Take Me Back to Start

Scott opened his front door seeing Zacky standing there. He had a sketch pad in his hands and smiled brightly at the older man. “Hi, sir! I was wondering if Jolie was home. I had something for her,” he greeted Scott politely.

“When's the last time I asked you to call me sir? You know you call me Scott. Now, as for Jolie, she’s in her room. Go ahead up. Just make sure you knock first. She's really jumpy, but she’s been having a really good day so far,” Scott said easily and stepped aside to let the younger man inside.

Zacky knocked on Jolie’s door and stuck his head in. Jolie looked up noticing him and smiled brightly. She was standing at her desk with a mirror above it. She had been finishing up her make-up for the day. “Hey you, what’s up?” she greeted softly.

“I brought you something. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. It used to help you at one time, so I thought maybe it could again,” he tossed the sketch pad onto the bed with a small bag.

Jolie put down her eye mascara and walked over to the bed. She opened the bag to see pencils and oil paints. “Zacky…you didn’t have to do this,” she murmured.

“It’s not a big deal or anything. I know you told me you don’t draw anymore, but I thought maybe you’d want to try,” Zacky offered.

Jolie picked up the bag, pulling out the pencils, and settling onto her bed. She opened the sketch pad and stared at the page a bit. Then, she looked up at Zacky. “You’ll stay for a bit?” she asked sweetly. He nodded his head right away plopping down on the other side of the bed and pulling out his own notebook. The band was still trying to lock down enough songs for the album. The two old friends sat in silence working on their own projects for a while before Jolie suddenly asked about Lilly. Zacky started telling her everything about Lilly. Since their first date, things have been going well. They were happy together and still in the honeymoon phase. Zacky couldn’t find any flaws in the woman.

“So, when am I meeting her?” Jolie asked with a teasing tone.

“Actually…I’m bringing her to meet the guys and Val. If you wanted to hang out with us, you could meet her too,” Zacky offered carefully.

“I…I don’t know if I’m ready yet…” Jolie murmured suddenly nervous and got quiet before finally saying, “I guess I can’t avoid it forever though. I’ll join.”
“That’s fucking awesome! I’m so excited for you to meet Lilly. You’ll love her, I promise,” Zacky cheered with a bright grin.

Jolie rolled her eyes at Zacky’s enthusiasm and shook her head. She leaned over his notebook pointing at the lyrics that were scribbled there. It said, “Caught up in this madness too blind to see. Woke animal feelings in me. Took over my sense and I lost control. I’ll taste your blood tonight” followed by some scribbles and more lyrics, “Relax while you’re closing your eyes to me. So warm I’m setting you free. With your arms by your side, there’s no struggling. Pleasure’s all mine tonight.” She asked who came up with it. Jimmy had figured out the first part and Matt came up with the second. Zacky came up with the last two lines of the second part.

“You should try the words you know I make you want to scream. You know I make you want to run from me baby, but know it’s too late you’ve wasted all your time,” Jolie offered before returning back to her sketch. Zacky quickly scribbled down her suggestion. Then, he glanced over at her drawing. To say it was a bit twisted would be an understatement. There was a girl cowering in a corner with bruises all over. He quickly looked away trying not to snoop too much.

A couple hours later, Jolie was searching her closet for clothes. Zacky was going to pick up Lilly and bring Jolie along. Then, they were all going out to a club. She pulled out a simple black dress. She went into her bathroom slipping it on and self-consciously asked Zacky if he would zip the back for her. He agreed right away, but hesitated when his eyes landed on her back. Scars littered her back. He couldn’t help the way anger built inside of him. He zipped the dress up quickly and stepped away. She quickly finished up doing her hair and fixing her make-up before declaring she was ready to go.

The ride to Lilly’s apartment was a short one. Jolie sat in the back seat and told Zacky to go get his girl. He was only inside for about ten minutes top before he came walking out with a tall blonde woman. She had a deep purple, strapless dress on with black heels. There was a bright smile on her face as she climbed into the passenger seat. “Hi there! I’m Lilly! Zacky has told me a ton about you. I can’t believe you guys have been friends for so long,” she gushed straight away.

Jolie laughed at how excited Lilly was. “It’s nice to meet you too, Lilly. Zacky told me about you too. I actually helped him find his outfit for your first date. So, if you thought he looked good, I get the credit,” Jolie teased with a grin. Zacky rolled his eyes getting in the car and heading towards the club. The two ladies easily fell into some light conversation during the drive.

The three of them headed into the club, but Jolie froze outside. It suddenly hit her that she would be seeing everyone once again. She told Zacky and Lilly to head inside. She just needed a moment to herself. When the couple went inside, she leaned against the wall trying to muster up the courage to go inside.

Suddenly, Jimmy came running out of the club right past Jolie screaming her name. A huge smile spread across her lips as she shook her head. “Over here, silly,” she called. Jimmy nearly fell trying to stop in his tracks. He turned around and came running back.

