Maggie, There is Hope
***************
Maggie walked down the street towards the drug store where she worked. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She was wearing the T-shirt and a pair of jeans she threw on that morning. She walked into the drug store to see her friend Lydia at the counter."Hey, Maggie!" Lydia said as she walked out from behind the counter. "It's been a slow day."
"I can see that." Maggie said putting on her apron and opening the register. "The new people moved in yesterday."
"Oh really? Anybody cute?" Lydia said smirking.
Maggie laughed and said, "Actually, yes. They are all pretty cute. 5 guys."
"Oooh!" Lydia said, "Maybe I should drop by."
"Hey back off, I saw them first!" Maggie said laughing as she put up her fists.
"Oh, you wanna fight for them do ya?" Lydia said putting up her fists. The two girls playfully fought until their boss, George walked in.
"Ahem!" he coughed.
"Oh, sorry George." Lydia said as she walked behind the counter. "It'll never happen again." she added smiling at Maggie.
"I'm sure, just get back to work." George said walking back into the managers office.
Just then two men walked in. "Oh, Lydia!" Maggie whispered. "That's two of my neighbors!" Lydia leaned forward to check them out.
"Ooh! That one's cute!" she said pointing to the blond one. Maggie hit Lydia as the two guys walked towards the counter where Maggie and Lydia where standing.
"May we help you?" Maggie asked as she looked up and saw the brown haired guy staring at her.
"Yes," he said still staring at her. "We need to know where the cereal is."
"It's in the back near the soup." Lydia said pointing to the back of the store.
"Thank you." the blond one said smiling. The two guys walked to the back.
"She's beautiful!" the brown haired guy thought looking back to the counter at Maggie. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire life. Her eyes were gorgeous!
"I think the brown haired one likes you!" Lydia said nudging Maggie in the ribs. She pushed Lydia and laughed.
"Yeah, right!" She said as they began to walk to the counter again.
"Is that all?" Maggie said smiling.
"Yes," he said warmly. "For now." He added with a wide grin.
Maggie blushed and rung up the cereal and milk. "Here you are, have a nice day," She said handing him the bag of groceries.
As the two guys left and Lydia turned to Maggie and said, "Looks like there will be trouble ahead!"
****************
The two guys were walking down the street towards their apartment when the blond one turned and said, "So, Joey, what do you think of the red head?"
"Is that all you think about, Justin?" Joey said smiling.
"Well, it's all you think about!" Justin said laughing. "I mean you practically drooled on the counter when you saw the brunette."
"No I didn't!" Joey said defensively. They spent a few minutes in silence before Joey asked, "Did you catch her name!"
Justin laughed and said, "See, I told you!"
****************
Maggie got off work and said good-bye to Lydia. She started walking towards her house and thought about the two guys that walked into the store that day. It is going to be hard with them living there. Ryan won't be happy. He was so jealous, and now 5 guys are living next door. Ryan was her boyfriend of 2 years, and he wasn't pleasant when it same to other guys. She walked up to the house and saw one of the other guys out on the lawn. He smiled and waved. Maggie smiled back and waved.
"Hey." she said as she quickly walked towards the door and opened it.
"Yeah, well nice to meet you!" he shouted as she slammed the door.
Maggie hung up her jacket hoping that Ryan didn't see that. She walked into the living room and found him looking out the window. He turned when he heard her.
"What was that?" he asked still standing by the window.
"What was what?" she asked knowing what he was thinking. "I said hi to him, he waved, I thought it was polite."
"Don't get smart!" he said as he closed the curtains. He walked towards her, his face stopping an inch away from hers. Maggie's legs started to shake as she wondered how bad it would be this time. Ryan stared at her for a little longer and then said, "I'm hungry, make me a sandwich."
Maggie sighed as she walked into the kitchen. As she opened the refrigerator she heard the TV turn on. She finished making his sandwich and brought it to him.
"Is it turkey?" he asked picking it up from the plate.
"Yes, just the way you like it."
"Thanks babe, you want to watch some TV with me?" he asked taking a big bite from the sandwich.
"No I'm going to take a bath then go to bed, I'm tired." She said as she walked towards the stairs.
"You sure? Tonight Walker Texas Ranger is on."
"No really, I'm tired Ryan. I'm going to go to bed.
"OK!" he said taking another bite from the sandwich.
****************
The next morning when Joey woke up he heard music coming from the second half of the house, where his neighbors lived. He got up and walked down stairs to the kitchen where he found Lance and JC sitting drinking coffee.
"I was thinking about going over to say hi." He heard Lance say.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Yesterday I saw a girl go in there. When I waved she smiled and said hey then ran into the house, slamming the door. She seemed pretty scared of me, or something. Sor-ta freaky if you ask me." JC said shivering.
"At least they listen to good music." Joey said sitting down next to Lance.
"Oh, hi. I didn't know you were up." JC said, "Are you still going over there?"
"I don't see why not." Lance said shrugging. "I want to be neighborly."
"I'll go with you." Joey said standing up and following Lance out the door.
They walked up to the door and knocked. They waited a few minutes and heard some one yell, "Hold on!" They heard the music stop and saw a face appear in the window of the door. Joey gasped, it was the girl from the drug store!
"May I help you?" she asked with a curious look on her face.
"We're your neighbors, we wanted to stop by to say hello." Lance said smiling.
"Oh, well, Hi. Is that all you wanted?" the girl said looking worried.
"Well can we come in, talk of a while?" Lance asked, "We'd like to get to know you, we will be living pretty close to each other for a while."
"Well, I'm busy come back later." She said as Joey heard a voice come from inside the house.
"Who is that?" Joey asked.
"That's my boyfriend, I have to go now." She said as Joey saw her disappear into the house.
"Boyfriend?" Joey said still looking at the window.
"What?" Lance said turning to Joey.
"Oh, nothing." Joey said walking back towards their door.
"Well, JC was right. That chick is freaky."
****************
"What were doing talking to those guys?" Maggie heard Ryan say. She turned to see him standing behind her, an angry look on his face.
"They are the neighbors they wanted to say Hi." Maggie said backing up.
"Oh really!?" Ryan asked taking a few steps towards her. "Is that all? Don't you lie to me!" He shouted in her face grabbing her shirt as she shrank back against the wall.
"I'm not lying! I swear!" She shouted. "Please! I swear, I don't know them!"
"Really that's not what I heard!" He shouted, "Some of the fella's at work tell me different. Don't lie to me!" He yelled said as he lifted his fist and hit her across her left cheek accusing blood to squirt from her mouth. Maggie felt her knees buckle as Ryan pulled her towards him. She screamed and he hit her again. She tried to pull loose from him but he held tight. He pushed her to the floor and was about to kick her when the door bell rang. Ryan turned towards the door and looked back at Maggie. "Stay here." he said walking to the door. He opened it to see 3 guys.
"May I help you?" He asked in an angry voice.
"We heard yelling, is everything okay?" one of them asked.
"Everything's fine, we were watching a movie. Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to it." Ryan said closing the door.
"See I told you it was nothing!" Chris said to Joey as they walked back to their apartment.
Joey looked back at the house and said, "I don't know, there was something wrong. I don't like that guy, and that wasn't a movie."
****************
Ryan walked back into the room and said, "Your boyfriends came to save you!"
"What boyfriends?" Maggie yelled, still on the floor. "I don't now what you mean!"
"Don't give me that shit!" He yelled stepping towards her and kicking her in the back. Maggie moaned, Ryan kicked her again harder. She tried not to scream as he began kicking her on the legs and in the stomach. She started feeling faint and was finding it hard to breath, she thought he might have broken one of her ribs. He picked up her head by her hair and slammed her head into the floor. She felt a moan crawl up her throat and pass through her lips. He yelled at her one last then kicked her hard in the back. He then grabbed his coat and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind him. She waited a few minutes then heard his car start. She tried to pull herself up and moaned. There was a pain in her chest and her wrist was broken. She crawled towards the phone in the kitchen and pulled herself up with the help of a chair. In doing this she discovered she had a broken ankle. She picked up the phone and shakily dialed Lydia's number. She heard a ringing and sighed with relief.
"Hello!" she heard a voice say.
"Oh! Lydia!" Maggie cried into the phone.
"Oh, god! Did he do it again?" she asked feeling a wave of sadness flow over her body.
