New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings

-Lao Tzu.

-Luke-

Angry? Yes, I was angry. Half of me was angry at Maggie for not opening up, and the other half was angry at myself for not helping her sooner. It's like I'm going around and around in the same circle.

I pulled up in front of her house, repeating the same words mum told me before so left. No matter what don't yell at her. With a sigh I walked up to the front door and pressed on the doorbell. Eventually the door was opened by Mrs. Brown. She smiled at me as she opened the door wider.

"Lucas, come on in. What brings you here?" I stepped inside and turned to face her. "Thanks Janice. I came to see Maggie." She slightly hesitated before motioning to the stairs. "She's upstairs with Graham. I don't know if she'll talk though; something's been bugging her and she's been zoning out." I frowned and looked towards the stairs.

"That's why I came actually. I was getting worried myself." Janice placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Thank you. Go on up. It's the first room on the left." I advanced towards the stairs and made my way up, knocking on the door before stepping in. Maggie's back was to me as she was cradling Graham in her arms. I shook my head at her stubbornness.

"Maggie, you just got your stitches redone and you're already breaking the rules again." She froze as she heard my voice and I could see her shoulders rise and fall as she inhaled deeply, letting it go soon after. "What are you doing here Luke?" Her voice was extremely calm, as if she were trying to keep it from showing her emotions.

"You didn't want to tell me what's on your mind and then you started ignoring my texts. It got me worried and we need to talk about it." Maggie walked to the crib and put Graham in it, putting her hair up in a ponytail after. She stayed right by the crib, not bothering to turn to look at me."I already told you that you didn't do-" I rolled my eyes and cut her off.

"Okay, I get that. But just because I didn't do anything doesn't mean I'm just gonna let whatever it is keep bothering you. Your parents and Sarah are worried too, why can't you just speak to one of us?" Maggie whipped around and threw her hands up.

"Again with that question," she hissed. "I've heard it enough times already. Why can't you guys just understand that it isn't a big deal?" I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw her eyes. They were red and puffy, giving away the fact that she's been crying a lot. I walked up to her and wiped off the tear streams that were on her cheeks with my palm.

"If it has you crying then it definitely is a big deal. What happened Maggie?" She bit her lip and let out a shaky breath. She put her hands in my wrists and pulled my hands away from her face. "It's nothing." She mumbled. By this point I was already starting to get angry. Many times I've heard those two words and it always ended to something.

"Stop being so stubborn and thinking you can handle everything yourself. It's not so hard to open up Maggie. You just got to speak." She narrowed her eyes and pushed me back. I stumbled a bit, not expecting the action. "It is hard. Trust me, If it were as easy as you make it seem I would've let the words tumble out of my mouth a long time ago Lucas, but no! Matter of fact it isn't easy." I raised my eyebrows and narrowed my eyes at her.

"You're the one who's making it hard. Everyone is willing to listen to you and help but you won't let it happen; and it's all because you're stubborn and you think that you can solve every single problem by forgetting it instead of facing it." Maggie clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes. "Stop." I shook my head even though she couldn't see me.

"No, I won't stop. I'm not gonna stop until you open up, because so help me the last thing I'm going to do is watch you slowly tear yourself apart and-"

"I'm fine! I'm not tearing myself apart at all, why can't you understand that? Just let it go! You need to leave." She stated. When she had opened her eyes I managed to catch a glimpse of the two emotions she was hiding. Anger and pain; one of the worst combinations ever.

"You and I both know you aren't bloody fine Maggie." My voice was starting to raise and I had completely forgotten what mum had warned me not to do. "This game of yours is actually getting old you know. You say we don't understand but that's because you won't let us, and eventually you're not going to be able to understand yourself-"

"I said stop."

-"and then everything will suddenly come crashing down on you and you'll snap, just like that-"

"Just shut up!"

