Escaping Grace

"I'm gonna miss you!" I clung to Dannys neck. "I hate that we didn't get to spend more time together."
"You have a busy life now, Leah. Don't sweat it," he tugged at my arms, and I slowly let go. We were standing at the curb, and the cab driver was putting Dannys bag in the trunk. He was leaving to go see our other brother now, and I hated he had to go; I felt like we really didn't get to spend any quality time together with what was going down.
Andy stepped out of the building, his sun glasses on, and his hair in his face to hide some of his damage. When you put us together we looked like we'd beat each other up, except that I'd won the last round of course.
He caught my hand as he stepped up and pressed a kiss to it, which I think was becoming a habit for him.
"I'm gonna miss you," I frowned at Danny. "Call me when you reach the airport, and when you get there."
" I will, I promise," he squeezed my hand. "Let me have a chat with your boyfriend for a second, okay?"
I frowned even more. No, that really wasn't okay --- I didn't know what he would say. They stepped away, and I blew out an anxious breath. This wasn't going to end well.

Andys POV

"Look man, this is my sister." Leahs brother was glaring down at me. "And I will break you in half if I find out you've hurt her again, got It?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Good." he nodded, but didn't look satisfied.
"If there's something else you wanna say, go for it."
Her brother paused a split second, glancing over my shoulder at where she stood impatiently glaring at us. "Leah has... A lot going on with her. If you're not serious about being with her, Don't string her along."
"I'm serious," I spoke before he could start again, or punch me. "And I get that she does. I've seen some of it."
His eyes narrowed, and then his shoulders kind of drooped. "The scars?"
"Yeah, they're kind of hard to miss."
Danny shrugged. "They're awful, and she won't talk about them, not even to me. I dont quite know what happened, but our mother ---." he stopped himself. "Well, don't ever bring her up if you know what's good for you. You're the first person I've seen her so comfortable around since Valerie. She's not been the same since... Since before she met him." His voice rippled with anger.
I hesitated, then nodded. "I'm not going to let anything happen to her. If I see that asshole anywhere I'm going to smash his skull in," I clenched my fists. "He'll never touch her."
Danny eyed me in a way I was just starting to associate with his family in general, then reached out a hand.
"Nice meeting you after all." he said, and we shook a moment.
He was going to break my hand.
He let go, and turned back to his sister. He gave her another hug, and then peeled himself away from her and got into the cab before she gave another heartbreaking look that was making me even want him to stay.
He turned and waved as the cab took off, and she waved back until it disappeared into traffic.
"Let's get inside," I said after a moment, clasping her hand. I pulled her to the door and ushered her inside, glancing around warily. Someone was watching us, I just had that feeling. And if that motherfucker was around and thought he could get to her, or even tried, I would ---.
"Andy, what are you doing? Come on." Leahs voice cut through my thoughts. I gave another glance, then darted in after her. I took her hand as we started up the stairwell, giving her a worried glance.
She'd warned me for months to back off and that her life didn't need me in it. Now that I was, and got an inkling of how bad things were about to get, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

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