Song for the chap: Skinny Love- Bon Iver
Darren was starting to worry about Toni. It was nearly one in the afternoon and she was still asleep. Yes, he woke up a little later than usual because of the night before but it was getting late.
He spent an hour or two talking to Jeremy and joking how they used to back in highschool.
"Such immature pricks," Luna mumbled as she finally left the kitchen after sitting through their whole conversation.
"What's up with her?" Darren asked. Jeremy sighed and leaned against the counter as he ran his hands over his face.
"She's been buggin' lately."
"About..."
"I-I don't know...she thinks...she thinks I'm cheating on her."
Darren's eyes widened, "What?"
"She hasn't said it but you know how she is. She's expressive. She's not talking to me and is on my phone all the time."
"But you guys were fine just last night" Darren corrected.
"She has her...needs," Jeremy tinged, referring to how their night was spent last night.
Darren shivered in disgust at the images he had flowing through his mind. "Well, are you?"
"What?! No, why would you even ask that?"
"Chill, it's just you and me here."
"Well no I'm not. I love her."
Darren saw the conflict in his friends eyes and sighed. "Then what has her buggin'?"
"I guess I've been distant."
"How come?"
"You know how I've been working a lot right?" "Yeah." "Well she thinks it's an excuse," he groaned. "I've been meaning to ask you why you've been working so damn much."
"I...I got her a ring," Jeremy mumbled with red cheeks as he gazed at the floor between them.
"A ring?" Darren smiled in amusement at how his best friend got around his more outgoing, crazy best friend.
"I wanna marry her, man," Jeremy sighed when he looked back at Darren.
"I'm happy for you," Darren chuckled as he 'bro clapped' Jeremy.
"You think she'll say yes?"
"The girl is crazy about you. Of course she will."
"Well...thanks for talking to me. I know Luna won't."
"She'll come around, I swear."
Jeremy nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you later. I gotta go wake Toni up."
"You know these walls are thin right? We heard a lot."
"Shut up," Darren pushed him away and headed to his room.
***
Darren leaned over Toni and kissed her cheek, "Wake up."
She moaned and rolled over onto her stomach. "Come on, Toni, it's nearly one o'clock."
"I'm tired."
He moved the hair from her face. "You shouldn't be that tired."
She fluttered her eyes open, "You wore me out last night, baby."
He softly chuckled and laid beside her, laying an arm over her waist. "Give me another half hour," she suggested. He sighed, "Alright, but only half."
"Thank you," she whispered and closed her eyes again. Darren decided to lay there too but the temptation of having her next to him nearly naked had him thinking about other things.
He began pressing kisses over her face. "Darren," she whined, trying to shrug him off of her.
"Come here," he cooed, lifting her body so it laid directly on top of his. She instantly nuzzled her face into his neck. He kept her secure, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressed yet another kiss to her temple.
"You just love irritating me, don't you?"
"Not exactly," he teased. She sighed and pressed her face flush against his chest. "Now I can't sleep."
"I'm sorry."
"No you're not" she softly giggled.
"You're right, I'm not."
There was a period of silence where they just thought. Toni thinking about how tired she was and Darren thinking about...other things.
What Jeremy told him in the kitchen had him wondering how far his future would go with Toni. The way she held him and spoke to him was so gentle that they were like whispers over him.
"How do you think our kids would look?" he asked before he lost the nerve.
Yes, Toni was very surprised by his question and Darren felt it by how tense she got but she soon relaxed and pressed a kiss to his chest.
"I hope they look like you," she awed.
"Why? You're the one with the pretty eyes."
She lifted herself up and looked down at him. "What do you mean? You have nice eyes."
"They're brown," he blankly stated. "No," she said, rubbing a fingers down his cheek, "they're hazel."
"Of course, you know the exact color," he joked.
"You know, that was one of the first things I noticed about you," she said.
"Really?"
She nodded and went back to laying her head on his chest. "What else did you notice about me?" he smugly stated.
"How arrogant you were," she sassily replied.
