She's Only Happy When She's Crying

She heard creaking on the basement stairs from where she sat huddled against the cold concrete wall, and her bound hands shook violently as she tried to push some of her orange hair out of her face. The light hadn't been flipped on yet, so her eyes strained to make out the tall figure making its way slowly down into the depths of the basement.

"W-what do you want from m-me?!" She managed to squeak as she tried to make herself as small as she could in the crook of the corner. "I'm s-s-sorry for whatever-"

"Shhh..." The tall figure crouched down in front of her, the pleasant scent of expensive men's cologne surrounding her as a hand stretched out and pushed her hair gently from her eyes, causing her to flinch as if she'd been struck. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her eyes, flashing a lot of white, began to piece together the man in front of her in the dim, grainy lighting from the stairwell door. Freezing in shock, she opened and closed her mouth as if gasping for air, unable to form a coherent question.

He smiled at her, pulling a switchblade out of his pocket and began sawing through the cord binding her hands together. "Lana, honey, I have a job for you." He folded up the cord and stuffed it in the pocket of his jeans, along with the switchblade. "It's very important that you do exactly what I tell you. Do you understand?"

The removal of the cord had immediately made her feel better, as well as the disappearance of the switchblade. Nodding slowly, she sniffled and looked up at him. "I-I unders-stand..."

He smiled, resting his hand on hers, and leaned forward, his dimpled smile only seeming to terrify her even more. "Good girl. Now, let's get you upstairs and cleaned up."

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CARINNA

Three days had passed since our date night, and I was beginning to worry. Lana hadn't showed up or answered any calls or texts since she disappeared that night with Zack, and I had a horrible feeling something was wrong. I sat in the living room with Zachary, holding my phone as I watched Grace shuffle around the kitchen pouring glasses of whiskey. My phone buzzed and I glanced down at the text message.

Hey, I just heard from Zack. He said he's on his way with Lana. Guess they decided to dick off without telling anyone."- Matt.

I breathed a sigh of relief and nudged Zachary with my elbow. "Hey, guys, Matt just said Zack and Lana are on their way here." I gratefully accepted my glass from Grace as she sat down beside me, sipping on it while I answer the text.

Thanks! Did he mention where they went?- Carr

Nope, but don't worry. I reamed his ass pretty good for it! Want me to come over there?"- Matt.

I smiled. Matt had been really helpful the past couple of days, trying to help track them down. I jolted at the sound of the door unlocking, barely holding on to my glass as Zachary shot up and made a beeline for the couple that walked into the living area, giggling and totally oblivious to the tension filling the house like a cloying fragrance.

"What the fuck, Lana?! Where in the hell have you been, and why the fuck couldn't you answer your god damn phone?!" Zachary loomed over his sister, causing her to recoil at the booming resonance of his voice. He made no attempt at talking to Zack, that is, until he gently tugged Lana to his side and laughed.

"Whoa, dude, chill the fuck out. We were just hangin' out."

Yea, you might want to get here quick."- Carr.

I saw the veins bulge in Zachary's neck and felt the almost physical anger rolling off of his massive form before he swung on Zack, forcing the smaller man back into the wall. The force of the attack caused Lana to stumble to the floor, catching her off guard. "Chill out? CHILL THE FUCK OUT?! I'll fucking kill you, you pretentious little fuck!"

Grace and I dropped our glasses at the same time, launching ourselves off of the couch. I grabbed Lana and jerked her out of the way as she shrieked at her brother to stop, and Grace threw her petite body in between Zack, who was holding his jaw and pushing himself off of the wall, and Zachary, who was shaking from fury. "Whoa, guys!" She yelled, putting a hand up at each man to attempt to stop any further violence. "Calm down, Zachary! She's fine!"

"Yea, she's fucking fine, dude..." Zack muttered, earning himself a growl from Grace as she snapped her eyes at him.

"Not helping, Zack!" She said, turning her eyes back on Zachary, who looked like he was debating on whether or not he should push her out of the way.

Lana shook me off of her and joined Zack at the wall, examining his face to make sure he was okay and dabbing at the blood that dripped from his busted lip. "What iswrong with you, Zachary? I'm fine! He took me up to their cabin to check out the lake. There's no fucking cell service out there. God, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal!"

I gaped at her from where I stood, joining Zachary and Grace as they stood opposite from the couple, and gestured randomly in front of myself. "Lana, we were worried sick about you! You met himonce and disappeared! I've been on the phone with Matt non-stop and he didn't even know where you guys went." I jabbed a finger at Zack to stress my point. "You could have at least let someone know!"

Just then, the door opened slowly as Matt cautiously poked his head in. I smiled and waved him in, noticing that he brought the whole gang with him. Jimmy and Johnny took one look at Zack's face and burst into a fit of laughter, shaking their heads and moved over to the couch. Grace, looking relieved, pulled Brian to her, but didn't move away from Zachary. I didn't blame here, considering he was still heaving like a caged animal.

