Alive and Burning

fireside fibs

Ariel POV:
"Hey guys, can I ask you a question?" I asked shakily. They looked concerned "Of course Ari! That's what we're here for" Andy said. "Did you and mom ever like date? Or hookup? Or anything like that" I asked Andy nervously. That was such a weird question to ask. Both Andy and Juliet looked confused and concerned. "No honey, never. Why would you ever ask such a thing?" he said firmly- expecting an answer.

Well this was awkward... "It's just that sometimes mom will be asleep and she will start yelling your name like 'Andy no! Andy stop! What are you doing?' and she will cover her chest and hips up with her arms. All well she's asleep" I admitted. I really hoped this wasn't some secret fetish my mom had and I was just telling everyone. Juliet and Andys faces paled as I told them, by the end Andy had his head in his hands. "16 years later" Andy mumbled into his hands. Juliet placed a hand on Andys back and looked at me pityingly. But why? "Honey Andy made some mistakes when he was young and drunk. He would never hurt your mother. He still feels terrible about it" she rubbed my knee. Just as she was opening her mouth to keep talking Andy sat up: "Let me tell her". Both me and Juliet looked at him like he was crazy.

"When we were younger- the year before your mother got pregnant to be exact- I had way to much to drink. At that point we were all living in the same house, your house. All the couples had a room except for your mom. Her and Jinxx had separate rooms because they weren't dating yet. Your mothers room was right next to me and Juliets. When I got home that night, drunker then I had ever been I tried to touch Juliet against her will. Your mom must have heard because she came in to make sure everything was ok. Once she walked in I proceeded to.... to..... rape her.... I raped her in front of everyone" his body was shaking as sobs overtook him. At this moment he looked so frail and helpless. I was speechless. "Do... Do you remember it? What did Cc do? Didn't he try and stop you? What about Ashley" I asked horrified.

Andy was crying to hard to give an understandable answer so Juliet had to answer. "No, Cc and Ashley don't know how far it went. They weren't home that night. Me, Jinxx and Jake were the only ones home. None of us were strong enough to overtake Andy without hurting your mother. We thought that if we just let him do it then it would be over with and he would leave your mother alone" she confessed crying now also.

Placing a hand to my cheek I realised I too was crying. Great. "But my mom forgave you" I asked. Andy nodded "Completely, said it wasn't my fault I was so drunk. Jinxx always monitors how much I drink.". I understood everything except for monitoring his drinking. Andy always drunk as much as he wanted whenever he wanted. And Andy was a happy drunk, not a violent one? Something didn't add up but I'm not sure I wanted to know what.

"If my mother can forgive you then so can i" I smiled wiping a tear from his cheek. He embraced me in a giant hear hug, crying what were now tears of joy. We all hugged for probably 10 minutes