"Your beauty's deeper than the makeup,
and I want to show you what I see tonight.
I just want to wrap you up, want to kiss your lips,
I want to make you feel wanted.
I want to call you mine, want to hold your hand forever,
and never let you forget it."
"Please just let me go," Tatum's naturally wavy blonde hair stuck to her face as she struggled, her arms being pinned to the ground forcefully.
"Oh, but isn't this what you've always wanted? A boyfriend?" Rex, the boy she thought was her boyfriend, tightened his grip on her arms, and she just knew there would be finger-shaped bruises there later. He bore down on her with a look she didn't know or understand, and he was laughing.
"One that cares." Tatum's attempt at viciousness only made Rex cackle more as he grinded down against her, his friends catching all the action through pictures on their phones and cameras a few feet away. She gasped at the roughness of his jeans through her thin, cotton shorts, and tried once more to wriggle free of his grip, but to no avail.
Rex scoffed. "No one cares about you, Tay." He leaned down to her ear, taking the part where her earrings usually were between his teeth, causing her to shudder violently. He chuckled, and mumbled bingo. "Such a shame really," he whispered, breathing into her ear. "That I can't even be turned on by you to make this little moment so much more enjoyable, because of your ridiculously hideous face."
Tatum gulped back sobs and looked away, hoping, searching for anything in the deserted locker room to help her escape. She'd give anything in the world to have her best friends burst through the door at that very moment. Tears and sweat streamed down her red face and into her hair.
"I mean, am I right boys?" Rex looked at his friends. "Smokin' body, great hair, extremely athletic, but then there's just this huge-ass, dark brown, skin-disease-looking, blob of a birthmark chilling on her left cheek that just ruins everything."
"Hell yeah." One of his friends smirked, zooming in on Tatum's wet face with his camera, snapping a shot.
"Hey Leonard, why don't you come over here and hold her arms down for me, so I can show her what having a boyfriend is all about." Rex smirked evilly as his friend approached quickly.
"You're sick." Tatum whispered. "All of you."
"Why, yes. Sick from the thought of you thinking I, or anyone, could ever possibly care about you." He shook his head, the nasty smirk staying on his face as he was able to put his hands on her body freely, traveling down roughly.
She gasped, thrashing under his hard, horrifyingly rough touch, trying to keep him away as hot tears flooded her eyes. She wanted to drown in them.
"And if you scream, I'll shove my dick down your throat to shut you up." Heavy sobs escaped her throat as he had one hand working her down below, the other kneading one of her breasts, and then his tongue pushed between her lips. Her whole body convulsed and she screamed out in pure pain, as his intention was to hurt her, and not to pleasure her.
"What did I tell you?" he hissed against her lips, his eyes blazing with anger and cruelty. But she screamed out again when his nails dug inside her, but just as he wiped his now bloody fingers on her heather gray tank top, the door on the far end of the locker room swung open forcefully as if it had been jammed.
"Tatum? Tatum!" Tatum vaguely heard her friend's slight Texas accent as he barged onto the scene. But her eyes were closed, and she just wanted to melt into the floor and not exist anymore. She was fading when she felt Rex being ripped away from her mangled body, and just seconds later her arms were free too. Yelling and skin making contact with skin made it to her ears right before everything faded to black.
Tatum didn't know if it was possible to pray while sleeping or unconscious, but if it was, then she did. She prayed that it had all been a nightmare. Prayed that she would wake up, uninjured and in her big, comfy bed. That everything would be okay.
When her eyes fluttered open, the only thing that brought her to realize she had been crying in her sleep was the soft thumb gently stroking her cheek, wiping away her tears. The room was dark, and as Tatum's eyes adjusted, she focused first on the blonde hair. His blonde hair. "Kendall." She whispered slowly, the pain and weakness from her live nightmare creeping back to her body.
"Hi baby." The palm of his hand rested on her cheek, and he sounded almost as if he'd been crying.
She took a deep breath, exhaling as slowly and carefully as she could, letting herself sink a little more comfortably into the feather mattress and pillow she knew as Kendall's bed. Of course she wasn't home; her parents couldn't see her like this. Kendall's house was always her escape, one of the perks of having a twenty year old best friend; it was her place of freedom, her true home in many ways.
She could see his green eyes now, dim with despair, and she wanted so badly to hold the hand that touched her face but she was disgusted with herself. Kendall had warned her that Rex was no good. And suddenly she found herself expecting an "I told you so" from him, but he wasn't cruel enough to pull that, at least not now, in this moment.
Kendall gulped. "Logan and James brought you here." His hand trembled slightly against her skin. "I just got home." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm so sorry."
"No, no, no." Tatum shook her head. "Kendall, it's not your fault. In any way, you know that."
He nodded, pursing his lips. "I know." After a moment of silence, Kendall seemed to gather himself a little more. "Can you sit up?" She nodded, but cringed as soon as she put pressure on her bruised arms. In a flash, Kendall was sitting up, taking her hands in his to give her support. "Come on, babe." He murmured, gently pulling her forward.
Her breath hitched when he scooped her body up into his arms and carried her carefully into his living room. He was terrified of seeing her in the light; he had almost broken his cell phone in his hand when Logan and James just explained what they walked in on, and could only imagine what seeing evidence of the monstrosity would to do him.
Kendall sat his best friend down gently on his couch, running a hand over her hair before standing straight. The first thing he saw was the blood on her shirt. He held his breath, tears violently burning at the back of his eyes. "I'm going to go get you some clothes, okay Tatum?"
She smiled weakly, feeling too self-conscious as she sat awkwardly, rubbing her bruised forearms. "Thanks."
