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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 6:37:00 GMT -5
Jeanette looked up at the Dehart residence and then to Thomas questioningly as they pulled into the drive. "You're sure about this?" She asked gently. She just couldn't help but think about the fact that he was laid up on the couch last night with a hurt knee. She had fallen alseep on the couch with him, but she woke up in the guestroom so she figured that Ryan had come down and carried her in there.
She looked to Ryan then back at the house. Thomas had said his knee was feeling better and he wanted to come try something with Alex so here they were. She had said she'd come with them because one, she didn't want to be alone at Ryan's place and two, she wanted to see the state Alex was in for herself. She had to promis Thomas she would be careful though and she had a feeling that she would be inbetween Ryan and Thomas. She nervously brushed back a few black hairs that were in her face that had fallen from the french braid that was weaved onto her head.
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Post by Ryan Andrews on Aug 22, 2007 14:16:55 GMT -5
Thomas was very sure that he wanted to do this. If this didn't work then he didn't know if anything would. Sure Jeanette was always telling him not to give up hope and to be positive. But it was hard to be positive when Alex was screaming at you telling you that he hated your guts. "Yes, I'm sure I want to do this. I just hope that Alex takes everything ok." He said and then quickly got of out the truck. He'd insisted that he take his truck instead of Ryan's car because Alex wouldn't expect him to come back so soon. He had only told Ryan the game plan for this since he didn't want Jeanette to get scared. He was simply going to try and talk to Alex and if that didn't work then he'd try and pin him into a corner and get him to listen. He was glad that Ryan had went with him because he knew that he'd probably need all of the help that he could get. Not to mention Ryan was an asset when it came to fighting. Sure he knew that Ryan didn't really fight too much, but he knew how to and he had a "show no mercy attitude when it came to it." Of course, Ryan would also be careful so that he didn't hurt Alex. Since that was the last thing that he needed.
Ryan watched as Thomas got out of the truck before he turned to look at Jeanette. He wouldn't let her get hurt, even it he had to get hurt in the process. Cross Country wasn't overly important to him so he didn't care if he ended up missing a practice because Alex had beat up on him and he could hardly move. He considered Jeanette a friend, and not to mention, he now knew something that the world didn't know about him. The fact that he could play the piano was pretty much kept under wraps and nobody knew that he could. "I just hope that Alex doesn't try and rip open those scratches that he left yesterday. But if he does then I'm not stopping my job. Which is to protect you and try and aid Thomas is any way that I can." He said and then got out of the car and watched as Thomas made his way up to the door and then stopped. He knew that he was probably waiting for Jeanette and him to come out so that they could get into their little formation. He'd be at the front, with Jeanette in the middle and Thomas at the back.
Alex was in his room sitting there in the darkness wondering why life had to be so cruel to him. First the accident, and now Thomas wouldn't leave him alone? Couldn't he understand that he just wanted to be alone? He really hadn't meant to hurt him the other day but he couldn't help it, Thomas had been invading his personal space and he had to make him get out. Then yesterday Ryan had charged upstairs, and he was one of the people who he deeply hated. Since he wouldn't give up as easily as Thomas did and he'd paid the price for it yesterday and many other times. Such as when he had pushed him down the stairs and given him a concussion. He thought that Ryan had learned his lesson then, but apparently not. It was then that he heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. He knew that his room wasn't a safe haven since his parents had taken the lock off it a few weeks ago. But the basement door had a lock on it, he'd have to go there.
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Post by Neils Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 14:27:58 GMT -5
She looked bac at Thomas and nodded gently. at his words. Her gaze fell back onto the house for a moment. She watched as Thomas got out of the truck. She looked to Ryan and smiled gently looking at him. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeez. "You're a very good friend, Ryan." She said gently looking at him. Her gaze fell back to the house then Thomas who had stopped at the door. She opened her door and scooted out of the truck. She had changed into a pair of jeans to cover the brace she kept hidden most of the time and a a cute little vintage tee with the coca cola brand on it.
She walked over to the door and looked at Thomas. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and looked up at him. "If he says or does anything that hurts you then just don't let it get to you." She said gently looking up at him with a small encouraging smile.
