trigger warning: discussion of the sexual assault and related issues

My eyes feel incredibly heavy as I wake up and each bone in my body seems to be aching as a groan escapes my lips. I bring up my hands to rub my eyes but immediately wince when I move my wrists.

The bruise comes as a reminder of last night that I so badly wish was a nightmare. I gulp, pushing down my tears as I slowly sit up in the bed. A gasp leaves me when I look at James sitting on the rolling chair in the room, his back towards me as he seems to be typing on his laptop.

He turns around at the sound of movements and his eyes meet mine. "Hey." He looks at me cautiously and I scowl at him.

Has he been here the entire night? He seems to have changed into sweatpants and a gray t-shirt. I don't say anything as I turn to get myself a glass of water but he keeps his laptop on the desk before rushing to my side to pour me a glass. When he hands it to me, I give him a thankful nod before gulping it gown.

My head leans against the cushioned headboard as I let out a breath, "Have you been here all night?" I ask, not being able to help my curiosity.

He rubs the back of his neck, almost, almost looking nervous but I must be mistaken because it's James Clark. He doesn't get nervous. "Yeah, I hope that's okay."

"Didn't you get any sleep?"

"I couldn't." He shakes his head as his eyes meet my face and I'm sure sure there must be a bruise on my face too. "How do you feel?"

"Assaulted." I croak and he sighs, taking the glass from my hands before keeping it on the night stand. My eyes move to the table clock and it's eleven in the morning. How much did I sleep in?

My stomach grumbles, making my cheeks flush from embarrassment but it's also a reminder that I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I rub my temples, trying not to wince as I pick up my phone to see multiple texts from Jeremy. He must be freaking out.

"I'll get you some breakfast." James mumbles and I look up at him.

"It's okay, I can come downstairs." I say as I move to get out of the bed to brush my teeth.

"No, you need to rest. Mrs. George will bring it up."

I don't argue because I honestly don't want to go downstairs and let anyone see me. I make my way to the bathroom and when I look at my reflection in the mirror, I audibly gasp. My lip from the right is cut and there's a light bruise on my cheekbone, looking as painful as it feels. I gulp as I put some cold water on my face before brushing my teeth.

I take my sweet time in the bathroom, deciding to take a shower before I get out in the room in bathrobe, thankful that I don't have to cling to a small towel.

James looks up from his laptop when he sees me and doesn't say a word before leaving the room, understanding that I need the space to myself to change. I don't understand why he has been hovering around my room. It's not like Richard is going to come back.

After changing into a pair of another sweatpants and a light caramel t-shirt, I sit in the bed, picking up my phone to call Jeremy. He picks up the phone in the middle of the first ring, and I don't think he has ever answered my call this quickly.

"Lil?" He breathes into the phone and I cannot help the relief that rushes through me at hearing his familiar voice.

"Hey." I say as I put up my hair in a ponytail.

"Please please tell me you're okay." He says and I hear some shuffling behind, "I didn't tell Mom and Dad, and it's killing me Lil. Please just come back home."

I can't help the tears that brim my eyes at his words, "I'm okay, Jer. Mom and Dad don't need to worry about this, okay? Please don't tell them."

My voice is pleading because I know how much it would break my parents to find out what happened last night. And I know like Jeremy, my father would blame it upon James and want me back home. I can't do that, not after so much has already been invested. I can't let his business go down the drain because it isn't even James's fault to begin with.

"I just... I saw you Lil, and I can't get the image out of my head." His voice cracks, "I just want you to be safe. I don't know what to do."

His words are enough to let my tears escape as he breaks on the other side of the phone. He's my little brother, he's not supposed to worry about my safety, he wasn't supposed to witness what happened yesterday.

"Jer, please don't cry. I'm okay, he'll pay for what he did and I just want you to know that I'm safe, okay? Shh." I try not to break down because I cannot handle Jeremy being upset.

