Take Care of Her

Moving Day

Noah pulls into the parking lot and parks the car. He turns to me, staring at me hard. I avoid looking at him, staring straight ahead.

"Jenn," Noah whispers, grabbing my hand. "Talk to me, are you hurt anywhere?" I shake my head, tears finally falling. He squeezes my hand, "I'll take care of it, okay? Don't worry, you're safe." I finally turn to look at him and smile. I start sobbing uncontrollably. Noah frowns and pulls me to him, hugging me. "Oh, Jenn. I'm here, it'll be okay."

"I'm scared, Noah," I whisper, crying hard. He rubs my back as I soak his shirt with my tears, soothingly petting my hair.

"I know, but I promise nothing is going to happen to you." He pulls away, looking down at me, "Jenn, look at me, please." I look up at him, and he wipes my tears for me, being gentle with my black eye. "I promise nothing is going to happen to you. You are safe." I nod, though I couldn't trust myself to speak.

"Good, now no more crying. You stay here, I'll get the keys, and we can move your stuff tomorrow. You need to go home and rest." I nod again, and he smiles at me softly before leaving the car.

____

I look down at my phone, Justin is calling again. Sighing, I answer it,

"What's up?"

"How is she?" I sigh, glancing back at the car where Jenn is currently trying to stop crying.

"Not great, Aiden was spewing threats as we were leaving." I could practically hear Justin's jaw tighten.

"I'll handle it. I've been working all day to bring this guy down." I nod even though he can't see me.

"Justin, she's hurt. Really hurt, she cried in front of me, I didn't know what to do." It was silent on the other side of the phone, "Justin?"

"She has never cried in front of anyone but me." He says, "Not even Aiden." My heart beats hard at this admission.

"I'm picking up her keys now and then taking her home. She needs rest."

"Thanks, Noah, you're the only one I could trust to watch over her," I smirk a little bit.

"No problem, y'all are family." I hang up the phone and walk into the building. The realtor lady looks up at me, and her eyes widen.

"Here are the keys!" She says loudly, basically throwing them at me. I nod at her and head back to the car.

When I make it back to the car, I notice Jenn asleep. I sigh, but quietly get in and start the drive towards Jan's house.

The drive was silent and long. I kept sneaking glances at Jenn throughout, but she never woke up.

By the time we pulled into Jan's driveway, I knew I'd have to wake her up.

I turn to her and sigh before I shake her shoulder. She groans and turns away from me.

"Jenn, come on. Let's get inside and go to bed." I tell her, shaking her again. She swats at my hand and continues to sleep. Huffing, I get out of the car and go around to her side.

I open the door and lean in to unbuckle her. She doesn't move a muscle. I knew she must be tired, but I'm the one having to drag her throughout her sister's house.

I lean down and pull her head to my chest, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and one under her legs. Lifting her, I close the car door with my foot and make my way into the house.

I was just about to make it into the guest room undetected, but Jan turned the corner right in that moment.

She just smiles softly at me and turns back around. I sigh, embarrassed, but make it into the room and close the door. I lay Jenn on the bed, bending down to take off her shoes. She groans and rolls away from me towards the wall, hugging a pillow.

I shake my head and pull the blankets up over her body. I lean down and brush some of her hair away from her eyes. I couldn't help but admire her face. It looked so peaceful when she slept.

Before I could think twice, I leaned down and placed my lips softly on her forehead, "Sleep well, love," I whispered.

I stand quickly and rush out of her room. I send a quick wave to Jan on my way out and quickly get into my car. Running my hands through my hair, I sigh heavily.

As I drive home, I send Justin a text letting him know Jenn is home, asleep, and will probably need help moving tomorrow. God knows I'm not volunteering.

_______

I woke up with a headache and in my clothes from yesterday. At this point, I wonder if I'm ever going to be able to change into pj's. I huff and get up and head to the bathroom.

I let the hot water run over me way longer than I should have, but it felt really nice.

When I did get out, I got dressed in jeans and a baggy t-shirt. I head into the kitchen and find Jan sitting at the island, eating some oatmeal.

"Addie at daycare?" I ask, sitting down next to her. She nods, taking another bite of her food.

"Figured it would be easier with us being at your new house, settling in. I got all the furniture bought and delivered for today. Most of it is coming around noon, so we have some time." I nod, thankful for my family being so willing to help me out in this situation.

"Thank you, we can head over whenever and at least move my bags over there so I don't have to stay here another night."

"You know you can stay as long as you want," Jan answers, picking up her bowl and bringing it to the kitchen sink.

"I know, but you and your husband make me sad," I say with a shrug. She giggles at me.

"Just because it's over with Aiden, doesn't mean you won't find your person," I snort at her. At this point, I don't even want to try.

"Let's not think about that right now. Ready to go?" I ask standing up, she nods, and grabs her purse and keys. "Let me go grab my bags," I rush down to the guest room and throw the rest of my stuff in my bag before taking it with me outside.

I throw my stuff in the back and jump into the car. Jan laughs at me and makes her way out of her driveway. I give her the address and learn it's only a fifteen-minute drive from her place.

When we get there, we find furniture being moved in and Noah walking out the front door.

"Noah! What are you doing here? How did you get in?" I ask, hoping out of the car. He glances over at me before looking back at the workers.

"I forgot to give you the keys yesterday, so I figured I'd just meet you here. When I pulled up, these guys were here and ready to move stuff, so I let them in." He walks over to me and holds out his hand. I hold my hand out, and he drops the keys into it.

"Thanks, I forgot about them too."

"I should go; everything looks to be under control." Noah then looks to Jan, who is holding her stomach and smiling.

"Why don't you stay for lunch? I can order Chinese or pizza?" Noah finally glances over to me, staring at me for a minute.

"No thanks, I got things to do." He then turns to head to his car before pausing, "Oh, and," he looks back at me, giving me a soft smile, "You're looking much better today." Before I could respond, he was in his car and driving away. Shrugging, I turn and head into the house, looking around.

The movers have everything placed and start heading out, leaving Jan and me alone.

"It's pretty nice!" She says, grabbing my suitcase and dragging it upstairs. I shake my head at her.

"Yeah, it'll do until I decide on what I want to do." She grunts in agreement. I follow her up to my new bedroom and smile. The bed looks comfy, and it has an attached bathroom. What more could you want?

"Is there anything you need from his house?" Jan asks as she unzips my suitcase, placing things in the closet.

"No, I do need to call him, though. I need the paperwork," I slump on my bed as Jan continues to unpack.

"Want me to do it?"

"No, I need to do it." I pull my phone out from my pocket and bring up his contact. I've been ignoring all his texts and calls for the last couple of days. Holding my breath, I dial his number.

"What do you want?"

"I need the signed paperwork."

"I already told you, I'm not signing it."

"Aiden, just sign the god-damn papers and leave me alone."

"As I said, you're going to pay for what your family has done to me."

"Aiden, grow up, sign the papers, and leave me alone." I hang up the phone and throw it across the room. Jan pokes her head out of the closet and frowns at me.

"That didn't sound good." She states, I groan and put my hands over my face.

"Whatever. I'm just going to try and move on. If he doesn't want to sign the papers, then fine. We will only be married in name only."

"Yeah, we will have to find a way for him to leave you alone. I have a feeling he's not gonna stop." Jan mentions coming to sit next to me on the bed.

"I can't live in fear of him; he's never been violent before. I'll just ignore him." Sighing loudly, I sit up and smile at my sister. It'll be okay. I'll be okay.