The Hardest Part Is Letting Go Of Your Dreams

"Bert stop" I yell right before his fist flies forward and makes contact with Franks face, ringing out a sickening crack. Franks head snaps to the side and he whimpers and Bert pulls his fist back again. I rush over and grab Bert's arm and pull hard but he swings around and throws the punch straight into my face. I drop to the floor clutching my nose which is now pouring out blood and feels like it's been driven back into my face. I scream out in pain and I feel someone drop to their knees infront of me and gently touch the back of my head. I flinch away from the touch and I here Frank whisper "Shh babe it's ok it's me." I whimper and slide myself over into his lap and he wraps his arm around me before resting his hand on my cheek and saying "Let me see it babe, it might be broken." I choke out another whimper at that and slowly remove my hand. Frank gently touches it and while it hurts he says "It's not broken babe. Let's get you up and get some ice on it." When I finally look up at his face his lip is split open and bleeding heavily too and his neck is all red from Bert's hand. "Baby" I whimper out as I reach my hand out toward his face. "I'm fine babe, let's worry about you" he says, pulling me up from the floor and ushering me towards the kitchen. When I'm sitting on the kitchen bench I look up and see Bert standing in the doorway looking like someone just murdered a box of puppies infront of him, shocked and horrified. He notices I'm looking at him and he takes a step forward but when I flinch he stops where he is. "Gee" Bert says but I shake my head and look away from him, indicating I don't want to hear it. Frank walks back over from the fridge with some ice wrapped in a towel and another damp towel. He gently wipes all the blood off my face with the damp towel before sitting it aside and placing the ice towel on my nose. I flinch away from it but he grabs my wrist and holds me still while he puts it back on saying "I know it's unpleasant babe but you need to have it on for a few minutes." I reach up and take the ice pack from him, holding it to my own face and grabbing one of his hands with the other, being careful of his knuckles. "Are you ok baby" I ask and he nods and smiles as much as he can with a busted lip. "Gee" Bert tries again but this time Frank turns around and hisses out "If you don't fuck off and give us some space right now I fucking swear to god...." Bert hangs his head and says "I'm sorry Gee" before walking away and I hear his bedroom door shut.
Once we clean up the mess of dirty towels Frank takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom, closing the door behind us and leading me to the bed. He sits me down while he gets us some clean clothes before helping me change. When I have sweat pants on I lay back on the bed, deciding to just go shirtless so I don't bump my nose. Frank smiles down at me and when he pulls on clean sweat pants he also gets into bed shirtless. I slide over and cuddle into his side, resting my head on his chest as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect you babe. I know I've fucked up in the past but I never meant to hurt you. Just relax and sleep now baby and I will protect you." I close my eyes and snuggle further into his side, chasing the warmth his body is emitting.

The next morning when I wake up Frank is still sleeping and my face is killing me. I slide out of bed and head for the bathroom to get some painkillers. On my way past the living room door I see Bert in there cleaning up the mess from yesterday. As I walk past he hears my footsteps and steps out into the hall behind me. I rush into the bathroom and try to close the door but he reaches out and stops it, forcing his way into the bathroom with me and closing the door. I stand there shivering in fear and he backs me against the wall, leaning in close and cupping my face in his hands. "Baby I'm so fucking sorry I hit you. You know I would never hurt you but when you grabbed me I was drunk and so fucking hurt and angry and in the zone of fighting. I love you so much." I shake my head, making him let go of me before I say "You might not have meant to hit me but you did, hard. Atleast when Frank does it it isn't about me, he can't help it." I brace my hands against Bert's chest and shove him off me, turning my back to him and finding the pain killers. When I reach out to open the door Bert grabs my wrist and when I look over at him he smashes his lips to mine. I shove him off and spit out "Don't fucking kiss or touch me." Bert takes a step back before saying "I love you and I will be here until you forgive me." I scoff at his thinking I will give him forgiveness before leaving the room and going back into my bedroom. Frank is awake when I get back and I climb back into bed with him, grabbing a water bottle off the table in the corner and taking some pain killers. Once I'm done I offer them to Frank and he takes some too before sitting them on the floor and pulling me into his arms again, where I melt and feel safe in his arms for a change.

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