Chapter 51

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"OPEN THE FUCK UP!" Noah bangs his hands repeatedly and aggressively against the door.

"Noah," I say softly, trying to stop his outburst by putting my hand on his shoulder, but I retract it immediately as he keeps using all his force to slam his palms on the wood.

"OPEN UP! OPEN. THE FUCK. UP!" he screams, the muscles on his neck becoming visible with the tension. The yelling and banging noises start attracting some attention, and I look back to see two bulky security guards charging towards us.

The pair launch towards Noah, taking a hold of his body using brute force, and dragging him away from the door that still won't give.

"NO!" I scream, as they forcefully push my boyfriend against a wall and restrain him, each one of the guards grabbing one of Noah's arms and twisting it behind his back as he squirms in pain. Noah resists their hold, refusing to be reduced, and desperately trying to get them off him. "You're hurting him!" I bang my fists on one of the guard's backs when Noah howls, but I immediately find myself having my arms grabbed behind my back and being dragged away as well.

My back is pressed against a wall, and I don't have the strength in me to struggle with the guard who's forcing me away from the situation. The man towers over me, and in a very stern tone tells me to remain calm, but I can't, as I look across from me and see my boyfriend kicking and screaming.

This is escalating really quickly and it's all my fault. I should've just kept my mouth shut.

Due to the commotion, the guys who had come back from the party early, like Noah and I had, start opening up the doors to their rooms and peering outside to see what's going on. Confronted with the scene, some impulsively start getting involved.

"What the hell is going on?" Matt, our counselor, asks as he and Jackson appear. A tall and buff guy I presume is from Oak Hills, and a few of his friends go over to Noah and help him finally break loose from the guards' hold.

"One of these disgusting assholes fucking assaulted my girlfriend!" Noah spits, yelling loud enough for everyone to hear.

I guess something is getting lost in translation because the guy holding me against the wall gets close to my face, and staring deeply into my eyes starts repeating "No one hit you," in portuguese over and over again, as if trying to convince me of that statement.

"I didn't say that!" I try to tell him, but he either turns a deaf ear, or doesn't understand what I'm saying, because he keeps on repeating that no one could've possibly striked me.

"Don't touch her!" Noah comes in and pushes the guard off me. "Lay a hand on her I swear I'll-"

"Noah stop!" I grab his wrist, trying to control his frenzy. "You need to calm down, this is not worth it. You're going to get kicked out."

"I don't care, Maddison!" he yells, and I take a step back, startled. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell at you," he immediately apologises, softening his tone and stroking my cheek soothingly with one hand. "I don't care what they do with me, Maddie," he explains, "But they can't just get away with taking advantage of you," his voice quivers and his eyes begin watering, "You-you are drunk, and you were alone, and they had no right," he breathes in deeply, as he suddenly starts sobbing uncontrollably. "YOU HAD NO FUCKING RIGHT!" he screams at no one in particular as the tears stream freely down his face.

I can't cry myself, I'm more focused on the chaos I've caused, and the distress I've put on someone I love. A flip switched inside Noah, he's always very calm and collected with me, and even when he talks or reminisces about upsetting memories or events, he has never even come close to tears. It breaks my heart that I know he probably blames himself for this.

"Noah, I'm going to need you to calm down right now," Matt warns with a hand on Noah's wrist.

"Well, I don't particularly care about what you need, Matt. In fact I don't give a single flying shit about what you want. So I'm going to tell you, what's going to happen right now," Noah says menacingly, invading Matt's personal space, "You're going to open that door for me, and you're going to let me deal with whoever laid a finger on my girlfriend."

"I cannot do that, Noah," Matt replies, not threatened in the slightest.

"Matt I don't think you understood what I said, so I'll repeat it, but I'll only do it once. Either you open up that door and let me confront the sick motherfucker that assaulted my girlfriend, who is a minor, who should've been under your supervision. Or these guys will help me break it down," he says, gesturing towards the boys who have joined Noah's cause and are currently having a screaming match with the guards, "And you're going to need a lot more security to restrain all of us."

"Noah, I'm on your side, and I'm here to help you," Matt assures, "But even if I wanted to, I can't open that door for you, I'm not hotel staff."

"Then go get someone to open it for me,"

"That's not going to happen."

"Fine." Noah replies, before bolting away from Matt and charging towards the locked door. He uses all his weight to bump his shoulder against the wood, but the door won't budge.

