Disclaimer:...from now on the word itself is going to be the disclaimer because I'm out of creative sentances...

Author's Note: Woah, wait, what... you mean I'm actually done with a chapter by 11:30 pm? Weird... lol, anyway, sorry about the wait on this chappie, stupid school's been getting in the way, but since my birthday is tomorow (or technically in half an hour) I decided to take some time out to actually write some of the stuff trapped in my head. (damn my head's fucked up, lol.)... so enjoy, and I'll try to get the next chappie up soon since this one's a bit of a cliffhanger and I know what it's like to be left tortured like that...

Hey, girl, you know you drive me crazy
one look puts the rhythm in my hand.
Still I'll never understand why you hang around
I see what's going down.

Cover up with makeup in the mirror
tell yourself, it's never gonna happen again
you cry alone and then he swears he loves you.

A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect
every action in this world will bear a consequence
If you wade around forever, you will surely drown
I see what's going down.

I see the way you go and say you're right again,
say you're right again
heed my lecture

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end
as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

Face down in the dirt, she said,
"This doesn't hurt", she said,
"I finally had enough."

One day she will tell you that she has had enough
it's coming round again.
From: Face Down – The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

He was watching her sleep. It seemed a little creepy, but he couldn't help it. The only other option was to crawl out of her bed and go home, and he didn't want to leave. He didn't know if it was because he loved being near her, or if he was staying out of… what, guilt? Was that it… guilt that the bruises had escaped his eyes until after he'd fucked her… And the worst part was, he knew why they were there! Wednesday had been the 30th, the day her mother had run off years before. Her father had probably drunk himself shitfaced and beat the hell out of the girl he blamed for his wife's leaving. And she'd have just backed herself in a corner and taken it because she blamed herself for her mother's disappearance anyway.

If he hadn't showed up she would have been home on time, she might have been able to evade the angry fists, she might have not been hurt at all. How had he not thought about this before? Why had he not checked up on her?

He heaved a heavy sigh… there was no use thinking about that. It had been done, he had to forget it…no not forget, he'd remember it as long as he had to. He'd remember it until he got her away from that bastard…

'Stop!' he thought, what good was he doing? In an attempt to calm down he refocused on the one thing that had offset the bruises from the forefront of his mind earlier… the tattoo in the small of her back. A skull and crossbones entwined with thorny pale roses, with a rather "emo" looking star on either side, all in a light pink/dark gray color scheme... She was such a weirdo. A tattooed nerd with a soft spot for punk rockers and movie making... Was that really all he knew about her? Well no… but everything else was either useless or depressing… drugs, Alex…blueberry pie…

The alarm he'd set on her cell phone was going off on the side table behind him. He didn't want to go. He could probably have stayed in that bed for days. But he pulled himself to the edge of the bed anyway, shutting off the alarm and swinging his legs over. He had no idea where half of his clothes were. His shirt must have been somewhere near the door… the pants somewhere near the end of the bed… everything else was pretty much a mystery. Except for the sock he stepped on when he put his feet down. One down, one to go in that department.

His mind was protesting being used at such an early hour, and on basically no sleep. But somehow he managed to gather all his clothes and pile them up on the edge of the bed. With his pants finally on he bent down to put on the socks and uncoordinatedly fell onto the bed. Cal moved, making him cringe a little. He had meant to leave her asleep… damn his tiredness, making him all clumsy.

She rolled onto her back and played with his belt loop as he finished dressing. Her silence was a little unnerving, and Jack looked over his shoulder to see if there were any emotion he should at all be concerned with. There wasn't. She just looked tired.

As her lover leaned back to place his head on her stomach she gave a small laugh and began playing with his hair. Her voice cracked a little as she asked "How exactly are you getting home?"

"I was starting to wonder that myself," he smiled a tad sheepishly.

"My keys are in my coat pocket…"

"Yeah but that's just stupid, because then I'd have to bring it back and find another way home that time." She sighed and moved to sit up but he stopped her. "You're not going anywhere, you should be going back to sleep."

"Then you better call a cab." She willingly collapsed back on the pillows as he got up to grab her cell phone.

"You got a phone book?"

"The number's saved on my phone."

"The number for the cab company is saved on your cell phone?" He said it slowly as if trying to make sense of it.

"I work at a bar Jack, I have to make sure my drunk patrons make it home safely so they can come back and make me even more rich the next night."

He laughed, finally finding the number and hitting "send". When he'd done what he needed to he tossed the phone on the end of the bed, and rolled back in beside his girlfriend.

"25 minutes?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

He'd closed his eyes, but smiled and shook his head. "Have I ever told you you're creepy?"

"A few time actually."

"Mmm…" he sighed, to tired to actually converse.

But Cal was wide awake. "Just out of curiosity… did I happen to come up in conversations at band practice the other day?"

He smiled again, and looked over at her. "No, I didn't tell Alex."

She nodded, not at all surprised that he'd known what she meant. "Ok then…"

"He's gonna figure it out."

"I know, I just would rather it not be soon."

"If he comes after you I'll kill him." She laughed lightly, not taking the statement as seriously as he had meant it. But he figured that wasn't a very good early morning topic, so he shifted a little. "So when do I get to escape the house again?"

Amazingly enough she knew what he was talking about despite her exhausted state. "You busy Sunday afternoon?"

"I'm a lazy ass wannabe rockstar, I'm never busy."

"Sunday it is then," she tried to keep from laughing.

"Where?"

"That pizza place?"

"Works for me."

"K." A horn honked somewhere outside. "Your cab's here."

