Bulletproof Love

Chapter Five:

"¿Le vas a decir?" I hear when I was walking to the kitchen. Sounded like Mike. I still haven't forgiven him for slapping me. What made those two brothers think they have the right to abuse me. I've had enough to last a life time. Why do they always have to speak Spanish?!

"No, claro que no. Solo va ser un dia, no creo que se va a preocupar," I hear Vic say, bitterly.

"Claro que te va a extrañar."

"No. El me odia. Le doy asco." Again, he sounded bitter and heartbroken. Wonder what he's saying.

"¿Y porque dices eso?"

"Por que lo bese y se vomito." I hear a squeal of excitment. "¿Lo besaste?"

"Si." I turn to look over the corner and see Mike jumping up and down like a girl at a One Direction concert. Ew, 1D. I've heard of few of their songs, some are good, some not so much. Wait, why am I talking about One Direction? Anyway, I go back to eavesdropping. "Hay, solo unos dias mas y el va estar enamorado de ti. Ya vas a ver."

"No creo que eso va a pasar. El me odia. Y le pege." I hear Mike gasp. "¿Le pegaste? ¿Porque?"

"Por que se quiso ir, y no lo deje, el se enojo, yo tambien. Y le pege. Tambien fueron celos. El quiso ir a ver su mejor amigo, Jesse creo que se llama." Jesse. Why are they talking about Jesse? Was he talking about that night when I was going to leave but he wouldn't let me? I was still mad at him for punching me. The bruise was fading, though.

"No e visto a Kellin en dias. ¿Donde esta?"

"En el cuarto. Todavia esta enojado conmigo y creo que contigo tambien."

"¿Porque?"

"Por que esta arto del abuso. Creo que si lo abusaron en Michigan y por eso se fue."

"A ha. ¿Que te dije?"

"Callate. Dije que alomejor, no que si."

"Es la misma cosa. ¿Y cuando te vas?"

"En una semana." Then I hear shuffling and then I hear partings, followed  by the door being closed, so Mike must have left. I walk back into the bedroom and go lay on the bed. I was sprawled out, my mind was exhausted with all these secrets I'm keeping, secrets they're keeping. I need to learn Spanish, but I need a teacher. Hmmm, who to teach me? Definitely not Vic, neither Mike. But they were all I knew here. I need Vic to let me out more. How to convince him?

I can be nice, that's not hard... except when it comes to him. I can try to become his friend which is not hard... except when it comes to him. I can - wait, that's hard when it comes to him. Hmmm.... no, not that. Nor that.... or that. Yeah, I'm never getting out of here. Oh, well. It's better than anything with Vic... Do I really hate him that much?

I didn't get much time to think much on it because I'm snapped out of my daze when I feel someone's weight on me. I squeal a bit when someone squishes my waist. This someone turning out to be - no shock there - Vic. "What are you doing," I ask him. He smirks, "I could be asking you the same question."

"You wouldn't like my answer," I tell him, honestly. He adjusts himself and puts one knee between my legs - bent - to hold himself up and puts both hands beside both sides of my head. Now we were making eye-contact. My mixture of colors and his brown. I realized we're very different in physical appearance - race having most to do with it. I have light eyes, he has dark brown eyes; I have black hair, he has brown; I have pink lips, he has a darker shade; he has tan skin and I'm pale; he speaks Spanish, I don't; he has a temper, I don't.

We're polar opposites. We don't fit together, I don't know why he wants me. I'm not anything special. Maybe he wants me as a punching bag, he certainly did. I frown, remembering him. "What are thinking about now," Vic asks, concerned laced in his voice. I turn away, "Nothing," I murmur. He grabs my chin and turns my head to look at him. "Is it about the person who hurt you," he asks and I just stare at him before giving a slight nod. He sighs. "How about we go out to get your mind off things?"

"What do you mean 'go out'?"

