I WON'T COMPLAIN

-SAGE-

The fur I'm cuddling to is warm. Really warm, just like my mumma's arms. The scent however is really strong, than her sweet gentle one. I wish I could lay in her arms again as she brushed through my long hair while telling me stories about princesses.

Sometimes I wonder how this all would've been if she was here. Would she let father blame me for being abused? Would she put some senses in Sabrina? Would she fight everyone for me? Would she help me find my lost courage again? Or . . . Would she hate me? Would she be disgusted by me? Would she abandon me like the others ?

I guess we'll never know.

" Sage."

I felt Hades' fingers brushing through my hair as he called out to me.

Slowly blinking open my sore eyes, his face appeared in my fuzzy vision. I licked my chapped lips, rubbing my eyes with my fist.

I winced feeling an ache in my abdomen, as Hades adjusted me on his lap. He was dressed in his usual tailored shirt and blazer but I found myself in a loose dress and one of his expensive fur jackets. I'm not even cold.

" W-where are we?" I didn't expect to find myself in the backseat of a car with Hades, dressed in his clothes after all that happened yesterday with his family.

" Lawrence." He says, in a hoarse voice, looking away from me.

I whip my head to the front seat to find Lawrence sitting behind the steering wheel. He nods, stepping out of the car before shutting the door.

" What's goi. . .going on?" I looked back at Hades as he caressed my cheek with his thumb, silently.

" I tried a lot, Sage. . . I tried a lot to trust you." He sighs, throwing his head back.

" You d-don't trust me?"

Pain. I felt pain. But I couldn't point it out. I just felt his words pierce through my heart.

" It's not that but, you wouldn't trust me too if you were in my place. There are no proofs supporting you, Sage. I want to trust you and I did but my brother isn't wrong too." He says, as I gripped his jacket, denying to accept his words.

" Trust me, Hades." My voice broke as an unintended sob escaped my trembling lips.

" I want to, babygirl but . . . I can't. I may have overreacted when I saw blood on you and all but I also can't ignore that my brother is innocent. Sean would never do that to any girl, especially not you, you're my wife and he thinks of you as his sister." Hades' face said that he thought his words could bring me peace but they didn't.

" No. He hu-urt me, Hades. I bb-begged him to stop but . . . He didn't." I cried, hitting my fists on his chest.

" I don't blame you, Sage but, Sean is innocent too. We can't punish him for something he hasn't done." He whispers, as I felt my grip on him loosen.

It wasn't just my grip but also my trust fading and I could feel every inch of it.

" I know you aren't wrong, Sage. And we're here to fix things up." He sighs.

The window glass slowly rolls down as Hades let's out a loud sigh, looking outside. I follow his gaze as fear like lightening strucks me.

Johnson Rehab and Mental Asylum.

" Men-ntal . . .  as-assy"

" Mental asylum." He completes it for me.

" Why?" The word rolled down my tongue without me realizing.

" You need treatment, Sage. I know you weren't lying last night and Sean wasn't either. It was the drugs that made you do that. You are under heavy dose of a really bad drug, and what happened last night was just a little consequence of it. I can't let you or anyone else get hurt anymore." He said gently but his words felt like sharp knives slicing my heart.

" I'm a th-threat now?"

He looked away from me, as if avoiding my eyes or my words. He got me here not because he wants to get me treated but because he doesn't trust me. No matter how much he sugar coated his words, the bitterness couldn't be hidden!

" I just don't want to lose you, baby. Everything will be fine once you get treated. The treatment will last for three years then you'll be normal and-"

" Normal?" I interrupt him.

Am I not normal now? Yes, I do forget things and find it difficult to say some words and . . . Cry a lot but I'm normal. I'm normal, right?

He sighs, cupping my face as he pulled my face close to his.

" I'm doing this for us, Sage. I love you you lot and I want to spend the rest of my life with you but my family is also a part of my life and I just can't abandon them. You and them have to get along to make this journey possible. I can't choose between one of you." He says, as I flinch away from him.

" I left my f-family for yyo-u." I breathed out harshly.

" Yes, because your family was trash! They didn't support you in anything, they didn't trust you." He growls.

