Healing was not as easy as Brandy had hoped. While her physical wounds diminished, the emotional wounds left behind were much deeper, and did not seem to want to heal. Part of her knew, if she could just see Mark, it could potentially help, but her fear of his reaction to seeing her overpowered her urge to be reunited. She knew she had a long way to go, before getting back to the girl he had grown to love, and simply was not ready to take the step of facing him again. Whether she liked it or not, however, that day would come much sooner than she ever expected...

It had, up until this point, been a productive day for Brandy. With Teresa's help, she had managed to obtain an at home job, and had spent the better part of the day working on website design and blogging for Teresa's company. For once in a long time, she was feeling somewhat normal. As it approached the evening hours, she had decided to make dinner for her and Teresa, and was in the process of chopping up vegetables when the doorbell rang. Quickly, she washed her hands, and made her way to the living room, humming the tune on the radio as she did so. However, as soon as she opened the front door, her heart dropped down into her stomach and her hands grew numb.

"M...Mark...hi," she finally managed to get out, and simply looked up at him with big eyes. She could see he had been letting his natural hair color show, as his hair fell down his back in a fiery red mane. When he took his sunglasses off, his eyes burned like green flames into hers. Despite the look of disgust he had on his face...he was absolutely gorgeous, and still managed to leave her feeling weak in the knees.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked, looking behind her into the house to see if anyone else was home.

"I...I've been living here," she quietly explained, feeling as though she was about to vomit or pass out.

Mark shook his head. "What bullshit did you tell them, to get them to let your sorry ass live with them?" Brandy simply looked down, not knowing how to respond. "How long have you been back?"

She shrugged. "About a month," she replied, her face hot as it flushed with both shame and fear.

"A month? You've been squatting at their place for a whole fucking month, and never bothered to come around? I guess what we had really did mean shit to you, huh?" he commented.

Brandy's eyes stung with emotion. "It's not like that," she stated, desperately wanting to gather the words she needed to explain things to him. "I...I've wanted to see you, but...I..."

"Please, spare me the bullshit excuses. I honestly don't want to hear it. I'm just sad to see you got to these two. So much for having reliable friends," he replied.

Her tears beginning to silently fall, Brandy without thinking walked toward him. "Mark, please," she began, and went to hug him around the waist when he shoved her back, making her fall to the ground.

"Don't fucking touch me, you slut," he spat at her. "Tell those two fucks they can go to hell along with you. Fuck all of you," he added, and turning around made his way back down to his truck.

Just as he roared out of the driveway and down the road, Teresa, pulled into the driveway after him. As soon as she saw Brandy sitting in the doorway, she quickly got out of her car and ran over to her. "Brandy, are you okay?" Teresa asked, gently grabbing her shoulders, and unable to talk Brandy shook her head. "What happened?"

"M-Mark...Mark..." Brandy tried to explain, but was unable to get out the words she needed.

"Shit, that was him, wasn't it?" Teresa asked, and Brandy simply nodded. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," Teresa commented, running a hand through Brandy's hair.

Brandy sniffed, and looked up at her with confused eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I...okay, look, don't get mad at me, but you had been doing so well the last week or so, so I kind of...sort of...invited him over..." When a multitude of emotions crossed Brandy's face, Teresa quickly added, "I was going to help explain everything. I just...you two are meant for each other, and this has been killing me as much as I'm sure it's killing the two of you. I just wanted to help, I'm sorry. I didn't expect him to come over this early."

Brandy gave a weary sigh, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I appreciate the effort, Teresa, but I think I am just going to have to give up on us ever happening again. He's made it pretty obvious he doesn't want anything to do with me."

"If we can just get him to listen-"

"No, really, Teresa, I don't want to burden you with all of this anymore. I'm just...I need to move on. It's that simple." Teresa gave her arm a light squeeze, unsure of what to say to this. "I'm sorry, I was going to make us dinner, but I just can't anymore. I'm going to clean up my mess, and head upstairs," Brandy added as she finally stood up.

