Shelf #023

Behind closed door, Kuu felt shock as Julie clung to him tightly. The moment the door opened and she saw him standing in front of her earlier, she looked as though she finally found someone to save her. Then she threw her arms and cried her heart out. He had to quickly close the door, otherwise someone would call up and let everyone know that Julienna Scott was actually at his house.

In his arms, Julie kept crying. She was shaking uncontrollably. Her arms around his neck were so cold. Every second felt she was sinking deeper. She was falling apart. Kuu felt her breaking slowly in his arms. Her voice was in an undescribable fear.

"Kuu! Oh Kuu–! Thank God– you're here!" she panicked loudly. She clung to his arms tightly. "I don't know where you'd be. I hurried to the shop and you weren't there–! I thought nobody would answer this house!"

"Julie. . ."

Her hands gripped his shirt. "I kept calling you but you never answer–! I'm so happy you're here–!"

He caressed her head and back, holding her. She burried her face on his chest. Fearing he might disappear, she raised her arms further to hug Kuu. "I'm so scared Kuu–! I'm so scared!"

They broke apart close enough. He held her face up, and ran his other hand to push her hair away. He tucked them behind her ear. Julie saw his brows furrowed with worry. There was a faint hint of anger sparked in those eyes. His gentle fingers ran slowly through all the bruises and scratch on her face.

"Who did this to you?" he asked softly, holding her face. "Who did this?"

Julie touched his arms and gripped them.

More tears fell as she cried. "It's Jeff. . ."

He couldn't believe his ears. That damn bastard. So all those rumors about him were true after all. He thought Lory was only kidding. How could someone with such foul temper ever lay a hand on this angel?

"Kuu. .!"

Concern and love filled his eyes and he caught her face between his thumb and forefinger. He wiped her tears and spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

"We need to get these bruises treated –– Don't worry, I promised that you'll never be alone, right?"

Her head nodded in his hands.

"I'm here. . ." he whispered, caressing her face and hair.

"I'm here. It'll be fine. . Okay?"

Her breathing became regular now, and her eyes stared back with the same warmth. She fought a weak smile and nodded.

"Mm. . . Okay. ." she whispered.

Then he leaned down and kissed her soft, weak lips. Julie gave a small cry of joy as she yielded herself wholly to him. Although she was breaking apart, Julie was finally back to him. Kuu couldn't be any happier than this. He kissed her deeper. He loved her this much, she just knew that. Even more. And yes, she loved him just as much. She touched his neck with her hands. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer, and they sank devoured themselves in this deep passion in each other's arms.

Julie sat on the soft couch in the living room. She had finally calmed down, and she had taken off his jacket. She watched Kuu coming towards her with the first aid kit and a bowl with a pack and some ice. He had taken off his shoes back and walked barefoot. He placed all things on the table across from them and sat beside her.

"This kinda hurts a bit. . . But bear with it, okay?" he whispered, looking deeply in her eyes.

She turned in her seat to face him, resting her legs up on the sofa. Hugging the small throw pillow close to her, she nodded silently at him.

He held the icepack and gently placed it first on the fresh bruise on her forehead. She whimpered slightly to the touch. It burned a bit, that Julie had to fight back tears. Then he went to the other bruise on her cheek. She whimpered and fidgeted again. It pained Kuu to see her like this. She had probably been badly hurt a couple of times by Jeff with horrible force. He went to the chin and she whimpered, moving her face away. This time Kuu held her face with the other hand and caressed the cheek. She faced him weakly. For a brief moment they stared deeply. Then Julie thought about it.

She started in a low voice, almost in a soft whisper. "You've seen it? The papers outside. ."

"No. . . I didn't notice," he replied softly. He placed the pack back on the bowl. She nodded.

"If you've seen it, you'll know it was me when I was about in my teens. . They were taken years ago –– I know it was. . . well, even if in my family we could afford enough I still did it and it happens a lot –– that's not an excuse –– but to make things worse, it now appears someone was filming me as well. So. . What was a stupid photo shoot now looks like a porno film. And well. . . the pictures have been solid and they're everywhere. ."

Kuu shook his head.

