"You guys are boring!" I got up from where I was perched on the couch and walked to the door of my house where me and the other boys were watching a movie. "I'm going out for a walk!"
We had been sitting there watching some bad low-budget movie on television. I was sick of the phony "special effects" and I just wanted to get out and stretch my legs. Before I left, I grabbed my jacket since it was a tad bit cold outside. It was real late and I was surprised when I heard two other people out.
I don't want to say that I was being nosy, cause I wasn't, but I headed over in the direction of the voices. The closer I got, the more I was able to make out.
"Justin, just stop!" The female voice sounded strained. "Nothing happened, okay? All he did was help me carry my stuff outside, that's it!" So she was cheating! This was interesting. I walked slower.
"Just helping me," another voice mocked the females, then turned mean. "Just helping shit! He was doing more than helping!"
"Justin, no!" The voice sounded scared. "I would never do that to you!" I could see the couple now. He was up in her face and she was cowering under his glare. There were tears in her eyes. I stopped before I got to the two. I wanted to see what was gonna happen. I knew they hadn't seen me cause they were in this sort of alleyway.
"Why wouldn't you do it to me?" The man was speaking so loudly that spit flew onto the girl's face. She reached up to wipe it off but he grabbed her wrist. "I've done it to you! Why won't you do it to me?" The man laughed loudly with his head back. He then looked at her and threw her to the ground. "Well, bitch, it's a good thing you've never done it before cause you woulda been dead a long time ago!"
I decided it was about time that I interfere. But before I did, I sized the guy up. He looked smaller and weaker than I was. I started walking quickly over to where the couple was. I didn't go fast enough. He hit her in the face before I even got there. Just before he could do it again, I grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back.
"You try and hit her and I'll break your arm." I whispered into his ear.
"Get the hell away from me you freak!"
I whipped the guy around and punched him square in the face. "Go!" I yelled. And he did.
"You okay?" I reached out for the girl's arm and pulled her up. She just looked at me without saying anything. The look in her eyes told me that she didn't know whether she should go with me or not. "You can trust me. I promise." I gave her a small smile. She gave a small nod and I put my arm around her and helped her back to my house.
"Hey guys!" I called when I opened the door.
"Shut up, man! It's the good part!" AJ's voice came from the living room.
"There is no good part in that movie." I muttered. I led the girl into the living room. AJ had occupied my place, sprawling out over the whole couch. Howie was sitting against it by his feet. Kevin and Brian were in two of the recliners. All were staring at the screen intently.
"Baby do you think anyone else in the world is doing this..." It was one of the scenes from Armageddon with Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler and the animal crackers.
"Get up AJ." I left the girl standing in the doorway and pushed AJ's legs off the couch.
"Dammit Nick!" He got up and socked me in the arm. "You made me miss Liv Tyler's boob!" His eyes wandered past me. "Well, hello!" He walked past me and was about to extend his hand when he turned back to me. "What the hell did you do to her, Nick?" This got everyone's attention.
"I'm just trying to help her. Guys this is...this is..." I looked at the girl for help.
"Jennifer. Jennifer Leeman." Her voice sounded weak.
There was a round of, "Hey Jennifer"s.
"Okay guys," I flipped on the lights. "I'm gonna need your help." It was then that I actually got a good look at Jennifer. She had gorgeous dark brown hair that fell gently around her face and despite the bruise that was forming on her cheek and the blood dripping from her mouth, she was pretty.
"Nick!" Brian said. "What happened?"
"Don't ask, just help." I put my hand on Jennifer's back and led her over to the couch. Howie had seen my direction and had placed some pillows down on one of the arms and grabbed a blanket from Kevin. Jennifer slowly and cautiously sat down on the couch. She looked a little uneasy.
"I'll get some ice," Brian went to the kitchen.
"I'll get some wet washcloths," Kevin offered.
"I'll get some band aids." Howie made his way to the bathroom.
"Alright, I'll get the Neosporin," I made my way to the kitchen.
"And I'll keep the lovely lady company!" I didn't even have to ask who had said that.
It was about ten minutes until we had completely gotten Jennifer all fixed up. We had moved her into one of the recliners so we could get to her face easily.
"All done!" Kevin said, wiping up the last of the blood. He sat back on his heels.
No one said anything. We were all staring at her. She stared back at us with big, scared green eyes with the blanket wrapped tightly around her.
"I guess you all are wondering what happened." She was the one to break the silence. She took a deep breath. "Well, my boyfriend was picking me up from the mall since he had dropped me off and he thought he saw me with another guy. Well I was, but not like that! I had a bunch of bags and I couldn't even make it out of the doorway so a nice man came and helped me with my bags. Justin, my boyfriend, had taken it the wrong way and thought I was cheating on him. He didn't say anything about it then, he just sped off. It wasn't until just now that he asked me about it. Well, he was actually accusing me of cheating. I should have dumped his sorry ass a long time ago, but I was too scared. It's not the first time that he's hit me." She breathed in, her breath shuddering.
"Man," Howie said. It was all that we could say.
"How long had he been hitting you?" I asked.
"A year and a half. I was just so afraid of what he might have done to me if I broke up with him."
"I'm sorry you had to put up with a guy like that for so long." Kevin said. "Just avoid him at all cost now. Will you do that for us?"
She nodded.
"Good," I said. "Okay guys, it's late and it looks like she needs some rest so I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Hey man, you can't just kick us out!" AJ said. I glared at him. "Alright. Come on, let's go. It was nice meeting you, Jennifer."
There were other good-byes said as the guys left. I shut the door behind them.