He laughed and it rumbled against her ear.
"If we ever have kids, they better not be like that."
"Hey, I'm not that bad and besides, they'll be just like you. I know it."
"I at least want them to look like you."
"What about this dimple of yours," he teased, poking at the part of her cheek were he knew a dent was.
She giggled and, sure enough, her dimple appeared. "Whatever, dimples aren't necessarily in your genes. Neither of my parents have dimples. My mom used to tell me that they come when you've been kissed by an angel."
"I heard it was from parents having sex when the mom is pregnant."
She slapped at his chest. "Darren!" "What?" he chuckled.
"You're gross. Way to make a peaceful thing into something down right dirty."
"Don't act like that couldn't have happened."
"Ew! I don't want to imagine my parents doing it," she shuddered at even saying it out loud. Now that she thought of it, her parents were never very physical. They didn't kiss much around her, they spoke sternly to one another, her dad at least.
"All parents did it, I'm sure, if they didn't we'd all be living in only-child homes."
***
It was Friday, the day of some lake party. Toni was determined to get her eyeliner perfect when she felt warm arms being wrapped around her waist.
"Come take a bath with me," Darren mumbled into the crook of her neck. She giggled at the tickly feeling his breath made, fanning across her dampened skin.
"I just got out of the shower."
"Come on," he coaxed. Even though she wanted to, she really wanted to, she wanted to look nice for the party and had to finish getting ready. She gently removed his hands from her stomach and turned to face him.
"No, but I promise when we get back," she smiled softly at him and pecked his lips.
"But we'll be all drunk and it won't even matter then."
She raised a fine eyebrow and said, "Who will be drunk? Not me and you neither."
"But it's our last night here," he complained. "That's why it should be memorable."
"Okay...but can we have sex?"
"Why are you so blunt?"
"I like getting to the point," he shrugged.
"Me too...no."
"What? Why?"
"You're too cocky for your own good," she smirked and walked out of the bathroom. She lightly laughed when she heard Darren groan and turn on the shower.
Luna helped her with the rest of her make up which was just the plucking of eyebrows and eyeshadow.
Luna dressed in her bikini of course and a black tank top with dark jean shorts. The strappy sandals she got from Toni were a great add on along with her high ponytail.
Luna had also helped Toni find the perfect outfit. Figuring that Toni hadn't brought a lot of clothes with her, Luna brought a few extras just in case.
She got her in light high waist shorts and a floral loose tanktop that she had tucked in. Her bikini was under it all and she wore white sandals to go with it.
"Keep your hair down," Luna insisted, fixing Toni's frays, "it makes you look all cute," she giggled.
Toni rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
The girls were ready and met the guys by the door before all leaving together. They walked about a quarter mile until they got to the other lake house where Barbie had invited them to.
"You came! Okay, follow me and let me introduce you to some people."
They followed her to a much bigger room that passed as a den. The coed soccer team welcomed them with open arms. The guys on the team were finally glad to meet other guys, especially guys like Jeremy and Darren. Barbie kept the girls busy with conversation and even asked them to dance. Luna, of course, was comfortable with it and it took Toni some loosening up before she really started dancing.
Everyone was laughing and having a good time when someone pushed on Toni who bumped into Luna, then Barbie.
Toni whipped around and glared at the unknown male. His dark eyes and hair threw her off and nearly made her gasp. "Watch it," he growled and brushed passed her.
"Don't mind him. That's my cousin, he's always been a strange boy," Barbie chirped.
Toni just sighed and gave Luna a look that said 'calm down'.
Darren brought Toni and Luna a drink that was way too strong.
"Are you trying to burn my throat from the inside out?" Toni chocked after taking a gulp of the face scrunching drink.
"Luna isn't complaining," he shrugged and nodded towards his friend that downed the drink. "Woo!" she yelled and moved her body to the pounding beat.
"Can you please get me something less strong?" she batted her eyelashes. He groaned and took back her cup. She laid her hands on his shoulders and softly pecked his lips. "Don't be grumpy about it," she pouted and kissed him full on the lips again.
