Death Grip, Death Wish

After the Big Freeze, Mark and I were officially a couple. He promised to not lie and I promised not to push him away. We danced the night away, never leaving each other's arms. It had been a few weeks since then, and I had been trying to nudge him away from his punk friends. I even told him that he needed to ditch them.

"Rachel, don't you understand?" Mark said as he ran his hands through his hair, "I can NOT leave Nate alone with them!" His eyes were wild. I melted at the compassion and determination in them. Nate was his best friend and his younger brother (granted that he was only ten minutes younger). I sighed and nodded. I wrapped my arms around Mark's neck and he nuzzled my neck. I kissed his cheek. We were standing outside of the school, about an hour after school had gotten out. Nate and his friends were in the parking lot doing who-knows-what. I had hated arguing with Mark, but he always begged me to stay with him, because he really felt like the outsider in that group. I stayed, because Mark wanted me to and also because, I did actually have friends in that group. But they were all idiots.

"Let's go." I sighed. I entwined my fingers into his and we walked down to where the boys were all crowded around a truck. I groaned when I saw Phoebe there, practically throwing herself at all the boys. And they all liked it. Disgusting.

"Hey guys." Mark greeted. A few of the guys threw him waves and "hey". Nate ran up to us, squeezed in between us and wrapped his arms around us.

"Hey bro." He said, "Still hanging with this girlie?" He said. Both of us rolled our eyes and slipped away from him. "But the guys were just talking about heading out to Anderson's park and going snowboarding. Wanna come?" I looked at Mark as his face crumpled.

"Sure. Why not?" He forced a smile and I threw him a solid you-should-have-said-no look. He winced and mouthed a "sorry" to me. The guys all whooped and one of them picked Phoebe up and carried her to his car. I walked with Mark to his sedan and got in the front seat.

"You're acting like a push over." I complained. Anger flashed into his eyes for a moment before it disappeared.

"I know. But if I say no, he'll go alone." Mark said. His face showed his division. He wanted to be a good brother, but he also hated being with that group of guys. I leaned over and hugged him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, "I know this is hard. I won't complain anymore." I felt him smile against my skin and pressed a kiss under my jaw. I turned my head and pecked his lips before we began the drive out to the run down park outside of town. The playground was dead, and the snow around it was covered in snowboarding trails, and quite a few blood stains. I grimaced at the thought.

Nate ran up to the car once we got there. He tapped on the window and we stepped out. "Guys, you'll never believe this, but Reed brought some beer. Its a real party now!" Nate whooped. I gawked at him. I knew enough about him to know he had never had a sip of alcohol in his life, and bad things would happen if he did.

Mark practically exploded, "Okay, like that's going to happen. Get in the car." He yelled. He grabbed Nate's arm and almost threw him in the back seat.

"What the heck, Mark?" Nate hollered. I got in the car and Mark sped off, away from the craziness that was about to start. "Mark! Stop the car! I'm going back!" Nate yelled. I saw the angry tears forming in Mark's eyes as Nate continued yelling. About ten minutes into the drive back to Mark's house I whipped around, my own eyes red and blurry and screamed at Nate.

"Just shut up!" I shrieked. He quieted at that, but glowered at me. I glared right back, and eventually he backed down.

"You really think that would have been cool?" Mark said to Nate. Nate didn't reply. "You are smart enough to know when things are going too far!" I put my hand on his arm but he shrugged me off, "Don't be such an idiot, Nate! Use your brain! You never acted like this in Louisiana!" Mark lectured. I stared at the dashboard the entire way to his house. Nate sulked, and Mark fumed. By the time we got to their house, I was pretty miserable.

Nate and Mark slammed the car doors and stalked inside. I followed slowly, and followed Mark to his room on the second floor. "Mark...?" I said softly. He was laying on his bed, tossing a football into the air. He didn't even look at me. "Mark." I said a little more forcefully. Still nothing. "Okay... I'm going to get a ride home with your dad." I said. He finally acknowledged me with a small grunt. I walked back downstairs to where his dad was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at some papers.

"Hey, Mr.Adams." I said. I slid into a chair next to him.

"Hey, Rach. What's shakin'?" I laughed at his attempt to be cool. He was a funny, nice man.

