When I finished telling them what I knew, the sheriff was writing still on the paper he'd set down on the table. Stiles was staring at me, but I wouldn't meet his eye. I'd started crying again as I recalled what happened, providing as much detail as I could when prompted too. For a minute or two, the only sound in the room was the scratch of the sheriff's pen on paper.

"And you said he penetrated you twice, correct?" The sheriff asked, looking at me. I glanced up at him, seeing the sorrow and pity in his eyes and nodded silently. He wrote something down, nodding slowly. "I haven't gotten the results of the test back from the doctor who examined you at the hospital, but could you tell if he was wearing a condom at all?"

I froze, never having thought about if the man who'd raped me had been wearing one or not. "N-No, I have no idea." I swallowed, ducking my head again. "When I went to bed last night, before he took me from my house, I was a virgin, so I wouldn't be able to tell from the feel."

I heard a sharp intake of breath, and something told me it had come from Stiles. Biting my lip, I looked back up at the sheriff. "Do you…do you think I might get pregnant?"

"We won't know if there's a chance of that until the test come back in." The sheriff responded. "Julianna, I promise we'll do everything to find this guy. I'm going to admit that you didn't give us much, but hopefully it's enough."

I nodded, the tears streaming down my face for an entirely different reason now. "Thank you sheriff." I said softly, watching as the man stood.

"Don't thank me yet." He said softly, smiling thinly as he turned to leave the room. "I'll let you two have a moment, but your father should be here to bring you home any minute Julianna."

I nodded, finally looking at Stiles. He looked at me for a moment before standing quickly. "Dad, hold up."

The sheriff paused just inside the door, turning to his son. "What is it Stiles?"

"Can I use your pen quick?"

The older man raised an eyebrow before handing the writing utensil to his son and leaving the room. Stiles came back to me, moving a chair to sit closer to me. He hesitated once he sat down, now sitting diagonally from me.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" He asked finally, and I nodded after a few seconds. He reached out, taking my hand in his and setting it on the table in front of him. Stiles leaned forward, using the pen to write something on my hand.

I leaned forward a bit myself, looking as he wrote down a series of numbers down under his name. When he finished, I counted ten number, his phone number.

"If you want to talk about anything, just text or call me." He said, looking up at me. "Well, if you want to that is."

I looked at him and smiled softly. "Thanks." I took my hand back, holding it in my other one as I looked down at it.

"And keep the shirt as long as you want. You need it more than I do right now." He added, setting the pen on the table and leaning back, fiddling with his hands. I nodded, looking at him again. "Is this weird?" He asked a few minutes later.

"Is what weird?" I asked, blinking at him.

"This." He gestured between us. "I mean, I don't think we've ever really talked to each other before today."

I shrugged, ducking my head as I smiled a bit. "A little." I admitted.

Stiles snorted out a soft laugh, causing me to look up at him. He wasn't looking at me, staring down at his hands with a slight smile on his face. He must have felt me staring, for he looked up. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but the door to the room opened again and I looked up to see my dad in the door way.

"Jewels, ready to go home?" He asked, glancing between us.

I nodded and stood, Stiles standing as well. He smiled and gave a slight wave as I walked past him towards the door. I smiled back.

Reaching my father and the door, I stopped, biting my lip. Turning back to look at Stiles, I saw the confusion on his face the moment I turned to him before I was going back to him, hugging him around the middle. Like my father, he was taller than me, but at least the top of my head reached his shoulders.

I felt Stiles tense under my grip before he slowly hugged me back, wrapping his long arms around my shoulders.

"Thanks again." I whispered before pulling back, smiling at him before going back to my father. The tall, older man looked between Stiles and myself, a slight frown on his face as his eyes held confusion. When I smiled up at him, though, the confusion melted away to worry and sadness and he smiled thinly back at me.

"Come on kiddo, let's get you home." He said softly before placing a hand on my shoulder, steering me away from the room and Stiles. I chanced a glance over my shoulder, seeing the other teen watching me as I left. When his eyes met mine for the brief moment, he smiled before he was gone from my line of sight.


