Revealing Lennon ||one shot||

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Lennon sat on the chair across from the 19 year old boy, his hands were balled up and his arms were strained with popped out veins.

"I thought he would stop after I told him 'no'...after I pushed him off. But-" his voice cracked and he broke down in sobs. He rubbed his hands on his arms and then with his nails as if trying to take off the filth.

Lennon noted his behavior. It was all too similar, she too wanted to claw away at her skin, maybe then it would erase his trace.

"Jamie, if," she trailed. "You don't mind, I'd like to go over what happened that night."

"We were drunk," he sobbed. "Then we started making out. I let him touch me at first, but he...he was so harsh. I wasn't used to such," he searched for the word.

"Dominance?"

He nodded,"I told him to stop but he kept going. He, he forced himself on me even more. I thought, 'if I just close my eyes and let him, it would be over soon'. I just wanted to get it over with.

"When he was done he left and I just stayed there... I felt so dirty for letting him do that to me." He confessed and hugged himself tighter.

"Jamie, I know what you are going through feels like. And I want to assure you that you did all you could. No means no and if he couldn't understand that, then he'll have to own up to his actions in court.

"With your testimony and the proof on your clothes, we'll make sure he stays behind bars as long as the state of California will allow it."

With that, Lennon gave him assuring words and a smile and left the room. The authorities came into the dorm room and asked her for her notes which she reluctantly handed over.

-

"Do you see your mommy, Mia?" The lady from the daycare asked the little blonde girl while she held her hand.

"No," the little girl sighed. It seemed as if little Mia would yet again be the last person to be picked up and she would have to help Miss Harper to clean up the paint brushes, something she hated.

But her mom came into view, high heels clicking and her blond ponytail swaying. Mia was convinced her mommy was indeed -as her father had convinced her- a princess.

The woman looked too elegant, even with a suit. She had an aura of authority but her green eyes radiated humbleness.

"I'm not late, am I?" She asked.

"Not this time," Miss Harper said.

"Bye," Mia waved at the teacher while she clutched to her mommy's hand.

"I promised Jake we would go for ice cream after I picked him up from school," Lennon told Mia as she secured her in her booster seat.

The little girl licked her lips and rubbed her tummy, "yummy."

On the way to pick the boy up, Mia kept bragging about her day at preschool.

"Jakey!" She squealed in exitement at seeing her brother. He on the other hand, waved lazily at her, evidently too tired to even move. "I'm guessing you made the team," Lennon shot him a grin from the rearview mirror.

He smiled back, "I made A-Team, center field."

"Ooh! That's my boy. Wait till your dad hears this,"Lennon excitedly cheered.

Once they got home, Jake let the weight of his sports bag fall onto the ground and himself on top of it.

"Go get cleaned up, champ. You gotta take Rudy out," Lennon passed her manicured hand through the boy's blond hair.

"Okay," he groaned, letting the black Labrador pup out and going upstairs to shower.

-

"That's so good, honey!" Rowan congratulated his wife on the case. She could tell he was tired and unused to the timezones changing from home to London.

She pressed her hand to the laptop's screen and the dark haired man did the same. Both of their wedding bands showing, "I love you, Len," he whispered.

"I love you too, Rowan," she smiled.

"Hey, if I do get the promotion, then that means we have to move here," he said with a hint of worry and sadness in his voice.

"We can talk about it later," Lennon said calmly. To be honest, she was afraid to move. She didn't want to leave the job she loved so much because that would mean she would have to adapt to something new. She didn't like new.

"Can you say goodnight to the kids for me...I gotta get some sleep for the presentation tomorrow," Rowan said with a tired smile.

"I wil," she blew a kiss at him and he pretended to catch it and put it away in his shirt's pocket.

-
It was Saturday and Lennon had taken the kids and Rudy to the park.

It was still early in the morning so they would first go for a walk, then some breakfast and then go over Rowan's Mom's house for a while.

The girl followed the dog who was relieved of his leash. Her short blonde hair bouncing along her shoulders.

Jake took out a soccer ball and began dribbling it with his feet. Lennon sat on one of the swings and swung slowly.

After a while, Lennon was thinking about calling them back when Jake kicked the ball a bit harder than necessary.

The black and white sphere spun onto a couple who were walking on the grass. The guy looked for the owner and soon spotted Jake running over for his ball. The man let go of his girlfriend's hand and reached down for the ball, Jake got to the man who'd squatted down to be at his height.

Lennon could see they were talking, the man then looked her way and she didn't notice her son waving at her. The man seemed to smile at the boy and Jake ran back to his mom.

"Mom," he said panting. "Bradley says 'hi'."

Lennon was taken aback, she hadn't heard that name in almost 12 years. She took her son's hand and frantically looked for Mia she saw the girl scratching the dog and called her over. "Mia! Mia, honey," her voice cracked. "We have to go."

"But, Moooom!" They both groaned and complained.

She was going 10 over the limit when she got to her mother-in-law's house.

Knocking frantically and loudly, the woman opened the door and pushed her kids in while fishing her phone out of her purse. "I saw Bradley," she whispered at the woman. Her eyes went wide and before she could ask any questions, Lennon was already on the phone. "Greg?"

"Yeah, but you said he wouldn't be able to come near me," Lennon said into the phone.

"He knows his boudaries, Lennon. You know if he tries anything, we'll take him back in," the man reasoned with her.

But Lennon didn't know reason. She was afraid, anxious. "Stay calm, Lennon." He tried, "If you feel in danger, we can send a patrol over there."

"I don't think that's necessary," she said.

Lennon wasn't about to let that monster run her life anymore. She was in charge of her life. She made the decisions.

So she decided to be happy, to not worry. She had decided in that moment that if her husband got the promotion, they would move to London. Because change can be good sometimes. And she needed change.