Touched by an Angel, Though I Fall Out of Grace

*January 3, 2005*
*Brittany's POV*
It was the first day back to school after winter break; I was standing outside the school with Gerard, Damon and the rest of the guys. I shivered as the wind blew, causing me to pull my coat tigher around my body. Gerard wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned into him, he was so warm.

My eyes drifted over to Mikey, who was running his thumbs quickly over the keys of his cell phone. He smiled as he began typing again. He was indulged in a conversatioin, but I didn't know who with. I nudged Gerard in his side and then gestured to his brother.

"Who're you texting, Mikes?" Gerard asked.

Mikey looked up at us and then said, "This girl, Alicia. I met her at the formal."

"Does she go to school here?"

"No, she goes to Stuart Country Day."

"You got a girl who attends SCD? Nice, maybe she knows Christa." Ray said, pulling out his phone.

"FRANKIE!" I heard someone yell.

We all turned around to see a girl about Frank's height coming this way. When she reached us, I noticed that she had light brown eyes and dark brown hair with a kind-looking face. Frank picked her up and spun her around, causing her to giggle and I couldn't help but smile.

"So, this is my girlfriend, Jamia," Frank said, introducing her to us, "and this is Gerard, Brittany, Bob, Ray, Damon and Mikey."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you all," Jamia responded.

"Well, we'll see you guys later," Frank told us, before the two of them walked off.

"Poor Bob," Mikey said, looking up from his phone.

Bob had a confused look on his face. "Why poor Bob?"

"Because you're all alone."

"I have a girlfriend back home in Chicago; she'll be here for graduation."

Just then the school bell ran and we all headed towards the door. I headed to my locker to grab my English book and then Gerard took my hand and walked to class. I smiled as he kissed me goodbye.

**~**~**~**~**

After school, I was walking home alone, something that didn't happen often; Damon stayed in the Creative Arts room to meet up with the other kids whose artwork was going to be featured in the artshow this weekend and Gerard and the guys had scheduled band practice after school. I had my headphones in and my cell phone in my pocket, and I had a feeling that I was being followed. I turned and noticed a white, unmarked van driving on the street next to me and it made a sudden stop, the brakes screeching.

Two men got out and gripped my arms, pushing me into the vehicle. They climbed in after me and a third man sped off. I began screaming and one of the guys looked at me, giving me a creepy smile. "We don't want to hurt you, but he gave us permission if you become difficult."

I screamed again and tried to open the van door. One of the guys sitting on the van floor next to me tied my hands and legs while the other put a rolled up bandana in my mouth. I frowned and kneed him in the face. His eyes flashed with anger and then he punched me near my temple. Spots appeared in my vision and then I blacked out.

**~**~**~**~**

"Wake up, bitch," I heard and then I was slapped in the face. My eyes fluttered open and I sat up, with my arms and legs still bound. I was sitting on a bed in a place that I didn't recognize.

"He told us to wake you up," one of the men said, cutting the ropes off of me with a knife. "He'll be in here in a few minutes."

With that said, he left the room, leaving me alone in the room. I stared out the window at the dark orange sky. "Beautiful sight, isn't it, Brittany?" I heard from behind me.

I turned my head and there stood Lucas Richards. I narrowed my eyes at him as he crossed the room to get to me. He placed his hand on the side of my face, cradling it as his other hand gently touched my throbbing head. I cringed. "Don't touch me," I spat.

"It's okay, I don't want to hurt you," he said, sitting next to me. "I brought you some aspirin and water."

Despite hating my situation, I gladly accepted the medication. Once I had swallowed, he leaned forward and said, "You're so beautiful," before placing his lips on mine.

I pushed him away, repulsed. "Stay away from me."

"Don't be silly," Lucas said. "I brought you here so you could be mine."

"Mr. Richards, the food is here!" one of the men called. Lucas smiled at me before walking out. When he returned, he handed me a Happy Meal from McDonald's.

"Here you go, you must be hungry. Besides, you to eat before tonight's activities."

I had no idea what he was talking about and I didn't dare ask. "I don't want your food."

"Just eat, please? For me?" he asked as if that was going to get me to cooperate. Lucas kissed me again before saying, "I'll be back later, darling." He walked out again and I heard a faint 'click' and I knew he had locked the door. I sighed... I was hungry and eventually ate the food that sat before me.

**~**~**~**~**

It had been hours since Lucas had left the room. I had remembered my phone was in my coat pocket and was walking around the room, trying to get a signal so I could call 911.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lucas asked as he burst through the door. He came over to me and snatched my phone from my hands. Before I could get it back, he had thrown it against the wall and it smashed to the floor. I backed away from him, scared for my life.

"I'm sorry, darling, I just don't want you to leave me," he said, wrapping his arms around me. He guided us to the bed and sat me down. "I guess you deserve to hear our love story. Don't you agree?" I didn't answer.

"I've liked you for a while now, but I never made a move because I know you wouldn't have agreed to go out with me. Also because my parents wouldn't have accepted you. They've seen you and they called you a punk whore; they said a relationship with someone like you would bring shame to our family and that their friends would talk and they couldn't have that. But that didn't stop me from
wanting you.

"When you began going out with that faggot, Gerard, I got jealous. I started watching you and it only fueled my anger. How dare another guy touch my girl, kiss her and make her happy? If you haven't figured it out by now, I was the one sending you those texts; you needed to know your boundaries and being with another guy was crossing the line.

"I thought you had finally gotten rid of him after the two of you had that fight at the hospital, bu-"

"How the hell do you know about that?" I asked, loudly.

"I told you, darling, I was watching you. Anyway, when the two of you made up at the winter formal, I had to start thinking of ways to get you away from him. At first, I thought about permanently eliminating Gerard from the picture."

I gasped as tears formed in my eyes. There had been a slight chance of Gerard being murdered and it would have been my fault. The man I loved could have ended up dead and I would have been the one to blame.

"But, I didn't want any blood on my hands," Lucas continued. "The night of the formal, I followed the two of you back to his house and through the basement window, I watched as he took something that was supposed to mine. Though I was furious, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful your body is, darling. I wanted to be the one to touch you and make love to you; that's when I came up with the perfect plan. I would just take you because you belong to me and I love you. That's how you ended up here and now, we can be together."

He leaned in and placed a kiss on my cheek, another on the corner of my mouth and then another on my lips. I pushed him off of me, but he shook his head and shifted to where we were lying down with him pinning me to the bed. He attatched his lips to my neck as his hands moved under my shirt and fondled my body.

"No," I said, squirming around and trying to push him off of me.

"Don't act like you don't want this," he whispered. He kicked off his shoes and then stood to remove his clothing. "Stand up," he ordered, but I didn't obey.

"Stand up!" he yelled and flinched before standing up. "Take your clothes off."

I stood in front of him, shaking as tears fell from my eyes. Lucas, clearly agitated, slapped me in the face. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Choose one."

Now, full-on sobbing, I began to undress. "Attagirl," Lucas praised as I stepped out of my jeans and pulled my shirt over my head. He pulled me to him and layed me on the bed. Skillfully, he undid my bra and pulled my underwear off of me, throwing the items on the floor. He went back to placing kisses on my body, stroking himself before forcefully entering me.

"You're so beautiful, darling." He drawled and from my position, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It lasted longer than I wanted it to and once he had achieved climax, he wrapped the sheets around our bodies while he was still lying on top of me. Once he was asleep, I squirmed out from under him and curled into the fetal position and cried myself to sleep.