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Howie paused for a moment when he entered the living room, noticing Melicia sprawled on the couch, listlessly clicking the remote control to the plasma TV. To say the least, Howie was worried. Melicia had said nothing about Ana for the past several days, making Howie slightly sick. Every day he glanced across the road to the Lord Residence, but found no signs of Ana. Usually, she was outside in a bikini doing something. But now her spacious lawn was unoccupied. "Hey, Mella! It's Friday, shouldn't you be hanging out with Ana?" Howie asked, probing for answers to his missing infatuation.

"Huh?" Melicia looked up from the TV. "Oh, well, Ana hasn't been to school the last couple of days. Thought maybe she was sick or something..."

"Sick? Like the flu?"

She shrugged, hoping Ana really was just ill and not something worse. "Might be. Some of the other kids at school are absent from it."

"Have you at least called to see if she was alright?" Howie stressed, sitting beside her. It was unlike Ana not to at least call Melicia to make sure everything was indeed alright.

"I called a few times, but someone answered and told me Ana was unable to talk," Melicia answered, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach.

"Oh. She must not be feeling good, then... right?"

"Either that or her dad beat her to a pulp," Melicia muttered in a tone unable to be deciphered by Howie's ears.

"Did you say something, Mella?"

"I was just reminding myself that I have some homework to do," she lied, getting up from the couch. "I want to get it done now so I don't have to do it on Sunday night."

Unable to control her impulses, Melicia glanced out the window to the Lord Residence. She quickly scanned the area, finding herself drawn to the basketball court. Her eyes quickly focused on a lithe object tossing a ball toward the hoop. Melicia squealed loudly, startling Howie. "Holy shit! Uncle Howie! It's Ana!"

Howie immediately got up and looked out the window as well. His heart fluttered with joy as he saw she was outside. "It is her! I guess she's over that flu now."

Melicia simply nodded, immediately sprinting toward the door. She ran across the street as if chasing the golden pot at the end of a rainbow. She was about to tackle Ana to the ground when she approached the basketball court, but immediately hesitated. Things were obviously not well. Ana stood on the court with a pair of purple boxers on and a lavender tank top with jewels embedded along the bottom hem. A pale blue skirt with small lavender flowers lay at the side of the court, folded neatly atop a pair of heeled sandals. Ana's hair was wild and free, tumbling in beautiful ringlets down her back, but her appearence made Melicia's heart pound with sickness. Her right arm lay embedded in a cast just below the elbow as dark sunglasses shielded her eyes. "Ana?" Melicia called softly.

"Oh... Hey, Clicky," Ana replied without any ethusiasm. She let the ball sail through the net and bounce onto the perfectly manicured lawn.

"Ana, what happened to you?" she whispered, her stomach knotting up tightly. It was as if her old friend was standing right there. Her suspicions were now confirmed about what happned in the Lord household if something wasn't perfect according to Mr. Lord's beliefs.

"You mean my arm?" Ana said with a strained laugh. "Don't get too worried. My Dad wanted me to show him my latest surf styles, so we hit the beach. I had this perfect wave, but it cut out on me. Must have hit a shallow spot, because a tumbled down and landed on my arm as my board came up and smacked me in the face. Doctor said it was a spiral fracture, pretty awesome huh?" Ana lied, only seeing her father's fist come flying into the air, knocking her to the ground. The the glass of gin tonic hurled only inches away from her head. He was overly stressed by then, seizing her by the arm, twisting until it snapped.

"Um, yeah. Awesome... is that why you haven't been at school? Mrs. Clark was getting worried about you. So was Uncle Howie and I."

"Dad decided to keep me home for a few days, because my eye swelled shut. That and my arm hurt like a bitch. All the other teachers knew about it. I'm all caught up. One came to the house to even give me the tests I missed. Straight A's again," Ana replied, glancing up toward her house for a moment.

"Oh, well that's good you're caught up," Melicia agreed, looking to where Ana was, but saw nothing in the windows. "Are you going to be able to do the concert next Tuesday with your arm?"

"Doesn't take an arm to sing, Clicky."

"I was just asking in case it started hurting again or something... I've broken my leg before, and it hurt a lot of the time during the first few weeks."

