Brooke noticed the Jeep parked crookedly against the curb as they pulled down the street and her heart began racing again.

    "David's here."  She said numbly, her eyes growing wide.

    "Do you want me to come in with you?" kevin asked, pulling up behind the jeep.

    "No that'll only make things worse, I'll call you, okay." Brooke leaned over to kevin and gave him a warm kiss, stepping out of his car and limping into her apartment building.  She turned back around, he still sat there.  "Go", she mouthed, and he tentatively pulled from the curb, giving her a small wave as he drove past, she could see he was worried about what would happen with David.  Hell I'm worried too, she thought.  Starting her slow ascent up the stairs, her wet party dress clutched in her hand, Brooke took a deep breath.  She felt like she was on death row about to face the electric chair, not walking the stairs to her own apartment, a place she seemed to regret giving David a key to.  She stood in front of her door a moment before going in, noticing that the air  seemed colder in her apartment, I think my mind is playing tricks on me, she thought shutting the door behind her.

    "Nice clothes." David said as he emerged from her bedroom.  He looked like shit, disheveled and wrinkled, still wearing the clothes he had on for the party.

    "Yeah well the dress I had on got wet when I was thrown on the ground if you don't remember."

    "It doesn't take much to get you out of your dress anyway."  He said coldly stepping closer to her.  She just shrugged his comment off, throwing the dress onto the floor and hobbling further into her apartment, brushing past David so she could get off her ankle.

    "Hurt your foot doing acrobatics with HIM last night?" He smirked, as she sat down on her couch.

    "I didn't sleep with Kevin last night David.  You hurt my ankle."  She muttered.

    "Do you want me to feel bad about it?"  he asked.

    "Not really, David that would be expecting too much from you."

    "So how long as it been going on?" David paced back and forth across her living room, she felt like she were bring grilled by the police.

    "What?"

    "How long have you been fucking Kevin?"  Brooke shook her head while sighing, leave it to him to cut right to the chase, she thought suddenly getting warm and taking off the wool sweater Kevin had given her.

    "You ask me that based on seeing Kevin and I kiss at midnight on New years Eve?" She questioned.  "That's what people do then David, they KISS!"  She yelled, even though she knew she and Kevin were more than that one kiss.

    "Unlike whores like YOU, most people seek out their fiancees at midnight, like I DID!" he yelled right into her face, the smell of a night of liquor making her stomach churn.   David was almost jumping up and down he was so angry, and Brooke stayed silent at his comment, unsure of how angry he could get.

    "So tell me how long?"  He said in a calmer voice, a voice she could only think sounded like that of a serial killer, cold and filled with hate.

    "There is nothing between me and Kevin." She lied straight faced.  David stepped closer to her and before she could even react pulled her standing by her shoulders and screamed into her face.

    "DON'T FUCKING LIE TO ME BROOKE."

Her breath caught in her throat, and even with all the turmoil she was feeling the only thing she was reminded of was Annie's situation, and that scared her even more than David.  Although he had never done anything remotely like this in the time she knew him.

    "Four months, you've been cheating on me for four fucking months you heartless bitch."  He still held her rather forcefully by the shoulders, his face only inches from hers.

    "David......" She began to explain when he suddenly moved his grip to her arm pulling her down the hall to her bedroom.  Her ankle shot with pain with every hurried step and she bit down on her lip to avoid crying, not allowing David to make her cry.

He stopped as they entered the room and ginned sardonically as she gasped.  Spread out on Brooke's bed were dozens of Annie's letters, he had read every single one of them.

    "You went through my things?" She yelled.  He let go of her arm and sat down on the bed, picking up one of the letters and reading aloud.

    "Mr. Horse Man,   So, you danced with him?  You little slut!. '   I agree," he said and continued, "Well, what are you going to do?  I mean, David IS your boyfriend, no, make that your fiancee, but what does fiancee really mean? ' I was wondering that too.  When was this from Brooke, that frat party back in September?"  Brooke stood in the doorway appalled he was doing this to her, she started to leave but he hopped off the bed, grabbed ahold of her wrist and forced her to stay.   David picked up another one and continued reading.

