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| Chapter Three | |||||
| Justin heard Bridget�s shrill scream and he dropped everything and ran down the stairs to Bridget�s room. She was staring at something in her closet with her hand over her mouth. �Justin, oh my gosh. Justin, he�s here. He�s going to get me,� Bridget whimpered as he caught sight of the hanging Barbie. �Bridgey, who is going to get you? What are you talking about?� Justin asked. �How�d this get here?� �He is going to get me-I don�t know how he got in or how he knows where I am, but he found me and now�� �Have you told me everything?� Justin asked. �Is there something else going on besides your dad?� Bridget looked into Justin�s eyes with such fright that he ached for her. At that same time, the doorbell rang. �I�ll tell you later,� Bridget whispered and went to answer the door. �Oh man! Justin, it�s Bitchney.� �Just open the door�I�ll take care of it,� Justin said, taking his shirt off. �Justin! What are you doing?� Bridget hissed. �Don�t worry, just play along,� Justin said. Bridget opened the door with an exasperated sigh. �Hi, Britney. What can I do for you?� �Is Justin here?� Britney asked. �As a matter of fact-� Justin came up behind Bridget, put his arms around her and kissed her neck. �What�s going on, sweetie?� �Well, Justin, Britney wants to see you,� Bridget said as Justin kissed her ear. �Britney, do you mind? Bridgey and I were in the middle of something�� Justin said, kissing Bridget�s neck again. Britney was glaring at Bridget, obviously jealous and angry with what lay before her. �Fine, Justy. Whatever. I�ll see you later.� She spun around in a huff, jumped into her hot pink car and drove away. Bridget shut the door and smiled. �She�s a little angry.� �Are you going to tell me what�s going on?� Justin asked seriously. �Can I change first?� Bridget asked quietly. Justin softened his tone. �Yeah. I�ll be in the kitchen okay?� �Yeah. Justin?� �Yeah Bridge?� �Do you hate me?� �No, I could never hate you.� A few minutes later, Bridget approached a shirtless Justin in the kitchen. She had found her flannel pants and had topped them off with a light blue tank top. �Do you want to eat, Bridget?� Bridget shook her head. �Forget the food. I have stuff to tell you, Justin.� They sat on the couch, Bridget facing Justin. �Okay�my dad hasn�t been the only one I�ve been hit by. All my ex-boyfriends were total druggies who were out for drugs and other stuff. Anytime I wouldn�t give them what they wanted, they�d hit me�hard.� Bridget paused. �Take your time,� Justin said. �One time, one of my old boyfriends wanted me to sleep with him, but I told him no, and he backhanded me so hard I had a huge bruise on my face for weeks.� �Bridgey�� �But Damon�oh Justin�he was the worst. I was home alone one night and Damon came over. He wanted me to sleep with him too, but I told him no. He threw me against the wall and slapped me and hit me so many times. My nose was bleeding, my arm was broken, I could hardly breathe-I was barely conscious. I was lying there on the floor�I thought I was going to die, then he started kicking me and screaming at me. Telling me I was worthless and no one would ever want me�� �Oh my gosh, Bridge.� �I started to cough up blood and that�s when Eric came,� Bridget said, tears coursing down her face as she spoke. �I think I passed out then because I don�t remember what happened after that.� �Is that who you�re afraid of? Damon?� Justin asked. Bridget nodded. �Yeah. I�m scared he�s going to come and finish me off, Justin.� �I�m not going to let that happen,� Justin said. �He�ll get me, no matter what I do, where I go�he�ll be there. Waiting to get me,� Bridget said in a bare whisper. �I will not let anything happen to you. You have to trust me,� Justin said, looking into Bridget�s green eyes. �You should have told me earlier so maybe I could�ve stopped this�� Bridget shook her head. �You can�t stop this from happening.� �You still should�ve told me Bridgey,� Justin said, taking Bridget in his arms. �I love you.� Bridget abruptly pulled away and stared into Justin�s eyes. �No, not you too.� She stood up and walked to the windows facing the ocean, looking out into the dark. �What do you mean, not me too?� Justin asked, looking confused. �Every time someone tells me he loves me, he wants more-my body, money-not me. I can�t believe you would do this to me, Justin.