An hour has passed since we entered the fairgrounds. All the walking on my crutches really put a toll on my body, and I was sweating in places that I shouldn't. It had gotten to the point to where I had to have Jasper run out to the car to grab me another set of clothes so I could change. Unlike my grandparents house, the rain never made it here. So the sun had fair game to make it unbearably hot. Now I was wearing a thin yellow sundress, which was way better than the black T-shirt and sweats I had on earlier.

I leaned back on the bench, one hand clenching a cold bottle of water and the other holding onto the fuzzy blue bear that Jasper had won me. I knew it bruised Evans ego that he couldn't manage to knock over those bottles, but he wasn't as athletic as Jasper was. As far as I knew, Evan never played a sport in his life.

A few minutes ago I shooed the boys away to go ride that poorly, but fun looking rollercoaster that was being run by a guy who looked like the split image of Joe Dirt. At first they tried to object, saying that it would be unfair since I couldn't ride it, but by the moon eyes they were making at it as well as the other rides that looked equally as dangerous, it wasn't hard to convince them to go.

It felt strange being alone again after constantly being with the boys these past few days. And I'm grateful they came with me. If I had left five minutes sooner, who knows what would have happened. Could I have gotten into an accident? Yes. Or maybe not. But I was rather upset that day, and driving with your eyes all blurry with tears was not the smartest move.

As I sat there, I dazed off into space as I recalled these last few weeks. From Evan bringing food to my house to me falling out the window. Looking back on that now, I felt like an idiot for doing that. It was raining heavily that day, and the sheer fact of that and how it is well known that I have no upper body strength, I should have realized I would have never crossed that gap. If I had instead of walked out of my house and into his, all of this would never had happened. My leg would have been perfectly fine, and who knows, maybe I would have been working at Bello's the whole time. I would have gotten closer to Evan, and Jasper would have been partying at the lake with his buddies while still hating me.

'Did I want that?' I asked myself, but I quickly pushed that thought away.

No. As messed up as it sounds, I'm glad all this happened. I mean, I'm not glad I had broken my leg. I would have been cool with breaking my arm instead, but it is what it is.

The sun was bringing to set, and all the colorful lights on all the stands turned on. The multicolored lights lit up the grassy walkway, and I was in awe.

When I was younger, I had always wanted to go to a state fair like this. I begged Mom to take me when I was little, but her empty promise to take me every year never panned out. Something always came up last minute, and I usually would end up spending the night alone in my room while she was off doing god knows what.

Suddenly, as I was staring off into space, someone stopped in front of me. Blocking my view of the festivities in front of me. I looked up to see two boys around my age towering over me with mischievous smirks on their faces.

And neither one of them was Evan or Jasper.

"Can I help you?" I asked cautiously as my eyes darted back and forth between the pair.

"I'm Drake," one of the boys said. He wore a red and black muscle shirt, and his toned arms glistened with sweat. His green camo shorts hung loose on his hips. His brown hair was long on the top but cut short on the sides.

"Ricky" said the other one. Much like Drake, he wore a muscle shirt that was a dark blue and a pair of tan shorts. His hair was blond and curly, and it was spilling out of the backwards ball cap he wore.

"Whys a pretty little thing like you sitting all by yourself?" Drake said as he leaned down closer to me, his face mere inches from mine. I could smell the beer on his breath.

Ricky sat down next to me. My body stiffened as he dropped an arm around me, while his other hand was used to hand the first boy my crutches. My eyes widened in fear as my only mean of transportation was taken from me and then tossed out of reach. Before I could say anything, the boy who was sitting next to me placed his hand a little to high up on my thigh and started to squeeze.

"Hey," I shouted as I tried to push his hand away, but Ricky gripped the back of my head tightly. His fingers were entangled in my hair, and a tear started to form in the corner of me eyes from the pain. I looked around at the people passing by for help, but no one acknowledged us. This was happening in a sea of people, and I was on my own.

"Why don't we get outta here," Ricky whispered into my ear. "I'll have you begging for more. How's that sound?"

Anger and fear washed over me. These two boys were going to get away with what they were doing. Who isn't to say that they just won't haul me up and carry me outta here if I let this happen. And who knows what would happen if I don't try to stop them.

"Please leave me alone," I beg them as I attempted to once again push Ricky away from me. However, Drake grabbed my hands and held them in place. No matter how hard I tried to get out of his grasp, I couldn't. "I'll scream."

"I'd stop you," Drake said with a smirk that sent shudders down my spine.

"I'm not here by myself," I tell them, hoping that they took the hint. But that would be too easy.

"Great. More girls for us," Ricky said as he put his face into my neck, and I could feel his lips brushing up against my skin. Bile rose in the back to my throat. Out of instinct, I pulled my arm back as far as I could with Drake holding onto me, and I elbowed Ricky as hard as I could in the stomach.

"Ow," Ricky grunted in pain as he let go of me. "You little bitch."

In the corner of my eyes, I could see the familiar figures of Jasper and Evan walking towards us. At first, the two were looking at one another while talking. They hadn't realized what was happening right now.

I needed to get their attention.

