Author's note: Sorry for not updating as often! Please continue to comment because I really want to know what your thoughts are. What do you think will happen? How do you like the characters? Don't be afraid to tell me anything.

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When I got out of the shower, Jimmy was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed underneath him. The plate was on his lap.

I didn’t feel like getting changed back into the dirty clothes that Jimmy had put me in while I was unconscious. I brushed my wet hair quickly and wrapped myself up in the towel. I was expecting Jimmy to lay out clothes for me as he usually did, but it looked like he never got up from the bed.

“Sit back down,” he told me.

I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed. I noticed that all of the meat was still on the plate. Between my wet hair and not having any clothes on, my body kept shivering.

“Eat some more,” he ordered me.

“I’m not hungry,” I told him.

I felt my stomach churn as I stared at the meat. Jimmy rolled his eyes at me and shoved the plate onto my lap.

“Julie, I love you,” he said, “so I have to be strict on this. You can’t sleep until all of it is gone.”

“But I’m not hungry, Jimmy,” I started to whine. “Honestly, I can’t- .”

“Juliet,” he said sternly. “You can and you will. We can stay up all night if you would like or you can just eat it now.”

I looked down at the plate and then back up at him. I was going to have to eat this meat eventually. It was either eat it now or stay up all night and get punished in the end. If I made Jimmy stay up all night he would be tired and angry and my punishment would be a lot worse. I didn’t want to stay up all night either. The drug he had given me earlier is still making me feel sleepy and I had to make up for missing today tomorrow.

I picked a piece of the meat up off of the plate and hesitantly brought it up to my mouth. I chewed on the meat with my eyes shut tightly. I tried to think of a pig or cow and I struggled to swallow it. If I was sick there would be a punishment for sure.

My eyes stayed shut as I reached down to the plate and took another piece. I started chewing and felt Jimmy’s weight move around the bed. His arms quickly slid around my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder. I swallowed hard.

“That’s a good girl,” he mumbled to me.

“Can I stop now?” I dared to ask.

“Eat it all.”

I reached back down onto the plate and grabbed more meat. This time I didn’t take the few tiny pieces I normally do. If I kept doing that it would take all night to finish the plate. I grabbed a fistful of the meat and shoved it into my mouth. I chewed it as quickly as I could and swallowed it. I felt the lump travel down my throat and into my stomach.

“Wow,” Jimmy said before kissing my cheek. “I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe how well you’re settling in here.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly as I felt him kiss my cheek again.

“You’re almost done,” he told me. “Finish it up.”

I opened up my eyes and looked down at the plate. There was just a couple of pieces left. I pushed them all into a pile in the middle and then scooped it up with my fingers. I dropped the rest of the food into my mouth. I barely chewed it before I swallowed.

“Good job,” he said tightening his arms around my stomach. I was afraid that he would hold onto me too tight. My stomach was already in twists and knots and I didn’t want him to be the one to make me sick. “I love you.”

I reached over and put the plate onto the nightstand. I needed to get it away from me, even though it’s in me.

Jimmy pushed me back down onto the bed. His weight was soon over top of me, but he had himself propped up on his elbows so that he wasn’t crushing me. The room was dark, causing shadows to cast across his face. It almost completely hid the scared side of his face.

“You like it here, right?” he said.

“Yes,” I told him.

“Tell me it.”

“I like it here.”

Jimmy leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. My hair had already begun to soak the pillow and caused me to shiver even more. Jimmy’s body felt so warm though, and I couldn’t stop myself from tightening my arms around his neck to bring him closer.

He was trying to make me feel better. He knew I was upset and now he wants me to be happy. He made me eat that meat, but it was to help me. I know that I need to get comfortable here and eating that meat would help me relax. It was scary and I never thought I’d be doing it, but I am now and Jimmy’s helping me.

I needed this house. It was the only place I ever felt safe or loved. I was always told that people like this weren’t supposed to be the ones who make me feel loved, but they were obviously wrong. If they were wrong about that then they were wrong about everything.

Jimmy’s the one who loves me. I need to believe him and he says this is the best.

I ran one of my hands down his chest and slipped it up under his shirt. He stopped kissing me so that he could pull his shirt up over his head. The key was dangling around his neck.

There was a time that I was so foolish that all I could think about was getting that key off of him. I was so distracted by thinking of a way to escape that I couldn’t see that all he wanted to do was help me.