The door slammed behind me as I entered my house. I cringed slightly by the loud noise it made but continued my way up to my room. I was hoping that no one would bother to ask what was wrong, I wasn't really in the mood to explain anything. My mind was running wild and it took everything I had in me not to scream or punch something. Reaching my room, I closed my door and made my way to my desk. I grabbed my iPod from there and threw myself on my bed. Turning it on, I let the sounds of Coldplay fill my ears full blast. The music drowned out everything; the outside world, the voices in my head saying I was stupid and thoughts of her.

It worked for a while but soon the music became like background music for me. Even if it was at full volume, it was nothing more that a whisper to me. My mind was just too busy thinking about what just happened that it tuned out the sounds. "You idiot..." I mumbled to myself. I thought back to the last words I told Dani and I mentally kicked myself. Why the hell would I say something like that?

My phone suddenly started to vibrate and I shot up from the bed leaving my iPod on there to grab it. What if it was her?, I thought. When I reached for the phone, I sighed, seeing that it was only Ryleigh. "Hi Rye." my voice was low and soft, you could make out the disappointment in it.

"Is she with you?" I shook my head but then realized that she couldn't see me. "No, she's at her house." Thinking about it made me angry. Why the hell did she have to be so fucking stubborn! She could have said yes and she would have been here with me, or at least with Ryleigh, either way she would have been safe. But no, she wanted to stay in that house!

I heard Ryleigh sigh and I knew exactly how she felt. She was worried about Dani too. "Nick, what are we going to do? I can't stand knowing that she's in her house and could possibly be hurt right now." I cringed at her words as images of Dani being hurt flashed through my mind. My hands balled into fists and the sudden urge to punch something surged through me. I turned around and punched the wall closest to me making a small dent in it. I let out a frustrated groan. My hand was red and began to throb but I didn't care.

"What the hell was that?" I looked towards my door to see my older brothers, Kevin and Joe, standing there. "Ryleigh, look I'll call you later ok." I said before I hung up, not letting her say a word in return. Walking back to my bed, I let out another groan and Joe and Kevin walked inside my room, closing the door behind them. They took a seat on my bed and stared at me, both their expressions showed how concerned they were about me. We were stuck in an awkward silence until Joe decided to break it. "What's going on, fo'bro?"

"Joe, don't call me that! She calls me that and I don't wanna think about her!" I didn't mean it to sound harsh but that's the way it came out. Joe and Kevin continued to stare at me. "So this is about that girl?" Kevin asked.

I nodded slowly, "Yeah..."

Kevin's eyes softened and he had a small smile on his face. Joe on the other hand, looked even more confused. "What happened now?" Joe asked. Joe knew who she was since he hung out at lunch with us. He's tried to talk to her, but she always ignored him. Even during these past days, she's either kept to herself just as she does every other day or she doesn't even show up at all. They didn't know exactly what was going on with her since I promised her I wouldn't say anything. They thought she was just a troubled girl like everyone else thought her to be.

"Nothing." I mumbled. Joe and Kevin both sighed and I knew that my answer bothered them. They glanced at each other for a moment before they both got up from their spots on the bed and moved closer to me. Joe put his hand on my shoulder and sighed once more. "Nick, we know about Dani." Wait what?! How the hell do they know? I didn't tell them so how? Oh god please don't tell me I talk in my sleep!

"What a-are you t-ta-talking about?" I stuttered. "We know that she gets abused." Kevin replied softly. My eyes cast down to the sheets of my bed, Joe's hand was still on my shoulder and he squeezed it a bit. Without looking at them I said, "How did you know?"

"Joe's told me about how she's always hurt and--"

"Nick, do you really think you're the only perceptive one in the family? Come on, I mean how many times can she get into a fight or fall down and get hurt? She doesn't seem like the clumsy type so her tales of falling down and spraining something was nothing more than a lie to me. I never believed her excuses but I always kept them to myself. Nick I know you know what is really going on and we just want you to tell us. We want to help her." Joe finished, looking me straight in the eye. I should have probably hugged him or thanked him and Kevin for wanting to help but for some reason, it just made me angry. She didn't want any help and that is exactly why I'm here now!

