Brutal Love

Chapter 10

"Winnie! Wake up!" Came Tre's muffled voice. I opened my eyes slightly but then quickly closed them from the blinding sunlight coming in from the window. "Breakfast is ready in 10 minutes, so you better get down and help me eat it all!" And I heard footsteps fading away.

I slowly reopened my eyes and sat staring at the ceiling for a couple seconds letting them adjust. I stretched and got up, realizing I was wearing pajamas. I remember falling asleep in the car in my clothes, so Tre must have put them on. It was my Winnie the Pooh onsie. My dad got it for me the last Christmas we were together. I haven't worn it since they died and I forgot I had packed it. I hugged myself in the warm pajamas.

"I miss you." I whispered to myself. Then I got up and made my way downstairs.

As soon as I left my room I smelt something burning. I ran downstairs and into the kitchen and found the open oven on fire. I started screaming as Tre rushed in and starting extinguishing the flames. I started having flashbacks from that day and I collapsed to the ground like I did then. I put my hands on my head and closed my eyes as tight as I could so I wouldn't see the fire.

"Daddy!!" I screamed. CRASH! THUD! except this time it wasn't my house, it was the oven door being slammed shut and Tre falling to the floor next to me.

"Winnie?! Are you ok?" Tre asked, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. But all this felt distant as I didn't want to open my eyes and I was trying to comprehend what was going on. I only opened my eyes when I felt the hot tears start to stream down my face. Through blurry vision I saw Tre's worried face in front of me. I fell into his chest.

"He's gone. Just like that. And it almost happened again." I said in between sobs. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.

"It's ok. Shh...shh...I'm here. I'm sorry I scared you. Honey, I'm sorry. It's over now. No more fire. Shh...shh." This comforted me and I felt a little calmer. "And, hey," he held me out so we could look at each other eye to eye, "it's going to take a lot more than fire to get rid of Tre Cool." He smiled weakly.

I sniffled and giggled a little. "Of course." I rested my head on his chest and we just sat in that position on the floor for what seemed like forever, until we were interrupted.

"Hey Tre, I hope you don't mind but we let ourselves in." Called Mike. Tre squeezed me tighter and then let go. "We thought you guys would -" Mike appeared in the doorway and took in the state of the kitchen.

"What happened in here?" Billie asked, appearing next to Mike. He looked from Tre to me, but I avoided eye contact with him.

"Well, um...I tried to make breakfast but it uh...didn't go so well." Tre said, jokingly.

"Oh, Tre. I thought we told you not to cook?" Mike said, holding back a snicker. I could still feel Billie's gaze on me, but I continued to look at the floor.

"Well, I thought I could do it, you know...for Winnie."

"Obviously not." Billie said. "Well anyways, we thought you guys might enjoy going out to breakfast at say Aunt Mary's?"

"Sure. Winnie?" Tre said, and I looked up at him. He looked back. I shrugged and nodded. "Alright. Give her 5 minutes." He walked me out of the kitchen and pushed me up the stairs. "You ok?" I looked back and nodded. "Ok, go get ready." He smiled weakly and went back to the kitchen. I ran up the stairs and into my room.

I looked at my phone to check the time and noticed I had a text. Who would text me?

Unknown: Good morning Winnie.

Me: Good morning to you too, but who is this?

Unknown: It's Joseph Marciano Armstrong. Tre gave us all your number last night, I hope you don't mind.

Me: Oh not at all, but next time lead with the name. :P

Joey: Lol, I'll remember that. So, how are you feeling?

Me: Little less than fine. There was a fire this morning that scared the crap out of me.

Joey: I hope you're ok.

Me: Yeah, I'm ok. I gtg, I'm going out to breakfast with the guys. ttyl?

Joey: Yeah, ttyl :)

I guess we're friends now. I'm glad Tre gave them my number but a little mad that he went through my phone to find out my number. Oh well, what's done is done. I put my phone down and looked through my clothes for something to wear. I settled on on a Nirvana t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans, paired with my converse. I put my hair in a ponytail and fixed my glasses. When I looked in the mirror I realized my face was a mess so I took off my glasses and went to the bathroom to wash my face. Once I looked decent, I put my glasses back on and went downstairs where I was met by the guys just lounging around in front of the door.

"That was more than 5 minutes." Mike joked. "But what can you expect from a teenage girl?"

"Alright so who's car?" Billie asked, laughing a little.

"Mine! I wanna drive!" Tre exclaimed, already running out the door.

"I guess that answers my question. Let's go kiddo." He reached out his hand for me to take but I just brushed past it.

"I call shotgun!" I called back to them and I started running to the car. I got in the passenger seat and buckled up. Tre gave me a high-five as the guys clambered in the back seat. "Suckers." We both said.

We turned on the music and drove to Aunt Mary's. Ooh, I just love their pancakes. And their cheesecake is to die for. I can't wait, but I really don't want to spend breakfast with Billie and be forced into a conversation with him. I'm still mad at him. I have my phone so maybe it won't be too bad.