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Post by Lydia G. Van Helsing on Nov 29, 2015 7:49:54 GMT
”It’s nothing…” Lydia lied, feeling the shame settle in as she momentarily averted her eyes. She didn’t like lying to Aiden; it just wasn’t natural to her. She couldn’t recall ever having lied to him and she knew she probably wasn’t that good at it. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him though. Since that night at the party, a train wreck of emotions had hit Lydia. Fear, betrayal, pain, shame, a sense of worthlessness… they were all emotions that had been overwhelming her in the past week and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Above all else, Lydia felt broken. She couldn’t sleep, she was barely eating, and she’d become distant with people, Aiden especially. It wasn’t like Lydia to go so long without being intimate with her boyfriend and they sure as hell had never gone this long without having sex. Sure she’d kissed him and everything, but she’d stopped or made some excuse every time they started to go beyond that. What was she going to tell him when she took off her shirt and he saw the bruised bite marks covering her body, the worst of which being on her breasts? What about the bruises on her back, where Marc had lashed her with the belt? Or the ones on her neck from his hands wrapping around her throat when he choked her? What would she say? “Oh, yeah, those are from the other night, at the party, when one of your best friends and a group of his buddies gang raped me? No, she couldn’t hurt him like that… and she didn’t want to humiliate herself even further. She was ashamed of herself and what she’d allowed to happen to herself. She hated herself for it and Marc’s taunting didn’t help. He wouldn’t stop sending her the messages and just wouldn’t let her even begin to forget that night. He made sure to send her pictures and videos of their little excursion every day and night and even made sure to tell her that she was a goner if Aiden or anyone else found out. The last thing she wanted was for Aiden to see any of those images or videos… God. Sitting on his bed, Lydia had her back against the wall, with a pillow behind her to help with the soreness from her bruises. Her one ankle was crossed over the other and she hugged another one of his pillows to her chest. Lydia had taken to wearing long sleeved shirts and scarves to cover the marks on her body from him, though she did have to try to cover the bruises on her neck up with some makeup. It was a good thing it was winter, so her long sleeves and scarves didn’t look out of place. Around Aiden though, she knew that she must have seemed off. She was usually more than comfortable just walking into his dorm and stripping off her shirt and bra only to change into one of his shirts. She hadn’t done any of that since the party and he was noticing her distance. ”Really, you’re worrying to much,” she insisted, arching a brow at him as he questioned her. She wanted to tell him… God, that was all she wanted to do. The girls were amazing with being there for her and Kat, but what Lydia really wanted was for Aiden to wrap his arms around her and make it all go away. When Lydia actually did sleep, it was only after crying herself into an exhausted state, trying everything not to think about what had happened. She could remember most of it with such clarity though, as if she could still feel Marc and his friends forcing themselves into her. One day, after having fallen asleep on the couch at home, she woke with a start, feeling as though she was back in that room with Mark hitting her in the back with his belt. Her father was noticing her distance too and she’d already stayed home “sick” from school twice that week. She wasn’t herself and a major part of her was terrified that she never would be again. Outside, snow flurries were drifting from the sky, toward the earth that was already layered with snow. Her father was going to be working late and she’d come to see Aiden right after school, not too fond of being home alone lately. Even though he didn’t know what had happened to her, he was still her anchor and the one thing that was keeping her grounded. She may have been seventeen years old, but this girl knew that she loved her boyfriend and felt more for him than she ever would anyone else. Her phone buzzed on the bed beside her, but she completely ignored it. Sure, it could have been one of the girls, or even one of the guys checking in on her or trying to get her to fess up to Aiden or her dad. She’d sworn them to secrecy though and she trusted that none of them would mention what happened. It was more than likely that the message was from Marc though and the last thing she wanted was to see another picture or video of herself and/or Kat being brutally raped. Earlier that day, she’d had to leave one of her classes because of a picture Mar sent her. She spent all of three periods crying in the bathroom before the girls finally came to find her. ”Why don’t we watch Netflix or something?” she asked him, trying to change the subject and giving him a somewhat pleading look. She didn’t want to go down this route…. she didn't want him to have to picture his friend raping his girlfriend. Lydia
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Post by Aiden L. Blackwell on Nov 30, 2015 3:24:45 GMT
”So are you finally going to tell me what’s been going on with you?” Aiden asked quietly as he feigned interest in his text book. Honestly he was way more worried about his girlfriend and how distant she had been acting lately than his looming history final at this point. He reread the same paragraph about the French Revolution or some shit for like the tenth time, but he didn’t really see the words. His eyes flicked up at her sitting beside him and he shook his head. ”Don’t, it’s not nothing Lyd. You’ve been distant lately…” He said in response to her comment. It was definitely not nothing.
