Battered Ch. 04

Hey guys and gals. Here's chapter 4. And I want to give a special thanks to my "editor". She came from nowhere and saved me :) thanks. And I love the feedback guys. This is a shorter chapter, but the next one will come quicker.

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Hallee and Lucas headed back to his apartment together. It wasn't anything special, but it was well put together and decorated. Photographs lined the walls along with other miscellaneous items and objects. She continued to get the feel of his place until she felt his arm snake around her waist. He had turned on some soft jazz music, and was now slowly rocking back and forth to the rhythm. She joined in and he began to sing to her. She leaned her head against his solid chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his voice.

Everything about him seemed perfect. Everything felt right. It felt right in his arms. Like a fairytale. A fairytale that she knew had no happy ending for her, but it would be nice to live it for as long as she could. They swayed slowly back and forth.

He kissed her beautifully swollen lips.

"Hal?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want this?" he asked while hungrily kissing her.

"Mmmhmm."

"No Hallee, look at me." She opened her eyes and her brown ones met his green ones. "I have to hear you say it."

"I want this Lucas," she said with no hesitation.

He kissed her tenderly as he held on tightly to her wide hips. She held on to the back of his neck to deepen the kiss, as her other hand's fingers ran through his short, brown curled hair. His kisses ran down her face, and settled on her neck, causing her to shiver. The scent of her perfume brushed his nose.

He led her into his dimly-lit bedroom. He knew she was married and that he was treading on very dangerous territory, but he didn't mind. He'd fight for her if he had to.

He slowly undressed himself and her, and soon her bare body came to view, and what a body it was. Her brown skin seemed to glow and radiate. Her pert, ample breasts begged to be touched. She had a narrow waist which led to wide hips and a lush bottom. Her stare was one of uncertainty laced with desire. He liked that she didn't have to try to be sexy. It was something that came natural for her.

She stared at his lean but defined body. His broad shoulders and well-sculpted abs made him appear very manly. His eyes seemed as if they could read into her mind.

He laid her on the bed and palmed her rounded breast. Her peaked nipples reminded him of Hershey Kisses. He suckled her aching peaks as she moaned and held on tightly to his head. He left a trail of wet kisses on her skin down her belly, and stopped right above her pussy. He spread the puffy outer lips of her downy mound with his fingers and uncovered her pulsing core.

She felt as though her skin was on fire when she felt his mouth on her pussy. Jeremy never did that for her.

They moaned in unison as his aching bulge filled her. He continued to bury himself in her as her mans, gasps, and cries urged him on.

Her orgasm came upon her, and it felt like rushing, rippling waves ran throughout her body. She hadn't had one in a while. Jeremy didn't allow her them.

Her bucking and clenching sent Lucas over the edge, and he let out a harsh groan as he exploded inside her.

They lied in bed with his arm draped around her waist as he sung to her. Thoughts rushed through Hallee's head. She was weighing the pros and cons of the decision she had made. The pros outweighed the cons. She pushed out all the negative thoughts of Jeremy, and replaced them with the happy ones of Lucas.

But when you love someone
You just don't treat them bad
Oh, how I feel so sad
Now that I wanna leave
She's crying her heart to me
How could you let this be?
I just need time to see
Where I wanna be
Where I wanna be...

Hallee fell asleep to the sound of his voice. With him is where she wanted to be.

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Hallee enjoyed watching Lucas play American Idol Encore Edition. She had started to feel bad about spending so much time with Lucas, and taking away from Santana, but she enjoyed being with him.

"We have to get you singing, Miss Hallee. You promised me a performance," he pronounced.

"I don't remember promising anything."

"You don't have to. I remember enough for the both of us. Here," he said handing her the controller. "Choose a song."

"No, you go."

"Okay."

Lucas scrolled through the long list of songs. He chose Hinder's "Lips of an Angel." He sang it well, even Simon said so.

"Your turn."

"Uh...I don't want to anymore."

She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. She'd forgotten just how good he was.

"Oh come on, Hal."

"No," she pouted.

"Babe, you have to get over this shyness. You're way too beautiful to be bashful," he flirted.

She was beautiful even in her sweats and a old green band t-shirt. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and loose strands of it fell about her pretty face. People told her she was beautiful, but she never felt it. She'd had all her flaws bared and exposed on account to Jeremy. But when Lucas said it, it felt genuine and authentic. He always told her she was beautiful. If only she felt it, though. She felt her eyes were too large, her lips too big, her hair to messy. She sighed loudly.

"Please Hal?" he begged. He looked so cute as he put on his best puppy dog sad face. His green eyes were glassy and his lip quivered.

"Just one," she caved.

She chose Corrine Bailey Rae's, "Put Your Records On" and sung it halfheartedly.

"That was absolutely horrible. By far the worst singing I've ever heard in my life..."

"Screw you Simon!!" Lucas yelled at the cartoon Simon on the screen.

"No he's right. That was horrible."

"No he's not. Simon's a douche okay? It was...good. One good tip though: stay in tune, beautiful."

"Oh gee thanks, Luke. Wonderful advice."

"Hey I do what I can, Honeybutt. Here, do this song," he said scrolling to the Supreme's, "You Can't Hurry Love."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm nervous," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure."

"Is it because of me?"

"Maybe."

"Come on Hal. Don't be nervous because of me. I'm on your side. If it helps, pretend I'm not even here. Look... I'll even hide if you want."