"I guess I should get home too." I jumped.
"I thought you were still in the living room!" I ran a hand through my hair. "I know that you just met me and you probably don't trust me, but I think it'd be better for you to stay here tonight." Her eyes got big. "No!" I laughed. "I'm not trying to hit on you or anything and trust me, I'm not gonna try and get you to sleep with me or anything, but I just don't want that creep to go by your house. I'm betting that he has a key."
She nodded. "He does have a key, that's true. Alright, I'll stay here."
"Well, do you want to go right to sleep or would you rather talk a bit, get to know each other?"
"I'll take the latter." She smiled, barely. We walked back to the living room. I sat down on the couch and she sat down on a recliner.
We talked for about an hour. I figured out that she loved to party, she lived across town, not too far from where I lived, and that she works at the GAP.
"Alright, I hope you don't mind, but I'm really tired." She said through a yawn.
"Okay, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." I got up and waited for her to follow me. "It's kind of small house and since it's just me, I only have one bedroom so you'll take my room. I'm sleeping on the couch." I opened the door to my bedroom and flipped on the lights. I was thankful that I had decided to clean today.
"There's the bed, there's a bathroom," I said, gesturing to the adjoining bathroom. She walked in ahead of me and looked slowly about the room. "And there's a TV. The remote's on the nightstand. I'll be in the living room if you need anything." I watched her as she went into the bathroom.
She walked back out and I said, "Alright. Good night. Sweet dreams." It was something that I had said to my mom every night since I was little. I always said good night and sweet dreams, but now it seemed like a stupid thing to say. I shut the door quickly behind me and walked back out to the living room. I sat down on the couch and turned the TV back on. Armageddon was still on. I wondered when that cheesy movie had ended.
It hadn't been about two minutes before I heard a small voice behind me. "Nick?"
I jumped. I guess I had been too into the movie. I turned around and looked into Jennifer's eyes.
"Huh?"
"Um, well, I was wondering if you might have anything that I could, um, that I could maybe sleep in?"
"Oh! Right!" I had completely forgotten. "I need some too!" I got up and walked back to my room.
I opened the top drawer to my dresser and got out some boxers. I also reached in for the largest T-shirt that I owned.
"This is all I have," I said, handing her the shirt. "Do you want any shorts?"
"Um, do you have any that small?"
I laughed. "I can look!" I grabbed my smallest pair and handed them to her. "Hope they fit!" I walked to the door. "Okay, good night!" I shut the door behind me. I made a pit stop to the linen closet before settling myself on the couch again.
I turned off the TV as soon as the movie ended. Right before falling asleep, I looked up at the ceiling and said, "Thank you, God!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I woke up as soon as the sun came up. I stretched and sat up. I threw my legs over the side of the couch and got up. I started to make my way to my bedroom bathroom before remembering what had happened the night before.
I turned around and went into the hall bathroom. I did my business and then made my way to the kitchen.
I was in the middle of making the fourth pancake when I heard footsteps on the tile. I turned around and saw Jennifer.
"Well, good morning!" I said, handing her a plate of three pancakes. "Syrup and butter's in the fridge. If you want, I have some strawberries. Oh, and silverware is in the drawer closest to the fridge." She took the plate silently. She walked towards the fridge and I let my eyes linger on her. She looked cute in my clothes.
I made myself six pancakes and then sat down at the table with Jennifer.
"Sleep okay?" I asked, slathering my pancakes with syrup.
"Yeah." Was all she said.
We ate silently for a bit until she finally said, "You know, I usually don't trust people that I just meet, but you had this look of innocence about you. You just looked so nice. And I just wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me."
"Don't mention it." I put a huge bite into my mouth.
"No, I mean, you really helped me in more ways than you think. If you hadn't come along when you did, Justin would have beaten me to a pulp and then nursed me back to health and I'd still be with him. You've also made me realize that not all guys are like him. There are some nice ones out there, I just haven't found any besides you and your friends. By the way, the pancakes were great!" She got up and took her plate to the sink and turned on the faucet.
"Naw, you don't have to clean that! Just leave it! I'll get it later." She came and sat down across from me again. I gulped down the last of my pancakes.
"I have never seen anyone eat something so fast!" She laughed, her laugh sounding so sweet and so pure, so genuine.
"Well, what can I say? I'm a man." I got up and put my plate in the sink.
I sat back down at the table. "So what are you gonna do now?"
"I don't know. I really don't know." Her eyebrows came together. "I can't go back home, cause, like you reminded me, he has a key to the house. Actually I'm living in an apartment." She picked her head up. "I've gotta find another place to stay."
"Well, if you want to, you can crash here till you find a place. And if you want me to, I can stop by your apartment and pick up some of your stuff." I thought that it was the least I could do. The girl seemed so alone.
"Well...I don't know." She looked down at her folded hands. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything at all. She looked at me again. "I'm just not sure if any of that is a good idea. I mean, I've only known you for, what, ten hours? I don't know if that's a good idea. Right now, I just don't trust anyone." She held my glance until I finally looked away.
"Do you have any close friends or relatives?"
"Justin didn't allow me to have friends and my closest relative lives in Australia. My stepmother is one of my last relatives but she moved to the Outback right after my dad died."
"Man, I just don't know what to tell you. I'm out of suggestions." We were both silent for a moment. "Well," I said. "What about a hotel?"
"Too expensive."
We were silent again.
"You know, Nick, if it's not too late, I might take you up on your offer."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Okay, here's a list of stuff that I need. I have where it is too. I don't think anything on there should be too hard to find." She handed me a sheet of notebook paper. The whole front of the page was full.