    "You’d never cheat on David! '  Hmm looks like dear Annie doesn't know you as well as she thought does she babe?" He snapped, picking up another.  Brooke was holding back her tears, she could feel them burning in the back of her eyes.

    "So, you slept with Kevin."  He read, stopping and looking up at her. "So Christmas night when I was worried as hell about you, wondering if you were okay you were screwing one of my best friends, or oh how does Annie put it, 'you got to roll around and get all naked and sweaty with Kevin' "  Brooke turned her eyes away from him, the drops finally rolling down her cheeks.  She could tell how hurt he was, and this humiliation was the only way he could deal with it, but how long could she take it?

    "But THESE are my favorite Brooke,"  He proclaimed and her heart stopped as he waved Kevin's letters to her in the air, bringing them back down to read.

    "You will always make the stars shine brighter for me.'  Hmmm nice line, that's how he used to get freshman into bed, I guess he's still the slick one."  David shot, crumpling his letter into a ball and throwing it,

    "David don't do this." She cried.

    "Don't do what BROOKLYN.  Hurt you?  The way you hurt me?"  He yanked on her arm so she was forced to look his way.  "God, I actually fucking loved you ya know."

    "I loved you too David."  She sobbed, but her comment only made him more angry.

    "You lying cheating whore, If you loved me you wouldn't have done it.  I didn't" He gloated.  Brooke's tears stopped flowing and her demeanor changed.  She shot her head up and looked David in the eyes.

    "You hypocritical prick, you yell and scream and condemn me when you've done the EXACT same thing."  She pulled her arm from his grasp and started backing out of the room, her ankle not allowing her to move fast.

    "What the hell are you talking about?"  he asked, walking with her.  She chuckled angrily.

    "I know all about your little fling with Beth, I've known for a long time.  Maybe you shouldn't tell Crawford everything David, he has a big mouth when he's drinking."  She could see the recollection flash in his eyes, combined with the fear that she knew David had cheated on her and didn't say a word about it.  "And if you think about it David, your crime is worse, at least I Love Kevin."  She snapped, and whirled around walking a little faster away from him.  He stood frozen, looking at her incredulously, and getting even angrier,  finally continuing after her.

    "Don't turn your back away from me Brooke, We aren't done yet."  He  yelled, stopping her in the living room.

    "That is exactly what we are David, DONE!"  She yelled as she turned around to face him, pulling the engagement ring from her finger and throwing it at him.  He let it hit his chest and fall to the hard wood floor with a 'clink'.  She saw the fury in his eyes, the same fury she saw last night when he had pulled her from the jeep and she got scared.  He looked at the ring sitting on the floor, and her breathing got heavier the more nervous she got.  He was scaring her now, she had never seen him this way before, crazy and angry, she didn't know how far he'd take it.   He seemed to calm down and glanced down at the table next to where he stood, running his hands along a photo of the two of them together.  He picked it up and stared at it almost longingly, reliving the memory, and she could see the emotions of sadness that passed over his face,

    "David,"  She pleaded, stepping towards him.  She stopped when the anger returned to his eyes and the heavy pewter frame he was holding was suddenly hurled towards her.  Brooke turned her head, covering her face and falling to the floor as the sharp corner of the frame sliced into her arm, a torrent of blood soaking the sleeve of her shirt, a small trickle running down the length of her arm.

    David gasped and went her,

    "Oh god Brooke I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to hit you with the picture."  She backed away from him and shot daggers at him with her eyes.

    "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND DON'T EVER COME BACK."  She pushed him away from her and held the bleeding wound with her free hand.  He backed away, the pissed look on his face replacing the one of concern.

    "Fine." He said bitterly, walking towards the door and slamming it so hard behind himself the pictures that  hung on the wall crashed to the floor below, the shattering glass making Brooke flinch.  She tried to stand up, but her ankle buckled and she fell onto the floor again.  She lay weeping in a ball, her foot throbbing with pain as she held her arm, blood seeping though her fingers, the cut in her arm deep and painful.

    "I never wanted to hurt you David." She sobbed. "never."
 