"I'm used to it," Ana muttered, bending down to snatch the skirt from the ground. She knew her father would be waking from his stupor soon. She would need to be inside, reading until he caught his next flight.

"What?"

"Nothing, just saying how my Dad is catching another flight out tonight..." Ana trailed, fumbling to slide the skirt up her legs with only one arm.

"Oh, he is? When does he come back?" Melicia asked, her heart aching with pain as she watched Ana struggle. She knew better than to offer her help.

"Sunday," Ana replied, finally adjusting the skirt to her hips. She bent down to get her sandals, but the glasses slipped from her face. She curled loudly as they clattered to the ground. It was then that Melicia saw what the 'board' had done to Ana's face. The skin surrounding her right eye all the way down to the middle of her cheek was an array of purples, blues, greens, and yellows. The right eye was barely open, obviously painful.

"Oh my God!" Melicia blurted before she could stop. "The board did THAT to your eye?"

"I told you that it hit me good," Ana stumbled, hurriedly snatching her sunglasses from the ground. She pulled them back onto her face, wincing slightly as the metal brushed against her bruised face. She could feel her eyes water as she simply pulled her sandals on her feet without bending over.

"Yeah, I guess so," Melicia replied, not knowing what to do about this situation. "You know, since you're on the injured list and all, it's alright if you have to cancel my surfing lessons tomorrow--"

"Are you crazy?" Ana interrupted, obviously dying to get away from her house. "My cast is water-proof. I can still teach you. It's not that big of a deal. Just one bump along the road to becoming a pro-surfer. Besides, Dad's leaving tonight and I'll be alone again."

"Oh, alright. Great. Do you want to do something later tonight when your dad leaves? You could stay for the weekend if you want."

"You and Howie already had enough of me for one week. I'll be fine--"

"Ana, don't you remember what my uncle said? Mi casa es su casa. You're welcome in our home anytime, and we would never get tired of you."

"I just don't want to be a burden..." Ana explained, glancing down at her bare legs. She had missed Howie terribly. She remembered waiting in the cold doctor's office, knowing that Howie would have at least cuddled her tight to his side for the wait.

"You're not a burden! You're a part of the Dorough's now, and there's no way to get rid of us," Melicia gave a teasing smile, trying to lighten the situation until she could talk to AJ.

"I can just stay here---"

"Please, just think about it, okay? Don't think you can't come over. Just like I can call you, you can call me and come right on over."

Ana was about to answer, but a shrill and demanding voice echoed throughout her household. Melicia felt her stomach tighten and her bones chill at the mere sound of the man's overbearing voice. Ana tensed immediately, glancing back to Melicia. "I have to go help Dad pack his stuff, but...um... If you don't mind, I'll come over to stay the weekend after I drop him off at the airport?"

"Yeah, okay..." Melicia leaned over and kissed Ana's left cheek. "Just come right on over. If I'm gone, Uncle Howie will be there."

"Where are you going?" Ana asked, slowly backing toward her house.

"Just somewhere with AJ, probably. I won't be long."

"How's that going? You know, with AJ?"

A silly smile creeped on Melicia's face as she remembered AJ's words. "It's really going great... dude, we've even talked about... well, marriage."

Ana offered a shy smile, honestly happy for Melicia. She was about to comment, but her father roared again. Ana's back immediately stiffened, knowing that she would probably be reprimanded yet again. "I'm happy for you, Clicky... But I really have to go. We'll talk about it tonight, okay?"

"Okay, see you then," she gave a small wave before heading towards her house. "Te amo, chica!"

Ana ran into her house at lightening speed. She was greeted by her father at the doorway, who immediately slammed the door behind her. Ana cringed, immediately releasing a string of apologies. His bitter words lashed outward along with a firm hand, leaving Ana wondering if any type of love was actually obtainable in her situation.

*~*~*

Melicia ran back into the house, trying to find car keys to one of the cars. She needed to get over to AJ's and talk to him about what happened to Ana. She didn't even hear Howie calling her name until he grasped her arm. "Mella!"

Melicia jumped back as if she had been touched by fire. She foolishly wiped away the tears that had slipped from beneath her eyelids, knowing that her uncle would become suspicious. She mustered some type of smile as Howie gave her a bewildered look. "I just have to go out for a little bit. Is it alright if I take one of the cars?" she asked.

"Mella, are you okay?"

