I Know It's Hurting You, But It's Killing Me

Matt's POV

We didn't talk like I wanted to, Audrey was just too upset. She fell asleep in my arms on couch after crying for an hour and then I laid her down in her bed to sleep for the rest of night. I grabbed a beer from the fridge before walking out back where the guys were. "How is she man?" Jimmy asked immediately.

"Not good, but for now she's asleep." I sighed. "When did she tell you what happened Jimmy?" I asked looking at him as I sat down in a plastic chair by the pool. "The night we both disappeared," He answered solemnly.

"What's going on?" Brian asked confused a long with Zacky and Johnny. "That party Audrey went to last Saturday night something bad happened," I stopped and took a sip of my drink. "Brandon raped her,"

"Holy shit," Brian muttered. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Zacky asked. "Does it look like I'm kidding?" I snapped. "Sorry dude," He mumbled. "No, I'm sorry. I just have no idea what I'm going to do."

"Maybe you should have her talk to someone." Johnny spoke up. "Like a shrink?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," He nodded, "It could be good for her. I mean, she obviously doesn't want to talk to you about it so why not?" He shrugged. "I'll look into that, but for now I need to get her to a doctor."

"That's been taken care of." Jimmy said. "What do you mean?" I asked him. "Michelle and Leana took her this morning, that's what was so important and then they went shopping." He explained.

"Wait, are you telling me that they knew also before me?" He nodded. "Great," I muttered. "The two of us have always had a great relationship and we usually tell each other everything but lately she's just been keeping shit from me."

"She's fifteen now Matt, of course she's going to keep secrets from you." Brian said. I knew he was right but it didn't make me feel any better and at that point I wanted to beat the living shit out of Brandon.

"I hope they find that Ryan kid." Zacky said and I nodded agreeing with him. "I knew something was wrong with her this week. Hell, we all did. She hasn't played the guitar or sang a song and she got that bad grade on her essay. It's just not like her," Brian mentioned.

Audrey's POV

The minute dad shut my door, I stopped pretending I was asleep and sat up against my head board. I didn't want to talk about it with him, and I certainly never wanted to tell him. But of course it didn't matter anymore, because whether I liked it or not he knew and there was no going back. I looked over at my digital clock hanging on the wall above my closet door and took notice that it ten thirty.

I wasn't tired surprisingly and even if I was I don't think my mind would have allowed me to sleep. Their were to many thoughts over whelming my brain and I wasn't sure how to stop them. I crawled out of my bed and quietly stuck my head outside my door to see if anyone was out there.

When there wasn't I tip toed down the stairs and looked around the corner into the living room. I could hear the guys loud laughter from the porch so I knew I was okay to continue where I was going. I took off running through the living room and into the other hallway trying to be quiet.

"What are you doing?" A curious voice asked behind me. I turned around as fast as I could and came face to face with Johnny. I put my hand over my chest and scolded him. "You practically gave me a fucking heart attack Johnny." I cursed. "Sorry," He shrugged with a laugh. "But seriously, what are you doing?"

"I'm going down to the basement so I can let out some steam, so go away and leave me alone. For all you know I'm still in bed asleep." I said. "But I can't I come with you, I miss hearing you sing." He pouted. "No," I shook my head and gave him an incredulous look.

"Now get out of here." I sighed frustrated. "Fine," He huffed and walked away. I rolled my eyes and walked through the basement door, closing it behind me. I switched the lights on and followed the stairs until I was at the bottom.

The basement had always been the music room ever since we moved here when I was eleven after mom died. Guitars hung the walls a long with speakers and of course a drum set sat in the corner for Jimmy.

Microphones laid on top of the table next to the small couch that was placed down there, but none of that mattered to me. My favorite part of the music room was the black piano that sat in the opposite corner of Jimmy’s drums. I was nine when mom taught me and I had been playing ever since then.

Of course I had also inherited dad’s voice which I was happy about, because I honestly did love to sing. I sat down on the large bench and ran my fingers across the keys shiny white keys. I wasn’t worried about dad or the guys hearing me because the room was sound proof which I appreciated.

“You know, you should play something or at least sing.” A deep voice whom I recognized said from the stairs behind me. “Can’t I be alone for more than five minutes?” I groaned.
He chuckled quietly and I could hear his foot steps coming closer towards me. I turned around and he came and sat next to me on the bench.

“They’ll find him soon and this can all be over.” He told me. I bit my lip and shook my head. “It’s not that easy Uncle Brian.” I said truthfully. “Why is that Audrey?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“Just because I told the truth doesn’t mean I want to talk about it. It drives me crazy that Brandon thinks he won by over powering me and getting what he wanted in the first place. Ryan’s not going to give up and the police aren’t going to find him anytime soon.”

“You need to stop thinking like that,” He sighed. “Just leave me alone,” I murmured quietly. I didn’t want to deal with getting lectured, especially by Brian who was one of the bests to be lectured by unfortunately.

“Okay, fine.” He said before standing up and walking to the stairs. “But just so you know Audrey, if you don’t talk to someone about what happened then you won’t get past it and neither will Matt.” He told me before leaving me alone.