weak; mcduke

sacrifice

sacrifice (vb)- give up (something important or valued) for the sake of other considerations.

october 1, 1989 / mcnamara's pov

I fumbled around in the glove compartment of Heather's Jeep. I finally came upon my phone. I pressed the home button, entered my password and pulled up my contacts. I tapped "Veronica" and held it up to my ear. I stared at my feet, barely visible in the dark, as it rang.

"Veronica? I need your help, I'm at the cemetery," I said quietly. My hand twitched and I wondered if I'd taken my medication.

"What's wrong?" Her voice made my tensed gut feel a little better.

"Hurry up, please. It's an emergency," I begged.

"Okay."

I hung up and waited. I listened to my surroundings. Kurt was still passed out. If he wasn't, I doubted he'd stay quiet. A bit of time passed and my thoughts drifted. I was snapped out of my daze by a flurry of footsteps and pounding on the window on my side. I checked to make sure the door was still locked before rolling it down. I bit back a sigh of relief at the sight of Veronica and settled for a warm smile. My heart, however, doubled its beating. Why was I so awkward around my crush- I mean, friend?

"Hey," Veronica greeted with a half-wave.

"Hi," I replied, my voice going high as I waved back.

"Uh... is Kurt okay?" She gestured to the heap that was my passed-out boyfriend. He'd gotten with me ever since Heather died. I grabbed my arm awkwardly.

"He passed out," I spoke and proceeded to explain how I got there and why Kurt was out cold.

"Then Heather and Ram went off together and Kurt started... grabbing me... and wouldn't stop." Veronica nodded but seemed thoroughly confused.

"Oh. Wait- a-after everything that happened at Ram's party, why did you call me?"

"Oh, well, that was the deal. If I got you to come, Kurt promised to leave me alone." I smiled, rather proud of my genius. What I wanted to add was "And you're really smart and pretty and I want to trust you, so I guessed you'd be able to get me out of this".

"So... so you avoided date-rape... by volunteering me. For date-rape." She gestured with her finger as she spoke. I frowned.

"God, you made me sound ugly," I said quietly. My head was still fuzzy. I really should've taken my medicine.

"I'm leaving now," Veronica said flatly, sticking her hands on her hips and turning to walk away. She only got in front of the Jeep before Kurt appeared out of nowhere.

"Heeeey, Veronicaaaaaaa..." he slurred, staggering toward her. "I waited ten whole beers for you.." He collapsed into a curled-up ball.

// duke's pov

"God d*mnit, Ram, I said I'm done," I snapped, dragging the jock who happened to be twice my size and clinging onto my foot. I yanked my leg out of his grasp, still f*cking grossed out at what he'd done to me.

"C'Mon, Heather, don't walk away!" he groaned.

I quickly approached the Jeep and turned. "Sober up, idiot."

"Heather, unlock the door," I said to her, keeping my tone firm like I did with all of our interactions in public. She'd locked herself in the car, apparently. She obliged and I locked it behind me as I slid into the driver's seat. Ram stumbled over and walked into the window.

"Ugh... you're causing physical pain in my area.." He stepped back and made circling motions around his front "area". I watched on, not amused, but could feel Heather's nervous eyes on me. I opened my mouth to tell her I'd keep everything in line and that I'd do whatever it took to keep them away from her and I, but was cut off by the bozos again.

"It's science, I need relief." Kurt, curled up on the grass a few feet away, pointed to Veronica with a groan. I hadn't noticed she was there.

"Hey, 'Ronica~" Ram began, stepping toward her. Kurt slowly rose to his feet.

"Eww, you got a left hand, use it," Veronica curled her lip and stepped backwards.

"Don't talk mean like that! You'll hurt their feelings," Kurt yelled.

"What? Hurt who's feelings? What're you talking about-"

"You make my balls so blue~" Ram sang.

"You hurt them badly.." Kurt added.

And so I spent the next half of a minute in the Jeep next to Heather, observing two wasted guys try and coax Veronica into sex and making sure the locks were set on the doors properly so they didn't turn on us. It was only a matter of time before she came to Heather's side and pounded on the window with her fist.

"Heather, Heather, open the door.." she pleaded. I wasn't about to let her in our only safety. I would keep my silent promise.

"Oh no, oh no, no, no~" I replied, singing along to the humming Kurt and Ram outside.

"Open the door!" she shouted, p*ssed off.

"Oh no, oh no, no, no~" Heather and I chorused again.

// mcnamara's pov

I felt miserable. The no-medicine cloud had lifted from my conscience and I knew what we were doing to poor Veronica. I didn't want her to have to do this. But I went along with Heather because I knew she'd do everything to keep me away from harm. Ram and Kurt sang their blues for a little longer, with Heather and I chiming in as backup to stay on their good sides.

At some point I pulled out the large bottle of bourbon that Heather left on the floor and held it up for her to see in the full-moon lighting. I figured it'd be comforting to have something to drink while I was forced to watch my friend-who-I-cared-about-more-than-a-friend eventually be raped by Heather and I's boyfriends. She smiled approvingly. It occurred to me that I'd left the window open at the same time I felt Veronica grab the bottle from my hands. I turned to watch what she was doing, feeling a wave of cold sweat wash over me. Oh, god... I did not want to see this.

I regretted asking Veronica to help me.

"Look, booze, drink!" Veronica said with a fake smile and shoved the bottle in Ram's arms.

"Thank you so much!" He seemed drunkenly appreciative, taking a long swig of it and passing it to Kurt. I had no clue what she was trying to besides increase her risks of being forced to... I dismissed the thought once I saw Heather's face. She seemed genuinely surprised. She must know what Veronica is trying to do. My head throbbed more.

We reached the near-end of the song and Heather and I were singing in the background. I copied off of her dirty references that she belted out and we clapped along to the beat. I kept glancing over at Veronica, who'd started clapping and backing away slowly. She soon high-tailed it through the forest, out of sight.

// duke's pov

Kurt and Ram soon ended out the song with an awkward note and collapsed in a pile. Veronica's plan had worked. She'd given them enough booze to pass out. How clever. I turned to Heather, who was white-faced and shaking. F*ck...

"Are you feeling good?" I asked, grabbing her hand. She didn't react other than flinching. Sh*t, did she not take her meds?

"N-no... I'm not feeling good..." she whispered, pulling her hand out of my grasp. A spike of alarm shot in my stomach.

"Look, we gotta get out of here. They might wake up any second, Heather," I murmured. She nodded and I started up the Jeep.