The text I got from Lennon worried me. She told me that there was something she wanted to tell me, but she couldn't tell me what. For some reason I feared the worst. Now that I was sitting on the couch with her journal in my hands I understood. She wanted to tell me everything.

"Here, the page I marked. I'll just be outside." She told me.

I looked out the window. She was sitting on the porch, looking out at the road. I opened the journal to the last page. It was a letter, addressed to me. I took a deep breath and prepared myself. I knew how hard it must have been for her to put it down on paper, to tell me what happened.

I wanted to do right by her.

Dear Rowan,

I know this may seem a bit odd, me writing to you in this journal, but this is the only way I can think of to tell you my story. The story of how I was raped. I hope you won't think of me any differently than you do now. I know that I said over and over that I wouldn't tell you exactly what happened but I know how smart you are and that you'll figure it out yourself in time. In the end I guess I trust you enough with this. I know that you won't tell anyone and I hope to god you won't attack Bradley again, he still scares me and I'd rather him ignore me completely.

Anyway here's how it all began.

I used to hang out with Eloise and Shae. They wanted to go to a party and I wasn't against it, I thought I'd be fun. Plus I heard a rumor that a guy on the football team liked me. It was stupid, but I went. As soon as we got there Eloise and Shae disappeared. I lost track of them. There was so many people. One of them handed me a drink, I wish I could remember who. It was your typical rum, coke and roofie.

I remember Bradley asked me if I needed a drive home, because I looked drunk. Everything was fuzzy and I couldn't feel my body so I said yes, better safe than sorry. I thought he was just being nice but I was naive. The last thing I remember is getting into his car and asking him where we were going.

Then I woke up in the park. I was so confused, I didn't know how I got there. There was a huge gap of my memory missing. I didn't feel the pain until I got up and I realized I wasn't wearing any underwear. My whole body ached, especially my heart. He took a piece of me. I didn't know what to do, maybe I was in shock, I'm not sure but I just walked home. I didn't even think of going to the police because I could hardly wrap my mind around what happened and who was going to believe me when I wasn't sure myself.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long for me to tell you, but I want to thank you for giving me the courage to put this down in ink. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you.

Love Lennon

I tasted something salty and realized I was crying. He drugged her and raped her. I wiped my face. I had no words. I just wished I had been there. I wished I could have stopped it from happening. I wished she would stop thinking that it was her fault because it was anything but.

I shook my head, remembering she was waiting outside. I got up and walked to the front door. All I wanted to do was make everything okay, but I couldn't. I could only help her move on.

I opened the door and her head spun around. "Hey..." I muttered. I sat down beside her, I wasn't sure what to say.

"Hey." Her eyes searched mine before she looked back down at her hands. "Please say something." I reached for her hand and slipped mine into hers.

"I don't know what to say. I don't want to say the wrong thing. I just wish I could go back in time and change that night for you, show you what a good guy really is and really drive you home." I said honestly. I couldn't think of anything else to say, but I feared that what I did say wasn't enough. I felt like I should have been able to say more. I lifted her hands to my lips and kissed them gently.

"How do you always know what to say?" She whispered, her eyes pooling with tears. "You're such a good guy Rowan. You've been here for me, I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." I shook my head and we fell into silence. "Do you want to go out?" I asked and immediately regretted my word choice.

"What?" She gulped.

"Like do something fun together." I covered.

"Oh, okay." She nodded and smiled. "Yeah sure. What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. We could get something to eat or watch a movie or-"

"Both?" She suggested. "Get a pizza? Watch a marvel movie? Remember I saw your collection."

"That sounds good." I agreed. "I'll order the pizza if you want to pick the movie."

"Okay. Cheese pizza?" She asked.

I chuckled. "Okay." I stood up and held the front door open for her.

"Why thank you."

I ordered a pizza and Lennon picked out the first Captain America movie. It was one of my favorites, but it was probably just a coincidence that she picked it.

I sat down beside her on the couch. "The pizza has been ordered."

"Good." She smiled and looked at me, like there was something on her mind. Something she wanted to ask me, but I didn't pry. I just waited. "R-Rowan, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course." I turned to face her.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked. I furrowed my brows. "I mean, everyone else left me but you and you're always here no matter what. I'm just confused." She rambled.

"Is that a bad thing?" I gulped.

"No, it's just confusing." She pried for an answer. "Is there a reason why?"

"I-" Maybe it was me who wasn't ready to say it, to admit I had feelings for her.

"Rowan..."

"Lennon..." I looked down. Just say it. "I-"

"Yes?"

"I-I like you." I muttered and looked back up at her, searching her eyes for some kind of sign that she felt the same way about me.

"What?" She went wide eyed.

"I like you Lennon." I repeated myself. Maybe she didn't hear me.

"You like me?" She questioned.

"Yeah, I do..."

"But I was raped..." Lennon muttered. I didn't get what she was saying. What did that have to do with what I said? Then I understood. She thought I wouldn't like her like that, because she was raped.

"Lennon, you're not disgusting or broken. You're beautiful and strong. Everything you've been through only makes me like you more." I tried to explain, but I wasn't doing a very good job of it. "I won't do anything you don't want me to do. I don't want you to feel pressured, we don't have to rush anything and if you don't feel the same way then that's fine-"

She cut me off, placing her hand on my cheek. "Rowan... I don't know what to say, I guess I haven't really thought about anything like that since... I don't even know if I thought someone would ever like me like that again... It's just a lot."

"It's okay..." I told her, honestly. I wasn't expecting anything.

"I want to be able to like you..." She mumbled. Her hand was still on my cheek. "Close your eyes." She blurted.

"What?" It was so out of the blue. I wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"Just close your eyes." She repeated, so I did. "Now stay still." I nodded, keeping my eyes closed. My heart was pounding in my chest. My heart knew where I wanted it to go, but my mind was saying the complete opposite. I waited for something to happen. It felt like I was waiting forever.

"What are you-?" I finally asked.

"Shh..."

I felt her breath against my cheek and then slowly her lips touched mine. I ignored the urge to move my hands around her waist, or touch her cheeks. All I knew was that I wasn't going to be the first one to break the kiss. If it could have lasted forever, I would have been okay with that.

She broke away and snuggled into my chest.

"What was that?" I asked, shocked.

"It was a kiss." She stated the obvious, chuckling in my arms.

"I know, but-" My mouth ran before my mind could think.

"It was just a kiss." She said defensively.

"Okay, alright." I sighed. I understood, kind of. She wasn't ready for anything more. Like she said, she hadn't thought about anything to do with romance or relationships since she was raped.

"I just wanted to kiss you." She mumbled into my chest. "It was okay right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was more than okay." I smiled to myself.

"Good..." She sighed. "L-let's watch the movie."

"Okay." I nodded and pressed play on the movie, just as the doorbell rang. "That must be the pizza." I stood up and pulled out my wallet. I quickly paid the pizza guy. "Dinner is served." I told Lennon.

We ate half the pizza and got comfortable to watch the rest of the movie. I kept looking over at Lennon. She was slowly falling asleep. I lifted the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her. I had a feeling she didn't usually make it through movies without falling asleep. She looked so pretty and peaceful, lying there. It was as if she hadn't been touched by such hate and sadness. I leaned over her and kissed her forehead gently.

I could have honestly said in that moment I was happy and I hoped she was too.

Thanks for reading! We hope you guys liked this chapter. Updates are hopefully back on Wednesdays again. The holdiays really took a toll.

Is your ship sailing? What's your favorite part of this book so far? Can you believe she made the first move?

~Tiffany & Allie