~*~AJ’s point of view~*~

I must have really wanted to put this song on the album to be coming back to the studio now. This afternoon, I’d written a third verse. It wasn’t that great, though, so after grabbing a bite to eat at home, I’d come back to see if I could improve it.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

It was getting late, and everyone else had gone home. Brian was sitting in the studio by himself. He looked horrible. His hair was disheveled, there were dark circles under his eyes, and the smile usually present on his face was nowhere to be found.

“Here,” he passed me a piece of paper. It was the one I’d been using to write the lyrics on. He’d marked the third verse out entirely. “Yours kind of sucked.”

Couldn’t argue with that. I read over what Brian had put. “What were you thinking for the melody?”

He sang the verse for me, though his voice sounded strained. Still, it worked.

My phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that I had a text message. It was from Michelle. That was weird. I couldn’t remember her ever texting me before. For some reason, I thought she didn’t like to text.

Then I realized that I was just thinking about that being Peter’s favorite way to communicate.

At August’s house. Talk to you tomorrow.

That was strange, too. Why didn’t she want to speak with me tonight? I immediately thought about last night, but everything had been fine- more than fine- then, as well as this morning. When I’d left, she seemed happy. I hoped we were getting back to where we were before the whole Cheryl thing. If she didn’t want me seeing other people- and, of course, she didn’t- then I wouldn’t see other people.

I paused, having not even realized that I was ready for that commitment. But I was. I didn’t need any other girls when I had Michelle.

But, I reminded myself, there was no problem. Right?

So what was the deal with the text?

I returned my attention to Brian, shaking off my paranoia. “I think we have ourselves a song! We can record it by the end of the week…” I stopped talking when I noticed that he wasn’t listening. “I thought you were sick? What’d you come in for?”

He shrugged. “Needed to listen to some music. Ours was as good as any.”

His eyes seemed dead, and I wondered what I was missing.

“What’s wrong, Rok?”

“August left,” he said, his voice as monotonous as ever. Brian wasn’t returning my gaze.

I stood there, stunned. “Left? What do you mean, left?”

“She left me.”

“What? No. Why?”

He took a painful breathe. “She lost the baby.”

“She was pregnant?” I exclaimed. Then the full meaning of what he’d said hit me. “And… oh my, God, man. I don’t know what to say.”

Michelle’s text message suddenly made sense. If she was at their house with August, she probably didn’t want to be talking on the phone tonight. I could only imagine how upset August was. I knew she wanted kids. And she had such a mom-personality, she was going to be a natural parent… just not yet, as it had worked out. This loss must have been devastating for her.

There was silence for a moment. I sat down across from him. I didn’t know how to respond in any way that could possibly help the situation. How could anything make this better? I couldn’t imagine what he was going through.

“I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” he said, his eyes watering some now. “And I should’ve. I mean, she’d put on some weight… not a lot, and not in a bad way. But a few pounds. She’d had some morning sickness. She was eating differently. And… she tried to tell me on our anniversary. But I’ve been so wrapped up in me and this record, I didn’t have a clue.” Brian put his head in his hands.

“This isn’t your fault, B,” I said. “Even if you’d known, there was nothing you could do to stop this.”

He didn’t answer.

If August had left him, and she was at the house, where was he staying? Then it dawned on me. This was the real reason why he was at the studio, wasn’t it? He was going to sleep here tonight. I couldn’t stand the thought of him here alone, heartbroken.

“Listen, Rok, why don’t you come back to my place tonight? There’s no need to sleep here. I’ve got plenty of space.”

He looked up, puzzled. “Sleep here?”

I nodded.

“I’m not staying here. I’m at the house.”

Now I was the one who was puzzled. “Oh, I didn’t realize both of you… were staying at the house.” I didn’t know how to word anything. I felt like I was cutting an open wound. “That’s a good sign, though. You know she loves you, man. She’s just going to need some time to get through this.”

His voice cracked again. “AJ, she left. I think she’s staying with Carmen, but I don’t even know that for sure. August’s not returning any of my calls. I wanted to give it a day or two before I showed up. Because you’re right- I’m praying that I’ll be able to talk to her once at least a little time has passed. But, I don’t know. You didn’t see her face when she walked out.” Brian’s own face was blank again, obviously reliving it.

But I wasn’t thinking about his problems anymore, as important as they were. “What do you mean, August’s not at your place? I got a text just a few minutes ago from Michelle. That’s where Michelle said she was.”

Brian’s eyes widened. “No, man. I can promise you, they aren’t at the house.”

My heart started racing. What was going on? I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Michelle’s number.

“Brian, call your house and make sure.”

I had to give him credit. He was having one of the worst days of his life, but he snapped into action. He had his cell out in the blink of an eye.

I listened to ringing, and then Michelle’s voicemail picked up. I cursed under my breath, and glanced at Brian.

A few seconds later, he closed his phone. “No one is there, unless they just aren’t answering…”

Which was possible, if she wasn’t taking his calls. I jumped up. “I need to get to Michelle’s.” There was no proof of anything, and hopefully I was wrong. But I couldn’t ignore the bad feeling I had.

Brian threw me my keys and picked up his own. “And I’ll check my place. Call me when you get there, Michelle’s place is closer.”

I nodded, and we were both running out the door.

~*~Michelle’s point of view~*~

“Didn’t think you could avoid me forever, did you?” Peter’s wild eyes were staring into mine, a sick smile on his face.

I struggled to get free from his grip, but he was far too strong. He twisted my arm behind my back, and forced me down the stairwell. I almost tripped when I reached the steps, but he painfully jerked my arm up so that I didn’t lose my balance. We were behind the building now. I looked around for anyone, but the search was in vain; the area was quiet. This wasn’t a part of town where most people wanted to be wandering outside in the dark by themselves.