"Leave the house and visit the rest of the gang." And I gape. This was my chance to learn Spanish. "Ok."

~~~

When he first unlocked the front door, I felt my freedom. When I first stepped outside in what feels like years - even though it's only been weeks - I felt the fresh air. I felt like I could run and never stop. And that's what I did. I knew I wasn't going to escape, but I just needed to feel free. And that's what I was, free now.

I stop at the fence surrounding the area and turn around and look. I see Vic was following me. He seemed mad, he was also following me. I smile and turn around to face the fence and I climb. "Kellin!" I hear him yell. I look back before I climb and jump over the fence, landing on my feet. I continue running, even in this hot weather. I didn't want to stop, couldn't stop.

I felt like Rapunzel in that Disney movie when she first left her tower. That's exactly how I felt. I wanted to run and never stop and then I see it. The tree. I stop in front of it. I stand there breathing heavily, looking at the tree, smiling. Then I grab onto the first branch and place my foot in the first crook, and climb.

I continue climbing until I reach the top, never feeling more free than I do in this moment. I didn't care how much trouble I'd get in with Vic, but as long as I was free for a moment, I was fine with it. I continue climbing, looking down every once in a while to see how far I've gone. I smile when I feel the wind blow my black hair in the wind.

This time when I look down, I see Vic at the bottom and I have to laugh at how mad and short he looks. "Hey, Vic," I call down. He glares and he starts yelling something I don't understand, so it was either in Spanish or I am to high up. I laugh and continue climbing until I reach the top. When I reach the top. I sit up and look around at everything. This place wad different from Michigan.

It didn't have as many trees, or sky scrapers. It was kind of like a desert, a few trees here and there. The roads were kind of cracked or just some dust roads. And then I see Vic's gang's hideout. It was a big land and it was like some kind of neighborhood. The biggest house in the middle was probably the house Vic lives in. I don't live with him, I'm a captive. That's all I'll ever be here.

I look down and see Vic still there. Mmmm, maybe I should go down now. I sigh, knowing I had to. I start climbing down, taking as long as possible. The longer I stayed away from Vic, the better. When I look down to see how far from the ground I was and see Vic looking at me, smirking, and his gaze not on my eyes. In fact, it was lower than my waist. Pervert, I'm pretty sure he's looking at my butt.

I keep climbing down until I'm a good distance away from the ground. Not too far up and not too low. I stop climbing down and look down at Vic. "Hey, Vic!" He looks up at me, my eyes this time. "Catch me," I call and I jump off. And I feel the wind blowing my hair to my face. If I were to hit the ground, I'd land on my back in the position I'm in. And when I felt I'd hit the ground, I landed in Vic's strong arms.

I look at him and smile. "I knew you'd catch me." Being outside made me happy, and I didn't hate Vic as much. Although, that didn't seem like it was Vic's thing, because even though he glare soften at my words, he was still mad. He places me on my feet gently. When I'm standing, he starts yelling, "What were you thinking? Was this your plan the whole time? To make me take you outside so you can runaway? And jumping off the tree? Are you crazy? You shouldn't have jumped over the fence, as soon as we leave my land, we're in danger!"

I flinch away from him. The yelling reminding me of him. "Vic..." I say, softly, but he kept ranting. "Vic," I try again, a little louder. I kept flinching and backing away until my body collided with the tree. "Vic," I say, scared. He finally noticed. "Kellin? What's wrong?" He scurries to me. "Vic, you were scaring me," I murmur, softly. "And I wasn't trying to escape, I knew it'd be useless, I just wanted to feel free since I'm trapped in the house. And I was excited to go outside because that's where I spent most of my time in Michigan. He didn't like me in the house, so I was either with Jesse or just outside. Plus, like I said, I knew you'd catch me."

Vic wraps an arm around my waist and holds me close. "I'll always be there to catch you." And for the first time in forever, I felt safe. And it was with Vic, so that was even more surprising. I let him hold me close because I didn't want the comfort to end. The only other person to hug me was Jesse, never anyone else because I didn't trust anyone else to not hurt me. I've been hurt so many times before. I don't know how many times I can take it before I break.