"Yes," she choked out, "Please come pick me up, I think I have a broken rib."
"I'll be there in 5 minutes." She said hanging up the phone.
Maggie hung up her phone and got up slowly from the table and limped to the door, hoping Ryan wouldn't come back. She got her jacket and purse, sat down on the couch and waited for her friend to once again come get her.
****************
Lydia immediately jumped in her car and started off for Maggie's place. "Why doesn't she get out of that relationship?!" Lydia thought to herself. "If I could just take a crowbar to him, god help me!" she thought as she pulled up to Maggie's house in her yellow, 1974 Superbeatle. (that she'd save up for it almost all of her life.) She sighed before she got out of the car. The last time she had to do this she had hoped, if only, it would have been the last. "If only it was, if only...." her voice trailed off. She got out of her car, she didn't know it but Justin was sitting on his porch, watching her.
He hadn't seen anything like her before, her long red hair glowed in the sunlight, she was perfect. She tucked her hair behind her ears and started up the drive.
"Hi, you're from the drugstore, right?" Justin said nearing the line of bashfulness.
"Yeah, I'm Lydia. And you?" she said excitedly. "Justin, my name's Justin...."he said as his voice faded, "Say are you here to see that girl that lives there, the guys heard some shouting and I'm worried, so are they."
"Um...yeah I'm picking her up, she's got a...um...doctor's appointment." She said as she rung the doorbell.
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you then." He said "Yeah, be seeing you...." Lydia said as she walked in the house. She closed the door behind her and saw Maggie on the couch, waiting just like the last time. Her hands in her lap and her jacket on.
"God, he really did bad this time!" Lydia said walking to her friend and helped her up.
"Careful, I think my ankle is broken." Maggie said choking back the tears she said, "He doesn't mean it. He just gets angry sometimes."
"Don't give me that Maggie. If some one loves you, they now not to hit you." She said opening the door slowly and sticking out her head. She saw Justin on the porch.
"Oh, no!" Lydia gasped, "One of the guys is out there."
"Don't let him see me! Don't let him see me!" she screamed.
Lydia turned to see Justin looking in there direction, he looked worried. She waved and he nodded, still worried. "OK, I won't let him see you like this. Calm down." She said closing the door. "Here I'll brush your hair and get you cleaned up, then we'll go to the hospital, when we walk out he won't see there's anything wrong, OK?" she asked brushing some hair from her frantic friends face.
"OK...Thanks Lydia...I..."
"Shh, I know honey, let's get you cleaned up."
****************
Lydia helped Maggie back into her car. She had just received 10 stitches, 6 on her head and 4 on her cheek. Plus 2 casts, one on her leg and the other on her wrist. She had been beaten pretty bad, when the nurse asked her about it Maggie said she fell down the stairs. The nurse had looked to Lydia for a real answer but Lydia gave none. She wanted to but, didn't.
"You're staying at my place tonight right?" Lydia asked shutting the door to the car and turning to her friend.
"Yeah I should, but...what do I do about clothes." Maggie said.
"You can borrow some of mine. Don't worry about anything like that you have bigger things to worry about than that."
"Lydia..." Maggie said.
"No Maggie, you do have bigger things to worry about. What if he kills you next time? What are you going to do then?" Lydia said trying not to sound to angry. "You need to leave him, he will kill you." She stopped to check how her friend was doing, Maggie's head was down and she couldn't see her face. Lydia leaned over and picked her friends head up, she was crying.
"I can't leave him Lydia. I love him." Maggie said reaching for her friend and hugging her.
"Oh god." Lydia whispered squeezing Maggie, doing her best to comfort her.
****************
JC walked into the living room looking for Joey. He found him sitting on the couch staring at the TV. "What are you doing?" he asked Joey sitting down next to him, "We still have a little unpacking to do."
"Oh, I was just thinking."
"About what?" JC asked, "That girl?"
"Yeah, I know that wasn't a movie...I heard her screaming. I know it was her." He said turning to JC with pain in his eyes. "I know it. That guy was lying to us."
"You don't know that," JC said putting a hand on Joey's back, "And if they were yelling, it was probably just a fight, nothing big. You don't know what happened in there, none of us do."
"That's right JC, we don't know." Joey said getting up and walking to his room, "What ever happened in there, I know it wasn't good."
****************
Ryan sat down on the couch, "She left me again..." He thought, "She left me." He said aloud. As he sat on the couch he tried to figure out what he could do to get her back. He decided he would go to Lydia's, he knew that's where she was, she always went to Lydia's. He grabbed his car keys and ran out the door. He started the car and sped towards her apartment. He was there in 6 minutes, he jumped out the car and opened the door to the apartment building. He walked casually towards the elevator when he saw a security guard. He smiled and waved at him, the guard waved back. When the elevator came he walked into it, still keeping his cool. He pushed 12 and sat back, waiting....3...4...
"God how long is this going to take!!" He wanted to scream, 7...8... "Hurry!" He said aloud. "Come on!" 10...11...12! The doors opened and he jumped out. He ran to Lydia's door and knocked on it. He waited a minute and heard hushed voices. He knocked on the door again.
"I know your in there! Come on baby, just let me in. We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about Ryan, go away." Lydia said loudly through the door.
"Go away Lydia, this is none of your business. Come on honey, you know I didn't mean it. I just get so mad, I'll never do it again. I was just scared of loosing you." He said softly. He waited and heard hushed voices again. One of them was harsh. "Baby...I'm really sorry, just give me another chance." He waited again and heard footsteps coming towards the door.
"Don't Maggie! He'll kill you!" He heard Lydia shout.
"Dumb, bitch." He thought. He waited again and the door opened. Maggie was standing there, tears in her eyes.
"Are you really sorry?" She asked hopefully. Her voice quivering.
"Yes baby, I'm so sorry. I'll never ever do it again." He said hugging her. "I was so scared I'd loose you is all." He looked up and saw Lydia glaring at him. "Come on baby let's go home." He said grabbing Maggie's hand as he lead her to the elevator and out of the building.
****************
The next few days Ryan acted like he always did after one of there fights. He pampered her, taking her out every night, trying to make up for what he did. On the 3rd night he was back to normal. She knew it wouldn't last, it never did. He had slapped her for giving him a dirty fork, saying she was stupid and couldn't so anything right.
Maggie went to bed that night knowing she should leave him...But he loved her! And she loved him. He only did those things for her own good, he was just trying to help her. She rolled over and watched him sleep for a while, then eventually fell asleep.
When she woke up the next morning her head was killing her. She went to the bathroom and knew why. The slap from the night before had landed on her bruised cheek, causing more pain. She looked at herself in the mirror. The stitches on her cheek couldn't be hidden, neither could the casts. She decided to tell everyone she fell down the stairs, she knew people would ask. They always did...And her new neighbors seemed very nosy, especially the dark haired one. He was pretty cute though, she thought remembering him from the drug store. She pushed the thought away and went downstairs to fix herself some coffee. Ryan was already gone, he went to work pretty early, sometimes before 5. he would be back at 3 or 4. She got dressed and headed out the door to work. She took a deep breath, Lydia would be mad today. She always was after the fights. She limped out to the side walk and heard a voice from behind her.
"Whoa! What happened to you?" She turned and saw the dark-haired guy.
"Oh, I fell down the stairs trying to get the phone. It was pretty stupid on my part." She said faking a laugh as she tried to ignore the look he was giving her. He was giving the same look her mother had given her. When she told her that she fell down in the bath tub and hit her head.
"Oh..." That's a loud of crap, he thought to himself. "Would you like a ride? It must be hard to walk on that leg." He said stepping forward, his hand extended.
"Oh no, you don't have to..." She said backing up a few steps.
"No, please let me, you shouldn't be walking on it." He interrupted, "Please." He added with a pleading voice. "Let me."
"Well," Maggie looked around nervously, she really could use a ride. Oh! Why was he making it so hard! "OK, but just this once." She said smiling as she let him help her into his car.
He jumped into his side and said, "Where to?" He tossed her a cute smile and she couldn't help but smile back.
"The drug store. I work there."
"Yeah I know. By the way my name is Joey, I don't think we ever really introduced ourselves." He said putting his hand out for her.
