Emilia's POV
This cannot be happening. I haven't seen him in three years. I thought he left the state or moved somewhere else, but here he is. Just hearing him say my name makes me cringe. Never did I think I would see him again, but he has proven me wrong. I didn't want Ashton to leave me alone with him, but the words wouldn't leave my mouth. I wanted to run, but my body wouldn't move. I'm paralyzed by his very presence.
"How are you, Emilia?" His lips curve up into a twisted smirk, enjoying my discomfort.
"What the hell are you doing here, Jared?" As strong as I want to sound, my voice came out barely above a whisper.
My hands are shaking at my side as I glare at him. He lifts his hand and brushes it along my still arm. I shudder from his touch and instinctively take two steps back. I don't want him anywhere near me or touching me.
"Don't do that, Em." His stupid smirk is still plastered on his face. "It's been a while. Who was that guy you were with? Boyfriend?"
"Leave me alone." You'd think that with the large crowd of people dancing around us, at least one person would see that I don't want him near me. But, no. I'm alone and have to fend for myself somehow.
Jared forcefully grips my arm and drags me away from the dance floor. That's my only safe place. If people are around us, he won't be able to touch me. But now that we're away, nothing is stopping him. There's no use in struggling. I know I can't break free from his strong grip. I've tried before and that didn't end well. He continues to drag me along and I frantically scanned the area for any of the boys. When I spot our table, it's empty. I continue to search for any of them to help me, but they are nowhere to be found. Jared loosens his grip as we exit the ballroom and head towards the other side of the center, isolating us from everyone.
"I'm surprised you're not putting up a fight like you normally do, Em." He chuckles, pulling me further down the hallway. He stops in front of a door across from a men's restroom and opens it to reveal a large storage closet. Jared shoves me into the room, causing me to trip and fall onto the hard floor, ripping the hem of my dress in the process. Pain pulsates from my leg and it struggle to stand to my feet to try and escape, but Jared closes the door behind him.
His eyes darken, making my heart pound against my chest. "Now we have some privacy," he says. "I've missed you. I didn't think I would get to see you again, but I'm glad I did."
"You're sick," I seethe, finally finding my voice. "Why are you here?"
"My uncle works for one of the companies that are recruiting. I decided to come just for the experience." He says calmly. "Now it's my turn to ask a question. Who was that guy you were with?"
He's angry. His nostrils are flaring and his chest is rising at a fast pace. He never liked when I was within two feet of another guy. Since I was pressed against Ash's chest, it probably pissed him off even more.
"Emilia, who is he?" he repeats, almost growling.
I ignore him. "What do you want? Was screwing up my mentality not enough for you?"
He scoffs. "I just want to take back what is mine." His possessiveness hasn't changed one bit.
"I'm not yours!" I yell, throwing my arms in the air.
"If you keep yelling like that, someone is going to hear you."
"Good!" I shout even louder. This is literally my only way of getting any sort of help. My phone is in my purse on the table so I can't call anyone. If I yell loud enough, maybe someone could hear me. Although, at the distance we're at, I can't say it's likely. "I haven't been yours for over three years. You were so controlling. I couldn't have friends because of you. You've screwed up any chance for me to be in a healthy relationship! It's all your fault."
"You shouldn't have gotten yourself drunk on the anniversary of your parent's death. If you didn't, maybe then you would have said something to stop me," he fires back.
"Fuck you," I spit.
That does it. Within seconds, I'm pushed against the door leading to my escape, a yelp of pain escaping my lips. My back hits the wooden door and a sharp pain shoots up my spine. Jared presses one hand against the door and the other grips both of my wrists above my head, leaving me completely defenseless. He has always been very forceful and now that he's older, he's stronger than before.
"You look even more beautiful than before." His raspy voice fans across my neck as he leaves a trail of sloppy kisses along my neck and up my jaw.
The way he calls me beautiful makes me sick to my stomach. Compared to the way Ashton says it, Jared's is full of pure lust. I shut my eyes and begin screaming and kicking my legs, an action that I soon regret. Jared presses his body against mine, his weight holding me still. I still try to fight him off, but it's no use. What's sad is that this isn't the first time he has forced himself on me.
I hate this. I hate his touch. I hate the way he sloppily kisses my neck. I hate the way his calloused hands rub against my skin. And I hate that Ashton isn't here. My eyes burn from the salty tears blurring my vision. I want this to be another nightmare. That this isn't reality. But when Jared bites my shoulder, drawing blood to the surface and marking me, I know this is real.
The echo of someone yelling down the hallway ceases my sobs. I crane my neck as far I can and press my ear against the door. The shouts grow louder as the person walks farther down the hallway. I know that Jared also hears the shouting by the way his touch roughens. His hand slides up my leg through the slit in my dress, trailing dangerously close to my inner thigh. I can hear the footsteps of the person out in the hallway and his voice became clear as day.
"Emilia? Are you over here?" It's Michael.
Michael continues to shout, asking where I am. I shuffle beneath Jared, trying to free my leg and succeed. I kick the door as hard as I can and scream Michael's name at the top of my lungs, startling Jared. Heavy footsteps run up to the door and the doorknob twist furiously.
"Emilia?" Michael yells through the door.
"Shit," Jared curses under his breath.
He releases me from his grasp and I drop to the floor out of exhaustion. Tears continue to pour down my cheeks as Jared opens the door and swiftly bypasses Michael. Michael immediately kneels down and consoles me. I wrap my arms around his neck, thankful that he found me. A wet patch begins to form on his suit as I cry harder.