"You sure you need all this stuff?"
"Yeah, positive. Unless you really wanna go out and get me some new clothes." She smiled. "If he's there just come back. I don't want to take the chance that he sees you and follows you back here. Just look in the parking lot. He drives a beat up, blue, Buick. You know it when you see it."
"Alright. Is there anything else I need to know?" She shook her head. "Okay, then. Stay here, keep the door locked and don't answer the phone. Let the answering machine get it and if it's one of the guys, then you can answer it but anyone else, don't pick up. The house is yours, make yourself at home. Oh, and if someone knocks on the door, it's not gonna be me, so just don't answer it. Alright?" She nodded.
"Be careful." She said, shutting the door behind me. I waited until I heard the dead bolt slide into the lock.
I got into my car and made my way to her apartment.
I don't know why I'm doing this. I barely know the girl! What if this is just a setup and she robs my house. Naw, she wouldn't do that. She's too sweet. I kept questioning myself on why I was doing this the whole way there. I didn't want her to come with me just in case there was a run in with her boyfriend. I checked the parking lot, and seeing no sign of the boyfriend's car, I parked and walked to the apartment.
She had given me her key so I was able to get in. I pulled the list out of my pocket. Okay, a suitcase was the first thing on the list. I went to the indicated closet and pulled out the suitcase.
"Alright, suitcase, check," I said, crossing it off the list. "Now, clothes." I made my way to the bedroom. I walked to the dresser and got what I needed, then went to the closet and got everything from there. I loaded it all into the suitcase. Even though she wasn't in the room, dealing with her underwear and bras made me uncomfortable. The suitcase was already full and I was only halfway down the page. I went back to the closet and pulled out a large duffel bag that I had seen and took it with me into the bathroom.
"Okay, hairdryer, check," I went further down the list. "Makeup bag, face soap, toothbrush, squeegee, what the heck is a squeegee?" I looked around the bathroom. It will be in the shower the list said. "Oh! A squeegee!" I said when I had seen what it was. (Think of that commercial with that football player Iron Head when he goes 'But Iron Head, what's with this thingy?' That's a squeegee!) "Okay, squeegee, check, shampoo, conditioner, tampons. Did she halfta put that on the list?" I grabbed the box of tampons and threw them into the duffel bag. "Okay, now that I have everything, I have to turn off the air conditioner." Jennifer said that she would have to pay the bill for it if I didn't turn it off.
"Alright! All done. Wait, I need to get a pillow." It wasn't on the list but I needed a pillow for the couch and if she has hers, I can use my own.
"I'm outta here!" I grabbed the duffel bag and the suitcase and booked out, but not before locking the door. I put the bags into the trunk before I left.
As soon as I had gotten back onto the road and driving back towards my house, I saw a blue, beat up, Buick driving towards the apartment complex.
"Thank goodness I wasn't still there!" I murmured, then blasted the music and drove a little faster.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Oh thank you so much! You're perfect! You got everything!" Jennifer said when I got back. "You even got my pillow! Thank you, Nick!"
"Your welcome." I threw my arms over the back of the couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table.
"Did you see him?" She asked, her voice lowering.
"Yeah, but I had just turned out of the parking lot and he was coming towards the complex."
I could see her breathe a sigh of relief.
"So what do you wanna do today?" I asked. "Do you wanna go anywhere?"
"Like what, a date or something?"
"No, we'd just hang out as friends and you could get to know the guys a bit more. Maybe we could go to the mall and pick you up so more clothes or something."
"I'd love to, Nick, I really would, but,"
"But what?" I asked, leaning towards her. "Nothing's stopping you."
"Well, the thing is, Justin took my money. I have nothing. He took my paycheck and everything. We had a joint account and while you were gone I called the bank to check up on the balance and they said that all the money had been withdrawn and the account was closed. Nick, I have nothing but what you brought me. And needless to say, Justin went back to the apartment to wipe out the rest of what I have."
"Wow." I just looked at her. I couldn't believe that all that she owned fit into two bags. "Well then, I'll just have to pay for it. Believe me, I have enough."
"No, I don't want you to do that. That's asking too much. You're letting me stay with you, you brought me my stuff...I don't want anything else from you. You've given me too much already."
"Jennifer, when's your birthday?"
"Huh?"
"When's your birthday?"
"June 9th, why?"
"Well, that's three days away. Let's just say that this is an early birthday present. Go get dressed. We're going out to eat and to the mall." I got up from the couch and pulled Jennifer up from the floor.
"But I haven't showered!" She said, smiling at me.
"Well, go get showered and dressed! Hurry!" I laughed and pushed her gently towards my room. She smiled at me and turned and made her way to my room.
"Ah, man," I said, flopping down on the couch. "I'm in trouble. I think I like her."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"What about this?" It was about the fiftieth shirt I had picked up that day. Jennifer had nixed every one of them.
"No, I don't think so."
"Jennifer, why do you keep saying no to everything I pick up? I think it's cute. Do I have bad taste or something?"
"No," she laughed. "It's just that I really don't want you to spend any money on me. You've already done enough."
"Jennifer listen." I put my hands on her shoulders and stepped closer to her, leaning my head down so I could talk to her. "I hate the mall. I hate coming here, I hate shopping. But I want to buy you some clothes so I came here. If I have to, I'll pick out everything and buy it, even if you don't want me to. But really, just pick out some clothes, try them on and if you like them, hand them to me. I'll buy you whatever you want."
