NO SHAME

VI

CW: Abuse

The slamming of my front door awoke me with a start. I checked the clock on my bedside table to see it was 3:00 am and let out a groan.

My bedroom door flew open and slammed into the wall next to it before Jake stormed in the room.

"Jake, it's 3 in the morning, why are you home so late?" I asked groggily.

"Why the fuck was that asshole holding your hand, Aspen?" Jake spat at me.

"Because I saw the paparazzi outside the window, can we not do this right now please?"

"What would you rather I yell at you at 9 am?"

"I'd actually rather you not yell at me at all, I am your girlfriend after all. You know the one you love?"

"Fuck that, I'm going to yell if I'm mad at you. And I'm mad that you keep whoring around with this guy, who clearly has no boundaries!"

"No boundaries? All he did was hold my hand, and me and Luke both know this is pretend. We aren't stupid, Jake."

While Jake continued to yell and berate me, I kept my tone calm and even, attempting to not anger him anymore.

"I want you to stop this thing. Tell Luke or your boss or whoever that you're done," Jake demanded.

"Not going to happen," I stated. "You already know what will happen if I do, I'm not telling you again."

Jake stormed over to the bed and pulled me off with a yank by my wrists. I tried to pull my hands back from him but that angered him and caused him to grip them even harder. Jake tugged me forward so that I was only a few inches away from his face before he began his ranting again.

"I don't care if you lose your job, you can find another one, I want you to stop this. You're my girlfriend, you listen to me. Go tell your boss that you're done before I do," he warned lowly.

"Jake please let go, you're hurting me," I whimpered, tears forming in my eyes.

Jake's grip became even tighter at that, as if he wanted to see me cry. I tried to pull away but he didn't let up.

"Jake," I tried again as the tears started to fall.

"Aw, does this hurt," he mocked, shaking my arms around while still holding them very tight.

Jake scoffed at me as I winced before shoving me away from him. The force he used to push me sent me flying to the floor and I landed with a thud. Jake let out another scoff before he stormed out again.

I sat on the floor in shock for a second before the tears started flowing harder. I looked at my wrists and noticed obvious bruising on them. After a moment I stood up and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. I took note of the time but pressed call on the contact I had pulled up anyway.

Luke answered almost immediately.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked softly.

"I don't know. I mean physically yes, but like I'm not so sure mentally," I responded.

"What happened? Was it Jake?"

"Yeah, he came home like 30 minutes ago and just immediately started yelling at me and demanding I tell you and Mark I'm done with this thing but when I told him I'm not doing that he just got so mad and- oh my god I'm so sorry it's like three in the morning-"

"Aspen, are you at your apartment?"

"Yes."

"Ok, I'm on my way," Luke said as I caught the sound of a door closing.

"No you don't have to, Luke, it's not that big of a deal," I told him.

"Aspen, stop. I'm coming over. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Ok, we can talk more about what happened when I get there, just keep talking to me, it might help you calm down a bit."

"Uh, ok. I started listening to some more songs from your band today. You guys are, like, actually really good."

"Thanks," Luke chuckled. "The next time I take you to hang out with the gang, remind me to play you the new album."

"Yes, please. I love the songs you guys have out from that album," I said smiling.

"I'm glad. I should take you soon, you seemed to get along really well with Calum."

"Yeah, he was really nice."

"Okay I just pulled up to your apartment I'll see you in a minute, ok?"

"Ok," I whispered.

Luke hung up the phone and shortly after I heard him knock on my door. I opened the door and let him in, making sure to close it as quietly as I could.

"What happened before we went to dinner, Aspen?" Luke asked immediately.

I looked down at the floor to hide my tears as I began to tell him what had happened.

"We got in a fight again. He was drunk and angry and he was just yelling at me about how you and I were going out again. I kept trying to get around him to go change in the bathroom but he kept blocking my path and pushing me and he just pushed too hard, I guess. He pushed me against the wall pretty hard and I hit my head and back," I explained.

"Aspen," Luke started.

"And before I called you he came home angry about the photos of you holding my hand and he was demanding I stop this thing and when I told him no he got really aggressive and started grabbing my wrists again and when I told him he was hurting me he laughed at me and ended up shoving me to the floor. I don't understand why he's being like this, we've been together for over a year and he's never been so angry."

Luke didn't say anything as he pulled me into a hug and let me cry in his embrace. He rubbed my back soothingly and kept telling me it would be ok.

Once he was sure I was calmed down Luke let go of me.

"Do you want to come stay at my place tonight? I have a spare room you can sleep in," he offered.

"If you don't mind, I really don't want to stay here anymore," I agreed.

"Yeah of course, I'll let you grab some stuff and then we can go back to my house."

I nodded and went off to my bedroom to gather some clothes for tomorrow and other stuff I would be needing for the morning.

Once I was finished packing my things, I followed Luke to his car and he drove us to his house. I was amazed by the sight I saw in front of me when we reached his house. I had forgotten that he was famous and had a lot of money. After the initial shock of seeing Luke's house, I followed him inside and he showed me to the spare room.

"Thank you, by the way. It means a lot that you're helping me out like this," I told him.

"Of course, no one deserves to be scared in their own home. I'll always help you out when you need me, Aspen," Luke said.

"We're, like, friends, right?"

Luke chuckled at me before nodding his head.

"Yes, Aspen. We're friends."