We were on our way back to the gang hideout, I had let go of Vic long ago. I felt awkward now, he probably thought I was starting to care. I mean I do, but only because Vic is a human being. When we reach the fence, I start climbing. Vic told me there was a door, but that's boring, so I stuck with climbing. He went with the door, chicken.

He was there before I jumped off the fence. "Are you going to catch me," I ask him. He smiles an actual smile, not his smirk, or creepy smile, but an actual warm smile. "Always." And I jump, only to land in his arms again. This time, instead of setting me down, he carries me around, against my wishes of wanting to walk. I knew my cheeks were dark, and they kept getting darker when someone looked at us in confusion.

Finally he stops and I thought it was because we reached the house, but when we enter, it looked different. So either we were in a totally different house, or Vic had someone redecorate in the time we were gone. I'm pretty sure it's the first one. "Where are we," I ask as he sets me down on the couch.

"Mike's house," and I give him a blank look. He sighs, "I know, I know. You don't like Mike, but I wanted to go out and visit him." It was my turn to sigh, but I nodded. I guess it wouldn't be so bad. "Where is Mike now," I ask, softly. Vic takes a seat next to me. "He's out with Tony." Like I'm supposed to know who that it, but I don't say anything. We didn't wait long before we heard the door open.

I hear stumbling before they appear into view. Their faces were really close, almost as if they were.... I feel my eyes widen. They were. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they're dating. I turn away from the scene, my cheeks aflame. I hear Vic clear his throat, "You can look now," he whispers in my ear and I see the two break apart, sheepishly looking at us. They were also blushing.

"Hey, Vic. What are you guys doing here," Mike asks. "I came to visit, but I can see I'm interrupting... something."

"No, it's fine. What did you need?"

"Tengo que hablar del viaje contigo." Mike nods, getting serious. "Kellin, you go with Tony, okay," Vic asks. And I knew I had no choice, so I just nod. Tony smiles and pulls my arm outside the door away from the house. He didn't stop pulling my arm until we reached the edge of the...I'm just going to call it a town. So he didn't stop pulling my arm until we reached the edge of town.

"Hi, Kellin. I'm Tony." I smile, "Hi, Tony. I'm Kellin." He smiles back. "So, what's the deal with you and Vic," he asks, and I look at him confused. "What do you mean," I ask him. "Oh, come on. He's like totally in love with you..." I drone him out after that. Vic... in love with me? Already? That's bad, I don't want to hurt his feelings. I don't love him back. "... So, do you like or love him back?"

I bite my lip and lower my gaze. "... No... I can't stand him." He looks at me sympathetically. "Why?" I meet his eyes. "Because... he hit me. He's so possessive. He forces me to sleep with him. At least not sex, I'd probably commit suicide if he ever made me do that. I can't stand kissing me. He's kissed me and I threw up afterwards. He gets jealous when I mention, who may I just say, is my friend. Emphasis on friend."

He frowns, "That does sound like Vic," he mutters before speaking up, "Kellin, all I can tell you is give him time. Vic will learn to trust you, and you will love him. Maybe not in weeks, maybe not in months, maybe not even in years, but you will. And Vic will learn to trust you, just give it time. Be nicer to him. I'm not saying kiss him and pretend you love him, but try to be friends, yeah? It's not that hard. Sure, Vic is possessive and protective - Mike was the same when we first met - but he is sweet, and nice, and he can be gentle with you." And he was right, Vic was gentle with me. Especially when he carried me, or hugged me close at night.

"From the look on your face, I can see you know I'm right," I don't meet his eyes and he sighs. "Just give him time. You'll see I'm right." And I realized I can trust Tony. He didn't seem conceited, or manipulative, or evil. He seemed genuine, he probably tamed Mike. Would I be the one to do that with Vic? "Tony, can I trust you?"