Distant was actually an understatement as she had been practically avoiding him whenever she could, Aiden was surprised she had even come to hang out today. There had been more than a few times that she had turned down his requests that she come hang out when he was with his friends and had even left once or twice when Marc had come by his dorm. It was totally out of character for her and he was determined to get to the bottom of her sudden personality change. ”I have barely seen you all week, and that’s more than odd and you know it.” Aiden said, not backing down at all even as she claimed he was worrying too much.
”I’m your boyfriend, I’m entitled to worrying too much when it comes to my girlfriend.” He said finally giving up on his history book and tossing it lightly to his side. Her phone buzzed with an incoming message but she didn’t reach for it… which was also unusual. His eyebrow went up as he looked at her and he reached over to push her hair out of her face and behind her ear. ”You’ve been extremely jumpy when your phone goes off too, especially around me. If I was less confident in you I’d suspect you of cheating… but I’ve known you too long to ever think you could do anything like that.” He added, giving her a level look. He ignored her pleading look as she asked him to watch Netflix, or anything but talk about what was going on with her.
”Oh no you don’t you aren’t changing the subject on me Lydia. What happened to us not keeping secrets from each other?” He asked her taking in the fact that she was still wearing her scarf and her long sleeves were still pulled down to her wrists despite it being almost eighty degrees in his room. Now that he thought about it, she had been wearing long sleeves around him every time he had seen her this week. His brows drew together in concern and he reached for her wrist closest to him. Had she started cutting herself or harming herself in some other way? He asked himself even as she tried to pull away from him.
”What are you hiding Lydia?” Aiden asked with frustration as he gave her a look and gripped her wrist firmly, but gently. As he pushed her sleeve up her arm he was shocked to see the prominent bruises running up it and his chest tightened painfully. Were those bite marks!? ”Lydia. What the hell happened to you? How did you get these bruises and why the fuck didn’t you tell me about them?” He asked, trying his best to keep his tone from being too aggressive. He was pissed though, why hadn’t she come to him about this? And who the fuck had done that to her? He would kill them for sure.
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Post by Lydia G. Van Helsing on Nov 30, 2015 4:18:18 GMT
Lydia's chest felt tight and he was only adding to the guilt that was consuming her. She hated lying to him and hiding from him, but she also didn't want to come to terms with the truth. A part of her felt as though telling Aiden would make what happened more real. She was in denial, that much was clear, and she was fighting to stay in denial with every fibre of her being. Her protective boyfriend was making that more and more difficult though.
When he mentioned her cheating, she wanted to throw up. Cheating on Aiden wasn't something she could ever or would ever do, though Marc would probably try to have him think that was the case. There was sadness in her eyes and uncertainty as he tucked her hair behind her ear, causing her heart to throb. How would he react to what had happened to her? Would he see her any differently? Would he hate her? Pity her? His reaction wasn't the only reason she didn't want him to know though. She was humiliated by what happened. She'd been to weak to protect herself... and Kat, from Marc and his friends.
"Aiden, please just drop it. There's nothing wrong..." she tried telling him again, the guilt gnawing away at her. When he went to seize her wrist, she pulled it back, but was too slow in doing so. "No, Aiden-" she started to say, but she was too late. An immense sense of shame overwhelmed her and she cringed when he pushed up her sleeve, revealing the bruises and bit marks. If he had that reaction just seeing what was on her arm, he would go ballistic seeing her torso, breasts, neck, and back. Christ this was a train wreck unlike any other she'd ever witnessed before.