"You're going to press charges, right?" He asks and I wipe the tears away when there's a knock on the door and it slightly opens. James peeks in a little but when he sees that I'm clothed, he steps inside.

He takes in my face and worry immediately stretches on his face but he doesn't say anything as he comes to set a breakfast tray on the bed in front of me.

"Yes, yes I am." I speak into the phone.

"Let me be the witness, please." He says, "I saw it. I can just... please, let me be your witness."

"You're my brother. I don't know how much that will work out but I'll talk to James." I tell him, "Please stop crying now, I'm fine."

"Yes, okay. Call me if you need me?"

"Always, Jer."

After he hangs up, I look at the waffles in front of me along with grapes and strawberries, and there's a glass of milk. I don't have appetite for any of it but I know I need to eat.

"Is he okay?" James asks as he takes a seat on the chair, making me shrug in response.

"He's just a kid, he doesn't deserve that thing in his head for the rest of his life." I take a bite of the waffel and look at him.

"You're talking like you're ten years older than him. You didn't deserve what happened last night. I had no idea he's such a fucking dick." His hands form in a fist as his jaw tightens from the anger evident on his face.

"Where is he right now?" I ask, the images of last night going through my head as a cold shiver runs through me.

"I called 911 last night after you slept and Hale wrapped up everything to send the guests home. They wouldn't cuff him because you weren't there and I knew it wasn't the right time for a statement." He explains.

"So they just let him go?" I ask, dread clear in my voice.

"No, I had to make some calls but his ass spent the night in station. It's the weekend so I assumed he'll have to spend it in a cell, but apparently he's resourceful too. He got out. Officer Dave, however, will come in a few hours to take your statement. He's a bit of an ass, so just a warning in advance. I've contacted my lawyer to be there."

I process the information that seems too much all at once but nod nonetheless as I eat as much as possible and finish the milk because I know it's going to be a long day.

"You know you can't watch over me for the rest of your life, right?" I ask him and he shrugs, "Do you have today's newspaper?"

He hands me the paper, and I read through it to keep as much normalcy as possible. After a few pages I see a photo of the two of us, mentioning the takeover of James as a CEO and the photo is from the party last night, the one where he kissed me on the cheek and I look like a deer caught in headlights.

I remember before the night took a new turn how upset I was for feeling something for him, it's so tiny and it's mostly based on physical attraction, but it's there and I don't have the energy to fight this inner turmoil about him. I've been attracted this way before to guys and it has naturally went away on its own, so this is going to fade away soon.

I really want to ask him why did he do that, peck me on the cheeks, but I know the answer already. It was all for the show, and it made it in the newspaper so it was very much successful too.

"You wore the cufflinks last night." I say, not realising that I'm speaking out aloud and when the realisation hits me, I flush from embarrassment as I look up at him.

"Yes, I asked Mrs. George to sew them in." He shrugs as if it's no big deal, but it is. To me, it is.

"Jeremy wants to give his testimony as a witness, if needed." I inform him.

"I'll talk to my lawyer about it."

I nod, going back to read the newspaper before my phone starts ringing and I look at the Max's name flashing on the screen. I pick it up on the third ring, because he rarely ever calls me so it must either be important or he's way too bored.

"Hey Lil." I hear Max and Ashley talking to someone behind him.

"Max, how are you?" I ask, trying my best to keep the tiredness out of my voice.

"I'm good, we're all good. We were going for the movies in the evening so we thought we'll ask you, do you wanna come?"

I take in a shaky breath. It sounds like such a normal thing for a college student to do, go to movies with their friends, and I should be able to do it as well. But instead I'm sitting in my bed with a bruised body and a husband who's staring at me like a hawk.

"I would have loved to, but I actually fell down the stairs and have a terrible body ache, so I think I'm gonna skip." I lie smoothly. I'm getting so much better at lying to my friends that they don't even doubt it for a second.

