This was honestly a long delay but here it is! I promise that this chapter will leave you speechless. So just read and enjoy the drama…

Chapter 25: Always

Raquél

The imminent dread of going back to school after the incident seemed to haunt my conscience that morning. Although I personally felt that I deserved more of an apology from Mike, I knew that I had to swallow my pride if I wanted things to be settled between us.

I looked forward to spending the afternoon with my boyfriend after he promised to take me to roller skating later. Since summer was fast approaching, I made the spontaneous decision to go to school wearing a cute bubble skirt paired with a simple racer-back tank top.

Just a few months ago, I never would have had the confidence to wear a skirt knowing that the boys at my school couldn't help their eyes from wandering. But a few stares were not going change my mind.

What harm could it do?

"Wow! You look beautiful, Raquél," Enriqué said as I approached his car.

I eagerly accepted a kiss before climbing into the seat beside him.

"Thank you, Enriqué. I just wanted to try something new."

"Well, you look amazing. And your legs are..."

He quickly stopped himself, as if he feared that the observation he was contemplating would offend me.

"They're what?" I asked.

As we came to a stop at an intersection, he glanced over at me and replied hesitantly.

"They're sexy... You're sexy."

His reply left me surprised, but for reasons I never expected. That nonexistent feeling of being labeled as a sex object gave me yet another reason to trust him.

"For the first time, I'm not uncomfortable with that word. If you were someone else I'd be completely repulsed, but since you're my boyfriend, it makes me feel great... You're so sweet, Quique," I cooed, leaning over to embrace him.

"That's such a relief to hear. You had me scared for a minute; I thought you were going to be mad."

"Well, I love you, and to know that you're honest about your opinions of me is very touching. And since we're both being honest, I have a confession to make."

"Oh, you do?" Enriqué said.

"Your body makes me so weak in the knees. Your chest and your arms are my kryptonite, and I can never think straight whenever you stand in front of me without a shirt. I think that you're sexy, too," I admitted, blushing furiously.

Upon our arrival at the school, Enriqué pulled into a parking space before we shared a deep, passionate kiss.

As our lips slowly separated, he rest his forehead against mine and said, "Now you know how I feel."

~RMCR~

Enriqué

Once Raquél and I had retreated into our first class of the day, I was left slightly concerned after I counted the amount of boys who turned their heads as my girlfriend walked by. Entering English class was no different, except she received twice as many stares because of the incident that occurred nearly 24 hours before.

Deciding that it was best to get it over with, Raquél began her hesitant advance toward Maya's group to give Mike his apology. They fell silent once they spotted her. The boys' eyes immediately scanned her body.

Carlos in particular seemed to like what he was seeing, which made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh, Mike... About yesterday, I'm sorry for trying to hurt you. It was reckless and immature of me, and I take it back," she managed to say, her hands fidgeting.

It was evident that my girlfriend was not going to get the apology she deserved, and to make matters worse, he pretended as if he cared. His friends snickered as he fabricated a false apology.

"Apology accepted. And I guess I'm sorry for letting the scissors slip out of my hand by accident. You see, I was just playing with it and it fell out of nowhere. Honestly, I don't know how it ended up in your hair; must've been a phantom," he said with a straight face, causing the group to unsuccessfully suppress their laughter once more.

Even as Raquél stood in front of them after speaking from her heart, they had the nerve to laugh at her.

"Whatever... Ass," she scoffed to herself as she walked away from them.

It was not difficult to spot the few pairs of hungry male eyes following her legs while she made her way back to me.

"Don't be upset, Sweetheart," I said once she plopped down in the chair beside me. "If he can't put aside his ego for one minute to apologize to you, then that just shows how immature he is."

"I go through all of that and he just sits there acting like an idiot... Maybe I should've killed him," she murmured darkly, fuming to herself.

"Oh, you don't really mean that."

Raquél sighed dejectedly and stared blankly at the desk.

"You're right, I don't. But didn't he learn anything from yesterday?"

"Don't worry, baby. I'm sure he'll pay either way for being insincere," I reassured my girlfriend while stealing a glance at the group.

The way Carlos, Mike, Ricky, Sean and Derek stared at her; the way their eyes gleamed with danger and lust brought a whole new fear to my attention. As her boyfriend, it was my absolute duty to make sure that Raquél was kept far away from sick perverts like them.

They would not hurt her as long as I was there.

~RMCR~

Raquél

Gym class never became an interesting juncture until we were granted permission to go outside.

Like a trio of elementary schoolgirls, Felicia, Eva and I raced onto the field before the rest of the class, and began our own little game of soccer. Meanwhile, my boyfriend and a few of his teammates decided to play football on the far end of the field.

