Letting Go

Hello hello hello. How is everyone doing on this fine day or night, whatever time you are currently reading this. A little warning to those who are faint of heart this story will contain abusive actions, foul language and sexual connect. And now on with the story.

And I do not own any of the characters in the actual animated series.

Chapter 3: Too close

Erwin woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He grabbed the phone without taking his head of the pillow opened his right eye and looked to see who was calling. When he saw Ashley's name on his caller ID he answered. Fighting off the nausea spell he tried to sound better then he felt and failed miserably.

"What can I do for you Kitten?" he said in a tired groggy voice

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Ashley Spinelli asked annoyed on the other line

"I completely forgot" Erwin said smirking closing his opened eye

"Yeah right and are you alright? You don't sound too good" Ashley asked concerned

Erwin coughed a little "Just a small cold, running in the rain wasn't the brightest decision I've made" he said

"Want me to bring you something. I've mastered my moms chicken soup, it's really good and it should help you feel better"

"You don't have too and I wouldn't want to get you sick" Erwin said

"I'm coming anyway and besides, you dropped your hat in front of my house" She said

"That's where that went? I thought I lost it for good. Well at least I know it's in good hands"

"It's your favorite one isn't it, the one you've had since were students at 3rd street school?"

"yeah my parents gave that to me" he said yawning

"Ok, I'll be over in an hour and a half"

"Ashley you don't have-" She hung up before he even got to finish his sentence. He looked at the time and sighed "Shit. I hope she's gone before he arrives" he said as he got up and went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom down the hall.

He swayed back and forth and grabbed the wall so he wouldn't collapses onto the floor. His vision doubled and was hazed, he closed his eyes and shook his head, slightly clearing his vision. He continued to the bathroom and grabbed three pills of Tylenol popped them in his mouth and swallowed. He looked into the mirror and frowned. He had dark circles surrounding his eyes, his skin tone was unhealthily pale and his hair was sticking up in odd angles. He grabbed a comb from the counter and fixed hair. He combed back his medium brown hair and shook his head allowing his hair to fall back naturally. His bangs swooped right covering most of his eye, while the hair on the side of his head covered most of his ears and in the back reached the bottom of his neck.

"At least I won't look like complete shit" he said as he walked back into his room to get some more rest. He passed the steps and decided to head downstairs to get a glass of water before going back to bed. He walked down the hallway into the kitchen grabbing a cup filling it up and headed back upstairs. He stopped and looked at a picture that he had knocked over last night.

He grabbed it off the ground and starred at it. It was the family photo that he, his parents and older sister took two days before the accident happened. He looked at it for a few more seconds and gently placed it back on the table. He looked around the empty house, the black leather couches were pushed up against the wall with the glass coffee table in the middle of the living room and the 40 inch tv was hanging on the far wall facing the rest of the living room.

The dining room consisted of a cherry wood dining room table set below the glass chandelier. Separating the kitchen and dining room was a tan marble counter with red bar stools. The island was the stove with the stainless-steel vent right above it looked as though it was never used. The black wall oven to the left of the French door fridge didn't have one speck of dirt or grease. The dark wooden cabinets lined the whole kitchen and the hanging crystal lights gave the room a calm relaxed feel to it.

His eyes darkened into a dull shade of green as he starred at the empty house. The memories of when his family were all together in the house. He turned to unlock the door for Ashley and went back upstairs to his room to get some more rest before Ashley showed up. He gulped most of the water down and set the cup on his dresser and crawled back into bed.

He texted Ashley that the door was unlocked and to just walk in and find him in his room, and with that he passed out. Not even five minutes later he was abruptly woken up to the sound of a slamming door and familiar heavy footsteps.

"Shit" he said as he sat up. His headache was gone and his nausea was slightly better.

"Erwin, you ungrateful little shit. I give you a job at one of my shops and you decided to not only show up late but skip a day as well" His uncle comes in storming in the room. His uncle as only an inch taller than he was but was a solid built man who had a hundred pounds over Erwin. His big meaty hands balled into a fist as his thick arms shook with anger.

Erwin had no facial expression as he looked at his uncle "I was sick and just got out of the hospital" he said emotionless as he starting to get out of his bed

"That's right" Alan said coming to realization. In a split second Erwin was on the ground with an all too familiar pain coming from his jaw. He grabbed his jaw and winched looking back at his uncle with the same blank expression. "What did I tell you about going to the hospital"

"My concussions got worse, I wouldn't of been able to make it to work for a couple of days if I hadn't gone" Erwin said in a monotone voice

Erwin flew back into the opposite wall from the kick he received from his uncle Alan. He curled into a ball on the ground clenching his stomach in pain. Before he could catch his breath he heard his uncle storm closer to his fallen body and kicked him several more times. Erwin was struggling to breath the more his uncle kicked and was grateful when the he finally stopped.

