Just Let Me Go

~~~Tony's POV~~~

NEVER have I seen a girl as broken as her. I mean, she can't even get a hug! I swear when I get my hands on those people...
"Tony, it's okay. I'm...fine...Let them go. Let IT go." Anastasia whispers to me. Pleading, in a way.
"I can't do that! Look at you! You're not fine!"
"I am, though. I'm breathing." She chuckles. "As far as I'm concerned, that's a plus."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Jesus Tony, calm down. The girl doesn't need this right now. With a calmer voice, I continue, "Anastasia, they beat the shit out of you...I can't let that go."
"But I can."
Vic places a hand on my shoulder. "Tony, she doesn't want trouble, let it be for now." He whispers in my ear. "They're not going to get away with this as long as we're here. Got it?"
I nod. There's one thing I have to see, though. "Anastasia, lift your shirt and take a deep breath."
"Wha--"
"Lift your shirt. Now. I know something's wrong."
I watch her wince, at the harshness in my voice, but complies. It takes everything in my being to keep my mouth closed. She's so bruised...and with her in pain breathing like that, something broke.
"Where are your bags? Let's start packing." She points to her closet. I open it and dig around for them. They're huge. And heavy. "Geez, girl, what do you have in here?" I ask trying to lighten the mood. Probably not going to work. Way to go dumbass.
"Just open it, you'll see."
I do. There are a lot of clothes in here. No wonder her closet is was somewhat empty. "I see you've contemplated getting out of here before."
"More like I never unpacked from my latest escape fail. That's all of my clothes from my drawers, except for my undergarments."
Undergarments? I laugh to myself. That's cute. Wait, latest escape fail? "How many escapes have you done?"
"Six. I do three a year, but so far I've only done two. Hopefully this will be my last one."
I nod. So it's been hell for two years?
"Four years, actually, Tony."
I spoke out loud again...Nice...real nice.
She giggles. "There's another bag in there, it's empty. I need to get my shoes and a few more things from my closet."

~~~Anastasia's POV~~~

With one last look at my room, I walk out of the house and into Vic's car. This is goodbye. But to what? My troubles are only going to follow me. There will probably be rumors at school...Mike hates me. Where am I going to stay at?
Vic begins driving and whispers, but not soft enough. "Tony, we have to get her to a hospital...Her ribs are probably broke."
"I know, dude. But how--"
"No." They both look at me. "No hospital."
"But, Anastasia, you're--"
"No. I can't go there."
Tony grabs my hands and holds them tightly. "You need to go there, you're not in the best shape."
I feel the tears rise. "No. I can't. They're going to give me shots and I'm going to have to stay there and get questioned."
"To help you."
"No. Too much death."
"You're going to be fine, I promise."
I make my green eyes lock with his brown ones. "That's what they told my dad...and now he's buried six feet underground." Here comes the waterworks...Fuck my life. "They told him over and over that he'll be fine, even when I knew he wasn't. He kept buying their shit and telling me he'll live to see my first Homecoming dance. Did that happen? No! They got his hopes up and when he died there was nothing for my mom! She had to pay all of his bills and...and..." I break down.
It hurts. Everything hurts. My head, sides, face, heart...just everything. I miss my dad more than anything. If he were still here maybe my life wouldn't have turned to shit. Maybe I'd actually be happy for once in my life. Maybe I wouldn't have become such a fail daughter. I'd probably be loved.
"Oh no, Anastasia, please don't cry. I'm so sorry about your dad. No one should have to lose someone like that."
"I miss him, Tone, I really do. It sucks, ya know?"
He nods. "I know, I lost mine, too."
I feel like I'm going to be sick. "Vic, please pull over."
"There's--"
"I'm going to be sick."
He speeds up and pulls over five minutes later. I open the door and run to the tree line, then empty the little amount of whatever was in my stomach. This hurts, too, and causes me to cry even more. It's because of me that I'm hurting so much. Why don't I just go jump in front of some cars? Yeah, that'd work.
I straighten myself, then look back at the car. Tony's telling Vic something, but I can't hear what. Good, they're distracted. Cars zoom past us. This should be easy. I walk to the edge of the road. This is it. A car is about two hundred feet away. I take one step into the road. Just a few more...
"Anastasia, no!" Arms wrap around me, pulling me back in the knick of time. Tony.
I hit his arms in frustration. "Why couldn't you let me go? I was ready! I'm done feeling like this, Tony!"
"You can't give up, Anastasia, you have so much to live for." I look him in the eyes and see tears. "I can't lose you."
"Tony...I'm--"
"Don't say anything, lets just get you back into the car. Okay?"
With one last look at the road, I nod my head. "Okay.
Tony takes one arm, Vic the other, and they both help me into the car. Tony slides in the back with me, wrapping his arms around me gently. How is it that I can still feel so empty and alone?
"Don't worry, darling, everything will be alright one day." He whispers in my ear.
God I hope so...I really do.

~~~Tony's P.O.V.~~~

I almost lost her. How could I have been so stupid? I should've kept a closer eye on her. I mean, that car was RIGHT THERE. Right there! Now I know what I have to do. I have to keep her safe. From the world and herself. She's self-destructive, doesn't believe in life anymore. I can't lose her. Not ever. She's the closest thing to love that I'll probably ever get, even though she doesn't know it--I'm not going to ever let her go.

