Little Robo shook his head lifting his hands in front of him. “I don’t know about them. They’re not part of our crew.”

“What guys?” Noah began to ask then stopped. “Never mind I see them.” He counted quickly—five. He turned back to Hector. “You know them?”

“I’ve seen one of them around school but I think the rest are older.”

“Well, they can stay for the show but once it’s over they better leave or they’ll be asked to leave.”

“Sounds good to me,” Abel said walking past Noah and out the door.

Noah told the dancer to get his crew together and get the performance going as soon as he could. They all walked out and as expected Roni turned heads immediately. Noah slipped his hand in hers as they walked by the five thugs. She glanced at him but didn’t protest or pull her hand away.

Noah had seen the likes of these types of guys many times. They thought nothing of crashing parties where they knew no one and drinking up whatever free booze they could get their hands on. He made a point to stare them down, one by one calling them out if they dared. But as expected, just like the cowards most of these thugs usually turned out to be, none of them took the bait.

The dance crew took forever to get their shit together but when they finally did and put on their show Noah had to admit they were badass. The crowd went wild. Even Roni cheered loudly. They even did a short encore dance for the chanting crowd. The entertainment added a cool element to the party but Noah was still relieved when he saw the crowd begin to thin out as the dance crew made their exit.

As fun as that had been Noah had been to too many backyard parties in East LA to know that all it took was one dumb drunk for things to go sour real fast. The fewer number of strangers at this party the better. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he decided to ask Roni about having New Year’s here.

Abel who stood at the driveway looking a little concerned motioned for Noah to come over. Gio was already with him. Noah hesitated for just a second then turned to Roni. “I’ll be back.” He glanced at Gio’s sisters and their friends. “Just stick with them until we can get everyone we don’t know out of here okay?”

He hurried toward Abel but not before glancing back at the thugs who still stood in the same corner they’d been standing the whole night. The biggest guy was about Noah’s size and he smirked. Noah was certain the liquor was making him brave now because earlier when Noah had stared him down he’d looked away. This time not only did he smirk, he very obviously turned to look at Roni and said something to the guy next to him who laughed. Noah stopped in his tracks, his insides lighting up immediately.

“Noah!”

Still busy glaring at the idiot who was laughing obnoxiously now, Noah ignored Abel.

“C’mon dude,” Gio tugged at his arm. “Those f**kers are next. But we gotta clear out the front before someone calls the cops.” Noah forced himself to stop looking at the guy whose face he’d soon be in. “These kids are stopping in all your neighbor’s yards just hanging out. We gotta make them leave unless we want our party shut down early.”

Noah started down the driveway with Gio and Abel at either side. Hector caught up to them and offered to help. They made their way around the neighboring houses telling all the small groups of partygoers they had to leave. When they finally cleared it up they walked back up the driveway toward the backyard again.

The group of thugs was still there minus the ass**le who’d been ogling Roni. Roni wasn’t with Gio’s sisters either. Noah scanned the backyard quickly and stopped cold when he saw Roni by the back door. The ass**le thug was there with his hand on the door. Roni’s defensive stance made Noah nearly jump as he rushed toward them.

“So what am I supposed to do, piss in your bushes?” The guy said to Roni with a stupid laugh. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ll just be in and out… unless you’d like me to hang around in there with you.”

Roni’s eyes met Noah’s. His hands were already fisted and ready beat the shit out of the guy when Roni’s eyes opened wide and she began to yell something. Something hit him on the side of the face with so much force, before he even had a chance to lift his arm in defense everything went black.

~*~

Seeing Noah blindsided and knocked unconscious was probably one of the most horrific images Veronica had ever witnessed. Everything that followed was a blur. All she could think of even as Abel beat the guy who did it to a pulp and the rest of the guys brawled it out with his friends, was getting Noah in the house and out of harm’s way.

She knew enough from taking first aid and CPR classes at the college to turn him on his side so that he wouldn’t choke on his own tongue. He’d come to fairly quickly but he was totally out of it. She managed to get some of the guys that were there with the sound crew to help her lift him and walk him to his bed.

Veronica didn’t even realize how unnerved she was until she tried running her fingers through his hair and her hand shook uncontrollably. The minutes that passed as Noah slipped in and out of consciousness were the worst. She kept wondering if she should call 911. But each time she was about to he’d come to.

The guys came in after they’d cleared all the troublemakers out of her yard.

“How you feeling?” Gio asked Noah, handing him a couple of aspirins.

Veronica frowned she hadn’t even thought of bringing him any painkillers. She lifted the bag of ice away from his face. Noah sat himself up on his elbow grimacing as he brought a hand to the lump on the side of his face. “What happened?”