Peter wrote to his parents and to April that he would be coming. When he arrived on Friday evening at April's residence he had to wait a few minutes. When she saw him, she dropped her bag, gave a glad cry, and started to run and hug him. But with a glance around the lobby she stopped, picked up her bag again and walked over to him.
"Hello, Peter," she said coolly. "It is good to see you. Shall we go?"
He was shocked. He had seen a mask drop in a split second over her face. Her normally open expressions were tightly curtailed in sophisticated coolness. Out on the street he tried to steer her towards their park. She told him she would rather not stop there, and wanted to go on to his home. She was different. He should not have been surprised, she had talked about it in her letters, but he didn't expect her to be different with him.
They rode in silence on the bus. Each one was constrained by their own thoughts and each one was dreading to tell the other what had happened. They arrived at Peter's home at dusk and the house was dark. Peter thought that was strange. He used his key to enter and switched on the lights. Where were his mum and dad? April was looking at him.
"Are they here, Peter?" she asked in a tight voice, "If not, you will need to take me back. We can't be here alone."
Frustration simmered to the surface. He hadn't seen her in five weeks. She had barely greeted him and now she wanted to go back to school? He shot her a look, then went to the mail slot next to the front door. There was a huge pile of mail and his letter sat on the top. He groaned. He went to his father's desk in the study. On the calendar for this week was marked 'Trip to Bath' they were supposed to come back today, but then he noticed a note, 'may have to return on Saturday.' Peter sat down heavily in his father's chair. They wouldn't be back until tomorrow.
April had followed him into the study and was looking at him warily. "Are they coming tonight?"
He shook his head no and looked into her eyes. It was so strange to be right next to her and yet so far away. He saw shock and fear run across her face. What had happened to her that she didn't want to be alone with him?
He got up and took a step toward her. She backed away from him. He stopped frozen. April had never backed away from him before!
"What happened to you? Why are you acting like this?" he tried to ask gently, but it came out a little harsher than he meant.
She backed away further, "Please, Peter, don't, I...can't be here with you. Please take me back."
"I will not!" he said emphatically. "Not until I know what is happening with you. You promised long ago to talk with me about what is bothering you, remember?"
He took more steps toward her and she turned and went quickly into the living room and perched on the end of a chair. She looked very close to tears and sadness was written all over her features. His anger melted away. He sat on the coffee table across from her and took her hands in his.
Very gently, rubbing his thumbs over her fingers, he said, "April, love, please tell me what is wrong. You know I care about you. I have been really worried."
She put her hands over her face, "Oh, Peter! It has been awful, But, I just don't know how to tell you." Tears began running down her cheeks.
He took a chance and moved closer slowly gathering her in his arms. He stood with her and she didn't fight him. He sighed in relief. It felt good to hold her again. She cried into his shoulder. He just held her and stroked her hair until she calmed. He was scared, had she been violated in some way? For her to act like this was completely out of character. He hoped and prayed not. He took another chance.
"Tell me, please, is it Andre?" he asked softly, he was truly afraid to hear her answer.
She nodded into his shoulder. Oh, Aslan, what was he going to do?
"Has he hurt you?"
She pulled away and shook her head no. He was so relieved, he didn't think he could stand any longer and led her over to the couch. They sat on the edge and he held her hand. She kept her head on his shoulder.
"Will you tell me, please?" he asked
She nodded, but wasn't able to look at him. With a knot forming in his stomach, he listened.
"I told you Andre has been watching me? Well, he started singling me out in class to demonstrate moves and then began asking me to stay after class to practice. I didn't want to be alone with him, but how could I refuse? Usually I worked it out to have Cassidy stay and practice too. But, today, Cassidy wasn't feeling well and she had to leave class early. I could tell by the way he looked at me that he was going to ask me to stay. And, he did. He didn't do anything overt, but I could tell the difference. When he would set me down from one of the lifts, his hand would linger too long on my thigh, waist, and rear, in..." she swallowed here and whispered the word, "a caress."
Peter nearly came off the couch and exploded in rage, but he held it in check, trying to let her finish. He had to concentrate hard on what she was saying...
