If breathing was this easy ...
Dakota scrambled to her feet trying to get to Harry, tears rolled down her face and as she watched his body laying limp in the shadows of the moonlight she let out a choked cry. Blake was watching her and he laughed, manically as he inched closer.
Dakota tried to stand up but her legs were weak, she had been in Blake's firing line many times before but she had never been this afraid. There was something different in the way he moved, the way his eyes were filled with malice and his wicked grin never left his face.
Blood dripped from his crooked smile as he stepped closer, he was riddled with hate, fury but most of all sorrow. Dakota's mind raced, what had happened to lead her to this point? The silence on the roof was harrowing and as she tried to think of how to get away from him she found herself frozen in place. Her body shook with fear and she tried to hide her anxiety from him, he loved to taunt her.
Everything was a game to him, regretfully she looked back and wished she had seen him then how she saw him now; a power hungry, manipulative, psychopath.
"How did this happen?" she sobbed into her hands.
Visions of her life began to filter behind her lidded eyes as she listened to his heavy breathing. Everything she'd ever known was from Blake, he was her best friend, her lover and now what? Guiltily Dakota realised how Harry and Louis must have felt when everything they loved was torn away. Why did she allow herself to become this person?
Blake paced, mumbling to himself and she watched him. He was not the person she fell in love with. After her mother died he was there for her and he gave her all the love and attention she had never received. Blake gave her shelter and helped her through the hatred and despair over her mothers suicide, Dakota loved him for what he'd done. She had never known the warmth of a hug or the tenderness of a kiss... until she met Blake.
He was her knight in shining armour, he swept in when she was sobbing on the sidewalk outside of an L.A party and wrapped his arms around her. Back then Blake had a tender smile and always touched her as if she was made with glass, his fingers delicate and pure as they trailed along her skin. Two years they shared together and everything was perfect, she was happy and safe with Blake. He got a tattoo of her name over his heart, he always smiled at only her when she watched his band play.
Dakota felt her heart skip a beat every time his eyes would meet hers, they had everything. He was her world and she his. But something had broken, like a scratched record and one day everything fell apart. Blake got into the drug scene, he began taking heavy drugs and eventually she fell into that world too. Her friends started to fall away, her sister was a distant memory and everything she knew revolved around Blake. Like Louis was Harry's sunshine so too was Blake to Dakota.
She would disappear for days at a time into bed with Blake where they would make love and get high, taking trips no one would ever believe. She remembered fondly the way their limbs would effortlessly intertwine beneath the sheets. In that small hotel, they were whole. But like old wallpaper her happiness was torn away.
Blake began dealing, the smile she loved so much and the gleam in his eye dissipated almost overnight. He was the shell of the man she fell in love with, he taught her how to lie and cheat. She helped him rob service stations and play hooker on the side walk, lure in unsuspecting men who would be jumped and robbed. At first she was afraid, always looking over her shoulders at the life she almost lived but Blake always took her face in his large hands and promised her the world. The worst part was, for three years she believed all his lies.
After a while Dakota lost the ability to function without drugs and her mind was always blurred, when the lines were blurred things hurt less.
No matter what happened between them Dakota never stopped loving him, he became aggressive. He beat her, it was a relentless downward spiral of hate and forgiveness. As she stood shaking in the icy wind. That love she felt through every bone in her body was gone, replaced by pure fear.
How had they fallen so far? She sobbed silently into her hands.
She loved Blake, didn't she? Dakota was riddled with confusion over the love she had held closely for so long and the complete and utter despair that rolled through her like waves beating against the shore. Blake kicked Harry who didn't move and she let out a sob, when he turned to glare at her she covered her mouth with shaking hands.
"Why the fuck are you crying?" He hissed, stumbling towards her finger pointing accusingly at her.
She shuddered, "I'm..."
He slapped her hard and she cried out on pain holding her face. "How could you?"
"Blake," she whispered his name, breathlessly as she struggled to get away from him.
"Baby," he spoke softly as his hand quickly snaked to her small neck. He held her up off the ground and her eyes widened as her oxygen was cut off.
She began to gasp. "You're hurting me."