"Really?" She asked in a small voice.
I smiled. "Really." I let her shoulders go and turned her around. "Now go pick something out!"
We came out of that store after about forty-five minutes with two bags. I grabbed the bags from her and we walked out into the walkways.
"Now where? Shoes?" I asked.
"Okay." She said, leading me to the shoe store. She got two pairs.
"Uh! I've literally shopped till I dropped!" She said, sitting in a chair at the food court. We had both gotten cokes.
"Do you wanna leave?" I asked her.
"I think so. I'm so tired!" She leaned forward. "I just thought of something. Do you think he'll look for me at GAP? He knows I work there."
"Probably."
"Then I'll have to get a new job too." She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.
"Hey, hey," I grabbed one of her hands and held it between mine. "Jennifer, I can only say this to you on that subject. Try to forget about him. Don't dwell on everything that you've lost or how miserable he's making you. Just think about how much of a better life you'll have now that he's gone. Okay?" She looked me.
"Okay."
"Ready to go?" I asked, standing up and picking up all the bags.
"Yup."
"Alright, here we go!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"You know, Jennifer's such a long name," I said while sitting on my bed. We were in my room and I was watching Jennifer put her clothes away. I had showed her some empty drawers and closet space that she could use. "Do you have any nicknames?"
"Well, now that I think about it, no."
"Well, how about Jenn. That's a lot easier."
She came back to the bed to get some more clothes. "Okay. I like it. Jenn."
"Okay then. Jenn it is."
"Nick, can I ask you a question?" She asked, putting her clothes neatly away, folding everything, including the underwear.
"Shoot."
"Well, why are you so nice to me? Why have you helped me so much? I mean, after last night you could have kicked me out and said, 'Well I hope things work out'." She got some more clothes from the suitcase and walked back over to the dresser.
"Well, I don't know. You just seemed so nice, I guess. Plus, I couldn't just let you out and hope that your boyfriend didn't come after you again. I mean you said he had been beating you since it started."
"Well yeah, but other people wouldn't have cared what happened to me afterwards. They would have let me stay that night and then wouldn't have had a second thought about me."
"Sure, but I'm not them."
"True."
She had finished unpacking and sat down on the bed next to me. "Can I tell you something?"
"Hmmm?"
"Well, I hope you don't think this is rude or anything, the last thing I wanna do is be rude to you. But, I have made up my mind about something."
"And what's that?" I looked at her.
"Well, I wanna stay away from relationships right now. I don't wanna get involved with anybody right now. I mean I don't trust anybody."
"Even me?"
"Well, you showed me I could trust you, so I have. But you're the only one." She looked at me. "Does that sound irrational? That I'm swearing off guys for a while?"
"No. I mean, if I were a girl, which I'm not, and that had happened to me, I would have done the same thing."
"Good. That makes me feel a little better. It's just that I'm afraid that I'll be attracted to the wrong kinda guy and he'll end up being abusive too. I just don't want that."
"Trust me, Jenn. Your perfect man will come and he won't be abusive. It just takes time, that's all. I'm gonna get to bed, alright?"
"Alright," she said. "Good night."
"Night." I said, grabbing a pillow and some clothes before I left. The blanket was still there from the night before.
"Well," I said, speaking into the darkness. "There goes any hope for getting hooked up with her!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The next morning, I woke up later than I usually do. I guess I had rolled over when the sun came up. I woke up when I heard water running. I threw off the blanket and walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Morning sleepy-head!" Jenn's voice was cheerful. "Here, have some cereal."
She poured me a bowl of Count Chocula and handed me a spoon. I took both without saying anything and ate silently.
"Look," Jenn said finally. She put the newspaper in front of me. "I decided I'd go job hunting. I circled the ones I liked in red."
I looked over the paper. She had an ad from a couple of run down places.
"Why did you chose those?" I asked, reading them back to her. "Wal-Mart, Rudy's Grill, and Hammers 'n Nails? You can do better."
"I know, but those are the places I thought would be the last places where he'd look."
"Forget about Justin. Look, I can get you a job. It pays $13.75 an hour and you don't even have to do anything."
"What is it?"
"Well, one of our stylist/makeup artists quit on us because she's having a baby and we could use the extra help. Being a girl, I figure this job would come easy. Plus, you have a ride and Justin would never even think of a job like that. What do you say?"
"Yes! Definitely!"
"Here's the catch. There are a bunch of gay guys that you'll be working with and makeup alone can take an hour easily."
"Yes! It's still a yes! Do you really mean that I can work with you guys?" Her eyes were bright and she looked thoroughly eager to start.
"Yup. It's all yours. You can start in an hour."
"Oooh! Thank you!" She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I'm gonna take a shower!" She literally bounced out of the room.
I shook my head, smiled, and drank the rest of the milk from the cereal bowl.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"So how did you like your new job?" I flopped down on the foot of my bed facedown and was grateful for the softness of the mattress. I had missed sleeping in my bed.
"I loved it, but I just couldn't believe how hard they work you guys! I mean, I've never seen five guys exercise or work as hard or as much as you guys do! You've got to be exhausted. I am just from watching you guys!" Jenn was sitting on the edge of the bed next to me.
"Yup." I couldn't say anymore. My back was killing me.
"Let me do you a favor." She leaned over me and I looked up at her. "Do you trust me?"
"Depends."
"My friends always said that I had magic fingers. I'll give you a massage." She said, matter-of-factly.
"For real?"
