Getting Away With You

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^*Matt’s POV*^
“Hey, did you notice Danni acting a little strange this morning?” I asked Brian, keeping my eyes on the road. We had gotten finished eating at a local restaurant and were headed back to Freak’s place; aka our temporary home.

“Not really, though I’ve only known her for a couple of days so I really don’t know her normal behavior, why?” He asked and I shrugged, making a left onto the dirt road.

“For starters, I found her asleep with you this morning, and second, she backed away from me like I was some kind of monster or something.” I said, slightly hurt at the memory of how she had shied away from me this morning, seeming as if to not want any contact from me, or even as much as a look. “Did something happen last night?” I asked, and he hesitated.

“She had some kind of nightmare, and ran down to my room, asking if she could sleep with me and I told her okay.” He answered and I nodded.

“She said that she went to your room because it was the closest, but after I got my shower and you were still getting dressed, I estimated the distance, and my room is closer to hers by nearly seven feet. Yours is nearly clear across the landing.” I said and he seemed to think about this for a moment.

“I don’t know, Matt, it was dark, and she was scared, she may have just ran in the first direction after getting out of her room. She seemed really fucked up over about whatever was in that dream.” I looked over at him briefly. “She was crying and kind of a mess. She curled up beside me and I wrapped my arm around her, and she fell asleep. But she woke up again a couple hours later and woke me up too. I…I think I heard her say your name in her sleep.” I parked in the drive way and looked over at Brian, now concerned.

“What?”

“I could have sworn I heard her tell you to stop. I’m not sure, I was probably just half asleep.” He seemed to brush it off by force. “I mean, after all, she did run away from her home with a murderer and his two psychotic friends.” Brian said, and unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, leaving me in the car to ponder what he had told me. She said my name? Something wasn’t right. Something happened with Danielle last night while I was asleep. I know it did, I just have to find out what it was.

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^*Brian’s POV*^
Just as I was walking in the house, Jimmy was walking out, a large ax in his hand.

“Where are you going with that?” I asked, slightly alarmed by the large weapon in his hands, and he sighed.

“Freak didn’t bother to tell us that something was wrong with the heater, and we have no fire wood. So, unless we want to fucking freeze our asses off tonight, I have to go act like a fucking lumberjack and chop wood.” He answered and I nodded.

“Mind if I come?” I asked and he stopped twirling the ax in his hands.

“Brian Haner volunteering to help me chop wood? Dude, are you sick?” He asked and I shrugged.

“Probably so.”

“Well c’mon then.” He walked out the door, and I followed, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally chop my arm off with that giant ax.

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
I was sitting on the couch, watching TV, curled up in a blanket because the heat had faded out and the cold was swarming in. Jimmy had just left to go chop fire wood. I just hope he makes it back in one piece. I pulled my blanket tighter around me, sinking back into the couch more. I heard footsteps drawing close to the living room, but I only suspected that Jimmy had forgotten his jacket, since it was still lying over the back of the other couch.

“Looks like you survived Jimmy for the morning.” I heard Matt’s voice and I froze as he sat down a couple feet down the couch from me.

“I guess.” I muttered, wanting to disappear in my thick quilt.

“Are you feeling okay?” Matt asked and I nodded. It was really all I could muster up, with that dream floating around in my head; the second one that was ten times worse than the first. I could barely even bring myself to think of it, but that fact seemed to sharpen my fear of him.

“I’m fine.” I whispered.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked, and I shook my head. “Did I say something?” I shook my head again. “Then…why are you acting this way towards me? Is it me?” He asked and I finally brought myself to look over at him. There was sadness on his face, the same sadness I had heard in his voice. Fearing and avoiding him was hurting him.

“No, it’s me, you didn’t do anything. I just have some issues I need to work out.” I said, not being able to muster up the right emotion in my voice.

“So you’re not mad at me or anything?” He asked and I shook my head. I hesitantly crawled over to him, curling up beside him.

“No, you haven’t done anything wrong.” But I have, I’ve let this dream take hold of my mind, and control my emotions towards you and I don’t know how to stop it. He wrapped an arm around me and I wanted to bolt for the door, but instead I just enjoyed the warmth of his body, finally taking the cold chill off of me. “You would never hurt someone you consider a friend, would you Matt?” I asked him shakily as I looked up at him and he furrowed his brows.

“Of course not. Why do you ask?” I simply shrugged, placing my head back against his chest.

“I just have some issues.”

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^*Brian’s POV*^
“Have you noticed Danielle acting strange?” I asked a variation of what Matt had asked me as Jimmy swung the ax down again, and I moved my hands before the blade struck the wood, splitting it in two.

