His gaze still locked on her forehead, AJ rushed across the room to look at it close up. Debelah swayed drunkenly, almost letting out a giggle, “Whoa, you went fast.” He pushed her hair back with one hand and gingerly touched her forehead with another.
Debelah winced and jerked her head back, “ ‘ey, stop it.”
"Deb, what happened?” he asked urgently.
She looked up at him unblinking. He was so close; she could reach out and touch him. No! She was mad at him. “Accident.”
“Accident, what kind of accident?”
AJ was staring down into her eyes, Debelah mused. She shook her head. The alcohol was doing murder to her feelings, making her want to forget their fight and just think of how close he was to her. “Car. The car hit…a wall.” She shook her head again, “What does this have to do with us?”
“Because you’re bleeding!” he exclaimed. “Come in here,” he said, walking into the adjoining bathroom. Debelah hesitated for a second before following him. The bright light in the bathroom when AJ turned it on blinded her for a second and hurt her eyes. She covered her eyes with her hand and groaned. AJ wrapped an arm around her and guided her to sit on the closed toilet lid. Debelah didn’t push the arm away. She heard a door shut and the sink run and removed her hand, blinking until her eyes adjusted. When they did, she saw him standing in front of her with a wet and a dry washcloth in his hands.
AJ put the folded up dry towel behind her on the top of the toilet. “Alright, I need you to lean back and lay your head on the towel…like that.” He sat on the edge of the tub next to her, moved her hair back and started wiping carefully at the blood to find where it was coming from.
“Why you doin’ that?” she asked tiredly.
His hand paused for a moment before he asked, taken aback, “You didn’t know you were BLEEDING?”
“Din’t hurt,” she muttered and then opened her eyes to look at him. “Why don’t you talk about…what you wanted to talk about.”
He took a deep breath. “I didn’t know about Bruce and I didn’t know that he’d been bothering you. If I’d known that he’d been grabbing you onstage, I would have thought differently.”
“He was the one that came in the bathroom that morning,” she said, staring at the wall.
His eyes widened, “While you were taking a shower!?”
“How told me,” her eyes narrowed, trying to remember what he’d said, “that he KNEW I liked him and that I was just trying to act like I didn’t so no one would know. Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to let me go. He thought I didn’t mean it.”
He folded the wash cloth over to use a clean side to continue. So far it looked like it was all just coming from a little cut that had a bruise and a bump surrounding it. He bandaged it before he spoke. “I- when I came into that room and saw you lying there with HIM, I felt like my chest had just been ripped out. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t speak; just seeing that took all logic out of my mind and of what I knew of you. It didn’t even cross my mind that he might have snuck in there while you were asleep.”
“How’d you know he did that?” she wondered.
AJ grimaced. “Kevin called me a reamed me pretty good. Told me what happened basically, but said he didn’t know details. Just that Bruce snuck in there while you were asleep, Kevin heard you screaming and come in to find that bastard holding you down.”
Debelah shut her eyes for a second, remembering that feeling of being on the ground and realizing she couldn’t stop him. “Details tomorrow. Why wouldn’t you listen when I tried to tell you?”
“Too hurt. Hurt turned to anger. I couldn’t think of anything but what I’d just seen. If I’d been able to think logically at the moment, I would have realized you were telling the truth. Hell, I should have realized the truth back in the room. I doubted for a second when you showed me those marks and I’m sorry for what I said, you didn’t deserve them. Not at all,” he looked at her arms now to where the marks had been, seeing faint bruises and scratches.
“But was even worse than you not listening,…when I tried to touch you-“ she couldn’t finish.
AJ hung his head. “I know. I don’t think there’s enough words to explain how wrong I was and how sorry I am. I SWORE to you I would never hurt you and, in one night, I didn’t help you from the shithead and then I push you and you hit a wall.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice sounding hoarse.
“I told you, I wasn’t thinking. I was hurt and angry. And I was wrong.”
Debelah spotted the bottle on the sink counter and grabbed it with a sigh, “That reminds me of what Dave used to say. ‘I’m sorry. I was drunk. I didn’t MEAN it.”
