Mark turned off his truck, and said, "Well, here we are." He looked over at Brandy, and frowned when he saw her looking ahead with a shocked expression on her face. He looked in the same direction as her, and his eyes went wide. The two of them got out, and made their way over to the woods. There was a car parked in a spot where it would be hidden unless one was looking closely, and it was completely trashed. The tires were slashed, all the windows were shattered, horrid slurs had been spray painted over the entire body of it, and deep dents distorted the once smooth surface. "Is this your car?" Mark asked, looking over at her. Her face was blank. "Brandy?" Mark said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he could see the large tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest as she began to cry. Mark just stood there awkwardly, not quite sure of what to do. He hesitantly put his arms around her, patting her back reassuringly. "Hey, it's ok. We can fix this," he said, trying to soothe her as he tightened his arms around her.
She looked up and him with tears in her eyes and said, "Mark, what am I going to do? I have nothing. My car was the last thing I had, and now it's gone too."
"It's alright-" Mark started to say when he saw she was beginning to panic, but she pushed him away.
"No! It's not fucking okay, Mark! I know you're just trying to help, but who the hell are you kidding? I have absolutely nothing! I should've died when he attacked me!" she yelled, her face flush and her entire body trembling. Instead of getting mad, Mark did everything in his power to remain calm. He knew if he was ever going to calm her down he couldn't start yelling at her, no matter what she said.
Brandy found herself back in Mark's strong embrace with him gently stroking her hair, saying, "Shhhh, calm down, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry. I promise, I'll try to help you out the best I can. I know it seems hopeless right now, but just try to stay positive. Remember, you're not alone. You have me now." Once she calmed down, Brandy felt guilty. "I can't believe I just did that! He's being so nice to me, and how do I repay him? I yell at him! God, I can be a bitch at times!" Brandy thought bitterly to herself.
She sighed and gently squeezed him, saying, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. It's just that-"
"Don't. I know you didn't mean it. You have no need to apologize to me."
"I shouldn't have done that, though. You've been nothing but nice to me, and yet all I can do in return is bitch at you."
"Brandy, listen to me. I'm not upset, or hurt in any way over it. I know you're most likely pretty stressed right now, and me yelling back at you isn't going to help anything. All it will do is piss us both off." This made a small smile form on Brandy's face. "Now, is there any other place I can take you?" Brandy looked down, remaining silent. "You really don't have anywhere to go, do you?" he asked in a quiet voice. She shook her head, and sniffed. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize your situation was that bad," he murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She looked back up at him. "I know you barely know me…but is there anyway I could stay here with you? I promise I'll help out around the house, I'll pay rent, I'll help with supplies-"
"Brandy, there's no need for all of that. I consider you a good friend of mine now, so my house is your house."
Hope filled her eyes. "You mean it?"
"Of course I do. I mean, sure, some help keeping the place organized would be nice, but that's it, really," he commented with a small smirk.
Her face immediately lit up when he said this, and unable to say anything, she simply hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, Mark," she finally said, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
He hugged her back. "You're welcome," he murmured, the mere joy she showed making all of this worth it.
When she pulled away, she asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you for rent, or anything?"
Mark help up his hand. "Until you are able to get back on your feet, I don't want a single cent from you."
Brandy was brought back by this. "Mark, at least let me pay you-"
"Brandy, I said I don't want your money!" he chuckled, amused at her consistency. "Like I said before, I know this is a rough patch in your life. I'll be able to support you as well, believe me. You just worry about getting your life back in order."
"Thank you Mark. You have no idea how much this all means to me," she replied, her voice cracking slightly. "To be honest, I don't think I've ever had a better friend than you, and I can honestly say I consider you a friend. Hell, I know more about you than I did Tom!"
Mark chuckled. "I'm the same way with my ex-wife."
This caught Brandy off-guard. "You…you were married?"
Mark nodded. "For about ten years. It actually wasn't too long ago that our divorce was finalized." When he saw the look she was giving him, he asked, "Why? Does that bother you?"
"No. It's just…you have never mentioned the fact you were married at one point."
