Cindy looked over Arik's shoulder and Lindsay knew she had been spotted. Not wanting to just run away, she walked up to them. "Lindsay. What are you doing here?" Cindy asked, a quizzical look on her face. Arik let go of her arm quickly. He plastered a smile onto his face and Lindsay had to resist the urge to slap him.
"Well, I was thinking about seeing a movie. And this part of the sidewalk happens to be on the way to the theatre. I figured a walk would do me good." She said, smiling. Cindy looked at Arik.
"Honey, can you walk ahead so I can have a little chat with Linz?" She asked, kissing his cheek. He walked about ten feet ahead of the two women. "Please, Lindsay, tell me you are not following me because of some absurd hunch."
"Why did he grab your arm so hard? I could see the pain on your face from where I was standing."
"I am not getting into this here!" Cindy said, her voice beginning to show her anger. "You shouldn't be following me! I am a big girl, Linz. I can take care of myself."
"Like you took care of yourself with those ribs?" Lindsay shot back, keeping her voice even. Cindy looked at her and then ahead of them to where Arik was walking.
"It's none of your business." She snapped and gently jogged up to Arik and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"It is if I love you." Lindsay whispered, still following them. A moment later, she stopped. "Cindy!" The redhead whispered something to Arik and moved back by the woman.
"What?"
"You're right. It's none of my business. So I will drop it. And while I am at it, how about I only talk to you when you are being the pesky reporter? And not let you have the inside scoop, because maybe that isn't your business until it is made public." She said, keeping eye contact with the redhead. "Does that sound fair? Because I think that sounds fair." She turned on her heel and walked off. Before Cindy could go back to Arik, she turned back around. "And when he beats the shit out of you to the point where you think you are going to die, or you are even wishing to die, don't come crying to me." She turned away again and once she had turned the corner, she reached up and wiped her eyes. When she reached her vehicle, she jumped when she saw Agent Ash standing there. "What the hell do you want?"
"Saw your little blowup back there." He said, his voice annoyingly monotone.
"Why can't you just let me be for one damn night?" She said, wrenching the door open and throwing herself into the vehicle. She had to lay off of the gas pedal at least ten times on the way back to her place. Once she was safely locked inside, she grabbed a bottle of beer and sat down on the couch. She knew she was going to regret what she had told Cindy, but she just couldn't help herself. It was bad enough she had admitted to thin air that she was in love with the reporter. She chugged half of her bottle of beer and felt another round of tears coming. She was glad no one was around to see her like this: a broken mess.
As they entered the apartment, Cindy went to go into the kitchen, but Arik stopped her with an arm around her waist. He pulled her to her and kissed her neck. "Arik, stop. You know my rule. I will live with you, and sleep in the same bed with you, but no sex." She said, trying to pull away. He was persistent and she was wishing that she hadn't pissed Lindsay off. She could use a cop about right now. "Arik! Stop!" She said, her voice slightly more panicked. He slammed her hard against the wall.
"Cindy, we can do this the easy way or you can fight me about this." He said, his face inches from hers. She took a deep breath.
"Fuck you." She said, trying to push him off of her.
"That's it! I have had with your attitude!" He yelled, backhanding her. She went to the floor and pulled herself into the corner, wishing it could protect her. He advanced on her and she began to cry. "No, you do not get to cry now. You brought this on yourself, so now you get to be a big girl and take your punishment!" He grabbed her arms and lifted her up, slamming her into the wall. She was sure from the pain that those bruised ribs had broken. He slammed her back again, and this time her head hit. She openly sobbed before she could stop herself. "Now, I will ask you, are we going to do this my way or yours?"
She pushed him off of her and made her way out of the apartment. She was almost to the stairs when he grabbed her arm. "Arik, please." She pleaded, trying to worm out of his grip. She brought her knee up and caught him right between the legs and took the opportunity to run down the stairs as fast as she could, ignoring the searing pain from her ribcage. She reached the street and fought in her pocket for her keys. She got into her car and locked the door seconds before Arik came out of the building. His hand was on the roof of the car as she put it into gear and drove off. She knew she couldn't go to Lindsay, and that she should go to the hospital, but she didn't want to go alone. Before she realized it, she found herself parked in front of Claire's house. She forced herself out of the car and went down on one knee on the sidewalk. She laid down on her back and pulled out her phone, searching through the phonebook to find Claire's number. After two rings, Claire picked up. "Claire, please, come outside." She whispered, tears streaming down her face. She let her arm fall to her side. It hurt to keep it up. She heard the front door open.
"Cindy!" She could distinctly tell Nate had beaten his mother outside. "Mom! Get out here!" He yelled. He came into Cindy's line of vision, closely followed by Claire.
"Cindy, honey, what happened?" Claire asked, moving to help Cindy up.
"No, I don't want to move. It hurts to move. God, it hurts to breathe." She said, her voice quiet.
"Nate, get inside and call an ambulance. Now!"
"Claire, I want Lindsay. But, she is mad at me. So I couldn't go to her."
"Honey, shh. Just take some deep breaths." Claire said, gently feeling her ribs.
"They broke, didn't they?" She said, closing her eyes as an ambulance approached. As the paramedics carefully got her into the ambulance, she looked at Claire. "Call Lindsay." She said, her eyes pleading with the older woman.