AJ knelt down on the floor in front of her, taking her free hand in his. “I am not Dave. And I swear to God that my apology means more than any of his. I mean mine with all my heart. I love you with everything that I am, Debelah, and I can’t take back what I did, but I can swear that I will never do it again. I promise I will never hurt you like I did or in any other way if I can help it. Please forgive me.”
Debelah stared back at him, tears falling down her face. “You really mean it?”
AJ’s eyes were dead serious as he spoke, “I mean it.” He held his breath as he watched her thinking. Finally she spoke, “And you’ll try to trust me more?”
“Absolutely. I can’t…I can’t lose you again.”
Deb nodded her head a bit. “And I don’t want to lose you again, Alex. I forgive you, but please don’t you EVER do that again.”
“I won’t,” he said, taking the bottle from her and setting it on the floor before gathering her in his arms and holding her to him. She curved perfectly to rest against he body with her head buried in the crook of his neck, and his against her hair. AJ felt the side of his neck warm and moisten and realized she was crying.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, pulling her down off the seat to sit in his lap and holding on tighter.
“I missed you so much!” she sobbed. AJ closed his eyes, “Me, too, baby. Me, too. I love you so much”
“I love you too,” she sniffed. He rocked her back and forth in his arms until her crying stopped and her breathing became deep and even. Nick appeared in the doorway to see AJ sitting cross legged on the floor holding Debelah in his lap, her head resting against his shoulder.
“Well, I was going to ask if everything was OK, but apparently it is.”
AJ looked up at Nick, “Yeah, we’re alright now.”
“Well, thank God for that. Did you get a look
at her forehead?”
“You saw that?” AJ didn’t know that Nick had seen her outside.
“Yeah, I tried to stop her when I saw it by grabbing her arm but then she yelled at me. I’m guessing its from whatever car accident she was in. She said she hit a wall and then front end is REALLY banged up.”
AJ had one arm wrapped protectively around her and started rubbing her back with the other. “Well, she hit her head on something. She’d got a cut there with a bruise and a bump around it.”
“You think she’s got a concussion? Maybe we shouldn’t let her sleep.”
AJ shook his head, “She was speaking logically. I doubt she has one. Any talking slipups were probably caused by that,” he pointed to the nearly empty vodka bottle.
Nick’s eyes widened. “She drank all of that?” He whistled, “Gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow.”
AJ shifted his arms around so he could stand up holding Debelah, cradling her against him like a child. Nick respectfully averted his eyes from her bare legs. “I’m going to take her back to my house,” he told Nick. “Can you help me with the bags?” Nick first helped AJ put a throw blanket over Debelah’s legs in case any paparazzi was lurking about and then followed him down with her bags to AJ’s Range Rover. AJ gently eased Debelah down onto the backseat and adjust the blanket. The side of her head rested against the seat with her hair spilling around her. He wondered how she could look so beautiful passed out.
With Debelah carefully tucked away in the backseat, he and Nick looked over her crashed car. AJ’s jaw tightened as he saw how bad the front end was and when they found some blood on the driver seat and steering wheel.
“Damn, good think she got the insurance,” Nick said, looking at the engine with the hood crumpled up over it. AJ shut the door and didn’t say anything about that. He and Nick said their goodbye.
“Thanks for taking care of her man, “AJ said, giving Nick one of those guy hugs with the back slaps.
“No problem. I’m just happy you two worked this out. I’m assuming I don’t have to say anything to you about what happened since Kevin talked to you.”
AJ grimaced. “My ears are still ringing.”
“I figured. He was pretty pissed at you for what happened. Especially since he was the one who found them.”
He nodded grimly, “Well, I definitely understand why he’d mad.”
Nick went back inside and AJ got into his car and looked back at Debelah. She hadn’t moved from her previous position at all. He quickly drove back to his house and parked in the spot closest to the door. Carrying into the bedroom, he set her down on the bed, took off the throw blanket and pulled the comforter over her. She didn’t move in her deep sleep. AJ kicked off his shoes and took off his jeans to sleep in his boxers and wifebeater and laid on the bed next to her. Debelah made a soft sound as she turned on her side to curl up next to her. Wrapping her in his arms, AJ slept.