Luke's PoV

"Luke, wake up man, we are home" said Alex.
I rubbed my face with my hand and undid my seat belt while Reggie came around to help me get out. Once I was inside it was much easier to navigate but getting up the stairs had been painful. I reminded myself that I was lucky it was just a flesh wound and nothing had actually been injured. Alex had passed me some pain killers that I took gratefully then I made my way to Julie who was standing in the bathroom. One hand was stained from my blood, the other she couldn't get wet.

Julie was still in automatic mode and not really taking in what was going on around her or the fact that she was in the bathroom. I recognized that look as I had seen it on Reggie before when he came over to my house one night when his parents were yelling and hitting each other. I hopped over to her, gently took her stained hand and began scrubbing the blood off of her hand. Once I had gently dried it I started running a bubble bath for her. I wrapped her injured hand in plastic then went to leave to give her some privacy but she grabbed my hand before I could go.

Without words, she handed me a bottle of her shampoo in slow motion as if she wasn't sure of how she should ask. I couldn't move, I understood what she was asking however but I wasn't sure if I could do what she asked.
"Julie let me get Alex or a girl?" I asked thinking Alex would be better suited for this. Hell a professional would be a good idea since she was refusing to look me in the eye. Julie shook her head no and I resigned in my head to man up and just do it. I needed to at least find a seat to sit on, I told myself and a jug for wetting her hair.
"I'll knock before I come in, just get into the bathtub alright" I said, turning off the water and closing the door behind me.

"Alright Luke, man up, all I gotta do is wash her hair, no big deal, you haven't seen a girl naked before but it's not a big deal, people see each other all the time like that. Just gotta wet her hair and wash it like your mother used to do when you were young, easy. Just don't look at her body and keep your eyes to yourself, she doesn't deserve anything else after what she's been through. She was bound to ask someone at some point as she cant get her hand wet any ways, you're just the person she trusts so get over your insecurities and get going"

I hadn't realized that I had given my pep talk to myself out loud in my room because Reggie and Alex were smirking at me when I walked into the kitchen. They handed me a seat, some clean towels and the jug I was looking for.
"Luke, just breathe, she obviously trusts you the most right now, don't give her a reason to mistrust you or we'll break your guitars. No pressure man, you got this" said Reggie with a stern look and arms folded across his chest. Alex was nodding next to him and had his arms folded across his chest as well.
"Wow thanks guys, way to be supportive" I said as I rolled my eyes and slowly made my way back to the bathroom. Kira was hanging around but I sent her to bed. I knocked softly twice then opened the door slowly.

Julie was in the bathtub staring into space when I slowly walked in. Our bathroom was pretty nice for the area, we had a deep bathtub that sat on its own away from the wall, we had a shower in the corner and a toilet in the opposite corner next to a sink. It was pretty spacious and I think originally was designed for a disabled person. The bubbles at least covered her body up to her collar bone and I immediately began staring at the ceiling. I went over to the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. Come on Luke, stop being a baby, I filled up the jug and checked the water was warm but not too hot then I made my way over to her sitting behind her on the chair.
"Um close your eyes" I mumbled before gently pouring water over her hair. She had scooted forward while I was filling up the jug and was now hugging her knees which gave me more access to her hair. I grabbed a huge amount of shampoo and began working it gently through her crazy long locks. I remembered how much I loved getting my hair washed at the salon when they would gently massage your scalp and tried doing the same to her. I couldn't see her face but she visibly relaxed more and loosened her grip around her knees. I smiled to myself and kept massaging her scalp for a few more minutes.
"Alright I'm going to fill this up, close your eyes when I come back so I can wash all the soap out. I'll probably have to go back a second time since your hair is so long" I said. Julie nodded and I started following through with what I said. I gently rubbed her hair as I poured water through it, getting all the soap out before sitting back down to rub the conditioner in next. I rubbed a small amount through her hair but mostly concentrated on the length and ends, adding more there. Her hair was insane but when it was wet it was very different. It would go from straight to curly in a matter of minutes after I drenched it in water.
"Alright, please close your eyes again" I said as I started washing out all the conditioner.
Once done, I squeezed out as much water as I could before wrapping it up in a clean towel. That was when I saw them. Once her hair was out of the way I could see her back was littered in old and new cigarette burn marks. Anger surged through my core and it took everything in me to remain calm and not break something. How could he have done this to her and for so long.
"I know I said it before but I'm really sorry for what happened to you, I would love the opportunity to beat the living crap out of him without a gun being in the way" I said as I gently caressed the back of her neck where one was fading away with time. It looked to be a few months old, maybe older.

