Part 2. I made this it's own chapter because it's the darkest one in the book. TW~ First half is very violent and includes choking, the second half has Zoey attempting to force herself onto Joe (I wanna emphasize 'attempting'; it goes a little further than earlier in the book when Zoey forced herself onto Joe, but overall there's nothing graphic). Still, please tread carefully and maybe hold off on reading if you're in a bad headspace.
If you don't want to read, message me and I'll send you a safe summary!
"You really thought it was a smart idea to show your face here tonight?"
Brian cried out as Sam shoved him against the wall. They'd gotten him so fast; one second he'd been sitting on the patio, staring at Joe while Joey had run off to get Darren; the next thing he knew there were arms around his chest and waist. Sam and his cronies had grabbed and dragged him away so fast that he could barely tell what was happening. He'd tried to scream, but someone placed a hand over his mouth as another pushed his upper body down so that nobody else noticed as he was half led half dragged up the stairs.
"Please, I'm sorry, I'll leave, DON'T—"
Sam slapped him across the face to shut him up. He yanked Brian forward by his shirt and shoved him back against the wall again. "You really are dumber than you look. Was Zoey not clear last time she talked to you? Fucking homo."
"Fuck you!" Brian screamed, trying to push Sam off of him. He knew in the moment that he wasn't strong enough to fight off Sam, but he didn't care. They were going to beat him up regardless of whether or not he begged; he wasn't going to take it sitting down.
Sam grabbed Brian by the hair, slamming his head into the wall, before pinning his forearm on Brian's neck. "Yeah yeah, you wish. Keep your disgusting fantasies to yourself, queer." Sam spat in his face, pressing down harder on Brian's neck.
Brian struggled with everything he had, trying to wrestle Sam's arm off of him. He couldn't breath; this wasn't like last time when Sam had held his head underwater. This time, he wasn't giving him any air. His mouth spread into a triumphant smile as Brian's face started to turn red. The smile shot terror into Brian's heart as tears started running down his face. For the first time, Brian was truly scared that they were going to kill him.
"Sam, you gotta let him have air," Doug said tentatively.
"Seriously dude, he's turning purple," Craig added, sounding alarmed.
Sam rolled his eyes, releasing Brian, who collapsed to the floor. "You guys are no fun," he said with a whine, standing over Brian. "Hey sorry man, I tried to make you lose consciousness so that you wouldn't be awake for the rest of this."
Brian was coughing and gasping, trying to catch his breath. He knew that this was most likely his only chance to run; but when Sam had released him he'd found that his legs failed him, and he'd slid down the wall. He'd shakily made his way to his knees in a desperate attempt to crawl away, but he knew that it was hopeless as Sam stood over him.
Sam grabbed him by his waist, dragging him back and stomping on his back. The blunt force knocked Brian down to his stomach, the wind being beaten out of him. "You should know by now that the less you struggle, the easier this will go down buddy." Sam kicked Brian's side, causing Brian to turn over and curl up. He laughed, using his foot to gently push Brian over so that he was on his back.
"Why doesn't—" Brian forced out a cough. "Why doesn't Zoey come fight me herself? I know she's not above getting her hands dirty." Sam kicked Brian in the chest to shut him up. Brian propped himself up on his elbows as he caught his breath. "Do you do everything that she asks you to? What are you, her bitch?"
Sam kicked Brian in the face, making him taste blood. "Shut the fuck up, you pathetic little fairy!"
Brian brought his hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle the blood flow. He was laughing, even as Sam sat down on his chest. It was almost too easy to get under this guys skin. "I'm just saying—don't you even have a girlfriend of your own? Do you really spend all your time neglecting her for one that just orders you around and uses you for show when she wants to make her boyfriend jealous?"
Sam slapped him, hard enough that blood went spraying as Brian cried out. He slapped him several more times before bringing his hands down to his neck. "This'll shut you up. You want to talk jealously, homo?" He clenched Brian's throat, choking him again. "Zoey can't come kick your ass herself because she's off fucking Walker right now. They're probably in a closet somewhere, or maybe even the pool." He let go of Brian's neck, Brian coughing up blood. "I bet that makes you jealous, doesn't it? What's it like to love someone who you know for a fact will never feel the same way about you? Must be pretty depressing, especially for a sad little freak-show like yourself." Sam stood up, taking a step back. He turned to his friends. "Anyone else want to tap in? I feel like I'm having all the fun here." He brought his foot down on Brian's neck this time, pressing down hard.
Any dignity Brian had been managing to hold on to went out as terror flooded his body. He brought his hands to Sam's leg and began to desperately try to wriggle out from underneath him, but to his horror Sam's cronies had joined in. Craig sat down on his chest and grabbed his arms, pinning him down. Brian tried to kick him, but he felt hands wrap around his ankles, and he knew that the other boys were holding down his legs.
Brian would've screamed if he could get in any air. He'd never been so scared in his life. Sam had nearly choked him unconscious before, for no reason. Now, Brian had given him one. Was Sam going to do it? Would he die if he passed out? Was he never going to see Joe again?