"Now go get me somethin' else," she shooed him. "You're lucky I love you," he mumbled.
"I love you too, now run along" she teased and went back to dancing.
Not even five minutes later that creepy guy from earlier came back with a cup, reaching it out to her. Toni stopped dancing and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is that from Darren?" she asked, figuring it was, since when she looked over the mystery guys shoulder she saw Darren chatting with some guy.
"Er...yeah," he said pushed it into her hand. "Thanks," she mumbled and took a sip out of it.
"It's good, what is it?" "Somethin' a friend of mine made."
Toni shrugged and took another sip. She held her hand out for him to shake, "Toni." "Jay."
Toni went back to dancing, feeling looser than before.
Luna didn't want to get too drunk because she wanted to get in the sheets with Jeremy and he didn't feel comfortable bedding her while she was drunk. He thought he was taking advantage of her. Luna leaned in to whisper something in her ear but had to grasp her shoulders when Toni stumbled a bit.
"Geesh, how much did you have?"
"Not much, I'm not feeling it right now," Toni frowned, holding a hand to her forehead.
Jeremy walked up just then with a bottle of water for Luna. "I don't need it, I think Toni does."
"There's a few rooms open, she can sit in there while I go find Darren," he suggested. Luna nodded.
"Stay put," he told her, "I'll be right back." He took Toni by the arm and carefully lead her to the first room. "Here, take this water and sit down while you sip it. I'll go find Darren and we can go okay?"
Toni gave him a lazy "Mhm," and shooed him away. Jeremy left the room and went to get Luna first.
Toni had to stand up and lean against the wall because sitting down was just making her sleepy. There was a click and she opened her eyes to see that Jay guy walk in.
"Not feeling well?"
"Yeah...just a bit sick."
Toni squeezed her eyes closed and quickly regretted it when she lost her balance. Jay was fast to firmly plant her against the wall by her waist.
"Thanks," she mumbled and ran her fingers through her hair.
She was expecting him to step away but when she felt cold lips press against her neck she was very aware.
"Jay..."
"Mmm."
"Jay stop," she said, trying to push him away. He continued his path up her neck and jaw. She shivered but not from the pleasure she would have felt.
"Seriously, stop."
He grumbled against her skin and his grip tightened. Toni was quickly starting to gain back her reality and used the strength she could muster and push him roughly away.
"Jay!"
His frown deepened and he strode towards her in a split second before pinning her hands above her head.
"Shut up," he growled and pinned her torso with his hips.
Toni already had tears in her eyes, knowing where this was heading and with the dizziness in her mind she couldn't fight it.
"Don't do this," she pleaded as she struggled against his grip.
"Move again and I'll have to take some harsh advances," he warned.
Meanwhile...
"Darren, Toni wasn't feeling well so she's in that first room taking a break. Go and get her while I get Luna."
"She okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit tipsy I guess."
"Alright I got her," he said and went to that first room.
Toni stood there pinned against a wall while a man she just met kissed over her.
She silently cried constantly trying to break free but took his rough hands and growls as a warning to stay quiet.
"You're so sweet," he mumbled and pressed his hard lips against hers. Toni kept her eyes shut and scrunched her face at the pain in her arms from having them held up for so long.
Darren slowly opened the door, not wanting to wake her if she fell asleep and completely froze at what he saw.
She turned her face to the side, removing his lips from his. "Please," she begged. "Shh," he cooed and kept her hands together with one hand while the other explored with the other.
A sob escaped her lips and she dared to open her eyes, hoping to find an escape to this assault.
"Darren," she gasped with wide eyes.
His scowl was severe and his fist were strung tight. Toni tried to say something else but words wouldn't come out. The guy groping her hadn't even noticed the built tension in the room.
Toni pleaded with her eyes for him to come and be the guy she wanted to save her but when he shook his head and left the doorway, she lost it.
"No," she sobbed.
"Toni" Jay growled, ripping her shirt from her torso.
"Darren! Please!" she screamed. She needed him to help her.
