Flashback
Veronica's POV
Today there's a party at a friend's place, it's getting close to the holidays for all of us to go home. She figured we should all have one last hoorah before going home so she's throwing a small get together. The party is in an hour and I know for a fact I'm going to be running late, but I mean what else is new.
Somehow I managed to get to my friend Michaela's place not too late, but by the looks of it this party is not as small as she wanted. I walk into the party and try to find my friend and instead spot someone from my hometown, joe.
I immediately walk into the kitchen knowing that's where the alcohol and if I have to be at a house party with Joe I am going to need a drink. It's odd Joe and I all of highschool, as well as beginning of freshman year of college, were so close, he was like a brother to me. Then we got into a huge argument about his girlfriend because she was preventing him from talking to other girls, including me, and he didn't see anything wrong with that. He and I explained to her that our closeness was solely platonic but she didn't buy it and gave him an ultimatum. Needless to say he chose her.
Anyway I have just finished my first drink and am pouring myself a second when none other than Joe appears next to me.
Joe: Hey V, how's it going?
Me: What do you want Joe?
Joe: To talk like we use to, be friends again
Me: Why is that now? Is it because you're girlfriend left you and now you want someone else to talk to you and be here to comfort you?
Joe: It's not like that we were always so close. I miss my best friend and being able to hug you and be as close as we use to.
Me: Even if we did become friends again Joe, which I'm not saying we are, I'm not going to the way things use to be. I don't want to be friends with someone who takes their gf side over their best friend's side.
Joe wraps his hands around my waist from behind me and puts his head on my shoulder while I'm making myself my second drink and says
Joe: So you don't miss it when we did stuff like this?
Me: Joe get the fuck off me, we aren't friends and given this I don't think I want to.
I pry his hands out from around my waist and start walking away from him in a fit of anger. I can't believe he thought that after over a year of not talking he thought it was okay to be how it use to be. Yeah we very much acted like a couple as friends in every way except the kissing and stuff. It was things like cuddling, hugging from behind, hugging in general, holding hands, stuff like that. Many people throughout highschool thought we were dating because of how we acted, we initially kept telling them they were wrong but after a year of saying stuff we kind of gave up. We knew we weren't in a relationship and well people are going to talk.
As I'm walking towards the friend of mine who invited me to this party I realize I don't have my drink. I turn around to head to the kitchen and make myself a new one. As I do I see Joe holding a cup and handing it to me saying.
Joe: You left this in the kitchen and figured it was an accident, so I followed you to bring it to you.
Me: Thanks Joe. Why would you do that?
Joe: I want to get back to being friends and I figured this is the first step.
He seems sincere and like he's really trying. I decided to take the cup from him and nod with a slight smile at him. I did miss him as a friend but I was still wary of him. Next thing we hear is the host of this house party, Michaela, screaming for everyone to get in a circle and play spin the bottle.
Everyone does and we sit in a circle playing, I'm really far into the circle from the direction of which we are going so I just slowly sip on my drink until it's my turn.
Eventually it's my turn and I decide to spin the bottle, and of course it lands on none other than Joe. Everyone cheers about it and Joe lends me his hand to go into the walk in closet in the house.
Possible TW! This is your warning⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
We get inside and I'm starting to feel a little sick but not too much, I figure it's most likely the alcohol since it's been months since I drank so much. I know I only had two drinks but my first one was 80% alcohol and 20% chaser. I thought I still had a better tolerance but here we are.
I sit on one of the poofs that's in the closet and I hear the door lock click. Joe comes up next to me and asks
Joe: Are you okay?
Me: Yeah no I'm fine something feels off, probably had too much to drink.
Joe: Oh okay, well can we talk? We don't have to do anything during these 10 minutes but talk.
Me: Joe I've said what I needed to say
I got up to head to the door when the room starts spinning and next thing I know Joe is in front of me holding me
Joe: I think you should maybe sit or lay down before you hurt yourself V
Me: No I'm leaving because I don't want to be in a room with you
I'm slurring my words and now I'm worried because I know for a fact that the amount I drank wasn't this much. I may have lost some of my tolerance but even then I know I'd be at most tipsy right now not drunk.
I try to push away from Joe and instead his grip is firm on my arms and he starts speaking again but I am only hearing parts of what he is saying, except for one sentence that sticks out to me which is
Joe: You deserve this V, you lead me on for all those years and now you're going to take what you've been begging for for the last several years. We are here because of your choices and actions, you caused this not me
Next thing I know I feel wet on my neck and notice it's Joe kissing on my neck. I try to fight him off and say
Me: JOE! STOP! GET OFF ME! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!
However, no matter how much I scream or squirmed it just made him angrier and more aggressive. Suddenly we are on the floor and both our pants are off, I'm in tears with my eyes close trying to block out what's happening and I hear Joe say in my ear
Joe: You did ask for this and you are going to take it! You can scream and squirm but it'll only make matters worse for you. Not like anyone is going to take it as anything other than you having a good time.
I sat there eyes closed, tears pooling, wishing that I could just die in this moment, and just stayed still. There's nothing I could do at this point other than just let it happen.
After what felt like forever the door of the closet swings open and I slightly open my eyes to see my best friend from college who has been such an overprotective brother type friend for me these last few years. He sees the panic in my eyes and Joe yells at him
Joe: GET THE FUCK OUT!
To which Brad ignored seeing the panic in my eyes. He pulled Joe off of me and punched him in the face a few times, he then grabbed some sweats from Michaela's closet for me to put on and carried me bridal style out of the room.
I buried my head into his chest trying to hide my face from everyone. I didn't want to talk about what happened just yet, let alone ruin everybody's night by worrying about me and Brad quickly caught onto that. All he told the group when they asked what happened was
Brad: She's badly wasted, I think I'm going to take her home and have her sleep it off.
Then I heard him whisper to Michaela so nobody else in the party could hear him
Brad: *Whispers* I think someone drugged her drink. She is really out of it, figure out a way to see who it was please. I have a feeling it was Joe but I'm hoping you can find a clever way to get information and let me know please
Michaela: *Whispers* Of course I will! I'd do anything for Veronica here! This shouldn't have happened to her I feel so bad.
I spoke up for first time since I came out of that hell hole and told Michaela
Me: It's not your fault, don't blame yourself. I'll be fine.
It came out slurred but I think she got the message. Next thing I know I'm in my own apartment, in bed curled up into Brad because I didn't want to be alone tonight. I think it's more I didn't want to face what actually happened alone tomorrow. Brad kept insisting he slept on the floor but I told him that I'd feel safer if he just stayed with me in bed, nothing obviously happened but I need to be close to a physical body and all my girl friends are either wasted or already asleep.
The next morning I found out that in fact Joe was the only one who had drugs that night, at least drugs that is used to put in a drink to do what happened to me. I couldn't believe it that he did that and that I accepted my drink from him.
For the next several months I kept believing what Joe said on how everything that happened is my fault. If only I never took that drink from him then I'd be fine.
It took me almost a year to stop getting panic attacks every night and stop blaming myself. I had friends every day and time it was brought up they would constantly tell me it's not my fault. It's his fault and I eventually realized they were right.