beauty behind the madness | the weeknd

49

Rose

When we finally get back to New York, I'm feeling tired. We're waiting for the lift and I can feel my eyes starting to close.

Abel snaps his fingers in front of my face. "Hey, wake up," he says. I groan and wrap my arms around him, leaning my head on his shoulder. Abel puts his arms around me, squeezing lightly. The lift arrives and we get in. "I know something that might wake up," he tell me, smirking. He looks around the lift and raises his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, that's not happening, buddy," I say.

"I bet I can change your mind," Abel says, pushing me up against the wall. He tries to kiss me, but I keep moving my head, giggling. In the end, he grabs my chin roughly and attacks my lips, shocking me. He slips in his tongue and starts running his hands all over my body. The kiss becomes more heated, but I quickly break away when the lift door opens. Abel tries to grab me again, but I squeal and run out. "Yeah, you better run," I hear him call out. "Because as soon as we get inside, I'm gonna fuck the living daylights out of you."

I just lean against the wall, waiting for Abel to open the door. I bite down on my lip sexily and arch an eyebrow. "And why can't you do it out here?" I ask seductively.

"Don't tempt me, Rose," Abel says, opening the door. He holds the door open for me, eyeing me down and I just wink at him. As soon as I step into the apartment, I freeze. It's completely trashed.

"What the hell?" I say, looking around in horror. I turn to look at Abel, who is looking around, shocked. "Is anything missing?"

Abel starts checking the draws. "No," he says when he's done.

I frown and turn around, looking around. "Why would someone break in and not take anything?" I think out aloud. "That just doesn't make any sense." All of a sudden, I hear a loud thud. I turn around and gasp when I see Abel lying unconscious on the floor.

My heart starts thumping when I see Jordan standing behind him, holding a white ornament in his hand. There's a few spots of blood on it. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are hard. "Welcome home," he says coldly, a small smirk spreading across his face.

I run over to Abel, trying to wake him. "Abel? Abel!" I shriek. "Can you hear me? Please say something!" Tears starts clouding my vision, but I don't stop calling him.

Jordan grabs me by the hair, pulling me up and I yelp out in pain. "You stupid bitch," he snarls. "If you just stayed with me. This wouldn't happen." He points at Abel's unconscious body. "But I guess the bastard deserves it - he stole you from me."

I clench my jaw, ignoring the pain that's shooting through my head. With all the energy I have, I elbow Jordan in the groin and he lets go of me, groaning. I bend down and see if Abel's breathing. I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear his faint heartbeat. "Abel," I say, touching his face. He doesn't respond, so I just end up slapping him. "Wake up!" I start punching at him out of frustration, then stop when I realise it's a bad idea. I grab his face, trying to hold back the tears. "Abel," I whisper. "Please just wake up. I swear to God if you don't wake up . . ." A groan escapes his lips and my heart starts thumping. "Abel, baby, open your eyes. Please."

All of sudden, I'm being pulled up again by my hair again. I scream out in pain as Jordan drags me away from Abel. I try to pull away from his grasp, but he's too strong. I try hitting and punching at him next, but he grips on to me tighter. I'm sure he's pulled out some of my hair. Jordan throws me and I end up hitting my head against the edge of the table. I feel the blood start to trickle down down my head.

When I notice Jordan walking towards me, I back away, until my back hits the wall. I look around desperately, trying to think of an escape route. "There's nowhere to run, Rose," Jordan says, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" I snap, wiping away the blood that's falling down my face with my sleeve. My head hurts and I feel like I'm gonna pass out.

Jordan bends down and looks at me with sad eyes. "Because I love you," he says. I flinch when he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

"This isn't something you do to someone you love," I spit out.

Jordan scowls. "Can you blame me?" he snaps. "You left me for that." He points towards Abel, who is still lying unconscious.

"So what do you want?" I ask him desperately.

"I want you," he says simply. "I want to work things out."

I look over at Abel again and quickly come up with a plan. Hopefully it works out. "That's all? " I question now and he nods. "Okay."

Jordan's eyes grow wide. "Okay?" he echoes.

I nod. "I'll leave with you," I say. "Let me just go and pack my things." I get up, feeling slightly dizzy from my head injury.

"Why would you need to pack when you have your things in that luggage?" Jordan asks.

I manage to smile shakily. "You're right," I say. "But I need to pack a couple of other things."

"Okay," Jordan says. He kisses my cheek and I freeze. He pulls away and smiles at me and I force myself to smile back. I grab my luggage and take it upstairs. I quickly open the front zip and take out my phone, dialling 911. "You think I'm that stupid?" I jump out of my skin and turn around slowly to see Jordan standing in the doorway, smirking. A lump forms in my throat. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Rose." He walks towards me and I quickly duck and run out the room, my phone in my hand. "Rose! Get back here!"

I end up tripping down the stairs, causing my phone to fly out my hand. When I land on the floor in a thud, a sharp pain goes through my body. I groan at the pain. I can't move. I squeeze my eyes shut when I hear Jordan's footsteps. His hands clasp around my throat and he starts strangling me. I can only think of one thing - Abel. I start crying, knowing that I won't be able to tell him that I love him ever again.

All of a sudden, Jordan's hands release from my neck and I start gasping for air,  wheezing a little. I rub my throat. Breathing heavily, I manage to get up and see what's happening in front of me.

Abel punches and kicks Jordan, who falls to the floor. "Rose, call the police," Abel tells me. I nod my head and grab the phone, calling 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" the woman at the other end of the line says.

I don't get to answer though because I end collapsing.

When I wake up again, I realise I'm in a hospital room.

"Oh thank God," I hear Abel say from beside me. I turn to look at him. "How are you feeling?"

I nod my head. "Okay, I guess," I say. I remember about Jordan and quickly sit up, causing myself to feel dizzy and I groan at the throbbing in my head.

Abel puts his arm around my shoulder. "Lie back down, Rose," he says softly as he pushes me back against the bed. He kisses the top of my head and sits down on the edge of the bed, holding my hand.

"Jordan?" I ask.

"The police arrested him," Abel tells me, stroking my hand.

I close my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. I open my eyes again and look at Abel. "I thought I was going to lose you, Abel," I say, feeling my throat closing.

Abel strokes my cheek. "It'll take more than your crazy ex to get rid of me," he says and I laugh, the tears starting to fall down my cheeks. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you too, Abel."