The next few days passed slowly. Mom came home early from her business trip, neither parents wanting me to spend any time at home alone. They insisted that I call friends over to hang out, so I could distract myself, but the truth is, I had no friends that I felt comfortable knowing about what had happened. There was only Stiles, but something told me my parents wouldn't like the idea of me inviting a guy over, especially after what had happened. You would think they wouldn't be so protective about me with a guy after I'd been raped and scared of any sort of sexual contact for a long time.

So, instead I distracted myself with my books, both reading and writing. At least, I tried to write. Every time I sat down to write, I let my mind wander, but every time I did it now, I would remember things I didn't want to, things from that day. I'd promised myself to go out more this summer, not holing myself up inside as I usually do when I didn't have school, but suddenly the outside world held none of its old comforts, and nor was my imagination safe.

Sheriff Stilinski called the house twice since that day, keeping my parents up to date on the case. So far, they'd found nothing. Thankfully, it appeared that the man who'd raped me had used a condom, as there had been no evidence outside of my own blood of his acts. I was thankful of not having to worry about getting pregnant by the man, but still felt uneasy about the idea that he was out there somewhere.

It was three days after that day and I sat on my bed, staring at my phone. Downstairs, my mother was instructing a group of workers from a security company about as they installed a new system in the house to add some additional protection. I'd barely interacted with either of my parents since my mom got home, no matter how much she'd wanted to hover over me.

But basically being alone in my room for three straight days had been enough. I wanted some human interaction, but not the suffocating motherly-ness I'd get from my mother, and dad was at work. So that's why I was staring at my phone. There was only one person I knew who wouldn't question me about what happened, because they already knew.

Finally, I said screw what my mother would think and swiped the screen my phone, watching it light back up. I searched through my contacts quickly, having put the number in my phone the moment I'd gotten home after being at the police station. I hit the little dial button on the screen before bringing the phone up to my ear.

I counted three rings before I heard the line pick up, his voice coming from the other end of the call.

"Hello?" He asked, sounding a bit confused. Oh right, he didn't have my number, I haven't even texted him yet.

"Hey, Stiles. It's Julianna." I said, fiddling with the end of the pajama pants I wore.

"Oh, hey!" I smiled at the sudden change of his voice. "I've been wondering if you'd call."

"Sorry, my parents have been pretty overwhelming after what happened." I admitted, watching my toes as I wiggled them in my boredom. "I mean, it's understandable, but it's been like I can't breath some times."

"Oh, well that kind of sucks. So…you're calling for what exactly then?" I smiled at his bluntness.

"Can you come over here?" I asked. "I can text you my address, I just need to talk to a sane person who's not going to ask me how I'm doing ever five minutes."

"I can totally do that!" Stiles said from the other end, and I could just imagine him grinning in excitement, if the tone in his voice is anything to go by. "When do you want me to be over?"

"Whenever works." I told him, stretching my legs out in front of me on the bed.

"Okay, yeah, I'll see you soon." He said, causing me to smile again.

"Okay, see you in a bit." I pulled my phone away from my ear, hanging up my phone.

I swallowed, suddenly feeling really nervous about a guy suddenly coming over. And I was dressed in my pajamas again, my hair hadn't even seen a comb yet today. So, after I texted Stiles the address to my house, I got up from my bed and changed into a pair of boot-cut, faded jeans and long sleeved black and white Batman logo shirt. I was quick to brush my hair and pull it up into a simple pony tail, but it was only after I'd put on a bit of nude lip gloss and light eye liner that I deemed myself acceptable for company.

About five minutes after I'd made myself presentable, there was a knock on my door, followed by my mother's face appearing in the crack as it opened. "Julie, there's a Stiles boy here for you." She said, raising an eyebrow at me. A feeling of dread rose in my gut. Yeah, maybe inviting a boy over was a mistake.

"Okay, let him in?" I asked, tilting my head at her. She pursed her lips before opening the door completely, letting Stiles step into my room. He was wearing another one of his plaid over-shirts, this one a dark blue and maroon. The one currently folded and hidden in my closet was gray and black, my mother had wanted to wash it right away, but I was reluctant too. The smell of curly fries and cologne that was distinctly Stiles had been comforting. He smiled sheepishly when he stepped into my room.