� �Bridget, no. I love YOU-not your body, not your money. I love you-your humor, your sweet personality, and the way you make me feel. No one has ever done this to me the way you have,� Justin said, standing behind Bridget. �I want to take all your pain away and I want to make you happy. You�ve got to believe me.� Bridget turned around and saw how sincere Justin was-his blue eyes said it all. She fell into his arms, crying. �I just don�t want to hurt anymore.� Justin stroked Bridget�s hair. �I know, baby. I know.� Then he began to sing. �When the visions around you bring tears to your eyes and all that surround you are secrets and lies I�ll be your strength, I�ll give you hope, keeping your faith when it�s gone�� Bridget had never heard Justin sing before and she had never had someone sing to her. Justin�s sweet voice and strong arms were calming her down and soothing her nerves. ��And I will take you in my arms and hold you right where you belong Til the day my life is through, this I promise you�� Bridget�s tears were no longer caused by sadness, but by joy and happiness. �I�ve loved you forever in lifetimes before and I promise you never will you hurt anymore I give you my word, I give you my heart. This is a battle we�ve won�� �Just-� Justin placed a finger over her lips. �Just close your eyes each lovin� day and know this feeling won�t go away. Til the day my life is through this I promise you.� After he had finished singing, they just stood there, his arms wrapped around her, swaying back and forth gently. �I love you, Bridgey,� Justin whispered. �You don�t have to say anything back�I know this is hard for you.� �Thank you,� Bridget whispered back. �Justin, look what I found!� Bridget exclaimed. Justin poked his head into the room. �What�d you find?� It was about two weeks later and Bridget and Justin were closer than ever. They spent forever talking that night she had told him about Damon. Justin had promised himself he would try to be there for her and never let her down like the others had. Bridget looked like a little girl. �It�s a secret passage! Come look!� Justin kneeled next to Bridget in the closet and peered into the dark passage. �How cool, Bridgey.� �Let�s find out where it goes,� Bridget said, crawling into the dark space. �I don�t know�� �Oh come on, pleeease?� Bridget pleaded with a pout that Justin couldn�t resist. �How can I say no to that beautiful face? Okay, let�s go.� Justin sighed. They found that they could stand in the passage so they followed the winding, twisting hallway until it branched into two directions. �Which way should we go?� Bridget asked. �I don�t know�choose one and then we�ll go down the other way,� Justin suggested. Bridget chose the right fork to go down first. After a few minutes of walking, they entered a small room with a tiny window covered with dust. �Oh wow,� Bridget breathed. �This is awesome.� �No kidding,� Justin agreed. �You�d just need to clean this room up a little bit and it�d be perfect.� They oohed and aahed over the room a little bit more then decided to check out the left fork of the passage. This hallway went longer and was straight. It led to a door that Bridget tried to open, but couldn�t because it was stuck. Justin then tried and opened it. �Bridge, this is my house.� �Are you serious?� Bridget asked, crawling out of the passage into Justin�s bedroom. �Oh my gosh.� �Hey-quick Britney getaway,� Justin said with a smirk. Bridget laughed. �I can�t stand her.� �Neither can I,� Justin said as his phone rang. �Hello? Hey JC, what�s up?�Oh cool�of course you guys can stay here�if there�s not enough room then Rainbow and Ocean can stay at Bridget�s if it�s cool with her�okay I�ll see you guys tomorrow. I can�t wait for you all to meet Bridget-man, she is awesome�� Justin sent a smile to Bridget. �Okay, see ya, JC. Bye.� �Lance, his girlfriend Ocean, Joey, Chris, JC and his girlfriend Rainbow are coming here tomorrow,� Justin announced. �Aren�t Ocean and Rainbow those girls on Mad TV?� Bridget asked. �Yeah-aren�t they awesome?� �They�re hilarious, I love them,� Bridget said. �I�m so proud of them�working on Mad is like heaven for them.� Justin laughed. �I�ve never seen Lance and JC happier in their lives.� �Any plans for marriage?� Bridget asked with a smile. �Not as far as I know, but who knows�� Justin said. �I can�t wait to meet them all,� Bridget said as they went back into the passage. �They can�t wait to meet you,� Justin replied. |
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