Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C..

"I walked into a door."

The words echoed in Jimmy Cooper's mind like a broken record. He didn't believe his ex-wife's weak excuse, and he knew that she had picked up on that. Upon entering her large house, Jimmy had noticed that she had purple bruise on the side of her face. His stomach began to churn as he wondered who would do something like that, who would hurt an innocent woman. Well, Julie wasn't exactly innocent, but he knew that she didn't deserve that sort of treatment.

"Who hit you?" Jimmy inquired. He reached out and gently took hold of her arm, preventing her from walking any further. As his fingers carefully wrapped around her soft skin, Jimmy saw the brunette wince. She had a bruise on her arm. His concerned brown eyes stared into her green as they stood in the foyer.

"Can you just help me with a few things?" Julie brushed the question off. She was not in the mood to deal with Jimmy's 'I'll-solve-it-all' attitude. She just wanted him to help her load a few things in her car, and then they both could go back to living their separate lives.

But Jimmy wasn't going to give up that easily. He took a step forward, the gap between the two now smaller. Julie closed her hand around Jimmy's, and then pried his fingers away from her arm. He wasn't hurting her; he wasn't even close to causing her any pain. But after the recent ordeals she had lived through, Julie was not willing to allow a man any sort of contact with her. Even if that man was Jimmy, her ex-husband, the one person she knew who would never hurt her.

"Lead the way," Jimmy sighed. He followed Julie up the staircase and down the hallway, their shoes clicking in unison as they approached their destination. Julie opened the last door on the left and entered, with Jimmy right behind her.

"I need these boxes put in my car," The brunette gestured to a large area on the floor covered by the brown containers. Jimmy began to pick one up, not bothering to question why she was loading her car up with the boxes, when a quiet cooing sound make him look around.

For the first time since entering the room, Jimmy noticed that he was standing in the middle of a baby's nursery. A little confused, Jimmy opened his mouth to ask Julie what was going on when he spotted something, or someone. A toddler, Jimmy assumed the age, was standing up in the white crib with a grin on his face.

"Who's this little guy?" Jimmy made his way toward the crib with a smile on his face.

Julie followed the sandy haired man, watching her son babble happy as Jimmy approached him. "This is Jake," Julie answered. She offered her index finger to Jake, who in turn gently gripped it with his entire hand.

Jimmy silently observed the two interact, letting the scene remind him of the days when Marissa had been an infant. He ran one hand through his hair and turned toward the boxes. "It won't take me very long to get these loaded," Jimmy motioned to the cartons with one hand. "This is all of them?"

Julie simply nodded. She lifted Jake from the crib and rested him on her hip, his tiny hand still wrapped around her lone finger. As Jimmy picked up the first two boxes and started to leave the room, she added, "Thank you, James. I appreciate it."

When Jimmy returned to take the next few boxes to Julie's Lexus, he paused in the doorway and allowed his famous grin to show. Julie was seated in the rocking chair with her green eyes closed, Jake nestled comfortably against her chest. She was singing to him, although much too faintly for Jimmy to hear what the song was. Not wanting to disturb the mother and son, Jimmy gathered some more boxes and carried them outside.

It did not take him very long to complete the task. Not even half an hour later, Jimmy had loaded the boxes in the trunk of Julie's car. He did have to put a few of the cartons into his own car, but Julie didn't mind and neither did he. If Julie needed help with something, Jimmy had promised her a long time ago that he would be there for her.

"Are you leaving now?" Jimmy inquired as he made his way back into the nursery. The room was bare except for the crib and a diaper bag, which confused Jimmy a little but he didn't say anything.

Julie slowly opened her eyes. "Yes," came her simple reply. Jake was asleep in her arms, and Jimmy helped her stand up from the rocking chair so not to wake the toddler. Jimmy wrapped one arm around Julie's trim waist as they descended down the stairs. He was worried about her and he wanted to comfort her, so it seemed like the proper thing to do. Julie didn't fight his gesture, which surprised them both. She liked the way she felt protected when he was around.

As they reached the last stair, the front door slammed open. Jimmy felt the brunette tense and he carefully tightened his hold on her.

"Going somewhere?" The man in the doorway inquired. His words were slurred, alerting Jimmy that whoever this man was, he was drunk.

Julie's eyes were cast downward, knowing that a reply was not expected. Whenever Frank came home, he required her to keep quiet.

"Come on, Julie." Jimmy began leading the silent woman toward the door, his voice taking on a strong edge. He wasn't going to allow his ex-wife to stay in that house any longer, judging by the sight of the unknown man in the doorway and the reaction Julie had shown to his voice.

Allowing herself to be guided, Julie kept her eyes focused on the floor below her feet. She didn't want to make eye contact with anyone, not as long as they were in the house. She just wanted Jimmy to hurry up and get them outside, away from the drunken man blocking the door.

"I said, are you going somewhere?" Frank's voice was unmistakably annoyed now. He reached out to grab Julie but Jimmy put himself between the battered brunette and Frank.

"Get out of the way," Jimmy said, his tone demonstrating his anger towards the man.

When Frank didn't move, Jimmy was thoroughly filled with rage. He grabbed the man's coat with both hands, and shoved him aside. Having consumed too much alcohol, Frank tripped and fell to the ground, his head connecting with the marble floor. While this was happening, Julie stood back and watched in shock.

"Julie, go wait in the car," Jimmy calmly instructed the shaken brunette. Not wanting to witness anymore, Julie nodded. She gently held Jake with one arm as she opened the door leading outside and away from the house, and didn't look back once it had closed. She could not wait to get away from the house and the awful memories it held.

Once he was sure that Julie was gone, Jimmy pulled Frank up until the drunken man was standing. "If you try to find her, or if you ever even think about laying a hand on her again," Jimmy warned in a low voice, "You had better find something else to occupy your time with."

Jimmy relinquished his hold on Frank, sending the man back down to the cold floor. As he reached Julie's car, he tapped on the driver's side window, signaling that he wanted her to lower it.

"Are you okay to drive?" He asked softly, brushing her bangs away from her eyes. When she nodded, Jimmy gave her an encouraging smile. "Where are we going?"

Julie pushed the key into the ignition and started the car. Her eyes a little glassy, Julie looked up at Jimmy as she responded, "The Cohen's. Kirsten said she would be more than happy to let me use the pool house."

With an acknowledging nod, Jimmy briefly reached inside the car and stroked her pale cheek. "I'll meet you there."

As he watched Julie pull out of the driveway, Jimmy wondered how long she had been in that situation. He allowed the thoughts to drift from his mind. Starting his own car, Jimmy decided that when she was ready, Julie would explain the whole thing to him. Until then, Jimmy only had two things that he had to do. Keep Julie and her son safe, which was the first. The second was to make sure Julie knew that anytime she needed anything, anything at all, Jimmy was there for her.