"Yup. Here," she said, moving her hands to the edge of my shirt. "Just pull it off." I did. "Okay." I could feel the bed move underneath me while she was getting situated and was surprised when I felt her sitting on me. "Do you mind if I sit here? It's just easier to reach."
"Nah, it's not my butt that needs the massage. It's my back. It's killing me!" Her fingers were ice cold but they felt good. I was so hot. I let her do her work while all I could say was an occasional, "Mmmm."
I don't know when I fell asleep. All I remember is waking up. I picked my head up out of my arms and looked around. The TV was on, but it was muted with the captioning going. I looked at the other side of the bed. Jenn was leaned up against the wall, sleeping. I realized that she had pulled the covers up over me and had turned down the television volume so she wouldn't wake me up. I smiled. She looked cute asleep.
I got out from under the covers, walked around to the side of the bed and then pulled the comforter around Jennifer.
"I've got to get some food!" I walked out of the room and into the kitchen. It wasn't long until I heard feet padding in behind me.
"Morning, beautiful." I didn't even turn around. I knew it was her.
"Hey," she opened the fridge and pulled out a Jell-O fruit snack.
"Me and the guys were talking about going to a club tonight. It's a real small club, not too many people, but it's not shabby either. Wanna go?"
"You guys are gonna go clubbing after all that dancing that you already did? You've got to be crazy." I watched her spoon Jell-O into her mouth. Geez! If I could just get one kiss....
"Yeah, why not. Besides, it'll be fun. And you're coming with me."
"Uh-uh. I don't do clubs!"
"Sure you do!" I leaned against the sink, making sure not to spill any of my cereal. "You'd be a great dancer."
"How would you know? You've never seen me dance. I've got two left feet, Nick! I'm not going."
"Yeah, you are. Get in the shower." I wasn't rude about it, I wasn't ordering her around. It was sort of like I was asking her to. It was our little thing.
"Nope. Plain and simple. I don't wanna go."
"Yeah, you do. Go get ready. I'm leaving in thirty minutes."
"Thirty minutes!" She pulled at some of her hair. "See this? It's dirty, and thirty minutes isn't gonna cut it. Give me an hour and I'll be ready."
"Deal." She trashed the Jell-O and put the spoon in the sink. "I told you you wanted to go!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Hey, Frack!" Brian gave me a five. "And I see you brought your girlfriend!"
"She's not my girlfriend," I leaned closer to him and said in a lower tone, "Unfortunately." He just wiggled his eyebrows.
"Hey, Jennifer!" Brian had moved on.
"So, who's ready to party?" AJ and his girlfriend, Amanda, walked over to our table.
"Leave it to Bone to be the one to start off the party!" Howie said.
"Come on, peeps! Let's dance!" AJ led Amanda to the dance floor and, as he calls it, did "the nasty" on the dance floor.
I sat down in a chair next to Jenn. Someone had to watch the table full of girls' purses and since Jenn didn't look too comfortable, I volunteered us.
"Why don't you dance?" I asked her after everyone had cleared.
"I just don't feel comfortable dancing, especially in front of other people. I'm too self conscious."
"Self conscious of what?" What I didn't say was, "Girl, with a body like that, there's no need to be self conscious!"
"Of how I look when I dance! What other people are gonna say."
"Jennifer, I guarantee you, you'll look fine. As soon as one of the guys comes back, I'm taking you out there. Now, I'm betting it'll either be Brian or Kevin that sits down first."
"Okay, I'll make you a deal. If Kevin sits down first, I don't have to dance. If it's Brian, then I have to dance. Deal?"
"Deal." We shook on it.
Before the song had even ended, guess who came walking up?
"Alrighty, Jenn! You've gotta boogie!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor before she could protest. But as soon as we got out there, a slow song came on.
"Oh, girl, you got lucky!" I said, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in.
"I'm just glad that it's not a fast song!" She didn't come all the way to me. She left space between us, but not too much. I looked to my right and saw AJ and Amanda wrapped up in each other's arms, swaying slowly to the music. I looked to my left and saw Kevin and Kristin dancing so close, there was no room for the "holy ghost"! (Author's Note: you guys that have seen the movie School Ties will know what I'm talking about!) I just wished that I could do the same with Jennifer, but of course, she's swearing off guys and only likes me as a friend. Sucks.
Well, I didn't care if she was swearing off guys or not. I had tons of other girls liking me at this point. I could make Jennifer like me if I try. Alright then. I have to make the first move. I want her so bad!
Before I had anymore time to think, I moved my hand to her chin, turned her face towards mine and softly kissed her lips. I was surprised when I felt her put her hand on my chest and push me away.
"Nick, you know that I'm trying to stay away from relationships right now. Don't ruin our friendship. Please." The look on her face told me that she was serious about this guy thing. Well, getting her to fall for me would be hard. "Nick, I'm going to go to the ladies' room, okay?" Real hard.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

She didn't talk to me much the rest of the night. She basically hung out with the other girls. Stepping into the house alone with Jenn made me a little uneasy.
"Well, goodnight." I locked the door and made my way to the couch, or rather, my "bed". I didn't even bother to change, just got underneath the blanket and closed my eyes. I felt the couch cushion go lower and I knew that Jennifer had just sat down on the couch. I put my hands behind my head and opened my eyes, waiting for her to talk.
"Nick, I'm sorry that I was rude." I watched her fiddling with her hands while she talked. "I just really don't want to get involved right now. Things are just going so good- between us especially. I mean, I love being friends with you- and just friends. I don't know how you feel about that though, and I really don't want to hurt you. Especially after all that you've done for me." There was a short silence. "Say something."