"You can't help her!" I yelled pulling away from both Joe and Kevin. Shock was clearly expressed on their faces but they didn't try to move closer to me again. "Don't you get it? She doesn't want help..." I told them, my voice softer now.

"Nick, if she doesn't want help then why do you care so much?" Joe asked.

It hit me then and there that I had no idea how to answer that. Why did I care so much? If she doesn't want my help then why should I give it to her? She's always pushing me away so maybe I should just give up and let it go. She thinks she can handle this fine all by herself so I'll just let her do that. Let her keep living her own life and I'll go back to mine, pretending that she never existed. That's what she wants right?

But it's not what I want.

"Ugh!" I was frustrated at myself for not being able to answer such a simple question. Why do I care? It's not that hard to come up with an answer but it seems impossible for me.

"Nick cares because he has feelings for her." I don't know what shocked me more; the fact that Kevin said that or that it may just be true.

My head hung low and I closed my eyes. Did I have feelings for her? I've never really given it much thought, I didn't even know how to tell if I had feelings for her. "Nick, do you have feelings for Dani?" Joe asked me. I looked at my brothers not sure what to tell them. Never having a steady girlfriend resulted in my lack of experience in the girl department. "Listen to your heart", my mother always told us and I always thought it was just when we had to make tough decisions. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes once more. What is my heart telling me?

I saw Dani's face and a smile instantly formed on my face. Her smile and her laugh, though they were rare, made my heart beat faster. Remembering last night when she cried made me want to hold her close and make all the pain stop. I wanted to be her hero, her knight in shining armor. I wanted to protect her to hold her small figure and not let anything or anyone touch her. Like a huge wave crashing ashore, it hit me. I did have feelings for her. No, it was more than just a simple 'I like her', it went so much deeper than that. I was falling in love with her and she didn't even want me.

"Yes..." it seemed like that took forever to say.

"Hah I knew it!" Kevin exclaimed pumping his fists in the air. It surprised me when he did that but I couldn't hold in the laughter that erupted. Joe was looking at Kevin with a face that clearly meant to say 'you are such an idiot'. The mood of the room seemed to lighten very much. Kevin continued to sing his "I knew it" song adding a little dance to it. Joe shook his head and turned to look at me. "So, what are you gonna do then?"

I groaned, "I don't know." Kevin had stopped his little act and sat back down next to me. "She told me straight out that she didn't want my help or my pity but I can't stand not being with her. She told me that her dad wouldn't care, that he would hurt me too if he had to but I need to be there, I need to protect her," I paused. "Guys, I'm really falling for her and I don't want anything to happen to her."

Kevin and Joe seemed slightly dazed by what I just told them. "You're really falling for her Nick?" I nodded and Kevin continued. "I thought it was just a crush. Don't worry Nick, we'll help you help her no matter what." I smiled at my brothers and pulled them into a hug. I always knew I could count on them for anything. "Thanks guys, now if only Dani could see that she really does need help."

My phone suddenly began to buzz and I looked at the caller ID. Dani My heart began to beat faster than ever before and my mind was reeling with images and thoughts of what could be wrong with her. I tried to calm myself down enough to answer the phone but my voice was shaky and panicky. "Dani? What's wrong?"

"Nick.." her voice was just as shaky and you could clearly tell she was crying. This made me panic even more and I wanted so bad to be there to comfort her. "What's wrong?" I asked again. When she didn't answer I shot up from my bed and raced out my bedroom door, down the stairs and out the front door. My brothers were on my tail. It was another long minute before she answered and when she did I prayed to God that she didn't mean what I thought she did.

"Nick...h-he to-took it too far...."

sorry it took me forever to update this. i havent been around the computer much.