Straightening up as well, Teresa watched as Brandy walked back into the house, and with a spark suddenly ignited within her, she made her way back to her car, determined to get Mark to listen once and for all.

) ) ) )

Mark had just opened a beer, and took a long swig of it, when there was a loud knock on his front door. Muttering a curse under his breath, he walked over to the door and opened it, groaning inwardly when he found Teresa standing there. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, not in the mood to deal with anyone at that moment.

"Get your ass in the house, we need to talk."

"I'm busy-"

"I don't give a fuck if you are, you are going to let me in, and you are going to hear what I have to say," Teresa demanded, her hands on her hips as she glared up at him.

Rolling his eyes, Mark let out a heavy sigh as he stepped aside to let her in. "So what do you want, Teresa?" he asked once the door was closed.

"You are going to shut your big fucking mouth for once, and listen to what I have to say." Mark raised an eyebrow at her, but remained silent. "How can you just throw away what you and Brandy had?"

"She's the one who-"

"I said shut the fuck up, and let me talk!" Teresa yelled. Holding his hands up, Mark stopped what he was saying, allowing her to continue. "If you would quit being so goddamn stubborn, and give her the chance to explain what happened, you'd know we were all completely wrong about what actually happened with her."

Mark frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Mark, she never left you...not willingly, anyway. She...her ex got a hold of her."

"I don't...I don't understand."

"Her ex kidnapped her, and has had her hostage at his place this whole time."

Mark scoffed. "What, did she tell you that? You actually believe her shit?"

"Mark, I have proof."

"Yeah, okay, like what? A scratch on her arm?"

Teresa had to fight hard against the urge to slap him across the face. "Where is your computer?" she asked, trying hard to remain calm.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to show you something, that's why, now take me to your damn computer," Teresa replied, and letting out an irritated sigh Mark led her through the house to his study.

"You women are so damn stubborn," he grumbled as he turned on the computer, and once it had fully loaded he moved to let her sit down.

"No, you men are the stubborn ones," Teresa replied as she pulled up a website, and once it had loaded she got back up. "Now sit down, and start watching that video. I really didn't want to have to resort to this, but you are so damn thick-skulled that it's the only way I can get your to believe me."

Rolling his eyes, Mark sat back down, and hitting the play button he watched as the video started. He frowned when the site of a girl tied up greeted him, and his confusion was replaced with shock when the camera zoomed in, and he could see it was Brandy. "Is...is that...no...no, it can't be," he commented, nausea settling over him as a man stepped into the view of the camera, and began to torture her. Hearing her cries, and seeing how helpless she looked made a rush of emotions course through him. His eyes burning, he swallowed hard to fight back tears as he watched the events unfold.

Kneeling next to him, Teresa touched his arm as she stated quietly, "He forced her to call you that night. Brandy said he threatened to have someone kill you if she didn't, and with how batshit crazy he obviously was, I don't doubt he would have gone that far." When he paused the video, unable to watch anymore, she added, "This was her reality, Mark. For six months, this is what she went through, day after day. Do you see now why I wanted you to listen? I obviously don't blame you for being so upset, because you didn't know, but...now you do."

"Please leave," he said quietly, his gaze fixed on the site of Brandy's head being bent back at an unnaturally sharp angle.

"Mark, come back and talk to her. She needs you now more than ever."

"Obviously not, if she has been back for a month now."

"She just didn't want you to see her in the state she has been in. She's very fragile right now, Mark. Try to understand. She asks Glenn about you all the time." Mark could not help but to give a small smile at this. "Look, I'm not asking you to do anything today, because I don't think it would be a good idea. She was pretty shaken up when I left, but I do think you two need to talk, and soon. You both are still clearly not over each other, and all you are doing is torturing yourselves."

Mark gave a weary sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right...I just have a lot to think about."

Standing up, Teresa patted his shoulder. "Let me know when you're ready," she said, and walked out of the room when he nodded.

Once more looking at the image of Brandy on his screen, Mark found his head spinning from all the information which had just been thrown at him. He clearly had a lot to take in, and he needed to decide quickly what he should do to get back the woman he loved...