"What's up?" I asked, walking into the living room, leaning against the door frame as casually as I could muster. This was the first time I'd been in the same room as my father since the night I first kissed Ains, since the night Dad hit Dan, and I blinked against the memory of Dad striking my brother, using my training to help me keep my expression neutral.
"What are you - " Dad broke off, his eyes narrowing. I realised that the corner of the bandage on my neck was visible on the side of my neck and my hand flew up to cover it, but it was too late. Dad had already seen it. I felt nerves settle in, like bats nesting in my stomach, but I calmed when I saw Dan in the kitchen, his posture tense, as if he was readying himself for a fight.
"What is that?" Dad asked, making his way towards me.
Make up a lie. I could do it, and it would be easy; to tell him something that was competely untrue, but I was such a talented liar that I knew he'd believe it. But I couldn't do it - Dad had been avoiding me for no reason and I was angry with him and with Dan, a little bit, and my snarky sarcastic defense system kicked in, made worse by nerves and confusion and the sudden shock from being brought down so quickly from the high that being with Ains had provided.
"Well, you'd know if you were a real father and actually cared," I told him.
I didn't even see it happen. But I felt it.
Suddenly my cheek was stinging, and the force of the blow was such a shock that I fell, hitting my head on the edge of the coffee table. My vision was blurred and my head was pounding, but I managed to turn my head, peering through the blurred shapes to recognise Dan charge in and punch Dad in the face. I blinked, and suddenly Dan was there, his hands gripping the tops of my arms and hauling me to my feet. Before I even had te chance to register what was happening, Dan had hauled me out onto the street and was practically draghing me down the sidewalk.
"Dan, stop," I said, wrigglung my arm to free it from his arm, a tight vise around my arm, just below my shoulder. "You're hurting me."
"Sorry," Dan muttered, letting go of my arm, letting his arms fall to his sides. I struggled to catch up with him, practicall jogging to match his longer paces with my own shorter ones. My head pounded with ever step, but ignored it - I had bigger things to worry about than a mnor headache.
"Dan, where are we going?" I asked.
Dan turned to look at me, but he continued walking. "Do you know where your boyfriend's hosue is?"
I nodded. "Why?"
"I'm going to take you to him. Chances are, he's probably going to be the best thing for you right now. Which way?"
"Keep walking. I'll let you know when we need to turn."
When I followed Dan up onto Ains and Vanessa's porch, I noticed that Dan looked tense.
"Dan, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm . . . I'm fine," Dan said, sounding anything but fine. I started a comtradict him, but then the door swung open, revealing Ains, dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and jeans. He had a grin playing on his mouth as he said, "Really couldn't keep away, could - "
He broke off when I raised my gaze to meet his, his eyes going wide as my hair fell back from my face so that he could see the full extent of my injuries. As that grin dropped from his mouth and he started towards me, I wondered what I looked like to him. However I looked, I was sure that I didn't look as strong as he seemed to think I was.
I stared back at him as he took my chin in his hands and assessed my injuries. Finally, his own posture stiff with barely contained fury, he turned to Dan.
"What," he said, "the hell happened?"
"Our father." Dan replied.
"I'll kill him," Ains muttered, moving to brush past Dan, but Dan shoved him back towards the house. Ains glared at Dan, and suddenly I wondered that if a fight broke out between my brother and my boyfriend, which of the two would win.
Ains looked ready to throw a punch, but then Dan stepped back, his eyes wary. "You have no idea how much I want to let you go right now - the bastard deserves it. But Care deserves to be taken care of more than he deserves to have the crap beaten out of him."
Ains looked over at me, his fury fading into a worried expression that I didn't like. I didn't like worrying people.
"What happened to her?" Ains asked, looking from me to Dan.
"He punched her and as she fell, she hit her head. I don't whether she has a conscussion or not."
Suddenly Ains was in front of me again, his fingertips feather-light against my throbbing right temple. Pain flared outwards from the spot he touched, hot and burning against my skull, and I winced, moving my head away.
"Could be," Ains muttered. "But as a general rule, head wounds bleed a lot."
"It hurts," I whimpered, although I wasn't necessarily talking about my head. Ains gave me a small, sympathetic smile, brushing my hair back from my face. "I'll nick some clothes from Ness for you to wear. Then we'll get you cleaned up."
I nodded and I wished that Dan could read minds; then, he'd know how grateful I was that he'd brought me here, so that I could be among friends. I somehow knew that I was going to need them over the coming weeks, even though I had no way of knowing what the future held.