" Did you?" I question as anger immediately washes off his face.

He stared at me silently for a moment as I held his stare. I bet he didn't expect me to say this but I'm not wrong or. . . am I?

" I punched my brother for you. I fought my mother for you. I scolded my sister for you. I sent my girlfriend to a whore house for you. How can you still say that?" He mutters, frustration clear in his tone.

I look away from him. The mental asylum came in my view and it took every cell in my body to not jump into Hades' arms as a chill ran down my spine just by looking at the building.

" Sage." He whispers, pulling my face towards his.

" Please baby, just do this for us. You won't survive without the drugs and you'll die if you keep on consuming them. The rehab is the only way to save you." He rushes the words out, as his grip on me tightened with each word.

" We'll start afresh after your treatment. I'll buy a new house for us, we'll adopt a puppy just like you wanted and we'll have a family. Imagine me, you, our kids and a puppy together, a family."

A family?

My family?

Yes. Family! And they'll all love me and never leave me. Yes! I want a family.

I want a good family. I want a family!

I find myself slowly nodding as a smile breaks on Hades' face. He cups my cheeks, kissing my forehead.

" H-how many hours we c-come here everyday?" I ask, missing a few words because it's difficult to say such a long sentence.

Color drained out of Hades' face at my words as he bit his lips, looking outside the window and then back at me.

" Well, the three year treatment is the shortest I could find. They'll keep you here and we're not allowed to meet until you're done." He says, looking at me with nervous eyes.

No.

No.

He's joking.

Yes! He's joking or else why would he say such a thing!

Hades can't leave me. He loves me. We don't leave people we love. We stay with them.

He won't leave me.

Hades won't ever leave me.

" Joking?" I giggle, as more tears ran down my cheeks.

I don't know if I want to cry or laugh at the joke. I guess I can do both now.

" No, but I promise I'll be right here to pick you up after one thousand and ninety-five days. I promise." He says, offering me a smile.

One thousand. That seems a lot.

I can't spent a few hours without him.

" No! Don't leave, Hades." I cry, hugging him tightly.

" You have to get treated, love." He whispers, hugging me back.

" No! I ww-ant you." I sob, tightening my grip on him.

" Listen to me, my precious beloved, I don't want to leave you here too but we have to do this. For a better tomorrow. I can't lose you forever, Sage. Please don't make it more difficult for me than it already is." He mumbles as a tear rolls down his cheeks.

" I love you, Hades. I love you m-more than anyone. You're my . . . My world. I'm n-nothing without you." I wail, hugging him tightly.

" I love you too, my sweetcheeks. But we all have to make some sacrifices. It hurts me too, but I know if I don't leave you here today, you'll be gone forever tomorrow. I don't want you to die, Sage." He says, as his hands tremble.

" You're killing me, Hades. Don't le-leave." I weep with small hiccups.

" We have to do this." His voice grew hard as he flung open the door and yanked me outside with him.

I screamed at the sight of two woman in blue scrubs, standing outside the car.

" No! I love you, Hades." I scream, wrapping my arms around him.

" I love you too, Sage."

You wouldn't leave me if you loved me.

" Don't do to me, please. I beg you. You're my hus-husband. You love me." I sob, feeling an ache in my chest.

" I'll be back to receive you three years later. Just take care of yourself." He mumbles, pressing his lips against mine.

I couldn't process his words. Hades pulled back, upset when I didn't kiss him back but I was too much in disbelief to move a fibre in my body.

" I love you." He whispers, before shoving me back, into the arms of the two scary women.

I screamed, trying to run back to Hades when they pulled me back, gripping my shoulder tightly. I cried out, feeling their nails dig into my skin.

" Please, Had-des. Don't! I pro-mmise, I won't ever complain when someone hurts me. I won't ever complain! Just don't leave me." I cried, feeling defeated by fate once again.

Each time! Each time I complained when I got hurt, someone beloved left me. I won't complain anymore. I will endure everything. I won't complain anymore! Just don't leave me alone please.

" I'm sorry." He whispers, in a barely audible voice.

" I won't co-complain, Hades! Don't lea-vve me. I won't complain about anything."