"I was so uncomfortable and made an excuse to leave as soon as I could, but he stopped me. Coming close he told me I was his best student and that he was going to make me a star. He traced my cheek and reached for me, but I ducked away and ran out the door. I felt so guilty and so awful. I didn't want to tell you, afraid you would tell me it was my fault that I shouldn't have stayed all those times after class that I shouldn't have tried so hard to be good at what I need to be learning." She was sobbing again and he held her tightly.
"April," he said almost fiercely, "I would never blame you! This is not your fault. The man is a monster, a...a...predator, who has searched you out from the beginning, grooming you to get to this place. You ran away from him. Please don't cry. I would never think that of you. You are just doing what you are supposed to be doing at a school, learning."
A thought occurred to him, "Is this why you backed away from me earlier?"
She nodded, "You looked at me the same way he does, and it scared me. That, and I was so ashamed, I knew if you held me, I would break down and have to tell you."
"Do you believe me, when I say it is not your fault?" He asked putting his hand under her chin and lifting her to look in his eyes.
She smiled a little and said, "But, I should have done something more to stop him."
"You couldn't have April, nothing will stop him unless he chooses to."
"What I am going to do?" she cried.
"I will take care of it...of him" he said in hard voice.
"No! Peter," she said forcefully jumping to her feet. "You can't! Don't you see...this class is so important to my career! And he knows it. If you interfere it could ruin my chances, I can't have that!"
He stood as well, "So you would be willing to put up with this...this...abuse, in order to achieve your goal?" he asked harshly.
"Yes, no, I don't know. I am so confused, why does it have to be this hard?"
"April," he said firmly, using all of his self-control not to pace and shout, "You have to trust me! I am not just your average jealous 16 year old boyfriend. I have ruled a kingdom and have run across plenty of scoundrels. I will take care of it, and will make sure it doesn't affect your chances at the stage. But, you have to let me protect you! It is my right and my duty. Do you understand?"
She nodded and whispered, "Okay, I do trust you."
He kissed her then, very gently, and briefly. As hungry as he was for her kiss, he didn't want to scare her. She settled into his arms with a sigh. He sighed too. He was so angry at Andre, at the circumstances that had kept them apart for so long, at himself for not coming sooner. It seemed to him that the battles they faced would not end. And, he was glad they were alone in the house. She still had to hear about his battle as well. Then, they would have to face his parents tomorrow.
~~Section Break~~
They both calmed soon and moved to the kitchen to get something to drink. She asked him about his school and the exams. That brought his horrible situation rushing back to him and it was his turn to hedge and look uncomfortable. He saw her eyes widen and then narrow.
"What is it Peter? What aren't you telling me?" she asked.
He took a deep breath and went to look out the kitchen window at the dark garden. She stood at the table behind him. He couldn't look at her either to tell his story. In a way they had both been violated, each intruder into their relationship driving an invisible wedge between then. To not talk about it would be allowing the intruders to win, which he would not allow!
He told her from the beginning everything that had happened with Kat, from the hurt ankle to the night when she could have gotten him expelled. He told her that her instinct not to trust the girls around him had been correct, and he should have heeded her warning. He felt that he had encouraged Kat in some way. If he had been firm from the beginning...
She questioned him, "Did you like holding her? Did you want her? Did you enjoying spending time with her? Did you see her before she hurt her ankle?"
He answered an emphatic "no" to all of her questions and his face echoed the truth of his words. However, he had to stop and think on the last question. One of the fencing team members said that he had seen Kat lurking around practice staring at him and Edmund. It started to fall into place in his mind. He began to pace, thinking out loud as he walked. She had deliberately put herself in front of him to trip him that day. She had planned it all from the beginning. Why the little....his anger spewed out of him.
April stepped in front of him and put her hands on his arms. "It was her fault, Peter, not yours. Nothing you could have done would have stopped her." April's face looked angry too, but not at him.
All of a sudden it occurred to them both that he had just said the same words to her. They laughed together which broke the tension and caused some relief to the heated emotions they were feeling.
She wrapped his arms around his neck. "Oh, Peter, we are a mess, you and I. We have to see each other more often."
He wrapped his arms around her waist hugging her to him, "I'm already working on that. It is on my list to talk with my father about."
Now that all that was over and settled, Peter's mind turned to the next problem.