Blake's face was inches from hers, he held her body effortlessly off the ground with one hand as he trailed his nose along the side of her face. Inhaling deeply he smiled, closing his eyes and kissing her cheek where he had his her. Dakota's heart raced and her eyes darted to Harry's lifeless form, she coughed as tears streamed down her face.
"God," he whispered," pushing his face into her hair. "You smell so fucking good," he laughed. "You know baby, I could snap your neck in a second..."
"Please," she begged.
"I can't hear you, speak up," he snarled as he tried to kiss her and she held her mouth tightly shut.
He squeezed tighter, she was struggling to breath and could feel all the blood rushing from her face, "Blake, please."
"Speak louder baby, say you want me to fuck you right here," he narrowed his eyes.
"Ki-" she coughed, her eyes beginning to roll into the back of her head. "Kiss me, baby," she begged with false hope in her eyes.
Blake watched her as she began to slip in and out of consciousness, he dropped her and she fell to her knee's clasping at her throat as she coughed and spluttered. He grabbed her waist and she screamed, hauling her up he pulled her towards the edge of the building and with a handful of hair pushed her closer and closer to the edge of the building.
"Blake!" She screamed.
"You don't love me anymore you fucking liar, you..." he paused watching her eyes widen as he inched her further backwards, swinging by her hair.
He smirked as she screamed in agony from the searing pain in her scalp, "If you loved me you wouldn't have been up here with him," he hissed, eyes darting to Harry lying on the floor.
"I do love you," she clawed at his hands. "I was just messing around with him, getting him to take drugs and-"
"Don't lie to me you bitch," he hissed, loosening the hold on her hair.
She screamed, if he let go she would fall to her death. Dakota had contemplated death so many times but always at her own hand, vowing never to grow old and remain immortally beautiful. There had been many nights where she was locked in Blake's embrace and her only conceivable way of escape was through death.
Death would be easier then living another day in the hell she was in. Yet now, as she hung on the precipice of her own death she had never wanted to live more. The fear of Blake coiled within her body rendering her paralysed, she held onto the collar of his white shirt tightly.
If she fell, he fell.
"I'm not lying," she forced a smile. "You're the one who told me if I get them to trust me I can fuck with them more, weren't you babe?"
He paused, looking out at the darkened skyline lost in thought. "I fucking loved you."
"Baby," Dakota whispered, her voice was shaking and her hands were tiring from the relentless vice grip on his white shirt. "You know I love you. I always come back to you."
Blake let out the breath he was holding, it hissed through his teeth as his eyes never left hers. "Why did you do this to me?"
"Blake, please," she cried feeling her feet slipping. "I didn't do anything."
"You were up here with him," he narrowed his eyes.
She racked her brain for the right thing to say, as she hung by her hair she released one of her hands from his collar and stroked his face. "Look at me," she whispered.
His eyes met hers. She searched them for the Blake she once knew, was he completely gone? Her heart raced.
"Babe," she whispered, "I love you not him." Dakota nodded toward Harry's limp form and smirked. "You really think I give a shit about him, about any of them. It's a job," she could feel him slowly pulling her away from the edge and inside she was screaming with relief. "After all we agreed, it was a job and nothing else. They are nothing to me. All that matters is you..."
She watched as his face softened and he smiled. Shaking his head he pulled her back and into her arms. Dakota gasped in relief as she became buried in his embrace. For the first time in years she didn't feel that same security she always felt within his tight hold. Instead she felt fear, Dakota wanted to get away from him as fast and as far as she could. But she knew it wasn't an option.
He was so high he was aggressive and delusional, her stomach tightened at the realisation he would probably kill her if she tried to run. Or, she wondered would he kill her if she stayed. Her mascara ran down her face with tears that stained his shirt and he sighed.
"I..." he paused. Kissing her head, "What the fuck was I thinking?"
She looked up at him and he wiped the tears from her eyes, "Babe, is that you?"
Dakota knew the signs of his psychotic episodes well enough. She prayed he had come to and would leave, maybe if he left now Harry would be okay. Jennifer would find him, she had to. Dakota had made Jennifer promise she wouldn't come to the roof straight away. If she did, she would probably bring the boys and send Blake into a blind fit of rage. He tilted his head as he looked down into her sad face and closed his eyes in pain.