Annie moped around her house.  Her mother was yelling at her about something, as usual.

    “Annabelle, you don’t ever clean up around here. You just sit around and yell at me at random.  You need to pull your fair share around here, young lady,” her mother repeatedly told her.  Annie closed her eyes, clenched her teeth and stalked back to her room.  She wanted nothing more than to talk to someone, so she called Brooke.  No answer there. Brookey, where are you? She thought.  She couldn’t call Nick even though she did want to talk to him.  She needed to talk to him.  Annie felt really bad about what she had said to Nick the other day.  After seeing Paul, she needed comforting and Nick had been there.  The morning she woke up on the beach and she remembered the previous night’s mishaps, she got scared.  She never meant to take out her feelings on Nick.  It wasn’t his fault, and she knew that.  But, he was there, and he took the brunt of what she was feeling.  Paul scared her.  Paul was a guy.  Nick was a guy.  But, Nick had never scared her.  Annie was extremely confused and felt so guilty over what she did to Nick.  I’ll call him in a few days.  Hopefully he won’t hate me too much.  I wouldn’t blame him if he did though, she thought.  Annie sighed and plopped herself down on her bed.  She laid down and closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
 

    Annie’s mother was just heading out the door when she saw someone coming up the walkway.

    “Oh my Lord!” she said excitedly.

    “Come here and give me a hug!” The two embraced.

    “Oh Paul, it’s been so long,” she said.

    “It’s nice to see you Ms. Whitten,” said Paul.

    “Are you here to see Annabelle?” questioned her mother.

    “Of course I am.  I really think we need to talk.  I miss her so much, and I think she still misses me,” he said slyly.

    “Well, sweetie, it was great to see you.  I’ve gotta go run some errands, but Annabelle’s in her room.  She’s always in there these days.  Either in her room or out with some kid named Nick,” she shrugged.

    “Take care Ms. Whitten. I’ll just see myself in.  I think I still remember which room is hers,” Paul smiled.  Paul walked into the house and marched right down the hall to Annie’s room.  He knocked but there was no answer so he let himself in.  Annie was sprawled out on her bed asleep.  Paul smiled at the sleeping girl.  He climbed onto her bed and brushed some hair out of her eyes.  He smiled again and bent down to whisper in her ear,

    “Anns, baby, wake up!” That didn’t stir her, so he leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips.  This woke Annie with a start.

    “Nick!” she said excitedly.  Annie looked around the room still weary from sleep.  She looked around the room until her eyes were staring straight into Paul’s.

    “Wh-wh-what are you doing here?” she gasped.  Paul smiled,

    “Baby, I came to talk to you,” he said as he tried to brush some more hair out of Annie’s face, but she jumped off the bed before he could get to her.

    “Get out of my room,” she said.  Annie’s heart was racing but she was trying to remain calm.

    “Anns, don’t you think it’s about time we talk?” Paul asked.  He began sifting through papers on her bed.  He came across her journal and he picked it up. Annie jumped and grabbed the journal out of his hand.

    “Oooh, important stuff?” he quipped.

    “It’s none of your business Paul.  Please, just go,” Annie begged.  Her heart was racing and her mouth was beginning to dry up.  She held her journal close to her body and went to open the door behind her.  Paul jumped up and slammed the door shut.

    “Anns, we need to talk!”  Annie’s eyes darted around the room.  Paul would not take his hand off the door.  He had his other arm draped across her so she wouldn’t move.  He was a lot bigger than she was, and she was a lot weaker than she used to be. She couldn’t move.

    “Paul, please, just leave,” she implored in a whisper.  Tears started forming at the corners of her eyes.  Paul took his hand from around her body, but kept the other hand on the door.  He began to stroke her neck and then leaned his lips down and began nuzzling her.  Annie squirmed at the feel of his lips on her skin.  They used to feel good on her skin.  His hands used to feel so right on her body, but not anymore.  They made her skin crawl now.

    “Stop it Paul,” she yelled.  Paul looked at her with nothing but hate in his eyes.  He took his hand off the door and Annie went to open the door, but Paul grabbed her hard by both arms; so hard that she dropped her journal and was just left standing there trying to break free.

