Luke's PoV

I woke up feeling trapped but in the best way. I thanked the gods I didn't wake up with a boner as I looked down at Julie who was fast asleep. I was still laying on my side with my arms around her but she had pinned me to the spot with her right arm snaking around my torso holding me to her with all of her strength. I wasn't sure why she had pulled my arms around her but I had a suspicion, I had seen her wearing several of my hoodies over the past six days. Kira had done the same thing when we adopted her, she was so scared of everything and didn't trust us but she bonded with me first. I had spent a lot of time with her, singing to her when she was scared and hiding under my bed, giving her extra treats and playing with her in the backyard when she was ready for that. It took a while but she eventually began to trust all of us but for the longest time, she would grab my hoodies and take them with her to her bed at night time. I never had the heart to hide them from her as it just showed me that she associated my smell with safety. Sure they needed to be washed the next day but that was a sacrifice I was willing to endure. She outgrew that habit after a year and started sleeping with me in my bed instead.

I looked down again on Julie's sleeping body, her neck was a mix of dark purples and reds, it looked really painful and I longed to take her pain away. I gently caressed her cheek with my hand and she rolled deeper into my chest, tucking her head under my chin so I could no longer see her face. I would have to wash her hair again today. Having done it two days ago, I could feel how greasy it was with my hand tangled in her curls.

Flashback

We had just come home from Julie's work, Julie was exhausted after working a nine hour shift on a Monday morning starting at five. I had sat there and tried to write music but couldn't help but sympathize when some grouchy customers came in and were barking orders at her. She took it well though, replied with a sweet smile and got their order going. "Hey Julie, you should have a bath, I can go run one for you if you want while you put your things away?" I had asked "Oooh that sounds so good, can you add bubbles like last time and could you wash my hair too pretty please?" I walked right into that I guess but I couldn't say no.
"Ah sure I guess" I said as I made my way to the bathroom while Kira followed Julie into my room.

Once it was full, I left to give her privacy to hop in then she called me to come in. It was a lot less awkward than the first time and Julie gave me a small smile before jumping into a conversation.
"So what were you writing today?"
"Um well a song I guess, I haven't quite decided yet if it should be a song or not, um close your eyes please" I said before gently pouring warm water over her hair.
"What's it about?" she asked. I hated talking about my songs till they were finalized but I could see what she was trying to do. She was trying to take away the awkwardness that she knew I felt.
"I'm not sure yet, I haven't really committed to much, honestly I was mostly just watching you work, those guys that came in around eight were jerks, do they normally come in?" I asked as an attempt to move away from my music.
"Yeah sadly they do but one more week and I won't have to see them again so that's a bonus! Have you washed hair before, you're really good at it" she asked.
"Um, no but I remembered when I used to get my hair washed at the saloon when I was younger, I always liked how they massage your scalp. That's okay then? I can stop if you want?"
"No please don't stop, it feels really nice after a long day at work, which reminds me, how much money do you think we will go through on this trip? I have saved around two thousand so I can cover my part of food and gas"
"Oh um, I think we will be fine, I was talking to Alex and he said the shows that we are doing are already sold out. We booked big venues so that around two thousand people could come see us play and with the tickets being twenty five dollars each, we are probably going to make money off of this I'll be honest. Um close your eyes, I'm going to wash out the shampoo"
"Wait, that's crazy!" That's like fifty thousand in one night!"
"Yeah I mean, yeah, we probably should have done it a while ago but stuff kept coming up and well I dunno, it's been at the back of my mind for a while though. We knew we were getting pretty popular and we had gone out of state a few times to play but I guess we just weren't ready. Once we do this tour there's no going back if you know what I mean. Everyone will expect more from us and we would have a completely different lifestyle. Some of it will go to paying for the venue and the staff but we still would be walking away with around thirteen thousand each a night. So I wouldn't worry about money, we actually were contemplating getting a tour bus in Las Vegas to finish off the trip and selling our car and hiring a driver instead but we figured we would decide in Las Vegas. We are going to spend a few extra days there before we drive off so we'll have time to shop around and look at ideas. Sorry i'm rambling, um close your eyes please, I'm going to wash out the conditioner"
"It's fine, thank you Luke for washing my hair!"

That was two days ago, two sweet days where everything felt normal, happy even and Bobby wasn't even a thought in our minds. I gently stroked her hair and wondered how in two short days we could end up back in this spot, only this time all of us were feeling pretty vulnerable.