Ricky, who had recovered from being hit in the stomach, tried to once again start groping me. At moment he touched me, I let out a yelp loud enough for the boys to hear me. Drake, obviously annoyed, let one of my hands go and clamped his hand over my mouth. Instantly, no sound came out of my mouth.

_____________________________________

Jaspers POV

As we walked back to where we had left Hattie, both Evan and I talked excitingly about the rollercoaster we had just riden. It was shotty, and definitely should not have been open to the public. But those are the best ones.

"Did you see that one guy run to the trashcan when we got off?" Evan asked me with a chuckle as we walked inbetween the small shops set up under canopy after canopy.

"That was disgusting," I said to him. "Do you think Hattie would have liked that ride."

"Definitely," he said. "Next year I'll have to bring her up just so she can go on it."

I smiled, but what Evan said made my heart ache. Of course Evan would bring her up again. They would no doubt be a couple soon, and that's what couples did. They go on dates. I never really did that. Most of my dates might have started off decent, but they always ended up in my bed.

"She'd like that," I said, keeping my emotions to myself.

"You'll have to get yourself a girlfriend though. Double date," Evan said to me, which kind of took me by surprise.

"You'd what to double date?" I asked, unsure  if I heard him right.

"Yeah," he said as he put his hands in his pants pockets. "Not to sound weird. But you kinda grown on me. Plus I appreciate how you were also there for Hattie these last few days."

"Oh," I said. Not sure if I should feel flattered or not. "Yeah. I mean if Hattie wants me around, I'm cool with it."

"I think she would," he told me. "I think she sees how much you've changed. I mean, I see it."

I nodded. We were getting close to the bench Hattie was on. I was getting ready to say something, I heard what sounded like a yelp, but was cut off. I looked up and my heart dropped.

Hattie was sitting right where we left her, but she wasn't alone. There was two guys with her, and by what I saw them doing, I knew it was unwanted. One of the guys was holding her hand tightly, and the other hand was clamped down on her mouth. The other guy had his arm wrapped around her, hand his other hand was groping her inner thigh. The two were laughing, and no one was stopping them. Hattie was trying to wiggle her way out of it, but they overpowered her.

"Jesus Christ," I said I whispered as I smacked Evan on the arm to get his attention, but he has already seen. His face paled, and before I good say anything else, Evan took off.

Watching Evan full on tackle the one guy that had his hand on Hattie's mouth to the ground caught them by surprise. Heck, I didn't know Evan had it in him. The guy who had his hands all over Hattie jumped back in surprise, and I got to him before he could react and help his friend. His eyes widened with surprise as I picked him up by  his throat and slammed him on the ground.

He laid there, wind knocked out of him, and groaned. I looked over at Evan to see if he needed assistance, but judging by how he was whooping that guys ass right now, he was good.

The guy I slammed was starting to get up. When he was in a sitting position, I crouched down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. The moment we made eye contact, my fist made contact with the middle of my face. After the third hit, blood was streaming down his face. At that point, he was out of it.

I looked over to see Evan push himself off the other guy, who was just as bloody and unconscious. Even though the guy in front of me was barely conscious, I wasn't satisfied. The guy lifted his hand to try to push me off. The hand that he used to touch Hattie.

"This is for her," I said to him as I snatched his hand and laid it flat on the ground. The guys eyes widened, well, one did. The right one was a little swollen. I pulled back on his hand while also keeping pressure on it. Slowly, it bent back.

Then it snapped.

I pushed myself back, and wiped the blood off my hands in the grass. A small crowd of people stopped to watch, but no one intervened. Once the fight was over, they all dispersed.

Worried about Hattie, I quickly looked over to her. Evan was sitting next to her, holding her in a tight embrace. She was holding back her tears, I could tell. At least she was safe now.

"We should never have left you," Evan said softly as he attempted to comfort her. And by the look on his face, it was working. With a sign, I picked up Hattie's crutches that were laying in the grass and laid them on the bench. I remained silent as they were holding each other.

"It's okay, I'm the one who told you two to go on a ride," she said with a laugh.

"At least we got here before anything seriously bad happened," I said as I stared at the ground, ashamed that this had happened on my watch.

Before anything else was said, Hattie turned her body to face me and held both her hands out. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, unsure of what she was doing. She rolled her eyes before she motioned to my hands. After getting her message, I grabbed her hands. I thought she just needed help getting up, and once she was on her feet, I was going to help her with her crutches. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me. Hugging me.

My eyes widened. Hattie was hugging me. Really hugging me. I looked over to Evan, who was trying to hide his laughter.

Her hug felt warm, not forced. Once the initial shock wore off, I returned the hug. It was nice. Never before had I received a hug like this. This was genuine, and I wished that this moment would never end.

Except it had to.

Hattie pulled away before looking me in the eyes. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

My face instantly went red, and I forgot how to speak. I tried to respond to her, but my mouth was so dry, I couldn't. Instead, I just nodded.

"Come on," she said as she kept a firm grasp on me with one hand and reached over to grab her crutches with the other. "I want to go on a ride too. You guys can't have all the fun."