"I don't know what to say. I mean, I just got shot down. That hurts my ego." I smiled. "Look, Jennifer. You asked me earlier why I didn't just kick you out after the first day. You asked me why I even took you in in the first place. Because I liked you, Jennifer. From the first time when I saw you fighting with Justin, I thought you were beautiful. Plus, you looked so helpless, I couldn't just leave you. Maybe it's better that we don't get involved though." I closed my eyes. I was hating this talk that we were having and I wished it would just end so that I could get to bed and wouldn't have to think about my getting shot down.
"Nick, I'm really sorry. I just can't trust anybody right now. I can't trust anybody as deeply as I had before and I'm not sure if I can ever get there again. With you, I feel almost at peace with myself and with the world. I just don't want to ruin that with you."
"I understand, really. That's cool with me." I held out my hand to her. "Just friends?"
"Just friends." She shook my hand, smiled, then turned and walked out of the room. It wasn't long before I heard, "Nick, don't you wanna change from your clothes?"
"I was waiting for you to say that!"

~~*Three Weeks Later*~~

"Hey, makeup!" I called jokingly to Jenn. When she came over I said, "It's about time! I should have you fired for your neglect to my needs to look my best!" We both laughed. "No, but seriously, I have to be on in forty minutes. I really have to hurry and get this done."
"Alright." Jenn pulled the chair that I was sitting in closer to the styling mirror and cabinets. "I'll get this done quick, but I promise, you'll still look sexy. You always do." She went to work on my foundation first. Yes, we do have to wear makeup when we make appearances. We don't really put on any of that girly stuff, we just make our face look all one color, smooth, and natural looking, even though it's not.
She had started to lean in closer so that she could reach my forehead when I noticed the shirt she had on. The only reason I noticed was because she was leaning over, her shirt was low-cut, and because "they" were right in front of me. She leaned in further still, so I widened my legs and she moved between them so she could get closer. I couldn't help putting my hands on her hips. I reached out and found her belt loops. I slid my forefingers in them and closed my hands around her waist, pulling her even closer. Her shirt was short- the top of her jeans didn't reach the bottom of the shirt, leaving a small gap of midriff showing. I ran my fingers over her skin, my fingers still in the belt loops. If she noticed what I was doing, she didn't show any sign of it. She didn't acknowledge it at all.
"Close your eyes." I did as she said and felt her makeup brush glide gently over my eyelids. I didn't know what she was doing, but I trusted her makeup expertise. I stopped moving my fingers along her skin and instead did something else with my hands. I grabbed her hand and moved it from my eye, pulled her face gently towards mine with the other hand, and kissed her. I waited for it, and this time it didn't come as quick as it did this first time.
"Nick," She said, placing her hand on my chest and pushing me away, forcing me to end the kiss. "You know." That was all she said before going back to my eyes.
"I know that I know, but I can't help it."
"You know, Brian's a lot easier to put makeup on than you."
I opened my eyes and looked at her. "And why is that?"
"Because he doesn't flirt with me, that's why!" She wasn't angry with me, she was laughing.
"Sorry." I laughed with her and talked with her while she finished up my makeup, hair, and clothes.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Come on, Jenn," I said, motioning for her to follow me. "We've both had a hard day. Let's go get something to eat."
"Nothing's gonna be open this late, though."
"McDonalds?" She nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
We rode to McDonalds in silence, both of us dead tired. I parked and we both hopped out and walked into the restaurant.
"Let's see, I'll have the Big Mac meal, with a Coke, and can you super size that?" I said, relaying my order to the cashier while looking at the menu near the ceiling. "And she'll have," I turned to Jennifer. "Go ahead and order." I looked at her but she gave me no response. I followed her gaze back to the cashier, thinking he was probably really hot or something but wasn't ready for who stood before me.
"You work here?" I asked, hoping that things wouldn't get ugly.
"You're a fucking slut Jennifer, you know that? A slut! We've only been split up for less than a month and you're already sleeping with this guy? I can't believe you!"
"Oh, no you don't understand." Her tone was calm but I could tell that she was holding back her anger. "You see, he's not like you, forcing me to sleep with you before I was ready. I never wanted to sleep with you in the first place but I kinda had to since you showed me the knife that you were keeping on the night stand just in case I refused your offer. You are such a dirty bastard."
"Jennifer, let's go." I put my hand on her elbow and started to lead her out the door when I was swung around from behind. "What the hell is your problem? Things don't have to get ugly. You can just turn around and walk away from the situation. Just leave us alone."
"What the hell are you doing with my girl?" He was now in my face.
"For the record, she's not your girl anymore and she's not mine either. We are just friends." I matched his stare.
"I remember you! You were the guy that interrupted us while we were talking about her boyfriend from the mall!"
"If my memory serves me correctly, and it always does, then you two weren't talking. You had here backed into a corner, while you hit her." I turned back to Jennifer. "Let's go." We started walking to the door.
"Uh uh! You ain't goin' anywhere!" Justin grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me to the ground, my back hitting it with a smack.
I looked him in the face, brushed myself off, and continued to escort Jennifer out of the McDonalds. But Justin was about to let me just walk off. He slapped me upside the head and then punched me before I had completely turned around to face him. I didn't want to, but I matched his punch with one first to the face, and then to the stomach. When he bent over I shoved him to the ground. Once again, I started walking out, Jennifer at my arm.
"Don't ever forget to watch your back, Carter. I know where you live."
When we got back into the car, I started the engine and drove off quickly. I didn't want Justin to follow us.
