Don't Hold Your Breath

I stood in the dark alley way alone. Waiting for whatever extremely intimidating person I would be facing today. 

I know I told myself I would stop. I told Ryan I would stop. But we got a 48 hour notice threatening to disconnect our phone lines. I had to. 

Where do I get my stock you ask? Well all it takes is for my boss to turn his back for a few minutes and leave the back door unattended. I guess it helps that I work the register at a drug store. 

I don't take the drugs. I never would. If it weren't for mine and my mothers current situation I probably never would have laid a hand on anything of the like. 

But you do what you have to I guess.

Soon enough, a guy who looked to be about in his late twenties/early thirties, in a gray sweatshirt, hood up, appeared before me asking if I "had the stuff." 

"Here." I said handing it to him. In return he handed me a roll of bills that looked to be about twelve hundred dollars.

I was about to walk off when he stopped me. 

"You know, that's an awfully lot amount of money for this small amount of Oxycontin." he said with a sinister smile on his face. Oh no. That wasn't a good sign. 

"What else do you want?" I asked bitterly. Bad idea. 

"You know, all the way out here, there's no one to hear you scream."  My eyes widened in fear. I tried to run but he stopped me, pulling me to the ground.

I tried to get up but he held me down. He was strong. I screamed and cried for help, but there was no one. Just me and him. No one could hear me. 

He managed to strip me of my clothes, and pull down his pants, pumping himself preparing for what he was about to do. 

Without warning he thrust into me, causing me to cry out in pain. 

No lubricant, no condom, no nothing. For all I know he could be passing along some sort of STD. 

He continued thrusting, and I screamed in pain, which was extremely loud. At one point he hit the spot, the one that caused an involuntary moan to escape my lips. And for some cruel sick reason, when that happened he slapped me across the face. Once, twice, and the third it came in the form  of a punch causing me to bleed. I begged and pleaded for him to stop. This earned me a kick in the stomach. 

Finally when he was "finished" he grabbed his things and left. Leaving me there, bleeding, broken, and naked. 

I tried to pull on my pants, but it hurt a lot. I eventually found my cell phone and dialed Spencer. 

"Hello?" he answered groggily. It was nearly two. "Brendon what is it. I'm sleeping." he yawned into the phone. 

"I-I S-Spencer. I n-need y-y-your help." My voice cracked in several places, and even broke off with a gasp. I even sounded like I was lying naked in an alley raped and beaten. 

"B-Brendon! What happened! Where are you!" He knew I was serious and from the sounds of it rushed up, grabbed his keys and hopped in the car. 

I told him my whereabouts. He kept me on the phone to make sure I was okay until he arrived. He really was a great friend. I don't know what I'd do without him or any of them. Especially Ryan. 

Ryan. 

I'm sorry Ryan. I lied to you. I love you and I lied to you. I worried you. I disobeyed you. I love you. I'm sorry. 

I repeated this over and over in my head. Ignoring Spencer's worries cried on the phone I so weakly held to my ear. 

"I'm sorry." I eventually whispered into the phone. 

"Brendon, it's okay, j-just stay with me. Where are you? I'm here an- oh I see you! I'm coming!" 

I heard foot steps and Spencer rushed to my side. By the point in which he arrived I had managed to get myself dressed. He didn't need to know why I was here. He didn't need to know what happened. 

I tried to get myself up, but I needed help from Spencer. The roll of bills was lying on the ground next to me. At least he hadn't made off with the money. So this did happen for something. I quickly grabbed the money and stuffed it in my pocket without Spencer noticing. He helped me to my feet, then supported me as we walked to the car. It still hurt so much to walk.....        

Spencer's POV

I helped him into the car, buckling him in and everything. I didn't really need to ask what happened. The blood stain on the back of his jeans makes it pretty clear. Poor kid. But Why he was here in the first place is what I want to know. Now wasn't really the time to ask. So I'd save it for a later date. Now I just had to get this kid home. 

The car ride was silent until I pulled onto his street. 

"Where are you taking me?" He asked looking out the window. 

"I'm taking you home Brendon." I answered slightly confused. Where else would I take him?

"N-no. You can't. My mom can't know what happened. Please." what was he hiding that he didn't want his mom to know? Unless he went into the prostitution business or something. But I really don't see that. 

"Why?" I asked simply. 

He paused for a moment. "Because she's under enough stress as it is, and I don't want to worry her." He obviously lied. 

I didn't question it. Instead I just turned the car around and headed towards my house. I would get him to explain later. 

"Alright. We'll go to my house. We'll get you cleaned up and stuff. But we have to be careful not to wake my parents."

He nodded and mumbled a quiet thank you.  

I nodded in reply. "Yeah." 
It was another quiet drive and I looked over and he was nearly asleep.

I pulled into my driveway and made my way over to his side of the car to help him out. I was carrying nearly half his weight as we walked inside. He was definitely going to need a shower. He smelled like blood, dirt, and, sadly, sex. He wasn't going to crawl into my clean bed or wherever he ends up sleeping smelling like that. 

"Bren, why don't you go take a warm shower. Ill get you some clean clothes." I said setting him down on the couch in my room. 

"Thanks Spence. Really." he said forcing a smile. 

"Its not a problem." I said forcing one back for his benefit. " Just leave your clothes in front of the bathroom door and I'll get them in the wash." I instructed. "Do you need any help uh..."

"No I got it." he said standing himself. 

