TW: mention/ slight act of rape

'So, uh.. I wish we could've waited longer, but uh.. Ace wants us to start with the program. Today,' Noa states as he rubs the back of his neck. 'And we still trust that he's fully okay again to lead all of us and make decisions?' I ask.

In just a couple of days, Ace had speared someone's shoulder, yelled at countless people even on his break and locked us up in a basement, agreeing he wasn't planning on letting us out at all.

'He says he's okay.' 'Is he?' I ask.
'I don't know, but he was pretty persistent about this. He's even picking us up, making sure we go to the room at all,' he sighs, 'I'm sorry Grace.' 'If one of your hands touches me somewhere I don't want I'll cut it off,' I mutter as I take the last bite of my bread.

I was enjoying lunch before this was brought up. I trust him, I really do, but I was scared. Scared to see what the room and the building looked like inside. I knew where the building stood as it was far from where everyone else slept, but I had hoped never to see it at all.

If I'm lucky I might meet Aura or see how Aqua is doing, but I don't know if that's worth it.

I noticed Ace approaching us and with that, I knew my whole day was going to be ruined.

'Noa, I changed my mind, I rather go into the woods again,' I whisper as a joke, but I'm not sure if it even was a joke. A night in the woods does sound lovely compared to this.
'I might join you this time,' he whispers back.

'Time to get to work,' is the only thing Ace says as he comes to pick us up, taking away my freedom once again.

We follow him towards the lonely building and the inside looks as sad as the things happening in here are. There was wallpaper on the walls someday, but now it had torn and laid scattered across the floor. The stools were missing legs and stuffing was pulling out. Dust covered the place as thick curtains covered up all the windows, letting in only one stroke of sunlight.

And in that one stroke of light sat a girl, with her blonde hair neatly braided into a braid. Her hands rested on her stomach as she stared into the sun either not noticing we came in or not caring about it.

'Hey, I'm Grac-' 'Don't talk to her,' Ace cuts me off as he pulls me through the room into a hallway. I try to fight him, but his grips only tighten.

He opens a door revealing a small room with nothing but a mattress and a blanket on the floor. 'Noa get in.' 'But Gra-' 'Get in!' he repeats.

Noa glares at me as I give him a small nod, telling him it's okay to go in. Hesitantly he walks in and Ace closes the door.

'Come on strip,' he demands. 'What?'

He starts pulling at my shirt, not wasting his words on explaining.

I kick and slap at him, but he puts his foot down until I'm left with nothing but my underwear. I feel disgusted as I can still feel his hands pulling at my clothes. I try to cover up my body as he opens the door again, pushing me inside quickly.

'I'll kill him,' Noa mumbles at my entrance. He wasn't far away from the door at all giving me no more time to hide.

'Please don't look at me,' I whisper as my eyes start to tear up. He wants to pull me into a hug, but he stops himself.

I look at him as he takes off his shirt. My body trembles both from the cold hitting my body and the questions popping up in my head. Did he change his mind? Did I misjudge him this badly?

'Here.'

He reaches out his shirt for me, but I can't seem to comprehend what to do with it.

'Put it on silly.'

I blink a few times as I finally understand the reason behind his action. I quickly pull his shirt over my head. It covers the top, but it barely manages to hide anything underneath.

'Grace hey, you're alright. I won't do anything, I promise,' he reassures me.

I start sobbing as I pull him into an embrace.

'He just- he,' I try to tell him what Ace did to me, but the words won't come out. 'Shh, he's a dick.'

The door flings open and Noa manages to pull us far away from the door just in time.

'Get the fuck to it,' Ace demands.
'I'm not like you Ace, I need time to prepare. It's the first time I'm doing this compared to you. Plus, I'm definitely not doing anything knowing you could barge in any second,' Noa says as he holds me tightly.
'Fine, I'm out. Update me at dinner,' he says before throwing the door shut with a loud bang.

'He's definitely not okay,' Noa sighs. 'Tell me about it.'

We stand there, in an embrace for a few more minutes until I pull away.

'Do you want to lay down under the blanket?' He asks. 'What?'
'Relax, I'm not doing anything,' he repeats, 'I thought it might be warmer and since we can't leave yet anyways.' 'Right.'

I make my way over to the mattress, lay down, cover myself with the blanket and stare at the ceiling.

'Is it okay if I join you under there? I'm getting a little cold too.'

I open up the blanket for him to scoot in and wrap my arm around him instantly like we do at night too.

'I think I'm going to take a nap, will you keep an eye out for mister crazy?' I ask. 'Of course.'

I close my eyes as I snuggle up against the warmth.

'Grace?' 'Hm?'

'I'm really sorry for all of this.'