Julie had still barely responded to anything so I decided it was time to give her space to process on her own.
"Julie, is there anything else I can get you? Otherwise I'll leave you be and you can enjoy the rest of your bath" I asked softly.
I saw Julie nod her head in answer for no so I got up and made my leave. As soon as I opened the door however I saw a tray in Alex's hands with a bottle of wine, a wine glass, crackers, cheese and chocolates. Alex silently passed me the tray and I carried it in carefully and placed it on the chair then moved the chair to her side so she could easily reach everything. A lot of the bubbles had disappeared and I tried my best to not see anything I shouldn't. I left without a word and closed the door silently.

As soon as I did I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I needed to get outside and breathe so I opened the front door and just sat on the steps. My leg didn't hurt as much now that the pain killers had kicked in. Julie would be okay, she would get there, she just needed time, I told myself.

We could give her that, we had all been in similar situations to her, she just needed to know that she could trust us. Reggie's parents didn't just argue, they were violent. My mother used to scream at me till I ran away for a few years. She was better now but we had a better relationship because I was so far away and rarely talked to her. Alex's parents not only judged him for who he was but emotionally abused him by ignoring his existence or screamed at him to change till he eventually left on his own. We had all run away from home by the age of seventeen and once we were ready to talk to our families again, we had our own record deal and house in San Francisco. Bobby was the only one who had decent parents which baffled me where he got such toxic behaviors from.

Kira came out to join me in my solitude and I snuggled my face into her chest thinking over what our next move should be. Bobby was still out there, Kira was tough but it wasn't safe to stay here with him out there. After a few minutes I made my way back inside and sat with Alex and Reggie in the lounge. Reggie was in the one seater, aimlessly going through Netflix channels and Alex was sprawled out taking up most of the couch. I sat at the end still lost in my thoughts. "Are you okay Luke?" Reggie asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah just processing, do you guys think we should do a tour? This was already at the back of my mind but with everything that happened today, I was thinking we could drive across the country, stopping at main towns to do gigs every second night to help pay for gas and food. Then stay in Florida maybe, I know a drive like that will take time but the more distance the better, plus Florida is warm right?"
"Maybe, we would have to talk to our agent about it and our landlord, Florida is pretty expensive to live in though and Kira likes the cold," said Alex as he sat up.
"True, i'm just throwing out ideas, I don't like the idea that Bobby is out there and could literally walk into our house any time he felt like it. He has a spare key remember, Kira would bark sure but if she's asleep or if he gives her a treat, he could get in. He also has a means to get guns so he also could just come in and shoot us all. Even if we change the locks, it's not going to slow him down much"
"Wow Luke, way to make sure we don't sleep again!" cried Reggie as he started looking behind him and out the windows.
"Let me talk to our agent Luke, and we'll go from there, for now let's just get through tonight, Bobby is on the run remember so hopefully he won't have time to bug us, the police are already at his house and are checking on ours throughout the day and night so we should be fine. Let's start with dinner since it's past lunch time" said Alex. "Why not let Julie pick a take out, I think she could do with some comfort food today, thanks by the way for the tray" I replied

Just then Julie made her way out with a towel wrapped around her body and made her way into my room with Kira hot on her heels. She slowly closed the door to make sure Kira would be alright and we presumed got dressed. A few minutes later she came out in sweat pants, a purple singlet and one of my black hoodies.

"Hey Julie, come sit with us, we're trying to decide on what to watch and eat although Reggie is terrible at picking, what do you feel like eating or watching?" I asked as I gently tugged the sleeve of my hoodie towards the couch. It was like watching someone sleep walk, Alex moved his legs out of the way and she sat down to stare at the screen. I moved around to face her then reached over to squeeze her uninjured hand gently and she finally looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes. I gently tugged her hand towards me and she fell into my arms, hiding her face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch to wrap around her also, not for warmth but to give her more privacy.
"Well I vote for Jin's Chinese" said Reggie trying to lighten the mood.
"No way last time you got that, you chose the weirdest options, like chicken feet, if we are getting Chinese we are choosing from the menu!" I called out.
"Why not fish n chips, no option for you guys to order anything gross there" commented Alex.
"It's not my fault you uncultured scrubs don't like chicken feet, I thought they were lovely!" defended Reggie.
"Eww" said Alex and me together.
"Hey what if Julie likes chicken feet, she might!"