I started thinking over what needed to be packed if we wanted to leave today, it seemed like a good idea then Bobby couldn't torment Julie any more. I would just have to sweet talk to her boss but she seemed pretty understanding. I carefully untangled my arms from Julie, pulled my duvet up around her, cocooning her in blankets. I then moved down the bed to escape with Kira hot on my heels. It was still six in the morning and everyone was fast asleep but I had a mission.

I let Kira out to pee, then gave her breakfast while I got myself a coffee and a muesli bar. Then we climbed into our car to head to Julie's work after I grabbed all of Julie's uniform from my room. I knew her boss opened today and it should still be reasonably quiet. The bustle didn't really start till around seven.
"Ah Luke how can I help you today" her boss, Lucy asked
"Julie was attacked last night by her ex. He climbed in through her window and strangled her. She can't really talk above a whisper and her neck is covered in marks. It's not really safe for her to stay and we are planning on doing a tour and leaving but we needed her to finish her two weeks first. I'm here to ask if there is anything we can do to change that so we can leave today, it's just not safe any more" I said in one breath.
"Wow, way to open up a conversation. I'm really sorry to hear that about Julie, she can absolutely go today, I don't want any more harm to come to her, I just need her uniform and she's free to go. Please take care of her" Lucy said.
"Oh wow thank you, I actually have her uniform in the car, I'll just go grab it, it's all clean, even the top she wore yesterday" I said as I stood up.
"Perfect, I'll go write her last check then, I'll just be around back in my office"

I went back to the car, grabbed Julie's uniform and name tag. I made my way back inside and found Lucy's office.
"Here you go Luke, it's her pay check from this week, her sick pay and a bonus from me, I really hope she never sees him again, keep her safe alright!"
"Oh wow, thank you so much Lucy, we will!"

I made my way back home, let Kira out to poop while I started putting breakfast together. I decided it was a cheese and egg day, so I started assembling cheese, ham and tomato sandwiches together before soaking them in raw egg and frying them up. Reggie eventually wandered out rubbing the sleep from his eyes to stare at me with a vacant look.
"It's seven in the morning, why are you awake?" he grumbled as he turned on the coffee maker.
"We are leaving today, I spoke to Julie's boss. I have her cheque in my pocket and handed in her uniform. All our washing is done, let's just get out of here" I said as I started working on the second sandwich.
"Alright move over then, go make coffees and get everyone up" Reggie said, taking over what I was doing.

I moved over and started a coffee, while that was brewing I went to wake up Alex and Julie. Alex had already sneaked out and was just coming out of the bathroom shaking his head at me already dressed.
"Dude, sleep is a good thing, you know that right?" he mumbled as he passed me in the hallway. I just swung around and kicked his butt before racing off to his room. Julie was still dead to the world so I climbed back into bed and softly brushed her hair with my hand till she began to stir.
"Hey Julie, did you sleep well?" I asked while I continued stroking her hair.
"Mmm" she mumbled after opening her eyes for a beat then closing them again.
"Well I have good news, we are leaving today. I already spoke to your boss, handed in your uniform and have your final cheque"
Julie just stared at me with a vacant look, the same one that Reggie gave me.
"Alright well get dressed and come eat, coffee will help, if it hurts to talk it's fine. After breakfast I'll wash your hair and you can come back to bed while we clean up the other rooms. We should be able to leave tonight around three in the afternoon or sooner" I said as I climbed up and closed the door softly behind me to give her privacy. Kira immediately growled but I called her over and gave her a pat and invited her to come sit next to me at the breakfast table. She quickly settled, realizing that there might be plates for her to clean after we were done eating.

Julie eventually joined us in a zombie state, wearing sweats and my hoodie. She sat down next to me, I passed her a coffee and started cutting up her sandwich. She probably could have managed but I was bouncing with energy and needed to get moving. Everyone else was too tired for me. Once done I got up, turned some music on a mega boom and started moving things into boxes to go into our storage truck.
"Sorry Julie, he gets super focused sometimes, once you're done with your bath, just go hide in my room and take a nap while we clean up the rest of the apartment, I'll come wake you around two" said Alex as he shook his head in my direction.
"I can hear you, you know!" I commented.
"Yes that was the point Luke!" replied an exasperated Alex.
I heard Julie softly giggle which was the best sound in the world as I next started moving the couch to the door.

