*Thanks again everyone!! Enjoy!!*

A few hours later, everyone except Brian went to sleep. He pulled out his acoustic guitar and strummed a song. Kate wondered out and sat down across from him.

“Did I wake you?” He asked. She shook her head.

“No, I’ve been up for a while now.” He nodded and set the guitar down.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Then Brian cleared his throat.

“So how long were you with him?” He asked. Kate sighed.

“Well we dated for about 6 months then he moved in with me for about a year.” She said. Brian nodded slowly.

“Did he always…” He let his voice trail off. Kate shook her head quickly.

“No no. He used to be the sweetest man I knew.” She said. He looked at her in disbelief.

“I mean it. He used to be so soft spoken, and he would bring me flowers every day at work, and he was just nice.” She said. She closed her eyes as she spoke, like she was remembering it all.

“But then something changed.” Brian waited for her to continue.

“I wasn’t sure what it was at first I just knew something had changed.”

“When was the first time?” Brian asked her. She took a deep breath.

“It was about 6 months after we moved in together. He had come to surprise me at work and he saw me talking to a man. I was still an intern and there were three male interns. We were all pretty close so if I touched one of them on the arm it really wasn’t unusual. Well we were laughing about something and I touched his arm and Scott saw. He was furious. He didn’t say anything to me until we got home. I went to give him a kiss and he drew his hand back and slapped me so hard I fell to the ground.” Brian shook his head and Kate went on.

“Then he left and came back later that night, crying so hard. He promised me that it would never happen again. And it didn’t for a while. Then I would do something to set him off and we would repeat the process. Pretty soon, he stopped saying it wouldn’t happen again. The worst time was when I found his stash. He did cocaine and heroin. I confronted him and he freaked out. He kept yelling and said I had no right to go through his things. He hurt me so bad that time. I was bleeding all over and had three broken bones. When he was done, he just left me there. He just took off. Thankfully, Torri found me and called an ambulance. My dad was called because he is a domestic detective. When he got there, he started to cry. That was the first time I ever saw him cry. He told me I needed to get a restraining order against him and kick him out. I did and changed the locks in my apartment and I haven’t heard from him until last night. He called me but I didn’t return the call.” Kate had tears in her eyes. Brian got up and sat beside her and put his arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore.” She said softly. Brian held her tightly.

“You don’t have to be. He’s going to jail and I promise, I’ll never let anything like this happen to you again.” He whispered in her ear.

Tears fell from her eyes and Brian just held her close. After about an hour, Kate fell asleep. Brian layed her down and covered her up with a blanket then sat down on the other couch. He put his head in his hands and pictured everything Kate had told him. He could not believe that a man could do that to a woman. It made him sick. It made him want to kill that son of a bitch for ever laying a hand on her.

Morning came and Brian was awoken by the sound of Jimmy and Matt having a very odd conversation Mexican food. He looked around for Kate. Matt noticed him looking.

“She in the bunks.” Brian nodded. He went to the small bathroom first and relieved himself then went to the bunks. Zacky and Johnny were snoring loudly. Kate was sleeping peacefully. He smiled and pulled her blanket up to her chin, then grabbed a new outfit from his suitcase. He went back to the small bathroom and changed. Then he went back out front.

“Hey we should be stopping in another hour.” Matt said. Brian nodded and lit a cigarette.

Matt’s eye looked terrible. It was completely black. Brian was amazed he could open it. Brian’s hands didn’t look all that great either. It hurt just to make a fist, he didn’t know how he was gonna play tonight. Zacky came out of the bunks and lit up a cigarette. He nodded a hello to the others.

A few hours later, they arrived at the venue where they were playing tonight. Zacky Johnny and Jimmy jumped off the bus as soon as it stopped. Matt talked to the bus driver for a bit and Brian went in the back to wake up Kate. As he past the bathroom, he could hear sniffling. He knocked on the door.

“Yeah?” Kate’s voice sounded like she’d been crying.

“We’re here.” He said. Brian could hear her putting her things away.

Brian opened the door and saw Kate trying to stuff all of her makeup into a bag. She looked at Brian, then at herself in the mirror. She sniffled and wiped a falling tear from her cheek.

“He really did a good job this time. My makeup won’t even cover them up.” She said. Brian frowned and looked into his bunk. Then he got an idea.

“I have an idea.” He said. He left the bathroom and picked up a black hoodie from his bunk and handed it to Kate.

“Put this on.” She took it and pulled it over her head. Brian pulled the hood over her head and handed her a pair of sunglasses.

The hoodie plus the glasses almost perfectly covered her face. She smiled at him and he handed her the bag she kept her equipment.

“Come with me.” He said, taking her wrist and gently pulling her along. Kate and Brian jogged into the venue and went to a long table with a set of lights and a woman with short black hair with purple tips, wearing a black tank top and leather vest and skinny jeans.

“Syn, you’re late!” She shouted at him. He nodded and smiled.

“I know Janet I know, look I need a favor.” He said. He looked at Kate and nodded. She slowly pulled down the hood and took off the sunglasses. Janet put her hand over her mouth but didn’t say anything.

“I was wondering if maybe you had some makeup that could cover these.” Brian said to Janet quietly. Janet smiled and nodded.

“I have just the thing.” She said. Kate smiled and Brian put his hand on her shoulder.

“Ok well you fix her up and I’m gonna go get ready.” He said. The girls nodded and Brian took off.

Kate sat down in the chair and Janet dug around in her giant makeup bag. She pulled out a medium sized jar and a makeup brush. She turned around and held it up to Kate.

“This stuff here, is like paint. It will cover up anything…well except the cut on your lip.” Kate nodded.

“That’s fine, as long as you can’t see the bruises.” Janet smiled and nodded and started applying it to Kates face.

“So I take it you’re the boys’ new photographer?” Janet asked her. Kate nodded.

“I’m their hair and makeup artist.” Kate nodded.

When Janet was finished, she stood back and let Kate look at her work. It was amazing. All of her bruises were completely gone! She started to tear up but held it back. Janet smiled.

“You can keep this, I have like 8 more jars.” Kate smiled and tossed it into her bag.

“Hey do I have time to change before the show starts?” Janet nodded.

“Sure, the boys don’t go on til about 9. It’s 6 right now.” Kate nodded and got up to leave.

“Hey don’t forget your pass or they won’t let you back in.” Janet said, handing it to her. She nodded and went back to the bus.