She took his and shook it, getting a shiver down her spine. He had nice hands...and nice eyes. HE was nice, she thought. She quickly turned her head and pulled her hand away then said, "We should go, I'll be late."
"Oh, right." He said starting the car. When they got to the drug store she got out and thanked him twice before he left. As he pulled out he was looking at her and not the road, he almost got hit by a bus. She smiled as he turned red, waved and drove off. She then sighed and marched into the store, knowing she would only hear angry words from Lydia. She looked at the counter and saw Lydia helping an elderly lady with a purchase. She walked to the counter and put on her apron, Lydia never looked at her. When the lady left Lydia turned to Maggie.
"You shouldn't have gone with him..." She said, her voice tense.
"Lydia, stop, I don't want to hear it. I hear it every time."
"That's right, and you know what? I shouldn't have to tell you every time! It should have stopped when it happened the first time." She said raising her voice.
"Oh, just stop. I told you I love..."
"You love him...I know, I don't know why, but I know." She said turning her back to Maggie. The rest of the day was spent in silence.
****************
When Maggie got home the house was dark she turned on the light in the living room and saw Ryan sitting in the arm chair. Maggie jumped.
"Oh, Ryan! You scared me!" She said with her hand over her heart.
"Really? Well I'm soo sorry!" He said sarcastically as he got out of the chair.
Maggie got scared, he sounded angry, "What's wrong Ryan?" She asked.
"What's wrong!" He said mocking her voice. "What's wrong! I'll tell you what's wrong! A friend told me you got in the car with some guy and drove off with him! Who was he? WHO WAS HE!" he yelled in her face.
"He was just giving me a ride, he thought with my leg and all that I..."
"Shut up! You're lying to me! Stop lying to me!" He yelled hitting her so hard she fell to the floor. She hit the table with her head causing a vase the crash to the floor, little splinters of glass flying into her face and neck.
Maggie, crying hard by now, yelled, "I swear! I just got a ride from him! Nothing else! He just drove me to work!"
Ryan picked her up my the shirt and threw her against the wall. "I'm sure, baby, I'm sure that's all that's all that happened." He said spitting in her face. "Bitch, tell me the truth." He shook her and yelled again. "TELL ME THE TRUTH!"
Maggie screamed as Ryan hit her again across the forehead. She somehow got out of his grasp and tried to run out the door, he grabbed her arm and twisted it. She moaned in pain and he pushed her to the floor, face down. He got on her back and picked up her head by the hair and slammed her face into he hard wood floor. When he turned her over there was a blood smear on the floor boards.
"Stop! Please stop!" She screamed. He hit her again, twice, in the stomach and once in the face.
"You'd like me to stop huh?" He yelled laughing. "That's funny. Stop!" He grabbed her throat and started choking her then laughed aloud. Then Maggie felt the weight of his body being lifted off her. As she gasped for air she looked up and saw the guys from next door. Joey was hitting Ryan. She heard him ask who they were, and everything became blurry. She got dizzy and passed out.
****************
Maggie was on the top of a building, she heard Ryan behind her, there was nowhere to go. She had to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go! She frantically looked for a place to hide, anywhere. All she could see was the edge of the building, the only place to go was down. She ran to the edge and turned around. Ryan was standing a few feet behind her smiling, he had an ax in his hand.
"Hey baby, come here, I wanna show you something." He said lifting the ax letting the moon's light hit it, causing the blade to shimmer. She turned and looked down, she had to jump, There was nothing else she could do. Maggie stepped onto the ledge, took a deep breathe and jumped. She felt the air rushing passed her and the ground nearing her, she let out a scream then woke up...She looked around, confused. She didn't know where she was. She was in a...a hospital bed. She looked around again, to her right and saw Lydia, she was sleeping on a chair next to a window. Next to her was a blond boy, the one that walked into the drug store with...with Joey. She looked to her left and saw Joey he was sleeping too, also in a chair, this one nearer her bed. She reached out and poked his shoulder to wake him up. He woke up quickly and looked around frantically.
"Wha..What? Is she OK?" He said. He turned and saw Maggie looking at him. "You're up!" He said surprised.
"Yeah I just woke up. How long have I been asleep?" She asked looking at a clock on the wall.
"2 days, you lost a lot of blood." He said softly.
"What happened to...to Ryan?" She asked sheepishly.
"He's in jail, where he belongs." Joey said, Maggie sensed anger in his voice. She looked down at her hands and began to cry. Joey got up and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Shh, It'll be OK." He said, Maggie reached up and hugged him, she clung to him and cried into his shoulder. He held her tightly and comforted her as best he could, never wanting to let her go.
****************
A week later Maggie was released from the hospital, the police had come and asked her questions about what had happened. This time she told the truth. They took pictures for her file and said he would go to jail for what he did. Joey and the blond guy, who she learned was Justin, came to the hospital everyday. They brought her flowers and "Get Well" cards. Lydia stayed at the hospital almost everyday, Maggie tried to get her to leave but she wouldn't budge.
Joey helped Maggie into her wheel chair. "I don't need this!" She persisted.
"It's hospital policy that everyone leaves in a wheelchair." He said wheeling her out into the hall, Lydia and Justin following close behind. She sighed and let him wheel her to Lydia's car. She got in slowly with his help and Lydia drove her to Maggie's house.
"What's with you and Justin?" Maggie asked Lydia when they were still driving.
"Oh, I don't know. He's pretty nice." She said then added, "It's nothing really."
"Sure, Lyd, I'm sure." Maggie said smiling to herself.
When they got to her house Lydia told her she was going to stay for a while, help her out. Maggie thanked her and said she could use the help. Joey said he would be next door she needed help. Chris, another neighbor, and Lance, the other blond boy, came over with some soup and told her to get better soon.
That night Maggie slept very little, she was too upset for sleep, and when she did sleep she had nightmares. She was scared that Ryan would some how get out or he wouldn't go to jail. He would kill her now, and everyone else. She didn't know what to do. The next day was a small trial for him. He would either go to jail or go free. She finally went to sleep around 6:00, but it was a light sleep.
****************
The next morning Maggie got dressed and Joey and Justin came over to take Lydia and her to the courthouse. When they got there they had to wait 30 minutes, the 30 minutes seemed like 30 years to Maggie. The bailiff finally called them in and the trial began. Maggie went before the judge and told her what had happened step by step, the judge was a woman so Maggie knew she had the courts on her side. 20 minutes from the start of the trial, Ryan was found guilty and got 6 months-1 1/s years, plus probation. The judge told Maggie that before he got out she could file for a restraining order and she would probably get it. As Ryan was being taken from the court he saw Joey hug Maggie and tried to run to hit him. The guard help tight and dragged him away kicking and screaming, "I'm going to kill you, you prick!" Maggie heard him yelling even as she left the courtroom with Joey's arm around her shoulder. She was crying so hard she had to stop and sit down. She was so happy it was all over.
****************
"Are you going to be OK now?" Joey asked Maggie handing her a cup of coffee as he sat next to her at the small table in the corner of Duke's Coffee Shop.
"Yes thank you. I am just so shocked it's over, well for now at least." Maggie said taking a sip of the coffee and setting it on the table and looking over at Lydia who was giving her a worried smile. "I'm fine, really." She said to Lydia.
"OK..." Lydia said sipping her coffee, her voice weary. A few minutes were spent in silence until Joey asked,
"So is Lydia still going to stay with you?"
"Yes, for a few more days. Just until she thinks I am OK." Maggie said smiling in Lydia's direction. "I told her I was OK, she didn't believe me."
"Well if you ever need anyone, I'll be there." Joey said smiling as he patted Maggie's hand. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and said,
"Thank you."
Justin waved to the waitress for her to come to their table but she didn't come. "Hey! Over here!" He shouted waving to her. She started coming towards the table then walked passed it. "What the! Hey!" Justin said still not getting a response from the waitress. She was on her way back when he looked at her tag. "Hey, hey...Marjerit??" Justin said squinting to read the tag. Just then the waitress stopped and said sarcastically,
"It's Margaret, not Marjerit! And yes, may I help you?"
"Um yes, we want a refill on these coffee's." Justin said picking up his coffee mug and shaking it in the air.
"Be right with you sir." Margaret said rolling her eyes and thinking, "Yeah right, be right with you when hell freezes over."