"You're okay now, Emmie," he says, rubbing my back. His voice was so soft, caring. "What the fuck happened? Who was that?" I don't care that he called me Emmie, I'm just happy he's here.
I shake my head furiously, not wanting to speak of what happened. "Please just take me home," I beg in-between sobs.
He sighs in defeat, not wanting to push the situation and pulls what I assume to be his phone from his pocket. I try to calm myself down as he waits for the person he's calling to answer.
"Luke," he says. "I found her. She was in a storage closet with some guy. I don't know who it was, but he just ran off. Get Ashton and the others and meet us at her apartment." He hangs up and shoves the phone into his pocket before taking off his jacket and wrapping it over my shoulders. He cradles me in his arms and storms out of the closet and into the chilly Denver air to Calum's truck.
The cool air dries my tear-stained face by the time we get it to the truck. Michael gently sits me in the passenger seat before getting in himself and driving off. I rest my head against the window and watch the scenery blur as we speed past it.
"Emilia," Michael says.
I can't keep it in again. I'm not going to allow myself to bottle this up again. Not like I did with Julia. I've learned from that.
"He's my ex-boyfriend," I confess.
"Emilia, did he touch you?"
I thought I couldn't produce any more tears, but I proved myself wrong. My sniffling and quiet gasps for air answer his question. I can feel his eyes on me as I hug myself and break down again. He stays silent for the rest of the drive. I try to walk on my own when I got out of the truck, but my legs give out beneath me. Michael carries me up the stairs and knocks on the door.
The way Julia's smile instantly drops indicates that this is not the sight she was expecting to see when I got home.
"What the fuck happened to her?" Julia shouts, widening the door to let us in.
Michael ignores her as he takes me to my bedroom and puts me on the bed, smiling sympathetically before leaving and closing my bedroom door. My body falls to the side and I bring my knees to my chest. This is not how tonight was supposed to go. I was having such a great time with Ashton, but it was all ruined because of Jared. Hasn't he caused enough damage?
"Michael, tell me what happened now! And where is Ashton?" Julia's demanding voice blares from the living room. It's not far from my room, so it's not hard to hear conversations out there.
"I'll tell you when everyone is here," he says. "They are on their way over now."
It isn't but a few minutes later when someone frantically pounds on the front door. I can hear the door open and I assume it to be Calum, Luke and Ashton. I don't want to leave the comfort of my bed, but I know if I don't get up and lock my bedroom door right now, one of them will come bursting in and I don't want to deal with talking to anyone right now.
"Where is she? What happened?" Ashton asks, out of breath.
"We tried to keep an eye on her, but we lost track of her in the crowd," Michael says. "We each split up to look for her around the building. I found her in a closet on the other side of the center with some guy. She was on the ground crying and the guy just took off once I found her. She said that he was her ex-boyfriend and that he touched her. I don't know if it was assault or rape or something else. She hasn't spoken since she told me that."
"Why the hell was Jared there?" Julia asked. "We moved to a different town just to make sure he stayed away from her for good. He's completely mental and wouldn't leave her alone. I thought we finally got away from him."
"No, no, no," I barely hear Ashton say as his heavy footsteps pace towards my room.
By the time he reaches the door, I had already locked it and went back to lying on my bed. As much as I like Ashton, I don't want him to see me like this: vulnerable and weak.
"Emilia?" Ashton tries to twist the doorknob, but it was no use. "Emilia, please let me in."
I don't respond. I don't want to. I slip out of the heels strapped around my ankle and wrap my blanket around me. There's a soft thud against the door. I can already picture Ashton leaning his forehead against it, completely defeated.
"I didn't know that was him," he says. "If I had known, I wouldn't have let him anywhere near you. Emilia, I am so sorry. I said I would watch you and I couldn't even do that." There was another thud, followed by the sound of something sliding down to the floor. "I should have stayed by your side like I said I would. Please, you have to understand that I would never do anything to hurt you like he did."
I know Ashton wouldn't hurt me. He, unlike Jared, actually cares about me. He had no clue Jared would be there; none of us did. I don't blame him for what happened. I know if he had seen Jared take me away, he would have intervened and helped me.
I get up from the bed and rummage through my dresser for something to change in. After finding the pair of sweats and shirt Ashton let me keep and putting them on, I walk over to the bathroom attached to my room and wash what was left of my makeup off. I can still hear everyone talking in the living room through the thin walls. It's already passed midnight, and I feel bad they're staying out so late because of me.
I'm not going to lie and say that tonight didn't scare me, because it did. I am terrified that I will see Jared again and that he'll do something even worse to me. But knowing that my friends are putting everything aside to make sure I'm okay and safe now eases that fear. I walk over and sit down with my back pressed against the bedroom door just like Ashton. I know he is still sitting there because his shadow spills in from underneath the door.
"Emilia?" He sounds tired. "I am so sorry. I wish I was there for you. I wish I would have noticed that you were gone. I wish that I could have helped you when you needed me. God, I'm so sorry." His voice cracks with every word spoken.
I breathe deeply, inhaling his lingering scent from his clothes. "It's okay, Ash," I say softly.
He mumbles "sorry" once again. I stand to my feet and turn off my light before settling into bed. I just want to forget today ever happened and sleep. Tonight turned out to be much more eventful than I thought. At least now I have the push that I needed to tell Ashton everything, but that can wait until the morning.