"What? Are you okay?" His voice is filled with worry, "Do you need us to come over? God, Lil. Why didn't you tell sooner?"

I shake my head, panicking at the mention of coming over, "No, no. I came back to my parent's place for the weekend so I'm not alone. You don't have to worry."

"Just take care of yourself."

"Yes, enjoy the movie. See you."

As I hang up on the phone, I look at James and I'm a little taken aback because I hadn't seen him glaring at me for a while now, and I was just getting used to it. However when I put my phone down I realise he's glaring at my... phone?

His actions only make me scowl at him but I don't comment on it. His eyes come up to my face and soften a little, "Friends?"

"Yeah, they are going for a movie." I say, even though I know I don't need to.

He nods, "Do you want to go?"

"No, not really." I shrug and he looks pleased with my answer.

There's a knock on the door and James stands to open it. Mrs. George is standing on the other side of the door, "Mr. Young is downstairs."

"Tell him to wait, I'll be right down." James tells her and she nods but then her eyes meet mine.

"I'll just take the dishes." Mrs. George comments but I shake my head.

"I got it, thank you Mrs. George."

She looks at James and he looks at me then sighs, giving her a nod so she leaves us alone. He turns to me and moves to pick up the dishes but I shake my head which only makes him give me a look.

"I know how you feel about it but just once, let it go. I'm carrying it downstairs and it can be cleaned in dishwasher." He says, and the finality in his voice makes me shut up. "You need to come with me, is that okay? I can call him upstairs if that's what you're more comfortable with."

I can't believe he would consider having his lawyer in this bedroom just because he wants to make sure I'm alright. Although I shake my head at him, "I'll go. Do I have to change?"

"No, whatever you're comfortable with." I get up from bed as he carries the breakfast tray in his hands. We silently make our way down the stairs.

I can't believe I'm getting to roam around the house in my sweatpants, whatever the situation may be. When we reach the bottom stairs, Mrs. George takes the tray from James's hands and my eyes land on a bald black man with circle beard. He stands up from the couch to greet James when he sees us, and I notice how they are both about the same height which is 6'2.

The men shake hands before he extends his hand towards me, "Oliver Young."

I shake his hand before James surprises me by carefully holding my hand and instead of setting us down in the living room leads us to his office. I try not to visibly shake from the familiar path down the bathroom where last night happened.

He pushes open the door and for the first time I peek inside the home office. The room is smaller than the one back at the company and it has all black furniture with white walls.

There are two chairs on the other side of the table, assuming for Carrack and James since they both share this office and across it are three chairs. James leads me to one of the chairs on the other side, pulling it for me and I take a seat before he sits down himself, Oliver sitting across us.

"You very briefly mentioned what this was about, I'm assuming an officer would be joining us soon?" He asks and James nods.

"Yes, I guess we have ten minutes, give or take."

Oliver nods, "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

Before I can speak up, James starts talking, "Richard sexually assaulted her last night, that's what happened."

I sigh, his harsh tone with those words making me want to disappear. Oliver nods before he asks some questions and about the incidents after I slept.

"You should've given the statement last night, it would've been more effective." Oliver comments and I know he's right.

"Well, not like we can go back in time." James shrugs, making Oliver sigh. He tells me to answer everything honestly and not to worry.

There's a knock on the office door and Shanley steps inside, "Officer Dave is here, should I send him in?" She asks, her eyes remotely flickering to mine.

James nods and she disappears for a few minutes before appearing again to open the door for two men. Both of them are in their uniform as they enter the office with a few files in the hand of one man.

"Mr. Clark." The one with the moustache and blond hair says. He has a chin dimple and looks at Oliver then at me. "This is my partner, Carl."

James nods at them before motioning them to take a seat and a minute later Shanley brings out water for everyone.

"Mrs. Clark, your husband informed us about the unfortunate incidents of last night. However to take an action, we would need your complete statement about what took place. In as much details as you can offer." Carl explains and I nod, taking a deep breath. "Start from the beginning, how you met Mr. Lucas and go from there."

