.

Another bus boy job. I circle it, I suppose it's better than nothing. I've been looking for almost a year. No one will hire someone with a sealed permanent record. If I do get further than an application, they see tattoos and I'm done. Two months, that's all I had left for student teaching. I could be a Lit teacher right now. I should have never brought Jimmy home.

Every day I sit here wishing I could take it back. I wish I could make it so that Courtney doesn't hurt when she thinks about it. Make it so that my parents don't worry about either one of us. They have been through so much these last two years. My careless mistake of bringing a stranger home destroyed my family.

I stare down at the paper and circle a few more open positions. I know I won't get them, but I still try. My probation says I have to, I need to make sure I have employment so I'm not a complete menace to society. I laugh internally at the thought of it. Me, a menace. All because I broke a rapist.

The front door opens to Courtney, she throws her backpack down in the entryway and sits quietly in the living room.

"Why are you home Court? It's a school day."

"They sent grades nine through twelve home. Something happened during the dance, they are investigating it."

That was too vague. She isn't looking at me but there was a quiver to her voice as she spoke. I've come to know my little sister's personalities well these last few years. Something is wrong.

I stand from the counter to sit beside her on the tan leather couch. She doesn't acknowledge my presence but just stares down at the floor.

I wave my hand in front her face playfully. "Earth to Courtney." I hope for a laugh, but that's not what I get.

She turns to me with tears in her eyes. My heart sinks. She's clearly upset about what happened at this dance...

"Court what's wrong?"

"Apparently a few girls at the dance were assaulted. Someone gave them drinks laced with a date rape drug. They woke up off school grounds, they were raped. They think the same guys did this to girls over homecoming weekend too...

My stomach twists into knot when she mentions homecoming weekend.

"It's just sickening..." she wipes the tears from her face.

Books...

"Where's Gabby?!?" I ask her panicked.

"We all got sent home... she went to her house... why?"

I stand from the couch and run to the front door swinging it open wide. I don't have to go far before I see her on her porch swing. Her backpack is lying in the grass where she dropped it. Her eyes are fixed on the bright green grass in front of her.

I slowly cross the street. She doesn't even acknowledge me as I walk up the porch steps. I sit beside her on the swing, her eyes stay fixed on the grass.

"Books..."

She turns to me with tears streaming down her face. "One Alfie. I only remember the one. I think I had one drink that night..."

My stomach churns watching her face. This is what I thought... this is what I was hoping she would never tell me...

"Okay" I nod to her. I take her hand in mine.

"Was I raped?" she begins to cry harder. "How do I know if I said yes or no? I can't remember Jax!"

Her questions are flying out of her mouth faster than she can think them and I can barely keep up.

"I don't know Gabby..."

"I can't say I was raped by him if I don't know for sure. I could ruin his life. But what if he does it to someone else? I don't even remember having sex! I can't even say I know for sure I had it! He just kept telling me how good it was. I remember getting out of the car and falling into sticks after stumbling around, scraping my hands. I was sore the next day. Oh my god, was I raped? One drink, it was Sprite and Cherry McGillicuddy's for fucks sake... I only wanted one because I knew my dad was patrolling that night and my friends weren't there to help me get home. I went there to read and there was a party..."

I can't think of anything to say to calm her down. I watch as she begins hyperventilating as she cries. Her hand is clutching mine so hard I'm losing feeling in it, but I don't dare pull away. She needs it.

"I can't tell my dad!" Her eyes meet mine in panic. "I can't tell him how I lost my virginity the night he hauled me away. I was throwing up because I felt sick about what I did! What girl wants their dad to know about their sex life? I don't even know my own sex life! He can't find out! But what if I could have stopped it? If I would have said something months ago would those girls have been raped?"

I pull my hand from hers and take her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. "Books you've got to calm down, okay? Deep breaths, I know you're scared, but you need to calm down."

"I can't Alfie" she breaks down.

"You can Gabby, just breathe. Focus only on breathing."

She shakes her head yes and begins to breathe deep with me.

"Good job. Keep going... deep breaths."

