Chapter Three: Release

"I think we need to get cleaned up first. And then you can tell me. Is that okay?" The vacancy in her eyes was painful for him to look at.

She nodded.

Tru felt numb through all of this; almost dead. She couldn't feel anything anymore. It was like she merely existed, but remained unresponsive.

Jack's apartment seemed bigger than usual. Like a maze. A maze she couldn't seem to find her way out of even as she came through the front door and stopped at the door of the bathroom.

She turned around, seeing that Jack was only a few feet behind her. He approached her cautiously, like one would approach a frightened child. The blank stare she gave him sent shivers up his spine; her face was blotched with random spots of crimson blood as she had wiped her falling tears away with bloodstained hands, smearing it onto her lightly tanned skin.

"Go take a shower," he told her gently, brushing strands of her wavy locks away from her cheeks, away from the blood. "You left an extra pair of clothes here last week. I'll leave them right outside the bathroom door, okay?"

She said nothing, but her eyes sparkled with a pensive acknowledgement.

Almost an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom. Jack looked up upon her entrance to his bedroom and he gestured for her to come sit down beside him.

Her eyes reflected in his own as she sat down and faced him. An exact reflection. A sort of mirror image. They were opposites after all. Perfect mirror images of one another. This was their Destiny and Fate all melded into one. One could not survive without the other.

She needed him.

And he needed her.

They needed each other. This was the union that had brought them together only a few short months before. In secret, yes. But it was a union. A place only they could enter in the harmony and bliss that passed between them.

He took her face in his hands. "When you're ready, I want you to tell me everything, okay? Don't be afraid. Don't hold anything back. I won't let anything happen to you."

"E-everything?" she stuttered slowly, her eyes blinking away the empty tears of anguish and despair.

"Everything," Jack confirmed. "You're safe now."

He kissed a few of her stray tears away and she responded as she returned the affection with a soft kiss on his lips.

And she felt safe. Safe in this haven. Safe with him.

He ran his hands down her arms, pulling her towards him carefully so that her head lay on his chest. He tipped his chin down and rested it atop her head as his arms lay comfortably around her waist.

Her breathing pulsated rhythmically as her chest rose and fell. Each breath of air felt like a laborious task, not something that came naturally without her thinking about it, even though it really did.

"He beat me."

Her whisper was so hushed, so soft that Jack barely heard her despite the peaceful quietude of the room.

"What?"

Tru carefully disentangled herself from Jack's protective embrace, a shiver running down her spine.

She suddenly felt so cold.

Gazing almost wistfully up at him, she saw confusion etched in his face. She drew a deep breath.

"Jensen. He beat me," she repeated; her tone was more serious now, almost caustic with a sense of finality. What's done was done.

Jack was suddenly left breathless. It felt like someone had gutted him. How was this possible?

He swallowed. Hard. "When did this happen, Tru?" he asked softly as soon as he was able to find his voice again.

"A few months after Christmas," she replied slowly, hating to have to relive every moment of her hellacious ordeal. "Something about him just changed. He kept telling me he was having moments of déjà vu. I believed him, but I didn't know what to say. Or what to do. Then if I interrupted him with something, like when we were in class, he would snap at me sometimes. Not in front of Avery and Tyler, of course. Just when we were working alone. We'd come home after dinner sometimes, back to my apartment, and watch a movie or drink some wine. He'd make these really sarcastic remarks during the movie; some of them were scathing and vicious. Violent even. And then when I'd question him about it later, he'd dismiss it as if it were nothing. But I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to be clear with him because communication is important to me. And when I'd pressure him more he would suddenly get so angry. To deal with his anger, he would force me down onto the couch or onto my bed; there was so much screaming and yelling and it all just got to be so much. Too much." Her voice was hysterical and an uncontrollable outpour of tears streamed down her face. "And then he came down on me and he -…"

She stopped suddenly, crying into his chest and holding onto him for dear life. She gripped him so tightly that tingling sensations shot up his arms. But he didn't care. She needed this. It was her only release. One that he had to let her have. She needed this release more than anything right now. So he let her cry.

"Oh, my God. Tru, did he rape you?"

He gave her a moment to catch her breath, waiting until her crying at subsided momentarily.

"No," she finally replied. "He didn't get the chance."

She lay her head back down on his chest, pressing fervently into him. Letting him know that she needed him. And that was all she needed. Her comfort. Her release.

Him.

Jack didn't know what else to say to her. So he just let her cry the tears of sorrow and anguish that had been augmenting inside of her for so long. She could finally let go now. She was finally free. Release.

Quite some time had passed before he finally felt her breathing become deep and even. He looked down at the sleeping brunette lying fervently against his chest and sighed. This definitely wasn't going to be easy, but as he lifted her up and tucked her gently beneath the thick blankets of his bed, he realized that they would be able to get through this somehow.

Together.

Author's Note: I was originally going to have the hospital scene in this chapter as well, but I felt like this long scene was so pivotal to the fic that it needed to stand alone. It's one of the major turning points or twists in the fic and I wanted to accentuate its importance. Parts of this probably could've been written better, I think, but I'm always very critical of my own work! The next chapter will deal with the aftermath of Tru's panic attack at the hospital and how Tru and Jack deal with those repercussions. A special thank you to Amethyst Blizzard and Habita for following me so religiously through this entire process. Your feedback in reviews and PMs means so much to me! You really have no idea!

Anywho, see y'all at the next update! ;)