The next day I woke up in Nate's arms in a hotel room, I carefully got up and went to the bathroom, my thoughts consuming me, I stood in front of the mirror for a moment, Nate's voice broke the silence,

"B you okay?"

I turned around looking at Nate and smiled, "Yes I'm fine."

He smiled too, "Okay good, we have to make sure we're all packed your aunt told me we had to be out by 11 am."

"Yeah I gotta go pack my stuff in her room," I say leaning down to grab my dirty stuff and heels.

I leave the room and use my key to my aunts room, I pack my stuff up and bring it out, my aunt was already gone, Nate and I use the elevator to go down, we meet my aunt in the lobby and we get into her car and she drives us home, we get out and I look at Nate,

"I'm gonna go home for a bit, my moms back and I wanna spend time with her."

He nods, "Of course! I'm going away with my mom and her boyfriend for a week, I'll call and text."

I just nod at him, hiding my feelings, "Okay Nate I'll see you in a week."

I turn away and walk up to my house, the place I hadn't set foot in for nearly a week, I unlocked the door, ripping the police tape down, I step inside looking around, the house was still messy, the blood was cleaned up by a hazmat team, but the broken glass remained. I began to relive that night over again, my heart shattered, I snapped out of it and began cleaning up, it took me 3 hours to get the whole house back together again, I grabbed all the dirty laundry and started a load, then I went and made a salad, I only ate a few bites. Then my mom came home with Todd, I was watching tv in the living room when they arrived,

"Hey Brooklynn!" My mom slurred a bit.

Greaaaat she's fucking drunk already, what's next?

"Hi mom, Todd." I said then got up.

Todd was really drunk, my phone chimes as he says,

"Disrespectful bitch."

I ignore my phone and say, "excuse me? Are you talking to me asshole?"

He steps towards me, I step back, as he says, "So fucking what if I am."

"Back the fuck up, your way to close," I say backing up again, my back hitting the window.

"Don't speak to me like that bitch!" He yells and then he hits me, hard, splitting my lip open and causing it to bleed.

I didn't think twice, I swung back, punching him in the nose, I heard a crack, then Todd yelled,

"Fucking cunt! I will kill you!"

My mom was passed out at this point, she wasn't ever going to defend me, piece of shit mother, I ducked as Todd swung, I bolted away, I ran up the stairs as I did he grabbed my ankle causing me to fall hitting the stairs hard,

"Fuck!"

He dragged me towards him, climbing on top of me, he began to rip my clothes off, I struggled against him, he hit me over and over again until I stopped fighting, he raped me then left me laying on the ground and went to lay next to my sleeping mother on the couch. I couldn't move or speak, my phone kept going off, then the knocking on my door, I managed to get myself up and drag myself upstairs, I was shaking so badly, I looked down at my phone reading the texts from Nate,

B I can hear yelling are you okay?

B?! Are you okay? I keep hearing you scream

Brook I'm coming over let me in

I'm knocking on your door....

B....are you okay?!

I left him on read and locked myself in my bathroom, how could I tell Nate what happened? I grabbed a razor and slit my wrist, bleeding into the floor, I crawled into the bathtub as I heard sirens, I lost Consciousness after that. I woke up to the sound of voices, I heard Nate's the clearest,

"She was fine, she got into a fight with Todd at the funeral....I have no idea what happened to her once they arrived, she wouldn't answer my texts, or her door so I called you guys."

One of the paramedics was carefully trying to lift me out of my tub, he made eye contact with me,

"What happened to you Brooklynn?"

"A lot I don't wanna talk about it..." I said weakly.

Nate's head instantly snapped towards me, hearing my voice, I looked over at him, he was upset, I direct my next lines at him,

"Nate go on your trip with your mom, I'll be fine, I always am....I'll keep in touch..."

He walks to me, leaning down, he puts his lips on mine and kisses me passionately, tears falling, "B you better, I called your aunt she's downstairs talking to the cops."

I just nod, then pass out.

Nate's POV:

She passed out after nodding to me, my heart was broken, they were saying something about rape and Suicide, I wanted to hurt Todd, he touched my brook the girl I loved, wait did I just say loved? I love Brooklynn and I have for so long, seeing her hurt hurts me, seeing her in the tub with blood everywhere and her clothes ripped up, she might never trust anyone again, Todd raped my best friend and the girl I love, I don't know how she'll get over this or if she ever will, she was strong but I wasn't sure she'd move past this without struggling and she may never let anyone touch her again. That scared me, I wanted to hold her, and tell her how much I cared about her. They lifted her out of the tub and onto the stretcher her body was bruised and broken, there was bad bruising on her thighs and arms, I wanted to hold her close but I couldn't, I didn't want to leave her but I had too.

I went on my trip, when I returned Brooklynn wasn't home, she wouldn't answer my calls or texts, the last thing I got from her was,

I'm safe, I'll call when I can

I didn't see her again for weeks, when I did she was pregnant, she was getting an abortion, she was having a hard time with life, I was afraid she would kill herself. She did try a few times over the next year.

2 years later.....

It's almost my birthday, I'm 17 Brooklynn is doing better, she lives with her aunt now, Todd doesn't get to lay a hand on her anymore since he's behind bars, her mom is with another new guy, abusive as fuck, he hit Brooklynn in front of me and I laid him out real quick, Brooklynn sometimes has nightmares, but she won't talk about them or the rape, so I don't bring it up, she barely lets me hold her now, if I get to close or touch her when she's not looking she jumps and instantly gets defensive and ready to hit, my heart is broken and I just wanna help her out, I needed to get her to go to therapy, she needed to talk to someone about it.

Brooklynn spent the night with me since my mom was away with her boyfriend, she wouldn't sleep next to me, so I let her have my bed and I took the floor, I didn't sleep last night, I was too worried about her, at school she didn't talk to anyone but Keisha Hilton, her best friend who has gone through the same stuff Brooklynn has, she met her in a support group and realized they went to the same school but never talked, I was glad she made a new friend, she needed someone to talk to and Keisha was it. With my birthday just days away, I was trying to figure out what to get Brooklynn for her birthday which would follow mine.

Brooklynn's POV:

I was different, 2 years ago I was raped and I tried to end my life, I spent some time in the hospital after that, about a month, I didn't speak to Nate, he would visit but I wouldn't talk, I could see the hurt in his eyes and the pain he was feeling for me, but I couldn't tell him, I found out I was pregnant before I was released from Psych, I scheduled an abortion and moved in with my aunt, Todd was arrested and charged with sexual assault on a minor, I was never the same again, the moment Todd raped me was the moment I died and became a different Brooklynn, I trusted no one but Keisha, I was having issues trusting Nate because he was a male, I'm not saying I'm afraid he would hurt me, I'm just afraid of being hurt again. The next few days blurred together for us, we went to school, I spent more time with Keisha, she helped me pick out Nate's birthday gift.