"Nothing, really." I said. I looked at the stairs when I heard a loud thump come from up in Mark's room.

"The boys being a pain?" He asked. I nodded slowly, never looking away from the stairs.

"Can I get a ride home?" I asked.

"Of course. Come on. I'll take you right now." He got up and grabbed his coat. "I needed a break anyways." We walked to his truck and I climbed inside. I looked at Mark's window, but the curtains were drawn. He never did that...

"What's bothering you so much, little missy?" Mr. Adams asked. I laughed drily and looked out the window.

"Well, Mark's having a really hard time and it's rubbing off on me." I told him. He looked at me sideways and I continued, "His friends aren't really the best of people, but he stays around them because Nate really likes them. He's afraid if he leaves Nate alone, Nate will get into trouble. Even today, a guy had some beer and Nate was really excited about it... Mark had to physically dragged him away." I admitted, "I mean, it's really not my place to tell you about this." I looked down. Nate and Mark would kill me if they knew I was telling on them. Mr. Adams looked really upset.

"No, no, I'm glad you did. They haven't mentioned anything about this." He said. I nodded, and looked away. We got to my house, a few blocks away from Mark's and I walked in slowly. I threw myself on the couch and sighed. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Mark.

Can I come over? /:

I think you need to take some time to work this out. I replied. I waited for a minute.

What's there to work out?

You and Nate and getting him out of this situation.

Why'd you leave?

Because my boyfriend was ignoring me. I said flatly.

I'm sorry, princess. I was upset. Forgive me?

You were forgiven before I even left.

Then come back. Please, princess?

Not right now. Maybe tomorrow, k?

Fine. But I'm going to miss you.

You're a dork.

I know.

I'm going to miss you too.

(:

I tossed my phone on the floor and curled up on the couch. Sleep quickly overtook me and I didn't stir until late that night when my phone cried out it's ringtone. I groggily lifted it and saw the time. 11:37 pm. I slid the button and answered the call from Nate.

"What Nate?" I said, angrily.

"Heyyyy Rashel...." He said, his words obviously slurred.

"Oh my gosh, Nate what is wrong with you?" I asked, mad and not suspecting a thing.

"Nuttin. Jusss havin a bit o funsies." He said. My eyes shot open wide. Oh my gosh. He was drunk.

"Nate, where the heck are you?" I said frantically. I ran to the front door and pulled on my shoes. I ran out to my car while he mumbled about being with "the guys, doing some late night partying".

I sped to Mark's house, going at least forty in a residential area. If I got caught, I was screwed. If I didn't speed, Nate was screwed. I slid to a stop in front of Mark's house. As I suspected, Mark's car was gone. I ran to the front door and pounded on it. His parents were bound to wake up. But they didn't. Instead a drowsy Mark answered the door. He looked me up and down, and threw me a quizzical look.

"Mark, hurry pull on some shoes. We gotta go." I said, barging into his house. My car was still running.

"What are you talking about?" He said. I threw his running shoes at him.

"Get them on! Nate's at Anderson's with Reed and his friends." I told him. Mark's eyes flew open.

"I gotta tell mom and dad." He said. I grabbed his arm and pulled him out to my car.

"Tell them when we get back, we don't have time. He was already drunk when he called me." I said. I jumped in my car and drove off. Mark's hair was disheveled and he was only wearing a white undershirt and gym shorts. I looked at my own clothes that I had been wearing earlier, wrinkled, but still okay. I sped all the way to Anderson, making it in record time. I parked the car and pulled the key out. We ran to the top of the big hill, where we could see the fire that the boys had started.

"Nate!" Mark bellowed. Nate's head flipped toward him, and he smiled. Mark looked scary livid, and I took a reflexive step away from him. Nate marched right up to him and got in his face.

"Are ya here to ruin my fun?" He asked. He reeked of alcohol. I gagged at the horrid smell.

"Yes. Come on. We need to go." Mark grabbed his arm but Nate wrenched away.

"Not this time, pal. I'm staying til the party's over." He slurred.

"Oh, trust me, the party is over." Mark said.

"Ever since ya started dating this slut, you haven't been a bit of fun." Nate said. I gasped and Mark's face hardened. He pulled back and punched Nate right in the face. He stumbled and fell over. He deserved it.

