Authors Note: I don't own anything except Jelena, the OC. Otherwise I would have a hell of a lot more money.

They Understand…

I hear voices in my head, they counsel me, they understand, they talk to me…

She sighed softly and glanced at the ringing phone, which was playing the same song that had been stuck in her thoughts for the last few hours. She'd wanted to ring him so badly but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Nonetheless, with a faint sniffle she picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello…?" She said, voice thick with tears even though she knew exactly who was on the other end.

"Sweetheart… are you okay?" His concerned voice asked, and she choked back a sob.

"No…"

"Where are you? I'll come and find you…"

"Hotel…"

"But… isn't he…"

"I booked a different room. 404." She told him softly, and he sighed with relief.

"I'll be there soon sweetheart." He told her, and then he hung up.

She rolled over on the floor she'd collapsed on, glancing at the door and then over at her bag, whimpering again as her sore arm brushed against the floor. Soon she heard a knock on the door and weakly pushed herself onto her feet, stumbling over and looking through the peep hole. When she saw who it was she opened the door immediately for him. He stepped through and she shut it behind him, turning to face him and lean back against the door.

He took in her dishevelled appearance, her sandy blonde hair was messy and her blue eyes had mascara and eyeliner smeared all around them because of her tears. Her eyes were red and her cheek was busily turning purple where she had been struck earlier in the day. Despite all of this, he couldn't help but find her beautiful. She was only small, barely 5'2" and petite, though she worked hard to stay that way. She had pale skin, and the bruise on her left arm stood out terribly against it.

"Oh sweetheart…" He whispered, and just opened his arms to her. She ran forwards and collapsed into him, sobbing softly into his chest as he gathered her up close to him and held her, gently running his fingers through her hair.

"He… he said I deserved it!" She exclaimed into the now wet material of his shirt, and he could feel her fingers clutching his tattooed biceps. "He's supposed… to look after me! Not… not take his side!"

She sounded a little bit hysterical, so he lead her over to the bed with him and sat down, pulling her onto his lap so he could cradle her against him.

"He's an idiot… he's wrong… and you're right. He is supposed to look after you… you didn't do anything wrong… and I'll look after you now."

The woman turned and nuzzled her face into the man's chest, leaving a trail of makeup behind that he really didn't care about. He tilted her head up a little so she would look him in the face. "Jelena… I'll look after you now… I promise." He then wiped some of her tears away with his thumbs.

This was the soft sensitive side of him that Jelena loved. The side that not many people got to see, and she was proud that she did, because it meant he cared about her, and she cared about him more than she would like to admit.

"But he's my brother…"

"I know…. I know sweetheart. I'm sorry…"

She sniffled a little bit and managed to stifle her tears, looking up into his concerned face, and his beautiful blue eyes. "Thanks…"

"You don't need to thank me Jelena…"

She smiled a little bit at him and then yawned, so he scooted back against the bed head, pulling her with him so she could lay against him. He knew her all too well, that she would need to feel that someone was there with her.

"Sleep." He told her, stroking her hair, and slowly she lowered her head against his chest, shutting her eyes to listen to his heartbeat. It was more soothing than anything to lay there like that, and soon she was fast asleep.

He could feel his anger bubbling within him though, the bruises on her face angered him, and all he wanted to do was find the man who'd given them to her and show him what pain really felt like, and when he was done with that he would find her brother and give him a taste of his boots. She didn't deserve to be turned away. Especially not by her brother, someone who was supposed to protect her until the end, someone who had promised to do that and then not come through.

He'd told her the abuse was her fault, that she'd probably deserved it. The look on her face cut deep within the man holding her's soul. It was like she had finally broken, her heart had shattered. She turned on her heel and ran.

He smiled slightly at the thought of what he'd done to her brother, though it was not nearly enough in his opinion. Landing those punches to his face had satisfied his anger in that moment though, and after searching backstage for her and not finding her he'd phoned her. When she said she was in a hotel room he panicked, not wanting her brother to be there with her, but she'd booked another room; she always was the smart one. Then to get there and see her in such a state…

He was pissed.

He looked down at her in his arms, still gently stroking her hair. She really was beautiful, and he thought he just might love her. He'd never told her that before, he'd always tried to ignore it, considering they were best friends, but looking at her now, and seeing just how close they were, he thought it might be something he should invest in, perhaps when she was a little happier.

She shifted a little bit against him, and he loosened his grip slightly so she could move, but settled his arms around her once more when she'd finished shifting. He then heard her sigh softly, and nuzzle his chest, though another look confirmed that she was still asleep. However, softly, his name escaped her lips and lingered on the air for a moment, floating, like music, to his ears.

"Randy…"

Authors Note: Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this! You might have guessed who it was from the beginning, since I used Randy's music, but I wasn't sure, so I figured I'd slip a name in ;)

Anyways! Please review, I love to hear from you and I try to reply to all my reviews! Plus, take the poll on my page!

Oh, and YES, I did have someone in mind for her brother when I was writing this, but I decided I'd leave him nameless in the end, and I think it's better that way. So, it's late here in Australia and I had better go to bed, gotta get up for Backlash tomorrow (I think it's today for you guys in America lol). Oh, and I'm so so so sorry I didn't update I'm Still Me today, I'll probably get around to it tomorrow if I'm not too hyped after Backlash. I love you guys! (If there is any major problems with this, I promise I'll fix them tomorrow lol.)