"Shut up!" Toni let out another sob when she felt a cold blade against her neck.
She couldn't let this happen, not like this. "Darren! Arghh!" She screeched when sharp pain ran down her neck.
He pulled her from the wall just to slam her back. White pain shot through her skull and she whimpered.
He turned her around and threw her on the bed, straddling her to pin her legs and undo her shorts.
"No!"
Jeremy was wondering what was taking them so long so he went to check. A fuming Darren passed him and he put his hand on his shoulder to stop and ask what was wrong. He just shrugged him off and kept going. Jeremy blinked a few times, never seeing Darren so upset.
Why didn't he get Toni?
He went to get Toni and every step he took the screams from the room got louder and heart stopping.
He opened the door to see some guy ridding Toni of her shorts as she kicked and screamed.
"Darren! Darren, please!"
Jeremy raged and stalked toward them, pulling the guy away from her to pin him against the wall by his collar. "What the hell are you doing?!"
He didn't even let him answer before he punched him square in the face a few times until he completely passed out. He crumbled to the ground and Jeremy gave him a swift kick to the stomach to finish him off.
He turned to see Toni shaking from her sobs as she pulled her knees to her chest. He went to her and took her face between his hands.
She clung to his shirt collar and buried her face in his shoulder. "Thank you, thank you," she chanted.
He rubbed her hair and shed a tear or two for her.
He dressed her back in her pants and left the ripped shirt.
He cradled her in his arms as she clawed at his shirt for strength.
"Luna!" he called with tears falling. "Luna!"
Moments later his girlfriend was there and her eyes widened at what she saw. She took in the guy passed out on the floor, the ripped shirt, the crying Toni and teary eyed boyfriend.
"Oh gosh," she gasped. Jeremy stood, still holding Toni.
"He...he tried to..."
"Where the hell is Darren?" she demanded.
"He saw...and he left her," Jeremy tried to breathe out. "She's bleeding...bad."
"Let's go, quick."
They left, no goodbye or anything, back to their lake house.
Fuck Darren.
They walked in and rushed Toni to the bathroom. Luna started a bath while Jeremy wiped the long cut. "It's not deep, but it will leave a mark," he mumbled.
"Toni, sweetheart, can you hear me?" he coaxed. She wearily nodded with the same blank stare in her eyes as she had after they left that party.
The cut down her neck, dark hickeys on her collar, bruising on her wrist and puffiness in her eyes said it all.
Luna let the water run and stood to wipe the tears that had fallen. "I-um-I'll leave and let you help her in the tub," Jeremy said. Luna nodded with a sniffle. Jeremy wrapped his arms around her shoulders and brought her closer. "She'll be okay," he muffled, kissing the side of her head. "Thank you for being there," she sobbed. "Hey, don't cry. You gotta be strong for her," he whispered. She nodded and stepped away from his arms. She looked up into the green eyes of the boy she was desperately in love with and gave a small smile. She knew that their issues were not resolved but she could look passed it to be there for her friend.
He kissed her forehead, "Call if you need help," he said and left, softly closing the bathroom door behind him.
Luna stood Toni up and rid her of her bikini top, shorts, and bikini bottoms. Luna didn't feel weird looking at her friend naked and Toni couldn't have cared less.
She helped her into the warm water, and she sat her down. Toni drew her knees to her chest and hugged them against her. Luna propped her head on her hand as she leaned her elbow on the edge of the tub.
"You want to talk about it?" she softly suggested. Toni shook her head. "We're leaving tomorrow."
She nodded.
"You know what we should do this summer?" Luna asked, trying to brighten the mood.
Silence.
"We should go to Florida and have some kid-fun at Disney World," she giggled. Toni couldn't fight the slight smile that crept on her face.
The next fifteen minutes were spent with small jokes to get each other to smile and gentle cleaning of a body that's dirt was bone deep.
Toni was helped to get out and dry off before putting on some long pajama pants and a tank top.
She didn't want to sleep in the room she shared with her love and Luna knew that by the glazed look she gave to the closed door.