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Post by Ryan Andrews on Aug 22, 2007 14:47:11 GMT -5
"I'll try not to but it's hard not to say anything when he's digging his nails into you and is drawing blood." Thomas said and knew that Jeanette probably didn't know about that little incident. Alex had actually left two scars on his left arm from that incident. They were small scars though so he just passed them off as scars from glass when his old truck had slammed into that bridge. "Ok, I'm going to be behind you and Ryan's taking the front. Normally I would but I'm hoping that Alex will know that I mean business if I put Ryan out front." He said and then kissed Jeanette lightly. "I've got a feeling that this might work, maybe it's because Alex is outnumbered." He said and then moved behind Jeanette and watched as Ryan moved in front of her and quietly opened the door and entered the house. He held his breath as Ryan went farther in.
Ryan silently entered the house and looked around before motioning for Thomas and Jeanette to follow him. After checking in the kitchen and seeing that everything was spotless he knew that Alex wasn't in there. It was just then that he heard a movement on the steps. So that was where Alex was, well at least he couldn't push him down the steps if he decided to attack from there. He really didn't like the idea of attacking Alex but he knew that if he didn't then the odds of him getting hurt were much greater. He made his way over to the steps and then looked up them and noticed Alex glaring at him front the middle of the steps. "Hello Alex, it's nice seeing you again." He said calmly as he waited to see if Alex would react to him being there. And just as he had expected Alex took off down the steps and attempted to run into him but he swerved. And before Alex could try anything else he had him pinned up against the wall. "Now Alex, I tried to be nice. Thomas only wants to have a little chat with you that's all." He said as he tightened his grip on Alex slightly.
Great, Ryan had caught him now what? The way he was holding him made it impossible for him to really do anything. He glared at him and then his eyes moved over to where Thomas was. "Why'd you come back didn't I hurt you enough the first time?" He said angrily before he tired to wiggle free from Ryan's iron grip. "And you why don't you just leave me alone." He yelled at Ryan before he realized that he could kick since Ryan wasn't holding his legs. He then kicked Ryan hard in the shin. But he didn't let go, not to mention after he'd done that his grip had tightened even more. "Let me go dammit! You have no right to do this to me!" He yelled louder before his eyes moved over to Jeanette. What was she doing here? He hadn't seen her in awhile and her presence was not welcome in his book.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 15:07:49 GMT -5
She smiled gently and nodded softly. She looked to Ryan and then back at Thomas before he kissed her. She let out a soft smile then watched as Ryan flanked her front and Thomas stood behind her. She took a deep breath before she stepped over the door step into the house behind Ryan. She followed him careful of her surroundings. She had heard the foot falls on the steps only an instant before Ryan and she looked in the general direction of them. She stayed where she was out of veiw from Alex while Ryan talked to him. She gasped loudly when Alex came at Ryan and she covered her mouth to keep herself from yelling.
She felt herself relax once she was sure Ryan had a good grip on him and had him pinned to the wall. She wasn't going to move unless she saw the need to. She looked to Thomas when he started to yell at them. She looked back to Ryan and Alex and then his gaze fell on her and she met his gaze with her subtle and calm green eyes. She was a little scared by this time. She didn't realize how horrible the condition Alex was in until he said what he had to Thomas.
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Post by Ryan Andrews on Aug 22, 2007 15:29:48 GMT -5
"You know Ryan, I could make it so that you didn't look like a pretty boy. Yeah, I know you're not even in the top three in the little clique you're in. So why don't you just go sleep with some cheerleaders or something." Alex said and then he kicked Ryan a few times before he finally felt his grip loosen a little bit. That was all of the chance he needed he kicked him hard one more time before he managed to get free from him. A look of satisfaction appeared on his face as he took off toward Thomas. But he the next thing he knew he was being tackled from behind by Ryan. He wasn't going to give up today, well he wasn't either until somebody hurt him so badly he wouldn't be able to fight. But in one quick movement he shifted all of his weight his left and the next thing he knew Ryan and him were rolling around. In the end he ended up on top and he was running toward Thomas again.
