Truth Comes Second

Him Before Me

Author's Note: I can't believe the support that my stories are getting. I can never thank you all enough!!

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Julie's POV:

When Tommy was done, he tied our wrists back together. I rolled onto my side, not able to look at Tommy. I wanted to get out of the bed, but that wasn't possible. My arm with the bound wrist was twisted at an awkward angle, and I knew my shoulder would ache soon, but I didn't care. I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended I wasn't here.

I could hear Tommy's breath, which was still ragged, and pretended it was Jimmy. If I kept crying I knew Tommy would punish me again, and I knew he would make it worse. A couple of tears rolled down my cheek, but I bit down on my lip to suppress any sobs. Hunter had cried himself to sleep, so all I could hear was Tommy's ragged breath.

I was never able to fall asleep. Time ticked by slowly and I was careful to stay still so that I wouldn't wake up Tommy. I prayed somebody heard my screaming before Tommy covered my mouth with his hand. Hopefully, someone heard my cries and called the cops. Tommy had his gun in the room, but he wouldn't be able to shoot his way out of this one.

When Tommy woke up, he yanked my arm causing me to roll over. He ran his fingers through my knotted hair and kissed me.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked me.

I nodded my head. I was afraid that speaking would cause my voice to crack and for me to start crying again. Tommy let out a deep breath and stretched his shoulders before looking out the window. The drapes were drawn, but the sun was peering through the bottom.

"We have to wait until it gets dark," he told me. "Let's have some fun in the meantime."

Tommy rolled on top of me and pressed his lips against mine. I pushed Tommy away from me and turned my head to the side so that his lips brushed against my cheek.

"Stop," I begged. "Please."

"Why, Jules? We have time to kill," he said.

"I'm in pain."

It was true. I had been sore since Tommy's punishment, and I didn't want to go through that again. Tommy rolled his eyes and rolled off of me. I clutched the blanket in my hand and pulled it up over my chest.

"Fine," he said. "But you better be feeling better by tonight."

He undid the knot in the rope and unravelled our wrists. I rubbed the red ring of raw skin that surrounded my wrist. In the corner of my eye I could see Tommy had a matching mark. I hoped that it hurt him enough that he wouldn't tie us together again.

I wrapped one of the cotton sheets around myself and slid off of the bed. I picked Hunter up off of the ground and cradled him to my chest. I sat down in one of the chairs and cooed to him. I kept my head down, so that I was looking at Hunter, but I could see Tommy take my pillow and prop it up under his head. He watched as I mumbled to Hunter.

"Jules, let's go shower," he told me. "Get up."

Tommy got up off of the bed and grabbed my arm. I kept Hunter secure in my arms and clutched the sheet as I got up onto my feet. Tommy took Hunter from me and set him down on the bed. He pulled me into the bathroom and closed the door. He turned on the water and I sat on the counter.

Tommy moved the sheet off of leg.I tried to swat him away, but he grabbed my wrist. He peeled back the bandage and unravelled it. He looked at the few stitches that were still holding the wound together as it healed.

"I did put quite a mark on you," he said. I could sense a bit of a chuckle behind his voice. "I should have killed you, Jules."

I gasped and pulled the sheet back over my leg.

"It would have been so much easier if you were dead," he said. "I was going to get another girl, and start over. But I can't do that if you're alive, Jules. I need you. I don't know what it is you do to me, but I have to have you. I'm the only one who will have you. So, if you try to run on me again, Jules, I will kill you and Hunter. You understand?"

I nodded my head, and Tommy ripped the sheet off of my body. He pulled me into the shower with him.

We stood under the stream of hot water as Tommy ran his hands over my body. I kept my head down, and stared at the grime that was building up in the tub below our feet.

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Tommy told me that there was a bunch of clothes for me in the suitcase. After the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel and dug through the suitcase. These weren't the clothes from the house. They were much smaller and more up to date. I grabbed a denim dress and a pair of tights. I took Hunter to the sink and washed him up. I wasn't able to give him a proper bath and change his clothes, but I had to settle for this.

Tommy was peeking out of the window. It was dark outside.

"Let's get going," he said. He picked the suitcase up off of the ground and threw it over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We'll find something to eat, and then we'll walk until we can find a new place to stay."

I curled Hunter into my body and followed Tommy as he left the hotel room. I could already see him limping and I knew his leg was bothering him more than mine was. He pulled his hood up and we went down to the lobby. We checked out, and there was the same girl flipping through a magazine. She still didn't recognize us and that made my heart drop in my chest.

We walked out onto the street. A few people passed us, but no one gave us a second look. I wanted to scream out for help, but Tommy would shoot Hunter and I before I had the chance for anyone to help me.

Tommy took a quick glance into every restaurant we passed. He finally stopped outside of a pizzeria. There was only one table of people inside. Tommy gave me some money and took Hunter out of my arms again.

"Let's eat here," he said.

He opened the door and I followed him in. The man behind the counter took our order and we sat down at a table. Tommy handed me back Hunter and I stretched out my sore leg. The other table was really loud and were laughing and shouting in a language I couldn't understand.

Tommy's eyes darted around the room.

I sat Hunter on my lap and he reached for the table. His chubby fingers wrapped around the napkin and he pulled it toward himself. I pulled it away from him, but I realized that cutlery was wrapped up inside of it. I caught a glimpse of the knife.

I looked up to see Tommy's eyes were still bouncing around the room. I slid the knife out of the napkin while he was focusing on the cooks behind the counter. I slipped the knife into the waistband of my tights.

I needed to kill Tommy before he killed me.