Welcome to L.A.

Dark truth and painful scars

--Maddy's POV--
I don't know what to do. Should I try to help her? I know that she won't be done until she really feels better. Dan's horrified. I know, by the way he looks at her and treats her, how he feels about her. He seems to care more about her than anyone else I've met so far. Even Ash doesn't treat me like him. It's almost like he opened a door to her sadness and is struggling to keep it open. I know, Dan... it'd be so much easier to walk away and let her finish her own business, but... it's hard when you have a pure heart like you do. Thus, I know her and you're starting to understand why she likes to be around people so much, don't you? She seems to handle anger, fear and sadness pretty well, but I don't think that the material of her bandages was made white and red...

"I need to save her from beating herself. She doesn't even have boxing gloves..." Yeah, I know...

"It hurts more without them..."

Just after what I said, he left me. He's running to her. She's too concentrated to notice his presence in her back. Instead of talking her way out of this, he... pulls her away from the punching bag. Amy's so in need to keep on going that she's trying to free herself from his grip. When she does, he runs to her again before she rips other skin cells and puts her on his shoulder like he did the night we arrived in California. Blood stains Dan's white shirt every time she hits his back. When he puts her down to hold her in his arms, I can see her dark look before she starts to cry. They are feet away from me, but I feel sadness as if I was next to them. When my camera's happy to watch them, I would've preferred to be somewhere else. His forehead is on her shoulder. His arms wrap her as if he wants to protect her from the whole world. She's drunk in pain, he's drunk in love. I can see it in his eyes, his sad smile, but can she see it
behind her dark thoughts?

He held her, talked to her and waited for her to breathe calmly without trying to get away. Fortunately, the gym was empty on our side. When he finally lets her go to hug her formally, I know what I have to do.

"Give me your hands, Mili." I say after hugging her. She hesitates but lets me help her with her left hand. "You brought it to K.O. that's good, but... we're here now." She sadly looks at me and stays silent.

"We're bringing you to a calmer place to clean your wounds. You hurt yourself pretty badly." He says. When I tried to take her right hand, she pulls it away from Dan and me.

"Why do you care? Did I need to hurt myself to be noticed and important today?" She's looking at us in deception and feels betrayed when she leaves us in the gym.

"We tried to call you, Mili!" She stops walking, turns around to face us and looks at us even more betrayed.

"Okay, well, why did I have to disappear for you to care about me again?! It's my life, not yours! And I've never kept any truth from you even when I knew it would hurt you with..." She stops and starts to stare at me. "You know what? It just doesn't matter. If I needed to vanish for you to worry about me, then I can handle myself for the rest of the day." She starts leaving us in tears.

"She wanted you to know!" Yells Dan. "And... I wanted to relate facts. Ash is the one who locked you out. He stood in front of the door... we're sorry."

She turns to us again with relief and hope in her gaze, but something interrupted her our moment. She cups her face with her hands, faces a wall, then... falls on her knees like a rock. Holding her head, she's dealing with her issues. What she should have done before seeing us. She needs to do it... Dan wants to help her, but I need to stand in his way. When she hit the floor, he pushed me away angrily but stopped when I grabbed his arm.

"Wait." He's pulling on his arms to free himself. "You must understand that she needs time. Trust has always been the basis of her relationships. If you break it she won't open up to you... until you gain it back."