"Uncle Howie, I'm fine. I need to go and run some errands if Ana is going to spend the weekend here. Can I borrow one of the cars?"

"Ana's spending the weekend?" Howie asked with surprise. Obviously, he was delighted that he would see Ana later, but he couldn't shake that something had happened between the girls. He didn't know what to think.

"Yeah, her dad is leaving again tonight and I thought she should come back over instead of being in that house all alone. Now, can I just take one of the cars? I promise to be careful."

"Yeah, of course you can, but--"

"Gracias, tío Howie!" she grabbed the Corvette keys, kissed his cheek and ran into the garage.

Howie was absolutely puzzled as Melicia practically dove into the Corvette. Nothing seemed to add up in the scheme of things. He watched her open the garage door and immediately tear out of the lot as if the car were on fire. For once, he wasn't worried about his Corvette in the hands of his niece, because something in her eyes told him that it was important.

*~*~*

"Your uncle let you take the Corvette?" AJ wheezed in surprise as he watched Melicia jump out of the car that his best friend had cherished for more than a lifetime. He didn't expect to see Melicia over tonight, because he was supposed to be crashing at the Dorough household.

"Yeah, but that's not important right now. It's about Ana. She's... she's... she's..." more tears fell down her face, and this time she didn't wipe them away.

AJ pulled Melicia into his arms, hugging her tightly. "What happened? Babe, tell me."

"Her arm's broke and she has this horrible bruise around her eye. I mean the bruise is absolutely huge! It covers from the overtop her eyebrow to the middle of her cheek! And she said she had a spiral fracture, which means he was twisting her arm... She told me about how they check for abused children when they see a spiral fracture. But why not with her? Why not? She was out of school for almost the entire week and no one said anything. God, the teachers were over at her home and didn't even notice anything! How can they be so stupid, Alex? How?!" Melicia rambled, burying her face in his loose t-shirt. She just wanted her heart to stop hurting. She just wanted the pain from her mother and Ana to go away.

"I don't know, Mella, I don't know," AJ soothed, kissing her forehead. "But now that all this has happened... Honey, we have to tell someone. Ana could get hurt even more if we don't do anything. It's just a broken arm this time. Next, it may be a whole body cast or even worse."

"She won't admit to it. She told me that she had bad accident surfing," Melicia sniffled.

"You should know that people who are abused lie about what happened. They think it's their fault and there's nothing they can do about it."

"We can't tell though..."

"What do you mean? Mel, you promised me you would at least think about telling someone if Ana ended up getting hurt."

"Telling someone makes it worse!"

"Why can't you tell your uncle? Howie's gotten close to Ana from that week she spent with you. Maybe if you made your uncle aware...then he could try to talk to her. Maybe you guys together can convince her to at least get help. And then Howie would obviously offer his home to her for shelter... I mean, wouldn't that be the best decision?" AJ asked, feeling Melicia's pain.

"Because Uncle Howie won't make anything descreet like that! You know how protective he is about family, and Ana is family now. The minute I tell him, he'll be on the phone with the BI or something! I can't tell him, AJ. And neither can you."

"Why can't you just try?"

"Because I tried before and that ended up killing my friend, that's why."

"Mella, this is completely different."

"How is it different? Abuse is abuse, AJ."

"You can't be afraid of the past, though, Mella. What happens if you don't intervene and things just go down hill. What if you don't help and her body is found at the bottom of the ocean?"

"Then it would be my fault, like it always is..." she pulled herself out of AJ's arms and sat on the hood of the Corvette.

"Nothing is ever your fault," AJ corrected.

"If nothing was never my fault, then I should have been able to save my other friend and make my mom stay home from work when the towers were attacked. But I wasn't able to do either and they're both dead!"

"First off, you tried to help your other friend. I know that you tried with all your might. You're the type of person that won't back down, Mella, and that's beautiful. Second, you had no idea what was planned for 9/11. No one had any type of clue about it. You can't blame yourself for what hateful men obviously did to ruin our country. The best you can do is lift your head up and continue to prosper, letting everyone know that the American Spirit is still strong. Even in a teenager who has dealt with tremendous losses," AJ soothed, leaning beside her on the car.