Reggie eventually helped take over and I quickly washed Julie's hair. We would go by the hospital before we leave to see if she could take off her bandages yet otherwise we would have to go somewhere in Las Vegas.

"Why are you so zoomie this morning?" Julie whispered as I applied shampoo.
"I just want to get out of here, you could have died last night and I'm done having Bobby as a threat over you or us. I'm sorry though, I just wanna be out of here already" I whispered as I stilled my hands for a moment in her hair.
"It's fine, I want to get out of here too, last night was scary, I'm glad you came when you did, I honestly thought I was going to die last night" Julie whispered.
"We always will," I said as I gently squeezed her shoulder. I quickly took my hand away and concentrated on massaging her scalp and massaging the shampoo through her hair.

"Save your voice alright, I don't want you to hurt your vocals, I'll finish up here then blow dry your hair. Once that's done you can go crash in Alex's room, the rest of us are probably going to have showers then quickly wash and dry the towels before packing them away" I said as I poured water over her head to wash out the shampoo. I could hear Kira winning at the door, she wasn't happy with everyone moving stuff around and probably wanted some attention.
"Is it okay if I let Kira in? She will probably lick your hand for pats" I asked.
I felt Julie nod so I quickly rinsed the soap off of my hands before letting in Kira quickly. Sure enough Kira came in and started licking Julie's hand till Julie patted her head. The gentle giant happily laid her head next to Julie's shoulder and tried licking her shoulder for attention.
"I'm sorry, Kira doesn't like moving much and probably will come with you into Alex's room. At least then we can close the door if she's happy and we won't have to worry about her getting into the street" I said as I gently patted her behind the ears before working some conditioner into Julie's hair.

I finished Julie's hair then took Kira out with me so she could wash off all of Kira's slobber and get dry. Once she was dressed I quickly blow dried her hair and sent her off with Kira into Alex's room. Sure enough Kira didn't mind being closed in with her new favorite human. Next we all took turns between packing and showering. Once the showers were all out of the way, I quickly did the last load and started attacking Reggie's room. Most of our stuff was already packed away, it was just our beds and drawers with a few of our clothes. We decided we would leave around six so we could wash our sheets together so they would be clean the next time we used them. I checked on Julie around two and gave her a sandwich to eat with some water and a coffee.

We then went to the hospital to check out our various wounds. I drove while Alex and Reggie started attacking my room. We were seen after ten minutes of sitting around as I had called ahead to make an appointment. The doctor looked over her hand and was happy with the way it was healing. I couldn't help but see the pout that was forming on Julie's face when she was told she could get her hand wet and go back to washing her own hair. I made a mental note to offer to wash her hair anyways if she liked it that much. Her neck was going to be alright, just would look bad for a while but makeup could easily hide that if she wanted or a scarf. The doctor sent Julie on her way with some tablets to take and cream to rub into her skin. Hopefully with any luck, the scar would hopefully heal over time, there might be a slight mark but most of it should heal.

I pulled through a Mc Donalds on the way home to pick up more coffees for everyone and brownies to share. Julie tried to talk a few times but it sounded painful so every time I shushed her and told her to rest.

Once we got through the door and took off our coats and jackets, I gently pushed her back to Alex's room. We worked through the rest of the apartment, doing the dishes, packing them all away, Alex left for an hour to talk to our landlord, we were going to drop off the keys tonight when we left. It was around five in the evening, everything was mostly done. We just had to do Alex's room but his room was literally three items, his set of drawers that hardly had any clothes in it, his bed and TV, everything else he had came in throughout the day to take out.

It was dark out and we were just taking a moment to sit on the stairs leading to the porch for the last time before we got ready to leave. I had taken down the gun that was in my wardrobe and it was currently on the kitchen counter top. I wasn't sure what to do with it and didn't want it to end up in the wrong hands.

"Well who's ready to make it as rock stars?" Alex asked as he pulled me and Reggie into a one arm hug.
"Oh man, with all that money, we could afford to eat at some nice restaurants while we are touring" Reggie commented. "Yeah" I said.
"What's up Luke?" asked Alex.
"I dunno, it's quiet, too quiet? Julie is still in your room right? Where is Kira?" I asked as I got up to stretch.
"I think she's asleep in there with Julie, want me to check on her?" asked Reggie.
"Nah i'll go have a look. Let's keep moving, the sooner we go the sooner I can breathe again" I said over my shoulder as I walked inside taking off my boots.

I was halfway through taking off my second boot when I heard a window break and then gun fire coming from Alex's room…