Fact no.31: Seeing a heart break hurts more than any punch

NOAH

"What do we do now?", I ask April. I have never seen her more worried. Or more pale. Heck, I am also worried now. Dia isn't my best friend but I have spent enough time with her to call her my friend. And from what I heard from the call between her and April, she's in danger.

"I'm going after her", April says, already rushing out of the door. I am quick to stop her.

"You're not going there alone. Whatever it is, it is dangerous. I am not letting you alone. I am coming with you."

She seems to debate what to say to stop me, then looks at her phone again. The photo on her lock screen with the five of time smiling on the streets of Barcelona. I took this photo of them as they were all here for April's birthday. They are all smiling bright and hugging, laughing with each other.

A tear rolls down April's cheek.

"Alright", she says, probably not wanting to lose any more time on arguing with me why I shouldn't come. "We'll take the car."

I nod and grab the keys from the bowl. We then both rush to the door and out of the house.

As soon as we're inside, I ask myself where the heck should I drive us to. Dia said April should come pick her, but didn't say where she was.

Already at it, April opens an app on her phone and I sneak a peek. She notices and places the phone in the middle so I can see it too.

"It's a Find My app I have with the girls", she says and indeed I see five gadgets on the map. Two of them somewhere in Southern Spain. One in New York. One exactly on our location. And one not far away from us, in Barcelona. She presses on the IPhone in Barcelona, gets the address and then begins the GPS. I already started driving as April starts talking. I know for a fact she always does that when she's nervous. Talks a lot. It is to calm herself down. So I let her talk and listen patiently.

"It started in our freshman year", she begins. "Your sophomore. I still find it so funny how all of you guys are older than us with one year. Well, apart from Adam. He already graduated. You will also next year. Then we'll be alone. Imagine how Wrencore will suffer after the loss of the Fab Five."

She must have noticed she drifted away from the subject. I only continue listening to her. "Anyway, so in our freshman year, we made a promise. If someone sends Code Red, then it is an emergency. And we have this app, to see where the other is. So this way, the one that is closest can rush to the one in need for help. We haven't used it often. Only once when I ended up in the police station of New York with Nini and Nessie."

I raise an eyebrow worried. She smiles amused. "We had a night out and ended up insulting some people. It was nothing serious. However, we were taken to the station. Soph was the one to save us then. I remember how she walked inside the station in her pink princess dress and diamond tiara. I knew she wore it on purpose. The officers bowed in front of her. She clarified the situation with the police and we were let free. Advantages of knowing royalty."

She chuckles again. I also let out a smile. It fades away as she freezes again: "I have never heard Dia like this. She seemed so scared on the phone. I hope it is not what I am thinking of. Because I am thinking of the worst."

I nod and take her hand, giving it a squeeze to encourage her. "She will be fine. We'll get there and take her home."

"She suffered so much", April says. I try to hide my surprise. She luckily bit it and only continues: "Dia. She is such a nice person. So nice. And so kind. And has suffered so much. I always hoped she will never have to suffer again. And now...Now she's in danger...I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her. If she's hurt. I was supposed to be there for her. She should have come with us. Yet I let her go and now she's in danger."

"It's not your fault", I tell her. She shakes her head and nods at the same time.

"It is. It is my fault."

I stop the car in front of a small house. It seems to be a little villa on a quiet street of the city. It looks very Mediterranean, fitting perfectly in the landscape. The perfect Airbnb.

"It isn't. No matter what happened, it isn't", I tell her. She nods looking at me then looks outside the window. And takes a deep breath, opening the door and walking outside. I go outside too and as she doesn't notice, I slip in front of her. Whatever danger, it should face me first not her.

We arrive at the door and I start opening it. Yet it is locked. I want to try the handle again yet April already started banging with her fists in the door.

"Dia? Dia? Are you in there? Are you alright?"

Another thud from behind the door. And a sob. Loud, but not loud enough to be heard from the other buildings. No wonder no one came. The sounds are kept inside by the walls.

"She's in there", April says. "How do we get in?"

"Call her", I suggest. She takes out her phone and dials Dia's number. We can already hear the Lana del Rey ringtone inside.

"Dia?", April says as her best friend picked up. "We're here."

"I can't move", even I can hear Dia say on the phone, although she whispered. Guess I came closer to April, just in case.

"What do you mean you can't move?", April asks alarmed. She is so close of hitting the door until it cracks, just so she can go inside.