The day was perfect and sunny, and I thought that nothing could ruin my happiness.

"So, what are your plans for this summer?" Eva asked me.

"I'm not sure. My mom said that she was planning to take us to Puerto Rico so that Troy can meet the rest of our family. As much as I would love to go home, I just want to stay here with Enriqué. After you two leave for camp, he'll be all alone for the rest of the summer."

"Maybe, but his parents wouldn't do that to him. If he's lucky they'll probably send him to Miami to be with his cousins. Mario is Esmeralda's uncle," Felicia replied.

"Well... I guess I can spend one summer away from him. And when we both return we'll fall in love with each other even more," I said, smiling at the thought.

"I hope I can find a boy who'll love me as much as Quique loves you. I'd have to go through a million guys before I can get as lucky as you."

"Ohh, that's not true, Eva. You're bright and bubbly and compassionate, and any guy would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend. You never know, someone in this school could be crushing on you right now," I told her.

"Maybe he'll finally be able to mellow her out. Opposites do attract... Raquél and Enriqué are living proof of that," Felicia smiled while nudging me.

Nodding silently, Eva shifted her glance towards the other side of the field, where Rosa and her cheerleader friends began to practice their tumbling.

"I can do that, you know," she said suddenly.

"A backflip?"

"Yeah, and all those other stunts they do. I used to do gymnastics until I moved to this school. If there was a gymnastics team here, I would've joined. But maybe I'll try out for the cheerleading squad next year."

"You should definitely try out! They'll have to pick you."

"Yeah, that's a great idea. Come on, show us what you can do," I suggested eagerly.

"What, now?"

"Yeah. Just one back handspring."

While slowly getting to her feet, my friend hesitantly brushed the grass off of her pants and glanced around. "In front of everyone? I guess I can."

"Watch this; she's amazing," Felicia told me.

We watched in curiosity as Eva backed up to get a running start. At that moment, the attention of the entire class seemed to turn to my best friend, and Rosa especially looked on with building interest. Eva resembled an Olympic athlete, focusing on the path of grass as if she were a predator stalking her prey. Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep intake of breath, and she began her sprint.

My mouth dropped in shock once she completed a powerful round-off followed by a back handspring, a full double twist and a back tuck. If the decision was up to me, I would think that she had the skills of an elite cheerleader.

"That was great, Eva! I just asked for one handspring; I didn't expect you to do all of that," I said to her, clapping as she simply returned to her spot beside me.

"Thank you, Raquél. So you guys really think I should try out for Cheerleading?"

"Of course! You're not going to cheerleading camp for the hell of it; you're going to improve your skills."

Just then, I found myself belting a loud shriek as I felt a pair of hands grip my sides. When I spun around my boyfriend was there, smiling down at me.

"What did I tell you about that, Quique? You scared me!" I panted.

He chuckled and cowered once I raised my hand to slap him on the arm, but I quickly brought it back as I noticed that his bare upper body was drenched in sweat.

"Eww, you're all sweaty. Get away from me!"

"What? I thought you liked my sweat. If you love me, you've gotta love my sweat, right, baby?" he replied playfully.

Another squeal arose as Enriqué proceeded to wrap his arms around me, and I quickly squirmed out of his grip and jumped to my feet.

"Gross! Now I'm going to smell like Axe and mud for the rest of the day."

I was not really mad at my boyfriend, but was stunned after observing the body that never failed to leave me flustered.

"Like what you see?" he murmured huskily.

"Of course I do."

His fingers intertwined with mine, and I giggled as he placed them behind my back before kissing me.

"I love you."

"I love you more, Sweetheart."

"All right you two, quit groping each other before coach sees you. We don't want you to ruin your plans for this afternoon, do we?" Felicia said while trying to separate us.

Instead, Enriqué lifted me off of the ground and ran away from his cousin, carrying me across the field.

"You have to catch us first!"

Impossible, I thought. Nothing can possibly ruin this day for me.

However the next few hours played out, I was sure that it would be no more inconvenient than a paper cut.

~RMCR~

10:45

After my third period class had ended, I decided to stop by the daycare center before heading to Study Hall. The first lunch rush left the corridors deserted, and I enjoyed the time I had to myself by texting my boyfriend, who had already made it to class.

'Going 2 see my babies. I'll be there soon.'

'Ok. Take your time baby ;)' was his reply.

Knowing that I had siblings who attended the daycare across the street, my principal granted me permission to leave school whenever it was necessary. Katy was eagerly waiting for me at the front desk once I'd made it inside.

