FicWad

“Bob! Will you just shut the hell up?” I opened my eyes to the sound of Paige’s furious voice. “Let it go!” The back door of the Bryar household slammed shut.

I sat up on the living room couch. I crashed on it after Paige and I had our little discussion. My back ached slightly, but I ignored the pain. Bob came storming into the room, his face red and his fists clinched. He stopped next to the television, leaning against the entertainment stand.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, my voice told him I was still wishing I was asleep.

“We’re fighting.” He growled. “Again.”

“Really, Bob, I think you should drop this.” I sighed. He jerked his body around and glared at me. I continued, ignoring him. “She’s really been though enough already. Just try laying off for a while. I know you think that she needs authority right now. I think she just really needs comforted more than anything.”

“You know what I think, Iero?” He grumbled, walking over to the door way the stairs to the small upper level were in. “I think you should just shut that hole on your face.” He stormed through the door and slammed it shut.

I shut my eyes and rubbed my temples. The sound of Bob punching a wall a few times was heard from the other side of the door. These two siblings were going to be the death of me. I was just surprised they already hadn’t.

I got up and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I would have settled with any kind of alcohol to relieve some of my stress, but Bob was currently out of stock.

I heard a cough from outside the backdoor. I looked out the window. Paige was standing there, back to me, looking at the sky. Smoke was flowing into the air above her. I abandoned my water quest and walked out behind her.

“I still can’t believe you started smoking.” I said, keeping a playful tone in my voice.

“I’m quitting, I promise.” She told me, tapping some ashes to the ground. Her voice sounded close to breaking.

“Paige, don’t cry.” I lowered my tone slightly, placing my hand on one of her shoulders.

“I’m not.”

“Just because I can’t see your face, doesn’t mean I can’t tell that you’re crying.” I sighed.

She spun around quickly, knocking my hand away from her shoulder. Her eyes were blood shot and tears were streaming down her face. She pushed the hot end of the cigarette so close to my nose, I thought it was going to burn me.

“Frank. This isn’t a good time. I need some time by myself. Go back inside.” She growled at me.

“Paige, I just wanted to see if you were alright.” I said, calmly. I gently pushed her hand away from my face.

“I’m fine.” She snapped. “There, happy? Go inside.”

“What the hell is your problem? I’m just trying to be a good friend towards you.” I had almost lost every bit of control I had over my temper.

More tears started to leak down her face. Her whole body started to shake violently. I felt my eye go wide as she dropped the cigarette to the ground and pressed her hands against her face.

“It’s happening.” She managed to sob. “It’s happening again.”

“What’s happening again?” I asked her, attempting to get a grip on my confusion at the sudden change in emotions.

She sniffed, but didn’t take her hands away from her face.

“Come on, Paige.” I gently removed her hands and brought her face up, so she was looking into my eyes.

She was still as beautiful as ever. Even with her red, blotchy, eyeliner stained face. I reached out and wiped some of the tears away.

“You can tell me.” I cooed to her.

She sank to the porch, letting her hands fall from mine. She sobbed, causing her body to shake even more than it had already. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face into her ripped jeans.

“I-I… W-Wan…” With every word she attempted to get to come out of her mouth, she sobbed harder.

I watched as she quickly crawled to the side of the porch. Vomit fell from her mouth. I hurried over and pulled her faded orange hair our of her face.

“Paige,” I said, rubbing her back in small circles. “You’re going to be okay. Please, just calm down.”

After a few long moments, she stopped heaving and rolled over onto her back, wiping tears from her eyes. She sat up slowly, and leaned against the black metal bars of the porch, breathing heavily.

I kneeled down in front of her and pushed some sweaty strands of hair off of her forehead. She looked at me with sad eyes that made my insides feel like they were breaking apart.

“Are you ready to talk now?” I asked, doing my best to keep my voice from showing how upset I was.

She looked down at her hands in her lap and nodded.

“Okay, Paige, please. Just tell me what’s going on.

“They found out that I’m here.” She said quietly. “I don’t know how they did it, but they did.”

“How do you know?” I asked her.

She pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket. “They sent me a text.” She flipped it open and hit some buttons.

“Maybe they’re bluffing.” I suggested.

“No. They’re not.” She handed me the phone.

‘We know you’re at Bob’s place. Keep paying, we’ll leave you both alone.’

“Oh, God.” I sighed, handing her back the phone. I rubbed my hands through my hair.

“Frank.” She looked up at me from her seat on the concrete. Her blue eyes were brighter than Bob’s. They were so beautiful. “What am I going to do? What are we all going to do?”

“I don’t know.” I said softly. “But, we’ll figure something out. Don’t you worry.”

She sighed and shrugged, I pulled her into a hug. I smiled to myself as she wrapped her arms around me. I was going to do anything I could to keep her safe.