The Best Of Me

Chapter 5

Harmony

I had seen Justin drunk before but I had never seen him this drunk. He could barely even walk. Being the concerned citizen and girlfriend I was I tried to take his keys. Which resulted in him going off telling me that I was nothing but a goody goody up on my high horse and he would never let some bitch drive his precious truck. I had never seen this side of him before and it was scaring me just a little bit. But that little bit turned into a lot more when he actually smacked me for taking his keys from him. With my face stinging from both my tears and his hand I threw his keys as far as I could into the nearby woods. That would keep him busy for awhile. In the meantime I was calling my dad. I wasn't going anywhere with Justin ever again. His fist came at me so fast and so hard that for a moment I didn't even realize what happened. I threw the stupid stuffed horse at him and started to walk away. Justin tried to grab my arm and I just looked at him and told him he better not ever touch me again and that I'd find my own way home but good luck to him. Then I walked away while dialing my dad's number. I didn't bother looking back.

"Hey are you okay?" I looked up into the kindest eyes I'd seen all day. If the sight of my swollen bruised face shocked him he didn't show it. My dad was caught in traffic but that gave me m ore time to try and explain the way my face looked to him. I hadn't bothered to look in a mirror but I could feel my skin pulling as it swelled. "Yeah. I'm good now. I'm just waiting on a ride" "Will it be soon it's starting to get a bit chilly out here and it's so dark" "Shouldn't be too much longer." "Is it okay if I sit with you while you wait" "Yeah. Sure that would be fine" He handed me his jacket and I put it on. "Thanks. I'm Harmony" "It's nice to meet you I'm Kolby" Kolby sat next to me and we talked until my dad pulled up about 20 minutes later. He never asked me about my face or why I was crying once. When I tried to hand him his jacket back he told me to keep it. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime" "If I'm ever in the area again I'll look you up. Can't be too many Kolby's around here someone will know where to find you" Kolby smiled at me and it was such a nice smile. I turned away from him and climbed into my dad's truck trying to avoid looking at him for as long as possible.

"I'm not understanding what happened Harmony. You got into a fight? You don't fight. And who did you go all the way to Jefferson with and then they couldn't even bring you home?" Just someone I thought was my friend mom. I really don't wanna talk about it. Okay?" "Fine. We'll talk about it later. I still think you should go see a doctor your face is pretty bruised up" "I'll be okay" I sat at my mom's kitchen table trying to avoid telling her about Justin. I didn't want her to be upset that I hadn't told her I was dating someone for 4 months. I didn't want to see the disappointment in her eyes if I told her I'd been dating a party boy. Most of all I didn't want her to know that he had hit me. I wasn't trying to protect Justin I was trying to protect my mom. She'd be so upset if she knew. I knew that when she told Melody that I got into a fight she would know right away what happened. Would she believe him over me? Had he done something like this before? If so did she know?

"So who was that guy you were talking to when I picked you up? He seemed really nice. And he gave you his jacket. wait... He's not the one that did this to you is he?" "No, Dad. That was Kolby but honestly I don't know anything else about him. He just saw me sitting there crying with my face all black and blue and he sat with me until you got there. Honestly." "Well did you at least get his number?" "No. I wasn't really thinking about it and I'm sure he wasn't interested." "You're beautiful and smart any guy would be stupid to not be interested in you." "Did you forget my face is about twice it's size and 4 or 5 different colors right now?" "You're still beautiful." "Thanks but you're my dad you're supposed to say that"

My phone went off alerting me to a text I rolled over to grab it off my nightstand "Hey, babe. I am so so so sorry for what happened last night. It's so not like me and I swear it will NEVER happen again. Did you get home alright? God, I am so sorry please just answer me." I text back "leave me alone Justin. Please." I climbed out of bed and put on a pot of coffee. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and noticed my face looked so much worse this morning. If the swelling and bruising didn't go down at least a little bit I was going to call off Monday and probably all week. I really couldn't afford to miss any time but I worked with kids and I couldn't go in like this. My phone went off again. "Dinner tonight? My place 6 p.m.? No alcohol I swear." "Fine whatever" He needed to see what he'd done to me in his drunken stupor. I hoped he felt really bad about it, too. Maybe he didn't mean it. Until last night Justin was the greatest guy I'd ever dated. The closest I'd ever come to loving anyone. That had to mean something didn't it?

Justin answered the door before I could even knock. He must have been watching for me. I couldn't tell if that was a good sign or a bad sign. Justin kissed me as if nothing had ever happened. My phone rang. I tried to see who was calling me and Justin grabbed my phone before I could look. "Let's turn our phones off and just focus on each other tonight. I made a special dinner." I stepped into the kitchen and there were candles everywhere and a bottle of wine in the middle of the table. "I thought we weren't going to drink tonight?" It's just wine. It doesn't really count" He went over and pulled my seat out for me "Here sit down and pour us some wine while I get dinner out of the oven"

Justin leaned over and fed me a bit of his desert. "Mmmm. I think yours tastes better than mine. Can we trade?" "I'm pretty sure they are exactly the same but I don't mind feeding you" We were laughing and joking around. I was having a great time. It was almost as if last night had never happened. Justin leaned over to kiss me and I let him. He put his hand on my face and I jumped. "Shit babe I'm sorry. I forgot your face was hurting. I'll be more careful. I promise." I wasn't really sure what to think about that. He said it as if I had gotten hurt and he hadn't hit me. He was being really sweet though. I leaned into him "It's alright. Just be more careful next time." What was wrong with me why was I acting like it was nothing. Justin opened a second bottle of wine and we moved into the living room where there was a pretty good sized fire going in the fireplace. I leaned into him as I took a sip from my glass. "This is nice" "Yes, it is. I always enjoy being with you Harmony. It feels so nice to just hold you in my arms and kiss your lips. I love you." I turned to kiss him. "oh, Justin. I love you to. So much it hurts." "Well that's no good babe. Love is never supposed to hurt it's supposed to feel good"

My lips couldn't get enough of his as he led us toward his bedroom. I was so nervous and I wasn't sure if I was ready. This was all happening so fast. Last night I never wanted to see him again yet here I was tonight. In his bedroom of all places. He layed me down on his bed and started to lift my shirt up. "Wait Justin. I don't know. This is all happening way too fast. Just give me a minute to process." "Too fast? It's been 4 months Harmony. We aren't teenagers. We're grown adults and we love each other. Why wouldn't we do this? Why would you need to process?" Before I could answer he crushed his lips on mine and pushed me back down onto his bed. He didn't even try to be gentle anymore as his hand went inside my shirt and up to my bra. He ran his hands roughly across my nipple before pulling his hand away and pulling my pants down. All I could do was lay there and cry.

The next morning when I woke up I couldn't even move. Justin was passed out on top of me. I tried to move but he was just so heavy. Finally I wiggled my way out of bed and just as I went to stand up Justin reached out and grabbed my arm so hard his knuckles started to turn white. "Where are you going?" "I have to pee" "Okay. Would you make some coffee and breakfast, too?" "Sure" I walked into the bathroom and started at my naked body in the mirror. I had bruises on my arms and my thighs. Some were in the shapes of a hand. My whole body hurt from head to toe. I wanted to cry but I didn't want Justin to see me crying so I jumped in the shower" A few minutes later Justin walked in. "I thought you were making breakfast?" "I just wanted to shower first?" "Alright. I'll make breakfast. I'm a better cook than you anyway. Why don't you move in here with me? Your apartment is so small. You'd have so much more room here." "Sure. Whatever" "Alright. I'll help you move today. But first I'm going to make breakfast'" As soon as he walked out of the bathroom I broke down crying.