"It's still a sensitive subject for me."
"I can only imagine. If you ever need to talk about it, though, I'm willing to listen."
Mark smiled at this. "I just might have to take you up on that someday. Now c'mon, let's get your stuff inside," Mark said. The two of them headed toward the car, and after making two trips from Brandy's car to the room Mark was letting her stay in, they finally had it all inside. "You really don't have that much," Mark commented as he sat a box down.
"Yeah, well, what can you do?" she replied, getting things out and putting them away.
"Tomorrow, you and me are going to go out and get you some things. I'll drive you, and we can use my credit card," Mark said.
"Mark, I can't do that," Brandy replied.
"Why not?" he asked in a curious voice, a frown on his face.
"Because you've already done way too much for me. I can't accept that," she said quietly.
"Brandy, how many times are we going to go through this? I've told you numerous times now that I want to help you. I'm not just doing this to be nice." Brandy sighed and looked down. "I wish you would just accept my help."
"I'm sorry, I'm just not use to someone wanting to help me out like this," she replied in a quiet voice.
Mark let out a silent sigh and pulled her into his arms. "Well get used to it now, because whether you like it or not, I AM going to help you out."
Brandy laughed and squeezed him before letting go. "I won't object to that," she replied, making Mark chuckle. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get all this put away before the night is over," she added, getting things out of one of the boxes.
"You sure you don't want any help?" Mark asked.
"No, I'm fine for now. Thanks, though."
"Alright. If you change your mind, just give me a holler," he informed her, and headed out of the room.
(((((
Mark was sitting in the living room, watching some of his matches, when he looked up at the clock, and saw it was eleven o' clock. He found it odd that he hadn't heard a peep from Brandy within the past four hours. He hoped she wasn't doing anything too strenuous, because the doctor had specifically informed her to take it easy for the next three days, until she had her check-up with him. Turning off the TV, he stood up and headed upstairs to check on her.
"Hey Brandy, how's it-" he started to say as he walked into her room, but stopped mid-sentence when he found her lying on the bed, curled up into a little ball, and obviously in pain. "Brandy, you okay?" he asked, sitting down by her. Her face was tear-stained, and he could see a film of sweat on her forehead.
She looked up at him with half-open eyes. "My medicine. I need it," she whispered, and he headed over to her bathroom to grab the bottle, along with a glass of water. When he sat back down, he tried to help her sit up, but she immediately stopped him. "I can't sit up, it hurt too bad," she stated, a slight whine in the tone of her voice.
"Then at least get up onto your elbow, so you can take the medicine," he replied, and she was able to at least do that. As soon as she was up, though, her head started spinning wildly. She quickly downed the medicine and laid back, squeezing her eyes shut and grabbing her abdomen. "What's hurting?" he asked in a gentle voice.
"My head and my ribs," she replied quietly. "I tried lifting up one of the boxes, and that was it. I tried calling down to you, but all I could focus on was this pain."
"You knew you weren't supposed to do anything strenuous, Brandy," he said in a stern voice.
"Mark, please don't do this. I know I shouldn't have done what I did, and I'm paying for it now," she pleaded, looking up at him with pain-filled eyes.
His face softened. "Alright, I'm sorry," he said, running a hand through her hair.
"Will you lay down by me?" she asked, and he nodded, lying down by her on the bed. She nudged at his arm, and he wrapped it around her as she snuggled up to his side. "Please just hold me," she whispered, and he obliged, turning onto his side and engulfing her in his strong arms. He softly massaged her scalp and rubbed her back, alternating between the two in hopes of helping make her pain go away. He could feel her relaxing in his arms, and assumed it was at least helping a little bit. After a while, he could hear a light snoring, and looked down at Brandy, smiling warmly when he saw she was fast asleep. He went to roll away, but could now feel that she had an arm wrapped securely around him. He went to gently pry it away, when she started mumbling incoherently, clearly objecting to his action. He left her arm where it was and softly shushed her, until she once more grew silent. Not wanting to disturb her, he kicked off his boots, got the both of them underneath the covers, and pulled her close to him as he drifted off to sleep as well.