Same Time

twenty-six

j a i m e e

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TRIGGER WARNING: smut

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The pounding on my door is the only sound I wake up too. My bed feels awfully cold without Shayden but I get up, rushing to my door before the sound starts waking up everyone else.

"What the f-Libbie?" My eyes widen as the pink haired girl stands in front of me. Her blue eyes are rimmed red, as if she's been crying excessively.

I haven't seen her since that day in the diner, where Taylor blew up and she stayed entirely silent.

"Jai," Her voice is thick with emotion, cracking as my name manages to make it past her lips. She's shaking, my throat clogs up. "He tried to do it to me too."

Everything stops. Out of everything she could've said, everything that I was expecting, it wasn't that. It never would've been that.

I open my arms and she doesn't even hesitate to rush into them, winding her arms around my entire body as she breaks down. Desperate and desolate sobs cause her small body to shake, her breathing becoming worryingly uneven as her despair completely takes over her body.

"Libb," I whisper, running my fingers through her hair. "Libb? Speak to me. What d'you mean?"

Please don't be what I think. Please tell me he didn't hurt you too.

We walk over to my couch. She sits down next to me as I try to sooth her.

"It's okay, shush. You're safe, I'm not leaving." Trying, and failing, to stop my voice from cracking, I try to gain control over my own senses as she continues to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Jai. This is all my fault. I should've told you or..or-" She cuts herself off, hiding her face in her hands. "Cameron...he..."

"It's okay. Hey, I've got you. It's okay, Libb." She falls into me, leaning her head on my shoulder as I mumble short encouragement to her.

"On the last day of Senior Year, at that party. Cameron kept trying to get me upstairs. I kept saying no, I did Jai I swear. But he kept pushing and I just felt so sick and tired. Like I had no control, I was just going to pass out." She sniffles. I feel sick to my stomach as she describes exactly how I felt. "I just thought he was trying to help me. But I remember him being on top of me and touching everywhere and I was begging him to stop. Before he managed to..." She cuts herself off, biting on her hand to stop another cry. "Taylor walked in with some girl and I managed to run out before he could stop me. He just thought we were hooking up."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Libb." My words come out softly, tears rolling down my face. I was at that party too. I could've stopped him getting her.

"No one..." She inhales, lifting her head up off my shoulder to look me dead in the eye. "No one walked in for you, did they?"

Shaking my head, my eyes flutter shut to try and I attempt to contain the tears streaming down my face.

"I would've believed you, Jai." She whispers, "You're my sister, my best friend. I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't tell me, I'm sorry you've gone through all this alone and I never noticed or gathered the courage to ask."

She has no reason to apologize. I didn't realize either. She'd been taken advantage of months before my own experience and I never even realized.

"I thought I was exaggerating it because I was drunk, you know? It was Cameron...He was too nice, too wholesome to have done something like that."