Shattered - A Rape Story

Tell Me How To Fix This

The first thing PJ heard was a fist pounding the wall outside his apartment that then turned into what sounded like painful sobbing. He opened the door and found Brandon crying.

"What's going on?"

"Lily..." he whispered trailing off.

PJ's face bunched in confusion. "You mean she told you?"

"Told me what? That she wasn't different? That she's nothing but some easy bitch? Yeah, man. She told me" he scoffed still facing away from him.

White hot anger raged inside of PJ. What had he just said? He grabbed Brandon's shoulder and spun him around to face him.

"Don't you fucking dare talk about her like that. This wasn't her fault" he growled gripping the front of Brandon's shirt.

"Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that?! How the hell could it not have been her fault?" he demanded shoving PJ away from him

"What the fuck are you saying!?"

"I'm saying what did she expect would happen when she comes over here throwing herself at my roommate when I'm not around? You think I could just let that go?"

"Throw herself at Chris? Are you fucking serious?" PJ questioned in disbelief. "If you think it went down that way then you deserve to burn in hell with him" he seethed shoving Brandon into the wall as he walked out of the building.

"FUCK" Brandon screamed in frustration slamming the door to his place.

10 minutes later PJ was throwing open the door to Lily's house.

"Lily?" he called out.

"Hey Peter, ever heard of this thing called knocking? It's the polite way to enter another person's home" Eric jested walking into the main foyer.

"Hi PJ" Vanessa called from the kitchen.

"Sorry" he said distractedly. "Is Lily upstairs?"

"No guys over after 10."

"Eric! Jesus, nothing's going to happen. The girl's seen me pick my nose for god's sake. Any chance of romance died off when we were 4. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"Alright, go on up" Eric sighed.

He raced up to her bedroom and found her crying under the covers. He sat on the edge of the bed lifting her into his arms. "Shh" he cooed. "It'll be okay. It's going to be alright." He rocked her gently, just like he had that morning, until she stopped crying. "What happened?"

"He told Brandon that I came over and I was hitting on him. He said I was asking for it. Brandon believed him. He thinks it's my fault" she sobbed falling against PJ's chest.

"Oh honey, it's not your fault. It's not your fault" he repeated hugging her close.

"I can't get it out of my head" she said through the tears. "It won't stop. I can't see anything else. I can't... I can still feel his hands on my skin. It won't go away."

PJ kept rocking her unsure of what to do. He just wanted to help her somehow. Seeing her hurt like this was one of the worst experiences of his life.

"I know it's a lot to ask but... please stay tonight. I don't want to be alone."

"Anything you want. I'll make up a story for Eric. Just close your eyes. I'll take care of it. I'm not going anywhere."

While he went to talk to Eric she curled back underneath her covers stopping to pop a sleeping pill. She hadn't needed them since 4 years ago when she kept having nightmares about her parent's death but the prescription was always refilled just in case. Tonight she needed darkness, a deep sleep free of dreams or anything else. Just complete and utter nothing.