Heartbeats Away From Disaster

- FF 4 Months -
"Jason, I swear, I'm gonna beat you up!" I laughed as I ran across the backyard, using the box I was carrying as a shield from the jet of water that was being shot at me. "It's the middle of October! You're gonna make me catch a cold!"

"It's not like I'm throwing you in a freezing cold pool or anything." Jason replied, chasing after me. "It's just a little bit of water."

"Jason!" I yelled as he nailed me in the middle of my back, sending a cold chill throughout my body. "Stop it!" I laughed as I ran up onto the back porch.

"Or else what?" He teased.

I set the box down beside the sliding door, and turned around, giving Jason a fake glare. He skidded to a stop about a foot away from me and whipped around, heading back in the direction we had just come from. Now that my hands were free, I was able to run a lot faster than I had before, not to mention the fact that I was now able to use my hands to hit Jason.

I took off running after him and caught up just as he was at the edge of the porch. He hopped down the steps and I jumped after him, catching him around his shoulders. He yelled in surprise, dropping his water gun and we both fell down to the ground, each of us laughing wildly.

"Mitzi, get off me you damn spider monkey!" Jason laughed as I wrapped my legs around him and began to pinch whatever part of his body I could reach. "Owch!" He yelled as he wrestled around on the ground. "That hurts." He laughed. "Help me, guys!" He called out to our onlookers, who were comprised of the rest of our gang, as well as a group of our close friends.

Needless to say, Jason didn't receive any help from anybody, but instead was laughed at as he continued to try and pry me away from him.

"Ah, guys, come on." He begged after a couple more minutes. "Mitzi, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I swear. Just let me go."

"No, never." I smirked. "That's what you get for chasing me around with your fucking water gun."

"I wasn't gonn - " He began to protest, but a pair of tattooed arms came into view, wrapping themselves around me and cutting Jason off in the middle of his sentence.

"Come on, spider monkey." Craig laughed as he picked me up with ease and threw me over his shoulder.

"I'm not a spider monkey." I grinned. "Put me down.

"Oh, right, my bad." Craig smirked as he set me back down on my feet. "Orangutan."

"Shut up." I said, suppressing a smile as I hit his arm playfully.

Craig laughed at me and then wrapped a strong arm around me to prevent me from hitting anybody else. "Careful now," he said, "don't want anybody to get hurt from that massive strength of yours." He teased.

"Craigery Michael Owens, you're a punk." I said.

"Why am I a punk? I didn't even do anything." He said defensively.

"Because," I huffed, wriggling out of his grasp, "you're poking fun at my physical strength."

"Or lack there of." Jason teased under his breath. It's my guess that his comment was meant for only him and Craig to hear because when I gave him a dirty look, he laughed nervously and then climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "Anyway, it's getting late," he said, making a point to change the conversation. "I think I'd better head back to my apartment."

With that, he gave me a cute smile and reached over, giving me a quick one armed hug before he released me and headed off to tell everybody else goodnight. Sighing, I let my eyes follow him around the backyard for a few moments before Craig cleared his throat, gaining my attention.

"What?" I asked as he slung an arm across my shoulders in what he thought was a casual manner. But, I knew the boy; he wanted to ask me a favor.

"Can I spend the night tonight?" He asked sweetly. "My heater is broken in my apartment, but it won't be fixed until Tuesday."

"Well if it's broken, just use some extra blankets." I smirked.

"Mitzi," he whined, "you know how fucking cold it gets in my apartment. I'm liable to suffer from frostbite if I have to sleep in there."

"Craigery," I grinned, "you're such a baby." I said simply.

"So ... that means I can spend the night?" He asked with a crooked smile, although he already knew the answer.

I rolled my eyes slightly and suppressed a smile of my own. "I guess."

"Yes, slumber party." He grinned.

"Shut up." I smirked as I shrugged out from underneath his arm. Seeing that the rest of my guests had decided to follow Jason's lead, I gave Craig one last teasing look and went off to bid my friends goodnight. Before long, everybody had cleared out and Craig was helping me wash, dry, and put away the dishes.

Between the two of us, we had gotten everything put away within a few minutes and were on our way to bed. Craig bid me goodnight and headed into the bedroom that he had claimed as his own, leaving me to wander my way to my own room. I changed and did my stuff in the bathroom before I turned out my lights and crawled underneath my covers.

I must have been a lot more tired than I thought because after a few minutes, it felt like I could barely keep my eyes open. Just as I was about to give in to sleep, I heard my bedroom door open and then close. My eyes jerked open and I could barely make out a figure making their way across my room, coming to a stop beside my bed.

"Shh, it's just me." Craig whispered as he pulled back the blankets and crawled in beside me. Once he settled himself in, he pulled the blankets up, letting them rest underneath his chin. Taking a deep breath, he let it out in a soft sigh. "I forgot how fucking comfortable your bed was." He mumbled.

"Yes, it is pretty comfy." I agreed. I hesitated for a moment before I asked, "what are you doing in here, Craig?"

"There's only one blanket on that bed." He said simply. "I'm too lazy to pull some blankets out of the closet, so I decided to come and crawl into bed with you."

"Lazy bitch." I said, grinning into the darkness. I closed my eyes once more and felt the welcoming pull of sleep again. Barely conscious, I vaguely remember Craig's arm slowly wrapping its way around my waist, holding me close to his body before I fell into a deep sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Hello? Mitzi, where are you babe?" Lyle's voice rang through the house clearly. The sound of the door closing behind him echoed loudly in my quiet house.

