Nothing Can Break Us, No One Can Make Us

They both looked over wide-eyed at the door. Pete stood there, one hand holding a beer and the other clenched into a fist. He did not look happy at all.

“Pete, I-I can explain,” Maddie choked out, scared about what could happen next.

“No,” he screamed, slamming the door behind him.

“Pete, calm down,” Brendon raised his voice. Pete instantly threw his full bottle in their direction. Brendon quickly reacted to this and ducked down, pulling Maddie down with him. It broke on the headboard of the bed, alcohol and shards of glass flying everywhere. Maddie yelped in fear and looked up at Pete’s dissatisfied face.

“Pete please calm down,” she shouted.

“No! You said that you loved me! You lied to me!”

“Please, just listen to me,” she began to stand up. Brendon immediately pulled her back down and hugged her tightly to his body. Pete began to breathe heavily to calm himself down.

“Let go of her,” he said quietly. Brendon only hugged tighter. “I said let go of her,” he spoke a bit louder. Brendon shook his head, afraid to speak. Then, the bottom of Pete’s fist collided with the top of Brendon’s head, knocking him completely to the ground. In the process of falling, he let go of Maddie.

“Brendon,” she cried out, reaching for him. Pete grabbed a hold of her before she could touch him and binded her to his body, restraining her completely from moving away from him. She struggled to break free from his grasp while Brendon rubbed his head in pain.

“Leave now,” Pete commanded again. Brendon stood up slowly, still rubbing his head.

“Not until you leave her be,” he stared at him.

“Unless you know what’s good for you, I suggest you leave now,” Pete threatened him. Maddie still tried to get away from Pete, but it was no use, he was too strong. She gave up and just looked at Brendon with a sad face, signaling for him to leave.

“I’ll only go if you let her go,” Brendon stated.

Pete rolled his eyes. “Deal,” he said, holding up his end of the bargain and letting Maddie go. She went straight over to Brendon and hugged him tightly. “Leave now,” Pete repeated. Brendon held on to her hand as he walked out, letting his hand slip out of hers with every step that took him farther from him. He closed the door behind him, leaving Pete and Maddie alone.

“You monster,” she screamed at him, pounding her fists against his chest. That didn’t do anything to him though. He grabbed her wrists and stopping her pounding as she looked up at him with tears streaking down her face. “Why?”

“Listen, we’re going to forget about all of this and go back downstairs and have a good time,” he instructed her. He sounded completely sincere as he said this while turning around to open the door.

“But-”

“But what,” he whipped his head around and spat at her. She winced a little and thought about what to say next.

“But…what about the bed sheets? They’re wet and covered in glass.”

He smiled at her and dried off her face with his thumb. “We’ll worry about them later, babe.” He held on tightly to her hand and walked her back downstairs.