The Best Of Me

Chapter 18

Harmony

                  "This is great." My dad yelled over the noise from the band and the crowd. Brantley was putting on an amazing show tonight. He played one of his newer songs Read Me My Rights and it was a huge hit with the crowd. I knew that Brantley didn't plan on releasing it anytime soon though. When he played Hell On An Angel he looked straight at me and didn't look away once while he was singing. I was so lost in the song I didn't even notice the crowd. Anthony startled me when he walked up. "Where did you come from?" "Sorry, I just got into town. Kolby and Leann are here, too." "Where's Melody?" "I think she went over to the bar for a drink. Where are Kolby and Leann?" "They're at the bar, too. They'll probably find each other over there." "I thought you couldn't come because you had to work?" "I finished a few days early and decided to come surprise your sister." "I'm glad you're here and she will be too." "ANTHONY" Yup Melody was definitely excited to see her husband.

           "hey Bro, What are you doing here?" "Leann wanted to come see Harmony so I figured I'd come keep her company. How are you doing?" "I'm great. Better than ever." "That's great man. It really is." The crowd was still going crazy. Brantley had put on an absolutely amazing show. He deserved so much more than this. "Hey beautiful can I talk to you for a minute?" "Sure what is it? Is everything okay?" "Yeah, Everything is good. Can we step outside where it's quieter for a minute?" I followed Brantley out the back door. Before I could ask him again what this was about he pulled me into him and kissed me. "What was that for?" "What I can't kiss my girlfriend?" "You can but you said you needed to talk to me. You're freaking me out Brantley what is it?" "Calm down babe it's nothing bad. Steve booked me as an opening act. On a real tour. Rehearsals start in a couple days." "That's awesome Brantley. I'm so happy for you. When does the tour start?" "Two months" "How long is it?" "Three months unless it gets extended." "I'm going to miss you like crazy but I'm so proud of you. You earned this." "I'm going to be busy the next two months but I'm going to make as much time for you as I can. We have a lot of memories to make before I leave so that way when I get lonely I can just think back on these days and look forward to all the new memories we'll make." "Sounds good to me" I kissed him and we headed back inside. I was going to miss Brantley but we'd still talk every day and he really did deserve this.

              "I wish you guys didn't have to leave so soon." "I know but your dad has to get back to work. We'll visit again as soon as we can I promise. You'll have to come visit us soon, too." "I will Mom I just have to get the time off work and that's not really easy." "Even if it's only for a couple days it would be nice to have you home. And Brantley too. Of course your dad will make him sleep in the guest room. You know how he is." "Yeah sounds good. Soon. I promise." I hugged my mom and watched as she got in the car and her and my dad drove away. Melody, Anthony, Leann, and Kolby weren't leaving until tomorrow but they all had lives and jobs they had to get back to, too. Then the next day Brantley would be starting rehearsals. I could feel the loneliness creeping iup on me but I pushed it away. I had a job and friends I would be okay by myself. It wouldn't be for forever anyway.

            Brantley had been rehearsing for two weeks now. I watched him a couple times and he was amazing. He was going to put one hell of a show on and he'd have girls throwing themselves at him left and right. Good thing I trusted him. I had just walked in the door after a long night at work when there was a knock on the door. I looked at the clock. It was 4 a.m. who could that be at this hour? There was no way I was answering the door. Whoever it was wasn't going away. I turned off all the lights and crawled into bed. The knocking persisted. I didn't want to call Brantley because he really needed his sleep. I was scared but I was sure it was just a drunk neighbor so I pulled my pillow over my head and went to sleep.

          The next day Brantley had a show 2 hours away but I couldn't go with him because I had to work. While I was at work I thought I saw someone that looked an awful lot like Justin but I figured I was just getting jumpy. Justin was in jail back in Georgia. I was definitely on edge and I couldn't explain why. I think the stress of knowing Brantley was leaving soon was just getting to me. When me shift ended I asked one of our regular customers to walk me to my truck just in case. I know I was out of my mind even if Justin had gotten out there was no way he'd know where I was but it made me feel better anyway.

