Until I Met You

Sick (20)

Grace

I woke up with a door slamming shut. I opened my eyes to a slit and blinked. Turning my face up, I saw Jake sliding towards the door. He pulled me off of him. It was then when I opened my eyes completely and realized the ride had come to an end. I didn't realise that I slept throughout the ride. Jake had brought me to my house.

Thank goodness for that.

Jake opened the door and pulled me out of the car. Behind me he shut the door. I saw Ethan walking around to us. I completely forgot that he was with us all the time. He looked like a person deprived of sleep who had worked all night. It really didn't matter though. We all looked the same, I guess.

I raised my hand to my cheek. Feeling the tears that were completely dried, leaving a trail of weird layers of dryness behind. I took a deep breath and exhaled it. I turn to Jake. "Thank you. For coming." I said. Then I turned to Ethan.

"You too, Ethan. Thank you for coming and rescuing me. It could have ended pretty bad today." I said and Ethan nodded.

"Sure. We would not have left you there to die anyway." As he said that and a shudder went through my body. He was right if it wasn't for him, Jake and Mason, I could have been dead. Sensing me tensed, Ethan said, "You would not have died." Maybe. But nobody could take the guarantee about certainty. I felt eyes on me. I looked at Jake, and he was burning a hole in my head with his piercing eyes.

"I thought you hung up on me. And won't come to get me. How did you know where I was?" I asked Jake. He didn't say anything and kept on looking at me. The violence in his eyes was still evident but somehow a little dimmed. He wasn't looking like an animal to tear everything apart, but he did look like an animal who was preying on a prey.

When he did not say anything for another few minutes, I decided to break the silence.

"Thanks for dropping me. You should get going now. It's getting pretty late. Your parents must be worried." I said. Jake's eyes glinted with something mischievous, and he smirked evilly. Making my heart thud with a bit of fear.

I looked at Ethan to get a hint if I had said something wrong or humored. But he just bowed his head down a little, trying to hide a smile of his own.

"All right then." I said to both of them.

"Good night." With that I sneezed. I waved my hand to both of them and started walking towards the door. But at the same moment, the ground left from under my feet, and I was picked up. I heard jingling of keys as Ethan opened the car, climbed in and drove off.

Just like that.

"Jake." I shrieked. He had thrown me over his shoulder.

"Put me down, Jake. Now!" I commanded him but he gave me his silent treatment. He walked us to my door. I pounded my small fists behind his back, but he ignored me. He had his left hand on the behind of my thighs. My ass rubbed his cheeks. I sneezed hard, again. Suddenly, I felt his hands roam over my ass, then down to my...

"I'll kill you. You motherfu..." I stopped when his hand skimmed over my pockets, and he took out my door key. He moved us to a little to the left. Then he lowered himself slightly and put the key in the lock and opened it. Pushing the door inside, he walked us in and shut the door behind him with his foot.

I had stopped pounding my fists on his back when he turned to open the door but now that we were in, I began again.

Still no response.

He walked us to my bedroom, opened the door. He bent down and lowered me to my feet.

"What the hell....?" I shut my mouth when he lowered his head to my level, in a snake like speed. He was so bloody close to my face that I could hear him breathing.

"Strip." He ordered in a strong whisper.

Single word.

A demand to be obeyed.

I took a step back, but he caught me with both hands on the side of my arms.

"Now." He said.

This close to him. I looked him in the eyes. His dark brown eyes showed no emotion except dominance.

But...

I was no submissive.

Years of beating and abuse had made me immune to any of this sort of behavior. No one and I mean NO ONE will get better off me like this.

I grabbed his collar hard and yanked his face closer to my face.

"No. Get out of this house." I said. I knew my eyes were mirroring his. Sharp, cold, on edge and dominating.

He bowed his head down to glance where I had grabbed his collar in a strong, tight grip.

"You were clutching my shirt like this in the car. When you were scared." He said, mockingly. When he looked at me his upper lip was tugged up. I closed my eyes tightly and opened it. Leaving his collar, I said, "Leave Jake. I had a rough night. I don't want to add another thing." I moved back, but suddenly his hand was behind my neck, and he yanked my head down to his. He looked in my eyes. His eyes were hard. In a swift glance, his eyes darted to my lips.

And then I sneezed. Hard.

Sending bacteria and part of my saliva particles on his face. He closed his eyes from the impact. Leaving my neck, he stood up straight. He took out his handkerchief, a new one, and cleaned his face. I felt a little bad. He turned and walked to my bathroom.

"Strip. And wear a robe. If you won't then I will. And trust me. I WILL." With his last words, he disappeared into the bathroom.

I stood there for a second, not knowing if he'll come back. Then I heard the water running. He was preparing a bath.

I touched my jeans. It wasn't soaked but it still felt wet. I shivered and rubbed my arm. I was feeling colder and a weak headache had started building up in the background.

I wasn't shy about being naked but after almost getting raped, showing my body to another guy didn't seem like a good idea. I took out a robe from my wardrobe and stripped in a hurry. Checking over and over again to see if Jake was coming. He didn't. When I pulled the robe on me, I picked up my wet clothes and walked to the bathroom. I dropped my clothes into the basket nearby on the outside of my bathroom door that held my more dirty clothes. Watching the quantity of my soon-to-be washed clothes, I winced. I didn't realize how many dirty clothes I had gathered.

Walking in, I saw Jake kneeling on the side of the bathtub which was filled with water. He was testing the water temperature. Then he stood up and spanned around to face me.