He nods, "Of course." I smile and sigh in relief. "Do you know Spanish?" He nods. "Great. Can you teach me? And not tell Vic or Mike, please?" He seemed weary. "Why?"

"Because I feel like they're hiding stuff from me. And how can I live here without knowing the language what most people here speak?" He seemed to think it over, and in those minutes he thought, I felt like my whole life depended on what he answered. "Fine. I'll teach you." I squeal. "Really?"

"Yes. On one condition." I stop beaming. "What is it?" He gives me an apologetic look. "You give Vic a chance." And I frown. "Nevermind. I can live without knowing Spanish." And here, I thought he was different. That I could actually trust him. That he wouldn't blackmail me. I start walking away. "Do you really hate Vic that much," he asks me when he turns me around to face him. I stare him dead in eye, making sure he knows there is no hesitance in my answer. "You know I do."

He doesn't stop me as I walk away. Didn't stop and make sure I was running away. This was my chance, I could run away and no one would know until it was too late. I could do it, now. I stop walking and look around. No one was around except for random people that didn't know me and I didn't know them. I start speed walking towards the house.

Vic was probably still at Mike's house, so I run upstairs. I open the bedroom door and run to my book. I check to make sure I have everything in it - passport, I.D., and my lyrics on the pages. When I confirm I have everything, I yank it to my chest, then I run downstairs and out the door. When I was in front of the yard, I see Vic and Mike heading to the house. Shit! I run to behind the house and jump over the small fence surrounding it. Then I start running to the edge of town.

When I reach the edge, I start climbing and when I jump over the fence, I look back one more time. And I start running, the heat killing me, the trees scratching at any open skin. But I had to do this. As long as I was away from all this gang business. I didn't even want to be here. I should have stayed in the United States. Stupid Jesse.

I run for what felt like I ran miles when I reached the city. Yes. I run into a store and go into their bathrooms. I look into the mirror and wash my face and arms. If only I had hair dye. But I couldn't stay long enough to buy some. I needed to get away from here. I'm going back to the U.S. I need to call Jesse and tell first. Not now, though. I run out of the bathroom, book in hand. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was following me.

I wonder how long it'll take for them to realize I'm gone. I feel bad for Tony, though, what if he got in trouble even when it wasn't his fault. He just didn't check on me. I can't of this right now. I know, it seems selfish. But sometimes, you have to care for only yourself. Hopefully  they won't realize for a while. I just hope I don't underestimate how much power Pierce The Veil has.

I grab a bus and take it to the border. I need to get as far away as possible. I'll get Jesse when I get to the other side. The bus stops and I get off at the border. I run to the entrance of the building of where they check my passport. The line was long and I was stressing. No, no, no, no. Why me?! I sigh and tap my foot anxiously. Come on, hurry up.

When I look back to see if Vic or anyone from the gang was behind me. But there was like a hundred people already in line. Thank God. I look in front of me and I had like ten more people to go. Yes. Now, please hurry. I've been in this line for five hours and I still haven't reached the borderline. How has Vic not noticed I'm gone? From looking out the windows, I can tell the sun is setting. It was getting late and I was still so close to leaving, but yet so far away.

I see I had one more person to go before I gave them my passport. I waited those horrible moments that seemed to drag until they called me. Yes! I hand them my passport. They check me and then my picture. "Do you have anything from Mexico that you are taking with you," he asks me. I shake my head, "No." He nods. "Alright. You may pass." And I did and I felt the weight on my shoulders leave.

I walk down the hallway and I land where I have to place my belongings in that machine. The guard checks me for weapons and then hands me my notebook. I keep walking until I pass those doors of the building. I walk until I cross the border. I didn't run to not draw attention to myself. I didn't want to seem suspicious. I walk across the bridge, looking at the Rio Grande. And when I step of the bridge onto actual land, I knew I was free.