Chapter Text
Beth’s heart raced for what seemed like a mile a minute. Probably more. She’s never seen Dean like this. And she was pretty sure that if this was a cartoon, he would have red eyes by now. Half of her mind thought that it wasn’t good for his health, considering that he had just gotten shot earlier this month. And the last thing she needed was another incident where he ended up passed out on the floor of the dealership. Now, he was pissed that she was still working with Rio.
“Beth, he shot me for god’s sake, what else do you want me to say that would convince you that he’s a bad person,” he said. She didn’t answer, and that made Dean even more angry. “Tell me,” he demanded.
“It’s money,” she responded.
“No, it’s not. It’s you, working with a gang leader who shot me in our dining room!” he started. “While you did what?” Beth took a step back, inching farther from any surface she could be pushed into or slammed against. “While you did what, Beth?” Dean asked again.
“While I stood there, trying to figure out why I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger,” Beth owned it. Every single day she asks herself why she didn’t do it. Why she got scared, when Dean’s slept with half of Detroit. She’ll never understand. Her statement made Dean’s blood boil, as he charged at her. He grabbed her wrists, hard, pushing her into the closed bedroom door. Beth’s head hit the door last, the grip on her wrists not loosening at all. “Dean, what the fuck!” she screamed. And that only pissed him off more. One hand released from her wrist, relocating to her neck. Time passed and Beth noticed that she couldn’t breathe—his hand was choking her.
“Dean, I- I can’t,” Beth tried telling him that she couldn’t breathe, but couldn’t get enough air in to finish her sentence. Dean’s hand came down from her neck, and she gasped for air. If we’re being totally honest, if this were Rio, she would be so turned on right now. But with Dean, she knows he’s doing it to hurt her.
“Stop seeing him,” Dean demanded. Beth looked him dead in the eyes.
“No,” was all she said.
“What did you just say?”
”I said, no,” she repeated. Dean took her arm and twisted it around her back, making the front of her slam into the door once again. Beth struggled for a minute, and let out a groan. It was no use. “Dean. Let me go and get the fuck out of this house,” she told him. He finally released her, causing her to drop to the floor. The front door slammed shut, causing Beth to flinch. Tears rolled down her face as she reached for her phone, immediately texting Ruby and Annie in a group chat.
Get here. Now.
“All I’m saying is that it was a little dramatic, I mean it could’ve be-" Annie’s sentence stopped halfway when she saw the sight of her sister laying on the floor. “Okay, totally not dramatic,” she added, looking over at Ruby, who had the widest eyes ever. Beth rolled over onto her back, getting a sight of the two. “What the hell happened?”
“Dean found out that we’ve been working with Rio still,” she started. “He got mad and slammed me into the door,” She could’ve sworn she heard a whisper of ‘Oh my god’ from Ruby.
“So what do we do now?” Annie asked. It was odd since she was always the one getting hurt, especially when her and Beth were younger. But in this situation, she was stumped.
“I don’t know. I was just going to lay here for a bit. I can’t even try to get up,” Beth replied.
“Don’t,” Annie told her. She crouched down to ground, and laid down next to her sister. “It’s gonna be okay, babygirl,” she told her.
“I’m just so tired,” Beth said.
“Go to sleep,” Annie replied, stroking her hair.
“Annie!” Ruby yelled.
“What?”
”You’re really going to tell someone who most likely hit their head to go to sleep!” she replied.
“I thought that was just a myth,” Annie said. Ruby rolled her eyes as Beth laughed. There was a moment of silence.
“Can you guys do something crazy for me?” Beth asked. Annie sat up.
“What is it?” she asked in reply.
“Can you call Rio?”
Annie stood at the front door waiting for him to show up. Pacing back and forth, she finally saw his black g-wagon pull in front of the house, across the street. He walked up as Annie opened the door, meeting him inside.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked her.
“Deansie got pissed off and,” she started. “Physically hurt her this time,”
Rio’s blood boiled in his skin. Like it wasn’t bad enough that he cheated, now this jackass had to lay his hands on her. Only he did that, in a bar bathroom though, of course. “He’s fuckin’ dead to me,”
Ruby walked out of the bedroom, exchanging a nod with Rio as he walked by. Beth could tell it was him, especially when he started to get closer to her. They really haven’t interacted since that night at the bar. He sat down on the ground beside her, but kind of behind as well.
“Where is he,” Rio faintly said. Beth turned her head to get a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye.
“No,” she said, throwing her head back against the cold, hardwood floor. Rio pushed the hair that fell onto her face back with his hand, wiping a single tear that was falling, mixing with her mascara that ran all the way down to the end of her cheek. He put his hands under her arms, lifting her up to pull her to him, leaning her against his chest. Beth put her one hand on his arm as he snaked them around her. “I don’t want you to get hurt,”
Rio laughed. “You don’t gotta worry about me getting hurt, ma,” he told her. “It’s him hurting you is what I worry about,”
”It won’t happen again. I’ll just, tell him we’re not working together anymore,” she responded, slightly closing her eyes as his warm embrace relaxed her.
“You don’t know that,” Rio said. “Just tell me where he is, Elizabeth,”
“I don’t know,”
Beth pulled her legs in as she shifted against Rio, closing her eyes again. Her hand let go of his arm as she lost all control, her body finally falling asleep. Rio noticed the redness around her wrists that looked like sunburn compared to her pale skin. He didn’t know what he was going to do Dean, but he did know one thing.
“I’m gon’ make sure he never hurts you again,”