Yanking her arm away from him, Lydia practically jumped off of the bed, quickly pulling her sleeve back down to cover up the marks once more. Her face was bright red and she was fiercely fighting back tears. "I told you it was nothing. It's not a big deal. I'm fine," she insisted, refusing to meet his eyes as she started to grab her things. Her heart was cracking and she was terrified, that much was certain. When she spoke, she was more angry with herself than she was with him. Grabbing her coat, she pulled it on, knowing that she couldn't stay there. He was going to force it out of her if she did. It took everything in her not to fall to her knees right then and there and just let the flood gates open. No way. She was leaving... as soon as she found her damn car keys. What was she supposed to tell him now? That her cat bit her?
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Post by Aiden L. Blackwell on Nov 30, 2015 5:16:26 GMT
”What the hell do you mean it’s no big deal Lydia?! There are fucking BITE MARKS on your arm!” He said, his voice definitely wasn’t remotely gentle this time but she was being insane. How could she even attempt to keep telling him that things were okay when they obviously were so NOT okay? It didn’t help that he was beyond freaking out and worried about her either. It hurt him to know that she had been keeping something major from him, and still was as a matter of fact. He didn’t try to keep hold of her wrist as she pulled away and climbed off the bed but his eyes followed her deftly as she pulled on her coat and picked up her things.
Where the hell was she even going? ”You are so NOT fine Lydia! What are you not telling me? What happened to you?” He asked as he pushed himself off his bed and watched her look for something, presumably her keys. Aiden spotted them on the bed and grabbed them but not making a move to give them to her. She wasn’t planning on telling him what was going on that much was obvious, but that didn’t mean he was just going to stand there and let her walk out without trying to make her see how foolish she was being.
”Lyd, you know I love you… you know you can tell me anything. So why are you keeping this from me?” Aiden asked, his heart feeling a bit strained, his mind coming to a million and one different conclusions as to what might have happened and none of them made him feel good at all. He couldn’t help it as he walked over to her and pulled her into his chest, setting his chin on her head as he said ”Just tell me what happened baby, please.” He said, his voice much softer this time and there were tears evident in his voice.
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Post by Lydia G. Van Helsing on Nov 30, 2015 6:26:07 GMT
She was overwhelmed. When he yelled at her about the bite marks on her arm, her entire world just came crashing down. It was like she was plummeting back to earth. "Give me my keys," she demanded when he grabbed them, trying so desperately to hold it all in. "PLEASE." Her plea wasn't angry... it was broken and desperate as if to say "don't make me do this."
When he told her that he loved her, it just made her hurt even more. "I... I can't..." she tried to protest, but he pulled her against him and her walls came tumbling down. She tried to pull away, but couldn't... and she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to anyway. The floodgates were crashing open and fighting it was useless. Keeping this from Aiden was putting a wall between them and she didn't want that. She loved him and trusted him more than anyone. If anyone was going to help her get through this, it was him.
When he begged her one last time to tell him, the tears she'd fought so hard to hold back finally started to roll down her cheeks. Wrapping her arms around him, she couldn't deny that she felt safe in his arms. She'd always felt safe when he was around, even when they were children. When he was there, nothing could hurt her. If only he'd been there the night of the party.
"It was a nightmare..." she finally admitted to him, really having no idea how she was going to tell him this. She was just piecing it together as she went along. "I said no. I tried to stop them and I tried to get away, but he wouldn't let me go, Aiden." She was damn near sobbing against his chest now, her heart racing and her face growing pale as she thought back to that night. "We were at the party and Kat and I went to go get drinks when he asked if we wanted to go upstairs to hang out. I trusted him. I was so stupid. We shouldn't have gone with him..."
She was trying so desperately, but saying his name wasn't exactly easy. It wasn't like Marc was just some random guy off the street that they had no connection to. He was one of Aiden's closest friends and once she said his name, there would be no taking it back. She didn't want to hurt Aiden with the burden of this information and she hated to admit that Marc's threats had her genuinely afraid. Lydia was trembling in his arms, terrified and broken. She'd never imagined a day that she would have to tell her boyfriend that one of his best friends raped her with a group of guys. God, she was going to be sick and her knees were ready to give out. If he hadn't been holding her up, she would probably already be on the floor. "They raped us... Kat and I... oh, God, it was so awful. I thought it was never going to end." She couldn't stop the onslaught of tears as her heart just tore open.