~~~Anastasia's P.O.V.~~~

Vic stops the car and I see that we're at Tony's. My nerves begin to rise. What will she say? What will she do? Will Tony tell her what happened? I hope not.
"Mamá, te necesitamos! [we need you]" Tony yells when we enter the house.
This is it. The moment of truth...
"¿Qué tiene de malo? [what's wrong?]" she asks while wiping her hands off with a towel. When she sees me her jaw drops. "Cariño, ¿qué pasó? [baby, what happened?]"
Tony speaks for me, knowing damn well that I wouldn't be able to talk without crying. "Long story. She needs help."
"You should've taken her to the hospital."
"She wouldn't go. She is scared of them because of things that happened before."
"Okay. Bring her to el sofá [the couch]."
Vic goes up the stairs while I follow Tony into the living room. I sit on the couch, waiting for Tony's mom to speak or to do something.
She kneels in front of me and takes my hand. "What hurts, Anastasia?"
I point to my sides.
"Is that all?"
"The rest not as bad."
"Your face?"
"It's fine." Stings a tiny bit, but I'll live.
"Okay. Lay back and lift your shirt to the top of your ribcage. ¿De acuerdo? [alright?] Tony, por favor deje [please leave]."
I look at him with pleading eyes. He can't leave me alone. Not right now. "Mom, look at her."
She does and sighs. "Fine, stay. Lay back, por favor."
I do as she says, then roll my shirt up. A gasp escapes her lips and she traces the cut Lexie made. "When did this happen?"
"Yesterday...at school." I whisper.
"Oh, cariño."
There's pity in her voice. Ew. I hate that. I'm okay. I'm fine. Nothing is as bad as it seems, right? Right. Yeah, that's it, stay positive!
She presses on different spots on my sides, I wince at most touches. I look down and see a lot of bruising. "I broke something, didn't I?"
"Actually, no. I think you just sprained two of them. Nothing too bad, which is chocante. [shocking]"
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Sin embargo [however], that cut...It needs to be cleaned out."
"Okay...?"
"It's going to hurt."
"Okay...?"
"Doesn't that bother you?"
"No."
Tony helps me up, then takes me to his mom's room. She has me go into the bathroom, and sit on the counter. Tony grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly. How bad can this--
"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT THE HELL?" I scream when she presses something to the cut. "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? THAT HURTS LIKE A MOTHER!"
Tony stifles a laugh and smile.
"TONY PERRY THIS IS NOT FUNNY! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL FOR LAUGHING AT--MAMA HOW MUCH LONGER?"
"Two more seconds."
I shoot Tony a glare as he chuckles. "You better watch yourself, dude, I will slap the shit out of--OW, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" She pressed the damn thing onto me harder.
"Language."
"Sorry." I mumble, causing Tony to smile again.
"All done. You have to take care of that cut, though. Lave a cabo [wash it out] everyday."
"Okay. Gracias."
"De nada. Tony, help her downstairs and fetch her something to eat. Ella necesita carne en sus huesos [she needs meat on her bones]."
"Okay."
He picks me up and carries me down the stairs. Vic sits on the counter with an apple in his mouth. When he sees me he smiles. "What was going on up there? Sounded intense."
"Don't chew with your mouth full." I grumble not wanting to talk about it.
Tony does, though, "She was screaming like a little girl when my mom was cleaning her cut. It was funny as fuck because she got yelled at for her language."
"Shut up."
"Nah, you like me teasing you."
I roll my eyes. "Oh yeah, you know it."
"Yep! Now what do you want?"
He sets me in a chair carefully, then heads to the fridge. "Nothing, I'm not--"
"You know that's bullshit. You haven't had a thing since yesterday."
"Fine. I'll have a water."
"Food, Anastasia, FOOD."
They're trying to sabotage me, I swear. "Fine. An apple."
He shakes his head. "Uh uh, real food. It's dinner time."
I bang my head on the table. "You're annoyingggg. I don't want a lot of food."
"You need it. You're skinny minnie."
"Am not..." I'm a fat ass.
He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Don't tell me that you seriously think you're fat. That's crazy. I think you've lost, like, thirty fucking pounds since I met you. You're going to eat, whether you do it willingly or I force feed you. My mom's not stupid."
"I know she isn't." I sigh. "You're right, though, I"m starving."
"Good. Over dinner we can discuss what you ALMOST did." Vic announces.

Shit...I was hoping he'd forget about that.