****************
Maggie had just gone into the house, being helped by Joey. Justin and Lydia were on the porch, "So if you guys need anything come over and we'll help you as best we can." Justin said seriously looking into Lydia's eyes.
"Thank you Justin, that's real sweet." Lydia said kissing Justin on the cheek and opening the door to the house. "I am sure we will be stopping by sometime for help, you know we might want some food and not want to cook, or something." She added smiling as she walked into the house leaving Justin on the porch smiling.
Joey walked out of the house and saw Justin beaming, "Hey what's going on? Why are you smiling like that?" Joey asked as they walked to their apartment. "Is it Lydia?"
Justin laughed, smiled, and said, "Naw, I was thinking about the sale at the GAP."
"Aw, that's a loud of crap!" Joey said pushing Justin, "It was Lydia!"
"Well..." Justin said opening the door.
"That's all you think about Justin." Joey said walking into the house.
****************
"Hey Maggie do you want something to eat?" Maggie heard Lydia shout from downstairs. She ignored her friend and continued to look at herself in the mirror. She pulled her hair up and looked at her neck there were bruises left from where Ryan had strangled her. She lifted her bangs and examined her forehead. The stitches were almost ready to be taken out but there would be a scar, she was sure of it. The cast on her wrist wouldn't be taken off for another month or two and the one on her foot wouldn't be taken off for a few more months. She tried to cover up her pale skin with make up but she still looked like a ghost. She heard a knock at her door and turned around quickly, it was Lydia.
"Do you want something to eat?" She repeated.
"Oh, yeah sure." Maggie said getting up from her mirror. "What are we going to get?" She added, her eyes looking dull and lifeless.
"Are you all right?" Lydia asked walking towards Maggie with concern on her face.
"Yeah, I'm just a little depressed for the obvious reasons." Maggie said receiving a hug from Lydia.
"Hey would you like to go over to Joey's for dinner, I'm sure they'd let us eat over." Lydia suggested.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Maggie said as the two of them walked over to their neighbors apartment and knocked on the door. They waited for a few minutes and heard what sounded like a stampede. Then they heard yelling and laughing. The door burst open revealing Chris and Justin, they looked exhausted and were both red in the face.
"Did you really have to fight over who gets to answer the door?" Lydia asked smiling.
"Well, actually, Justin here knew it was you. You are the only people who ever come over." Chris said nudging Justin and winking.
Justin pushed Chris and invited Maggie and Lydia in. "Joey! JC! LANCE! We have company!" Justin yelled.
"Gee, could you have been louder?" Chris asked shaking his head. Just then Maggie looked up and saw feet coming down from the stairs. One by one JC, Lance, and Joey appeared.
"Oh! Hey Maggie! You feeling better?" Lance asked.
"A little, but not all the way." She said as Lance helped her into a chair. "Thank you. The only thing good about this, is I don't have to do anything!" Maggie said laughing.
"Yeah," Joey said sitting next to her. "So why did you come over? Couldn't get enough of my charming looks?" He said lifting his head in the air.
"In your dreams Fatone!" Maggie said hitting Joey with her hand, while she laughed.
"Ooh! She's turning red!" Lydia shouted pointing to Maggie. "She likes him! She likes him!"
Joey turned to Maggie and saw her blushing as she pretended to not know what Lydia was talking about. "I do not!" Maggie said trying not to smile.
"Well as long as we're on the subject, Joey here finds Maggie pretty attractive himself." Justin said sitting on the side of Joey's chair and slamming his hand on his back.
"I don't!" Joey said trying not to fall over from the slap.
"Stop hiding it you two, just come out with it!"
"Yeah, just say it!"
"Say it!"
"What are you waiting for?"
"Fine! I like her! Will you all just shut up now!" Joey shouted standing up from his chair. He turned to Maggie who was trying to hold back her laughing. "What?" He asked her, "Do you find that funny?"
"No!" Maggie managed to say before she burst out laughing.
Joey turned to Lydia, confused. "What did I say?" He turned back to Maggie who was slowly recovering. "Are you going to tell me?" He asked her holding back his smile.
Maggie stopped laughing, stiffened up and said, "I...I like you too."
"Is that why you were laughing?" He asked in a confused voice.
"No...Um...your fly is unzipped." She said starting to laugh again.
Joey zipped his pants up and threw a pillow at Maggie. The others were just laughing by now.
"So...so what are...are we going to eat?" JC asked calming down.
"How about pizza, I don't feel like cooking either." Lance suggested.
"Great, I'll order." Justin said as he turned to the go into the kitchen.
"I'll help you." Lydia said as she followed Justin into the kitchen.
Everyone in the living room stared at each other not knowing what to do when Lance said, "Yeah, well it sounds like they need help." He got up and went into the kitchen.
"He might get lost in there...Big kitchen." Chris said following Lance's lead.
"I'll help you!" JC said running into the kitchen leaving Joey and Maggie alone.
Joey looked at Maggie and laughed, not knowing what to do. Maggie laughed back feeling the same awkwardness as him. "So..." Said Joey.
(From the kitchen) "What did they just say?" asked a person in a hoarse whisper.
"Shh! They'll hear you!" Answered an even louder voice.
Joey points to the door and whispers, "They're listening in on us. Follow my lead." He winks and says, "Wow! Are those edible underwear! Do they taste good? Wait let me see!"
Just then they hear a thump come from the kitchen. Maggie stifles her laughter and says, "You've done this before haven't you?"
Joey picks up a pillow to muffle his laughter then says, "Oh, yes, don't you remember? The night before..."
Maggie gets up, walks to the kitchen door and says, "Oh! Now I remember, sorry I was just so drunk!"
Joey gets up and stands by Maggie, they open the door sending 5 people to the floor.
"Ooof!"
"Ow!"
"My butt!"
"Ooh, this is comfy!" Justin, who was on top of Lydia said smiling.
"Isn't it though?" Lydia said beaming. They are silent for a few seconds, staring at each other with wide smiles on their faces until Chris says,
"Um, hello!" He waves his hand in front of Justin's face. "You there?"
Justin slowly gets off Lydia and helps her up. "Shut up, Chris...So...so what was going in here?"
"We knew you were listening." Joey said, "We wanted to scare you, I guess we did."
"I'm sure you knew, sure!" JC said smiling.
"Aw, shut up!" Maggie said pushing JC.
****************
One and a half months later: Joey woke up to the sound of screaming. He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs just as JC and Lance came running from their rooms. They looked at each other then ran out of their side of the house to Maggie and Lydia's half. Joey opened the door and ran upstairs towards the screaming. He arrived at Maggie's room and stopped at the door. Lydia was cradling Maggie in her arms. Maggie's face was red and streaked with tears, she was still screaming.
"I can't get her to stop!" Lydia cried to Joey, and the others who had gathered behind him.
"Let me try!" Joey said rushing to Maggie's side and taking her in his arms. "Shh, It's OK. We're here now. Nothing can hurt you. Shh." He rocked her back and forth caressing her head as she quieted down.
"I...I was so scared. He was after me. He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!" Maggie cried into Joey's chest. Joey looked up at Lydia, she had tears rolling down her face and Justin was behind her hugging her shoulders. He turned his face and looked out the window, still comforting Maggie.
"It's going to be a long night." He thought to himself as he said, "JC will you get some blankets, we'd better stay here tonight."
****************
The next morning Maggie woke up to see Joey, Lydia, and Justin sleeping by her bed. She sat up and saw JC, Chris and Lance sleeping by the door. She sighed as she remembered what had happened the night before. Not wanting to wake anyone up she slowly moved to the bathroom door and walked in. She closed the door behind her and started the shower.
Joey woke up and looked at Maggie's bed...She wasn't there! "Lydia! Lydia!" Joey said shaking her awake.
"What?" Lydia said sitting up, still groggy.
"Maggie's not in her bed!" He said standing up.
"What? She was there when I went to sleep." Lydia said getting up and stepping on Justin to get to the hallway.
"Hey! I'm trying to sleep here!"
"Can it, Justin, Maggie's missing." Lydia said as she disappeared into the hallway.
"She's missing?! But she was just in here!" He said waking the others up.
"Wait guys, I found her." Lydia said as she appeared in the doorway and leaned against the side of the door. "She's taking a shower."