I nod again, "I met him for the first time on my wedding day, he's a colleague of James, so he introduced us. Apart from that I've seen him a few times when he came to the house for his meetings here in this office with James in the evening. We have never talked just the two of us, apart from the party last weekend."

James head snaps towards me as he scowls at me, and I know he's confused because I never told him about it. I didn't think it was a big deal, honestly. But apparently it was! I should've listened to Jeremy.

"What did you two talk about?"

I take a sip of the water before setting the glass on the table as nerves churn in my belly, "He told me I looked breathtaking, and that James shouldn't let me roam around dressed like that." The words leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

"What were you dressed like?" Dave asks and I frown at him, his question setting me off.

"How is that question important again? She could be in two piece bikini and it shouldn't matter." Oliver snaps at Dave who glares at him but shuts up nonetheless.

"My brother joined us after that and before leaving he placed a peck on my cheeks, which I wasn't comfortable with, but before I could comment on it, he left." I say, and realise that I haven't even started talking about last night and already feel like breaking down.

My eyes move to James and his jaw is tight, his knuckles almost turning white on the table and he looks incredibly pissed and I know it's because I didn't tell him about this. Would he have believed me if I had told him? I didn't want him to get mad at me.

"What happened last night?" Carl asks, his eyes and voice are much softer than his partner and I realise they must do the good cop, bad cop real nicely.

"I went to the washroom after James cut the cake. I didn't realise Richard was following me, because I hadn't even encountered him last night. When I was about to shut the door, he interrupted with his arm in between. He barged in the bathroom, locking the door behind himself before suggesting sexual activities." By now tears are brimming my eyes and I suck in a breath, all three of them are staring at me but James just seems to be staring blankly at the desk but I know he's hanging onto every word like Carl is writing everything down. "I told him he should leave or I'll start shouting. He said that every wall is soundproof in the house, although I have no idea how he knows that, because even I didn't know that."

Carl frowns, looking at James, "Any idea how he could know?"

"Every cabin is sound proof back at the office, so he must've just assumed the same for the house." He contributes.

"Then what happened?"

I feel my skin crawling as events of last night run through my head. I close my eyes to remind myself to keep taking deep breaths in order to not lose my calm but internally I've lost it all.

"I told him he didn't have to do anything but he just grabbed my waist and I tried to set myself free but his grip was so strong. He wouldn't let me go so I slapped him the first chance I got." I gulp and James finally looks at me, and when I look at him there's a sense of surprise but pride in his eyes, "It only pushed him off more. He pinned me against the wall and started talking about how I've been asking for it."

By now it was getting harder to breathe and I almost jumped out of my seat when James brings his hand to my fumbling fingers, his palm resting against the back of my hand on my thigh as his thumb grazes over my knuckles, comforting me and filling me with an unfamiliar warmth.

"You can stop anytime you want." Oliver tells me and I nod but then I know I need to do this.

"He kissed me," I breathe, almost tasting vomit in my mouth as the image runs in my head, "I tried to push him off but he pinned my hands and started using his tongue." I don't stop the tears that come now because I don't think I can hold them any longer, "I bit his tongue. I didn't know what else to do so I bit his tongue until he backed off from the pain and then slapped me."

James squeezes my hand underneath his and I wipe up my tears and I look at Carl, "I ran for the door, and successfully unlocked it but he pushed me back, harsher this time and his hands were down there and I started yelling in hopes that someone will listen. He had unbuckled his pants when my brother barged in." I explain, not wanting to continue as I hold my head in my hands,  to stop myself from sobbing. James hand now rests on my thighs and he makes no attempt to move it.

"Are those the bruises from last night?" Carl asks looking at my wrist and I nod. "We'll just take a few photos later."

"Continue." Dave says, sipping on water and I sigh.

