Personal Experience

Chapter Twelve

“It’s alright, Love,” he says smiling reassuringly at her.

She takes another deep breath, “Well, I went on a few dates with him. He treated me real sweet. I thought we could work, but I was wrong…” I look around our circle; Liam and Zayn are clenching their jaws. I can read it on their faces that they know what she is going to tell them. “On the last date… He walked me back to my door like usual. But he had further intentions that night…” Gasps come from the girls mouths. “I was forced into my house, and pulled to the room right off the entrance to the house.”

“You don’t need to say the rest!” yells Zayn. “I don’t want to hear it!” Colleen jumps a little.

“It…” Perrie speaks, “It can’t be true…” she looks terrified.

“There’s more, though…”

“MORE?!” screams Liam.

Colleen begins to shake, “Do you want me to tell them what happen after that?” I whisper to her. She nods her head turning into me; her tears picking back up again. I take in a deep breath, “Guys… She… She started self-harming as well.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Zayn yells.

“Zayn! Shut up!” Perrie slaps his arm.

“How can I stay silent through this?! Our best friend got fucking raped and kept it from us!”

Colleen is trembling. “Guys,” says Louis calmer than the rest, “Just shut up. Please.” He comes closer to us starting to rub Colleen’s arm.

“So that’s why you’ve been so jumpy…” whispers Eleanor. “That’s why you yelled at Harry about treating you so gently…” Colleen nods her head. “Oh baby.” That’s it, though; she really is the ‘baby’ of our group.

Liam storms out of the room, and we all just stare at him.

“Should we go after him?” I ask.

KAitlyn answers, “No. Let him cool off. I don’t even go after him when he’s like this, you know that.” We all nod our heads.

“This is why you freaked out at Harry last night, isn’t it?” Perrie asks.

“Yes…” whispers Colleen.

“That’s the reason for everything that has happened these couple of days,” Andrea says for the first time since we all woke up.

“There isn’t much to do now,” I answer.

“Was anything done after it happened, Colleen?” El is very concerned for her.

Colleen nods her head, “Yea, he’s in prison now. I wasn’t the only one he hurt.”

“What?”

“Yes, about five other women, but his case is still being looked over,” there is no emotion behind her words.

“She told me that it won't be finalized for a while.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask. I don’t understand these things. Juries are full of a bunch of idiots."

“It… It all makes sense now. At least…” Zayn speaks. “Why didn’t you tell us what happened?”

“I was scared. I didn’t want to bother you guys…”

“But you told the girls,” Niall says speaking for the first time of the night.

“They’re my be-”

“I thought we were best friends?!” Niall interrupts her. “You’ve told me everything since we started talking. I didn’t keep anything from you.”

“I don’t know… Maybe I just felt, and still feel, ashamed of what happened.”

“Why?”

“Because I let it happen…”

“If he was stronger than you there wasn’t much you could do.”

“It was his fault for hurting you,” Kaitlyn adds.

“I could have protected myself… I could have hit him back, but I just let it happen.”

“You can’t blame yourself for it, Princess.”

“And neither can you, Harry,” says Andrea. I ball my fist. “You know damn well why you can’t.”

“I could have kept her mine, but I didn’t. She wouldn’t have had to worry about meeting someone else.”

“And what would you have done if the tabloids got to her?” Andrea asks. “Sometimes she freaks out just like I do.”

“But she knows I’m nothing like what the paparazzi play me out to be.”

Colleen says, “It still would have gotten to me… What would you do when in interviews they asks who single and who’s taken? Would you have been able to keep it a secret?”

I wrap my arms around her placing my chin on the top of her head looking at everyone, “No. No, you’re too special to me for you to be kept a secret. I guess I was afraid of the hate you would get.”

“You know I could have handled that,” she laughs lightly.

“Are you sure?” asks Eleanor.

She shrugs her shoulders, “I have no clue. Maybe, maybe not. I’m still surprised no one saw us during that year and a half before you guys started the last tour,” she sighs, “And when we did date then I deleted my social medias; I got rid of my Twitter first, of course. I can’t stand what I see on there, sometimes. I probably would have bitched right back at anyone who tried to hurt me.” Everyone laughs seeing our Colleen come out a bit. The band took almost three years off after the stadium tour in 2014 before we even planned our next one. We needed the break; but that year away from Colleen nearly ruined me. So coming back to this news broke me even more.

Uh, oh! Liam!!