"I had no idea that he worked there, Jennifer! I'm sorry that had to happen!" I apologized as soon as we had gotten back to the house. I followed her into the bedroom. "Are you alright? Don't be scared. I don't want you to be scared of him. Jennifer?" She didn't answer. "Jennifer? Why won't you talk to me? I didn't want to start a fight with him, Jenn, honestly. I do admit that I wanted to hit him after what he did to you, but I wouldn't have done it unless, like what just happened, he asked for it. I'm really sorry."
"Can you leave, please." She had her back to me but I could tell by the waver in her voice that she was crying. "I'm going to get undressed and go to bed."
"Jennifer," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. She pushed it off roughly.
"Just go," she whispered.
I took one last look at her back before I finally left, closing the door behind me. Luckily for me, there were clean jammies in the dryer. I fell asleep that night worried that she wouldn't talk to me the next morning.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Why did you do that?" Leigh Ann asked me the next day. When Jennifer still wouldn't talk to me this morning, I decided to seek advice from people who would know what to do: Leigh Ann and Amanda.
"Because he hit me first!"
"Are you listening to yourself, Nick?" Amanda asked me. "You sound like a child. Now, why did you really hit him?"
"You want the truth?" They both nodded. "Well, because I just couldn't look into the face of the girl of my dreams' former abusive boyfriend who, I found out last night, frequently date raped her. He forced her to sleep with him by threatening her life with knives. I just couldn't stand there and look at him and not hit him."
"You love her?" Leigh Ann asked.
"Well," I paused. "Yeah, I guess if that's what you wanna call it. You see, the thing is, she doesn't want to be anything more than friends with me, but I just want to be with her. She won't even give me a chance! Believe me, I've tried."
"Well if you loved her than why did you hit Justin?" Amanda leaned towards me. "Didn't she say that she couldn't trust anybody because she was afraid they might beat her like Justin did?" I nodded. "Well there's your problem. That's why she won't talk to you."
"I don't get it."
"Okay," Leigh Ann began explaining. "She's afraid that her next boyfriend will beat her, right? She doesn't want to trust anybody until she's completely positive that they will be nothing like Justin."
"She knows I'm not like Justin!" I was starting to get really confused. Girls are too complicated!
"She was beginning to think that you weren't like him and was beginning to trust you. But then you went off and hit somebody. It doesn't matter who it was that you hit, or why you hit them. What matters is that now she thinks that there's a violent side to you and that maybe you too will hurt her. It sounds unreasonable but when you've been through something like that, you are scared of nearly everything and anyone that you don't trust. Especially if it's a guy that she's probably planning on dating soon." Leigh Ann leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her drink.
"So what do I have to do?"
"Prove to her that you're not like that," Amanda said, matter of factly.
"Please suggest something! I have no idea how to do that!"
"Well, don't try and pester her about trying to talk it out. If she wants to talk about it, she'll come to you. Don't apologize to her with words. Show her you're sorry with your actions. Always be gentle, never yell, make sure that she has everything and more of what she needs…"
I interrupted Amanda. "So in other words, pamper her."
"Exactly!" They said in unison.
"But," Amanda said. "Try to go out of your way to be nice to her. She'll understand that you're trying to apologize. Believe me."
"Thanks you guys."
"Anytime!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I was back at home and wondering how I could pamper her. Easy! Make her lunch and serve it to her in bed! She had holed up in my former room for the day and hadn't said so much as a peep to me. I made my way to the kitchen and began preparing her lunch.
It took me half an hour but I finally finished. I had made her a club sandwich, a fresh salad, and had made a pie for dessert. I placed it all on a fold-up TV dinner tray and also laid on there a single rose that I had picked up on my way home from my talk with the girls.
I was able to balance the tray easily and made it to Jennifer's room. I knocked twice, waited for a few seconds, and then opened the door because I knew she wouldn't.
"Watch out." I said, making sure that the TV tray sat evenly on the bed. I looked at her. She looked at the food, then at me, then the food, and then back to me. "I made your lunch."
"I can see that." She quickly looked back at the TV screen and started in on her sandwich. When she kept on eating, still not saying anything to me, I turned and left the room, defeated. This is not going to be easy!
It took me nearly a week to get her to finally talk to me.
"Nick, why did you do it?"
"Well," I took a deep breath and tried to explain. "I couldn't just stand there and look into the face of one of my best friends' attacker. I mean, I just couldn't believe how he could do that to you. You're too sweet to have anything like that happen to you. And then to have the guy who did it stand in front of me, calling you a slut and punching me just because I had defended you…it was too much!"
She didn't say anything. She just sat there looking at me with her big green eyes full of tears. Finally she said, "Nick, I wanted to trust you! I wanted to be able to have someone to call on, someone to always be there. When you did that, it was like everything nice you had ever done for me disappeared from my memory and I could only focus on how you had actually hit somebody. It scared me."
"I know it did and I'm sorry that it did. I just hope that you're not going to hate me now."
"Hate you?" She smiled. "I could never hate you, Nick. You're too sweet."
We talked for a little bit longer until it was after midnight. "I'm going to bed." I got up from the kitchen table where we had been talking for nearly three hours and made my way to the bathroom so I could change into some boxers that I was gonna sleep in. I heard Jennifer close the door to my room when I walked out of the bathroom. I knocked on the door and said, "Goodnight" before I settled down on the couch and fell into an easy sleep.
I remember having this really good dream about winning a Grammy and having Mariah Carey present the award to us. I was just about to give Mariah a kiss when a high pitched noise woke me up. That noise didn't register until a few seconds. A scream.
