This Is Not the End

Elise's POV

A week had passed since that night. I didn't feel like doing much of anything. I laid in Jacky's bed all day long, watching re-runs of my favorite television shows. Max had gone out of town, and had left me in Jacky's care. I would have been fine at my house, but Max seemed to have insisted that I stay with Ronnie and Jacky. I didn't see Max after they had confronted Riley because he left the next morning. Ronnie went to my apartment and gathered some clothes and toiletries for my stay. I wasn't sure on how long exactly I was going to be here, but judging on the amount of clothes Ronnie came back with, I was going to be here a while. That, or he didn't know what to bring, so he just grabbed what he could. Jacky had even made sure that Chip came too.

“Are you going to lay there all day again today?” Ronnie asked from the doorway. I pried my eyes away from “Charmed” and looked in his direction.

“Maybe...” I murmured, returning my gaze to the television. Ronnie came in and turned the TV off and reeled around to face me with his hands on his hips.

“Get up. Now.” He said.

I rolled over. “No. Go away.”

Ronnie sat down on the bed. “Look, I know that what happened was pretty bad, but you can't mope around and dwell on it.”

“It's been working out just fine.” I snapped.

“No. It hasn't. You're letting Riley win by doing this. You can't just lie here like this. It's unhealthy. When was the last time you ate something?” Ronnie asked.

“I don't know... Thursday?” I replied.

“It's Saturday. You haven't eaten in three days, Elise. Jacky is worried. And I know Max is. You can't do this to the people who care about you.” he told me. “It's just not fair.”

“I'm not doing anything...” I muttered.

“So, you're really just going to lie here and waste away?” Ronnie asked.

“Yes. I am. Now, go away, Ronnie.” I snapped. Ronnie stood up and wrenched the covers off of me. “HEY!” I shouted.

Ronnie leaned down and picked me up bridal style. He carried me out of the room and into the bathroom. He then, dropped me into a bathtub that was full of cold water.

“WHAT THE FUCK RONNIE!” I said, attempting to stand up. Ronnie pushed me back down and submerged my head under water for a few seconds.

“You need to fucking wake up, Elise! There are people who fucking care about you!” Ronnie yelled. “And you are hurting them by acting this way!”

“I DON'T CARE!” I shouted.

“BULLSHIT! THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT!” he shouted, causing me to flinch.

“I just don't know what to do anymore! I've lost my mom, and my dad, and it seems as though nothing I say or do matters to anyone anymore!” I shouted back.

“It does to me.” I heard Jacky say from the door way. I looked away from Ronnie to see Jacky standing there, staring at me. “I fucking care about you, Ellie. When I found you that night, all strung out, not knowing where you were or what was going on, I was fucking scared. And then when I found out what happened to you, I was furious. I should have voiced my opinion to you about Ava when I had the chance. I should have said something to Max. I should have been there for you.” he said.

All I could do was stare at him. “Ronnie, I think it's time I got out of this bathtub.” I said quietly after some time had passed. Ronnie nodded and grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around me as I stood up. He lifted me out of the bathtub and set me on the floor. I stared at Jacky.

“I think I'll give you guys a moment alone...” Ronnie said, sidling past Jacky.

“Did you mean it?” I asked. Jacky stepped closer to me and took my face in his hands.

“Every word.” He said. Then he leaned down, and pressed his lips to mine briefly. I stood on tip-toe and kissed him back. Jacky wrapped his arms around my waist and put more passion into the kiss. He pulled back, keeping his arms around me. “How about we get you into some dry clothes?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jacky and I had been dating for over a month now, and I was actually starting to feel like myself again. Things were starting to get better. It was hard to come to grips with what had happened to me, but eventually, I did. I hadn't heard from Ava since that night, and honestly, I was sort of worried about her. I didn't blame her for what happened. I tried to, but I realized that she wasn't the one who got on top of me that night. She wasn't even in the room. I didn't know where she was or what she was doing... and that frightened me.

I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Riley or reliving that night. Not a day went by that I didn't wonder what Ava would have done had she been there. She wasn't a bad person, she just did bad things. Everyone seemed to judge her and talk about her like she was nothing. The night we met, she came over to me and asked me if I was okay. No one had ever done that to me. Not under those circumstances.

I crawled out of bed and grabbed my phone. I dialed Ava's number and waited for her to answer.

“Hello?” came her voice on the other end.

“Ava! Where have you been? Why haven't you called?” I asked frantically.

“I've been wondering the same thing about you. What happened that night? Where did you go?” she asked.

“Something bad happened.” I bit my lip, as I reached for my cigarettes.

“What happened? Tell me.” Ava said, sound worried.

“Riley raped me.” I said.

“What?!” she shouted. “Oh my God! Are you okay? I should have been there! Chris kept me in the back room for hours! I wanted to go out and check on you, but he told me that I couldn't! Ellie, I'm so sorry!”

“What do you mean? Chris was in on it?” I gasped.

“I don't know! I just know that he told me that I wasn't allowed in the living room. And when I finally got out, you were gone, and Riley passed out on the floor. I found your top on the floor along with your panties.” Ava told me.

My heart was pounding in my ears. “I- I...no! This isn't right... I was... I thought that you left me in there on purpose!” I said.

“No hon. I knew how you felt about him. I tried to get to you. I really did. Can you forgive me?” Ava said.

“I already have.” I said.

“Good, because it really sucked not having you as my best friend.” she said.

I smiled. We talked for a few hours and made plans to hang out later on. No drugs. No booze. Just normal girl time out. And to be honest, I needed it. I had been around guys for a month straight, and it was starting to get to me.

I had just gotten out of the shower when Max came over.

“Hey Ellie. Where are you going?” he asked when he saw me putting my makeup on.

“Out with Ava.” I said. “Don't look at me like that. She's not a bad person! You don't even know the half of what really happened that night.” I added when I saw the expression on Max's face.

“What did happen, then?” Max retorted.

“Riley's friend, Chris, held her in the back. She fucking tried to get to me... she knew that something was wrong.” I said, putting in my black skull earrings.

“Sounds like Riley to me... what are you girls going to do?” he asked.

“We're going to get tattoos and go shopping. Then we're coming back here to watch movies. No parties.” I said. “That was the agreement.”

“Oh... well... this doesn't change how I feel about her.” Max said.

“Max, do me a favor.”

“Yeah, what is it?” he said.

“Open your mind, before your mouth.” I said as I walked out of the bathroom.