“Not really.” There was a hint of something in his voice as I grabbed another piece of wood.

“What does ‘not really’ mean?” I asked and he paused for a moment.

“I don’t know.” Before I could question him again he swung the ax back down again without warning, barely missing my head my centimeters.

“Holy fuck Jimmy! What the hell?! You nearly chopped my goddamn head off! You could have fucking killed me!” I screamed at him, scrambling back in the leaves.

“Sorry, but I thought you knew that when I raise the ax you’re supposed to get the fuck out of the way or lose a finger or two.” He said and I sighed, shaking from nearly meeting death by the hands of one of my best friends.

“God why did I come out here with you?” I asked and shook off the incident the best I could, grabbing another chunk of wood.

“Because apparently you wanted to question me about Danni.” He said and I watched carefully as the ax came back down, and I removed my hands, and the two pieces of pine, or whatever the fuck we had chopped down, fell of either sides of the base of the trunk. We knew nothing about trees and chopping wood. Nothing.

“You never did answer my last question.” I said, grabbing another chunk of wood.

“Yes I did, I said I didn’t know.” He split another chunk.

“You’re hiding something.” I stated, not getting another piece of wood.

“Well…she did ask me this morning after breakfast if Matt would ever hurt her.” I looked up at him when he said this.

“Why?” I asked and he shrugged.

“I don’t know, she said she had a dream that he had killed her. She sounded really fucked up because of it too.” He answered, leaning on the ax and I sat cross legged in the dirt.

“That’s why she came to my room last night and why she didn’t go to Matt’s.” I stated. That explained why she didn’t really say anything to him this morning. Maybe why she didn’t go to eat with us, and why she didn’t go to his room last night.

“Do you think he would hurt her?” Jimmy asked and I suddenly had this odd feeling wash over me. Matt had anger issues. There was no doubt in my mind about that; I had seen firsthand what could happen when he was mad. He went from one of the nicest guys on the planet, to the last motherfucker you’d ever want to see. I should know, about a year ago he went on a small rampage and I got caught in the path of a steel rod. Doctor’s said if I had of been just a few millimeters to my left, it would’ve hit my some vital part of my heart and I would have been killed instantly. After that Matt felt so bad he didn’t come near me for weeks. He doesn’t know his own strength, and he completely loses touch with reality when he gets mad. But Danni…he acts so different around her…almost how he acted when he was around…around his wife… “Hey, Brian, don’t cry, please.” Jimmy said and I felt that damn feeling come back to me. The pain of what Jimmy and I did. “He’s not going to hurt her, okay, he’s not. She’ll be fine.” Jimmy kneeled beside me, planting a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s not that.” I muttered. I tried so hard not to think of Michelle. She was a wonderful person. Such a caring soul. But Jimmy and I didn’t have a choice. Chase would’ve had us both killed if we had rejected his orders, no matter how fucked up they were. What made it even worse was that she was carrying Matt’s child. They were going to name her Mellissa. Matt vowed he was going to change, just for her, and turn his whole life around. He vowed he was going to escape Chase’s sick game and make sure his daughter had the best life imaginable. But we took her away before he had the chance…before she had a chance.

“Then what’s wrong?” Jimmy asked, concerned.

“M-Michelle.” I whispered. “What if this is like a repeat? What if Matt and Danni fall in love and they get married and Danni gets pregnant, and then something happens and Chase calls us up, and makes us-”

“No, Brian just stop.” Jimmy said. “That’s not going to happen. Chase is in jail and we…” His voice cut off as he slowly fell to his knees. “It’s not going to be like that.” He said, his voice thick.

“What if it is?” I asked shakily, not wanting to think about what they could be, the happy life they could have together, what they could build up, just for Jimmy and I to have orders barked at us to tear it down or we’ll be torn down. That was another nightmare all in its own.

“No, that isn’t going to happen, Brian. It can’t happen. I won’t let it and you can’t either. They’re friends, they don’t love each other, and even if they did, Chase is in jail, and he can’t-”

“But he did before, Jimmy!” I cried, more tears forcing themselves out of my tear ducts. “He called us before, and we didn’t have a fighting chance against him!”

“But it’s not going to happen again, Brian, it can’t. We have to protect them. We can’t let Chase run our lives anymore.” No matter what Jimmy said, I felt defeated. Chase had his hooks deep in our backs, he told us when to jump and how high, he told us when to breathe, and how much air we could fit into our lungs before he brought his own ax down into our heads. He controlled us. He defeated us once, and we still haven’t fully recovered. In a way, I think death would be an easier option at this point. It would be better than having to kill your best friend.