Tough Love

Part 1: Love's a Loaded Gun

Brian's POV

Shit.

Shit, shit, shitshitshitshit! "Fucking SHIT!"

"What's wrong, Q?" Faith asks me, her voice heavy with worry. We're all at my house now, hiding her from Simon, her boss, since it's one of the few places she can go without being watched, supposedly.

"Isn't that his car in the driveway?" I hold the curtain aside for her to look out the front window, but after two milliseconds she darts across the room and hides behind my sofa.

"Oh my gosh, do you think he saw me?"

"Well if the fact that he's walking to my house with a fucking gun means he saw you, then yes, yes I do."

"He's got his GUN? Oh my god, guys, hide! Don't open the door, just hide!" And of course as soon as she's done saying that, something flies through the window pane and lodges itself in the far wall; barely missing Murr's head and making him squeal. Everyone finds something to hide behind. Faith stays behind the sofa, Murr and Joe flip my kitchen table and use it as a shield, and Sal and I brace ourselves against my door to keep the son of a bitch from coming in. All of us are panicked, and yet somehow we all keep our heads on our shoulders. Bullets continue to fly through my living room and a few hit the other side of my front door, but none come through. Sal frantically phones the police, who claim to immediately dispatch several units.

"C'mon Faith, just come out and none of them will get hurt!" Simon yells while he reloads his firearm.

"Come in and get me, bitch!" She screams back at him. I'll admit, she's got some guts, but he kind of has a gun, and we kind of don't, so I would really appreciate it if she didn't antagonize him.

We hear him walk right up to the door and bang on it. "Awe, they won't let me in. Looks like I'll have to force my way in." Before he finishes his sentence, I watch Sal, in what seems like slow motion, clutch his left hand, screaming. At first his reaction confuses me, but then I see the blood. The bullet had gone through the solid oak door and got stuck in his hand.

"OH MY GOD, SAL!" In my state of panic at seeing my lover hurt, I back away from the door and reach for him. But that gives Simon the opportunity to kick it in. Everyone's attention immediately turns to him once more as he points the gun at each of us in turn.

"You can stop this right now, Faith. Just come with me. I know you're pregnant, I know you tried to hide it. But there's no need for that!" He's not yelling so much as talking in an excited tone; as if he's explaining that he has a surprise for her. "We can raise it together, and have more kids after that! One big, happy family, living an amazing life! That's all I've been trying to show you all along!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING?" Joe yells at him from the dining area. "After all you've done?! There's no fucking way!"

But then Faith does something that I never, not in a billion years, would have expected her to do. She stands up from behind the sofa smiling and says, "Really? You really mean that? Tell me more!" He starts to go on and on about how he'll be a good dad and their kids will love them, blah blah blah. It's not until a couple minutes into his rambling that I realize the reason for her actions. The more he talks, the lower his gun goes, and the less he pays attention to anyone else. So, me being the only one that's sort of behind him (besides Sal but he's out of commission), I slowly move closer in a crouching position. The second I can reach it, I yank the gun out of his hand, turn it on him, and...

I watch the life drain from his eyes, like the blood from the back of his head. "Don't play with guns, bitch!" I'm not sure why I said that to a dead body, or at all for that matter. Let's just blame the adrenaline, shall we?

The house is eerily quiet. My cats must be in my basement or something. Even Sal, who's hand is still bleeding profusely, has managed to stifle his sobs. I look around at everyone, only to find that each of them are staring back at me with blank expressions. Then I look down at the pistol in my hands, and that's when the panic sets in. My heart starts racing, my breathing gets heavier, and suddenly I get very lightheaded. The world starts to spin out of my focus.

And then it's just black.

**********

How's that for an opening chapter?

Please vote and comment! :D