"I can't move. I need to keep the other door shut", Dia answers, her voice covered by sobs. She takes a deep breath, while I point April to wait a bit. I quickly run around the house once, looking for any possible entrance. I notice a window. Which is opened. Jackpot. I rush back at April and tell her to follow me. She keeps Dia on the phone, whispering words to calm her down. I can hear Dia crying at the other end of the line.

I help April climb through the window, not without telling her to wait for me first before she does something dangerous. I quickly climb after her and we arrive on a hallway. There are a few doors open, some shut. With her back leaned against one of them is Dia, at the end of the hallway, trying to keep the door shut. There is someone banging at the door trying to open it on the other side.

April gasps and rushes towards her best friend. She gaps again as she's close to her and begins crying. She is quick to hug her. Dia doesn't move an inch from the door. I understand why April started crying as I am close to the two. And have a better look of Dia as they let go of the hug. Dia is bruised. On her arms. Her legs. Ever her face. There is blood rolling down from behind her ear. Her dress is stained too. Somewhere on her ribcage. There is a lot of blood. Her eyes are faded red from crying. There are kiss marks on her neck.

She doesn't have to speak for us to understand what happened. And who is behind that door.

Dia still can't stop crying. I notice her headphones are nowhere on her. I remember she had them on when we left for the party.

"Let's go out of here", April says, wanting to take Dia's hand. She is quick to nod.

"Someone has to hold the door. You go. I'll stay here."

April gasps. "No. You are coming with us. I am not leaving you another second with that psycho."

Dia starts shivering again just at the remark about Leo and sobs louder. Her eyes seem far away, as if she faded in a memory.

"Take her to the car", I tell April. "I'll deal with Leo."

"No", April replies. "He'll hurt you."

"Not as much as I'll hurt him", I counter. April looks worried. Very worried. But one look at her friend has her questioning for whom she should worry more. "Take Dia out of here and in the car", I tell her, throwing her the keys. "Keep the car ready. As soon as I am out of here, we rush to the hospital."

One look at Dia gives her the answer. The blood is still rolling down her skin. She still seems faded away. Scared.

April nods and takes Dia's hand. Dia screams as the door opens and Leo barges out. I am quick to punch him in the face. It doesn't knock him down, only makes him a bit dizzy, buying the girls some seconds. Dia can't stop screaming and crying. I can even see April shivering, but she runs together with Dia, leading her to the front door. She quickly unlocks it and the two head to the car.

I know I have to move quick now.

Knocking him down would be easier if he weren't so aggressive now. It's still worth a shot. I thank the universe I am an athlete and learned this shit for football. Knocking down people is what I do. It takes only a few moves until Leo is on the ground. I punch him in the head just in case. Given his concussion, he'll be awake by noon. Not enough after what he did to Dia, but enough to win us some time. I rush outside to the others and find the door to the driver's seat opened. April is on the backseat with Dia, keys already ready for departure.

"Let's go", April says, looking back at the house, as if afraid Leo might run after us.

"He's taken care of", I tell her. She relaxes. Dia cries louder.

"You're alright", April tells her. "You're safe now." I can see Dia through the rearview mirror. How she looks at her bruises. How she starts crying louder. How any sign of hope or joy faded from her eyes. She's so scared.

I don't know what happened between her and Leo. But from the way she looks now, I get an idea that whatever it was, it's going to leave a mark on her soul.

April looks sad at her friend. Not pity. Just pure sadness. And a sign if rage when it comes to Leo.

"Please drive us to the hospital", April asks me. I already started driving there. She gives me a thankful look.

We all stand in silence, Dia's cry the only sound in the car. No one dares to ask her what happened. Dia makes no sign to want to tell us. She might be afraid that saying it, thinking about it, she will relive it all.

"Do you maybe have some headphones?", April asks me. I look at her surprised. She nods. I start searching through the car. This is the car Kai let me use this Summer. And I know I always keep a pair of headphones somewhere. If my phone starts ringing when driving. I find the headphones and hand them to April. She connects them to her phone and hands them to Dia. She looks thankfully at April and puts the headphones on. She starts crying louder, but seems more secure. Dia closes her eyes. April and I share a look in the mirror. And I see it in April's eyes. She is devastated. Every piece of her soul broke the moment she found Dia hurt in that house.

I swallow hard and lead us to the hospital.