"Hey there, Sweetie! I'm so glad you could come. Your brother and sister are gonna be so excited to see you," she said after pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks for not telling them. I love surprising them."

"Great. You're right on schedule for their lunchtime."

I found A'sharía toddling around the play area with her favorite doll, and she quickly spotted me as I slipped through the doors.

"Mama!" she squealed while running towards me.

"Ohh, my sweetpea! I missed you so much. Guess what? I'm staying for lunch!"

Without a word, my sister clapped her hands together and leaned in for a kiss.

"They still think that you're their mother? They're two," Katy said.

"I can't get them to stop, but they do know who their real mother is. It's just a comfort thing."

"That must explain why they rejected their pacifiers early."

"I guess so," I laughed.

For the next forty-five minutes, I spent the first half of the lunch period feeding my siblings with Katy and talking. Then at 11:45, I reluctantly said my goodbyes and hurried back across the street to meet my friends for lunch.

Since the cafeteria was located on level ground, I decided that it would be convenient for me to pass through the first-floor corridor that led there. The place was quiet and eerie, mostly because it was the last section of the school that was going through renovations.

I continued to send more messages to Enriqué so that he wouldn't worry.

'It's way creepy down here! But I'll see U soon... I love you,' was the following text I sent to my boyfriend.

Although I wasn't much of a paranoid person, I couldn't ignore the sudden awful feeling of dread that overtook me, and I was compelled to quicken my steps.

Hoping to dispel my thoughts of the building nerves, I made a turn towards the staircase to go to the second floor.

I didn't make it.

Without warning, my breaths were cut off as a large palm clamped over my mouth. Before I could attempt to make a getaway, my body was hurled to the floor and I was dragged by my curls toward a dark, abandoned closet that lay hidden in a corner.

"Somebody, help! Help me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs when the hand left my lips.

That was when a harsh slap sent me reeling back to the floor in pain. My fears were soon confirmed once I recognized Carlos's voice, which was angry with hunger.

As I dared to take in my surroundings, I began to feel sick upon finding Mike, Derek, Sean and Ricky waiting. One of them had a video camera at the ready.

I decided to shriek even louder in hopes that anyone could rescue me. Instead, I was silenced again with an even worse slap.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch! No one can hear you, so do what we say and I won't beat you."

"Yeah, relax. All we wanna do is have our fun with you, baby. I'm sure this isn't your first gangbang," Mike said while tugging at the hem of my skirt.

"Don't touch me! This isn't funny! Leave me alone!"

"Why? So you can run to your precious Sanchez and hide? Well, too fucking bad! He can't save your ass now."

Suddenly, the boys pounced like wild animals and pinned me against the floor. As I felt my clothes being torn from my body, I couldn't help but let a frightened sob escape my lips. They were going to rape me, and I was not going to leave until each had their turn.

Eager to have his way with me first, Carlos attached his lips to my neck. He deliberately sucked and chewed on my skin, branding me as if I belonged to him.

"You're mine now, Angel. I haven't stopped thinking about your sexy little body ever since I tapped that," he chuckled before forcing his tongue into my mouth.

The repulsive taste was a combination of cigarettes and coffee, which forced me to fight for my dignity.

Refusing to be taken advantage of, I hugged my knees tightly against my chest and kicked at him from the floor. But as much as I fought to keep him from removing my bra, he still managed to slip his fingers beneath the straps and pried the garment from my grip.

My hopes of defending myself were quickly diminishing, so I began to plead for my freedom instead.

"Please don't rape me," I begged tearfully.

My tactic must have opened a guilty conscience, because Mike immediately felt remorse for taking part in the assault.

"Yo, Carlos. I-I don't know if this is a good idea anymore. What if someone notices she's gone—?"

"Are you chickening out, man? Don't be a faggot. No one will miss the slut."

Pain raced across my scalp as he yanked my curls back, causing me to scream again.

"Come on, hurry up! You're not going to get your piece if you keep stalling. Get the rope," he demanded.

Reluctantly, Mike rummaged through the pocket of his sweatpants.

I kept my arms crossed tightly across my breasts, but Carlos quickly exposed me to everyone once he forced my arms behind my back. Like a swarm of flies to food, the boys began to execute their eager assault on my chest.

The camera was thrust into my face, and Sean let out a bone-chilling laugh as he replied, "Smile, Superstar."

To them I wasn't a person anymore, but a piece of meat that they were just going to devour to satisfy their sick hunger. I assumed that they were going to violate me over and over, and make me do humiliating things until I became reduced to a worn, crumpled heap.

It was evident that my tormentors were simply not going to remove my last undergarment, and instead they wanted to degrade me as much as they could by forcing me to remove it myself.

