He Really Does Care

"Maggie!?" Zac screamed again over the music. He frantically pawed his way through the crowd, searching for me.

"Move it," he commanded at a couple that blocked his path. The guy lifted his neon-pink haired head up from sucking on his partner's neck only to glare at Zac.

"Piss off!" he sneered before turning his attention elsewhere.

"Get a room." Zac muttered as he brushed around the couple.

She's not that big of a prize, he couldn't help but notice as he caught sight of the girl. Pushing past people right and left, he searched for his older brother's blond head sticking out of the crowd. His search ended with him finding only the edge of the dance floor.

"Tay?" He screamed loudly, turning around and scanning the crowd again.

"Zac!" he heard a faint voice call from behind him. "Over here."

"Damn, where?" He squinted his eyes.

"Right behind you." Zac whirled around at the tap on his shoulder. He felt a flood of relief when he saw Taylor standing behind him.

But where are the girls? His relief instantly vanished.

"Where's Mia?"

"Call of nature." Tay grinned and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "Where's Maggie?"

"She's not with you?" Zac's eyes widened.

"No.. I'll take a wild guess and say she's not with you either."

"Good guess, smart-ass," Zac snapped. He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through his hair, tucking a few blonde strands behind his ears.

"Calm down. I was just kidding. What happened?" Tay couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling that aroused his stomach all the sudden, not to mention he couldn't help but notice his little brother's tension.

"I don't know," Zac's voice started to rise with concern. "One minute we were dancing, the next she was gone. She was right there with me!"

"Relax. I'm sure she's around here somewhere." The words weren't much comfort to either one of them.

"I hope so." Taylor looked over Zac. He took in the nervous crease in his brother's brow, his fists clenched tightly, and nervous pacing back and forth.

He really does care.. was all he could think at the moment. As his eyes met Zac's, their minds extended his spoken statement in the same thought:

I hope she's not hurt. Without speaking, they separated to search for me.

"Shit," I said under my breath, touching my fingertips lightly to my sore cheek. I raised my eyes, filled with hatred towards my ex-boyfriend.

"That's for leaving me!" Justin yelled. He raised his arm and struck my face again, this time with the back of his other hand.

"That's for lying to me, bitch!!" I didn't answer him that time, instead lifting my fingers to my mouth. Although it was too dark for me to see, I could feel the sticky texture of blood on my fingertips as I rubbed my thumb over them.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Justin continued. "I gave you everything! You god-damned slut!"

Ironically, my first thought was,

How sweet, he remembers the pet name he used to call me.

I shut my eyes and hunched my shoulders forward to hide my cheek from the third round of bashing I expected. Surprisingly, none came. I opened my eyes only to watch in horror as his hand slowly approached my face. Anticipating the worst, my body flinched uncontrollably, only to back against the concrete wall behind me again. Instead of striking me, his fingers brushed along the line of my jaw. He reached behind my ear and fingered a handful of my hair.

"You grew your hair out." The softness with which he spoke scared me a hundred times more than the yelling had.

"I always loved your hair." He wrapped a long brown lock of it around his fist. To my horror, I watched him lift his cigarette embers to the tips, watching the ends of my hair quickly shrivel up from the intense heat. I wished more than anything at that moment that I could just do the same: shrivel away and die. Closing my eyes, I nearly became nauseous at the mixed smell of alcohol and burnt hair.

No reaction, I reminded myself. Don't give him that.

"Six years." He casually removed the cigarette with his other hand to close his lips around the other end, holding my head by the fistful of hair, now quite a bit shorter.

"Nothing." I saw only dull reflections as he held my gaze with his eyes, burning dark as he looked back into mine.

"No phone calls." His fingers tightened in his grip.

"No letters." A gasp escaped from my lips as he squeezed his fist again.

"No contact." I felt all the muscles in my spine tense up as he forced his body against mine. The stench of alcohol from his breath was almost unbearable.

"I was very hurt."

Sure doesn't sound like it.

"But seeing as how much I love you Maggie." he continued, tightening his fist again on the emphasized word 'love.' "Even though I'm too good for the white trash you are, I'm going to let you make it up to me."