Luna led her to the extra room and laid down with Toni. She held her friend as she clutched onto her shirt.
Jeremy stared at the ceiling and knew that Luna and Toni were in the extra room. He thought about a lot of things over that time.
It had to be an hour later when the front door slammed shut and he knew exactly who was there.
He got off the bed and paced out the room and down the hall.
"Where the hell have you been?" he hissed.
It was clear that Darren had been in the lake by the water dripping from his hair.
"Out," he shrugged. Jeremy shook his head and turned to walk away. "Don't get mad at me, you didn't see what I saw?"
He whipped back around, "I didn't?" "No!" "I did actually! I saw the same thing but I sure as hell took action before letting it go further."
"Fuck you."
"What did you think? She was cheating on you?" By the blank expression Jeremy knew that's exactly what he thought. "You did, didn't you? You idiot!"
"How am I the idiot?!" he raged. He stalked to their room. "She's not in there," Jeremy said.
He went to the extra room, but Jeremy stopped him before he could open the door.
"Stop! She's had a rough night and you're making it worse."
"A rough night?! Fuck that! She let him touch her!"
Silence.
"How could you say that?" Jeremy murmured in shock as he backed away from his friend. "Sh-she's your girlfriend and she needed you."
"She's not my girlfriend," he growled and turned towards the door, yelling through the wood.
"You hear that, Toni?! We're done!"
Toni sobbed harder into her friends chest. Luna was boiling on the inside.
"Estamos tratando a dormir, asi que vete!" (We're trying to sleep, so leave). Luna couldn't hold it in.
How could he say those words to her? He's only assuming and feeding off of his insecurities.
"Shut up Luna! Deja tratar de protegerla porque ella sabe lo que hizo!" (Stop trying to protect her because she knows what she did).
"Hey!" Jeremy shouted to get his attention. "I think it'd be best if you went to bed Darren, you're drunk."
"No the hell I'm not!"
"How many fingers am I holding up?" he taunted, raising four fingers.
"That's not important," Darren snapped.
"Exactly, go to bed," Jeremy demanded and lead him to his room before pushing him in and slamming the door.
***
The next morning Luna made sure Toni was dressed and in the car to head home. They both sat in the back and Toni looked out the window while Luna kept their hands clasped together. Only Jeremy was speaking to Darren and even then he was having a short fuse.
It was silent besides the low volume on Luna's phone as she played candy crush.
"You wanna play?" she asked Toni. She shook her head, "I'll just watch," she mumbled. "Where's the fun in that?" she giggled and handed her the phone. Toni was on the same course for the longest time. "I'm crap at this," she lightly laughed.
Jeremy tapped away on the steering wheel, trying to distract himself from thinking about last night. It haunted him, more than he would admit. Maybe if he would have gotten there sooner or never left her there alone in the first place.
"There's an exit in about five minutes so we can stop and get food if you want," he suggested.
"You hungry?" Luna asked Toni. She shook her head. "You're eating. Yeah we'll stop."
"Come with me," Luna said to Toni once they were parked in front of some fast-food place.
"N-no, I wanna stay," she whispered. Luna sighed, "Don't make me get motherly on you. I'll start using full names," she teased. "You wouldn't dare," Toni scolded.
"Antonia Santa Dominica Allen!"
"Luna!"
"What? I like it" Luna giggled. "Santa Dominica?" Jeremy asked. "Saint Dominic" Toni corrected.
"Now, come inside with me." "Alright" Toni groaned. They both went inside to order their food.
The sag of Toni's shoulders, the puffy eyes and raspy voice didn't go unnoticed my Darren. He willed himself not to care but that was the problem...he cared.
"What time do you think we'll get there?" he asked Jeremy. He was thinking some strange things. Like calling Porsha or Dana to take rebounding to the next level. Anything to get his mind off of her.
"I don't know," Jeremy gritted.
"Why are you acting so salty towards me?"
"Are you forreal right now?" Jeremy incredulously asked.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you think none of us wanna have anything to do with you?"