But he didn't move. "Tatum.." his voice cracked in his whisper as he dropped to one knee in front of her, gently taking her forearms in his long hands. His eyes traced over the outline of Rex's hand on her right arm, glaring at the purple skin. He couldn't say anything more, not for the moment. He gulped and rose to his feet, turning to get clothes for her.
She was standing when he returned from his bedroom, eyelashes wet with new tears. She was testing out her limbs. All of her muscles ached from thrashing under Rex's weight, but she knew working her joints out would help; Kendall couldn't carry her around forever. Kendall's mouth was open, but sound didn't escape and it was Tatum's quiet, weak voice that rang through the silence of the room. "I'm gonna take a shower." She nodded, as if reassuring herself and hobbled over to where Kendall was standing. "If I need you, I'll holler. I promise," she took the clothes Kendall brought for her and slowly turned away.
"They all got thrown in jail." Kendall suddenly said, and Tatum froze. "The three sick fucks. I think they wanted to get caught."
Tears welled up in Tatum's eyes and she didn't know if it was from the happiness at the thought of them being locked up, or because of the events from earlier in the day. "I'm sure they did, Kendall." She whispered. "Like you said, three sick fucks."
Before Kendall plopped down on the couch to wait for his best friend, he plugged in his iPhone, placing it on shuffle. He couldn't sit in silence; it would eat at him.
And he couldn't help but feel that in some way, some big way, that all of this was his fault. If I would've just stopped being a big pussy, and asked her out as soon as I fell for her… she never would've tried to date Rex. Period. He had been in love with her for two years now, and everyone knew. Everyone but her. She didn't think she was loveable, likeable even. Kendall called bullshit on that one. Maybe it was just him, maybe he was too biased, but he didn't see how anyone could let the beautiful birthmark on her left cheek affect their view of her. She was a person, just like everyone else, but people were so cruel to her on a daily basis.
He just didn't get it. How could someone so sweet, caring, and beautiful be sexually abused like she was? His hands balled up into fists on his legs as he shook his head, trying not to become too worked up. He inhaled the deepest breath he could manage, and when he exhaled, he sunk back into the couch, letting his eyes slide shut.
It took Tatum sinking on the couch next to him to draw him out of his trance. "Hi," she murmured. He looked over at her, hair wavy and wet, and took in the sight of her in his boxers and Vans t-shirt.
He smiled, and her face lit up. "Aw, Tay." He reached out and pulled her close to him, hugging her as tightly as he felt safe. He realized he had been so solemn with her, when maybe all she needed was a smile to help her through. He felt her fists clench against his back and hoped more than anything that she wasn't crying. His fingers ran through her hair soothingly, placing his lips on the top of her head.
Tatum pulled back from him, seeming deep in thought. She looked down for a moment, and then held her arms out for Kendall to see. Staring into her eyes first, he knew this was her opening up, trusting him, and that she would hide from anyone else.
He took her arms gently in his hands and observed them; it wasn't easy for him to gaze at the too defined, purple handprints, but they both knew he needed to see it if he was going to get used to it.
Tatum was caught off guard when Kendall was suddenly placing slow, gentle kisses to each arm, one right in the center of each hand print. Heat rushed to her cheeks and she muttered, "Um, thanks.."
He grinned his charming, bright grin, and for the first time that day, a smile lit up her face.
Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, not failing to take hold of her hands before doing so, forcing her to stand with him. "Kendall, wha-"
"Just… dance with me!" Pulling her by both hands, Kendall led Tatum to the middle of his living room as his favorite song began to play.
She giggled as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Incubus. Your favorite." And as she placed her hands on the back of his neck, she noticed the way he was gazing down at her, a look she had never seen before. Or maybe she had, and just hadn't realized it.
And just like that, a tidal wave of feelings she had pushed away for so long came crashing back so quickly it almost took her breath away, because the way Kendall was looking at her was the way she used to look at him, all that time ago when they first met. And just as she felt their faces inching closer and she thought maybe, just maybe he would kiss her, a beautiful melody fell from his lips. "Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, with open arms and open eyes, yeah." He was singing to her, and his voice was something she wanted to hear for the rest of her life, yet at the same time something she would never get used to.
She just gazed into his deep green eyes as he continued to sing the beautiful tune to her, entranced. It took her a moment to realize he had stopped, and then he was speaking in a low, but ridiculously sweet tone. "You know how beautiful you are, right?"
"Kendall…" the expression crossing her face showed she disagreed with him, but he wasn't having it.
"Tatum, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met, inside and out, I don't care what you or anyone else says. It's true." He brought one of his hands up to cup the side of her face. Tatum may not have believed she was beautiful, but the way Kendall was making her feel was good enough, if not better. He was keeping her mind off of the pain circulating through her body, something she knew no one else would've been capable of.
And maybe she should've said something to him, but she was rendered speechless in the best way possible, so she just gazed at him. She gazed at him, and knew the best was coming, knew even if only deep down that she was about to have the moment she had been waiting for. And when Tatum placed one of her hands over his on her cheek, as if that was his cue, he continued to speak.
"And… shit, Tatum. As good as you make me feel," his voice dropped to a soft murmur. "I want to make you feel better."
When his lips landed softly, perfectly, on hers, it was bliss. Pure bliss. He found her hands in blindness and laced their fingers, never parting from her mouth. When he finally did, he placed soft kisses first to her nose, then forehead, and then to each cheek before he looked deep into her eyes, faces mere inches apart. "Other people don't matter, Tatum. Just me and you. You got that?"
Tatum nodded, trying not to let the tears burning at the back of her eyes fall, and she squeezed his hands.
He smiled and brushed his lips against hers, and before kissing her once more, he whispered, "You're mine."
"You know I'd fall apart without you,
I don't know how you do what you do.
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me,
makes sense when I'm with you."