Wonderful Life

Today it was the day I was having lunch with Sam. He'd called me a few weeks back after I'd given him my number and today was a Saturday, the only day that I had off, and the only day that he was available, so we planned to get together and talk, without cameras and paparazzi in our faces. I was going to keep Christian out of this, and knowing him, it was a good idea to keep him out of the loop when it came to me having lunch with Sam, because he would have thrown a hissy fit and I wasn't wanting to deal with anything like that. I even asked Colbie to just tell him that I was busy and had to run errands.

Getting up early, I cleaned the house quietly. Colbie was still sleeping and after the funeral, she was uninteresting in talking, so I gave her the space that she wanted and took care of the things that I needed to get done. I tidied up every room except for the one that Colbie was in, made sure that my bills were paid, that my grocery list was made and that I had my work schedule written down.

Once all that was finally done, I showered, changing out of my sleep clothes and into the clothes that I was going to wear today which consisted of jeans and a tank top. I let my hair dry, knowing that it wasn't going to be a big deal and continued getting ready. While I was doing that, I ignored several texts that were from Christian, asking me if I was free today, after sending him one that said I was busy for the rest of the day. I turned my phone on silent and continued getting ready for lunch.

After I made sure that I was totally ready, I headed out, leaving a note for Colbie on the fridge. She wasn't going to be in the mood for company and I knew that she wanted to be alone right now, and when she was ready to talk to me, I would be there to listen.

Getting to the restaurant, I was both excited and nervous to actually sit down and talk to him. I was not that great with guys, seeing that I never had a boyfriend and had never been intimate with one. I had never been that great at talking to them, plus growing up with Christian around me, guys who were around me, never paid attention to me like that. And even when he wanted more than just to be my friend, when he wanted to be my first, I turned him down.

I suppose that you could say I was waiting for the right guy, the one who would respect my decision and who wouldn't turn into a total asshole after wards and leave me after he got what he wanted. He wanted to be that person, more than he let on, but he knew flat out that I would never ever choose him. That was something that pissed him off royally.

Not knowing where Sam was, I headed up to the blonde hostess dressed in black and smiled. The staff here was always very polite, kind and they treated you like you were a human being.

"Hi, I'm here to see Sam Worthington. He's expecting me." I said, removing my sunglasses from my face.

She looked through a list and looked up. "Miss Ryan?" She questioned.

"That's me." I replied, smiling.

The blonde smiled back at me. "Follow me, please." She stated and I did just that. I'd been here before, but it was to eat and talk with my father, so I was familiar with the place.

She seated me at an empty table with a menu and I was kind of pissed that he wasn't here yet, but also relieved that I had a few minutes to get comfy. After about five minutes, someone sat down in the chair across from me.

I looked up to see him, smiling. He was in a pair of dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt on and a pair of sneakers.

He stood when I did and then sat down as I did. I sat there waiting for him to say something, and when he did, I felt even more nervous.

"How was the traffic?" He inquired, trying to fill the awkward silence.

I nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay. My best friend just went through a family death, so I was with her. I'm sorry that I was late." I replied, as he nodded.

"I'm very sorry." He remarked, looking empathic.

I cleared my throat. "Yes, I was sad to hear it. He died as such a young age. It's hard for family and friends to deal with." I replied.

"If you need to go, then we can do lunch another time." He answered.

I set the menu down and looked him in the eye. "Trying to get rid of me?" I asked.

"No." He answered. "Stay." He asked and I nodded.

~*~

I nodded. "Why don't we play twenty questions and get to know each other better?" He suggested.

I threw my hands up in the air and I smiled brightly. "Knock yourself out." I replied.

"Full name?" He started.

I scratched my nose. "Gemma Isabella Ryan. You?" I answered.

"Samuel Shane Worthington." He said.

I sighed, biting my lip. "How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty-four. You?" He stated.

I nodded. "Twenty-three." I answered.

"Place of birth?" He inquired.

I smiled. "Cannes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Then I moved to Wales, England until I was a teen." I replied.

Sam smiled at me. "Surrey, England. But I moved to Australia when I was a kid." He replied.

"I love Sydney and Brisbane. What's your favorite color?" I asked, picking at the hem of my t-shirt.

I adjusted my glasses. "Purple. I love anything Purple." I replied.

"Gray. I prefer gray over anything." He stated.

This was getting interesting, and I was actually having fun, learning all about the real guy, and not the one that was on film. I had heard of him, he was big in Australia, as well as around the world, although, I'd never seen Avatar, I had no idea what it was about.