"Hey."

"Hi." I responded, smiling back before looking pointedly at my mother, who still stood by my bedroom door.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked between us. "So, did you invite him over or did he come on his own?" She asked.

"I invited him." I said with a sigh. "I was bored."

"Very well, but your door stays open." She said sternly.

"Mom, come on! You seriously think we're going to do anything after what happened?" I asked, blushing darkly.

Her eyes widened as she glanced at Stiles before looking at me again. "He knows?"

"Mom, he's the sheriff's son. He was there when I was brought in." I told her.

"Alright, fine, the door can be closed, but I'm checking up on you later!" She said before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I groaned, looking over at Stiles. He was scratching the back of his neck, his cheeks a bit pink. "Sorry about her." I said. "She got a bit overbearing after what happened."

Stiles looked at me and grinned a bit. "It's alright. She is your mom after all."

I nodded, crossing my legs so I sat Indian style on my bed, one of my pillows in my lap as I watched him. He was looking around my room, taking in the deep purple walls, multitude of posters, and general décor. I caught him smirking at my overly stuffed bookshelf in one corner.

"You really like to read, don't you?" He asked, turning back to me.

I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Sometimes the fictional world is easier to take in than the world around you." I commented. "It's a funny world we live in."

He blinked at me, and I wondered for a moment if he caught that little reference. His next words confirmed my suspicions.

"Did you just quote the Joker from The Dark Knight?"

"Maybe?" I was hesitant in my answer, but relaxed the moment a large grin appeared on his face.

"I should have been able to tell from the shirt, just didn't take you as a Batman fan." He said.

I shrugged again, smiling softly. "You know you can sit down, right?" I asked, looking at him. Suddenly, Stiles looked a bit nervous again, causing my smile to grow. "You don't find yourself in a girl's room often, do you?"

He shook his head rapidly as he sat on the edge of my bed, fidgeting with his hands a bit. I watched him silently for a moment before he glanced up at me. "So…what do you want to do?" He asked me.

I sighed, looking down at my hands on the pillow in my lap. "No idea, I just needed company that wasn't my mom or dad." I admitted with a shrug of one shoulder.

"Have you even left the house since…the other day?" He asked. I could feel him shifting on the bed, probably getting more comfortable or turning towards me more. I shook my head, not looking up at him. "Do you want to go out and do something?"

"I sort of doubt my mom will let me leave the house." I told him, looking up finally. "Again, she's gotten really overprotective since then. We could watch a movie or something here though."

He nodded, scratching at the back of his neck again. My guess was it was a nervous habit for him. "Yeah, sounds good."

I smiled and slid off my bed, going over to the small tv set up I had in the corner by the door. The tv was large enough to comfortably watch from my bed, even though it was on the other side of the room, but the stand the television rested on had wheels, so I rolled it closer to the bed before I knelt down and started to sift through my movies, knowing exactly what one I wanted to pop into the dvd. The entire time I got the movie set up, I could feel Stiles' eyes on me, but I didn't feel awkward or nervous about it, or about the fact that I was alone in my room with a boy. If anything, Stiles made me feel safe.

Batman Begins was about 140 minutes long, but it took us about twice that amount of time to watch the entire film. We'd watch a scene or two before one of us would grab the remote, pause the movie, and we'd go into a passionate discussion about what had just happened. I was happy to learn that Stiles was as big a fan as Batman as I was. It made things a bit easier than expected.

My mom would pop in every half hour or so to check up on us, make sure we weren't up to something that wasn't rated PG, but each time her head would appear in the door, we were sitting side by side with our backs against the wall on my bed, either in a heated debate or silently watching the film in front of us. About halfway through the film, she brought up a large bowl of chips and a few cans of soda.

"Boys need to eat Julie, and we wouldn't want your friend to starve." She'd commented when I'd given her a questioning look. I had blushed, causing Stiles to laugh and brush it off, shoving a small handful of chips into his mouth in order to get me to laugh. It had worked.