I tightened my grip around her as I felt a few of her tears slide down my neck and tickle my collar bone.
"Julie doesn't like chicken feet, Reggie, no one does" said Alex.
"She might if she tried them!" he responded.
"Why not just get Mc Donald's? Simple, easy, and we know Julie likes that!" I commented as I started rubbing circles on her back.
"Fine, I guess I'll go find my phone," grumbled Reggie as he got up to leave. I shot him a grateful look for trying to lighten the mood and take the attention away from Julie who was struggling.
"Oh Alex, your phone is probably in the bathroom" I said.

He took the hint and went off to grab it and didn't come back for a few minutes.
"Are you okay, can I come in?" I asked her softly before slowly lifting the blanket up and over my head too.
"Mmm it's dark in here but warm, how are you feeling?" I asked.
"Numb, emotional, embarrassed," she said softly.
"Yeah that's pretty normal, I remember the first time I was raped by Bobby, it was an emotional roller coaster from hell" I said. I was rewarded by a giggle at my joke. "But nah for real, it's okay to feel numb and then emotional, you went through something traumatic and on top of that what he was doing to you wasn't okay. I get feeling embarrassed or out of place like you don't belong but trust me when I say this that we aren't secretly judging you, we are on the other hand secretly very concerned about your well being and only want you to be happy and feel safe and loved like you should have been. I know it will take a while for that to sink in, it took me a long time to trust Bobby's parents when they took me in and never told my parents where I was hiding but you will get there and if you need anything all you have to do is ask"
"Thank you Luke, for being there, being supportive, attentive and saving me from Bobby. Sorry for being out of it before, I just couldn't stop processing, thank you for washing my hair though" she said.
"Like I said, I would love the opportunity to beat his head in without a gun being in the way. Yeah we should get Alex to wash your hair next time" I mumbled the second half of my sentence.
"Oh?" she asked, sitting up slightly and pulling the blanket back to look me in the face.
"I've never had a girlfriend before, I've never you know, seen, not that I looked! I promise I stared at the ceiling as best as I could! I just felt out of place is all" I said, feeling my cheeks going bright red.
"Wow the famous Luke Patterson has never had a girlfriend before despite every girl at his shows secretly wishing they were dating him. You never noticed every girl's eyes staring at you and only you?" She commented with a smile.
"There was just never time or rather I just wasn't interested. They only look at me because I'm the lead singer, if I was just someone in the crowd they wouldn't gush over me. I want someone who wants me for me and not for my fame" I commented while refusing to look her in the eyes.
"That is fair, I asked you Luke because I trusted you, you realized that I was trembling the other night with fear, you saw the text messages and worked out what they meant, you made sure that I was sitting next to you and not him, you raced over to my rescue when Bobby showed up at my work, you called Reggie to make sure we had back up and you held me every time I needed to be held so it just made sense to ask you" she said while gently tilting my face up to look her in the eyes.

I blushed again but thankfully Kira came to my rescue. Kira trotted up to us and pushed her nose into Julie's ear to sniff causing her to giggle and give Kira a few pats. I let go of Julie and she sat up so I could pat Kira also.
"Alright have you guys decided what to eat for late lunch yet? I'm starving" said Alex.
"How about KFC? It's still chicken but it's chicken we can enjoy!" asked Julie.
"Sure that sounds good!" said Alex as he sat down on the other side of Julie and started looking through the menu. I shot Alex a grateful nod over Julie's head as she patted Kira for not being weird about Julie crying and he just smiled back before looking at his phone again.

We decided to get a big family bucket and eat the left overs later in the evening. Once we were done we decided we should grab a basic security system to put by the front door since that was the most obvious entry with Bobby potentially having the spare key. It was a portable one so we would be able to take it with us if we moved. Alex had gone off to his room to do more research before bringing the subject up with our agent and the rest of us had decided to watch Netflix. Around ten at night, we had all retired to our beds to get some much needed sleep. I had called Julie's boss earlier in the evening and informed her of what had happened and asked if Julie could have a few days off of work. Her boss was very supportive and gave Julie two days off.