Joey sighed loudly and sat down on Maggie's bed resting his head in his hands. Why did he care so much? He barely knows this girl and he cares so much! He needed some rest, he needed to get out. Away from here, away from this. Joey got up and said, "I'm going out for a while, tell Maggie I'll be back later." He walked out of her room leaving the others confused.
Maggie walked out of the bathroom, while drying her hair with a towel , and bumped into Joey. "Oh! Sorry I didn't see you." Maggie said surprised.
Joey looked at her, looked at how beautiful she was a felt like crying. "I have to go." He choked out as he pushed passed her and ran out to his car.
Maggie stood in the hallway feeling a big piece of her leave with Joey. Why had he left so quickly, he looked so sad. "Lydia?" Maggie said as she walked to her room. She saw Lydia come out of her room with JC who was holding folded blankets.
"Yes?" She said walking up to Maggie. "Are you OK, you look like you're going to cry again." She slipped an arm around Maggie's shoulders and they walked to Lydia's room. "Tell me what's wrong."
Maggie sat down on the bed and choked out a sob. "I don't know, Lyd. I don't know what's wrong with me." She said crying.
"Nothing's wrong with you." Lydia said sitting next to Maggie. "Why would you say a thing like that?"
"Joey...He looked sad when he saw me. He looked like he was going to cry, I think he is sorry he met me." Maggie said resting her head on Lydia's shoulder.
"Oh, come on. Joey likes you, he might have just been shaken up about last night. You scared him pretty bad. Don't you remember?" Lydia asked lifting Maggie's head off her shoulder.
Maggie nodded, "I remember screaming and him holding me. I remember that."
"Well then, there you go. Would some one who hates you hug you? I think he cares. Don't worry, you don't need to worry about anything anymore." Lydia paused for a minute and stood up. "Um...do you think it would be all right if I moved in?"
"What?" Maggie said standing up surprised.
"Well, you need some one right now. I don't feel you are safe here by yourself so, why not?" Lydia said smiling.
"Well...It would be nice." Maggie said with a small smile appearing on her lips.
"Great, We'll start this weekend. Oh, everything is going to be fine from now on. We can both start out with clean slates." Lydia said hugging Maggie.
"A new start. I like that." Maggie said. "I like that a lot."
****************
Joey pulled his car next to the park. He walked to the swings and sat down on one. He watched the ducks in the pond as he thought about Maggie. Why was he so worked up? Why did he get weak when he saw her? Why could he never get her off of his mind? He thought about her day and night. He couldn't tell her that. That would put her through more pain. He didn't want to hurt her, not like Ryan did. She wasn't ready for him to tell her. She was too good for all the pain she was going through. If only he could wait to tell her. But he didn't want to hurt her! he let out a sigh of frustration and put his head in his hands. What was he doing? He should be with Maggie if he cared so much about her. But it hurt to be with her, to be with her knowing he couldn't have her. He felt like his heart was being ripped to shreds and he could do nothing to stop it. Joey lifted his head, tears in his eyes and looked across the park. He saw a couple sitting on a bench. They were holding hands, she had her head on his shoulder. "God, If he only knew what he had." Joey thought to himself as he got up and left the park.
****************
One week later: "Is that all of the boxes?" JC asked Lydia as he carried in a box from her car.
"I think so, here I'll take it upstairs. Give you some rest." She added with a wink.
"Maggie! I have the last box in my hands!" Lydia said as she walked into her new room with a look of triumph on her face. She stopped when she saw Maggie, she was on the floor looking pitiful again. Lydia set down the box and asked, "Is it Joey?" Maggie nodded. "He'll be back soon. He's probably Ok." She said patting her friends back for comfort.
Joey had been at his house 3 times in the last week. He would come and go without telling anyone. Maggie was worried, she even missed him. Just then Maggie heard laughter coming from downstairs, she got up, followed by Lydia.
"Hey...What's going on..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw the man at the door, it was Joey. She wasn't sure what to say, she hadn't seen him since the thing in the hallway. He turned to her and waved.
"Hi." He said.
Maggie shifted on the step she had stopped on. "Um...hi." She started walking down the rest of the steps and stopped at the bottom. All of the sudden the ran to Joey and started hitting him and shouted, "Where have you been you jerk! I have been so worried! I thought you had gone suicidal or something!" Joey was shocked at first then grabbed her hands.
"Stop! Let me explain. I..." He looked around and saw 5 face staring back at him, "Can we go some where, I need to talk to you."
Maggie still angry nodded her head and grabbed her jacket. They both got into Joey's car and he started driving. "Where are we going?" Maggie asked turning to Joey.
"The park, I just needed to take you some place quite to talk." He said not taking his eyes off the road.
"Talk about what? Are you going to tell me why you have been gone for the last week? How about how you never told anyone where you were going, or when you'd be back!" Maggie said raising her voice.
"I'll explain! Just give me a chance!" He said pulling up to the park. "Let's go to the swings." They got out of the car and walked to the swings, sitting down next to each other. Joey turned to Maggie, she had her head down, not wanting to look up. "I know you're upset." He said as he watched her nod her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but I...I don't know how to say this, but I need you." He looked back at her watching as she slowly lifted her head. "That sounds really strange, I know, but when I'm with you I feel so...so...and when I'm not with you I feel, I feel empty...I feel...I really..."
Maggie put her hand on Joey's lips, silencing him. He looked into her eyes and saw they were filling with tears.
"I..." Joey tried to say, but Maggie stopped him with a short kiss.
"Shh. I know...I know." She said as she took him in her arms and they hugged. The two sat in the park for an hour not saying anything, just sitting, and being together. They were too busy with what had just happened to notice the storm clouds approach. They only noticed them when it started pouring.
"Oh my God!" Maggie screamed as she ran for Joey's car. Joey, who was not far behind her, unlocked her door and leapt to his side opening the door after 3 tries. He turned to Maggie who was laughing. She looked so pretty.
"Where to?" He asked not taking his eyes of her.
"What do you mean? Where would we go? It's raining, we're soaked. Aren't we going home?" She asked.
"Well, I guess. I just thought we could go some where else, but I guess you're right. We are soaked." He said turning on the car.
"Well...Where did you have in mind." Maggie said putting her hand on his.
****************
"Where are they?" Lydia asked Justin as she looked out the window of the living room. "It's pouring outside. Do you think their OK?" She asked turning to him. He could see the fear etched in her face and walked over to her, putting his arm around her.
"They're OK. Joey wouldn't do anything stupid and he's a good driver. I'm sure they are safe inside a restaurant or something."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Maggie said putting her head on Justin's shoulder. "They might even be shopping at the mall or something. Maggie wouldn't be outside in this weather."
****************
"I can't believe we are out here!" Maggie shouted as she ran to catch up to Joey who was walking fast up to the top of the hill. "Why are we out here in the rain again?" She asked catching up to him.
"It's so pretty at the top, the rain pours down into the lake forming a waterfall...It's fun to jump off of too." He added with one of his eyebrows raised.
"You're kidding!" Maggie shouted. "You want me to jump of the cliff?"
"It's not a cliff, it's just a small hill with a ledge..."
"No, no it's a cliff and I'm not going to jump off of it!" Maggie said backing away from Joey.
"Oh come on!" Joey said taking her hand. "I'll jump with you! It's really fun, I've done it a million times before. Easy as pie, come on!"
"I don't like pie." Said Maggie smiling.
"Come on!" He pleaded, I'll be right here with you. You'll love it, I swear. I wont let you go by yourself either. I'll be jumping with you."
"Uh...OK. Why do I have the feeling I am going to regret this?" She said as she let Joey lead her to the edge of the hill, where the waterfall was.
"You ready?" He asked looking at her with excitement. She nodded. "On the count of three. One...Two...THREE!" He shouted as they jumped hand in hand of the edge into the water below. They both landed with a small splash. Joey was the first up, then Maggie.
"THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!" She shouted as she grabbed Joey and hugged him. "I've never felt so free in my entire life!"
"I told you you'd like it!" He said laughing as they got out of the water. "Whoa! We are soaked." He said ringing out his shirt.
"Yeah," She said checking Joey out. "Well we should probably get going. Lydia is going to kill us. If we aren't back soon, she'll have the FBI searching the rivers for out bodies."
