times, just as she could rely on him. That doesn't seemed to have changed. She seems to really care, that he doesn't feel bad and - miraculously - after her kind words he does feel a little better. "Thank you, Han." he looks at her and the love he feels for her in this moment must be visible on his face. But then the door bursts open and the little girl comes running in, followed by Jerry, who takes a seat next to us. I look at the little girl and smile slightly, because she looks a lot like Hannah. I can see it in her timid smile and her curious look. I can see it in her worry as she asks her mother how the dog is doing. Jerry looks at me and his look is severe. I know, that the lecture is going to come, first thing we're alone. He was always proud of me for being such a good soldier. There's just this one thing he hates about me. My lack of control about my emotions. It can be dangerous in certain situations. I look away and instead stand up to walk towards the window behind which I can see Mephisto on the table and Markus in front of it.

Nic
I instantly stop pacing up and down and watch as Hannah walks into the room where Markus is still fixing up Mephisto and my face darkens a little, but I don't have time to dwell on the hole situation, because Jerry breaks the silence by saying: "You two don't know each other yet, don't you?" I turn around and look at Hannahs daughter, not sure what to think about her. She is Hannahs kid and I can't help but liking her, but on the other hand... she is also Markus daughter. And even though he never did anything to offend me, I hate that guy. I have to. He's her husband. "No. I guess I haven't had the pleasure yet." I say and smile a little bit. The little girl is kind of timid, but she seems to be confident enough to take my hand as I offer it to her. "I'm Dominic. But you can call me Nic." "I'm Claire." she replies and I frown slightly. Claire was the name Hannah and I gave our future daughter before I left. We had even planned our family. We wanted two kids. A daughter - Claire - and a son - Harry. "Nice to meet you Claire." "What happened to your face?" she asks curiously and now I really have to smile. She is cheeky. But not ill-mannered. I decide to like her. "I had to protect my dog Mephisto against bad men." I tell her and she listens attentive. "Then you are a hero." she decides. I don't have time to react to it, because at this moment Hannah comes out of the room to tell me about Mephisto. I nod and gasp of relief. He's going to make it. "Thank you, Hannah." I say, but then Claire interrupts by asking if the dog can sleep in her room. I have to smile again and say to the little girl: "If it is okay with your mom and dad, Mephisto surely would be delighted to have such a lovely roommate."

Nic
The kid really seems to like Mephisto and she seems to like me too. I have to smile slightly, as she suggests, that I stay at their place, but I am more than thankful, that Hannah says no, because I couldn't bear the thought of sleeping a few feet away from where Markus and Hannah cuddle while sleeping. No way.
But then the door opens and Mephisto and Markus come into the room. I hunker down at once to greet Mephisto who seems rather sleepy and despondent. "Hey, Buddy. Glad you're okay." He lacks the energy to do anything else but whimper slightly and my heart breaks one more time. This is my fault.
I take a deep breath, before standing up and reaching out to Markus. "Thank you for helping him." I say and offer him my hand. I don't like him, but he saved Mephisto and I know when to show good manners.

Nick
Jerry and I leave the clinic with Mephisto who is very shaky, and wait for Hannah and her family to follow. I hate to be separated from Mephisto, especially now, when he is so injured, but I have to go to the emergency room myself, because I'm pretty sure I have a broken rip and a broken wrist. But as Hannah comes out, followed only by her daughter, there is this weird moment, where we look at each other and time seems to stop for a few seconds. At least until her husband coughs and the moment breaks apart. "Good night." I smile slightly at Hannah and Claire and just nod at Markus. As they leave with Mephisto I look at Hannah and think to myself how much I hate it, that I can't be as close to her, as I used to be. I still love her but I know, that she is happy with her husband. But at least I'd love to be her friend... We'll see what the time brings.
"Hey!" Jerrys voice rips me out of my thoughts and brings me back into the real world, where my body aches like hell. "We have to get you fixed up, son." he says with a stern look and I sigh slightly. "Yeah I guess so." We get into his car and he drives to the hospital which is a little bit out of town. On the way, he gives me the awaited lecture on controlling my feelings and not letting some douche provoke me into a fist fight. I already feel terrible enough, without him reminding me of my flaws, so eventually I just snap back and we start to fight. As we reach the hospital. I just get out of the car and walk straight into the emergency room. There has been enough drama for one day. I just want a moment of silence where no one judges me or makes me feel like I'm the worst person alive. But of course this is too much to ask, because the doctor who looks me up is an old friend of my big brother Chris. He doesn't say much, he just teases me a little about getting beaten up and when he notices, that I not feel like joking, he just continues to examine my injuries. But I can see the judgment in his eyes. I can literally hear him thinking how much he dislikes me. I'm glad when I can finally leave the hospital. With a wrapped up wrist - I was right, it was broken - and very strong pain killers, which I won't take anyway. Jerry waits for me and we drive home. Luckily he's silent. He's very upset with me, but he also seems to understand, that I've had about enough. At least I don't meet anyone at home. They all seem to be in bed. No wonder, it's the middle of the night. I say good night to Jerry and then go into my old room. I'm just on the ropes. I don't even take a look around. I just fall into bed, suppress a sigh of pain, because my rip - which is also broken - informs me, that it's still there by sending a screaming pain through my body. I close my eyes and for the hundredths time today I wish that I'd never come home.