"But no one is going to be there because they stopped trying to help ever since you kept pushing them away. You're going to be alone for the rest of your-"

"I saw Graham's father! He was the same man who gave us those wooden rings!" I stopped talking as Maggie took deep breaths, trying to calm down. She looked up at me as her eyes started filling with tears. "Are you happy now? The one person I never wanted to see again suddenly reappears in my life and haunts my thoughts every single second. There, I spoke up. You can leave now." I stayed standing right where I was and stared at her. Everything started to click in my mind and the question rolled off my tongue before so could process it.

"You saw him and your feelings returned for him?" Maggie cringed and shook her head. "No, I never had feelings for him." I scoffed and raised my arms.

"It makes sense though. You see him, and then you start avoiding me. Is that why you've been acting like this? You suddenly don't want anything to do with me? Come on Maggie, you're gonna hide that too? Just say it in my face!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about! And I never gave you the right to barge into my life! I don't have feelings for him you idiot. The last thing I will ever have towards him are feelings." I swear this was starting to feel like some soap opera. The next words I said were the knife to the heart.

"Oh really? Because by the looks of things you're the one who so willingly opened up your legs for him and let him have his way!" Maggie widened her eyes and her hand flew up, coming in contact with my cheek. The second I saw her expression I regretted saying that, but before si could apologize she dropped the bomb.

"Willingly? You think I willingly let him have his way? You know nothing! You weren't there when I 'willingly'," she put her hands up to quote the word as she started to raise her voice. "Tried to get away from him. Sure, I 'willingly' let him pin my arms down in a grip so tight I got bruises on my wrists. Oh, and here's the best part! I was definitely 'willing' for him to punch me in the stomach every time I struggled or screamed for him to get off me. Let's not forget when I 'willingly' let him rape me and get me pregnant. You honestly think I would have feelings for him after that? There it is Luke; the big secret that was so easy to tell everyone. That I was so weak to even protect myself and I was just another piece of trash for someone to toss after they were done. I'm not the sting girl everyone thought I was and-"

She cried.

I'm not talking about the type of crying where you can't talk because of the lump in your throat. She cried so hard that her legs gave out and she fell to the floor as her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed and gasped for air. She cried so much that it gave me the strongest urge to cry, and I did. I waked up to her and sat down and began to cry. We both cried, because at the moment it seemed like the only thing we could do. I pulled her towards me and hugged her as she kept sobbing. Never have I seen someone cry like this in a long time, and I was never expecting it.

I have no idea how long we cried, but by the time we managed to calm down the sun was starting to set. Maggie leaned away from me and looked towards the crib. "How is he not awake after all that yelling?" I faintly smiled before looking at Maggie and grabbing her wrist. She turned to me and my heart broke more when I saw her eyes. "You have to tell me what happened." I whispered. "I need to know so I can help Maggie. Don't hold back, just explain." She hesitated and closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them again she stood up and went off into her room, coming back with a blanket wrapped around her. I quirked my eyebrow and she shrugged. "I got cold." She mumbled and sat back down in front of me.

"Last year I had to work a late shift at the restaurant," she started. When I noticed her lip tremble I grabbed her hand firmly in mine. Maggie looked down as I did so and continued speaking. "He was one of the people I served, and honestly he seemed nice from a distance, but when he spoke I got an uneasy feeling. The way he was looking at me didn't help either. I was anxious for him to leave, and when he did I felt normal again. I was asked to close up the restaurant so I stayed behind as everyone else left. It was my turn to clean up the place and take out the trash. After I finished I locked up and started heading to my car, but then I saw him waiting there."

Maggie wiped her cheeks with her free hand, taking a deep breath.

I have no idea what was encouraging me to tell him the story, but I was already far in too stop. "I turned around immediately and decided to go back inside until he left, but I was so nervous that I just had to drop the keys." As I told Luke about that night everything came back to me.

~flashback~

I quickly grabbed the keys from the floor and managed to put them through the lock, but ai felt his hand gran my elbow and start pulling me away. "Let go of me!" The man turned me towards him and punched my stomach, causing me to double over and start coughing. He sickly grinned at me and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "It's a wonderful night to take advantage of." He started dragging me to his car as I desperately tried to get out of his grip, but every time I struggled his grip would get tighter and more painful. "The less you struggle the faster this is over." I elbowed his stomach, managing to make his grip loosen. I started to move away.