Her eyes meet mine and I feel her body deflate. "I hate Tyler, I always have" she cries again. "I know I would have never said yes."

She begins crying hard again and sinks into me. I rub her back as she sobs. "It's okay Books. You'll be okay."

I can't get her to stop. I need to get her inside before the town starts talking. "Gabby where are your keys?"

"S-S-Syd has them." She clutches me harder and speaks through her sobs. "I always lose them s-so she keeps them. We come ho-home together."

Dan is going to murder me for this...

I stand from the bench, releasing myself from her grasp. I grab her backpack from the grass, flinging it over my shoulder, and return to the sobbing girl on the porch, picking her up in my arms and carrying her back across the street. I kick the door a few times before Courtney finally opens it.

"Oh no Gabby..." she covers her mouth at the site of her friend.

"I'm putting her in your bed Courtney. Dan will lose his fucking mind if she's in mine. She's locked out of her place."

"Okay" she agrees and opens the door to her room.

I set Gabby on the bed as she continues to sob. She clings to my shirt. "Please don't leave, Alfie" she cries. "I'm so scared, please don't leave."

I look to Courtney as she watches her best friend break down. She is all to familiar with this. Her eyes show she is suffering for Gabby right now. They lift and meet mine. "Don't leave her, Jax."

Dan is definitely going to kill me.

I get into the bed with her and wrap my arm around her, planting a kiss on her hair. "I won't leave Books, you're safe here. Let it out..."

She continues to cry hard as she sets her head on my shoulder and wraps an arm around me, still using it to cling to my shirt. Courtney kneels beside her bed and rubs her friend's back.

"Gabby breathe, once you start breathing again you'll fall asleep. We won't leave you. Try and sleep."

She finally begins to focus on her breathing, trusting Courtney's words. Court's hand doesn't leave Gabby. I run my fingers through her hair until after about an hour and a half, her body goes limp in my arms and she begins to finally sleep.

I look back to Courtney as the anger in me begins to poke through, her eyes tell me she is noticing.

He hurt her. She hated him and he took advantage of her. When I find him...

"What are you going to do Jax?" Courtney asks, she looks back to Gabby. I can tell by the tone of her voice she doesn't want to know.

That is an excellent question.

Murdering Tyler Porter seems pretty high on that list...

I feel my blood begin to boil as I look down at Gabby. I give her one more kiss on her forehead before I slowly remove her hand from my my chest and shift her off of me so that I am free to leave the bed. She doesn't even flinch. She is sleeping like a child who falls asleep after throwing a tantrum.

I run my tongue over my top teeth and continue staring at her.

"Jax..." Courtney pleads standing from her bedroom floor. "Don't be stupid..."

I leave the room, grabbing my phone from the kitchen table, and selecting Dan's number. My breathing is rapid as I continue waiting for him to answer.

Courtney watches me from her room, not wanting to break her promise to Gabby by leaving.

"Jackson I'm busy, can this wait?" Dan answers his phone.

"I have a big problem Dan. I'm going to need you."

"Unless you're on your way to jail it will have to wait. I have a situation at the school..."

"Oh I'm aware. You and I have a similar situation at the moment. I'm seeing red Dan... and I need your help before I do something really fucking stupid..."

"Jackson..." he sighs.

"Gabby is here..."

"Excuse me?" Anger. That is the only tone I just heard. Once again his daughter didn't obey him and I'm not telling her to leave.

Oh buddy you don't even know how angry a man can become... but you're about to...

Now I find myself telling myself to take deep breaths so I don't lose it before I finish this call.

"Dan she's having one hell of an anxiety attack after that assembly..."

He gets quiet on the other side of the phone. He knows exactly what I mean. Now his mind is going a million different directions of why his daughter would be in this state after an assembly about assaults.

"She is going to kill me when she wakes up and finds out I called you. So I need you to get here, take her home before she wakes up... because I promised her I wouldn't leave her side."

My heart is pounding, my blood is racing and I feel myself making a fist with my free hand as I look into the other room at how peaceful she looks sleeping.

"And then I need you to hold me back from what I'm going to do to the kid who raped your daughter."