Darling, I Just Can't Go On

"Ma, can I use your car?" Alex called out to his mother, still looking down at the text he had received minutes before.

"My keys are in my purse!" She called back to him from somewhere in the house, but where he didn't care at that point.

Jogging down the stairs from his room, Alex quickly rummaged through his mother's purse until he finally found the keys.

Things seemed to blur together as he climbed into the car, pulling away from his own house, before heading in the direction he had driven many times. Only this time, it was a different house he was driving too.

When he finally pulled up almost fifteen minutes later, he was shocked to see a woman standing outside, leaning against a car with her head in her hands. Alex climed out of his car making the woman look up.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking confused as to why a random boy was showing up outside of the house of her daughter.

Alex just ignored her question, moving towards the house without giving her a second glance. That is until she spoke a second time.

"She won't let you in," She called after the boy. "Locked herself in the bathroom, won't let anyone in."

He turned and gave her a once over, before turning back towards the house a jogging the rest of the way up the porch. Without a second thought he pushed the door open.

"Andi?" He called out, hoping she would answer so he would not have to go searching.

But there was nothing.

With a groan he started to search the house, looking all over the downstairs before finally going to the stairs. He was only halfway up before he heard the sound of crying.

Breaking into a run he took the stairs two at a time, stopping only when he reached the door from which the crying was coming from.

"Andi, it's me," He spoke into the door as he knocked lightly. "Open the door."

The sounds of crying quieted down to sniffels and he heard her start to move around. A click sounded when the lock was slid out of place and Alex pushed the door open instantly.

What he found was Andi curled into herself tightly, looking smaller than he had ever seen before, with smears of blood and tears all over her hands. She looked so broken, and it made his heart constrict tightly in his chest.

He dropped down to his knees and pulled her against him instantly. Once more, she broke into a fit of sobbing as she clutched onto the boy holding her, glad that he was finally there with her.

"I'm s-sorry." She choked out through her fast coming tears. "I-I couldn't s-stop myself."

Alex just held her tighter at the words, noticing then the much bigger smears of blood in the bottom of the bathtub next to them.

"It's okay Andi, everything is going to fine." He whispered to her, rubbing his hand slowly up and down her back in a soothing motion.

How long he sat there and held her was beyond both of them.

Andi's tears began to slow, and sobs turned into soft whimpers as she curled her body into Alex's, feeling protected with him there with her.

"Can I see?" Alex eventually asked, making the girl stiffen slightly before relaxing once more, nodding against his shoulder.

Standing up slowly, Alex wrapped his arms around her lower back and under her legs before hoisting her up gently, placing her on the counter top by the sink.

Not looking him in the eye, Andi slowly moved the side of her basket ball shorts down to reveal several fresh and still bleeding cuts all along her hip.

"Oh Andi," Alex sighed at the sight, moving forward and wrapping his arms around the girl's small waist, holding her tightly against him once more.

Andi melted into the embrace, her own arms twining around the boy easily as she buried her face into the crook of her neck, a few more tears leaking out at his words.

"I was so scared," She explained shakily. "She just showed up, and I wasn't ready for something like this. She just wouldn't go away..."

Slowly, Alex moved back once more, grabbing a stray cloth from beside the sink before wetting it lightly with warm water. He tired to clean the wounds as gently as he could, not wanting to hurt the girl anymore than she had already hurt herself.

The entire time Alex was helping her, she kept her eyes on the floor, feeling ashamed that she had once more broken the promise she had made to him.

~~

I moved slowly from the bathroom, Alex following behind me, and to my own bedroom. I felt numb to my very core.

There was a bandage wrapped tightly across my hip, held in place by some gauze I had found under the cabinet in the bathroom after Alex had washed and disinfected my many new cuts.

I collapsed onto my bed, the comfoter feeling cold and welcoming. My body melted into the bed as Alex moved to sit on the other side, his back pressed up against the wall. I moved over to him, my head falling onto his lap before I curled myself up again, eyes falling shut easily.

I was tired, and sore, but mostly just tired. I felt drained to the point of passing out, and soon the sleep was coming over me quickly.

Alex was playing lightly with the now sleeping girl's hair, a sad smile on his face at how easily she had fallen asleep.

He was glad that she had called him, but part of him wished that she would have done it sooner.

He wasn't sure why he wanted to help the girl so much, but somethng had drawn him to her.

Maybe the fact that she, in a weird way, reminded him of the brother that he had lost close to six years before.

She was so broken, that day being the perfect example of just how broken she really was, and all Alex wanted to do was fix her.