"I don't remember much after that. I remember my brother punched him and then Hale found him. I remember James being incredibly pissed off and punching Richard, but that's just about it."

I didn't go into details because I'm not sure if I should mention James beating him to pulp to the point of him almost being unconscious. I pick up the glass of water and drown its contents as I sigh.

"Now, Mrs. Clark, I have a few questions from the statement you gave." Dave says and he leans on the table, his elbows resting on the desk and I nod, motioning for him to continue, "How is it possible that both the times your brother was the one to your rescue?"

His question makes me scowl, "Coincidence? The fact that I see him so less that when we meet at parties he gets worried when he can't find me. What are you implying through your question?" I snap at him, not being able to keep it back and he looks a little taken aback, and pissed but drops the question.

"We have cameras around the house, I can get you a copy of last night's recording of the particular hallway." James's looking at him with that death glare, making me frown because I've barely ever noticed the cameras. Dave nods, focusing his attention back at me.

"When you said his hands were down there, what did you mean?" He asks and his question alone makes my skin feel like it's crawling with an unwanted touch as I stare at him in disbelief.

"What do you think it means, Officer?" Oliver interrupts, just as annoyed and James just seems to be glaring at Dave. He looks as pissed off as he was last night.

"I need to know the details, it's important for the charges I press against him." Dave snaps right back.

"His fingers met my genitals, if that's what you're asking." I say, trying to get rid of this conversation as soon as possible.

James's body freezes next to mine as a look of disbelief and agony takes over his features as he stares at me. I don't think he expected to hear that, or even imagined that things went that bad last night but I'm not keeping the information hidden.

"Was it just a touch or did he slide them in?" Dave asks, his voice arrogant, making me uncomfortably shift in my seat as I glare at him.

"Dave!" Carl stares at his partner in disbelief before turning to me, "What he means to ask is was there any kind of penetration?"

I shake my head, "Almost, but not completely. My brother barged in just then."

He nods, writing down everything before he looks up, "Your brother can give his testimony if needed in the court but I have a feeling that Richard wouldn't take it that far. He was being a bitch enough last night in the cell."

"What charges are you pressing?" James asks, speaking in a hostile tone and Dave looks at him.

"Sexual battery. It's a misdemeanour, so it's jail for a year or fine, or both. Depends on how good of a lawyer he has." He shrugs.

"Jail, I want him to end up in jail, even if it's for a month." James looks at Oliver who nods, as if agreeing with him.

"Do you mind if I take photos of your bruises?" Carl asks and I shake my head. He spends the next few minutes taking photos of my wrist and my face. "You said he grabbed you by your waist, are there bruises there too?"

I nod, remembering seeing them in the shower this morning. I stand up from the chair before lifting my shirt and there are visible finger marks from where he grabbed me. Carl gives me an apologetic look as he takes the photos and Dave seems to staring at my skin which only makes me more uncomfortable.

"You need to look away." I tell him, anger coursing through me after the events of last night.

He scowls at me, "I'm doing my job."

"Your job isn't to stare at my skin." I snap and he glares at me but James's glare at him is much harsher so he just looks away.

After they leave I make my way upstairs to the room because I just want to lie down and bawl my eyes out because after repeating everything, the scenes just keep running through my head.

I just enter the room when I realise that James was just behind me. God, I should be more aware of my surrounding especially after last night.

"Why didn't you tell me about what happened at party last weekend?" He asks, clearly pissed about it and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"I didn't think it was important."

"It's always important, Mrs. Clark. Always. People out there are shit and if anyone approaches you like that, you have to tell me." His voice is laced with anger as he runs a hand through his hair, his eyes shining with aggression underneath the long lashes.

"I can't do this right now. Just please leave me alone." I say, not being able to bear him being pissed at me. I am having awful days as it is.

He seems to realise his mistake but I shake my head, "Just go. Please." I beg and he sighs before turning around to leave the room.