Torn Apart

Pain. There was pain everywhere. One move, and a shock wave would come rippling all over my body. I groaned in pain. I swear I felt blood trickle down my neck, where he bit me too hard. He had hurt me... again. It was like this for the past two weeks. He would come home drunk often, too lost in his mind to even know what was going on. It took me a ot of willpower to submit to him completely. And why did submit to him? Why can't I just push him off and say no? Why can't I break up with him?

Love. Right.

Well, this 'love' kept me clinging to him. Whatever it was, it kept me from telling the others the nightmares he liked to play behind closed doors. His friends always told him he was lucky to have me. Yeah, right. Real lucky. It was the same routine, after all. Right after sex, he would take a quick shower and dress up hurriedly. He would leave before I even pulled myself together. He wouldn't say goodbye or 'I love you' like he used to. I would hardly hear these words... only when his friends were around. You might say it was because of the rockstar atttude, but no. He's not like that. He doesn't have that cliche attitude. Aoi wasn't like that. He was a music lover, for sure. He would rather dwell on it than drown in it. He was gentle... or at least, he used to be. Something had gotten into him, and changed him drastically. He's now different from the Aoi I used to know so well.

"Ow..."

I groaned as I tried to sit up. I was covered in bruises again... just like last night. And the other night. And the night before that. I walked to the bath room, and winced at every step. My body hurt so much... but I had to get ready. Aoi and his band will rehearse today, and I promised Ruki that I would come to hear them out. Ruki, my half-brother, was the first to know of our relationship. Anyway, I took a bath and dressed myself in a plain white t-shirt and black pants. Damn, I thought. My arms were covered in bruises. I quickly snagged a jacket from the cabinet and slowly made my way to the rehearsal studio.

xXx---[♥]---xXx

I pushed tha door open and sighed in relief. Only Reita was there, tuning his bass. "Hey." I said. "Ah~ Aki-chan!" his face suddenly lit up like a kid. He ran up to me and pulled me to a tight bear hug. I hugged him back, wincing at the pain. His arms were tight around me, and the bruises hurt like hell. I bit my lip and he let me down. "I missed you!" he said. Oh, right. Reita had gone to Hokkaido to meet some relatives two months ago... and he just got back. "Earliest again, I see." I commented, looking around the room. "Nahh. They had to stop by... someplace, I think." he said as he picked his bass up again and sat down the couch. I plopped down next to him, and remained silent. I listened to him play a few riffs, and prayed that his observant eyes won't notice. "You're quiet today." he commented. I played dumb. "Do I?" I asked. "Shyeah. How are you doing with Aoi?" he asked. I flinched. "Fine." I answered, praying that he won't ask anything more about Aoi. I didn't want to talk about him right now. He leaned closer to me, and I fliched back. His gray eyes studied me carefully, and his hand on my neck. "Where did you get this?" he asked in a low whisper,surveying it carefully. I felt his fingers on my wound, and I leaned away. "Nowhere." I lied. He looked at me sternly. "Oh, Aki. Bad liar, as always." he said. I laughed. Silence reigned over again, and I was listless. "He... he hurt you... didn't he?" Reita suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. I stared at the floor. "He didn't." I lied. I bit my lower lip. I hate lying, especially to them. "Don't lie." he snapped. "He bit you hard, didn't he." I nodded. "Last night." he said. I nodded. "In... bed." I nodded again. I heard him sigh in irritation. I felt bad. He might beat Aoi up... or worse. "Don't tell him." I said sadly. He's gonna give me hell of a night if he found out. "I won't... conditonally." he answered. I turned to him. I would do anything. Anything at all. He stared at me for a moment, before turning back to his bass. "...you'll crash ay my apartment tonight." he mumbled. "WHAT?" Was he insane? Aoi would know! "You heard me. Take it or leave it." he bargained as he extended his hand towards me. My heart skipped a beat. What would Aoi think if I went with Reita? Would it be better just to let him know? I sighed as I made a decision. "Deal." I said and shook his hand. The skin on my palm burned at contact.  I saw one corner of his mouth curve upward, at the same time the door opened. "Aki-chan~" I heard a familiar voice say. Aoi. My inner self told me to stay on the couch. I deliberately stood up and ran to Aoi. He caught me in his arms, and I winced in pain. "Were you waiting long? Sorry." he apologized. Awesome. He was apologizing for making me wait. "Uruha had to pick up some drinks." I smiled. "Hey, you wanted one." Uruha defended. Ruki rolled his eyes. "Come on, we need to rehearse." Kai said, sitting at his drummer's throne. Aoi winked at me and took his postion.