    “Let me go goddamnit!” Annie yelled.

    “No, we are going to work things out between the two of us, right fucking now Anns!” Paul yelled.

    “No! Let me go!” Annie screamed.

    “You still love me Annie.  I know you do.  I saw the way you looked at me the other night,” he said.  His grip was getting tighter on her arms.  Annie was confused.  She hadn’t looked at him in any way that would mislead him to think she still wanted him.  At least she didn’t think so.  Paul leaned down to start kissing Annie, but she kept moving her head.  He had her by the arms, but her legs were free.  She picked up her left foot and stomped as hard as she could on Paul’s foot.  Even though he had shoes on and she didn’t, it still hurt.

    “Owww! Goddamnit Annie,” Paul wailed.  He let go of her arms and she tried to move, but he grabbed her again and smacked her across the mouth, sending her flying across her bed.  Tears rolled down her cheeks as blood ran from her mouth and across her pink sheets.
 

        Nick was driving aimlessly.  He had no real direction.  He just wanted to get out of his house so he could clear his head.  Annie had been on his mind at least a million times since she told him not to call her anymore.  Those words were like a knife in his chest, but he did like she said.  He had dialed her number a million times it seemed, but always hung up.  Nick didn’t want to upset Annie anymore than she already was.  It was obvious seeing Paul had upset her, and if she needed space then he was willing to give it to her.  Whitten, I miss you, he thought.  He wondered if she still cared about him because he knew that he was falling for her.  Nick didn’t want to fall for someone who couldn’t fall for him; it would hurt too much if Annie didn’t feel the same thing for him he felt for her.  As Nick was driving he began to realize the neighborhood had looked familiar; he had ended up at Annie’s house.

    “Shit,” he said. “How the hell did I end up here?” he questioned.  Nick was about to drive away when he thought he saw the door open.

    “It couldn’t hurt to talk to her at least.  Just to see if she’s okay,” he thought aloud.  Nick sat in his car for about five minutes pondering if he should go inside and finally decided he would.  He walked up the driveway and stayed outside on Annie’s porch for a second.  Maybe I shouldn’t do this, he thought.  Nick was about to turn away when he heard a strange thumping sound.  He furrowed his brow and tried to listen closely, not hearing it again, but it was a strange sound.  Annie’s door was open so he walked inside.

It was eerily quiet.  He walked down the hall…

 “Annie, you know you want this.  It’ll be easier if you just relax,” said Paul.  He had pinned Annie down on her bed.  Her mouth was still bleeding and Paul forcing kisses on her was only making it bleed more.

“No! No! Get off of me!!!” screamed Annie.  She was crying now.

    “Baby, you know you want this,” Paul kept insisting. He started to pull down her sweat pants, but was distracted by Annie trying to wriggle away from him.  She had almost gotten away from him when he grabbed and yanked her back, pinning her back down on the bed and forcing his lips onto hers.  She kept trying to move her face so he wouldn’t kiss her, but he wouldn’t stop.

    “Paul, stop! Please, God, let him stop!” she screamed.  She began crying.

    “Shut the fuck UP!” Paul yelled as he smacked her again.  Annie wailed.

Nick was in the hallway and could hear Annie’s cries.  He ran to her bedroom door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

    “No, God, No!” he heard Annie scream.  Nick’s heart started racing.  He banged on Annie’s door, and yelled,

    “Annie! Let me in, it’s Nick.  Annie! Annie!” He banged some more on the door.   Nick kept hearing Annie crying and screaming,

    “NO!”

He stood at the door.  He ran his hands through his hair.  Nick could feel himself start to panic but knew he couldn’t do that now; Annie needed his help.  He banged on the door a little more, but to no avail.  Nick wiggled the doorknob, nothing.  Damnit! he thought.  He needed to get that door open somehow.
 

