Out of Pain Comes Love

Keegan's POV

I watched Brookie walk away, the pain in my face evident. Mike Wilson! I'd heard his reputation. Prays on vulnerable girls. Acts the charmer. Abuses them in any way he wants. And cleans up after himself. Leaving the girls broken, picking up the pieces of their lives.

I was so stupid! A complete idiot! Make her run after me?! Arghh! I knew Brookie, I knew she wouldn't do the running, she's too soft for all of that. If I had just been honest with her...

I grit my teeth, I'm going to protect her. No matter the cost. I would keep my promise to Josh. I would keep my promise to her.

I smiled slightly, thinking of how things would have been different if Josh were still here...

Would I have fallen in love with her? Would they of stayed together? Silly question... They seemed to be made for each other.

If they were still together, and had I fallen in love with her, how would that of resulted?

One things for sure, had he been here today, he'd be doing a damn lot better then me at protecting her. He wouldn't of allowed Wilson to get his hands on her.

I shivered thinking of his hands on her, touching her... My fists clenching as I remembered what Amber said happened...

Wilson had decided to go up to her the day after she smashed Brookie's head off the locker and ask her out. She agreed of course.

They met, went for a walk and he invited her back to his car. Amber shook, tears spilling from her eyes as she told me what had happened... I sat next to her, rubbing small circles on her back.
I squeezed her hand for encouragement.

She took a deep breath looking down at her lap, her body shaking, "...H-he pulled me up against his car... he kissed me but it hurt, so I pushed him away...he sighed then and asked if I wanted to be his girl or not.. I agreed... he smiled at me but it was wrong...evil... He opened his car door and held it open for me... I climbed in knowing what I was doing...he got in the other side and lowered the seat right back... we kissed again and.. it started going further... I didn't want to go that far with him... I'm not the slut everyone thinks I am.." She looked up at me, her eyes telling me the truth. I nodded silently.

I took a deep breath, "What then?"

She curled next to me, her voice barely above a whisper... "He started getting rougher... his hands squeezing my breasts too hard...his mouth against mine so I couldn't stop him...I tried to push him away but, he grabbed my hands and held them above my head, I screamed but we were out on Mountview... no one was around for miles, he kissed me again before lifting up my skirt and dragging my pants down...his hands were every where prodding, groping, squeezing...it hurt.. then he just did it. I lost all fight Keegan, I couldn't find a reason too... I know I'm not a virgin but... it was horrible. I just lay there, pretending it wasn't happening.." She sighed, her voice quivering.. "He finished, got off me, zipped back up and sneered at me. He threw my pants back at me and told me to get dressed... he called me a little slut... I got dressed, fixed myself, made myself look presentable...he drove me back to my street, parked 2 minutes from my house. He grabbed my face, making me look at him...he said there'd be no point in me going to the police because I wasn't a virgin and he'd used a condom. He said it was karma. What goes around, comes around. He told me to get out the car and never breathe a word to anyone..."

At this she seemed to realise and looked at me with wide fearful eyes... "Please Keegan..." I wrapped my arms around her, "Shh, you don't need to worry...I won't repeat a word... You can trust me."

I shook my head and sat on a bench...Trying to get the memories of how broken Amber had looked out of my head...I wouldn't, no I couldn't let him touch Brook. No chance!

I grit my teeth as I thought about how badly I had treated her, I hadn't seen her look so broken since Josh's death.

I rubbed my eyes, sighing heavily, Josh... My best friend. Was it really okay for me to go after his girl? His sweetheart? Josh's death took a toll on the majority of the student body, he was popular and funny, he was caring. The kind of guy perfect for Brookie. His death hit us all hard. He'd died saving an elderly lady from two muggers. I remembered it clearly.

Me, Josh and Brook had been coming out of Stevenson's icecream galore on 7th street, we were on our way to Brook's to have a movie marathon. That's when we heard the screeching. Josh was quicker then me, he'd already registered what was going on. He ran down the alleyway towards the three struggling figures and punched one of the guys in the face. I was frozen my hand gripping Brookie's shoulder to stop her running to him. I couldn't make my feet move. The other guy hit him only once. A blow to the temple which caused severe internal bleeding on the brain... was how they described it to us. He went limp and just fell... By this point I had caught up, punched the guy to the floor knocking him out, and turned slowly to watch Brookie leaning over Josh's body, sobbing. Instant death they had told us at the hospital... He wouldn't of felt a thing. I was stuck, as my best friend died in front of my eyes. Stuck as he took the blow. A minute sooner and he'd of survived.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, repressing the thoughts. I would protect her. Her life was not something I planned on losing. With that I got up and walked away swiftly. Determination radiating off every part of my body.