He picked up two throw pillows and shielded his face from her view.

"Better?" he asked as his voice sounded muffled from the pillow.

"Perfect," joked Hallee. "Only problem is, I can still see you."

"Well yeah if you look hard enough," he laughed before getting up and strode over to her with a pillow in his hand. She was still laughing when he absent-mindedly lifted the pillow. He was going to playfully swat her with it until he saw her facial expression and body language change in a matter of seconds. He dropped the pillow like it was on fire.

"No Hal. I was just..."

Her expression still hadn't changed. She stared at him wide-eyed and fearful.

"Shit Hal. I'm so sorry," he said closing the space between them. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her on her forehead. "I wasn't thinking."

"Okay," she spoke softly.

"I'm not him, Hal. I'd never hurt you."

"Okay," she repeated.

"I swear."

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Luke came around a lot. He would visit the house and spend time with Santana. He was teaching her how to play the piano. Hallee felt herself evolve. She was more confident in herself. She'd been to the Joint a few more times with Lucas, and he eventually got her on stage. Lucas told her she did well, even though she felt like she made a big embarrassment of herself. She was even picking up on being able to hold a decent argument. Most of the times they were petty and led to sex. They slept together many times after the first time. It just felt so right. She felt alive with him. He was just what she needed.

Lucas was becoming a permanent fixture in their lives. There was only one problem: Jeremy.

She and Lucas had talked about the situation they were in on countless occasions. He tried to persuade her to leave him and be with him, but she would shy away from the subject.

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Hallee heard keys jingle and the front door squeak open.

"Lucy, I'm home!"

Hallee felt sick to her stomach.

"Jeremy?"

"Who else, Sugarfoot? I missed you," he said kissing her on the forehead.

It was times like that she loved. He was the Jeremy she had fallen in love with those years ago. But she knew that Jeremy wouldn't stay around for long. He would leave as quick as he came.

"Where's the boy?"

"He's sleeping," she said as she nervously wiped her hands on her pants and scanned the room for any signs of disorganization.

"Good," he said before lifting her off her feet, cradling her in his arms. She looked up at him and he noticed the look of confusion on her face. She was beautiful, though he wouldn't tell her that. He didn't want her to think too highly of herself. That was for loose women. She wasn't one of them. She was his woman and nothing would ever change that. He kissed her brow until they relaxed, and a small smile formed on her face. In that very position, he walked them into the bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind him.

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Hallee felt like a whore. She lied in bed and thought of the chain of events that had occurred in her soap opera of a life in the past few months. She'd slept with two men in a matter of days. She hated herself. Jeremy touched her in all the places Lucas had. He kissed and caressed all the things that Lucas did. She'd allowed herself to fall for two men. One was kind and chivalrous, while the other was unpredictable and moody.

On the outside, Jeremy looked like the perfect husband. He kept himself in great shape and was well-groomed. Jeremy wasn't perfect by any means, but no one was. He had a story along with everyone else. He witnessed his mom fall victim to domestic violence. His dad was ruthless with his beatings. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to get off the school bus to find his mother icing wounds and cleaning a bloody face.

Hallee thought that witnessing that would avert him from hitting women. Seeing his mother bloodied would make him loathe the thought of being violent with women. It didn't.

Jeremy's movements jolted her from her thoughts. She watched quietly as he got up and retrieved his clothes before starting to dress.

"Where are you going?" she asked quietly.

"Since when do you question me?"

"I'm not questioning you. I just wondered where you were going."

Her Jeremy was leaving and was being replaced by the other one. The one she came to hate. She could see the change in his eyes.

"I just stopped by. We had to come back here for a bit, but we're back off in the morning."

Hallee felt something that she thought she d lost. Self-assurance.

"What kind of business do you do Jeremy?" she asked, sitting up and folding her arms across her bare chest.

He stopped dressing and gave her a grave warning look.

"Excuse me?"

"Business Jeremy? Really? You've been feeding me that line for some while now and I can see right through it. It's starting to get old. She knew she should've stopped, but she couldn't.

She felt something had to be said, or he would keep right on running on top of her.

"Just tell me the truth. Tell me you're fucking around with other women. Maybe you'd feel better about yourself," she huffed.

" Bitch I don t have to tell you anything, and you'd better be shutting that pretty little mouth of yours!" he yelled.

"Why? Why do you keep doing this to me?" she demanded.

"Because I can dammit."

"No you can't!"

"I told you to shut the hell up!" he barked while storming towards her.

She shrieked, jumped up, and ran for the bathroom door before locking it. He was right behind her.

"Open this damn door!"

"No."

"Five." He was counting down at her as if she was a child.

"Jeremy."

"Four."

"I m sorry, Jeremy. I didn't mean to yell at you. Please..."

"Three."

"Jeremy please," she pleaded. She felt hot tears form in her eyes. She knew if she opened the door he'd beat her. If she didn't open it, he break it down and then beat her even worse. Lose, lose situation. No need in trying to prevent the inevitable.

"Two."

Jeremy heard the lock click. He opened the door and went in.

A few minutes later, he reopened it, finished dressing, and left.

They were the longest minutes of Hallee s life. She picked herself up off the cold tile, and tried to clean her face of all the red fluid that seeped out. She pulled herself together before staring into the mirror. A swollen and bruised-face woman held her gaze.