"I'm in my room." I called back.

About a minute later Lyle appeared in my doorway, watching me as I finished getting dressed. He eyed me up and down for a couple of seconds, a little smile pulling across his face as he examined me in my jeans and bra before he sat down on the edge of my bed.

"So how did the barbeque go last night?" He asked.

"It was good." I said and paused for a second to pull my shirt on over my head. "Some friends of ours came over from New York so it was nice to visit with them."

"That's good." Lyle said quietly. He fell silent once again as I went to grab my sidekick from my bedside table. I saw him looking around my room but didn't pay much attention to him until he emitted a low growl. I stopped myself in mid motion, unsure as to whether or not I had really heard that or not.

"Whose watch is that?" He asked, motioning to my other beside table.

I glanced at the watch in question, and shrugged my shoulders in a nonchalant way. "It's Craig's; he must have left it here."

"What the fuck was he doing in your room?" Lyle growled in a tone that I hadn't ever heard him use before.

I felt the fear flood throughout my body as I instantly recalled what Craig had told me a few months ago. "He ... he spent the night." I whispered, my voice barely audible.

"You know I don't like him being alone with you." Lyle snapped.

"He's my best friend, Lyle."

"You slept with him, didn't you?" He accused.

"No, I didn't, he just - "

I never got the chance to finish my sentence because in a flash Lyle had crossed my bedroom and had a harsh grip on my arm. "Don't lie to me." He growled. "I told you to stay away from him, but still I find his shit here in your room. You slept with him and don't you dare try to deny it."

"Lyle, I - "

"Shut up." He said meanly as he threw me down to the ground effortlessly as if I were some sort of rag doll.

I stared up at him in shock before I regained my composure and gathered my wits, getting up to make a mad dash for the door, but Lyle was too fast. He grabbed a handful of my hair from behind, jerking my head back with a loud snap. I felt a pulsing pain flash throughout my body, but didn't have time to think about it as Lyle wrapped his fingers around my throat, cutting off my air supply.

The only thing I could think to do was kick around, hoping that my feet would come into contact with a rather sensitive spot. It seemed to work, and when my foot hit some part of his body, he uttered a loud swear word and released me, giving me just enough time to run into my bathroom and lock the door behind me.

Tears falling continuously down my face, I pulled out my sidekick and dialed the first number that came to mind. After a couple of rings, Craig's voice answered me on the other line.

"Hey, Mitzi, I'm kinda in the middle of a meeting right now, can I - "

"Craig, please," I cried, "come get me. Please," I begged, "I'm at the house. Lyle's - " my sentence turned into a frightened scream when there was a loud bang on the door, and it gave a violent shake as if it were going to give up at any second.

"Oh shit, Mitzi, Mitzi?!" Craig asked hurriedly. "Sweetheart, are you still there?"

"Yes," I sobbed, "Craig, please hurry. I'm locked in my bathroom, and there's no way out."

"Shh, shh," Craig said, sounding as if he were trying his hardest to keep his emotions under control, "baby, I'll be there before you know it. I promise, I'm coming to get you."

"Craig, hurry." I cried as the bathroom door gave another violent shudder.

"Oh fuck, Mitzi," Craig whispered, "I'm in the car right now."

"Craig - "

There was one last loud bang on the door and it finally gave way, revealing a very pissed off looking Lyle. Before I could say anything else to Craig, Lyle kicked his way through what was left of my door and snatched my phone away, throwing it across the bathroom before he grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me back into my bedroom.

I tried my hardest to fight back, but Lyle swung his arm around, his fist connecting with the side of my face. My vision went black for a second or two before the pain washed over me. I tried to scream, but I was in too much pain to even do that. I tasted the blood in my mouth, a lot of it.

The few minutes that passed seemed surreal to me. I wasn't really aware of what was happening to me, I was vaguely aware of the rooms I was being dragged through. All I remember was that I was thinking I should have just listened to Craig.

Finally, when I felt like I was about ready to pass out for good, I heard the front door open, and I caught a blurry vision of Craig running toward us. From there on in, I closed my eyes and instead listened to the violent sounds crashing around me. I heard the sound of wood splitting, glass breaking, and the sickening sound of fists coming into contact with flesh.

Then, I heard a deafening crash, much louder than anything else I heard, and managed to open my eyes just enough to see my ruined sliding glass door. All was quiet for a moment or two before the figure standing beside the destroyed door quickly made their way back to me.

"Mitzi?" Craig asked in a shaky, unsure voice. Gently, his hands underneath my body as he cradled me against him. "Mitzi, can you hear me?"

"Craig." I strained to even simply utter his name.

"Oh my God, sweetheart," he whispered, his voice breaking. I felt his soft fingers on my face as he did his best to brush aside my hair. "The cops are on their way," he assured me, "we're gonna get you taken care of. Lyle's never gonna hurt you again, sweetheart."

"Don't leave me." I begged.

"No, no, I wont'." He said. "I'll be right here, I'm not going anywhere." He said softly.

"Craig, I'm sorry," I said hoarsely, "I should have listened to you. I should have left Lyle that night you saw him kissing another girl."

"Shh, it doesn't matter. You're safe now, I'm gonna take care of you." He whispered before he leaned over, pressing his lips gently to mine. He pulled away after just a second though, as if he didn't dare touch me any more than he had to for fear that he'd cause me just more pain. He sniffed slightly, and then I felt the warm drops of his tears on my face. "I love you, Mitzi," he whispered, "I'm never gonna let anybody hurt you ever again." He promised.