"You're too kind." I couldn't believe the words had escaped my mouth. I sucked in my breath quickly, as if to swallow the whisper from the air to back inside of me.

No such luck, I squeezed my eyes tightly again. I'm cursed with this damn sarcasm.

"Now, Maggie.." He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Hatred burned inside of me as I watched his expression of mock sympathy.

"That's not very nice.." Moving his head over his shoulder, he spit out his cigarette and reached his other hand up to my face. Closing my eyes, I felt those cold fingers release my hair and circle around my ear before cupping under my chin. I stood silently as I felt his thumbs brush forcefully against my jawbone. With the rough shake my head in his hands, my eyes snapped open.

"Look at me," he demanded.

"You're such a beautiful little bitch, Maggie." Suddenly, his hands were gone from my face. Feeling partially relaxed for a second, that changed in the next instant when he lowered his hands.

I nearly died when I heard the jingle of his belt against his jeans.

"Maggie!" Taylor yelled, walking briskly around the dance floor for the fourth time.

No luck for the last fifteen minutes, he noted, glancing at his watch. Worse, he'd lost sight of Zac a few minutes ago, as well as never finding Mia after she left for the-

"Oof--hey!" A familiar female voice said as he plowed her over. "What's the hurry?"

"Where've you been?" he asked Mia, his concern for me making his voice come out harshly.

"There was a line." She replied defensively.

"What's wrong?" The frown disappeared from her face as she noticed how upset he looked.

"Maggie wasn't in there, was she?" Taylor pointed to the bathroom entrance.

"No," she said slowly, feeling a little annoyed at the mention of my name again."Why?"

"We can't find her," he explained, his eyes leaving his girlfriend's face to scan the dance club again.

"If I go up where the tables are, I should be able to see the whole place better.." He mumbled his thoughts out loud. Turning back to Mia, he was surprised at the angry look on her face, not to mention her arms crossed over her chest.

"Maggie's a big girl, I'm sure she's fine." She spat out at him.

"We've been looking for the last twenty minutes. Zac's going crazy." He added briefly.

You mean, you're going crazy. His mind corrected him.

"So how does Zac feel about it?" He was surprised again, this time at the coolness in her voice as she examined one of her fingernails.

"Huh?" he didn't quite understand.

"You said you're going crazy.." She repeated slowly.

"Zac's going crazy worrying about her." He corrected. "Sorry, I misspoke."

"Zac is," she verified, dropping her arms.

"Yes. Zac. Sorry, I have to keep looking." He roughly kissed her cheek before continuing his search. Mia could only stand and watch him go.

I better join in the fun, she thought grudgingly. Walking in a different direction from her boyfriend, she noticed the entrance to the club.

Maybe she stepped outside? She wondered, figuring it was a possibility. Running her hand along the wall, she hummed to the deafeningly loud notes at the end of a song, walking towards a set of very large speakers on either side of the door.

"You're such a beautiful little bitch, Maggie." She overheard a male voice snarl during the split silence between songs. Glancing down the dark hallway, she could barely make out a large figure looming over a smaller one.

Maggie?

"Hey!" She called out loudly, her voice echoing off the walls around us. Caught up in my fear, I thought I'd imagined her voice. Looking at Justin, I caught sight of him jumping back from me a few inches. Taking my opportunity, I started screaming at the top of my lungs:

"HELP!! God, someone please help me!!" I pushed my body away from the wall with as much force as I could build up, hitting his shoulder. Knocking him off-balance, I saw my opportunity. With a strength I'd never imagine in a million years swelling up inside me, a strength I had only begun to tap into during my empowerment night, all the anger, embarrassment, and resentment that had been building up in me for the last six years, I raised my knee to his groin. No one was more surprised than me at the loud crack sound that rang through the hallway.

"Urg.." Justin sputtered, collapsing to the floor while clutching the area between his legs.

"All right Maggie!" Mia cheered me on. Quickly turning my head in her direction, I instantly felt dizzy. I didn't have enough time to raise my hand to my throbbing temple before everything blacked out.