"Help!" Just as I screamed I was pulled back from my hair and he started to punched my stomach repeatedly. "If you know what's best for you stay quiet." He shoved me in the car, getting in behind me. I started to kick at him as best as I could in the tight space we were in but he sat on my legs, starting to hike my dress up with one hand as he pinned my hands down with the other. I began to cry as I kept struggling against him. "Get off me!" All he did was grunt as he took my wrists in both his hands.

"I'll be done with you in no time." He murmured. I started to cry and yelled for help even though no one could hear me. He would punch my stomach every time I did, but I didn't care. I just wanted to leave. I screamed in pain, I screamed in fear, and I screamed in anger. I don't remember how long I was in that car but when he finished he pushed my out and drive off immediately. I sobbed so hard as I laid on the concrete. No one was around. It was just me in the parking lot and I was freezing cold.

I was sitting there for awhile, until eventually I had to go home. I walked into my car, not being able to process anything as I drove home. I should've called the cops, but they would just ask for a description and I barely remembered what he looked like. The restaurant light is pretty dim and I was too busy trying to escape to look at him.

When I pulled up in front of my house I didn't want to go inside. I couldn't let my parents see me like this. I sat in the car until I saw all the lights turn off, and then I snuck inside. I went straight to the bathroom and showered, rubbing every single inch of my body hard with the loofah until it was red. My whole body was trembling and my eyes were bloodshot as I stepped out and got dressed. I couldn't sleep at all and when I closed my eyes everything flashed back. I barely ate the following days, and a week later I started to throw up every morning. The first thing so suspected was being pregnant. I went to the pharmacy after school and purchased pregnancy tests, hiding them in my back pack. When I was the only one at home I took the opportunity to take all three of them, coming up with positive. I was pregnant.

I went to the doctor to have my final answer, positive. And that's the same day I told my parents. Since then they started ignoring me and barely spoke to me unless necessary. I wanted to desperately tell them, but I knew they'd be ashamed if they heard I wasn't the strong girl they had raised. But mostly I didn't want them to blame themselves, so I kept it a secret and they believed I had a one night stand.

~present~

Luke pulled me in for another hug as I cried after telling him everything. "You should've said something. Maggie, they could've helped you and-" Luke stopped talking as his voice cracked and I felt his arms wrapping around me tighter. "It's not your fault. No one could've done anything in your situation Maggie." I pushed her back so she could look at me. "You could've checked the cameras from the restaurant." He said. I frowned and shook my head. "There was a problem with the cameras at that time. They kept shutting down and my boss had ordered knew ones the day he found out but they didn't arrive until four months later." Luke sighed and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I'm sorry for what I said. It was a low blow." I nodded my head in agreement. "It was, but you didn't mean it." Silence took in its place as we both sat there, not knowing what to do.

"What now?" I asked. Luke locked his eyes with mine and clenched his jaw. "We go to the police station and report it. They can get information about everyone who paid for a booth at the festival. First though we have to tell your parents. They have a right to know." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"We?" Luke stood up and pulled me with him. "Yeah. I'm gonna sit by you as you tell them so you won't be alone." I geared up again as I stepped forward to hug him. He stumbled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head in his shoulder. Well, chest since I couldn't reach it.

"You are the best annoying person I have ever met Luke Banfield." He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You are the best stubborn person I have ever met Maggie Brown." I pulled away from him and took a deep breath. "I don't want them to blame themselves when I tell them." I said. Luke placed his hand in my shoulder. "I can't tell you that they won't, but eventually they'll see who's fault it really is." I nodded and we both made our way downstairs slowly, Luke holding my hand. When we walked in the kitchen my parents and Sarah were standing there and I instantly noticed that there was tension in the room due to the silence surrounding us.

Dad's face was really pale and mom was shaking violently while Sarah was wearing a blank expression as she stared at the floor. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at the state they were all in, but when Sarah placed the baby monitor in the middle of the kitchen counter it all clicked immediately, boosting up my nervous state. I gripped onto Luke's hand tightly as I took it all in.

They heard every single thing I said upstairs.

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