~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~

I cautiously walked into the apartment. I didn't see Jason or any signs of him being there. I let out a sigh of relief seconds before something tugged at my hair.

"Where the fuck were you?" Jason asked, standing behind me and tightening his grip.

"I was –"

"You're wearing the same clothes. Who'd you fuck?"

"No one. I –"

"Don't lie to me, bitch. Where the hell were you?" Jason let go of my hair. I turned around to face him.

"I… I stayed over at a friends house." I said nervously. I was scared to death.

"Which friend?"

"M –" I stopped myself. If I said Matt, he'd literally kill me. "Molly." I lied.

"Molly? The chick you work with?" He asked.

I nodded.

Jason stared at me and didn't say anything. He gently touched my face before slapping it. I stumbled backward.

"We went to her wedding last week. She's honeymooning in Vegas isn't she?" He asked. He slapped me again.

"ISN'T SHE?" He yelled, pushing me against the wall.

All I could do was cry.

"I asked you a question!" He held me against the wall by my neck.

I still couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"Answer me now, Amy."

"Yes." I squeaked.

"What?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes."

"Yes? So you lied to me?"

I didn't say anything.

Jason slapped me again. "Answer me!"

"Yes." I said.

"So then whose house did you stay in? Tell me the truth this time."

"Matt's." I said quietly.

"You dirty little slut." Jason whispered. He banged my head against the wall.

"We didn't do anything!" I screamed.

"You expect me to believe that? I have a whore of a girlfriend, and she sleeps over some guys house, and I'm supposed to believe that she didn't do anything?!" He punched me, busting my lip open. I fell to the floor. He kicked me in my ribs.

"Jason, please stop!" I screamed.

He ignored me and continued to kick me. He dragged me by the hair into the kitchen. He was about to cut me with a knife just as a loud knock came at the door.

"Don't you dare say shit." He whispered.

I curled into a ball on the kitchen floor and sobbed. Jason casually walked over to the door, dropping the knife into the big green leaves of a plant. He swung the door open.

"Hey, man. Is Amy here?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

"No. She hasn't come home yet." Jason lied. "Why? What do you want with her?"

"She has to come down to the arena… she has another match to plan before tomorrow." The person obviously knew how to lie, too.

I listened closely to the voice… it was definitely a male… and he had a southern accent…

"When she shows up, I'll let her know."

"You're sure she's not here?" The guy asked.

"Positive."

"Well… could you tell her that Jeff came by?"

Jeff! God, how I wanted him to push past Jason and come to my rescue.

"Will do." Jason closed the door.

He walked into the kitchen and stood over me. "Please… don't hit me again." I begged through tears.
Jason stared at my bloody face. He watched me tremble with fear. He didn't say nor do anything. He went to the door. "Your ass better be here when I get home." And he left.

~*!*~

Jeff pounded furiously on Matt's door. It swung open. Matt didn't bother to say hi.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Did he touch her? Did you see her?" Matt asked without taking a breath. Jeff walked past his brother.

"He said she wasn't home but I think she was there… no, I don't think she's okay… yes, I think he touched her… no, I didn't get to see her." Jeff said trying to remember if he answered Matt's questions in the right order.

Matt rubbed his face. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Matt." Jeff said.

"I have to go over there." Matt said, reaching for his keys.

Jeff stopped him. "No… Matt, don't." Jeff said, placing his hands on Matt's shoulders.

"Why?"

"I think he knows she slept over here." Jeff said. "You can't go… he'll hit her when you leave… and I can't go because I was just there…"

Matt thought about that. "Then who can we send?"

~*!*~

"So… you want me to go over there and just see if she's okay?"

"Yes." Matt said.

"That's it?"

"Shane, please do it… I gotta know if she's okay." Matt begged.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'm worried about her, too. God, I didn't know that Jason hits her."

"I didn't either… until Matt told me earlier." Jeff said.

"No wonder you're always thinking about her." Shane said.

"No… it's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

"It's… stop asking me questions, you're wasting time, Shane!" Matt yelled, changing the subject.

~*!*~

I was just getting off the floor when I heard someone knock. I wiped my lip and there was blood all over the back of my hand. The floor had blood on it, too. If someone were to walk in here, they'd think I'd slaughtered someone.

"Who's there?" I called, trying to sound like I hadn't been crying.

"It's me, sweetie. Shane."

Great.

"Uh… can you come over later? I'm about to take a nap." I lied.

"No you're not. Come over here and open the door."

"Shane… not now, please."

"Fine." Shane said. "I'll see you later."