"This is because I broke up with Toni?" he nearly yelled.
"No! It's why you broke up with her!" Jeremy shouted, the sound barely echoing in the small space of the car.
"Because she cheated," blanky replied. "And why are you sticking up for her, you're supposed to be on my side."
"You didn't see what I saw!"
"Yes I did!"
"Obviously you didn't! He...you don't even know how guilty I feel."
He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "You must've left, letting your judgment cloud what was really happening," he hissed.
"I know what I saw."
"But what I saw was...gut wrenching." "What?" "Shut up and let me talk, since you know everything!"
Darren instantly shut his mouth.
"He... " He sighed to try and stop the nauseous feeling that came over him. "She was kicking a-and crying. He...he was ripping off her clothes. She was screaming...she was screaming for you."
"Shut up," Darren growled, not wanting to hear anymore.
"And you left her."
"Shut up!"
"He was gonna rape her!" Jeremy shouted, forcing his head up to look into his friends eyes. Tears shed down his cheeks. "And I keep thinking and blaming myself for leaving her there alone or not getting there sooner but no...this is your fault."
"My fault?!"
"Yes! You could've stopped him before any harm was done! Now she has a gash as long as my thumb down her neck and bruising on her wrists. How could you have said she wanted that? She wanted you!"
Darren groaned as he ran his hands through his overlong hair.
"You should at least apologize for what you said. It won't change anything but it's a start."
Luna and Toni came out with two bags of food and got into the car. Luna took a bag from Toni and gave them both to each boy after grabbing her burger and Toni's fries.
Luna felt the tension and it was thick. She saw Jeremy rub at his eyes and a faint sniffle leave his nose.
"Are you alright?" She asked, leaning up on her knees from the back seat to get closer to him.
"Yeah, I just...I need a break."
"I can drive if you want," she suggested. "Are you sure?" "Yeah," she kissed his cheek before getting out the back and trading places with him.
They had another two hours to go and for the first time all day she felt relaxed.
"You're bleeding," Jeremy gushed. "Huh?"
He leaned over and traced along the side of Toni's cut. She winced. "Sorry, um Luna where'd you put the extra cloths?" "They're in that red bag under my seat."
He grabbed the cloth and a water bottle, wetting it before putting it to her neck. "It hasn't healed all the way so it might do this a few times before it stops." Toni nodded and held the cloth on her own.
She ate her fries since Luna insisted, she ate something. She finished the fries and took a few sips from a water bottle before closing her eyes to sleep.
Not even five minutes later she sprung awake with nausea flowing through her.
"Stop...the car," she panted.
"What's wrong?" "Are you okay?" Jeremy and Luna said at once.
"Stop the car," she gushed and unclipped her seatbelt. Luna stopped on the side of the highway and Toni clumsily opened the door. Not even three steps into her run she collapsed onto her knees and gave away all of the contents she had in the previous day.
Luna wanted to get out of the car but the cars speeding past them had her scared to open the door. Jeremy went instead and held her hair back as she heaved. Tears came and a sudden rush of nerves overtook her.
She couldn't stop crying.
Jeremy picked her up and took her to the car. Luna passed him a new water bottle and he gave it to Toni's shaking hands. She took big sips to rinse her mouth and spit it back out with her head outside the window.
She curled into a ball once she was done and cried.
Cried because she felt something inside her that made her this way, made her cry.
She knew she wouldn't be her normal self again, just a hollow girl whose future is still undetermined and scared of reality.
She cried because the one person she knew to coddle her and say he loved her wasn't doing what she wished.
But Darren, of all people, knew all he wanted to do was hold her and say how sorry he was.
A/N: Shorter than usual...sorry.
Don't hate me but I needed this to happen so the plot can start!
For some reason Wattpad rated my story R...or just this chapter I'm not sure soooo yeah. I know what I write is mature but I didn't think it was THAT bad. Anyway I don't know what that means.
Thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
The next chapter will probably shed tears if this one got you pretty close.
Laters!
-Mone'