"Before we tie you up, I want you to strip this one off for us. Do it now," Mike demanded darkly, no longer regretful.

My chest heaving with sobs, I shook my head in protest, only to receive another onslaught of slaps.

"Take off the damn panties now!" Carlos yelled.

Before I could protest again, he decided to do it himself. While pulling his jean zipper down, he wrapped his palm around my neck and threw me against the wall. The impact almost knocked me unconscious, and I was left trapped with nowhere to go.

Just when I thought that he would remove my last shed of dignity, the closet door burst open and my boyfriend appeared like a raging bull.

He immediately tackled Carlos and began to throw powerful, relentless blows down on his body, inflicting more pain on him than he did on me. As I watched Enriqué vent his deepest emotions on each Superior, it was like he was someone else, someone I'd never met before. His eyes were black with a thirst for vengeance, and the thick veins in his arms bulged with the rush of his adrenaline-fueled blood.

For the first time, I was afraid of Enriqué.

While I rushed to get my torn clothes back on, he turned his attention towards Sean and knocked the camera from his hand before beating him to the floor. I knew that if Carlos were to get in his path again, my boyfriend would've finished him right then and there. I didn't want him to kill over me.

The boys must have read my mind, because they all scrambled and hobbled away once they had the chance.

"You've gone too fucking far this time! I should've killed you for hurting her!" he bellowed at their backs.

As much as I wanted to think that it was over, the sudden realization of what had occurred left me unable to recover.

~RMCR~

Enriqué

Nothing would have brought me more satisfaction than snapping Carlos's neck for hurting my girlfriend. But this wasn't about him. I'd come to save Raquél from a lifetime of pain, trauma and shame.

My heart ached as I turned my attention to the broken girl, who remained curled up in a ball in the far corner, sobbing. She was left in nothing but her underwear, and her exposed back and legs were covered in bruises. She trembled violently as if she was cold.

The sight caused tears to build in my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away in hopes of remaining strong for her.

"Sweetheart," I called softly, which caused her to flinch.

As I stepped closer to offer her my jacket, she scooted closer to the wall, whimpering in fear.

"No… please."

For her to think that I wanted to harm her like Carlos saddened me even more.

"I'm not going to hurt you, baby girl. Here, just take my jacket."

Ashamed to even glance at me, Raquél kept her back towards me and hid her face between her palms before sobbing again. Without hesitation, I draped the jacket over her shoulders, pulled the zipper up and lifted her into my arms. Immediately, her palms wound tightly around my shirt as she rest her head in the crook of my neck.

Soon, my cousins arrived and gasped once they discovered the aftermath of the attack.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Felicia questioned.

"I just knew something was wrong. That jerk Carlos and his friends tried to rape her. But I got here right in time to stop them."

"Should we take her to the nurse in the meantime? Raquél's too traumatized to stay in school," Eva said.

While wiping her tears away, I kissed her forehead and asked, "Do you want to go to the nurse? We can call your mom and get you dismissed..."

"N-no, don't tell her. Don't tell anyone," she hiccupped, pulling me closer.

"Raquél, Sweetheart, we have to. You'll never feel secure unless we tell someone about it. What good will it do if you just let them get away with it?"

Knowing that she would not feel better if she hesitated to report the attempted rape, she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then. Let's go upstairs so you can lie down."

"I'll get the principal and tell him to call the police," Felicia said before rushing down the corridor.

Meanwhile, Eva dug through her gym bag and pulled out a pair of sweatpants for Raquél to wear. Once she was fully dressed, I carried her to the second floor towards the nurse's office.

My cousin must have gotten to the main office in record time, because the principal soon came over the loudspeaker to announce that the school was going into lock down and no one was allowed to leave.

Once my girlfriend had the chance to rest in the patient room, Eva and I remained in the office so that the nurse could check on her injuries. The only challenge I had left to conquer was the difficult task of calling her mother and telling her what had occurred.

My stomach churned as Gabriella picked up the other line with a cheerful tone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Gabriella, this is Enriqué."

"Oh, hey, honey! How are you doing?"

"I'm great. But..." I trailed off hesitantly.

Now I'd given her a reason to become concerned.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" she questioned in slight panic.

"Something did happen, but don't worry. Raquél is fine and the police are on their way."

Not another second had passed before the line clicked off, and I was left listening to a dial tone.

After a while, the police arrived and conducted a search throughout the building for Carlos and his friends. The paramedics also arrived to give Raquél proper medical treatment, but I knew that she'd quickly grown uncomfortable by all the attention.

As I had expected, the nurse returned and told me that my girlfriend wanted me at her side while a female officer questioned her. I was not questioned yet.