Just as Brian was realizing that he should've just told Joe that he loved him when he had the chance, Sam removed his foot. Brian tried to roll over as he coughed and sucked in air, but Craig was still sitting on him. Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed, his body too weak to fight back.
"Not so tough now are you, homo?" Sam asked, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket.
"Please," Brian whispered, his voice coming out raspy. "P-please, stop with the ch-choking." He knew that he looked and sounded pathetic, but he was in too much pain to care. He knew that groveling was what they wanted. "It's t-too much, please."
Sam had lit his cigarette, and was staring down at Brian with a smile on his face as he smoked. "That's what I thought."
"Since when do you smoke cigarettes?" Doug asked.
"Zoey gave them to me. There's more than one good use for them." He knelt down, cigarette still in his mouth, and brought one of his hands back to Brian's neck. Brian immediately tensed up in fear, but Sam let his hand remain unclenched on his neck. "Just when you thought we were out of ways to torment you. Oh buddy, wait until you see what Zoey taught me." He pressed down with the one hand, not enough to choke Brian, but enough to make him uncomfortable. He was trembling from head to toe. "But first, let's do this one more time."
"S-Sam, please," Brian begged, coughing as the smoke blew into his face, and inside of his lungs. He could already barely breathe, it took all of his effort to force out words. "I-I don't want to die."
Craig rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, we're not going to kill you. You're fine." He looked at Sam. "Typical fucking homo, am I right?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know. He may not be. Honestly, it depends on whether or not he can hold his breath."
xXx
Zoey crashed her lips against Joe's, wrapping her arms around his head. Joe tried to pull away, but she held him there, taking her time. Once she finally pulled away, she continued to pull him by the edges of his open shirt. "God, if it weren't for the fact that you don't like being affectionate in public, I'd have you right here." She whispered. She'd dragged him from outside to the middle of the living room.
Joe couldn't move; paralyzed with fear. She was right of course; he hated it when she was all over him in front of people. That said, he was terrified of what she'd do to him if he tried to fight back. "Let's go find somewhere to be alone, shall we?" She brought her lips back to his neck, sucking and biting down, causing him to moan in pain. Zoey pulled back, glancing around the room. To her satisfaction, people were staring at them, many of them girls with obvious envy. She let her hands travel down his body as she began kissing his chest, until her hands were over his groin.
Joe resisted the urge to whimper. This wasn't the first time she'd groped him in public, and he knew better than to complain.
"If you want me to allow this to move somewhere private, you should maybe consider acting like you're enjoying it." She whispered huskily in his ear, as if she was flirting with him instead of threatening him. "Otherwise, I can just take this further right here."
Joe took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He was so uncomfortable, so embarrassed, and so scared. He just wanted to scream and push her off of him. He brought his hand to her face and tilted her chin up, before bringing his lips to hers. He closed his eyes as she kissed him back passionately, wishing that his body would stop betraying him. "Hands too," she whispered in between kisses, and Joe obeyed, bringing his hands that had been hanging next to him the entire time to her waist.
"Good boy," she said, loudly enough so that people could definitely hear. If her goal was to humiliate him, it was working. She brought her hands back to the edges of his shirt. "Come with me." She whispered, tugging him along.
To all the witnesses, she was flirting with him, but Joe knew that that was a threat. He followed her, out of the living room and down the hallway. Zoey skipped happily ahead of him, checking every door that they came across. As much as she'd just been all over him, Joe knew that she was looking for somewhere private so that she could hurt him if necessary.
Finally, she opened a door nearby the stairs, which was a small broom cupboard. "Perfect," she whispered, turning around to face Joe with hungry eyes. "Step inside."
Joe obeyed, his arms starting to tremble. What was she going to do to him? The entire party she'd acted as if he wasn't there, and now in the middle of it she wanted to isolate him?
Zoey followed him in, closing the door behind them. There was barely any light inside of the room, which just terrified Joe more. Before he could even make sense of where she was, she grabbed him and smushed their lips together, kissing him aggressively. Joe retracted back in shock; was she actually trying to be intimate with him right now? "What-what are y—"
"Take this off," she whispered, placing her hands on his chest. When Joe didn't move, she reached up and dug her nails into his neck. "Now." Joe obeyed, whimpering from the pain as he slid his already open shirt off of his arms. Zoey stared down at his body, the little light in the room resting on him. "Dear god you're hot." She whispered, leaning down and licking up his chest. "You know, in spite of the fact that you're a needy little attention whore, you at least are really fucking gorgeous." She brought her lips to his neck, kissing and sucking over the spot where she'd just clawed him. Joe shivered, resisting the urge to push her off of him. Could she not tell how uncomfortable he was? Or did she just not care?
Joe bit his bottom lip to stifle the tears he could feel welling up. He knew the answer, and it broke his heart. He had to do something; if he started having a panic attack now, he was positive that she'd start hitting him. "Z-Zoey?" He whispered through the darkness, her lips still at work on his neck as her hands roamed his chest and abs. "What, what are you doing?"
Zoey snickered, pulling away from his neck and glancing up at him. "What's it look like we're doing?"