"Favorite actor?" He leaned back, getting comfy.

I grimaced. "Tough one. I would have to choose two, simply because they are amazing. James Dean and Natalie Wood. They are fantastic." I replied.

"For me....I can't think of one. I don't really have a favorite." He added, smiling.

I smiled and sipped my tea. "Favorite book? You know, one that you can never ever leave the house without." I mused.

"Wow. That's a tough one. On the Road by Jack Kerouac. What about you?" He answered.

Setting my mug down, I sat back. "East of Eden. I never get tired of reading it or watching the movie." I smiled.

"Favorite superhero?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes. "The best ever....Superman. He's awesome." He stated, and I shook my head.

"Oh! Iron Man is the best." I replied, and he shook his head.

He rolled his eyes again. "You can't seriously like Iron Man...He's not even a real superhero, he has no superpowers." He argued.

"Moving on. Favorite television show?" I asked, smoothing over the superhero conversation.

He sighed. "Don't have one." He replied and I nodded.

"What do you want to do with your life?" He asked, and the moment that I thought of the answer, I sighed.

I smiled. "Work with kids." I replied.

The entire time, we ate and had a good time, talking, laughing and I could seriously see myself dating this man for a long time, making a relationship out of this, but I knew that it was too early. We finally decided to call it a day, and after we were finished, we split the bill and decided that we'd get together another day, and that he'd call me.

Getting home, there was no one there, and I assumed that Colbie was with the guys. I knew that they were going through something that was hard for them to deal with, but I was glad that Brian and Colbie were together. I changed into sleep clothes, wanting to be comfy and settled on the couch and turned on the flat screen television in the living room.

While I was in the middle of watching my DVR'd new episode of The Vampire Diaries, my doorbell rang and I paused the episode, wondering who would be here bothering me. I knew that it wasn't my mother or my father, they were off at a charity event, with other family friends, so the only person I knew who was going to be bothering me was Christian.

As I opened the door, I was right. Christian was standing there, and walked right past me. "Hey."

I knew that I wasn't in the mood for one of his long discussions, but was going to have to endure it, seeing as I couldn't avoid him forever.

"What is it, Christian? Why are you here?" I asked, wondering if he was just loitering because he could.

He sighed turning to face me. "I couldn't get a hold of you today and I wanted to talk to you. I know that you've been busy, but I really wanted to see you." He answered.

"If you're going to convince me, or rather try to convince me that we can be something, I don't want to hear it. I don't think of you this way and I never will." I replied.

Christian nodded, pulling me to sit on the couch. "I know. I just always thought that you and I would have something together. You know, that we'd end up getting together. We were always closer than just being friends." He said, and I knew that in his mind, that's what he thought.

Just as he was about to say something else, my phone rang, and I was so thankful for whoever was interrupting me. I grabbed my phone as Christian asked if I wanted something to drink.

"Want a drink?" He asked, standing up.

To get him out of the room, I nodded. "Soda, please." I replied and saw that it was Sam who was calling me. "Hey."

"Sure, I'd love that. How about Thursday? Great. See you then. Bye." I replied, as Christian came back with a glass and a beer bottle.

He handed me the glass and I took a swig. "So, what's been going on?" I asked.

Ten minutes later, after finishing the glass of soda, I started getting tired, really tired and started to nod off. I chalked it up to being extremely tired after being so busy this morning that I just laid back on the throw pillows that were behind me and listened to Christian talk, while trying to keep both of my eyes open, but couldn't do it.

~*~

I woke up the next morning, in my bed, wearing nothing but a bed sheet and it felt as if my world was back on it's axis again. When I went to sit up, a searing pain between my thighs and hips hit me. And I knew what had happened, while cursing myself for being so stupid. He had put some substance in my drink and drugged me.

Moments later, I saw Christian walk into the room and sit down on the edge of my bed smiling at me and I knew that something was wrong.

"What did you do to me?" I asked, tightening the sheet around my upper half and scooting away from him as he came closer to me.

He arched an eyebrow. "Nothing. We kissed and fooled around and eventually, ended up in bed." He replied as I tried to ignore the pain that was wracking my lower half. He reached out and tried to touch my bare shoulder. I knew that he was lying through his teeth.

"Get away from me. You know and I both know that I'd never ever touch you if I was sober. H-how could you do this to me? I thought....I thought that you were my friend." I accused, feeling like I was going to throw up.

I couldn't believe that he was this cruel, that he would take something that wasn't his. I wanted him gone, for good and out of my life. I didn't want to be around someone like him anymore.