How could Alex talk to Ryan like that? The two of them had been pretty good friends at one time. Did he not know that talking to Ryan like that was only going to get him angry at him which would mean he'd only want to fight him harder. He watched as Alex first ran toward him before he was tackled by Ryan. Thank god he'd only switched to cross country last year so he actually knew how to easily bring a person down. He had thought that Ryan had Alex under control again but he watched as the two rolled around on the floor and Alex ended up on top. When he noticed Alex running toward him again he moved in front of Jeanette. There was no way he could leave her alone, she would be too vulnerable then. "Alex stop!" He yelled and watched as Alex actually stopped for a moment and for some reason a look of confusion appeared on his face before he ran toward them again. So he ran toward him knowing that he had to stop him before he reached Jeanette. Sure she'd be alone but the farther away he stopped Alex from her the better. He felt his body collide with Alex and watched as he started to fall, but not before grabbing his arm and pulling him down with him. The two bodied then crashed to the ground.
He'd tried to stop Alex from getting to Thomas and he'd failed. But he had to get over to where Jeanette was. He forced himself to get up and he ran over to where she was. "Maybe if we wear him out he'll actually listen. He's not in the best shape and Thomas and I could probably outlast him." He said as he looked at his arm to make sure Alex hadn't somehow reopened the scratches. But they were still the same way they were when he got here. His eyes moved over to where Thomas and Alex were the two of them were just kind of laying there. But before he could run over get Alex under control again Thomas was sitting up and had him pinned on the ground with his knee of Alex's bad leg. "I hope he knows that just because he's got his knee of his bad leg it's not going to stop Alex. I trust what he's doing though." He said knowing that he was probably just talking to himself and not the Jeanette.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 15:47:45 GMT -5
She looked at Alex shocked at what he had said. She was trying to clear her head when she suddenly realized that Alex had gotten out of Ryan's grasp. She gasped when he turned to her. She turned away waiting to feel something hit her, but then she heard a loud thud as Ryan tackled him and they struggled. She tried to calm herself, but by the time she had Alex had evaded Ryan again and was coming right at him. She backed up against a wall and turned closing her eyes. She opened them and looked as another thud sounded and Thomas had tackeled Alex down.
She looked up to Ryan as he approached her. She was kind of scared now. She hadn't realized how bad Alex was getting to be she looked back up to Ryan and nodded gently. Jeanette was listening to Ryan, but she was too scared to say anything that would draw attention away from Alex who needed to be paid attention to more than she did.
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Post by Ryan Andrews on Aug 22, 2007 16:16:54 GMT -5
"Alex, calm down I only want to talk to you honestly. I really don't want to hurt you I never have. And I'm sorry if I've failed you in some way or another. I already have, I should have done something about this a lot sooner." He said as he felt Alex tense up when he heard his voice. He then rubbed Alex's shoulder for a moment and he felt him relax for a fraction of a second before tensing up again. "See, I really don't want to hurt you. And I know how much that shoulder gives you problems." He said knowing that Alex's left shoulder did give him a lot of problems, especially in the winter. Since he'd noticed how some days he'd never really use it. He knew why it bothered him so bad though, because a few years before the accident Alex had broken it and then it had been badly broken again in the accident. He started rubbing it again but the next thing he knew Alex was punching him as Alex hit him in the head he was dizzy for a moment and then released his grip and rolled onto the floor. "Ryan, do something." He said and he slowly sat up. And he watched as Alex ran all the way over to where Jeanette and Ryan were.
Ryan watched Thomas and Alex and wondered if he might just be getting something through to him. But it turned out he hadn't and he braced himself for Alex's attack. He glared at him and dug around in his pocket before he found his car keys. He threw them as hard as he could at Alex, and watched as they hit him he then watched as Alex ran at Jeanette again. He quickly grabbed Alex's arm and pinned him up against a wall again. "For you information Alex Dehart I never have slept with any cheerleaders or anybody for that matter. Although, I know that you probably could oh yes, they'd love the poor Alex act. Since that's the impression you're giving me. All Thomas wanted to do was talk to you and you have to go and beat up on him. Well, I'm not going to put up with it anymore. If I have to call your parents up and tell them that them all that's been going on I will." He said and then he dug his nails into Alex's shoulder and heard him let out a yelp of pain. "It hurts doesn't it? Now you know how it feels. And trust me, if Thomas wouldn't be watching your back at school you would have gotten beat up an awful lot. I tried to help you after the accident and you just turned away." He said as he continued to glare at Alex.