"Noah please stop this!" I plead with him, "You're hurting yourself!" I say but he pays no attention, as he keeps slamming himself against the door.

"Jackson!" He yells, calling for reinforcements and paying no attention to me, as he kicks the splintering wood near the handle. Jackson joins him and they take turns trying to break the door down.

"Noah," I call, panic in my voice as I tap his shoulder, "Noah!" I do it again, but still nothing, "NOAH!" I scream at the top of my lungs and he finally turns to me, standing still if only for a second. "That's him," I say in the softest tone possible, freezing up and feeling sick to my stomach as I stare out in the direction of the pool.

There must be some kind of staff-only passage system for security to get around the different parts of the hotel quickly and easily, because the man that assaulted me didn't need to open the door we were so focused on tearing down. He calmly leans against a palm tree, next to the pool, smoking a cigarette, oblivious to the mess going on over here.

Noah looks in his direction, spotting the target. Nostrils flared, jaw clenched so tightly I feel like I might hear it crack any second, and hands balled into white-knucked fists. Without saying a word, he starts running in that direction, the guard's eyes widening as he hears Noah's footsteps approaching. He tries to run away when he sees me and makes the connection, but he ends up not needing to, since Noah is promptly tackled to the floor by security before he can reach him.

"SHE COULD BE YOUR DAUGHTER! SHE COULD BE YOUR FUCKING DAUGHTER YOU ASSHOLE! SHE'S A FUCKING CHILD!" he yells and cries from the floor, finally defeated as three guards hold him down on the concrete. I run towards him and kneel beside him making way through the men restraining him against the ground to wipe the tears that escape his eyes as he sobs.

"Take him to his room," A man in a black t-shirt with the Dream Travel logo says to the guards, as he stands looking down on the scene, "Her too," he indicates, gesturing towards me, and I don't struggle as they bring Noah to his feet and we both get taken away.

"Let me introduce myself first," The man dressed in black says, after Noah and I get tossed into room 112. We sit on Noah's bed and the man sits across from us on a chair, as security blocks the door to the room. "My name is George," he introduces himself, stretching out a hand for us to shake, "I'm here as an organizer for Dream Travel, which means I'm the one who makes sure everything goes smoothly during your stay, and that I'm the one who ensures you guys' safety."

"Well, George," Noah says bitterly between his teeth, "I hate to break it to you, but you're not very good at your job."

George chuckles lowly, crossing his legs as he leans back on his chair, "I understand you're angry, Mr...Reed?" he questions and Noah nods, "And I get why, but I'm not the enemy, I'm here to help you both. I just brought you here so we could talk in private, away from all the chaos, and so you can explain your situation to me. I need to understand what happened in order to help you. Would you care to enlighten me, Ms. Sterling?"

"I...uhm..." I fidget with my hands on my lap as I struggle to string together enough words to form a coherent sentence.

"Just tell me the truth," George says in a calm tone, "I assure you you're not in any trouble. But like I said, I can't help you if I don't know the full story."

Noah grabs my hand and gives it a tight squeeze, and as I turn to him he nods, encouraging me to comply with what's being asked of me. I look down at our linked fingers and the matching silver anchors on our wrists glint, being hit by the lights. I take a deep breath and sigh before I start recounting the night's events.

I tell the full story from start to finish, to the best of my ability since my mind was quite foggy, but I try to be as detailed as I can, regardless of how painful that is. As I talk, Noah remains seated beside me, his grip on my hand tightening by the minute, his head hanging low as he sniffles and tears trickle down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Maddie," Noah breaks down sobbing when I finish.

"It's not your fault," I assure him, embracing him and he rests his head against my chest as I caress his hair soothingly.

"I understand this is hard for you kids, but-"

"Imagine she was your daughter," Noah interrupts George, "How would you feel if someone did that to your child. A grown man, taking advantage of an underage and intoxicated girl. Don't you think that's sickening, George?" he presses.

"It is, very much so. And I promise, I'll do everything in my power to sort this out, alright?" George says and Noah and I nod. His phone dings, and he digs it out of his pocket, furrowing his brows as he reads the message he just received. "Now, Ms. Sterling, can I please talk to you outside for a minute? Alone." he clarifies.

"No way," Noah replies for me, "I'm not leaving her side, so whatever you have to say right now, you can say it in front of me too."

