"You're owed an explanation as to why James is so overprotective of me. Yes he is my brother, but he wasn't as bad as he is now before it happened. You probably heard bubba and I bring up a name during the shouting match. Jacob Reynolds is an ex boyfriend of mine. A lot of shit went down with me and Jacob. It finally ended up with me in a hospital having emergency surgery in order to save my life due to the internal bleeding. Jacob used to beat the living hell out of me. It started one night when he got drunk and apparently thought I was cheating on him with James. Even though I tried to explain to him that I think of James only as a brother, and it was ludicrous to even think something was going on between us, it didn't help. From that point on, I had to learn how to hide the bruises. It got where any little thing would set him off. I know now that I didn't deserve it, but back then, I thought I did. No one knew what was going on until one day I was working a show while I was sick with the flu. I got sick, and went to clean myself up. I guess I had forgotten to put enough make up over a bruise Jacob had left on my cheek and Sircy saw it. He grabbed my arm, yanking me into the dressing room where bubba was and showed him. Let's just say neither one was pleased when I told them what was going on. I kept taking up for the bitch, even though everyone else was telling me to get the hell out of there. One day, I didn't show up for a show. That was highly unusual for me, and immediately set off red flags for Sircy. He left during the show, and found me at our apartment beaten nearly to death. He called the paramedics first, and then he called bubba. Sircy followed the ambulance in his car, and called Bert to let him know what was going on. When I woke up 3 days later, I remember the first words that came out of my mouth. Jacob is going to be so pissed at me because I am not at home and there is no dinner on the table. James couldn't help but break down and cry. He was beside my hospital bed on his knees begging to let him help me. The doctor came in and basically had told me what happened. Including the part I didn't know, about me being 3 months pregnant and due to the severity of my injuries, losing it. That was when it clicked in my head. I may have thought I had deserved everything he had done to me, but that baby hadn't. It took everything in me not to get out of that hospital bed and go kill the bastard. A few hours later, a police officer showed up asking me about pressing charges. In all the time I had protected Jacob, not wanting anything to happen to him, the minute he killed my unborn child, every bit of loyalty I had to that man was gone. Even though it was tough as hell to do, I went through all the procedures necessary to have him charged. They picked him up a few days later. When we went to trial, the jury convicted him of 2nd degree murder of the baby, and attempted murder of me. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison. After that, everyone tried to help "put me back together". Even though it's been two years, I'm still not over it at all. If you knew me then, and looked at me now, for most they would say I have done great with moving on with my life and getting passed everything. However, bubba and Sircy know that will never happen."
J.P. just sat there in a stunned silence. She thought that once the truth about her past was revealed that he would want to run away? Hell, to see what she had survived made him want to be with her even more. He leaned over and wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled her close to him.
"How you would ever think that I would leave you once you told me what had happened, I will never know. You may think that now I just want to be with you because I feel sorry for you. However, that's not even the case. I still want to be with you, even more so now because you showed me how strong of a person you truly are. Yes you are still healing emotionally, and probably always will be. Yes you may have physical scars, but guess what? I have them too. (Laughs)Who knows, we can sit down one day and compare them."
"(Laughs) You're sick, you know that?"
"I got you to laugh though. I want to be with you, and nothing will change that. I want to know that you believe me when I say that I want to fall in love with everything you are. I may not be able to erase what happened, but I want to help you heal from it."
"I do believe that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not running away scared when I told you."
"I'm not going anywhere baby. Not any time soon."
With that, Cameron leaned up and kissed J.P. He held her close, not really wanting to let her go. However, he knew that they eventually would have to go back in and face her brother sooner rather than later.