Joey pulled into the drive and helped Maggie out of the car. They both looked up in time to see Lydia in the window. "She looks pissed." Maggie said laughing as Lydia opened the door.
"Oh my God! What happened to you! You're soaked!" Lydia said letting them in as they gave each other looks and laughed. "This isn't funny! I was worried sick about you two!"
"Calm down Lyd. We are fine, we're here right? Not in some hospital." Maggie said walking up the stairs to her room.
Lydia followed her and kept complaining, leaving Justin and Joey in the living room. "This is serious Maggie! I thought something happened to you!"
"You worry too much Lyd! It's not like Ryan is going to escape from jail and attack me." Maggie said getting frustrated. "You can't protect me all the time, I can take care of myself."
"Oh really! You can , can you! What about all the times I had to come here and scrape you off the floor to take you to the hospital! Huh? What about all the times you were crying, helpless in the corner with nothing to do, nowhere to go. You always told me you felt pretty helpless then, huh? You can't tell me not to worry about you!" Lydia finished and stomped out of the room, leaving Maggie, shocked, on her bed, soaking wet and feeling as if she had just been slapped, hard.
Lydia pounded her feet on the stairs as she walked down them towards the living room. She moved passed Joey and Justin into the kitchen. "What was that?" Justin asked Joey, who shrugged.
Maggie sat on her bed, shocked. She couldn't believe Lydia said that. She had never heard her talk like that, ever. She felt like crying, but didn't. She got up slowly and walked to the window, it was still raining. She looked down at herself, she was still wet. She sighed and walked slowly to the bathroom to take a shower and dry off.
Lydia poured herself a glass of Coke and sat down at the kitchen table. She shouldn't have blown up in Maggie's face like that. She said some awful things. She was just so mad! She had done so much for Maggie and it seemed like she didn't even notice, or care.
"Are you OK?" Justin asked as he sat down next to her. Lydia looked up from her Coke and sighed.
"I guess so. I will be thanks." She said smiling weakly at Justin.
"You sure, you looked pretty mad. What happened up there?" He asked looking interesting and giving her his full attention.
"I was mad, I'm not any more. I have no right to be mad, not right now." She said. "Really I'm OK."
Justin shrugged and said OK.
Joey walked out of the bathroom drying off his hair when he heard the phone ring. "Hello." He said picking up the phone.
"Who is this?" Asked a voice at the other end.
"Joey...Um, who is this?" Joey asked. He didn't recognize the voice.
"That's for me to know and you to never find out. I have a message from Ryan."
"Oh, really." Said Joey getting concerned.
"Stay the fuck away from Maggie or you'll be sorry."
"Oh really, why is that?" Joey asked interested.
"Cause you'll be dead."
"Who is this?" Joey shouted into the phone. "This isn't funny, who is this?"
"Oh, trust me this is no joke, buddy. You just make sure you stay away from Maggie." The man shouted as he hung up the phone. Joey hung up the phone slowly. He sat down on the couch and tried to calm himself. Who was that guy? What was he going to do. Not see Maggie! He couldn't do that! Joey didn't want to tell her either, that would just scare her and he didn't want to do that. Joey got up and went next door, he went in through the back, into the kitchen.
"Lydia!" Joey yelled as Lydia walked into the kitchen with a worried look on his face. When she saw him, she saw fear etched on his face and in his eyes.
"What is it?" Lydia asked rushing to his side. He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "What is it?"
Joey let go of Lydia and stumbled to the nearest chair. "I don't know what to do! One of Ryan's friends, or I'm pretty sure one of his friends just called me."
"What!" Lydia said as she sat down next to Joey at the table. "What did he say, what did he want? Why did he call you?"
"He threatened me. He's going to kill me if I keep on seeing Maggie." Joey said tears burning in his eyes.
"What?" They heard a voice say. Joey turned around, it was Maggie.
"Oh God! Maggie, I didn't know you were in here!" Joey said getting up and walking to Maggie.
"What did you just say? What about Ryan?" Maggie said pushing aside Joey. "Don't try to hide it from me, I want to know. What is going on?"
Joey turned Maggie around, she had fire in her eyes. "Some one just called and told me that Ryan told them to kill me if I went near you." Joey said hastily, not knowing how she would react. Maggie stared blankly past Joey's shoulder.
"Will he ever leave me alone?" She whispered as she reached out and grabbed Joey and hugged him. He caressed her head and squeezed her. "What are you going to do?" Maggie asked crying into Joey's shoulder.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked, crying himself. "I want to be with you, but not if you don't want me. What do you want me to do?" He asked again.
"I want you to stay, stay with me." She whispered holding him tightly. He closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head. Lydia who had been watching all this let out a sob and startled the two causing them to separate.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." She said whipping her eyes. Maggie walked to Lydia and hugged her,
"He's never going to leave me alone! There's nothing I can do!" She said crying as Lydia hugged her. She gave Joey a concerned.
"Maybe I should stay here for a while, look out for you." Joey suggested watching the two girls separate.
"Stay...here?" Maggie said.
"Yeah, I could sleep on the couch, just in case some came in. I could protect you."
"Protect? What about protecting?" Justin said walking into the kitchen. Maggie and Joey turned to face him.
"Oh, I'll explain later." Joey said turning back to Maggie. "So what do you say? Will you let me stay here? I would feel much better if I did."
"Well...Lydia what do you think?" Maggie asked turning to Lydia who was still wiping tears off her face.
"I think it's a good idea." She said.
"Great, I'll get my stuff and...where should I put it?" He asked stopping at the door.
"We have a spare room downstairs." Maggie said with a small smile on her face, not yet over what she had heard.
****************
Two weeks later: "I'VE GOT FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES! WHERE THE WHISKEY DROWNS AND THE BEER CHASES MY BLUES AWAY!" Lydia sang loudly as she made dinner. She was dancing around the kitchen and just then Justin walked in and grabbed her around the waist and started dancing and singing with her. Lance walked in, hearing the commotion, and said,
"What is this? Dance Party Garth Brooks?"
Justin and Lydia stopped and stared at Lance. "What the hell was that? That isn't funny..." Lance turned red with embarrassment and left the kitchen. Justin turned back to Lydia and said, "Shall we?"
"NO! I have to finish making dinner, and...that was weird..." She said turning back, slowly, to the pot of noodles cooking on the stove.
"OK, but if you ever want to have a hoe-down in the kitchen again, call me first!" He said leaving the kitchen, grinning widely.
Lydia chuckled to herself and started simmering the spaghetti sauce. Just then Maggie walked in.
"Hey, do you need any help? I could set the table or something."
"Here cut these onions." Lydia said handing Maggie a whole load of onions."
"God! You think we have enough?" Maggie said gaping at the mound of onions before her.
Lydia gave her an evil look and said, "No! We'll never have enough onions!"
"Onions? What about onions?" Justin said walking into the kitchen.
"Just go set the table!" Lydia said shoving plates into his arms as she rolled her eyes.
"Yes mother!" Justin said as he skipped into the dining room.
"Are you OK?" Joey said walking to Maggie.
She looked up and had "tears" in her eyes. "What? I'm not crying or anything?! What?" She said confused.
"You have tears in your eyes." He said pointing to her watery eyes.
"I'm chopping onions!" She said picking up an onion. "But thanks for caring." she said kissing his cheek.
"I'm done mummy!" Justin said hopping back into the kitchen.
"Good boy!" Lydia said patting Justin on the head. "Dinner is almost ready, would you go get everyone else."
"Of coarse mommy!" He said as he frolicked out into the living room.
As he walked in he heard, "No you idiot! Scully cell phone number is 555-0978!"
"No! That's not it, Chris!" JC screamed.
"Um...Dinner's ready." Justin said giving Chris and JC a funny look. JC pushed Chris, who was trying to get up. Chris tripped JC, he landed on Lance, causing the two to fall to the floor. Chris laughed as he walked over them, into the dining room.
****************
"Do you want some lemonade?" Joey asked Maggie who was sitting under a tree reading a book.
"Thanks." She said taking the glass from him. "It's really hot out here."
"Yeah, it's supposed to get up to the 90's later." He said, not sure what to say. They spent the next couple of minutes in an odd silence.
"So..." Maggie said slowly as she took a sip of the lemonade. "You want to do something?" She asked.