"Mr. Reed, with all due respect," George says leaning forward and lacing his fingers together, "I know you would probably beg to differ, but this situation doesn't actually involve you. You're not an eyewitness, her family member, or her legal guardian, so I'm going to need you to stay here while we take Ms. Sterling's statement."

"Noah, it's okay," I say grabbing his shoulder.

"But-", he protests, but I'm grabbed by the arm and led out of the room. "Maddison!" I hear Noah call out my name, see security struggling with him again, but George shuts the door behind us, forcing Noah and I to deal with our respective problems by ourselves.

Outside Noah's room stand two uniformed police officers, both males, looking to be in their 30's, and judging by their facial expression, both seemingly wishing they hadn't gotten the night shift.

"You called the police?" I ask George, incredulous.

"I didn't. The hotel staff did when your boyfriend started getting violent." he replies.

"We just need a minute of your time Ms. Sterling," One of the officer's whose badge reads 'Officer Santos' says, and I immediately begin to feel very intimidated, being surrounded by all these men. "We wanted to ask you a few questions, since we've reviewed the security footage, and the tapes are not really adding up with your story."

My heart stops, "What?" I ask him.

"Well we can see you falling through the window, and wandering aimlessly around the ground floor balconies. Then being caught trespassing by security guard Souza, but there's no footage that indicates he was ever inappropriate with you," Santos states.

"That doesn't make sense. It didn't happen outside though, it was when he walked me through a hallway back into the hotel. Did you check the cameras there?"

"There are no cameras back there, Ms. Sterling." the officer informs me and the blood runs cold in my veins. He must have known. The guard must have known there were no cameras, that without footage or witnesses there was no way he could get caught for it. It's his word against a drunken teenage girl's, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say I'm not the one these people are going to believe.

"Ms. Sterling, are you aware of the fact that making false statements to the police is a very serious crime that could get you convicted to up to seven years in prison?" Santos asks.

"Are you insinuating-?"

"And are you aware of the fact that underage drinking is also a crime you commited tonight? And judging by the fact that clubs here don't sell drinks to minors, I'm going to guess that the alcohol you consumed was provided to you by your boyfriend, which I'll have you know would make Mr. Reed guilty of a felony."

"I-"

"Now, I'll inform you that security guard Souza has been suspended for this indiscretion, and that will stay on his permanent record. But before you file a report for sexual assault I want you to take into account the fact that this man has a family, young kids, a loving wife, and I want you to consider the copious amounts of alcohol you consumed this evening."

"You think this was all in my head," I state.

"I never said that," Officer Santos replies. I look at George, and then back to the officers, the three of them sharing the same disbelieving look.

Was it all in my head? It can't have been. Can it?

"Now how do you want us to proceed?"

It only took these men five minutes alone with me to have me doubting my own memories. I know what happened, I know what I felt, but it is too easy for them to twist the narrative around in their favour. A sexual assault report under their supervision would tarnish the reputation of this hotel, and of Dream Travel as a company. They need me to keep quiet. My blood turns from freezing cold to boiling in a matter of seconds as I realize that this conversation was clearly a ploy to make me doubt myself, and I hate to admit that they have succeeded.

"I won't be filing a report, or pressing charges," I say defeated, looking down at my feet, "I just want to forget this ever happened and enjoy the rest of my trip."

"I think that's very reasonable," George says, patting me on the back and I sigh.

The police are dismissed, and George orders the guards to leave Noah's room, wiping his hands clean of this mess as the three of them walk away towards the lobby. Noah comes out of the room and I hug him close to me, never wanting to let go of him again.

Dawn is upon us, and the sun is slowly creeping up the sky as we sit on the floor, our backs pressed against the door to Noah's room as I tell him about what happened.

"Are you kidding me? You're going to let them get away with this bullshit cover up?" he asks me, outraged.

"If I were to press charges, this would turn into a huge ordeal and I don't want that. I just want to forget about it. For all we know I could have been imagining the whole thing."

"Maddison, I saw your face. I saw the fear in your eyes. That can't have been a product of your imagination!" he protests.

"I know," I say, grabbing his hand in mine, "But I'm asking you, for the sake of my sanity, to pretend like it was." He sighs, banging his head back against the door and I rest my cheek on his shoulder. "Can you do that for me?" I ask.

He pauses, wrapping his arm around my shoulders to bring me closer to him before kissing the top of my head.

"I'll do anything for you."


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