“Get the fuck away from her,” he shouted, his voice carrying even over the heavy bass of the DJ. He waded into the small group of boys, and pulled the ones who moved too slowly for his liking off of her. A few punches flew at him, along with curses. He returned the punches with gusto, glad they had given him even more of an excuse to get physical.

The group quickly scattered, as Conan had known they would. They were all too damned sissy to stand up to him. He had graduated from their high school six years before they had, but his reputation had stuck around, especially once his brother was an upperclassman. Conan was just sorry that Danny hadn’t grown up once he had gotten to college.

A part of him wished he gotten more punches in, but he was more worried about the girl lying motionless on the floor in front of him. She was his brother’s girlfriend, and he had no idea where Danny was.

“Probably drunk and getting laid, as usual,” he muttered derisively to himself as he dropped down next to where she was laying, folding his lanky les underneath him. Her shirt was ripped open and her jeans were unzipped with her legs gruesomely parted. He fixed her clothing as best he could as he straightened her limbs before pressing his fingers to the side of her neck, searching for her pulse.

To his relief, it was strong and steady. “Ally, wake up. Talk to me, kiddo.” He brought his hand up to her face and rubbed his thumb over her cheekbones when he heard her moan. “C’mon, Al, open your eyes.”

“Conan?” she whispered, her eyes barely open and her voice hoarse. “Where am I?” He was surprised she recognized him right away. She was really out of it, and she hadn’t seen him in almost two months, since she had been off for Spring Break.

“On the floor at the party my brother dragged you to,” he said gently as he cupped her cheek.

“What—“ she cut herself off as she started coughing. She grabbed her ribs and tried to settle down. He could tell the simple act of coughing pained her.

“Let’s get you out of here first,” he told her as he slipped his arms underneath her. Willingly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into him.

“I hurt,” she whimpered as he lifted her off the ground.

“I know, I know. Hush now, honey.” Conan held her as carefully as he could, but it still killed him inside every time he felt her tense up in pain.

He ignored the knowing looks and the catcalls that came as he carried her towards the front door, shoving his way through and being careful not to jar Ally too much. This was one of those times when his reputation really didn’t help him, people assumed that whoever he was with was his newest plaything. There was no sign of Danny, or any of his close friends, for that matter. Once outside, he settled her in the front seat of his Carrera. He had to lift her arms from around his neck before he could buckle her in and shut the door.

By the time he got around to the driver’s side, she was asleep and with a light touch, he wiped away the one tear that was winding down her cheek. “I’m going to kill him this time,” he said out loud.

He took her back to his apartment, not knowing where else to go. She was dazed, but cooperated as he undressed her as if she was a child and helped her into an old pair of his sweats.

It took all the control he had not to brush his fingers against her curves, and it would have taken a dead man not to admire the sight her breasts and long, slim legs made. His sweats were huge on her, even after he pulled the drawstring as tight as it could go.

He tucked her into his bed, and kissed her forehead, knowing that she had to sleep off the alcohol, and whatever drug those damn kids had slipped in her drink. He stepped back and sat in the easy chair that resided in the corner of the room.

If his brother had any kind of sense at all he would be the one beside her, taking care of her. As it was, a large part of Conan wondered if he should take her to the hospital, and let them make sure there was nothing wrong with her. Of course, they would also call the police, which might not be a bad thing, except that he didn’t want to put Ally through that. She had been through so much already, it wouldn’t be fair to put her through more even if those boys did deserve it.

“I’ll take care of you,” he whispered, mostly to himself. “Always. You don’t need him. No one should be allowed to hurt you.”

He must have dozed off, because he nearly fell out of the chair when he heard her scream. She was sitting upright in bed, the blankets clutched to her chest. Her soft blonde hair was tangled around her face and her face was pale, too pale.

Moving slowly so he wouldn’t startle her, he sat on the bed next to her and took her hands in his, rubbing gently. “Ally…Ally…it’s okay honey. Al, wake up. It’s just me….You’re safe…I promise.” When her sobs quieted, he pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on her head.

“Conan?” her voice was soft and muffled as she spoke into his neck.

“Yeah?”

“Why—what happened?”

“What do you remember?”

“Just…just…Danny gave me a drink and then went off somewhere. I—I…everything is fuzzy. Conan, I don’t remember. I just hurt, so much, my neck, and and my legs…”

He exhaled sharply. “I stopped by the party to meet one of my friends. No, that’s not true. One of my friends called me and said that Danny was heading upstairs, and he hadn’t seen you in about two hours. I went right over. I saw—you were—“ He didn’t know how to tell her. “I was worried about you and couldn’t find you outside or on the main floor, so I went into the basement. I heard screams when I got down there, and saw a group of boys standing around something. When one boy moved, I saw you laying on the floor, with more of the bastards. They were…on top of you…Ally, I stopped them as soon as I could. I don’t think…I don’t think they did… I don’t think they did anything but beat you up some.” If she didn’t remember having her shirt and jeans torn, he didn’t want to tell her and make the hurt even worse.

There were tears streaming down her face. He couldn’t see them, but he could feel them soaking into his shirt. His back was beginning to ache from the position he was in, and ever so slowly, he lowered her until she was laying down and then he cradled her against him.

“Why am I here?” Ally asked him as she rested her head comfortably on his arm.

“Danny sure as hell wasn’t going to take care of you, and I didn’t think you’d appreciate being dropped off at your parents’ place.” How could he tell her that he wanted to be the one to take care of her?

“Does Danny know I’m here?”

“Honey, I know he’s my brother and all, but I don’t know what you see in him.”

Ally sighed heavily, but didn’t say anything. Conan draped his arm across her waist and pulled her body against his. “He doesn’t deserve you,” he whispered into her hair. “Go back to sleep, Ally.”