"Sure! Like what?" He asked purking up.
"Well, since it's hot we could go to the beach." She suggested.
"Sounds great!" He said getting up. "I'll get my stuff together. Meet me at my car in 10 minutes." He said walking into the house.
10 minutes later: "Hey I got everything!" Joey said opening the door for Maggie.
"Great, I have all I need!" She said patting her bag.
When they go to the beach they found it packed. "Well this is great!" Joey said.
"Yeah. Super..." Maggie said sadly.
"You want to find another beach?"
"There is no other beach." Maggie said looking sadly at Joey.
"We could go to that spot...You know the waterfall!?"
"Yeah! That would be fun." Maggie said getting back into the car.
They arrived at the "spot" and got out of the car. Maggie began to undo the top button of her shorts, she looked up. Joey was staring at her with an odd look on his face.
"Maybe I should..." He said turning around. Maggie laughed and turned around herself. She looked over her shoulder and saw Joey taking off his shirt, she looked away quickly and felt the blood rush into her cheeks. She finished changing and said.
"Is it OK if I turn around now?"
"Yeah." His voice sounded distant. She turned around and saw Joey standing by the pond. "You coming?" She walked to the side and put her feet in the water. Joey waded in. "You coming in or not?"
"It's cold!" She said laughing.
"Oh come on!" He said walking towards her. "It's not that cold!" He was next to her now. He playfully splashed her with water.
"Hey!" She said, he ran into the middle, laughing. She followed him and splashed him.
"See, that wasn't hard was it?"
"Jerk!" She said as she splashed him again. He splashed her back and after a few minutes there was a big fight going on. Joey tried to splash Maggie, but slipped on a rock and fell into the water. Maggie began to laugh, then stopped. Joey hadn't come up yet.
"Joey! Come on, this isn't funny where are you!?" She screamed, turning around just in time to see him grab her and pull her under. She hit him and they both went back to the surface. He was laughing, she wasn't. She hit him again. "That wasn't funny!"
"Yes it was!" He said laughing, after a minute she began to laugh too.
"I guess it was..." She admitted causing him to laugh even more. "Shut up!" She said hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, it was funny, now it's not!" She hit him again a little harder.
"OK, OK!" He said lifting his hands in the air. She smiled. "You have a pretty smile." He said walking closer to her. She blushed.
"Oh, really?" She said trying not to laugh. "Do I!?"
"Yes, you do." He said seriously. She looked away, embarrassed. He lifted her chin with his finger and kissed her. He backed up and opened his eyes, her were still closed. She was breathing very heavily and had a strange look on her face. He began to wonder if he should have done that. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, a smile slowly formed on her lips. He sighed as she leaned in and kissed him again. They parted and she was beaming, her hair shining in the sun made her look beautiful.
"You're gorgeous." He said hugging her tightly. She let him go.
"Hold on." She said walking to the car.
"What?" He asked following her out of the water. She came out of the car holding a small radio. She turned it on, it was "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan.
"You want to dance?" She asked holding her hand out for him.
"Um, OK..." He said as they began to dance. After the song stopped a commercial came on, but they didn't stop dancing, they didn't notice. After a couple songs and commercial breaks had gone by Maggie opened her eyes, it was dark.
"Oh!" She said surprised. "What time is it?" She asked Joey.
"Let me check." He looked in the car and the clock said 5:30.
"Wow, it's late!" She said shivering.
"Your cold, let's go home." He opened the door for her and jumped into the car.
"Lydia is going to be really mad!" Maggie said laughing.
"Yeah, but it was worth it, right?" He asked looking at her.
"Yes. I could sit throught twelve of her lectures for just 5 minutes of today. I had a good time. Oh but I'm hungry!" She said putting her hand on her stomach.
"You want to get something before we go home?" He asked.
"OK, let's just get a burger and take it home." They pulled into McDonalds and got some food. When they got home they slowly got out of the car, dreading the lecture they would get. They heard the door open and Lydia stepped out. She looked mad and said.
"Have a good day?"
Joey and Maggie turned to each other shocked. "Yeah...Yeah we did." Maggie managed to say.
"Did you eat? Cause we didn't." Lydia said as she took Maggie's bag.
"Yes, we have food here." Joey said lifting up the bag of McDonalds.
"OK, great. How about you guys go change, then you can come down here and eat." She said pushing Maggie upstairs.
"O...OK?!" Maggie said as Joey followed her upstairs.
Lydia turned to Justin. "That was hard..."
"Yeah, you looked like you were going to explode." Justin said laughing. "But they'll be glad you didn't, cause if you had, we would have had to clean up the mess."
Lydia picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "Shut up!"
A few minutes later Maggie and Joey walked downstairs and saw Lydia and everyone else putting on their jackets.
"Where are you going?" Maggie asked.
"Well, since you guys have food, we figured we'd go out to eat." Lydia said.
"Yeah, leave you two alone." Chris said nudging Lance.
Lydia rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah sure. So we'll see you later."
Joey turned to Maggie, "So, let's eat!" They walked to the couch, turned on the TV and started to eat.
In the middle of their dinner Maggie looked over and saw that Joey had some ketchup on his cheek. "Oh, you have some ketchup...Here let me get it." She said wiping his cheek with a napkin. Joey reached up and grabbed her hand. He leaned forward and kissed her. He pushed her into the couch and kissed her again. She lifted him up and stared into his eyes, not knowing if she should do this. When she saw them she knew, yes. She pulled him down and kissed him.
****************
Later on that night, Lydia and the guys walked into the living room to see Joey and Maggie sleeping in their pajamas on couch. Maggie had her head resting on Joey's shoulder, Joey's head was resting on her head. Chris slowly walked behind them and shouted,
"WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!" Joey and Maggie jumped, startled by Chris's shouting. Joey hit Chris on the back of his head. Everyone laughed.
Then Maggie said sleepily, "Well I'm going to bed."
"OK well goodnight." Joey said as he kissed Maggie on the forehead.
"Whoa when did this happen?!" Lance said shocked.
Maggie smiled and just said, "Long story, tell you later." She walked upstairs, leaving Joey smiling and Lance confused.
"OK, so no one is going to tell me what's going on?" Lance said looking around at the rest of the people in the living room.
"Good-night Lance." Joey said smiling as he walked upstairs. Lance looked at everyone else, they laughed and walked upstairs leaving him angry and even more confused than before.
****************
For the next couple of weeks Joey and Maggie got to know each other better. They went to movies, went out dancing and whenever they got a chance went to "The Spot", the place where they fell in love. With every moment they were together, their love grew stronger. They were the perfect match. Maggie finally thought she had met the perfect man and had long left the "Ryan Thing" behind her. Lance finally found out what was going on with Joey and Maggie. Nobody knew what was going on between Lydia and Justin, until...
"Hey does anyone know where the newspaper is?" JC said walking into the darkened living room. He switched on the light and saw Lydia and Justin making out on the couch. "Whoa! Sorry! Hey wait! What are you two doing?"
"What does it look like genius?" Justin said throwing a pillow at JC. "Now could you leave us alone."
JC walked into the kitchen and said, "If you want to see something really interesting go in the living room."
Lance, Chris, Joey and Maggie walked to the living room. When they got to the door Chris dropped his water on the carpet.
"OK, yeah everyone just come in and watch!" Justin said standing up.
"OK!" Chris said as he walked to the couch and sat down next to Lydia. Lydia pushed Chris and laughed.
"Go away!"
"But he invited us to watch!" Chris said sticking out his bottom lip and pointing to Justin.
****************
The next day at the prison steps: "Hey thanks for bailing me out Tony. You're a real pal." Ryan said as the two of them walked out of the prisons to Tony's car.
"No prob."
"So what's the word on that guy? You bust him up yet, Tony?" Ryan said as Tony started the car.
"No, not yet. We were waiting for you to do it, thought you'd enjoy it a little more." Tony said winking at Ryan.
"Good thinkin'." Ryan said as he looked out the window. He had an evil grin on his face. "Just wait till I get my hands on him. They wont be able to identify the body when I'm through with that prick."
"Johnny's waiting at the warehouse for us."
"He got the stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Good, so everything's on?"
"Yeah, everything's on."
"Good, nothing's going to ruin this. Not nothing, not nobody."