            Just as I was about to climb in to bed there was a knocking at my door. I was really irritated and I was completely sure it was just my neighbor drunk again. Sometimes she'd see me come home from work and try to get me to have a drink with her. Sometimes I would accept but I was just too tired tonight. Then again maybe I needed a drink to relax and unwind. "I'm coming hold on" I grabbed a light jacket and put it on over my pajamas. The knocking continued. "I said I'm coming. Chill out." The knocking stopped. Finally. I opened the door but it wasn't my neighbor. What I saw had my blood running cold. For a second I was froze where I stood. My eyes darted around looking for something I could use as a weapon but I saw nothing. "Ju..Justin? Wha? How?" "Hey babe. happy to see me?" "How are you here?" "They let me off on a technicality. Are you happy to see me? I'm happy to see you. Although I must admit you weren't the easiest person to find. So are you going to invite me in or continue to be rude and make me stand outside?." "You need to leave. NOW." "Now that's no way to treat the man you love. Is it?" "I don't love you Justin. You took everything from me." "That's crazy talk. I gave you the world. I would have given you anything you asked for." "Before or after you killed me?" "Harmony I would never kill you. I love you. Now are you going to let me in? It's getting cold out here." "You need to leave my boyfriend will be here any minute and I promise it wont end well for you if he finds you here." "Harmony, Brantley is two hours away. He wont be here anytime soon. Stop lying and let me in" "No" "Stop being a little bitch and let me in. Fuck." He shoved the door open and knocked me onto the floor. Stepping over me he walked in and closed the door. "There that wasn't so hard now was it?"

"How did you find me?" "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to just show up without watching you for a couple days first? You felt so secure 5 hours away from home in this big city with your big bad strong boyfriend protecting you that you forgot to look over your shoulder and you completely missed me." "Please leave Justin." I was trying not to cry but I was scared. Justin was standing over me with a look I'd seen way too often before. This time was different though. There was a cold calculated look in his eyes and when he grabbed me off the ground and tried to kiss me there was no smell or taste of whiskey. Justin was sober and that scared me more than anything.

Justin dragged me toward the bedroom and when I tried to resist he backhanded me so hard I started seeing spots. He went straight to my bedroom door even though it was closed. It was as if he'd been here before and knew exactly where everything was. I guess he got tired of dragging me because he picked me up and carried me the rest of the way to my bed. Justin threw me down so hard my head slammed into the headboard and my vision started getting blurry. I had to fight to remain conscious. For a second I almost gave in. Whatever he was going to do to me did I really want to be awake for it? By the time I could finally move Justin already had his pants down and he was on top of me holding me down. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth so I bit his hand and he slapped me again. Hard. He held me down with one hand while he ripped my pajama bottoms off of me with his other. I tried kicking him but he was just too strong for me. He forced himself inside of me and the pain was so intense I screamed again. My scream was met with a fist. This time I couldn't fight it when everything went black. It was almost a relief to give in.

There was a faint knocking sound but I couldn't fight through the fog to figure out where it was coming from. My whole body hurt and I couldn't even open my eyes. I wanted to yell out that I was in here but I couldn't find my voice either. I felt like I had been hit by a train and couldn't remember how I had gotten this way. I opened my eyes as far as I could which wasn't more than a slit. Everything was dark. How long had I been laying here? I heard the sound of wood splintering and it all came back to me. Where was Justin? Was he still here? I felt myself drifting off again when I heard Brantley yell my name. I felt familiar arms wrap around me and pick me up and remembered back to a time when I'd had a nervous breakdown and gone unconsciousness. These same arms had wrapped around me and carried me then, too. I could hear Brantley begging me to wake up but as much as I wanted to I couldn't. Not yet. 

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