"I know, but... it's just been too much, AJ... I can't take anyone else leaving me. I mean... I'm so afraid that God is just going to decide that He needs to take not only Ana, but Uncle Howie, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents... and even you. I have nightmares sometimes. I'm sitting there, watching everyone leave my life and I can't do anything about it. Like I'm glued to the spot. I scream and scream, but no one hears me."

"We're not going to leave you."

"Can you promise me that? You can actually promise that no one is going to leave me?"

"I can promise you that I'm not going to leave. And, I know, that if someone had to leave, that they would give up one Hell of a fight before they said goodbye."

Melicia didn't say anything as she reached over and wrapped her arms around AJ, sobbing hard into his chest.

AJ offered a painful smile, simply wrapping his arms back around Melicia. He had never seen the girl cry so hard before since her mother's death. He knew that she was dealing with almost too many emotions to count. He would never understand everything inside her, but he could at least comfort her. "Hey, Babe, it'll get better," AJ soothed softly, kissing the top of her head.

"I-I hope so," she hiccuped, calming down a little as she felt AJ's hand go over her back in a slow circle. "Because I'm going to go insane if it doesn't."

"Then I'll make a padded room in my home just for you," AJ chuckled.

A small smile creeped on her lips. "You're funny, McLean."

"It'd be fun, don't you think? Jumping around the room, hitting the walls, just bouncing off them... Damn, I might have to hire a contractor for that!" AJ whistled, loving the smile he was bringing to his girlfriend's beautiful face.

Melicia began to laugh as she imagined AJ bouncing off padded walls in a room. "You're a goof... you know, that reminds me of that N*SYNC video... um... oh! "Drive Myself Crazy"! They did that, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but I'd look a hell of a lot better in silk PJ's than them."

"Mmm, I won't deny that," she smirked, kissing his chest over the black t-shirt he was wearing.

"Thanks, Babe," AJ answered with a slight shiver.

"I love you, Pancake," she whispered with a smile.

"I love you, too, Syrup."

"Is that my nickname now?"

"Well, I figure if I'm the pancake, then you're the syrup that sugars my soul," AJ answered with a lopsided smile.

"That's so sweet," Melicia leaned up and kissed him.

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled, kissing her back. "So, what's happening tonight? Am I still planning on crashing at the Dorough Residence?"

"Yup, that plan is still a go... we could even go out, if you wanted... Ana's spending the weekend over at our house, and then tomorrow we're all going surfing."

"You sure you don't want to be home with Ana?"

"If she wants my company. Lately, it seems like her and Uncle Howie have really connected somewhere. She knows she can confide in him."

"Yeah, but she's your friend. I would think you'd at least want to be there. See if you can get her to open up about the truth..."

"That's the thing. She can't even talk to me about her mom dying, yet. How would I get her to talk about her dad hurting her?"

"Maybe you got to press till she cracks? Because if she doesn't admit it, then you're going to have to do something, you know, like tell your uncle."

"If I try pressing her like that, she'll grab all her things and go back home. You don't know her like I do and for the last time, I'm not talking to my uncle about it yet."

"Then when?"

"I don't know, okay? I don't know."

"I'm not trying to make you hate me, Mella. I just want you to understand that you're playing with fire by waiting. And I really don't want to make Ana loathe me by stepping in."

"I don't hate you. What I'm afraid of is if I do say something to Uncle Howie, that Ana will hate me for doing it."

"Then why don't you let me take the strength of her hate? I'll tell him."

"Because if she hates you and we're still friends after you tell Uncle Howie, you could never be around when she is, and that would be way too hard. Besides... when we do get married, I want Ana to be my maid of honor, and that won't work if she hates you."

AJ nodded, sighing heavily. "Why don't we go to the store and just grab a whole load of junk food for tonight. Maybe we can get the girl so revved up on sugar that she'll spill her guts...and not by vomitting..."

Melicia made a face. "Must you be so graphic like that?"

"Only so I can see that cute little face you make," AJ cooed, pinching her cheeks before kissing her.

"You're a dork," she laughed, kissing him again. "Ready to go to the store with me behind the wheel of Uncle Howie's baby?"

"Yeah, but if there's even one tiny speck of dust on the baby when we get it back - I was never in the car."

"Deal." she made a rolling move over the hood and opened the driver's door.

"Smartass," AJ murmured, climbing in.