"Then Jeff found out about it. . And that was another time when I decided that was it. He was too strong –– I tried to explain everything to him –– but he wouldn't listen. He never listens. . He always believed more what other people say about me, than me telling him. . He hit me, everywhere. . When I try to say something he would slap me – really hard – of course he's a man. And with this body how coud I ever fight him back? I tried to escape –– He held me back, forcefully stripped me naked –– and –– and he did it what horrible criminals do. . . I feel so disgusted about myself. . I want to leave this world –– I can't handle any more of it. ."

Kuu caressed her hair and moved tresses away from her face. Her cheek was cold to the touch. Her looked into her red eyes, wiping hot tears that continued to stream down her face.

"Don't cry. . That's enough, okay?" he whispered. She bowed her head, her forehead touched his.

"I don't want this anymore, Kuu. . I don't want to do it anymore–! I don't want it anymore!"

He kissed her forehead and wiped her tears with his finger.

"I don't know where to go, Kuu. Jelly and Lina aren't here, they're in Paris. The hotel is surrounded."

He looked into her eyes. "This is the place."

She gripped his hand holding her face. "Thank you. . . I'm just in Japan for two weeks –– But with your papers, it's the worst place to be. ."

She got very shaken and more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Those are such horrible pictures, Kuu! Don't even look at it even if you've come across just one paper. They're so grainy. . . They make me look like. . .!"

"Don't think about it. . I'm here. . ." Kuu whispered. She looked into his eyes. Wiping those tears away with his finger, he continued.

"You're safe. Everything will be fine. . I promise."

He held her cheek with his hand, and he kissed her lips. She kissed him back.

"We'll sort it out. . Now what would you like –– tea. . . Apricots in honey? Spike bought a new one."

She let out a snort with him. She remembered that scene. That finally lit up her face. There were no more tears on those eyes.

"What about a cool bath. . . Lavender and roses. ." he spoke softly. "Would you like a bath?"

She finally smiled again, even with such red eyes and flushed on the cheeks for crying so long. Her eyes gave a soft twinkle.

"Yeah. . . I love lavender and roses. . A bath would be great." she answered. Kuu gave her back a warm smile and they kissed again. He caressed her face and neck, stood up and went upstairs to the bathroom.

Spike entered the front door and closed it shut. Kuu didn't hear from the kitchen. He cooked a good meal for lunch today. Spike was reading today's newspaper with Julie's pictures on it and the cover story. He went straight without watching his step.

"Kami-sama alive. . . brilliant. . . fantastic. . . magnificent. . . fabulous. ."

He headed up the stairs, still with the paper on. He rounded on the corner. He opened the bathroom door, and walked inside. He headed to the toilet, totally oblivious to the special, real presence from the woman who also happened to be on the front cover of his newspaper, and undid his zip. . .

"You must be Spike."

Spike jumped. Was it Julie right now and on the bath? He moved his head in shock to see Julie relaxed on the tub. She smiled warmly at him. She really was! The real Julie! Her wonderful wet hair behind her. Bubbles flew in the air as she moved a bit and ran her hands through her hair. Then she cleaned her arm. Spike quickly slid out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Spike closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He tried to calm himself down and assured himself he was only hallucinating. He was just seeing things after drinking alcohol. He took another deep breath, then opened the bathroom door again –– and looked in to be sure.

Sad enough, his vision was confirmed to be really true. Julie was still there lying low in the bath.

"Hi. ." Julie said with a bright smile.

"Just checking. ." Spike whispered.

He came back out into the corridor. He looked up to heaven.

"Oh thank you, Kami-sama. Thank you for answering my prayer for Kuu."

"SPIIIIKE–!" Kuu's voice roared across the corridor.

#~##~#

AN: Hahaha I wanted to throw this laptop at Spike right now lol :) Well, in a tease - because I love Spike's natural sense of humor. But still, to do so at Kuu's girl. Damnit Spike! Bitch! lol Enough of that. I'd like to thank you all guys for all the genuine support you gave to my Fallen. I'm glad that you also enjoyed reading about Kuu and Julie, as much as I did while writing it. Thanks for all the love! I also had fun making this. Please let me know what you think at the reviews! I'd love to hear them all. Stay tuned for the rest of the chapters, okay? :) Love ya! Mwah! :)