Gabriella moved past her brother and up the stairs as everyone continued to stare at her. She was angry with them. She knew the lesson she was being taught when they all were ignoring her but the line was crossed this time. She was hurting emotionally and physically. She prayed that her brother didn't know that Johnny was going to do this. This was lesson that was too hard for her to learn right now. She was betrayed. She thought Johnny would protect her for the rest of her life. That was the hope that she had in the fact they could never be friends. They could never hang out but he was always going to be there for her to protect her if something went wrong. She was wrong. Oh boy she was wrong and it hurt. She felt like she was going to break. Her heart was going to stop beating. She pushed her door open as she walked into her room and laying down on the bed bring the covers over her body. She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears flooded her eyes and the sobs escaped her mouth. Her pillow was instantly soaked as the tears stained her face. Her eyes shot open as she felt someone's hand grabbing hers. "No!" She sobbed. "Just leave alone."
"Gabriella, I am so sorry." Dom whispered. She jerked her hand away from him.
"Is this the lesson you wanted me to learn?" She cried. "Is it?"
"No." He gasped. He tried to run his hand down her head but she moved away from him.
"You were right Dom, I wanted to save him and I thought that I could. I can't get over the fact that I will never be able to be with him again. I don't deserve this."
"Gab…"
"No!" She yelled. "Get out of here! I don't want to speak to you. I don't want to see you. I am so mad right now and my heart—"She bowed her head sobbing into her hand. "My heart hurts so bad right now." He wiped the tears from her face. "No!" She shoved him away.
"I didn't want this to happen. I didn't know he had it in him. I thought that was why he went to Leon instead. Gabriella, I am so sorry." He grabbed her face with his hands causing her to look up at him. Her chest jumped as pulled away from him. He refused to let her go as he climbed into the bed wrapping his arms around her body.
"No, I don't want you here!" She yelled shoving him away. He tightened his grip on her. "Just leave me alone!"
"I know you hate me right now. I thought I was doing the right thing."
"I hope this was the right thing for you." She spat. She didn't bother fighting him anymore. She just laid there in his arms not moving. The sobs soon turned into silent tears as they laid there together. She was thankful for him no matter how mad she was, she was thankful he was there with her right now. Moments had passed and she finally had calmed down she looked up at him. "How bad is it?"
"It's pretty bad. Did they do anything else to you?" He asked moving a piece of her hair out of her face.
"No."
"I need to clean you up. Will you let me do that?"
She slowly nodded her head as he moved from the bed. She laid down again cradling her pillow in her arm. "I'll be right back." He was gone in an instant. She felt alone. Her body shivered as she pulled the covers up to her head. She heard him come back with Mia by his side.
"Leave." She didn't bother looking at her. "I don't want you here."
Mia nodded her head as she laid the first aid kit on the bed. "Gab, this is all my fault no one else's. if you are going to be mad at someone be mad at me."
"I am mad at you Dom, I don't want you in here either."
He nodded his head. "Can I at least clean you up before you kick me out of here?"
She nodded her head as she leaned her body up propping herself against the headboard. He sat next to her as he began to dab the alcohol swab. She winced at the pain. She closed her eyes because she knew he was staring at her. She did blame him. The pain she felt right then was heartbreaking. She felt betrayed by everyone she had ever known.
"I know it doesn't mean anything right now but I am so sorry." He replied to her.
"You're right…" She opened her eyes. "It doesn't."
She didn't sleep at all that night. This made two nights that she didn't go to sleep. Her face was killing her. Before Dom left her alone he had given her some medicine to help with the pain and an ice pack to help with the swelling. She had stayed curled up in a ball when Vince came into her room. He was the least person she was mad at but she was still mad. She refused to look at him as he spoke to her. They were going to get Johnny back for what he did. "You asleep?" He asked. She shook her head. "I can't sleep. I don't think anyone in this house is asleep."
"Good for them." She mumbled.
"Johnny is going to pay for this…"
"Johnny is a coward!" She raised her voice. She didn't bother looking up at him. "He didn't do it. He let other people do his work for him."
"Do you know who it was?"
She shook her head. "He just stood there and watched as they slapped me. One help me against the building as the other just kept hitting me. I started to go numb that's when they let me go. Johnny helped me up. He had no remorse Vince. None. His eyes were cold and dark. I don't know who that person was."
"I am so sorry."
"Everyone keeps saying that like it's going to help. It doesn't. It doesn't make things go away, it doesn't ease the pain. The heartache is still there."
"We thought maybe that if you knew that everyone was mad at you that you would choose your family over him. We thought not talking to you and taking things away from you would make you see…"
"Oh I see alright."
"Leon was supposed to be the warning. I never thought for a second he would hurt you at all."
"Me either." She whispered. "I don't want to talk anymore."
"Do you want someone to stay with you tonight?"
She didn't respond. She lifted her head to him before scooting over. "Don't think this is forgiving you." She replied. He nodded his head as he climbed into the bed with her bringing her over to his chest. She laid there with him as he began to run his hands through her hair.
"Go to sleep Gab. I am not going anywhere." She knew that he probably wouldn't sleep at all that night. She closed her eyes as he tightened his grip on her. Hopefully the dreams or nightmares wouldn't come. She knew they would but with him there she was hoping they wouldn't come at all.