"It's warm. Take a bath." He told me. I was about to nod when my eyes trailed down on his shirt. I cringed and looked back at him.

"Your shirt is ruined. Sorry. I didn't realize my mascara was smudged." He looked down at the side of his shirt. Which was ruined by my tears and my smudged mascara. It looked still wet from my tears that I cried clinging to him.

He looked up at me and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it upward and taking his shirt off. He stood there with his, almost tanned skin, rock-hard stomach, six - abs and hard chest figure.

To say he looked like a model would be an understatement.

My mouth dropped open. As I got the feeling to swallow, I gulped. He walked towards me but then passed me and walked out of the door. Shutting it on my face. It brought me back to reality. I opened the robe and hung it on the hanger. I then stepped into water and sat in the tub.

Jake was forgotten, I thought about what had just happened.

The night came back with a full blow in a flashback. I wasn't just shaken but scarred for my life. Violence is not a new thing to me but I never came so close to losing my life. I knew life for me would never be easy. It would be difficult and it would be challenging but I never thought that I would have to question my existence every day. Because it made me think of my existence today. Sometimes I imagine how death would feel like. Is it going to be painful? I don't think so. At least not as painful as the living.

"Ah... This headache." I said clutching my head. I grabbed the washcloth and started washing myself. When I cleaned off completely, I stepped out of the water. I swayed a little. I put my hand on the washbasin, steadying myself. When I felt like I had gained control I walked and grabbed my robe, pulling it on me. I felt a bit nauseating. Grabbing the doorknob, I turned and pulled the door open stepping out of the bathroom.

"Jake." I whispered, closing my eyes. I swayed again but this time I almost fell. Before I did fall though, I was picked up in a bridal style. Then I was laid on the bed. I opened my eyes and saw Jake hovering over me. I felt his hand on my forehead where my headache boomed on full force.

I shuddered. Feeling cold and nauseating. Suddenly, I felt the bile rising from my stomach to my chest, giving me the acidic taste, then in my mouth. I pulled myself up in a sitting position and puked on the floor. A hand came on my back. It drew calming circles on my back. Over and over again. And then a second hand came around, gathered all my hairs and held them back. Picking up the strands that had escaped the grip from behind my head and fallen on my face. And a deep, calming voice soothing me "Sh... Shu.... Let it all out. It's okay."

Feeling my whole body pushing out the liquid from my stomach to the floor. After I finished, I cleaned my mouth with the back of my hand. Even then I was panting for breaths. My body shuddered and shivered from the vomiting I had done and cold.

I looked down and grimaced at the sight of vomit all over the floor. Suddenly I realized that the hand that was drawing circles on my back had stopped and my hair was free from that grip. Jake looked at me without any repulsion, which I would have if anyone puked near me. He pushed me down on my bed and I closed my eyes, almost sleeping. I shivered when a heavy blanket covered me. Giving me warmth I very much needed. Then I fell asleep.

I woke up with my hands limp on my side and my head on Jake's shoulder, lolling loosely. He was sitting at the head of bed where my pillow sat. He pushed a bitter tasting pill in my mouth. I gagged at the taste, but he put a glass of water to my mouth and I gulped it down. All the while my eyes were only half open. He pushed me gently to lie down again. And I fell asleep again, without a problem.

I woke up again. This time Jake whispering my name softly to wake me up.

"Grace. Grace... Wake up." His voice sounded husky. The bedroom voice. I sat up and felt a cold, wet thing falling on my lap.

Cold strip.

He had put a cold strip on my head. Picking it up, I stared at it.

"Put this thing away and scooch over." He said softly. Nodding his head to the bed. That's when I realized he was holding a bowl. I moved a little to make some space. My headache wasn't completely gone and my condition somehow felt worse than I still felt feverish.

Jake sat down and gave me the bowl filled with hot soup. I sniffed a little. Even with the bad sense of smell, I can tell it smelled good. Giving me a spoon he said, "Drink up." I looked at the soup. Taking the spoon from him, I started drinking the soup little by little. All this time I didn't raise my head to look at him, just kept on sipping the soup. When I finished, he picked up the bowl and said, "Go back to sleep." He walked out of the room.

Lamp lights were on. My eyes darted on the floor where I had vomited but I couldn't find it. Whole floor was clean.

He had cleaned it.

I lied down. Closing my eyes. I heard faint footballs coming my way. They stopped at the side of my bed. Then I felt a cold cloth dabbing on my forehead. Then a faint sound of water. Again, I felt a cloth on my cheeks. Jake picked my hand, cleaning it on front then on the back of my hand. He then did the same to my other hand. I heard a faint sound of water as Jake washed the cloth in water and squeezed it, draining the water out. I felt the cloth on my neck and then my collarbone. It started descending a little by little, cleaning me. As it was going a little deeper, I raised my hand and covered it over his hand. Stopping him. I looked at him with my eyes slit open. "No." I said.

"I'm just cleaning you. You're sweaty." He explained.

"No." I said firmly.

"Okay." He said.

He picked up the water container and went into the bathroom. He came back. Climbed on the side of the bed and laid down. He turned me to him.

"Sleep." He said when I started to question him.

"You're cold." He said and buried my face in his naked chest. He draped his arm over me, pulling me to him. I wanted to protest, but I was too weak for it. I relaxed against him. I was almost asleep when I heard his whisper, barely audible, "You're quitting this job."