One Life For Another

29

"Where have you two been?" Sam asks, his voice filled with worries. "Just girls night out" Hailey says while stumbling over to Sam. She grabs him by his collar and pulls him close. "It was so much fun, never had so much fun." She rambles on with her story while Sam is giving her worried looks. I had been staring at them the whole time, so I didn't notice Joël walking up to me. He suddenly lays his hands on my shoulders, making me yell. "Don't be scared" He says, "It is only me." I smile crooked and throw myself into his arms. He loses balance and we both fall to the ground. Joël catches me on his chest and wraps his arms around me tight. "Baby I know that you are old enough to drink but it just feel unsafe to me" he says. "Who cares?" I say, "I had fun and regret nothing." "Oh you will talk different later today when you have a horrible hangover." I laugh it off and try to get up. Joël lets go of me and I quickly get up. Joël gets up too and looks at me. "You and your clothes are soaked." I look at my shirt and pants. There are wet from my sweat and from the drinks that tipped over. I pout, "No it is okay." "It is not," Joël says, "You need to go take a shower." I shake my head, "I want to sleep." "You can sleep immediately after." "No I want to sleep now." Joël sighs and lifts me over his shoulder. I bang on his back, I don't want to be carried now. But then again I really want to be carried by him. "Stop that" he says with a stern voice. I immediately drop my hands and just lean against him. "Good girl" he says, "You will take a shower and then you can sleep." I nod softly, "I am really tired." "I can see that baby girl. You shouldn't go out like this anymore. We both know how you get when you are really tired." He places me down on the counter next to the sink and starts to take my pants off. "Hey" I say, "I can do it on my own. Go sleep, I will get to you in a few." Joël nods, but I already know that he will stay awake until I join him in the bed. "Sorry babe" I say and ruffle his hair. He smiles and walks out. I close the door behind him and turn on the shower.

Showering is one of the hardest things to do when you are drunk. I kept slipping so I sat down on the ground. But then I couldn't reach the shampoo and douche gel anymore. I managed to shower so I get up. I open the shower curtain and step out of the shower. The ground under my feet is cold and slippery. I slip and land on my butt. A stinging pain goes true my spine up to my head. I push myself up and quickly dry myself off. I wrap a towel around my body and walk into the bedroom. Joël is sitting on the bed, staring at me. "Hey I only forgot to get my pajama babe." I quickly get the black shirt and underwear. Then I go back to the bathroom and change in to them. I open the door and stumble to the bed. My back hurts so much from the fall I made a few minutes ago. I groan while letting myself fall onto the bed. Joël lays down to and pulls me into his arms. He kisses me and at that moment the door of the room opens. I pull away and look at the person that is at the door. It is Jayden, who is standing there. "What is wrong?" I ask him. "S-so t-tired a-and i-in p-pain" he stutters. I sit up and Joël follows my example. "Pain where?" "M-my l-leg" He whimpers, "T-they h-hurted m-me w-with a-a k-knife." O no, what exactly did they do to him? "I will come check up on your leg" I say while already sliding of the bed. "No" Joël says with the same stern tone as before, "You are going to sleep because you are tired and drunk." I pout but lay back down on the bed. "I will go help him." Joël gets up and walks to Jayden. "Lets go to the kitchen" I hear Joël say. Then they walk away, leaving me in confusion. Why did Joël volunteer to help one of the persons he hates the most?

I stare at the ceiling until I suddenly hear a loud bang, followed by a second one. I shoot up and runs towards the sound. The sounds come from the kitchen and I see Jayden pinning Joël down to the ground when I run in. He is repeatedly lifting Joël's back of the ground and slamming him back down. Joël has no chance in fighting back, because Jayden is much stronger then him. I shoot forward and kicks Jayden's side. "What do you have against him?" I yell at him, "You killed his brother but I won't let you kill him too!" Jayden let's go of Joël and looks at me. "He took my girlfriend!" he yells back. "I don't care! You broke my heart!" Jayden grabs Joël by his throat, "I will end him right here." "That would only make me hate you more and this time I will make sure that you get a trip to jail." Jayden narrows his eyes and tightens his grip. Joël's eyes are closed but I can see the amount of pain he is going through. I feel anger rising up in me and then I attack Jayden. The fight is a total mess, but I end up on top of Jayden. "See, I won't give you a chance to kill him" I hiss. Suddenly I hear Sam's voice from behind me, "What did happen here?" "Jayden tried to kill Joël" I say while still pressing Jayden down to the ground. I quickly peek at Joël, giving Jayden an accidental chance to be free. He throws me of him with full speed, making me crash into the kitchen cabinets. My whole back burns when I land on the ground. I cough and cough till I throw up. I close my eyes and hold my head with both hands. Than I feel two hands on my cheeks. "It is okay baby" I hear Joël say. I open my eyes and stutter in pain, "S-stop, y-you a-are i-in p-pain y-yourself." "Only a little baby, but you are throwing up so I want to take care of you." I look down, but he immediately raises my head up again. "Please don't look down like that. It is all okay and you did what you had to do." I nod and look past Joël. Sam is holding Jayden by his collar. "This is the last time Jayden" Jayden whimpers as Sam smack his head softly. "One more time and I will send you to therapy." I shiver and close my eyes. I feel the wood of the cabinets against the back of my head and Joël's body warmth against my chest. "Everything is okay" Joël whispers. I nod but stop when I feel Joël getting heavier. I open my eyes and see that he fainted. I shake him but he doesn't react anymore. Panick takes control of me and I yell, "If he dies I will kill you with my bare hands!" Than I start to cry, pulling Joël against my chest. "Calm down." Suddenly Hailey is sitting next to me on her knees. "Lil it will be fine" she says and strokes my hair. I keep crying madly while holding Joël as close to me as possible. "Lets take him to the hospital" Hailey says, "but first you need to clean your mouth, drink something and put pants and shoes on." I nod and carefully lay Joël down beside me. Hailey helps me up while Sam sends Jayden to his room. I drink something after cleaning my mouth and walk to me and Joël's room. Jayden is standing infront of the door, crying heavily. "Lil? Can you forgive me?" He mumbles. I stop and look at him. "Do you think it is that easy? That I can forgive you that easy?" I ask. "I am really sorry." "You hurted me once again, you should find another way to get my trust in you back." I hear him sniff and then he breaks down. He falls to his knees and burries his head in his lap. I know exactly what he is going through, I had it too. My heart starts to hurt when I hear his loud cries. I mumble a soft "sorry" and quickly walk into my room before I will break too. I search for my pants and put them on while having a huge struggle with it. Than I run back to the kitchen, jumping just in time to not trip over Jayden.