Jenny's eyes popped open at the sound of her name. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, looking at the clock. 10:34 A.M. and Justin was back.
"God, Jenny, I'm so sorry," Justin whispered.
"Justin, sorry doesn't-" Jenny began.
"Cut it," Justin finished for her. "Please look at me, Baby. Please."
"I'm not sure you want me to," Jenny whispered. Last night's damage had been worse than ever before.
"I know sorry isn't gonna make it better, Baby Angel," Justin whispered, using her old nick-name for the first time in almost a year. He called her Baby Angel because he claimed she was his baby and his guardian angel.
Hearing that nick-name made Jenny simply wish for her own guardian angel to protect her from Justin. Then Jenny realized she already had one - she had JC.
"I've gotta quit this," Justin said.
"Quit what?" Jenny asked, swallowing her tears. "Quit the relationship? Quit drinking? Maybe quit beating me?"
"Quit drinking and beating you," Justin said. "I could never quit loving you."
"Quit drinking and beating, huh?" Jenny asked skeptically. "For how long? A day? A week?"
"Forever," Justin said, climbing onto the bed behind her.
"I don't know how much more I can take, Justin," Jenny said.
"None," Justin replied. "You won't have to take any more from me!"
Jenny sighed and felt a pair of warm lips on the back of her neck.
"Baby, please forgive me," Justin whispered, sliding around on the bed so he had one leg on each side of Jenny and his chin resting on her right shoulder.
Jenny turned her head away to the left, praying the damage on her face could be erased, just like that.
"Please, my Angel," Justin wrapped his arms around Jenny and held her tightly. "I love you, don't leave me!"
Jenny couldn't take it anymore, and she leaned back against Justin, laying her head on his left shoulder.
"Alright," Jenny said quietly.
Justin let go of her and turned her face towards him. "Oh, God." He gasped.
Angel shrugged, and closed her eyes as Justin kissed each bruise and cut on her face, arms, and stomach, trying to remember when Justin had still been Justin, not whatever kind of monster he was now.
Fifteen minutes later she broke away from Justin and stood up. "I've got to take a shower and do some damage control, ok? Will you order me room service?" Jenny asked him, as if things were ok again, no problems.
Justin nodded and reached for the phone, his eyes following her every move.
Forty-five minutes later Jenny emerged from the bathroom, wearing a long-sleeve black top with the shoulders cut out and a pair of tight-fitting black leather pants, her hair hanging down in her face, hiding it.
"Call JC, we need to think of something," Justin whispered.
Jenny nodded and summoned JC to their room.
When JC walked in, he nearly went into cardiac arrest. There were Jenny and Justin, sitting on the bed together, laughing, feeding each other breakfast.
When is she gonna learn? JC asked himself, clearing his throat.
"Ok, JC, we need a good excuse for Lance, Joey, and Chris," Justin looked up at his band-mate and grinned.
JC felt his blood begin to boil, but simply nodded his head.
Jenny felt a pang of jealousy, thinking of the happy-go-lucky ways Lance, Joey, and Chris all lived their lives, while she had to live in fear. She wished desperately for things to be how they used to.
"We were wrestling and she hit..." Justin trailed off. "Jenny, what'd you hit?"
JC bit his tongue from saying 'your fist' out loud.
"The TV stand, it's pretty big," Jenny shrugged, smiling brightly at JC.
JC looked straight into Jenny's eyes and saw that she wasn't really as ok as she was letting on. He shook his head, but agreed.
"Thanks, man," Justin grinned at him and JC fought the impulse to wring Justin's neck. "It's never happening again, I promise." Justin turned to Jenny and gave her a long kiss.
Watching that, JC had to fight the impulse to rip Justin off of her and kiss her himself.
"Right," JC whispered, knowing that in only a matter of days, the very same thing would happen, all over again.