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Post by Aiden L. Blackwell on Dec 1, 2015 1:23:41 GMT
Aiden listened to her quietly, but as she spoke his body went stiff, his arms around her only drew her closer to him. He never should have encouraged the girls to go to those damn parties. He had known nothing good ever happened at them any ways but he had always gone with them before that… and Killian and John were always there also. How could this have happened? God, he should have gone instead of picking that night to work on that damn project. Aiden didn’t even know how to react to what she was telling him. On one hand he was mad that she had kept it from him for a whole week… longer if he hadn’t pushed her into telling him. On the other hand he knew that she was likely terrified and more than traumatized by what she had been through… One thing he knew for sure, the guys who had done this to her were lucky he hadn’t been there. They would have been dead.
Gently, Aiden began stroking the back of her head as she cried into his chest with heart breaking sobs. A tear broke free from his own eye and ran down his cheek, falling into her hair. He wished that he could go back in time and prevent such a thing from happening to her… and Katerina as well. Aiden couldn’t even begin to imagine what could have made a group of guys do something as sick as rape two seventeen year old girls… or any girl for that matter. But he did know that they were going to be thrown in jail until they died.
”Who Lydia? Who were they? Give me their names sweetheart.” Aiden asked her gently, not wanting to push her too far but knowing that getting the names out of her was important. Very gently he pulled her away from his chest, his shirt almost completely soaked by now, and wiped a tear from her cheek and then pushed her hair back behind her ear. He loved this girl, he would do anything for her, but he hadn’t been there to protect her when she had needed him most. Aiden wanted to promise her that he wouldn’t ever let anyone touch her like that again, or even look at her wrong, which he certainly planned on attempting but even he knew he wasn’t invincible. Knowing that didn’t make anything better though. ”I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry that I wasn’t there that night.” Aiden said quietly instead.
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Post by Lydia G. Van Helsing on Dec 1, 2015 2:34:59 GMT
Gripping the front of his shirt, she knew that she had to tell him. She'd already come this far and there was no turning back now. That didn't make telling him any easier though. For a moment, she was rendered incapable of speech as he pulled her away from his chest, his comforting touch helping to soothe her aching heart. The name caught in her throat and she stared at him with her heartbroken and tear filled eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him with the knowledge that it had been one of his closest friends... someone both of them had trusted. If she wasn't so sure of her relationship with him, Lydia might have even worried that he wouldn't believe her accusation of the guilty party. That wasn't him though and she knew that.
What sort of person raped their friend's girlfriend? Lydia knew the answer to that... No friend would do such an awful thing and if Marc had been willing to do it to her, then he was no friend of Aiden's and Aiden had the right to know of this revolting betrayal. If he was willing to rape her, who knew what else he was capable of? Aiden didn't just have the right to know, he needed to know that Marc wasn't the friend he claimed to be.
Sucking in a breath of air, her brows drawn together as she tried to slow the tears, Lydia felt like she was going to be sick. "It was Marc..." she said, fear in her eyes as she watched him. "Chris... Brian... Austin only had a chance with Kat before Cian came in with the others and stopped them. Roland was there, but he just left us there..." It pained her to recall how Roland didn't think it was right and yet he didn't have the balls to stop the others. He could have saved them from so much more pain. He could have put a stop to it. There were some moments that she was angriest with him for his cowardice.
"I'm so sorry, Aiden," she said, the tears picking up again. Why was she even saying sorry though? Was she really apologizing for being raped by his friend? "I should have told you sooner, but I... I just wanted it all to go away..." Her hands were on his chest and she wanted so badly to wrap her arms around him and never let go. He was safe... he would never hurt her the way Marc would... and the way he was going to if and when he found out that she went blabbing to Aiden. "I've been too scared to tell you. Marc just won't leave me alone. That's who's been texting me; he just won't go away! He keeps sending me pictures and videos from that night..." She was talking a little fast, on the verge of a melt down. Her green eyes were wide with terror and her heart was racing as she panicked. "He threatened to do worse things to me if I told you..."