"I—we—you want to do this here?"
"I wanted to do this out on the patio, but I'm being nice and respecting your boundaries." She brought her lips to his chest, kissing down slowly.
Joe felt light headed. Between the anxiety tingling inside of his chest over what she was doing to him, and the fear flooding his arms and legs at the idea of what she'd do if he didn't go along with her, he felt like he was going to pass out. "Zoey, I, I don't want to do this here. P-please."
Zoey laughed, continuing to kiss down his chest. "You don't want to get laid? Is that what you're telling me?"
'Why would I be in the mood to make love when you've shown me anything but that?' Joe thought to himself, his hands beginning to flail out of his control. He took deep breaths, trying with everything he had not to burst out crying. "Not here. Not right now. Please, please don't make me. I-I don't want to."
Zoey had found her way down to Joe's navel, and licked her way back up his chest. As she did, she allowed her hands to travel down his chest again, over his belt and down to his crotch. "Really? Because it feels to me like you do." She mocked, biting down on one of his chest muscles.
Joe gasped, his breathing beginning to come out uneven. "That, that's not consent. My body reacting normally doesn't mean that I want t—"
Zoey rolled her eyes, leaning up on her toes and bringing her lips to Joe's to shut him up. As she kissed him, she reached down and undid his belt. "Take off your pants," she whispered, her voice as cold as ice.
Joe started hyperventilating as she slowly dragged his belt through the loops, before disregarding it on the floor. "Please, please don't force me to do this again." He brought his hands up to his head as tears started running down his face. When Zoey ignored him and decided to start unbuttoning his pants without his consent, Joe's instincts took over. He grabbed her wrists, pushing her away.
"Oh, for fucks sake Joe!" Zoey slapped him across the face, causing Joe's crying to intensify. "You are so fucking pathetic and cruel. You're going to reject me, your girlfriend?" She slapped him again, Joe letting out a sob.
He'd done it. He'd set her off. Now, he was going to suffer the consequences. "I-It's not you, it's just—"
"You're fucking right it isn't me! I'm not the selfish asshole who rejects their partner when they're trying to show them love."
"If you loved me, you wouldn't be trying to force me into doing this when I don't want to!" Joe couldn't help it; laughter broke out through his hysterical crying. "This isn't about love," he spat at her. "Don't pretend. This is about control. This is you trying to see just how far you can go. Well I-I'm not going to l-let you do this! P-punish me all you want, I don't c-care."
Zoey kneed Joe in the groin, causing him to double over in pain. She grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back up. "This is about you proving to me whether or not you're a man. And by the looks of it, I guess you're not, which makes me wonder why I'm continuing to waste my time with you."
"Not wanting to sleep with my abuser doesn't make me any less of a man!" Joe yelled, anger finally finding it's way into his system. She'd already done this to him once; he was not going to let it happen again.
Zoey scoffed, at a loss for words. She was quiet for a long time, before she finally pushed Joe against the wall. "What did you just call me?" Joe felt his insides go numb as her nails dug into his chest. Why had he said that? Zoey slapped Joe when he didn't respond. "Answer the question. You said it; say it again."
Joe brought his hands to his mouth, trying to muffle his sobs. "I'm s-sorry, I—"
Zoey brought her hand to Joe's back and used her long nails to scratch him, making him bleed. "No, you're not. This is exactly what you do; this is why I have to treat you the way that I do. You just love turning me into the villain." She brought her hands to Joe's neck, pushing him back against the wall and squeezing. "I have news for you. If you're not going to give me what I want, I can very easily go and get it somewhere else. You think you're special? You think you're important to me? You're not." She spat on him, tightening her grip on his neck. "You could've spent this next hour getting back on my good side. Instead, you're going to wait. And when I get back? We're going to leave, and once we're home I'm going to show you what a real abuser looks like."
She released Joe and stormed out of the closet. Joe collapsed down to his knees, massaging his neck as he gasped for air. Tears continued to pour down his face as he tried to calm himself down. "She's gone," he whispered to himself desperately. "She's gone for now. She's not going to make me do it." He looked up and watched her go, reaching out and grabbing his shirt. As he threw it on and stood up, he acknowledged the fact that he'd actually gotten himself out of the situation. He'd gotten off so much easier than he'd expected; but that could only mean that she had something truly horrible planned for later.
Part of him considered making a run for it, but before he could decide she turned back around, glaring at him. Dread filled his stomach; that meant that he was supposed to follow her. If not, things would only get worse for him.
She held up her hand, gesturing with her finger for him to follow her. "Coming? You're not going to want to miss this."
Explanation in case anyone wants it: I'm aware that this chapter is very dark and I spent a lot of time debating if I would put this scene with Zoey and Joe in the book. I ultimately decided to because one of my biggest goals with this book was to show that men can be victims of narcissistic and domestic abuse, and that women can be abusers (*cough* Amber Heard *cough*). While I've mainly touched on emotional, mental, and physical abuse, I wanted to take a moment to address that men also experience sexual assault. Also for the overall story line, this particular trauma will play a large role in Joe's recovery.