"I'm sorry I always hurt you," he whispered.
"I forgive you," she whispered, lying. For the first time since she met Blake she lied to him, she had never loathed someone more in her life until this moment.
"Kota," he whispered her pet name and she smiled at him fondly, trying to remember all the things she loved about him. Except her mind was coming up with blanks, Dakota was empty she had no more forgiveness and no more love to give. He had stripped her of everything, she was an empty shell of the person she once was. As he stepped away putting both hands on his head he screamed. "Fuck!" It was a deep, terrifying sound that filled the night air.
Dakota's eyes slipped to Harry's body, she prayed he was alright, she would never live with herself if he was dead. "I fucked up, look... I wasn't thinking please, please promise me you wont leave?"
He was desperate, another effect of excessive drug use, paranoia and bipolar emotions. It was a constant, uncertain roller coaster and Dakota was so tired.
She stepped closer and pried his hands from his face, she held them in her own. Dakota forced a smiled as her fingers slipped between his, "I'm here, aren't I?"
He smiled sadly, "I'm so sorry."
"So am I," she whispered pressing her lips to his. "I love you, okay?"
He nodded melting into the kiss and he pulled her closer, he tasted of alcohol and she wanted to scream in disgust. He lips were soft and he smelt of the cologne she was addicted to, balancing on one shoe she groaned as his hand ran through her pony tail, yanking gently. Ensnared in the kiss that consumed her, she began to run her hands up and down his chest. She hoped if he was distracted enough he would forget about Harry, about all this mess and they could leave.
Dakota knew she would be beaten to a bloody pulp by the time they got home, if they ever did. But, being hurt at the hand of Blake was better then the alternative... him killing Harry. He pushed his body closer to hers as he groaned in approval, her nails dragged down his toned stomach and she could feel his erection pressing into her stomach.
She felt sick but didn't pull away, mind spinning and heart racing she kissed him faster. His hand coiled behind her neck and she shivered as he kissed her neck, he moaned her name as she rocked her body against his cock. He moved with her and Dakota felt like, maybe Harry and the other boys would be safe.
"Dakota," he groaned.
Her hips arched against his and he returned to her lips kissing her more fervently. She pulled at his hair and her hands began slowly trailing down his neck, down his shirt along his taught back. Her tongue met his in perfect unison and for a brief moment everything around them was forgotten, all the pain all the heartache.
Then her hands reached the waist of his tight, black jeans and she froze. Her fingers met with cold metal, he stopped kissing her and looked down into her eyes, cupping her face.
"What babe?" He asked panting.
"A..." she was lost for words. "A gun, Blake?"
"I..." he frowned, she could see he was searching for the right words to say.
"Blake why do you have a gun?" she hissed pushing him away.
"Oh, come on. Don't act surprised!" He shouted back at her as she stormed away from him. "Don't you fucking walk away from me," he glowered running after her.
"Don't touch me," she snapped.
His eyes widened and he grabbed her bicep tightly as she tried to escape him. "Where do you think you're going?" He hissed.
Dakota screamed, "Let go of me!"
He hit her, knocking her to the ground and as he pulled back to kick her in the stomach he heard screaming and froze.
"What?" He whispered looking over his shoulder.
"Blake," she began.
"You called someone?" he hissed.
"No, well... babe, you were going to kill him!" Dakota whimpered.
"I fucking should have," he snarled.
"No," her voice was barely a whisper.
He hauled her up not saying another word, his face scowled as he held the back of her neck tightly. Leaning to her ear she shuddered as his warm breath lingered on her skin and trailed down her neck; sending a wave of goosebumps prickling all over her body.
"Say one fucking word about the gun or me hitting you and I'll blow your fucking head off..."
She stiffened as she sobbed.
"Got it?" He hissed.
She nodded. "Yes, baby."
"There's my good girl," he crooned standing straight as the stair door flew open. Louis stumbled out the door and his eyes landed immediately on Dakota and Blake.
Louis let out a whimper and Liam nearly crashed into him. Liam looked at Dakota and then to Blake, in a split second Dakota made a choice that she hoped wouldn't be her last. "He's got a gun!" She screamed.