Chapter 1

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by isthatjessica

by isthatjessica

-Jessie POV-

I sighed at my reflection in the mirror. The bruise on my cheekbone from the other day had faded considerably but it was still visible. How am I meant to hide this when I have to film for The Voice today? I put on some concealer hoping that it wouldn't be noticeable. I still didn't have to be there for another hour but I left early anyway. Anything was better than being here.

I locked the door behind me and and as I got into my car I was silently thankful that Jared wasn't home. He would become suspicious if he noticed I was leaving early and that would surely earn another bruise or two for myself. As I was driving to the studio I couldn't help but refect back on the last year and a half. I met Jared then through a mutual friend and he was sweet at first. We dated for a while and about a year ago we bought a place together. Everything was great up until then. He started to get violent. It started out as a lot of arguments about petty things and then one day he just snapped and hit me. I was shocked and hurt and even though he promised to never do it again, it got worse. I've been punched, hit, and thrown down the stairs more times than I can count. A few months ago Jared threw me against the wall so hard it had broken a few of my ribs. I try to play it off to my friends and family but I know they don't believe me. I don't want to be with him anymore but I'm scared. He's told me himself several nights that if I ever thought about leaving him, he would kill me. I had no doubt that he would.

Before I knew it, I was in front of the studios. At least I could find peace at work. I was also excited to see Danny again. We had grown close during the last series and I honestly consider him one of my best friends. I haven't seen him in a few months and although I told him I was just busy, that wasn't the case at all. Jared hated that I spent time with Danny. In fact he hated it if I spent time with anyone outside of his supervision. I love spending time with Danny but it just wasn't worth the physical pain I had to go through on top of it.

I walked into the building and noticed I was the first of the coaches to arrive. Of course I was. I left an hour early after all. I immediately entered my dressing room and decided to just relax before I had to be whisked away by hair and make up. I was lying on the couch with my arm thrown over my eyes when I heard a soft knock at the door.

"Jess?" It was Danny. A smile immediately came to my face and I got up to let him in. As soon as I opened the door Danny pulled me in for a hug. He squeezed me really hard and it took all I had to hold back the whimper that was threatening to come out. I had bruises all over my stomach and back. It was Jared's favorite place to hurt me because the bruises could be easily hidden.

Danny soon broke the hug and smiled down at me. I smiled back. I was genuinely happy for the first time in months.

"How have you been Jess? It's been a while."

"I know it really has. I've been doing well. Even better now that The Voice has started back."

We sat on the couch for a while just talking and catching up on what we've been up to for the past few months.

"How are you and Jared doing?"

I dropped my gaze from Danny's for a split second but quickly regained my composure.

"We're good. What about you and Irma?" I wanted to change the subject over as quickly as possible. Danny could see right through me and this wasn't somthing I wanted to talk about.

"Oh, we've decided to go our separate ways. We've actually been broken up for a while."

"I'm sorry, Dan. I had no idea." I felt bad for bringing it up.

"Oh no don't worry. It was a mutual thing. The spark just wasn't there anymore." He smiled at me and that reassured me that it really was okay.

Tom and Will stopped by to say hello a few minutes later and before I knew it we were all whisked away to hair and make-up. Once my hair was perfectly straightened my make-up redone. The bruise was once again visible. I heard my make-up artist sigh but she didn't say anything. It was becoming the norm now. What I didn't expect was the loud gasp coming from outside the doorway.

"Jess! What's happened to your face?"

Shit. Danny.

Author's Note: Hey guys! So this is the first story I've ever written and I would love some comments. Let me know what I can do better and also if you have ideas feel free to suggest anything :) I have pretty much the whole story outlined but it never hurts to add anything! Thanks for reading!