"I thought I told you no more hospital visits. I just got the feds off my ass and you go and do a thing like this" Alan said with another swift kick to Erwin's stomach. He turned and paced. His hands folded together shaking in anger. He stopped and looked at Erwin shaking his head.

"You usually put up a fight" Alan said picking Erwin up by his hair. "You really must be sick" he said looking Erwin straight in the eyes and tilted his head and frowned.

"It's a shame how you look so much like her, almost makes me feel guilty for doing this" Alan said as he threw Erwin into the wall. Erwin covered his head before he made contact with the wall. Erwin glared up at his uncle.

"You're drunk again" was all Erwin said as he slowly picked himself up off the ground. "What happened this time, your drug operation not going so well, or did you finally get chased out of New York? You seem to be in a bad mood" Erwin said smirking still glaring at his uncle

Alan lost what little patience he had and charged Erwin. Being sick severely slowed down Erwin's reflexes and so he found himself gasping for air as his uncle pinned him to the wall squeezing his throat, closing his windpipes.

"If I were you I'd show a lot more respect." Alan said pulling Erwin off the wall and then slamming him back against it. "After all that I have done for you in your miserable life, this is how you repay me?"

Erwin grabbed Alan's arm hoping to free himself or loosen the hold that his uncle had on his neck, but to no avail. He started to lose consciousness and is eyes to rolled towards the back of his head. Then he was released and hit the floor gasping for air and coughing trying to stop the burning in his throat and lungs. He was slightly curled laying on the floor trying to shut out the pain.

Erwin looked up towards his uncle waiting for another blow when he heard the doorbell and Ashley's voice from outside.

"Who the hell is here?" His uncle said storming out of his room downstairs towards the front door. Erwin ignored the pain and ran downstairs to where he saw Alan speaking to Ashley.

"Um, Hi I was wondering if this was Erwin Lawson's house?" Ashley said as she saw an older man opening the door instead of Erwin like sh excepted

"Yes, and who may you be?" Alan asked blocking Erwin's view

Ashley smiled shyly "I'm his friends Spinelli I heard he was sick so I made him some soup" she said slightly lifting up the covered pot

"Really now?" Alan said

Just then Erwin came and lightly shoved his uncle out of Ashley's way "I didn't think you'd be here that quickly"

Ashley looked at him funny "What do you mean it's been almost 2 hours since I called you"

Alan placed his hand on Erwin's shoulder moving him aside "Where are your manners Erwin? Let the girl in already, it's pouring outside" Alan said opening the door more so Ashley can come in.

Ashley stepped inside taking off her shoes still holding the pot of warm soup. "where can I set this down?"

Alan walked and took the pot from her "Please allow me"

Ashley smiled "Thank you"

Alan nodded and walked into the kitchen setting the pot down. Ashley took her coat and hung it in the closet next to the front door when she tuned around and got a good look at Erwin she gasped and ran up to him inspecting his bruises.

"What the shit Erwin, are you okay, what the hell happened?!" She said not wanting to touch his body afraid of hurting him

Alan walked back in to the foyer and stopped next to Erwin. "My precious nephew decided to walk home in the rain after work last night and got jumped. I told him to stay in bed but he refuses to listen"

Ashley put her hand on Erwin's forehead and cheeks " And you're burning up, listen to your uncle...?"

"Alan, I'm his uncle Alan"

"Right, sorry about that. Your Uncle Alan and get back to bed, I'll get you some soup" Ashley said

Alan just looked between the two and smirked "It looks like Erwin is in good hands. I'll help my precious nephew to his room and then I'll leave you two be I have some business to take care of then I'm going home."

Ashley nodded then made her way into the kitchen. Erwin turned and glared at his uncle who just smirked and extended his arm towards the stairs. "Shall we?" he said going upstairs having Erwin follow behind.

When they reached the top of the stairs Erwin stopped and faced his uncle "What exactly are you up to?"

Alan stopped in mid step turned and looked Erwin directly in the eyes "It would be a shame if your little girlfriend down there had a bad accident" Alan paused "But I suppose a free little nurse would be of some use as well" he said poking Erwin's neck

Erwin snarled and grabbed Alan's wrist yanking it away from his body "You keep her out of this, she has nothing to do with anything"

Alan yanked his hand back and looked down the stairs to make sure the girl wasn't in sight then punch Erwin once again in the chin sending him to the floor. He then squatted down to where Erwin fell "No, but she can be used to keep your useless ass in line. Maybe even a little more respectable." Alan grabbed Erwin by the arm and dragged him into his room and threw him on his bed and left.

Erwin's head was spinning. His headache returned worse then before, bruises were throbbing on his abdomen and neck. He felt like if he'd move he'd lose what little contents he had in his stomach if any. He listened to his uncle say his goodbye's to Ashley and the shutting of the door. He then was finally able to relax and lose consciousness.