“I didn’t know you were coming! I’m so happy! I want to dance! Will you dance with me?” Jimmy started rambling a mile a minute, which made Jolie laugh even more. She agreed to dancing. Without a second to even say anything more, he was pulling her into the club. He dragged her over to the table so she could say a quick hello to everyone and onto the dance floor. Jimmy started flailing his limbs wildly making Jolie nearly cry laughing. Without a care in the world, she started to mimic his motions.

After countless songs, Jolie finally insisted that she had to sit down. Jimmy followed her over to the table so he could harass Johnny. Without any real reason, he picked up Johnny’s drink and dumped it over his head before running away. Johnny scrambled to his feet following Jimmy. Nobody made a movement to stop them. They all knew the pair would come back eventually, mostly unhurt.

Val and Matt greeted Jolie right away as she sat down at the table after grabbing herself a soda. If Jimmy had been with her, he would have insisted that she get something with alcohol in it. Brian looked up with a smile, but didn’t talk too much. She wasn’t able to focus on it too much since Zacky, Lilly, Val, and Matt already had her dragged into conversation.
Lilly, Val, and Jolie went off to dance together. They kept close to each other as they playfully danced on each other. Matt, Zacky, and Brian kept close eyes on them as they danced. The girls screamed along with each song and let loose.

A couple of songs later, Jolie felt hands on her hips and she was being pulled back into
someone. There was no controlling the absolute panic that started to consume her. All she could picture was turning around to see Trevor. His hands sliding down her body and breath on her skin. Suddenly, she was shoving the hands off her and nearly tripped as she tried to put distance between them. “Don’t touch me!” she shrieked without even thinking. In her head, the room changed. She was no longer at the club, she was stuck in Alex and her bedroom in the apartment.

A gentle hand was on Jolie’s arm guiding her away. Her eyes were dead locked on the stranger, who looked like Trevor, as she let herself be moved. Next thing she knew, she was outside the club. The cold, fresh air making her realize where she was. She looked over to the person that pulled her out and saw Brian. His one hand still gently on her arm. Before that moment, she had no clue he had been talking to her. “You’re okay, you’re okay. We’re outside. Nobody will touch you. I got you,” he was soothingly repeating.

Realization hit Jolie like a ton of bricks and she felt herself falling apart. The good day she was having felt like an illusion. “Hold me,” she whimpered out nearly throwing herself into Brian’s arms. He was surprised at first, but tightly wrapped his arms around the small girl. They had a lot to talk about still, but now wasn’t the time. For the moment, all he wanted was to protect her from the world.

Time passed, but Brian and Jolie paid no mind to it. They just stood together holding on to each other. Finally, Brian was the first one to pull away. He gently cupped Jolie’s cheek and wiped away the stray tears. “How about I tell the guys we’re heading out? I’ll get you home,” he offered lightly. She didn’t want to go back inside. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and waited outside. Brian went inside, quickly explained, grabbed Jolie’s purse, and headed back out. He was thankful that he had stopped drinking a couple hours ago.

By the time Brian got Jolie home, she stayed in his car. She glanced at her house and back to him. “Can I stay with you?” she asked in a little voice. Without hesitation, Brian put the car in reverse and headed to his own house. They headed inside and he showed her to the bedroom. He pulled out an old t-shirt and pair of boxers tossing them over to her.

Jolie went into the bathroom changing quickly. The boxers didn’t stay up well, so she just tossed them back on his dresser. The shirt was long enough to be a dress. She stared at her reflection in the mirror before slowly washing off her make-up. She hated her plain face. She looked like a slob. With a sigh, she went back into Brian’s room to see he was changed into some boxers and a t-shirt. They crawled into bed together. Once again, they started with some distance between each other, until Jolie crept closer. She laid her head on his chest letting the sound of his heart beating calm her. It was an anchor, kept her grounded in the moment as he slipped his arm around her.

“I thought about what you said before I left,” Jolie broke the silence, “That I would continue to defend the man that would…that would kill me. I woke up in the hospital for a second time and it hit me. You were right and I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t keep lying and pretending it was okay, but even though I knew you were right, it was so hard to leave. There’s something wrong with me, Brian. I-I let him hurt me and didn’t say a world.”

Brian was shocked at first as Jolie rambled. It was the first time she actually admitted that Alex hurt her and that her relationship wasn’t okay. “I was out of line when I said that, Jo. I was upset. There’s nothing wrong with you. What’s wrong is that Alex spent the last three years convincing you that you were nothing when you’re everything. Do you understand that? You deserve the world and so much more. It’s not your fault that he hurt you and it’s not your fault that you feel so conflicted. He manipulated you,” he gently tried to say.

Jolie buried her face into Brian’s chest a little more pressing herself right against his side. “I just…I want to get better. I don’t want to be this broken girl anymore. I need help.”

Notes

Sorry about taking a little bit to get this chapter up! I hope you all are still enjoying! :) Let me know what you think. I'm really trying to make the development & recovery realistic. I'm not sure if it feels that way or if it's too slow! Soooo, let me if you're liking the way this is going! :) Thank you all for reading!