"Mkay." I said walking out of the room deciding to leave him alone. I felt sorry for the kid, and all the shit he's been through, even since he moved here. 
First there was the harassing from Pete, then there was his father leaving him and his mother, then there was the financial crisis they were facing, then Ryan moving to Alabama, then the whole party thing, and now this. I don't think this kid can take much more. 

After I heard the water start, decided I should probably call Jon. He wouldn't be too happy with me for calling him at two thirty in the morning, but he would be even more angry if I didn't tell him right away. Plus, I needed some help on deciding what to do. 

I pulled out my phone and dialed his number. 
After quite a few rings he finally answered. 

"Spencer, Its two fucking thirty. What is it?" he answered. 

"Jon, it's important. I need you to come over to my house." 

"Now?" he asked yawning. 

"Yes Jon, now. It's Important. It's Brendon." 

"What happened?" he asked. 

"I'll tell you when you get here. Make it fast."
I ordered. 

"Fine. I'll be there in about five minutes." and he hung up the phone. I sighed and set it down on the table. How were we going to deal with this? Should we tell Ryan? Should we tell anyone? I guess this is why I need a second opinion. 

~*~

While I waited for Jon I went ahead and grabbed a pair of sweats for Brendon and set them by the bathroom door, picking up his old clothes and throwing them in the wash. 

About seven minutes later Jon showed up in just a pair of sweats and a hoodie. 

"Now what is it that's so important you demand I come over a two thirty on a school night?" he asked yawning the second part. 

I sighed and pulled him in forcing him to sit on the couch while I paced back and forth. I told him the whole story from the phone call to just about ten minutes ago.

Jon's mouth hung open in shock. 

"R-Raped? What the hell was he doing in a dark alley in the middle of the night?" he asked standing up facing me. 

"I don't know. I didn't ask. I don't think he'd tell me anyways." I sighed plopping down on the couch. 

"Well Spence, what are we going to do? Should we tell Ryan? What about Vicky? His mom? We have to do something." This is where he began freaking out and pacing back and forth across the room like I had been just like thirty seconds ago. 

"I don't know. He said his mom couldn't know. I don't know why. I'm assuming it's because whatever he was doing he doesn't want anyone to know. Especially her." 

"Well, maybe we should find out what the hell he was doing before we take any actions." 

"Jon, think about what he's been through. I don't think it would be the best idea to force him to tell us. I don't even know if we should come right out and ask." 

"Well we have to do something. I knew he's been acting weird the past couple of days.... "He mumbled to himself. "I think we should ask Ryan. He might know more about this then we do. And I' m sure he wants to know what's going on." 

"Yeah, but I don't think Brendon would want us to tell him obviously. He doesn't want him to get all worried. And you know Ryan will freak out." I argued. But Jon did have a point. He may know more about this then we do. Brendon's on the phone with him 24/7. He could probably help us figure it out. 

"You're right. I think we should call him. He can probably help us figure it out." I contradicted myself. 

"Should we do it now?" He asked.

"Probably. It'll be better to do it while he's in the shower so he doesn't over hear." 

"You know it's about five in the morning in Alabama." Jon stated. "Should we really wake him up?". 

"He'll be up in a few hours anyways. It'll be fine."  I picked up his phone and dialed his number. 

"Wait." Jon stopped me. "Didn't Brendon say he got his cell taken away?"

"Fuck." I mumbled as I threw my phone down.

"Wait a sec."' Jon repeated before disappearing into the other room. He reappeared holding Brendon's cell phone. "I remember him saying something about only being able to contact Ryan via some girls cell phone. I guess she's a friend of Ryan's." He mumbled searching through the contacts. He pressed the button and held it up to his ear. 

"Wait a sec Jon. You're calling some girl at five in the morning that you don't even know, so you van ask her to go find Ryan, where ever he is, and talk to him?" 

"Uh..." Before he could respond I guess she answered. 

I walked over and put my head close to Jon's so I could hear the conversation. 

"Hello?" A female voice answered. She sounded tired, but not like she had just woken up. "Brendon, it's five thirty here. I don't think Ryan's awake. Maybe you should call back later-" 

"Um, i-it's not Brendon." Jon cut her off. Why did he sound so nervous?  

"Then who-"

I grabbed the phone from Jon, since he was so bad at this, and decided to speak instead. 

"We're friends of Brendon's, and we need to talk to Ryan A.S.A.P." I demanded into the phone. 

"Well it's five thirty and he's next door sleeping. I don't think his crazy aunt will let me in so I can have him take a call from a couple of his boyfriends friends. Can it wait a couple hours?" She was sweet, but this annoyed me. Brendon would be getting out of the shower soon and we really needed to discuss this with Ryan. 

Just then I heard the bathroom door open signaling that he was out of the shower. 

"Hold on." I whispered into the phone as I hid it behind my back. 

"Spencer, have you seen my cell...? What's Jon doing here?" he asked pointing towards Jon. I didn't want to tell him what was going on so I went with the first thing that came to mind. 

"Um, he had a bad dream, and he needed to talk about it." I added lamely. I got a weird look from Brendon and Jon. "Brendon, you should probably get to bed and rest. I want you to sleep in my bed tonight. I ordered. I sneakily handed the phone to Jon as I guided him to my room. I made sure he was comfortable, and he was out like a light. He must have been exhausted. 

I made my way back to the living room to find Jon talking with the girl on the other line. 

"Its Ryan." he said as he held out the phone to me.