When She Cries

The next day, Mike came over to bring me my homework for the next few weeks. I was uneasy about him being here, because I was home alone. The guys had to go into the studio and all the girls had things to do. I didn't expect them to be around all the time, but I wanted them around when Mike was here. That way he didn't have as many chances to 'lose his temper' as he puts it.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, sitting next to me on the couch and kissing my forehead.

Right now, he was keeping up his good boyfriend act. I just gave him a tight smile. "Alright, still pretty tired, but I think that's from the meds they have me on."

He seemed to be interested in this piece of information. "What kind of meds?"

I gave him a weird look. "I don't know. Why?"

"What? I can't ask a simple question? Is that too much?" His voice was raising, I knew that it was just the beginning.

"That's not it."

"Then what is it?" He snapped.

"Nothing, let's just drop it," I said, turning away from him the best of my abilities.

He grabbed my arm. "No, we will not drop it, not until you tell me what the hell your problem is."

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Me?! You're the one with the problems lately!"

That earned me a slap across the face. "You know, I've tried having patience with you, Elle, but it's starting to wear thin," he growled. "How about I teach you a lesson?"

Well, him teaching me a lesson ended me up with a black eye, bruised cheek bone, and a few bruises on my arms. This was just perfect! Now something else for me to hide from Dad and the others.

I was up in my bathroom when I heard the front door open and close. "Elle, it's just me! Matt asked me to come check up on you!" It was Jason Berry. I felt a flash of relief, thanking God that it wasn't Mike again.

"Hey," I said softly as I walked out of the bathroom, finally finished with covering up the bruises.

"What're you doing out of bed, Missy?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

I looked at him, then back to the bathroom door. "You really have to ask?"

He smiled. "I'm just messin' with you. So, are you bored yet?" He asked, giving me a knowing smirk.

"Yes!" I exhaled. I really hated just laying around.

"Well... I'm sure I can but you outta jail and take you back to the studio with me."

I smiled. "Really?"

He just laughed. "Get dressed, I'll be down stairs."

"Okay." He didn’t have to tell me twice!

I wasted no time in changing. I didn't know if I was excited about going because I would feel safe with all of them around me, or because I just wanted some human contact after being home by myself all day.

"Ready?" He asked, seeing me come down the stairs.

"Yeah, let's go." He helped me out the door and into the car, then we made our way to the studio.

He was trying to get me to laugh the whole drive there. He would start singing obnoxiously to the radio, or singing to the cars that were passing by.

"Jason," I whined, holding the side with my stitches.

"What?" He whined back.

"Stop making me laugh! It hurts, you butt head!"

He gave me an innocent look. Pfft, yeah right! Innocent my ass!

"Sorry, Elle, I'll stop now." He turned back to looking out the windshield with a look of concentration on his face. It just made me start laughing again.

"Okay, I'm just going to look away now," I said, looking out the window.

"Well fine, be like that. Any other girl would be loving that their in the presence of this hotness."

"You keep telling yourself that," I said, shaking my head.

When we got to the studio, it sounded like they weren't even working... "Elle! Save me!" Jimmy yelped, hiding behind me. "Wait, Elle?" He popped back up, looking at me confused.

"Got ya, Sullivan!" Brian yelled in victory. "Hey, Babe." He smiled at me. "Wait a minute, what're you doing here?"

I looked at Jason. "You didn't tell them?"

He smiled, backing away slowly. "Have fun!" He yelled, before running off.

"I'll get you later, Berry!"

"I'll be sure to tell Mattie that!" That's the bad thing about having those twins run around... Whenever you said Berry, no one knew which one you were talking about.

"Come on," Brian chuckled, leading me to the back of the studio where everyone else was probably at.

"Ah! It's the sick child! Everyone hide!" Larry said, ducking behind a book.

"Ha ha, very funny, Larry," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What're you doing here? Is everything okay?" Dad asked walking over to me.

"Everything's fine, Jason just thought it would be nice for me to get out of the house... And he was right."

"Only the second day, and you're already going crazy?" Johnny asked, laughing. I quickly sent him a glare and stuck my tongue out at him.

"You should really be at home, in bed," Dad said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, all the girls are at work and you said that you'd be here late tonight. I didn't want to be home alone anymore," I mumbled, playing with my hands.

"Why didn't you call Mike and ask him to keep you company?" Fred asked. Yes, the whole crew now knew about me and my personal life. They were all part of our huge family, so why wouldn't they?

"Because he had things to do and I didn't want to hang out with him. I want to hang out with you guys." I looked up at Dad as I said the last part.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "We're really busy, so we won't really be able to hang out."

I shrugged. "That's fine, at least I can spend some time around you guys."

"Alright, whatever."

I knew he was just stressed and tired of the album, but for some reason, that stung. "I can just ask Jason to take me back home," I whispered.

"He has a job to do, Elle, we all do. It's not like we can just drop everything at the drop of a hat," he said harshly.

I felt my eyes start to water. "Then I'll just walk home." My tone was just as bitter, but I didn't care. I walked back to the door we had come through, but was soon stopped by Zacky. "What do you want?" I mumbled, dabbing my eyes so I didn't smudge the cover up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, seeming genuinely concerned. Key word, seemed.

"Why do you care?" I hissed.

He sighed. "Elle, please. Can't you forgive me?"

"It's not that easy, Zack," I said, shaking my head and walking away.

I went and stood against Dad's Escalade, trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't actually walk home. I'd never make it, and I was already starting to feel tired again.

"Come on, Kid, let's get you home," Brian said, walking out with his keys in hand.

“Don't worry about it. I'll just call Mike or Zeke. You have things to do anyways."

He nodded. "Yeah, I do, like taking care of my niece. Now, get in the car."

I was too tired to even think of arguing with him. The whole ride home was such a blur. I only remember getting out of the car and Brian helping me up to my room. Then, I was out like a light, again.