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The Next Morning 6 am
Aubrey woke up to the sound of the shower running. He groaned and tossed and turned, trying to enjoy just a few more minutes of sleep. When that didn't work, he decided to get up and get ready for his flight in a few hours. He went into the bathroom to relieve himself and found Jasmine staring at herself in the mirror. When she noticed his presence she quickly covered her waist with her arm.
"Baby? You okay?" He asked, walking towards her
She nodded."Yeah I'm fine."
"What are you hiding from me?" He asked her
Jasmine contemplated telling the truth but before she could speak, Aubrey pulled her arm down. There was a bruise forming of his hand print. The sight brought tears to his eyes.
"M-mama. I'm so sorry." He sniffled, pulling her into his arms
Jasmine couldn't find any words to say. It was all too triggering. Trevante did this same thing in the days following his abuse. Seeing the bruises and marks made his actions more real to him but it was always real to her. He would cry and apologize then promise it would never happen again but it always did.
Aubrey was doing the same thing now. Her memories of Tre began to come to the front of her mind again. The slaps, chokes and him yanking and grabbing her. Her heart rate started to climb. She was seeing Aubrey's face over his in these memories. Her mind was screaming at her to run.
"G-get off of me!" She pushed him away
Aubrey immediately let her go at the sound of her shaky voice.
"I'm so-
"Get out!" She turned away from him
He nodded."Okay. I'll go."
As he left the master bathroom, he heard her loud sobs. All he wanted was to turn around and comfort her but he was the cause of her pain.
"Fuck." He cursed
He decided to get ready for their flight in one of the other bathrooms and when he came out, Jasmine was sitting on the bed with puffy, bloodshot eyes, staring at the wall.
"Jas...you ready?" He asked gently from across the room
She didn't respond. She just got up, grabbed her bags and walked past him and down the stairs.
Aubrey silently followed and as they rode to the airport, he could hear her doing breathing exercises to calm herself down.
"I can take a later flight if you want to be alone." He offered
"It's fine. My parents- I don't want to show up without you." She responded