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Post by Aiden L. Blackwell on Dec 1, 2015 5:19:19 GMT
As Lydia spoke the names of the bastards that had raped her and Kat, well to say that Aiden was seething on the inside would be an understatement. Marcus had done this to her… and had dragged Katerina into it because she had been with Lydia… They were all dead but Marcus most of all. Suddenly everything the sick bastard had said or done in the last week made sense. This remarks that had been followed by sick laughter or the jokes he made that didn’t really make sense. If it weren’t for the fact that Lydia needed him so badly Aiden would have grabbed his jacket right then and drove to that damn frat house and beat the shit out of all of them. And Roland? Aiden had trusted him even more than he had trusted Marcus.
Reigning in his anger Aiden looked down at Lydia as she apologized to him, even though she really didn’t need to. There was no way he could remain angry with her for keeping this from him, though he was a bit hurt that she hadn’t told him once Marc started threating her. ”It’s okay, we’ll get through this, okay? Those bastards are going to pay one way or another for what they did to you and Kat.” He said pulling her against him once more. He was definitely going to pay each one of them a visit and show them just how badly they messed up by messing with Lydia and Katerina.
”Let me see your phone. I’m going to block him from being able to message or call you. He’s just trying to scare you more, make you feel unsafe when you aren’t.” Aiden said, completely serious about blocking Marcus from being able to reach her anymore. She shouldn’t have to go through that, reliving a night that had caused her so much pain. He rubbed her back gently and kissed her forehead before pulling away and grabbing her hands. Gently he backed up and sat on the bed and pulled her onto the bed beside him. Aiden wished he knew a way to erase it all from her mind so that it would no longer torment her like it so clearly was.
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Post by Lydia G. Van Helsing on Dec 1, 2015 16:06:57 GMT
There were times when Lydia wondered how she'd gotten so lucky as to have Aiden in her life and this was definitely one of those times. His words were of more comfort than he could ever imagine and just being in his arms helped to ease her fears. Just telling him lifted a great deal of weight off of her shoulders and, for the first time since that night, she felt a sliver of hope. Maybe she could get past this... so long as he was with her. Her heart practically melted when he told her they would get through it. Not just her, but both of them, together. She wasn't in this alone. Of course her friends had been there for her and were seriously amazing and wouldn't leave her to face this alone, but Aiden having her back was the biggest comfort of all.
Even so, she was apprehensive about handing her phone over to him when he mentioned it. She trusted him entirely, but that didn't mean that she wanted him to even catch a glimpse of the pictures or the videos of Marc and his friends raping her. Aiden was her boyfriend and shouldn't have to see his girlfriend being raped by people he thought were his friends. The torrent of tears had stopped and she closed her eyes briefly as he kissed her on the forehead and rubbed her back. She could feel the twinge of pain from her bruises and grimaced, holding back a wince.
"Well, he's doing a great job of it," she admitted bitterly, letting him pull her back onto the bed. One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be going to anymore parties like that again. She couldn't go through that again. Sitting next to him, she took off her coat, knowing full well that she wasn't going anywhere now. The last thing she wanted was to go home, where she would be alone until her father came in from work. It was with some reluctance that she handed over her phone to him, but she did so without question or complaint.
"God, why was I so stupid? I trusted him. I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have gone with him. He kept asking where you were and when you were going to get there. By the time I started to notice how weird he was acting..." She looked away, toward the window, disgusted with herself. Why hadn't she seen it before she and Kat blindly followed him? Lydia kicked her boots off and pulled her knees in to her chest, hugging them as if she was just trying to hold herself together. "I hate him," she said softly, resting her chin on her knees and staring ahead.
"I'm afraid he's going to do it again. I'm useless; how am I supposed to stop him?" She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to cry again. "I'm afraid of the others too, but Marc just won't back off. What the hell am I supposed to do?" Her eyes were glassy, but she was doing a good job of holding back the tears now and took a deep breath to steady herself. Of course she already knew the answer to her question. Marc wasn't going away and the only way to make sure he and his friends didn't do this again was to go to the last person on earth that she wanted to tell. Just thinking about how her father would react filled her with an immense sadness. Glancing over at Aiden, she released her legs and leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder for comfort as she grabbed his pillow and hugged it to her chest.
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