Chapter Five

The peace of sleep.

Sahara slipped to the ground, body quivering and heart aching.

Gordie and Vern rushed over bending down to see if she was alright. "Sack, it'll be ok, Chris will be ok!" Vern murmured in her ear, grabbing onto her hand, which only moments before Chris had let go of. Foots steps came cantering down the stairs, "Hey guys what did I miss?" Teddy smiled, ringing his hands together. "Where's Chris?"

"EyeBall took him" replied Gordie.

"Why the heck would Eyeball take him?"

"He thought that Chris had hit his date, so he took him home"

Teddy spotted Sahara laying on the ground cradling her face "What's up Sack?" he asked squatting down on his knees so he was level with her. When she didn't reply he looked perplexed up at Vern and Gordie who both shook their heads.

"C'mon we'll carry her up to bed" Vern slithered his hands underneath her knees and lower back, Gordie took held her head and Teddy held her feet.

Gordie's face was a mask of worry; he'd never seen Sahara take Chris's beatings so badly. He knew they were sad and you should never get used to such things but they'd all grown acquainted with it, they'd known Chris their whole lives this wasn't just some on and off thing, this was all the time. Sahara was usually the strong one, always making sure others where ok and staying calm under pressure. Gordie who'd always loved Sahara like a sister was trying desperately to lift the burden of her pain while still trying to not think about the events that would be taking place over at the Chamber's residence.

Once they reached Sahara's bedroom they laid her on the bed, and pulled the cover's tightly around her. After they made sure she was ok they turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sahara cried, "don't leave, it's sposed to be a sleep over."

"Oh Sack, Oh Sacky" Gordie winced, walking over to her now small frail looking body that was enveloped in white linen.

"C'mon we always sleep like this, Gordie and Teddy sleep that end me Vern and Chris" her voice wobbled "sleep this end, we've done it since we were three, why stop now that I need you most?"

"We're not going any where, Sack, we'd never leave you" Vern came, slipping under the sheets beside her, his hard, warm body pressing comfortingly against Sahara, Teddy followed, sliding in the opposite end to Teddy and Sahara.

Gordie was the last to hop in; walked over to the light switch and turned it off lingering for a second trying not to explode with rage. Eyeball was the scum of the earth, in one night he had managed to hurt the two people in Gordie's life that meant more to him then anything else. After a few agonizing moments, he found himself too craving the simple, peaceful embrace of sleep, and as he laid his head down on the pillow beside Sahara he prayed with all his might that at that moment Chris too was finding peace.

Chris sat in his bedroom.

Thinking only of Sahara and her pained expression as he walked or more specifically was dragged out the door. She'd been so upset, so upset that it cut him. Sahara had never acted this way before, she was always lively and bright for him trying to make up for his dark moods. But this time it was as if 12 years of her pain and frustration had just spilled out. Things were always worse if his beatings hurt more then one person, especially if it was his Sahara who was the one getting hurt.

Chris's eyes darkened with sleep, he felt his muscles grow lethargic and his mind slowly wind down. Laying his body down on the single sized unmade bed, he took comfort in the fact that Sahara , Gordie, Vern and Teddy were ok, and that they would always be ok.