****************
"So you guys going to be OK by yourselves for a few hours." Joey asked Maggie.
"We aren't that defenseless Joey." She said pushing him out the door. "We'll be fine, just go and have fun."
Maggie and Lydia watched the guys leave then closed the door. "I thought they would never leave!" Lydia said falling into the couch.
"I know what you mean. God they're only going 25 miles away!" Maggie said plopping down next to her.
"So what do you want to do?"
"How about we rent some movies." Lydia suggested.
"OK, let's go to the store. We can get some popcorn too!"
The two of them walked down to the corner store and got Nightwatch and City of Angels, oh yeah, let's not forget the popcorn. When they got home Lydia went to make the popcorn and Maggie got blankets for the couch.
****************
At the warehouse: "Hey Lorenzo get that box over here!" Tony shouted.
"Yo Tony! Keep it down! You want the cops to here you!?" Ryan said in a hushed, yet harsh voice.
"Sorry Ryan. So we have everything?" Tony said squatting next to Ryan.
"Yeah, let's go." Johnny said as the group walked to the van, pulling their ski masks over their faces.
****************
"Hey, guys I have a funny feeling about this. We should go back home." Joey said looking nervous.
"Why? Nothing's going to happen. Loosen up, as they said they are not defenseless." Justin said keeping his eye on the road.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I still feel like something bad is going to happen." Joey said leaning back into his seat.
****************
"That was a great movie!" Maggie said sniffling. "That's a sad ending!"
"Yeah," Lydia said dreamily. "I'm going to make some more popcorn. You want anything?"
"No thanks, the popcorn will be fine." Maggie said turning on the next movie. "Hurry up, I started it!"
"OK, it will only take a minute!" Lydia walked into the kitchen and opened the bag of popcorn. She put it in the microwave and waited by the counter. She heard a noise outside and walked to the window. She opened the curtain of the window and looked out. She saw nothing, but heard anther noise. She opened the back door. "Hello?" She said. "Is anyone out here?" Just then she felt a pain in her side and heard a gunshot. She tried to turn around, but blacked out.
****************
Meanwhile in the car: "Guys, I really have a bad feeling, can we just turn around?" Joey said in a pleading voice.
"Oh fine!" Lance said, "Turn the car around JC."
"When we get home and nothing is wrong, I am going to beat you!" Justin said as he sulked in the back seat.
"I'll help you!" Chris said looking out the window and sighing.
****************
"Lydia! What's taking you so long!" Maggie shouted. "The movie is starting!" She waited for a response and got none. She heard a thud and got up from the couch. She slowly walked to the kitchen door. She heard the TV turn off from behind her and turned. She saw a shadowy figure by the TV and squinted. "Who are you? Lydia? This isn't funny, turn on the light!" She waited, the light didn't turn on. "Lydia-"
"I'm not Lydia." Said an all too familiar voice.
"Oh God!" The light turned on, revealing Ryan and three other guys. "Ryan-" Maggie gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd pay a visit to you, dear!" He said walking closer to her. She shrank back into the couch and cried out. "I forgot how pretty you can get when you are scared." Ryan said caressing her cheek with is finger. He lifted hid hand and hit her across the face. "How could you cheat on me baby? I need you and you go off with some prick!" He hit her again, and picked her up by the hair. She moaned in pain. He turned to Tony, Johnny and Lorenzo. "Yo Tony! I think I'll take it from here. You go back to the warehouse, I'll be there as soon as I'm done with her." He turned back to Maggie and grinned at her. "We're going have some fun!"
****************
"Hurry up JC! I'm really getting scared." Joey said leaning forward in his seat.
"Calm down man." Chris said pushing Joey back. "Nothing is going on, they're fine."
"I don't know about that. I just have this horrible feeling." Joey said turning to Chris, his eyes ablaze with emotion.
"Gosh! You really are freaking out aren't you?" Chris said. "JC! Step on it will ya?"
****************
Ryan kicked her again in the stomach, causing a pain to rise up her left side. "You think I would just forget about you? You think you can just leave me? You're mine! I own you! You hear me!" He said picking her up by the shirt. "YOU'RE MINE! Mine, Mine, Mine." He kept shouting Mine and with each word came another harsh kick to the stomach. He rolled her over and got on top of her, slapping her face. He grabbed her neck and started strangling her, hitting her head against the floor boards.
****************
In the kitchen: Lydia came too and got up. She felt her shoulder and moaned. She lifted her hand to her face and saw blood. She heard noises coming from the living room, she slowly walked to the counter, feeling woozy, and picked up a butcher knife. She stumbled to the door and opened it. She saw Ryan beating Maggie and felt the anger well up. Walking faster she ran up behind him. She tried to stab his shoulder, but he turned, she got his arm. He screamed and hit Lydia across the head, with so much force it caused her to fall to the floor, unconscious.
"Lydia!" Maggie cried. "You bastard how could you?" Maggie said in fury. Ryan kicked her in the head, causing blood to fly out of Maggie's mouth onto the floor. Ryan got on her again and started beating her in the kidneys. He began yelling again, but her head was spinning too much to understand the words. He got up and picked up a pillow form the couch, pushing it on her head. She tried to get loose from his grasp but it wasn't possible. She began to feel weak. She felt his weight rise off of her and gasped for air. She threw the pillow off her face and saw Joey struggling with Ryan. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She turned to Lydia and frantically crawled to her, her breath was coming out in short raspy gasps. She looked back over her shoulder and saw a blurred vision. She crawled closer. Ryan hit Joey in the jaw, and pulled out a gun. Joey jumped on Ryan and tried to bang the gun from his hand. Ryan kicked Joey in the stomach, causing Joey's grip to loosen. Ryan lifted the gun and shot Joey in the stomach. He pulled Joey off him and wiped his mouth.
"You're little boyfriend sure can fight." He chuckled coming closer to Maggie. Joey reached up and grabbed Ryan's leg. The gun flew from his hand. The two men scampered for it, Joey got to it first. He turned and faced Ryan and shot him in the head. Ryan collapsed and Maggie heard a few gurgles, then there was nothing. She saw Joey collapse and crawled to him.
"Joey!" She yelled, picking his head up. "Joey! Oh God!" She looked down and saw a gaping hole in his stomach. She caressed his face. "I'll go get help!" Maggie said getting up. Joey grabbed her arm and pulled her down.
"There's no time." He choked. "It's too late."
"No! Don't say that! You're going to be OK!" She screamed. The tears flowing from her eyes, making clean streams on her blood smeared face. Joey reached up and wiped away her tears, smearing more blood on her cheeks. She reached up and grabbed his hand.
"Don't cry!" He said. "You'll be OK."
"But you wont!" She sobbed.
"I just wanted to help you! I felt it, I felt this coming. I told them to turn around, they dropped me off! I...I should have made them come in! I ruined everything!" He cried.
"No, no! You did everything you could!" Maggie said softly to him, choking the tears back. She put her hand on his cheeks and lifted his face to kiss him. His tears flowing freely across her fingers.
"I love you!" He choked out, his voice becoming raspy.
"I love you too! I will always love you!" She whispered bending down to kiss his forehead.
He reached up and grabbed her hands placing them over her heart. "I'll be in here, always. If you need...need me, I'll be in here." He stuttered squeezing her hands. She let out a sob and looked into his eyes, they were red rimmed and full of pain. He coughed, causing blood to squirt out of the bullet hole onto Maggie's shirt. Blood was cascading in small streams from the corners of his mouth.
"Oh! Don't leave me!" She screamed. "I need you! I love you!"
Joey coughed again and the world went blurry. Maggie's face began to fade away. "I can't see you!" He shouted, getting tense, and increasing the pressure he was putting on her hands by squeezing them.
"I'm here!" She whispered, kissing his lips, they felt cool. "I'll never leave you!"
Joey's breath became shorter and raspier. He coughed again, Maggie caressed his cheeks again. His lips were turning blue. "Joey!" She whispered. He let out one last gasp for air, and his body went limp. She screamed and picked up his limp body and kissed his motionless face all over. "Joey!" She said panicking. "Oh Joey!" She lifted his lifeless hands to her chest and squeezed them. "I love you!" She sobbed, "You'll always be in here, no matter what. I'll never forget you!" She choked, cradling his inanimate body in her arms.