"Get out. I don't want to see you ever again." I sputtered, suppressing the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes.

He stood, exiting the room and once I heard the door shut, I painfully slipped out of bed and pulled out some clothes. I had to shower and when I got into my bathroom, I locked the door, and slipped into the scolding hot water. I tried to wash the grime off me, but it felt as if it would never come off and once I was done, I slipped out, slowly drying off, to avoid pain and slipped on my clothes.

I walked out of my bathroom and stripped the bed of its sheets and tossed them in the garbage before heading back to my room. I just sat there until I heard the door open and two voices filter through the house.

Colbie and Brian.

"Gemma? You here?" She called.

I couldn't answer. I couldn't do anything, until she walked in, noticing that something was different.

"Gem, what's wrong?" Brian asked.

I shook my head, wiping tears away. "He...I can't believe...I was so stupid." I cried.

"Gemma, why are the bedsheets gone?" She asked.

I sniffled. "I had to get rid of them. He....Christian....He....I can't believe that he'd...." I felt more tears spill.

As Brian sat on the bed, I flinched. "What did he do, Gemma?" He asked. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

"He....Raped me." I cried. "He came over after I got back from lunch with Sam. And he wanted to talk. As we were talking, um, Sam called me, and I took the call, while Christian got me a soda and....I took it, thinking that nothing was wrong and.....After I finished it, I started feeling sleepy and I woke up this morning and....My clothes were gone and my body was in extreme pain and he then made up some lame excuse that we both wanted it." I explained, still in shock.

Colbie looked livid, like Brian did. "How do you know...?" Brian asked.

"I've never slept with a guy. Christian knew that and has always wanted to be my first and....After last night....He was." I replied. "I was so stupid! I never should've had that drink! I'm an idiot!"

Brian shook his head. "Gem, there was no way that you could've known he would do that. He was supposed to be your friend. Friends don't do that to each other. But we need to get you checked out." He replied.

~*~

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in a waiting room, between Colbie and Brian. Part of me wanted to leave, not wanting to endure this, but the other side of me wanted to face this. I never thought that something like this would happen to me. Let alone being raped by someone that I was supposed to trust.

"Gemma Ryan?" A nurse called seconds after I stopped my internal rant.

I stood up, taking a deep breath and went with the tiny blonde nurse who had a smile on her face. I had never worked in the E.R. unit like this, but the nurse was very professional and kind, and she was well aware of my case.

I'd filled out all my information and was waiting for the doctor to enter the room. I was supposed to be meeting with Dr. Hunter, someone that I'd never met. And as I was getting antsy, a tall brunette walked into the room. He was as tall as Brian, but had green eyes.

"Miss Ryan, I'm Dr. Hunter." He began.

I nodded. "Yes. I....was...Raped." I replied and he smiled somberly.

"I understand completely. You only have to tell me what you want. If you're ready to get started, I'm going to need you to get undressed and then we'll get started." He said and pulled the curtain across the track and left the room, to let me have my privacy to get undressed.

I was shaking as I did it, but I knew that nothing inappropriate was going to happen. Dr. Hunter was an excellent doctor and very professional. Once I was done and changed, I sat on the table and waited for him to return to the room. Then once he did, he began the exam.

"I'm going to have you lay back, and place your feet in the stirrups and scoot down as much as you can." He instructed and then the real show began, and it wasn't fun. He poked and prodded, and the pain from the poking and prodding along with the pain inside was unbearable.

I wanted to cry. "You're doing very well, Gemma." He soothed. "I can certainly see the damage that was indeed done here. We're going to take a sample of your blood, test your for any diseases and see what was used to drug you and make sure that everything is okay. For the pain, I'm going to give you some Tylenol." He said, as I concentrated on anything but being here.

I felt like crying and just screaming, but I couldn't. I had to know. I was grateful that it was over and now I was just waiting for the words that I was carrying disease free and that I could go home and I could just curl up in a ball and hide away from the world. I dreaded having to tell my parents, it was not something that was easy to just tell. And I was going to have to make sure that the guys didn't go after Christian, and pray that Colbie never got her hands on him, because if she did, then this was bound to get out.

After it was done, and I was disease free, I was able to go home. "Gem, you need to turn him in." Brian pressed.

"I know. I...I just....I don't want anyone to know. He's a public figure, if they find out, then...How, how am I going to move on? Christian is out of my life forever. I want nothing to do with him and he definitely knows what he did wrong. I just want to go home right now." I pleaded.

They both took me home and I curled up in my newly made bed. I fell asleep, crying into my pillow, dreading the next day.