Damn, every time he went for Jeanette somebody was trying to stop him. He might as well scream things at her from hear. He heard Ryan talking to him but he simply ignored him. He only made one noise and that was just his reaction to the sudden pain he felt when Ryan dug his nails into him. "Why don't you just admit defeat? Yes, I know you tried to help me but it didn't do any good now did it? Who do you think made Thomas believe that there is such things as lost causes? He's so easy to manipulate." He said and then looked over to Thomas before looking back at Ryan. "Thomas was drinking without you, he was down in the basement drinking can after can. He doesn't remember it but I shoved him outside and locked the door and watched as he stagged over to the park." Alex said and then grinned, he might as well let Thomas know why he'd went to the park.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 18:46:52 GMT -5
She yelled when Alex hit Thomas and a hand went to her mouth to stop herself. She stood there shaking and looking to Ryan as he grabbed him and pinned him to the wall. She looked over to Thomas then crossed the room to him. She knelt down and hoisted Thomas up to a sitting position. She frowned when she saw a bruise on his eye. She brushed a hand up over his cheek and looked at his eye. She closed hers and took a deep breath.
She heard Ryan angrily talking to Alex then his words pentraited her brain. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Alex glaring angrily with fire burning in her eyes. She carefully eased Thomas back down and stood up looking at Alex. "What happened to the Alex that every one loved? The one who was happy and loved to play basketball.What happened to that Alex?" She asked as she walked closer to Ryan and Alex. "Don't tell me that stupid car accident was what triggered all this either. Like I said before, I've been through things ten times worse than what you went through Alex. I lost my father because some stupid drunk driver ran a red light." She said angrily looking at Alex. She stood there for a minute. "You know my story, and I know yours. I consider you lucky for what happened to you. I would do anything for that to have happened to me and my father than what really happened. Thomas drinks so excesively because of you, Alex. Because you give him hell. What has he ever done to you? Other than try to help? He's done everything he can to help you and look at what you do to him in return!" She yelled angrily looking at him.
She turned away and closed her eyes calming herself some before she opened them again and took a deep breath she turned around and looked to Ryan then Alex. She had never raised her voice like that to anyone other than her brother and for some odd reason it felt so good to do it to Alex. He deserved in more ways than one really. She looked over her shoulder at Thomas then back to Alex.
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Post by Thomas Dehart on Aug 22, 2007 19:48:39 GMT -5
Alex listened to what Jeanette said, he tried to think up a good response to everything something that would really hurt her. But, for once he was at a loss for hurtful comments. "That Alex has been gone a long time and it can't come back. As for what trigged all of this, people who wouldn't leave me alone that's what." He said angrily as he looked over to Thomas laying there. Maybe those punches that he'd thrown at him were sinking in now. He then looked over at Ryan, it was fun to shoot things at him because he'd act like it didn't hurt but it really did. "You know Ryan, Greg's probably rolling in his grave right now after all of this stuff has happened." He said and then smiled before glaring at Ryan again. But his gaze then shifted over to Jeanette he could tell that she was really angry and he wished that he knew something about her that he could get her angry about.
"Alex, it can come back you just won't let it." Ryan said as he tried not to sound too harsh. He was just about to say something else when Alex brought Greg into it. He tried his hardest not to look hurt but he still did. "Listen, I don't know how the hell you found out about him but don't bring a dead person into this alright? This is between the four of us, right here, right now. And maybe nobody will leave you alone because we don't want to see you spiral downward anymore." He said as he fought of keep his composure. He'd heard what Alex said about shoving Thomas outside and watching him make his way over to the park. That answered one of his questions because he'd wondered why Thomas would walk around while he was completely out of it. "Alex, Thomas could have gotten killed. He could've been struck by a car." He said a little louder then he probably should have. "You might want to lose him, but I don't." He said quietly before looking over at Thomas.
What had Alex done to him when he'd went on that mad punching spree. He'd hit him in the stomach a few times and now it was killing him. The area around his eye hurt too. He heard part of what Jeanette and Ryan were saying but he'd became very spacey all of a sudden. "My stomach hurts." He said quietly when he noticed that there was silence.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 19:58:52 GMT -5
She shook her head gently at Alex. "I was hoping, so truely hoping, that that first time we met and talked something had sunk in. The old Alex is still in your heart. Like Ryan said you just won't let it out. None of us can help you unless you're willing to admit that and let us help you." She softly. She winced when he pulled Greg into the conversation. She listened to Ryan and nodded in agreement. "I know that deep down somewhere in that cold heart of yours it's still warm and vibrant. I just wish I could've seen it in person instead on video tapes and through pictures." She said gently as she turned away from Alex.
