Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine's eyes filled with tears to match the sadness in her heart, the girl finally saying everything that she had dealt with over the past two months. "Because you weren't here when I was lonely or afraid or having nightmares every night. You weren't here when I couldn't bear the pain any longer and had to keep going anyway. Or when I was too afraid to leave the house because of what happened at the park before you left!" The words came flooding out and she couldn't stop them, some desperation behind the words. But she wasn't done yet.

 

Roxas balled his hands into tight fists at the words, tense at the way they were affecting his heart. The impact was sharp, but he simply stood there, listening with the same hard expression against his face.

 

Namine continued on, despite the hardness on Roxas' facial expression. "You weren't here when Jeff showed up here drunk last week, broke into the house, and hurt Ty!" At these words, Namine finally broke down. She turned her back to Roxas and hid her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking faintly with the sobs she was still trying to hold back.

 

Pure shock washed over Roxas, shaking his hard expression. His fists loosened as his eyes widened, the boy showing his surprise before the words registered, making that hard mask come back. "What?" he said, his voice darker now at the news. Jeff... He broke in, and hurt Ty?

 

Namine stiffened at the tone of voice Roxas used and tried to still her shaking shoulders, grinding her teeth to keep herself from sobbing. Ty...her loyal companion, had been hurt defending her. Jeff had broken in, and then...She furrowed her brows over her closed eyes, not wishing to recall what had occurred that night.

 

"Namine," Roxas called, but he somehow felt that it wasn't going to be enough. Seeing her cry also made him make his next move. Roxas quickly maneuvered around the couch and stood in front of Namine, bringing his hands up and setting them on her shaking shoulders. "Namine, talk to me," he said, his voice softer though it still held a tense, dark tone to it.

 

Namine kept her face hidden in her hands, still tense when Roxas set his hands on her shoulders. "I c-can't," she said, hiccuping because of her tears. At the same time, though, she knew Roxas wouldn't let this go. He hadn't let things go earlier, and she knew he wouldn't stop until he got answers. Even if it meant causing her pain. That thought alone caused her heart to ache even more than it already was.

 

"Namine, you have to tell me what happened," Roxas said tensely, the moment making him feel more wired. "What did Jeff do to you? What did he do to Ty?" The fact that she was sobbing over it made it worse for him, making him fear the worst. He couldn't believe that he had neglected to think of the whereabouts of the dog until now. A lot had been on his mind lately, and if it got in the way of that, it had to have been clouding his mind from everything else.

 

Namine shook her head in her hands, keeping her expression hidden from Roxas. She couldn't look at him, let alone talk to him about what happened. They were always open with each other before, but something had changed. Roxas wasn't making her want to open up; instead, he was forcing it out of her, and painfully so.

 

Roxas blinked, his face completely changing. His expression softened in disappointment and sadness. "Namine..." She wasn't telling him anything, and he had no idea why. All of the things she said, they were fully registering now. This whole time he had been more concerned with his own problems, and never stopped to think about what Namine had gone through over the duration he was gone. Everything... Everything she had told him, it had been horrible.

 

Namine finally lowered her hands, though she also lowered her head so that her gaze was on the ground as tears streamed down her face. She didn't look up at Roxas' face as she told what happened, her voice soft and choked up. "It was the middle of the night. My parents were away. I heard a loud banging and him threatening me, so I called the police." She bit her lip and felt some more tears stream down her cheeks. "B-but he got into the house before they got here."

 

Roxas kept his hold on Namine's shoulders, bending his head slightly to try and get a look at her face. "What did he say to you?" he asked, his voice defensive despite how sad and ashamed he was feeling. Anything involving Namine and Jeff was surely bad, which was why his voice took on that tone. He never joked about that kind of situation. Ever.

 

Namine turned her head in the opposite direction of Roxas', still avoiding his gaze. "He noticed you weren't around, s-so he said stupid stuff like you had abandoned me and I couldn't protect myself from anyone and I was an idiot for not being his girlfriend." She sniffled between sentences, recalling one more thing he had said to her. "He promised me he would make me want to be his girlfriend," she whispered. He had said the words seductively, so she knew why he had wanted to break into the house, though she didn't put it into words, verbally or in her mind.

 

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows, beginning to feel the anger return at the explanation. Jeff... He was in trouble with Roxas, that was for sure. Other than the awful thoughts of Jeff running through his mind, Roxas stayed silent, waiting to hear more.

 

Namine sniffled and brought up a hand, wiping at her own tears. "He got in through a window. I couldn't get away before he threw me up against the wall. He..." Dare she say it? Roxas wanted the full truth, so she would give it to him before he became cruel and dragged it out of her. "...I had your pocket knife to defend myself, but he took it and used it to threaten me."

 

Roxas let go of Namine and walked a few steps away at the words she was saying. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, his fingers gripping his hair. No, this did not happen while he was gone. Not then, not when he wasn't here.

 

Namine's shoulders sagged, her head staying lowered as she looked at the ground through teary eyes. "Ty attacked him. He got hurt because of it. E-even when he was hurt, he kept coming back and attacking Jeff. B-but when he w-was hurt too badly, Jeff came back to me and hurt me. Then the police came." She got more choked up when speaking about Ty's heroism, believing that the dog had prevented something awful from happening.

 

Roxas stood still, still gripping his hair as he managed to ask the question he was terrified to get an answer to. "...What did he do to you?" he said, voice tight. Jeff hurt her again?! When was this guy gonna catch the hint? Roxas was going to have to hurt him again for vengeance, wasn't he? That was the only way the kid really learned, even if he came back to do the same thing.

 

Namine looked down at her arm and gripped the end of her long-sleeved shirt on her right arm, pulling it up to reveal a long cut along her forearm. It wasn't an extremely deep cut, but it had hurt her very badly at the time. She had to go to the hospital and get stitches for it--stitches she had gotten removed two days before Roxas got home.

 

When he didn't get an answer, Roxas let his hands fall from his hair and turned around. "Namine, what did--" He stopped short when he followed Namine's gaze, seeing that she had her sleeved pulled up to reveal a cut on her arm. His eyes hardened instantly and he balled his hands into fists, the boy having to look away.