For this exact reason, I thought bitterly.

We were in an area between the apartment complex and some factory buildings, with scarce trees in between the two. During the day, surely someone from the apartment complex could’ve seen us from a window. But there were only two streetlights nearby, and one had been out for months. Thick clouds covered the moon, which made it that much darker.

I had to accept that I wasn’t going to find any help.

Which left me with the question of what the hell I was going to do now.

“Oh, Michelle. If only you could’ve seen that we belong together.”

I didn’t answer him.

“It didn’t have to end like this,” Peter said, feigning sorrow. His voice sounded both dramatic and crazy.

He was even worse, I realized, than when I’d left him in Maine.

“It doesn’t now,” I pleaded.

He waved a finger in front of my face. “I warned you, did I not? You left me,” he said, eyes growing darker now.

An image of AJ flashed in my mind.

“And I don’t regret it for a second,” I glared at him.

Peter’s hand came out of nowhere, striking my face, like so many times before.

“Now why do you say things to make me hurt you? You know that’s the last thing I want to do.”

He was mocking me. Lines similar to that had worked in the beginning. Before I knew better. Before I had sense to figure out his true character.

My eyes filled with water from the stinging that the slap had left on my face.

Peter shook his head, apologetically. “You know how I feel about crying.”

It was the sign of weakness to him. A sign for exploitation, I realized. His hand came up again, harder this time. I was knocked to the ground. It was as if we’d fallen, no pun intended, into our old routine again. Despite all of the time that had passed, I wasn’t any stronger now. I still couldn’t stand up to him.

Peter pulled a gun out of his pocket.

No, not our old routine. This encounter suddenly made the many others seem like child’s play.

“Get up,” Peter commanded, pulling me by my hair. I let out a scream as I stumbled to my feet, and he shoved me in front of him. I took several steps back.

And several more. But I knew escaping was useless. I couldn’t outrun a bullet.

“If only this could’ve ended differently,” Peter repeated himself. “I’m sorry you didn’t know better.”

Fear caught in my throat. I stood there, paralyzed, watching him raise his gun. I heard his cynical laugh one more time. For the very last time.

“Good-bye, Michelle,” he smiled.

I cringed, waiting for the trigger to be pulled. I took another few steps back. I heard the sound of the gun going off, and closed my eyes.

“No!” I heard a scream.

Suddenly, I was lying sideways on the ground, the wind knocked out of me. As I gasped for breath, I realized that someone was on top of me.

AJ.

He’d pushed me out of the way. I experience a split second of joy, from seeing him and knowing I’d been saved from the bullet. But relief quickly changed to panic. I knew what Peter would do to him.

“Oh, God, AJ, you have to get out of here! Quick!” I said when I could speak again. I couldn’t let him…

My heart stopped. Something was wrong. AJ was still lying there, lifeless.

“AJ? AJ?” I slowly rolled him over. My eyes had adjusted as best they could to the darkness, and the clouds had parted to reveal slivers of moonlight.

A bloodstain was showing through his shirt.

“No,” I breathed. “No, no, no, no, no,” I repeated over and over again.

I heard Peter’s laugh again and felt more hatred towards him than ever before.

I felt AJ’s heart. It was beating, faintly though.

“Hang in there,” I whispered, touching his cheek.

“Who knew I’d be getting the two for one special today?” Peter walked over to inspect AJ’s injury. “Look what you did, Michelle. Bringing someone else into this.”

I could practically hear AJ screaming in my head. This isn’t your fault. Why don’t you blame him? This is Peter’s fault.

“You did this!” I said, with as much conviction as I could manage. “Not me.”

Peter struck me, but I didn’t fall this time.

“Is that all you got?”

He looked taken aback. “Where is this false sense of importance coming from?”

“If he dies, I swear to God, I’ll…”

Peter grinned. “What? What can you do now? Looks like your boyfriend isn’t around to save you anymore,” he motioned to AJ lying on the ground.

I punched him as hard as I could in the face.

He stumbled backwards, but I wasn’t strong enough to do as much damage as I would’ve liked. He raised the hand with the gun, and I grabbed his arm so that he couldn’t aim it at me.

“You can’t honestly think you are any match for me!” Peter said, he tripped me and I collapsed next to AJ, my hand hitting something hard. I looked to see what it was.

“This is it,” Peter said. “It’s only you and me now. You can’t cheat death twice,” he pulled me up. Peter pointed his gun at me one last time.

I wasn’t going to just stand here this time. I had nothing to lose. As his finger moved to pull the trigger, I jabbed something in his eye with as much force as I could muster. He screamed, caught off guard. I used the opportunity to grab the gun from him, slamming it into his head as hard as I could.

Once he was lying on the ground, I kicked him several times, just for good measure.

As soon as I was sure that he was out cold, I knelt next to AJ. He was moaning softly, in severe pain. A pool had formed next to him. Tears streamed down my face. He had lost way too much blood.

I heard sirens in the distance.

“AJ! AJ, talk to me, please,” I took his hand in mine.

He managed to open his eyes, barely.

“What were you thinking?” I yelled. “That shot was meant for me. I can’t believe you!”

AJ smiled a little, and I knew what he was thinking. Only I would yell at someone who’d just saved my life.

He couldn’t die because of me. I couldn’t live without him. “Alex,” I said, crying harder now. I held his hand up to my face. “How could you do this?” This wasn’t fair. “Why?”

AJ coughed several times, and then cringed at the pain. He finally found his voice. It was faint, but I was able to hear it over the noise of police cars and ambulances.

“I love you.”

He’d said it slowly, having to use all of his strength to speak. Then, his eyes closed, and his breathing stopped.