She looked to Thomas as she walked over and she sighed gently at the sound of his voice. She knelt down then sat on the floor and gently hoisted him up so that he was leaning against her. "Shh, you're going to be alright, just talk as little as possible." She murmured to him as she gently ran her hands through his hair to try and comfort him. She hated to see him like this, and she hated it even more that the cause of it was Alex.
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Post by Branden Devereaux on Aug 22, 2007 20:22:02 GMT -5
When Ryan heard Thomas say that his stomach hurt fear flashed across his face and he looked at Alex. "I know that you did that Alex, so I'm going to let you go. Under one condition that you go off somewhere else. And that you don't come back out until we're gone ok. Now go before I decide to take my anger out on you." He said and then let Alex go but as soon as he did that he felt Alex's start to scape his nails down his arm again but before he could finish he punched him in his side. After that Alex took off out of the room and back up the stairs. He picked his keys up off of the ground and ran over to where Thomas and Jeanette were. "Thomas, I know you're probably going to hate me but I think that Jeanette agrees when I say that I'm getting you over to a hospital. I think that Alex really hurt you and it's really better to be safe then sorry." He said and then looked over to where Jeanette was.
"My head is killing me too." Thomas said before falling silent he felt Jeanette run her hands through his hair. He was slightly relaxed but that was only because he knew Alex was gone. He was glad that Jeanette was helping him stay upright though because if it wasn't for her then he'd end up falling over. He heard Ryan mention the hospital and he didn't even have any energy to protest. He'd wasted all of his energy on Alex to even say no. He wrapped one arm around Jeanette as he heard things crashing upstairs. It was just then that Ryan's arm came into view. "You know your arm's bleeding." He said slowly as he mustered up a little energy to tell him that.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 20:31:30 GMT -5
Jeanette looked up as Ryan started to talk. She yelled in fright when Alex tried to scrap his nails across Ryan's arm, but then he got a good punch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and she kissed the top of Thomas's head to try and keep herself calm. She looked up at Ryan when he came to them. She looked up at him and nodded her agreement. "Let's just get him there, now." She said gently as she tried to stand up while pulling Thomas to his feet cautiously. She looked back to Ryan scared of what could be wrong with Thomas. "We may be better off carrying him to the truck." She said gently looking at Thomas then to Ryan.
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Post by Branden Devereaux on Aug 22, 2007 21:09:38 GMT -5
"Ok, well if you can kind of grab his feet I can probably get the rest. Thomas is a lot heavier then you are but I think we'll manage." He said as he looked at the damage that Alex had done to his arm, there was a small trail of blood trickling down his arm. But he knew that it would soon stop. He then looked down at Thomas, he was definitely going to talk to somebody about all of this. He couldn't stand to watch Thomas getting hurt because of Alex. Maybe they'd run into one of the friends of Thomas's mother and she'd know what to do about Alex. He was certain that there was no way none of them could get through to him anyway. "Thomas, I'm sorry if I hurt you but I've got to get you out to your truck." He said and then carefully started to pick him up, it felt really weird to be doing that since Thomas was older, and probably stronger.
"Do whatever you want." Thomas said as he closed his eyes for a moment. When Ryan stated to pick him up a wave of pain shot through him again and he didn't really know what hurt worse, his head or his stomach. A tiny tear moved down the side of his face as he wondered what Alex had done to him. He noticed that Jeanette seemed scared and he wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, but he really didn't know that.
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Post by Jeanette Panagiotou on Aug 22, 2007 21:22:23 GMT -5
She looked to Ryan and nodded gently. She walked over to Thomas's feet and looked up at Ryan as he explained and apologized in advance. She saw the pain in his face as they hoisted him up carefully. "Be careful. He could have a head injury or something." She said gently as they started to carry him out to his truck. She wanted to cry when she saw that tear slip out and down his face. She looked up at Ryan just barely able to keep her composure so that he wouldn't see her. She knew she couldn't hide her fright, but she didn what she could with disguising her true feelings at the moment.
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