A noticed a few things about Stiles during those five hours he was at my house that day. The first, biggest thing I'd first experienced at the police station the other day. Each time he'd move to touch me, he'd ask if it was alright first. Or he'd apologize if he bumped me accidentally. I could understand that he thought I might be afraid of contact with another male after what happened, but it started to get a little much towards the end.

Finally, we were almost at the end of the movie when our hands touched in the chip bowl as we both reached for some. Stiles had snatched his hand back, apologizing instantly. I sighed, covering his mouth with my hand mid-apology. His eyes widened as he looked down at my hand as best as he could before looking at me.

"Stiles, it's okay. I'm not going to flinch or scream or go into shock because you touch me." I told him. "There's a reason why I called you, someone I barely know, and it's not because you know about what happened. It's because I feel comfortable around you and you do really well at making me think of everything but that."

He nodded slowly, my hand still covering his mouth. He reached up and took it, pulling it away from his face. He didn't let go when he lowered our hands to the bed between us, and it caused a slight fluttering in my stomach. "Okay, sorry, I just…I wasn't sure how you were doing, like…emotionally."

I smiled at him. "And I get that, but you don't have to ask for my permission every time you want to touch me, especially since you've done it a few times already in the past few hours. I'm okay."

Stiles looked at me then, his eyes boring into mine and making me feel like he was looking right into my soul. It sounded cliché, but the way he was staring so intently at me made me feel so exposed. "Are you really though?"

I knew he was talking about what happened, about my recovery. I suppose many described being raped as a traumatic experience, and for me, it had been. For some reason though, having Stiles here had let me not think about any of that.

"No." I admitted, looking down again. His hand still held mine, and he gave it a small squeeze, to let me know he was there. I smiled softly at the gesture before I let out an unsteady breath. "I hate the dark." I told him. "When I try to sleep, I can feel his hands. They say when you cut off one of the five senses, all the others are increased. I can only get an hour or two of sleep at a time before I wake up screaming." Why was it so easy for me to tell him this stuff? My parents only knew about the nightmares because I'd woken them often enough that they were beginning to be worried. But I told them I didn't want to see a therapist. I wasn't a pity case, I could be strong.

And Stiles made me feel strong.

I looked up at him, meeting his worried amber gaze. He glanced away after a second and sighed. From the way he was opening and closing his mouth, I could tell he wanted to say something, he just wasn't sure what.

I reached out with my free hand and gently grabbed his chin, turning his head to look at me again. His mouth snapped close with a soft click of his teeth as his eyes met mine again.

"The night is darkest before the dawn." I said, quoting The Dark Knight again. "And the dawn is coming. I just need time."

Stiles glanced down without moving his head, grinning slightly. I smiled in return, letting go of his chin so I could wipe away a stray tear that had fallen to my cheek.

Movie credits were rolling on the screen when the door to my bedroom opened again, my mother walking in. "Stiles, will you be staying for dinner?" She asked, looking at us.

The young man in question turned his head and then glanced at the alarm clock on the bed-side table next to him. It was almost six o'clock. "I should probably go home. My dad's gonna be home for dinner and if I don't make him something he'll just eat junk food." He explained getting up from the bed.

My mother nodded silently and left the room, leaving it cracked open behind her. I got to my feet as well, smiling at Stiles as I approached him. He smiled back and we walked out of my room together, headed for the front door. My mother watched us as I went outside with him, closing the front door behind me.

Stiles paused to look at me on the front steps, smiling a bit. "That was fun." He admitted, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

"It was." I smiled. "Thanks for the company, I really needed it."

"No problem." He smiled back, shrugging. "I guess I'll see you about?"

I nodded slowly, my smile dropping slightly, but not entirely. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He nodded as well, walking down the steps. At the bottom he turned towards me again, starting to walk backwards towards his blue jeep parked on the curb. "Maybe we can hang out outside of your house next time?" He asked, grinning at me. "I mean, it's summer, we can do whatever we'd like!"