I sat up. Jennifer.
"Jennifer!" I jumped up from the couch and started running to the bedroom where the screams were coming from. I ran into a small table and left the contents scattered on the floor. "Jennifer! Jennifer!" I opened the door to the room and ran inside. "Oh thank goodness you're alright." I sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. "What happened?"
She had stopped screaming, but there were still tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Instead of waiting for her to answer me, I pulled her into my arms and rocked her like my mother had many years before. I stroked her back and told her it was all going to be alright. She took a deep breath, shuddering, and pulled back so she could see my face.
"I had a bad dream."
I smiled. I hadn't heard that line in a while! "No one's going to hurt you. Everything's going to be okay." I held her again.
"He came back. Justin came back." She was talking against my chest so her voice was muffled. "He came in and he stabbed me in the stomach, then made me watch him stab you to death. You kept reaching out for me to help you, but I couldn't move. You finally gave one last look and then you were gone. He kicked you to make sure that you were really dead and then he came after me. Nick, it was so awful!" She started crying again, harder this time.
I held her so I could see her face and put my hands on her cheeks. "Nothing like that is ever gonna happen. I promise." I wiped her face from tears. Right then she looked so beautiful even though she was crying. I guess when you really love someone you don't care what they look like, you love them anyways. I tilted her face towards mine and brought my lips down on hers.
"Nick," I pulled away from her and got up from the bed.
"Okay, okay, I know. You just wanna be friends. I'm going now." I turned and started walking out the door.
"Nick, wait!" I stopped and turned towards her slightly. "Stay with me." She reached out her hand and grabbed mine. I walked back towards her. She moved over in the bed, making room, and lifted the covers so I could get under. I slid underneath the sheets as she kept scooting over. She rolled over on her side so that she had her back to me.
"Nick, hold me." I rolled over on my side and moved closer to her, but still keeping some distance between our bodies. I slid one hand over her side and rested it on her stomach. I traced my fingers along her spine with my other hand. I felt her body shiver just before she rolled over again, this time into my arms with her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her whole body this time, pulling her closer to me. I couldn't believe that this was happening! I had wanted to get hooked up with her but this was better than I had ever dreamed! I wasn't even about to think of taking it any further. It might ruin the moment.
Of course, that was before I felt her lips on my chest. She kissed me softly, making her way up to my mouth. I kissed her back, keeping the kisses soft and sweet. Then a thought hit me and I wanted to push it away, but couldn't. Maybe she's not being rational. Maybe she's just doing this because she just had a bad dream and doesn't want to be alone. I ended the kiss.
"Jennifer, are you sure you realize what you're doing?"
"Mmm-hmmm."
"And you still want to go ahead with it?" I asked her, hoping that she'd say yes.
"Nick, I saw you and knew that it was going to be you that I would want to be with." She kissed my lips again and this time I didn't stop her.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Mmm…" I rolled over and slowly opened my eyes. Jennifer was lying in the bed next to me, still sleeping and still naked. I got out from under the covers and pulled on my boxer shorts.
The sound of a car engine startled me, so I went to the window. I heard Jenn get out from the bed. I flipped up the blinds and I felt her breasts pressing against my back, her hands sliding across my chest. But what was outside that window was enough to keep me from turning around and giving another shot at pleasure.
"Baby, what kind of car did you say Justin had?" I asked her, still looking out the window. Her arms quickly left my chest and she joined me at the window.
"Crap, Nick, it's him!" Her frantic whisper sent a chill down my spine.
I turned and looked at her. "Put some clothes on quick and I'll show you where to hide- just in case he comes in." She did as I said and I led her to the closet. It was a walk-in closet, pretty big for my small house. I led her to the back where there was a small nook. "Look, get in there. There's a small nook where no one from the outside can see you. Stay there until I come and get you." She gave me a kiss before she ducked behind the closet shelves.
Ding-Dong! I'd been waiting for that. I quickly slipped into an undershirt and went to the door. I answered it without looking through the peephole.
"Can I help you?" I asked, playing dumb.
"You sure can, ass hole!" Justin stood before me and pulled a gun out from his jacket. "You can bring the girl to me."
"For one thing, her name is Jennifer, and another thing, there's no way in hell that I would let her go off with you again so you can abuse her some more!" I slammed the door shut in his face, dead bolted it, and quickly moved away from it, just in case he tried to shoot through the door.
I went to the kitchen to the phone and called 9-1-1. "Don't ask questions. Just come quick! There's a crazed, abusive boyfriend outside my door with a gun, asking for his ex back. Just hurry!" I left the phone off the hook so the computers would have time to locate where I was at.
I went back to the bedroom and looked out the window. His car was still there but I didn't see Justin anywhere.
There was a loud banging sound from the front door and I went again to the door. This time I didn't answer it.
"What do you want, Justin?" I called through the door. "You're never gonna get Jenn back! Just leave!"
"Come on, you bastard! Just let me in and nobody gets hurt!" He shot through the door, barely missing my shoulder.
I moved away from the door and waited for the cops to come. Justin kept yelling and shooting for about five minutes until I finally heard the police sirens. I still didn't open the door. I waited until I heard the cop reciting Justin's Miranda rights.
Before I went out, I went back to the closet and got Jennifer. "It's alright, baby." Her tear streaked face showed immediate relief when I opened the door. Justin was leaned up against a patrol car with a cop searching him, his hands cuffed behind his back.
"Nick!" She threw her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear, "I love you."
"I love you, too, baby." I hugged her tighter. "I love you too."

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