The Clock Watcher

Chapter Two

"Tommy, stop trying to get in her pants." He turned to scowl at me, and I glared back at him. He and all of the others needed to know my sister was off limits. Eventually, they backed the fuck off, and the party continued. I made my way around, and when I got to Nancy I greeted her with a kiss.

"Hey babe," I whispered into her ear, kissing down her neck.

"I'm so glad Valerie is getting along with everyone, she was so scared when she first met me," Nancy said, and I practically gained a hard-on at the way she cared for my sister. I gave her some half-assed reply, before diving back into a kiss, grinding into her to show how much she pleased me. I would have kept going, if not for the throat that was cleared behind me. I rolled my eyes, making sure Nancy could see the movement.

"Jonathan." I didn't hate the guy, I just hated the fact he was trying to get with my girl.

"Harrington." I gave him a depthless smile and walked away, before I said anything I would regret. I looked around for Valerie, and found her surrounded by the guys. Tommy's mouth moved and Valerie physically flinched. Fuck. I only now remembered what Valerie had opened up about a month before.

I was woken up by a scream, and at first I was worried Valerie was hurt. I rushed to her room, but upon opening the door I noticed she was still sleeping, writhing under the covers while little whimpers left her mouth. I immediately ran to her, trying to wake her up.

"Valerie, Mousy, wake up." I gently rocked her, until eventually she shot up, panting. I embraced her in a hug but she fought my embrace, hitting my chest and kicking, trying to get away.

"You're okay, Val, you're safe," I comforted, hoping to grant her some sense of security. Eventually she calmed, still trembling but the whimpers stopped. I rocked her gently, despite her insistence to stay awake. That was okay with me, as long as she felt safe in my arms.

"Please, Valerie, tell me what's wrong. Tell me what happened." She looked down, seemingly...embarrassed? She did a writing motion, and I got the hint to give her a piece of paper and a pencil. I put it on the desk and she slumped into the seat, obviously tired. Despite that, she got to drawing, and I sat on the bed, trying not to look. I didn't want to discourage her or make her stop.

After maybe twenty minutes she got up from the desk, gripping the paper tightly. She thrusted it out to me and looked away, as if she was scared of my reaction. I looked at the drawing, which was a very realistic picture of a girl and two guys. The girl looked like a younger version of Valerie, and she was being held in place by one of the guys, the younger of the two but still years older than the girl in the picture. The other guy was on top of her seemingly...in her. Holy shit. I snapped my head up to Valerie, who had her head down, her gaze to the floor, and tears dripping out of her eyes.

"Valerie," I asked carefully, "is this you, in the picture?" She nodded, and my heart broke into a thousand pieces. I held my arms open, and she crawled into them. "Is it okay if I ask you some questions, and you nod or shake your head?" She nodded, and I gathered my thoughts, pushing my unraveling emotions and tears back.

"The guys in the picture, did they rape you?" Nod.

"Did you know them?" Nod.

"Did you trust them?" Shake. So from the beginning she didn't trust these men.

"How did you know them?" Before I could correct my mistake of the open-ended question, she grabbed the piece of paper and wrote Cousins. I closed my eyes to hold back tears, and pulled Valerie back into the hug.

"How old were you?" She jotted down 14.

"Are these what your flashbacks are about?" Nod and shake. So she has more flashbacks than just this event.

"Are they still alive?" Shake.

"Did someone help you?" Nod. Good.

"Is this why you flinch away from men?" Nod.

"God Valerie, I'm so sorry. I promise you, from now on no man will ever fucking touch you."

Fuck. I promised her, and yet here she was, surrounded by a bunch of grade-A assholes. I picked up my pace, practically running to her, but by the time I reached Valerie the tears had gathered in her eyes. I gave her a hug, before pushing her behind me so she was out of the view of the guys.

"What the fuck, guys, I told you to keep your filthy dicks away from her," I growled, trying to keep my voice low so I didn't startle Valerie.

"I know, but she's just so hot, Harrington. Look, she's gone and got me hard." Tommy, out of all people, gestured to the tent in his swim trunks, and I swear I saw Valerie peek out from behind me.

"See, she wants a peek." Val started to hyperventilate, and I whipped around and pounded a fist into Tommy's face before turning around to stop Valerie's impending panic attack. Once I got her settled down, I sent her off to sit with Nancy, who I explained the situation to. She understood and took to distracting Val while I took care of the guys.

"Tommy, get your fucking friends and get out of my house."

"What the fuck, dude. I was just playing around. No need to get so serious." I grinded my teeth and I grabbed him by the shirt, pushing him against the fence.

"I won't repeat myself, Hagan," I spit out, satisfied with the terror that flashed in his eyes. I let him go and he dropped to the ground, saying something to his friends, not mine anymore, before running out. His little crew followed him out, and I sighed in relief before making my way to Valerie.

"I'm sorry that happened, Mousy. Can you try to enjoy the rest of the party? Please?" Val nodded, and I grinned at her, roughing up her hair, before walking away to calm Carol, who, for some reason, decided to stay.

While trying to get her to leave, Dustin's loud-ass voice kept distracting me from the conversation. Eventually, I tuned into the conversation, but all I could hear was Dustin trying to get someone into the pool, probably Mike or Lucas. I rolled my eyes, turning back to Carol, before I heard a splash and had enough.

"What the fuck, Henderson," I yelled, stomping over to him. He was grinning, faced toward the pool in anticipation. "What did you do?"

"I threw her into the pool." He giggled, waiting for "her" to resurface. I was confused, before realizing that the "her" was Valerie.

"You did not," I responded, dumbfounded. My eyes searched the water, and yet she never resurfaced. "She can't swim," I whispered to myself in realization. I heard Dustin and the other kids panicking in the background, but I was too busy diving into the water to make out what they said.

Once I dove in, I searched the water. I found her, settled against the bottom, eyes closed and body spasming. My mind panicked, and I rushed to pull her out. Once our heads rebroke the surface, I threw Valerie over the edge of the pool, before hauling myself out, too. I started CPR, pushing against her chest. When I leaned down to give her mouth to mouth, though, something, some force, stopped me. Too panicked to be concerned at this, I called Nancy over, and she continued the CPR while I coached her through it.

Valerie suddenly coughed, and I felt the breath of relief leave my lungs. Thank god. I rolled her onto her side so she could expel all the water from her system, and then, once I was positive she was alright, I pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Val, oh god you scared me." I pulled away to examine her face, affirming her aliveness, before pulling her head back into my chest. "I'm so sorry, Mousy. I wasn't paying attention. I'll never let it happen again. I promise." She hugged me tighter, a silent reassurance that she was okay. I stood up, her still in my arms, and motioned Nancy over to me.

"Can you tell everyone to leave, and that the party is over?" She nodded, saying goodbye to Valerie before going around to kick all of the people out of my party. I realized that I should be the one to do this, but Valerie was more important to me than a bunch of people and a party. I carried Val upstairs, and ran her a bath, gently setting her in before going into her closet to pick out some pajamas. I left it by the door, and sat outside of her bedroom, waiting for the four knocks she would give me that would let me know she was dressed. I entered her room, and saw her under the covers, all snuggled up. I practically swooned, before heading over to say good night to her. I kissed the top of her head, making sure she felt loved before I left her for the night, my heart filled with regret.