I laughed softly. "Sounds like a plan. What did you have in mind?"

"Well there's no Batman films at the theater." Stiles said, stumbling a bit when he walked into the half fence that separated my mother's flower garden from the rest of the lawn. He grinned sheepishly, halting on the grass for a moment so he could get his bearings once more. "But maybe we can see what else is playing though. Or maybe find something else to do."

"Another movie sounds nice." I admitted, smiling at him. "How about Friday?"

Stiles had reached his jeep now, and he was grinning at me. "It's a date."

I blinked in surprise at his words, and in that same moment, he flushed.

"No, not a date. Well, it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be." He said, stumbling a bit over his words as he tried to rush them out. "I totally understand if you don't want it to be a date, especially after what happened to you." He continued to ramble as I tried not to break out into a fit of giggles.

"Stiles!" I said, interrupting him. He snapped his mouth shut, looking at me with wide, worried eyes. "It's okay, just text me later with a time for when you're going to pick me up and I'll see you on Friday."

He nodded rapidly, and I wondered if he ever got whiplash from doing that. "Yeah, I'll text you. Tex ting is good, great form of communication."

"Stiles, you're rambling again." I said, the amusement now apparent in my tone as I smiled at him.

He blushed, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I am aren't I?" He chuckled nervously.

"I'll see you on Friday Stiles." I said, smiling.

Stiles nodded again. "Yeah, Friday." He said, moving to round his Jeep to the driver's side. "And I'll text you a time."

"Good bye Stiles." I told him, shaking his head as I continued to smile in amusement.

"Bye Julie." He smiled sheepishly before he got into his jeep. Even from my door, I could see him hitting his head against his steering wheel, and I could just imagine him mumbling the word 'stupid' to himself a few times. I giggled once, shaking my head at his behavior before I went back inside, glancing back just as he started to drive off.

Back inside, I made my way to the kitchen where my mother was cooking dinner for the three of us, since dad was meant to be home soon from work. She glanced at me and smiled softly.

"You know Julie, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you earlier, but I must admit: that boy seems to do you a lot of good." She said, stirring something in a large pot as she turned her back to me as I slipped onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side a bit as I watched her continue to cook.

"Sweetheart, I haven't seen you smile since I came home the other day." She told me, glancing over her shoulder to look at me. "And I could hear you laughing and talking with him. That boy is special, I have to admit."

I blushed, putting my elbows on the counter top and resting my chin in my hands. "Yeah, he is." I smiled a bit, before something popped up in the forefront of my mind. Oh, that's right. I sighed softly. "But even if I liked him that way, it's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible Julie." My mother told me.

"It is when he's in love with someone." I told her, resting my cheek against my palm.

"And how do you know this exactly?" She'd turned towards me now, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"When you observe the people around you as much as I do, you learn things." I told her, knowing that she was aware of one of my favorite pass-times: people watching. "And one things I've noticed about Stiles is he's completely head over heels in love with Lydia Martin, the most popular girl in my grade."

She smiled at me softly, shaking her head as she moved towards the island that I sat at, putting her palms on the counter top and leaning forwards.

"I'm going to tell you a little secret, Julie." She told me. "And you might not be emotionally ready for it after everything that's happened lately, but I think this Stiles boy is special." I nodded slowly, watching her curiously. "Change his mind, show him that you don't have to be popular to be the girl he wants."

I blushed, ducking my head. "I don't even know if I like him that way yet." I admitted softly.


Chapter 2, yay! Okay, so for this story, I'm hoping on keeping a bi-weekly upload schedule, posting a new chapter every Tuesday and Saturday. I currently have almost six chapters complete, so if I keep up this writing speed, I should be able to keep this schedule just fine. Things might get a little bit more difficult when I start working on Just Enough Time again, but I'm sure it should be okay for a while.

If you liked the chapter and are excited for the Tuesday update, feel free to review or send me a PM. I love hearing what you guys think about new chapters, even if it's as simple as 'omg, love it!' :) See you guys Tuesday, where I'll likely gush about the 3B finale in the Author's Note!