I sighed. That was easy.

I went to the sink and rinsed the blood off my mouth. My whole face hurt. I still had a black eye, my cheeks and jaw were sore from being slapped so many times, and now I had a fat lip. The house was quiet until I heard my window gates rattling. I ran over to the window. I could see Shane trying to get into my apartment.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled.

Shane paused for a second, trying to catch his breath. "I had to see… if you were… alright… I'm worried… Jeff's worried… Matt's… worried." Shane panted.

"I'm fine, okay? Now please, stop breaking into my house."

Shane laughed. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Come with me."

"No."

"Amy, you have to! Matt will kill me if I go back there without you!" Shane said, putting his fingers through the gate holes. He couldn't really see my face.

"Then I'll make sure they bury you on your stomach. I know how you hate sleeping on your back."

"That's not funny." Shane said.

"Shane… thank you for worrying, but I'm fine. I promise you. Now please leave before Jason comes and sees –"

"Sees what?" Jason asked, coming into the apartment.

"Er… hi… Jason." Shane said nervously.

"Shane, man!" Jason said excitedly. "Why the hell are you out there?"

"Amy wouldn't open the door for me."

Jason turned to face me. "Why wouldn't you- oh my God, baby! What happened to your lip?"

You've got to be kidding me. What a bastard…

"I…" I began.

"Come on let's get you cleaned up. God, Amy, I can't leave you here alone! You always manage to hurt yourself one way or another. Just like a two-year-old." Jason sighed. He let out an amused snicker. "Come in, Shane." Jason said, opening the gate and the window.

"You did this to yourself?" Shane asked once he came into the room.

"What the hell? Did you think I did it?" Jason asked, laughing.

"Well…" Shane said, scratching his green hair.

Lord, if you're gonna send somebody to save me, why pick Shane?! Why?! Man, he's so dense!

"Now, that hurts." Jason said, touching his chest as if his heart was hurting. "You think I'd lay a hand on my baby? Never. Not even in my dreams. Right, Amy?" Jason stroked my hair and gave it a quick, firm tug. Shane didn't notice.

"Um… yeah. Not even in your dreams." I repeated softly.

"That's right." Jason put his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"Okay." Shane said. "Good. I didn't think you hurt her, anyway. I'll see you some other time, Jason. I'll see you tomorrow, Li."

NO! Damn it, Shane…

"Yeah, I'll see ya 'round." Jason said, opening the door for Shane. I waited until Jason locked the door and I sprang for the bathroom.

~*!*~

"What do you mean she was fine?!" Matt yelled.

"Matt, calm down." Jeff said, standing in front of Shane.

"Jeff, get him out of here before I beat his ass!" Matt paced back and forth.

"Well… I climbed into her fire escape and she wouldn't let me in… then Jason came in and he seemed cool." Shane said.

"So… he wasn't in the house?" Matt asked.

Shane shook his head.

"What did he say when he came in?" Jeff asked.

"That he would never hurt her. Not even in his dreams."

"BULL FUCKING SHIT!" Matt yelled.

"That's a new one." Jeff mumbled.

"Jeff, I'm not fucking kidding! Amy's over there getting her ass beat and we're sitting here trying to get information out of this crackbaby!"

"Hey!" Shane yelled.

"Shut up." Matt said.

Shane stood quiet.

~*!*~

"YOU CAN'T STAY IN THERE FOREVER!" Jason yelled, pounding on the bathroom door.

He had tried to break it down, but I guess he hurt his shoulder.

"I'm not coming out until you calm down!"

"Why are you crying?"

"'Cause I'm scared of you!"

Jason didn't know how to respond to that.

"I love you, Amy." He said after a few minutes.

"You what?" I asked, not sure if I heard him correctly.

"I love you."

"No, Jason. You used to love me."

"I still do, baby. I just don't know how to show it."

"Here's some advice: you don't show it by throwing your fist at my eye!" I yelled sarcastically.

Jason was quiet.

"Amy… I need help." He said suddenly. It sounded like he was about to cry.

"I know you do." I mumbled.

"No… I really do. I need help and I need you to help me." He said.

"And how do you expect me to do that if all you do is hit me?"

"I'll try to control myself."

"Trying isn't good enough."

"I'll control myself." Jason corrected himself.

I sighed. I knew it would be hard, but I also knew it had to happen. I slowly opened the door. Jason looked up and smiled.

"You know what?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"You're really stupid." He whispered.

I gave him a questioning look. He responded to it with a blow that knocked me out. ~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~*!*~