Running away.

VI.

I woke up from a dreamless sleep and my eyes jumped to the clock on the wall. Eleven fifteen. Not too bad. My mind briefly went across the night before, but I didn't want to think about it too much. I slowly became aware of myself and being awake. There was a familiar smell in the air. Syrup and… Pancakes? That brought back a memory from back when I was a kid and we used to have pancakes for breakfast every Sunday. But we stopped doing that after my father died. I shook the possibly painful thoughts away once again.

I slowly managed to get up and followed the smell to the kitchen. She was there, drowning everything in maple syrup – just the way I liked it. When she noticed me standing at the door, a smile widened across her face. "Hey, sleepyhead. I thought you wouldn't get off your ass at least until lunch. But technically, this is breakfast, so I guess you proved me wrong." I smirked, rubbing my forehead slowly against the door. "Good morning to you too, Annie." We talked and laughed until breakfast was finished, then we ate – well, mostly laughed, as usual, but never mind.

After breakfast I had to leave. We had a meeting with everyone involved on the album. It was almost finished and it was mostly going to be a boring talk, but supposingly I had to be there. "If you need anything… You know where to find me. I'm always here, if you want me around." She nodded, looking at the ground. The next second I caught myself sliding one arm around her neck, pulling her in to a hug. Probably not the best thing to do, but I felt like doing it. "Thanks, Beej," she whispered. "Anytime," I said, then made myself pull away and walked out the door. I decided to take the stairs down, because it gave me time to think. When I came to the hotel lobby, a man was standing at the reception, talking to the man who worked there. "I'm here to see my wife." I stopped and listened. The reception guy asked for a last name. "Rellington," the man answered and my hands shaked. When he turned my way I recognized him. He walked past me. I couldn't stop myself. "You're not going anywhere, you fucking psycho," I said, trying to keep quiet, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. He stared at me for a while, until he recognized me. I let go of him, waiting for a response. "What the hell's your problem?" he asked in the same tone as I used before. "Don't think I'm clueless about last night. I'm not letting you do it to her again." He stared at me, clearly mocking everything about me from head to toes. "Oh, so now you're playing bodyguard here? Maybe you should've tried that fourteen years ago." I opened my mouth, only to shut it. I didn't know what to say."She cried herself to sleep every night for a year. No matter what I do, you'll always be the one that hurt her most," he spoke slowly, like he knew every word made me feel worse. "Still, she knows I'd never do anything like that to her again. And at least I'm not that weak of a man to hit a woman."

"I'm not here to talk to you. I came to see my wife," the bastard replied, smirking. "Ex-wife, son of a bitch," I was losing my tolerance for the self-confident smirk on his face. "The son of a bitch she was married to for nine years." Then I lost control. He knew that was the only thing I could be endlessly jealous of him for and he was using it. My hand turned in to a fist and I punched his face more than I've ever punched anything or anyone before. And I've done a lot of punching. He fell to the ground, revealing a nosebleed. I couldn't help but feel proud inside.

Ann's Point Of View

Billie Joe forgot his cell phone. I grabbed it from the table and took the elevator down, in hope of catching him somewhere. In the lobby, my heart stopped. I saw Ben picking himself off the floor with a bleeding nose and Billie Joe glaring at him, holding his hands in to fists. I was closer in less than a second. "What the hell h-happened?" I choked out in shock. "He was just… Begging for it," Billie Joe answered quietly, breathing fast. I knew that if he tried to speak louder, he'd end up yelling.

A security guard walked up to us. "Everything alright, ma'am?" he asked me, pointing at Ben. "I think we can handle it, officer." The man cracked a smile and walked away. This is New York, after all – no one cared enough to ask twice. Billie Joe's breathing got faster again and I looked at him, knowing the expression on my face would let him know he needs to calm down. "Ben… What do you want?" I asked carefully. He stepped closer to me and took my hand, but I pulled it away. "Annie, I'm so sorry. I… I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing. I love you. I'm so sorry. Say you'll forgive me," he continued to ask too much from me. "You god damn son of a…" Billie started, rising his fist. I quickly stopped his hand before he'd make things worse. Moments later I was still holding back his arm and looking in his eyes until he relaxed a bit and released the tension by punching in to thin air. I turned my attention back to Ben.

"There's no 'I'm sorry' this time. Bring Bailey by tomorrow. Other than her, I want nothing to do with you. I think you should leave," I told him in a tone that showed no emotions, no matter how much it ripped my heart out. He nodded slowly and turned around. While he walked away, he stopped a couple of times, probably to say something, but he never did. I watched until he was out of my sight. I felt Billie Joe's hand on my shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that," he said sympathetically, but I could hear a smile in his voice. "Why'd you punch him?" I asked, still not turning towards him. "He just… Said something he shouldn't have, that's all," he stumbled. "Like what?" I continued to interrogate him, this time looking in his eyes. "I'll tell you some other time. I've gotta run now. I'm late, Mike and Tre are gonna kill me," he excused himself, already half-walking away. "Hey, Beej? Here's your phone," I remembered to add and he took it. "Thanks," he said with a bright smile, gave me a thumbs up and left.