    “What the fuck is he doing here Annie?” Paul whispered in her ear.  His breath was making Annie nauseous.  She gave him a breathy and sobby,

    “I Don’t Know”.  She didn’t know what Nick was doing there, but she’d never been so glad to hear anyone’s voice in all of her life.  Paul was now groping at the top of her panties, and was trying to pull them off.  In between her cries she silently prayed that Nick would bust down that door.

    “No Paul!” She said that repeatedly.  Paul still had her pinned to the bed.  Her mouth was still bleeding as well.

    “C’mon, it’ll be easier if you just…”

Nick stood outside Annie’s bedroom and heard her wail

    “No Paul!” and he knew what he had to do.  So, he raised his left leg and with all of his might kicked at the door.  No luck. It didn’t open.   Shit! He thought.  He decided he’d do it again.  He kicked the door again, but it didn’t open.  Nick could hear Annie screaming for him in her room.  Please God, let me open this door! Please God, let me open this door! With that prayer running through Nick’s mind, he raised his leg again and kicked the door.  This time it slammed open.  He ran into the room and saw Paul forcing himself onto Annie.  Rage ran through Nick’s body.  He lunged at Paul and grabbed him by the neck and ripped him off of Annie.  Nick slammed Paul against Annie’s closet door.  The door cracked.  Paul stood there with a shocked expression on his face.

    “Nick!” Annie yelled.  Paul lunged at Nick, but Nick moved too fast for him, and he fell on the floor.  Nick drug Paul up from the floor and got a good punch to the face in.  Paul tried to swing at Nick, but again, Nick was too fast for him.  Nick grabbed Paul by the neck and drug him into the living room.

    “Get the fuck outta here, NOW!” yelled Nick.  Nick had his hand balled up into a fist and ready to hit Paul.  Paul tried to take another swing at Nick, but he missed and fell over.  Paul was face down on the floor, and Nick sat down with a knee pressed into Paul’s back.

    “If you ever try and hurt Annie again, so help me God, I’ll fucking kill you!” Nick threatened.  Silence filled the room.  Paul got up from the floor and brushed himself off.

    “You’ll fucking kill me, will you?” Paul asked almost amused.   Nick looked at him with eyes of hatred.

    “Get the fuck outta here or so help me, I don’t know what I’ll do to you,” Nick replied calmly.  Paul smiled a little and walked out of the living room, closing the door behind him.  Nick ran to the door and locked it.  He watched Paul drive away, and  breathed a sigh of relief running to Annie’s room.
 

        Annie was sitting at the edge of her bed, rocking herself back and forth.  Tears were streaming down her cheeks.  Everything had happened so fast there was no time to think.  She was crying when Nick came in the room.  He knelt down in front of Annie.

    “Annie, he’s gone,” Nick whispered.  Annie looked at Nick and nodded.  She opened her mouth to try and say something, but nothing but inaudible noises rose from her throat.

    “Shhh,” Nick said.  He cupped Annie’s face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.  Annie looked at Nick and even more tears began to fall.  Nick got up off his knees and kissed Annie’s forehead.

    “He’s gone Ann…he’s gone…” he kept whispering to her.

Just then, it had sunk in with Nick. Everything that Paul had done to Annie, Nick knew in that second, anger rose in him, but also sadness as well.  That is why she pushed him away New Year’s Day.  Nick sat next to her on her bed and put an arm around her shoulders.  Annie scanned her room and surveyed the mess that had been made.    Annie licked the inside of lip, which caused her lip to bleed again.  Nick noticed and got up to get a tissue from her night stand.

    “You’re bleeding,” he said and wiped the blood from her face.

    “Here,” he said as he gave her the tissue.  Annie took the tissue and continued to dab at the blood until she stopped bleeding.  Annie looked at Nick.  He had saved her.  She didn’t care why he was there, only that he had been there at the right time.  She started to cry again and rested her head on his shoulder.  Nick tightened his grip on her shoulder and wrapped his other arm in front of Annie to hug her.

    “Nick?” Annie asked.

    “Yeah?”

    “Thank you,” Annie said quietly.  Nick kissed the top of her head, but didn’t reply.  “You’re Welcome” just didn’t seem to cover it.  He hugged Annie tighter and rested his head on the top of hers.