Tyson was a rather selfish man.

Not in the common sense, of course. He was anything but, in fact. He was one of the kindest, gentlest, sweetest people in the world. Tyson would do anything for his friends and strangers alike. He always stopped for autographs and pictures, and never failed to provide a star struck young trainer with helpful Beyblading advice.

No. Tyson was selfish when it came to Hilary.

The love of his life.

She was a pretty young woman; beautiful, in fact. She had been cute as a child, but not "model gorgeous" like other women. Once Hilary had hit her teens, however, she began to rival the looks. Now, as a young adult, Hilary was arguably even more beautiful than any other girls he knew. The color of her hair was so rich and silky, and the color of her eyes was so deep and cool. Her skin was bloomy, her lips rosy, and her teeth glistening white. She was tall, with long legs and a slender body with delicate curves of muscle that obviously declared her as an athlete.

In short, Hilary was stunning, and Tyson couldn't help but to feel that every other male in the world had their eyes set on her.

It disgusted him. The very idea of these men having thoughts and ideas about his pretty girl. Dirty, vile thoughts that only Tyson himself should have been allowed to think. After all, he was the only one allowed to look at Hilary like that. The only one allowed to touch her like that.

If he could have washed out all of their brains with soap, he would have.

Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. It also wouldn't actually do any good, although Tyson simply chose to believe that it could. So, instead, he had to settle for being very protective of his fiancée.

A level of protectiveness that Hilary could only describe as jealousy.

It didn't matter who the particular guy was. Tyson was wary of any and all males who came to close to her. He was especially distrustful of the ones Hilary worked closest with: other beybladers and members of the BBA. Functions for the BBA, as a result, tended to be very troubling for Tyson, and very uncomfortable for Hilary.

The current function they were at was a charity dinner being hosted by the BBA themselves. Almost as soon as they'd walked in, Tyson had ditched Hilary for the appetizer table, leaving the pretty brunette to socialize for the both of them.

While Tyson was busy stuffing his face with crab cakes and shrimp, Hilary had met up with Ronald, a rival beyblader to Tyson. She always enjoyed talking to him, because he took similar interests as her in zodiac signs and the stars. He wasn't too bad on the eyes, either.

Tyson, despite being preoccupied with downing half of the appetizer table, still managed to catch Hilary and Ronald from out of the corner of his eye. This little sight nearly caused Tyson to choke on his mouthful of food. Tyson couldn't help but to view Ronald as one of his biggest threats when it came to Hilary. After all, the man was also brunette…just like his wife-to-be. He was also tall and handsome, and tan…with lots of muscles. Usually, the guy didn't walk around with a shirt on, which was just an added bonus for Tyson's paranoia. Fortunately, the charity dinner was a formal event that required formal attire, which meant that Ronald had to be fully clothed.

That didn't make Tyson feel any better, however.

After all, the dinner being a formal affair meant that Hilary was also dressed to the nines. Her strapless, angelic dress was skintight, aqua in color and adorned by silver beading and sequins until it scalloped off over the tulle skirt. Even from the back, Tyson could tell that Hilary was softly scuffing the floor with her silver heels and delicately tucking loose curls of her hair locks behind her ears as she giggled at whatever Ronald was saying.

It was sending his overzealous tendencies into overdrive.

So, swallowing his fifteenth crab cake of the evening, Tyson turned on a heel and began to march towards the two chatting on, his auburn brown eyes narrowed in determination. As soon as he was next to Hilary, Tyson slung his arm around his fiancée's shoulders and pulled her roughly against his side, causing the beautiful young woman to audibly growl.

"Hey, Tyson, there you are!" Ronald chuckled, his pearly whites visible as he laughed. "I was beginning to think Hilary had left you at home!"

"Oh, she wishes," Tyson murmured, Hilary rolling her eyes as the words left his mouth. "So, what are we talking about over here?"

"Just the upcoming wedding!" Ronald crowed. His hand, which was currently holding a half full wine glass, motioned towards Hilary's own left hand, which she had resting on the right side of her hip. "That's quite the rock you gave her!"

"Well, I only give Hilary the best," Tyson drawled as the brunette's eyes widened in horror. "And that ring certainly was the best!"

"I'd say so," Ronald murmured with a small chuckle before downing some more of his cabernet. "So, how is engaged life treating you two? The wedding planning and all of that?"

Hilary opened her mouth to respond, but Tyson was quick to cut her off, much to her annoyance.

"It's great!" Tyson chirped. "It's really, really exciting, actually. Knowing that Hilary is all mine, and we get to spend the rest of our lives together, is so awesome! We get to be all loyal, and loving, and we get to protect each other, too!"

"That's really sweet, Tyson," Ronald earnestly replied. "You should include that in your wedding speech!"

Tyson just grinned back foolishly at the Irish and swiftly moved his arm down Hilary's back, grabbing a handful of her ass. Hilary actually jumped at the action, not having expected it in the slightest. Soon enough, her entire face turned red, and she quickly grabbed onto the man's arm and began to yank him away from Ronald, making sure to throw an apologetic smile at the confused Beyblader before pulling Tyson away to the other side of the room.

"What's up, Hilary?" Tyson asked almost stupidly.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" Hilary scolded, digging her nails into Tyson's tuxedo jacket and causing him to wince. "You know exactly what's up!"

"What?" Tyson whined. "That I grabbed you? Is that it?"

"You did that on purpose!" Hilary hissed.

"Well, of course I did!" Tyson whirred. "My hand didn't just grab your butt on accident!"

"You made it obvious!" Hilary growled, not liking that Tyson was skipping around the facts. "You made sure that Ronald saw! That wasn't a flirty little squeeze, Tyson. That was a 'this is my property' snatch! And I don't appreciate it!"

"You're just being delusional," Tyson scoffed, although his own cheeks were now turning red and betraying him. "I didn't make a show out of it!"

"Yes, you did," Hilary continued to push the fact. "You always do! Why do you have to be so jealous, huh?"

"I'm not jealous!" Tyson cried, his eyes widening at the suggestion.

"Now you think I'm the dumb one," Hilary huffed. "Anyone could tell that you're jealous! I can tell just by looking in your eyes!"

"How can you do that?" Tyson demanded to know, although part of his tone actually sounded curious.

"Because I know you very well," Hilary murmured. "And when you get all jealous, your eyes kind of light up. But not in that cute way like when you're really happy. They light up almost like fire because you're so pissed off. And that's exactly what I saw in your eyes before you grabbed my ass!"

"That…that doesn't prove anything…" Tyson muttered, his voice losing the edge it had possessed before.

"Tyson, there's no reason to get so worked up, okay?" Hilary sighed, grabbing onto her fiancé's shoulder instead of his arm, and not using her nails this time around. "You know how much I love you! I would never, ever do anything to upset you. Just because I'm talking to other guys doesn't mean I feel the same way about them that I feel about you. I never have, and I never will. You mean everything to me, Tyson."

The young man smiled and wrapped his arms around Hilary, hugging her tightly as she rested her head atop his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Hilary," Tyson whispered, pressing a hand against her back. "I trust you. I really do. I'll try to keep my jealousy under control from now on. I promise."

"That's all I could ask," Hilary murmured, pulling away before gently pressing her lips against Tyson's. "Oh, and Tyson?"

Tyson was still smiling sweetly at his fiancée. "Yeah, Hil?"

Hilary's face turned to a more serious disposition, with her brow slightly furrowed and her lips pressed tightly together. "Don't you ever grab my ass in front of anyone ever again…."