The Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

The next day sucked cause my mom and I had to go down to the police station and file a report. It was hard reliving what had happened to me the day before but I know that if I really want to be rid of Damien, I would have to deal with it.

The police asked me what happened over and over again to make sure my story was straight. I thought it would be harder and to keep repeating the story, but it actually made me numb to keep talking about it.

Andy met us at the police station so that he could give them his statement. I didn't really want him to say anything because he beat the hell out of him, but Andy being Andy, he thought it would just be the best to tell the whole truth. Just in case Damien decided to press charges on him. I don’t think he would but, we just decided to be safe. He was just defending me.

We were there for what seemed like forever. And then we had to file for a restraining order and that took another couple of hours. So it was a full day doing things that I really didn’t wanna do, and I’m sure Andy had better things to do today as well.

Once we were done, I just wanted to be surrounded by friends, so Andy had the idea to call Joe and Erika and we all just went to grab dinner and hang out. It was the first time I talked to Erika since yesterday on the phone. We didn't really wanna tell her or Joe what had happened because it was an exciting day for them and we didn't wanna ruin it.

We all met at Erika’s house and ordered Chinese and just hung out.

There was a reason these people were my best friends. They made me laugh with the dumbest jokes. Andy and Joe have the biggest bromance I’ve ever seen and they make Erika and me laugh so hard that we cry.

Finally, Erika and i find some time to slip downstairs in the kitchen and talk to each other without the boys.

“So what happened last night! I thought we were all gonna celebrate.”

“Um, well Damien showed up at my house.” I told her, quietly.

“Oh god, are you serious. How was that?” She asked, her eyes rolling so far back into her head she probably almost got them stuck.

“Well he was drunk…” I then told her the whole story. It was hard reliving it all over again, but at least I wasn’t telling a complete stranger over and over again like I had to do earlier.

We sat in silence for a while, except for my sniffles here and there. She looked at me with sympathy and hurt in her eyes. I hated that look. All I wanted to do was curl up by myself and cry.

“I hate him” She finally broke the silence.

“How do you think I feel?” I tried to joke, but the slight chuckle i let out turned into full blown tears.

She just held me in her arms and let me cry. She made me feel safe, which is a feeling I hadn’t felt since the incident. It was refreshing, and much needed. This isn’t the first crisis either of us have gone through, but it was definitely the worst.

She helped calm me down before the boys started to get into trouble upstairs. Those two boys always find something to get into.

We find the guys sitting seriously on the couch, and Andy looked like he had been crying, and Joe just looked angry. He actually came up and hugged me, apologizing over and over for what happened to me, making me cry again. But these weren’t sad tears, they were happy tears. I know that sounds crazy but in that moment, I realized that I, truly, had the most amazing group of friends a girl could ask for.

“I just wanna let you know, Nicolette, that if you ever see him again please let me and Andy know and we will personally find him and beat the shit out of him.” Joe said.

“Well thank you, but I filed a restraining order so I don’t think thats gonna be necessary. I appreciate the thought.” I told him.

For a while I thought that Joe was really only friends with me because Andy told him to, or that he was just trying to get to Erika. And maybe that was the case for a while, but that definitely isn’t the case anymore. He really was a true friend. And I am so grateful.

Andy and I left about an hour later after our group therapy session, thats what I like to call it. On the way home I was thinking about the look on Andys face after Erika and I walked in on him and Joe, after he told him what happened. I looked over at him, reached over and ran my hand through his hair.

“I noticed you were really upset after telling Joe about the incident. Why?”

“Oh well you know, it sucked for you and I felt bad.” He said.

“Yeah, okay but enough for you to actually cry to Joe? I can tell when someones been crying and you were crying. What did you tell him?”

He sat in silence for a minute, contemplating what to say. I just sat and waited for him to be ready. He wasn’t really one to hold his feelings in, especially to me.

Choked up a little, he finally spoke. “It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t leave.”

I was shocked. He was actually blaming himself for what happened. I couldn’t believe it.

“Andy, If it wasn’t then it would have been later. He was waiting for you to leave. We didn’t know he was gonna do it.” I tired to reassure him.

“I could have gotten there faster. If I had gotten there faster maybe he wouldn’t have touched you.”

“Stop blaming yourself Andy. This is not your fault. You were lucky to be so close. Imagine if you had been on tour when this happened. Or you were all the way across town at rehearsal. It could have been way worse.”

“Okay sure I guess. I just hate that I wasn’t there to protect you. Thats what I got so upset about”

“But you were. You beat the living shit out of him, and Im pretty sure even without the restraining order, if you’re anywhere in my vicinity, he wont even think about coming near me.”

He let out a small chuckle, and it made me feel so much better to see him in a better mood. We just have this connection between us, we always want to make sure we’re happy, and if one of us isn’t, then we feel their pain, and try to make it better.

“Yeah, I’m not leaving your side anymore. Just to let you know, so I really hope you don’t get sick of me.” He joked, but not really joking.

“I don’t think I could ever get sick of you bebe.” I kissed him on the cheek. “I love you”

“I love you too, Nicolette”