Matt popped Zack on the back of the head, glaring at both him and Lana. "Dude, what the fuck?" Zack shot him a reproachful look and rubbed the back of his head. "I took her to Big Bear. Didn't think it would be such a fucking drama-fest."

I groaned and walked back over to the couch to retrieve the glasses from the floor, playfully batting Jimmy's feet out of the way. "You guys want anything?" Might as well play the perfect hostess while Matt and Grace prevented the bloodshed.

The guys nodded. "Beer," they said in unison and I moved into the kitchen to refresh my glass and get their drinks from the fridge.

After twenty minutes of reasoning, Zachary left the house to get some much needed sleep after letting Gavin know about Lana's reappearance. I stood on the back porch to escape the drama of the house, sipping on my drink. I smiled to myself as I heard the back door open, and then felt Matt's arms circle around my waist, holding me gently to him. Succumbing to his embrace, I rested my head back against him.

"Hey," he murmured into my hair. Something about him had the ability to help me relax almost instantly. Any previous doubts about him had vanished over the past few days.

"Hey yourself," I grinned, turning around while keeping his arms around me. I set my glass down on the patio table and wrapped my arms around his waist, looking up at him. Was it his dimpled smile? His gruff voice that could command thousands while onstage and comfort me while we stood alone like this? I breathed in his scent, mentally rolling in it like a cat in catnip. I could feel the lust growing inside of me like a caged animal, begging to be released, but I had yet to give in.

"Sorry about Zack," he said, leaning back slightly so that he could look at me while he spoke. "Sometimes he doesn't fucking think. He believes he's hopelessly romantic and pulls spontaneous shit like this." I laughed, earning a wide grin from him.

"Ah, it's alright. Can't blame it all on him when she's got a phone too," I sighed, leaning my head against his chest. "Thank you," I mumbled against his black t-shirt, closing my eyes.

"For what?"

"For dropping everything to help me find her. I know we've only been out once, and I went kind of nuts when she didn't show up..." I trailed off as I felt his fingers gently nudge my chin up so that I could see his serious expression.

"Hey, don't apologize. First off, it was my friend that decided to run off with her. Second, I think crazy is sexy." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I popped him on the chest, causing him to laugh deeply and tighten his grip on me. His eyes shone as he leaned down to kiss me, which I shyly accepted.

You know how they say that sometimes a kiss will make you see fireworks?
Try a full on fucking explosion. I melted into his arms as he deepened the kiss, one hand pulling me in closer to him by my lower back while the other snaked up to my hair and twisted into it. I moaned into his mouth as he tugged on my hair, digging my fingernails into his back.

Suddenly, and much too soon, our kiss broke when I heard cat calls sounding from the back door. Groaning, I looked around Matt to see Johnny and Jimmy making smoochy faces at each other while Brian and Grace laughed inside at the kitchen counter. "Dammit..." I muttered, burying my burning face into Matt's chest.

He laughed, flipping the guys off, but his smile didn't exactly reach his eyes as he ran his hands through my hair. I pushed away from him, laughing, and walked towards the house, grabbing my glass and shoving the two clowns out of the doorway. "You guys are such dicks.." I giggled, moving to the sink to freshen up my drink.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

MATT

God dammit. I had her, and I could feel her fucking pining for me as I kissed her. I could have probably convinced her to let me stay if those two dumb asses hadn't interrupted us. Now, however, I was driving down the road with a fucking raging hard on and an SUV full of assholes.

Grace probably would have let Brian stay, but Carinna had suggested that they have a quiet night in after the past couple of stressful days. I smirked to myself in the dark car as I thought of how well Lana had pulled off her return from her "romantic getaway" with Zack. That girl had a career in acting in her future. Now I had to be patient as she fulfilled the job that I had given her.

"That shit was hilarious! What happened, bro? Did he just haul off and hit you or did you run your fucking mouth?" I listened as Jimmy carried on in the backseat, teasing Zack about his busted lip.

"Fuck you, man. That shit hurt." I looked at him in the rear view mirror as he rubbed his lip, flashing his green eyes at me. "This shit better play out, man. I could kill that fucker for punching me in the mouth. I mean, yea, her pussy's good, but I don't know if it's worth this shit."

I laughed, glancing at the road before back into the mirror. "It'll work, don't worry. And when it does, you can handle her brother."

His eyes lit up at the thought, and Brian leaned over, resting his elbow on the center console. "How long do you think it'll take for her to give in?"

I glanced over at him, smirking. "After tonight?" I laughed, pulling into the driveway. "I give it until the end of tomorrow night."

Notes

Hey guys, sorry it's taken me a little while to post a new chapter. The holidays have been driving me nuts, and I've been sick. I'm hoping to get another chapter up before the end of the night, and believe me...shit's about the get real.

I hope you're all enjoying this so far! I have a million different ways I can go with this, but after last night's dream, I have some really juicy ideas, especially for the next chapter. Things are going to really start speeding up and getting super dangerous and sexy!

Feedback is always great!