She shot up in the air gasping for air. Vince was immediately by her side grabbing her shoulders bringing her back down. "I got you, I got you." He was breathing heavily as well. Maybe he did fall asleep. "It was just a dream Gab."
"I'm fine." She put her hand to her head. Her entire face was pouring sweat.
"Do you need anything? Water?"
"I don't want to be in this bed anymore. Can we go…?" She leaned up. Oh no. It had been forever since she had a panic attack. "I need air."
"Okay." He picked her up in his arms and hurried down the stairs. He threw open the door and sat he down on the porch. The breeze hit her in the face as she began to calm down.
"Sit down Vince!" She demanded. She could feel him pacing behind her as she looked up at him. He stopped and just stared. "What? Have you never seen a girls face after someone beat the shit out of her?"
"Gab…"
"Don't you do it." She snarled. "Don't you feel bad for me."
He went to speak when the door opened. "Is everything okay?" Dom walked onto the porch with them.
"She had a bad dream. I stayed with her last night to make sure she was okay."
"You guys care now." She mumbled. "Is that what it takes? I make a mistake to go and try to save my friendship with someone, I get punished by getting my face beaten repeatedly, and now everyone wants to take back what happened. I haven't talked to my boyfriend in days because you decided you wanted everyone to be mad at me. I get that, it was reverse psychology. But I did not deserve to have this happen to me. If you knew that he was going to come after me then why didn't you come with me?"
"We didn't know. We thought Leon was the repercussion. I never thought that he would actually hurt you." Dom explained. "It is my fault. I made everyone…"
"They are not dogs Dom!" She yelled. "They have a choice of their own and they chose it. I literally felt horrible about everything. You knew that I would choose you no matter what. You are right, I would have. I have known Johnny since I was fifteen years old. He was my best friend. I couldn't just throw that away." The tears stung her eyes. "I just wanted it to go away. I wanted my friend back. I don't know what to do now. I am so lost." She covered her face with her hands. "My face hurts so bad."
Vince couldn't help but laugh as he brought her into his arms. "Well maybe if you stopped crying it wouldn't hurt too bad."
"You make me cry!" She shoved him away.
"Vince, can I get some time with her?" Dom asked sitting down. Vince nodded his head letting her go. "You two have this unbreakable bond don't you?"
She nodded her head. "He's my best friend Dom. He is truly the bestest friend I have ever had. I don't need you to be jealous right now, because right now I will not care."
"I am glad he has you." He replied. "There was a time me and you were that close."
"We still are." She looked up at him. "When you were in jail Vince was the only person who didn't care how mad I was or if I was going to hate him for the rest of my life, he was still going to be there for me. We fought and we bickered but he always had my back. Don't do this right now."
He nodded his head. "You are my brother and that will never change."
"I don't know how I can make this better Gab. I really don't. I can't have you hating me, not even for a day. I can't stand it."
"I don't hate you Dom."
"You do. I can sense it."
"I feel betrayed." She bowed her head. "I feel like this whole time that I have been lied to about the life that we lived. Our father, Jake, and now Johnny."
"I never knew Jake would be that mad about what happened with his father. Our father is dead, I felt like that was payment enough. He didn't think so. Johnny, I don't know what's going on in his head. He leads the pack now. Maybe the heat was coming down on him and he had to act. You were the only person that could break him Gab. They all knew that. They know the love he has for you. I love you so much and I can't stand to see the pain that you are in right now. I know its cause mostly by me and what I did. Jesse loves you. I am so sorry that I did that to you."
"Should I be prepared for him to break up with me?"
"He's hurt. I don't think he is stupid enough to break your heart right now." He smirked. Gabriella let out a laugh as he bumped her shoulder with his.
"You tired?" She asked.
"No, are you?"
"Nope." She shook her head. "Can we go see dad?"
Two weeks later…
Gabriella moved from the spot in the diner and looked up just as Brian's truck pulled up. She smiled to herself knowing exactly why he was there. "Hey Brian!" She greeted him. He waved his hand at her before sitting down at the counter. "How can I help you?"
"You working today?"
Gabriella began to laugh as she nodded her head. "It looks that way doesn't it? Are you going to eat or do you just come here to see my sister?"
"What if I came here to see you?"
She laughed. "I highly doubt that."
"I do miss working with you." He gave a soft smile.
"I think it was best that I quit working there. We are having family issues right now."
He nodded his head. "Well you know that there is always a job opened for you. I kind of like having a girl around there. Helped balanced things out."
"I kind of liked working with you too Brian. Now what can I get you?"
"Tuna on white, no crust." He smiled. She just stared at him. "I'm serious."
"Right."
She heard a noise behind her as Dom got up from the table in the office and came outside. She gave a soft smile to him before turning back to making a sandwich. "Gab, I will be right back. Vince called and something happened at the garage. You going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." She finished making the sandwich before bringing it over to Brian. "This is the weirdest thing I have ever had to do but here you go."
Brian began to laugh as he took a bit of the sandwich. "That was my brother, the king of my life." She rolled her eyes. "Maybe you can meet him one day."
"Maybe."Brian smiled.
AN: Hope you guys are still enjoying this story! I wrote another one about Brian's death called The Hardest of Goodbyes, you should check it out! REVIEW!