Ashley was downstairs in the kitchen processing on to what she just witnessed. Erwin's uncle seemed like a nice man until she saw him strike Erwin down. She ran and grabbed her cellphone and when she turned around he was there smiling like nothing happened. Guessing he didn't see her she went along and bid him a goodbye and listened for his car to leave the driveway.

She peaked out the window and when she saw he was gone she grabbed Erwin's food and raced upstairs. "Erwin? Erwin you okay?" She saw him passed out on his queen sized bed. She placed the bowl of food on the night stand next to the bed and moved closer to see where she saw Alan strike Erwin. Getting a closer look she noticed Erwin sweating profoundly.

"Erwin, wake up" she shook him lightly he didn't budge. She shook him harder "Hey, you need to eat" she said. He moaned and opened one eye looking at her. "Come on you need to eat" He took a deep breath and slowly flipped over showing the rest of his bruises

"Hey I need a favor" Erwin said quietly

"What is it?" Ashley said

"Down the hall in the bathroom there are four pill bottles on the counter, can you grab them for me?" Erwin said closing his eyes

"Yeah, I'll be right back" She said as she ran to the bathroom. She entered the bathroom turning on the light finding the pill bottles scattered on the granite counter top. She grabbed them grabbing the cup next to them and filling it with water and rushing back to Erwin.

"Here" she said placing them on the nightstand next to the soup. Erwin opened his eyes and slowly sat up leaning against his head board. Before he could reach his medicine Ashley started opening the bottles.

"How much?" She asked looking at him

"One from each" his voice sounded rough. Ashley nodded and gathered the four pills and handed them to him with the cup of water. Without glancing at the water Erwin grabbed the medicine and gulped them down. He looked at Ashley and sighed

"You really shouldn't be here you know. I don't want to get you sick." Erwin said grabbing the soup that Ashley made for him slowly eating it. Ashley looked at Erwin but didn't say anything. Instead she gently gabbed Erwin jaw moving his face to get a better look at the bruise on his chin and neck. Then looking down at his abdomen.

Deciding it was better not to bring up the incident that she witnessed she placed her hand on Erwin's cheeks checking if his fever had gone down. She sighed when his body heat was as hot as before. He looked at in confusion then smirked leaning into her hand closing his eyes.

"What's wrong Kitten?" Erwin asked

"You're still burning up and not to mention you're all bruised up" she said moving his head sideways getting a better look at the bruise on his neck and chin.

Erwin sighed and gulped down the rest his soup and set it back on the nightstand feeling full. He put and arm around Ashley's waist dragging her down onto the bed so that they were both laying down and brought her close to him in a playing matter.

"Aww that's so cute. You're worried about me" he said smiling into her hair, his eyes closed

She blinked processing what just happened and started struggling to get out of his grip laughing when he tighten his hold. "Why are you trying to get away?"

"Don't think I'm going soft now" Ashley said turning facing him

"Why would I ever think that?" Erwin said tiredly with his eyes still closed

"Well for starters dragging down on the bed and then you go and want to cuddle" Ashley said looking at his chest. When she heard no reply she looked up and saw Erwin fast asleep. She sighed and grabbed a blanket at the end of the bed and covered both of them. She listened to the sound of the rain hit his bedroom window and the branches hitting the side of the house as the wind blew hard. She slowly relaxed and drifted to sleep.

Alan hoped into the passenger seat of a black SUV picking up a closed bottle and took a sip.

"Take me home" He said taking another swing as his driver drove out of Erwin's driveway and sped towards the city

"How's the supply" Alan asked the driver

"Lower then usual" The driver said not taking his eyes off the road. Alan stared out the window then turning towards his chauffeur

"Explain"

"When you went incognito, the men had no way of getting a hold of you and the delivery teams have been coming up missing or busted. Along with the demand has increased significantly and our distributors can't keep up." The chauffeur informed

Alan pondered the thought "At least business is good, but if the supply needs to be refilled I'll have to track down the drivers and make an example out of them" He said lighting a cigar and taking another swing of alcohol. The driver stayed silent as he pressed on to Alan's house.

"And how many people are on the streets exactly?" Alan asked

"Around the county, about 35"

Alan ponder on the information and silently inhaled on his cigar "We'll need more" A half an hour passed until the chauffeur reached Alan's building. Alan preferred to live above the city in the top floor of tall sky scrapper overlooking the city. He threw his cigar on the ground as he stepped out of the car and walked into the building as he snapped his fingers signaling his men to grab his bags.

He stepped into the elevator and inserted a key into a hole at the bottom of the pad turned it and the elevator took him to his private floor. Upon reaching his floor he went straight for his bar. He made himself a stiff drink and relaxed in his chair and turned on the television to the news and checked for any activity in town and the weather.

"It's going to storm for days...Have to make sure the supply gets here quickly" Alan said grabbing his phone making some calls

So what did you think. And sorry for the late update well I hope you enjoyed this weeks update. Until next time