"Never insult her again!" He screamed. At this point, Reed and Connor marched over, more wasted than Nate, who had gotten up and was letting blood flow freely from his nose.

"What's going on Mark, my boy?" Connor said, mad, but acting friendly. Mark glared at him.

"Nothing. Just taking Nate home. He's had it for tonight." He replied. Connor's eyes hardened.

"Oh, pretty boy here and his woman think they're too good for us now?" He said. Reed rushed forward and pinned Mark to the ground. They wrestled for a good several minutes before Reed had Mark's arms pinned behind him in a death grip. He struggled but couldn't move. Connor started walking towards me. I was scared beyond belief. Connor was a good 6 foot 3 and weighed at least 200 pounds. I was a foot shorter and only 120. I backed up while Connor started gaining on me. Mark screamed at him to leave me alone. I didn't dare look away from him.

He rushed towards me and I screamed, loud and clear. He knocked me over, and I could feel my bones bending under his weight. He pulled my car keys out of my hand and got off of me, throwing the keys towards Nate. He caught them, and the gang of boys started towards where my car was parked.

"Let's have some fun boys!" One of them hollered and they all rushed down the mountain, including Reed. Mark ran towards me and wrapped me in a hug. That's when I broke down and gasped around thick sobs. He wrapped one arm solidly around me and with the other, called his parents on his phone.

"Hey Mom." He said, "It's Mark... I know I shouldn't be out this late. But I had to. Nate left. He called Rachel and she came and got me. We're at Anderson....... They're completely wasted, mom. Mom... Let me talk to Dad.... Hey Dad.... Yeah they're toasted.... They attacked Rachel and I, and now they're stealing her car... Okay. I will.... Bye." He hung up, obviously shaken. He dialed three numbers with a familiar tune coming from the beeps. "Hello, 911... Yes... I'd like to report a bunch of teenagers.... They're drunk and they just stole my girlfriend's car... They tackled us and stole her keys... Yeah I know all of them. One of them was my brother.... We're at Anderson Park... Thank you officer..." He untangled me from his arms. "Stay here." He ordered. He ran down the hill, chasing after the group of boys. They were piling in my car.

They circled around the parking lot, Nate driving. Mark ran out into the parking lot and an earth shaking scream erupted from me. I ran down the hill as I watched the car slam into him. Time slowed and I watched as his body crumpled under my car. Then my car slammed into the light post near by. The car lurched to a stop. Just then police cars pulled into the park and I tripped. I crawled to the edge of the sidewalk, my lungs pleading for air around my sobs. I crawled to Mark, who was unconscious. I didn't dare touch him, for fear of hurting him. A few police officers ran up to me and him.

"Ma'am, ma'am, we need you to step away from him..." One said.

"NO!!!" I shrieked. I hit the man when he came close to me.

"Miss... Can you tell us who this is?" The other man said. I choked on a sob.

"Mark... Mark Adams... He... He's the o-one w-who c-c-called..." I gasped out. A woman police officer walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a sideways hug. She pulled me away slowly as I was tormented my sobs and deep, cutting pain.

"He's alive, but barely." One said. An ambulance arrived a few moments later, and the Paramedics ran over to Mark. I shrieked and screamed and fought against the now three police officers holding me. I wrenched free for only a moment before one grabbed my arms again. The largest man walked behind me and wrapped his muscly arms around my waist, pinning my arms to my side and lifting me off the ground. I watched in slow motion as they put his body in the ambulance and sped away. Two more had arrived and were taking care of the ones responsible for this all. When Mr. and Mrs. Adam's and my parents got there, I collapsed, scratching at the pavement and the snow, screaming into the ground. I passed out after what seems like an eternity. The only thing I remember thinking is that I wanted to die, just to make the pain stop.

The next morning, I woke up wrapped in my mom's arms, laying on a cot set up in the police station. I looked around confused for a moment, before the pain came wrenching back and I sobbed, sobbed for hours without stop. My mom drove me to the hospital, but I wasn't allowed to see Mark, who was in the ICU. He was stable they said. Still unconscious. So I sat by Nate's bedside. He had broken a leg and an arm, had gotten several major cuts, but was otherwise fine. When he woke up, he seemed to remember. He let out a sob and we cried. We cried together for the person we had almost lost.