He ignored her, already half asleep, so she rolled over and kissed him. He plunged into the kiss, surprising her a little and allowing him to lean her back. When he released her she was holding his neck and looking up at him with a frightening amount of love. "There's money in the little silver box on my dresser," she offered.

"Thank you," he gave her a quick final kiss before dragging himself off the bed. "Sunday?"

"Sunday," she confirmed.

"What time?"

"Noon-ish?"

He nodded while grabbing her hidden wad of cash. "I'll pay you back," he promised.

She smiled and snuggled back under her blankets before jokingly muttering "Just consider it payment, man whore."

"Watch it Chick," he joked back as he quietly stepped out of the bedroom. He had to look back at her again before heading downstairs.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Sneaking into the bar proved to be an easy feat after the first few times, Jack realized as he opened the door into Cal's apartment. It was Wednesday, she only had one class and it was in the morning so she'd been home most of the day. He immediately spotted her asleep on the couch. Stupid girl never got more than four or five hours of sleep a night, though she claimed to sleep better when he was around.

Jack could hear the stereo playing some softer punk song quietly which probably meant she'd gone to sleep on purpose. He leaned over the back of the couch to gently touch her face, but she jumped awake as soon as he did and looked up at him in shock. A moment later she was covering it up with a welcoming smile, but her boyfriend's eyes were elsewhere.

"What the fuck is that?" She closed her eyes and flinched away as he pointed out a nasty mark on her neck. He was suddenly very pissed off. "Did your father do that? What the hell made that?"

She nodded to the first question and ignored the second one. "It's not that bad."

"Like hell it's not! I swear to God I'm going to kill that bastard." He started to stand up, but she was instantly up on her knees holding tight to his jacket.

"Probably not the wisest thing to do, especially considering two of the only people who know we associate are cops that drink here."

He couldn't take his eyes off of the mark. He brushed the tips of his fingers past it gently, but she still flinched. "I won't let him do this."

"It's not your call to make Jack."

"No, it's yours, so why are you still here?"

"Where else would I go?"

"With me," he said in all seriousness. She was unconvinced. "What would it take to make you come live with Evelyn and me?"

She rolled her eyes with a sad smile and spun off the couch. "I can't"

"You won't," he corrected, "but why?" She was walking toward the back of the apartment. Her worried boyfriend took a few running steps and grabbed her arm. He was about to say her name, but when his fingers locked around her wrist she instinctively spun around and punched him. It wasn't a good punch because he had her good hand in his, but it was enough of a shock to make him let go and stumble back a little.

She was horrified at her own action and covered her mouth as she turned away again.

"No, hey," he started to reach out for her again, but realized it wouldn't do any good. "I shouldn't have done that, I knew better."

She was ignoring him, heading around the corner to the bathroom. Rushing around after her he slammed one hand against the wall to block her path. She jumped, but gave up and leaned against the wall to face him. As she refused to look at him he suddenly had an epiphany.

"You don't trust me do you?"

She opened her mouth to reply but couldn't. She looked ashamed and afraid and Jack wished there were an easy way to make her stop.

"What do I need to do?" She shook her hanging head, and he knew he was going about this all wrong, but he had to keep trying. "You want me to say I love you? Is that what I need to do?"

"No Jack that's not what I want you to do."

He was stunned. "Why?"

It was her turn to be pissed off now. Though she still wouldn't look at him she raised her head a little. "Because only three people have ever said that to me before. One of them abandoned me, the other two beat me."

Realizing his mistake Jack took a half step backwards and hung his head, though keeping it close to hers. "I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I grabbed you back there. I just… I can't keep watching you go through this. It was bad enough knowing about it and leaving you here. Now I can be here to protect you and you won't let me." He tried to gently touch her face but when she flinched he stopped and sighed. He was going to have to start at the very beginning with her and he was afraid he didn't have the patience. He decided to try his original approach one more time, just in case. He backed up, but was still pressing his hand against the wall. "You may not think it's that bad Chick, but it's the worst thing I've ever seen on you."

With teary eyes and a sad smile she somehow managed the sarcastic joke, "That's because you haven't seen my shoulder yet."

Utterly frustrated, Jack slapped his hand against the wall. "Dammit Cal!" But he spun away from her to take a deep breath and calm down. She'd jumped again, and he knew he was only making things worse. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "I'm sorry," he sighed, turning back. She was shaking a little, and as soon as he realized it he felt like shit. "Jesus," he rubbed his face, noticing how she tensed up when he stepped closer to her. "Cal," it was a sad exasperated sigh, and it almost made her look up at him. He reached for her face again, ignoring her flinch, and moved his own face close to hers. "I will never hurt you like that. Do you trust me?"

She'd closed her eyes but if she was moving at all it was closer to him. "I'm trying." As she whispered the words she finally forced herself to look at him.

He nodded as he gave another sigh. He knew he should be happy she had replied at all, and she'd even replied with hope. But part of him had still been expecting her to instantly change her mind, to fall into his arms and beg to be taken away. Most of him knew better than that, Evelyn had set a better example than that, but there was still that one idealistic part of him that had stayed alive until he heard her words. He realized then that he was not prepared to handle this. Maybe it was because they were both tired… he hadn't been doing much sleeping between meeting with her and practicing with the band multiple times a week now… or maybe they would never be able to solve this. Either way it was obvious that the solution wasn't going to present itself that night. He backed up a step and turned to leave.

"No…" the girl whimpered pathetically as she managed to grab hold of his sleeve. Jack looked back at her sadly, but slowly pulled out of her grasp. He let his fingers brush past hers, but left without another word.

Author's Second Note: Something to ponder, which one is the rebel, which one the romantic?...