"How many boys did you say there was?"

"Five," she replied meekly.

"If it's not too difficult for you to recall, tell me how it started."

Silently, Raquél gave me a fleeting glance and tightened her grip on my hand.

"Well, I spent the first half of my lunch period at the daycare across the street. I went to see my brother and sister from maybe 10:50 to 11:45, and I came back to have lunch with my friends. Normally I wouldn't walk alone in empty hallways, but it made more sense to go straight to the cafeteria instead of going up and down the stairs again. I was texting Enriqué to let him know that I was going to be there in a few minutes, but I just got this bad feeling, like someone was following me."

"So what did you do then?" the woman asked.

"I felt a little unsafe, so I turned a corner to use the stairs but... they came out of nowhere and dragged me into the closet," she replied as fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Just then, the door burst open and in walked Raquél's mother, who was shocked by her daughter's appearance.

"Oh, my God! What happened? They're all these police cars outside and they're searching the place."

Immediately, Raquél jumped to her feet and ran into her mother's arms.

"They tried to hurt me, Mami. I'm so embarrassed," she sobbed.

"Who hurt you?"

"If I may intervene, Ma'am, my name is Noreen Baker and I'm with the NYPD. We were notified after one of her friends called to report an attempted rape. Your daughter says that a group of five boys took her into a closet, but Mr. Sanchez was able to stop them. We're still looking for the suspects but right now, I'm in the middle of questioning."

"Oh-no, my baby. Why can't these people just leave you alone? Look at you! You're covered in cuts and bruises. Wait until I get my hands on them," Gabriella fumed. "And Enriqué. Thank you so much for your help. If you hadn't realized that something was wrong, I just... Thank you and the girls."

As she pulled me into a tight embrace, the officer continued her questioning, which unfortunately grew more detailed with each passing moment.

"Now, would you mind telling me what happened once they had you in the closet?"

Unprepared to listen to the graphic interpretation, Gabriella sighed and placed her head between her palms.

"Carlos kept hitting me and pulling my hair and telling me to shut up. He even kissed me a few times… They told me that they were all planning to, um, h-have a turn with me. One of them even had a video camera. First they took off all my clothes except for my underwear, and they started touching me," Raquél replied uneasily.

"Would you mind pointing where?"

Without a word, she motioned her hand near her concealed chest, which indisputably angered me.

"Your breasts only?"

As my girlfriend nodded, her mother broke into sobs beside me.

"Yeah, and then Carlos told me to remove my underwear, and I said 'no' twice but he just hit me more. Then he got impatient and grabbed my neck and threw me against the wall. He was going to take them off himself but that was when Quique came and beat them up. My screaming must've been loud enough from the hallway, so that's probably how he found me."

Even my cousins shed a few tears listening to the traumatic story. The officer reached across the table and placed her hand over Raquél's.

"Thank you for telling me. I can assure you that justice will be swift once we find these boys. They won't be able to hurt you anymore," she replied softly before turning her attention to me.

I froze. Something must have tipped her off.

Was it the fact that I looked too mature to be her boyfriend, or that I used to be friends with Carlos's group?

"Mr. Sanchez, would you mind if I asked you a few questions in the office next door?"

Growing panicked, Raquél gripped my hand and said, "Why? He didn't do anything wrong; he would never try to hurt me."

"We know that he didn't do anything wrong. We just want to make sure that he can confirm his whereabouts at the time it happened."

The mask of worry had slightly begun to fade, but she leaned up on her toes to kiss me as if she was never going to see me again.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart. I'll be right back, okay?" I gently reassured her before following the woman out of the room.

As I was escorted into the bustling office outside, I felt the urge to throw up once I found one officer returning with evidence from the crime scene. It included a bundle of rope, a roll of tape, and smashed remnants of the video camera. That was when he let the female officer know that they had finally caught Carlos and his friends.

When I glanced out into the principal's office across the corridor, I found then removing even more items from the boys' pockets, which included a blindfold and a bottle of baby oil. Most of all, I was disturbed that they had no condoms. The thought of what they'd planned to do to my girlfriend not only caused me immense anger but plenty of distress.

She had been a few seconds away from being violated and humiliated like the girl I had seen in Cuba, and I wouldn't have been able to take the pain away.

"So, Enriqué. You said that you and Ms. Richmond have been dating since late December, am I right?"

"Yes, Ma'am," I replied.

"It's also true that you were once associated with these boys until December, when you decided to avoid them. When you were still friends with them, was there ever a time when someone mentioned that he planned to sexually assault Raquél?"

Almost immediately, my thoughts scraped together memory of the afternoon Mike when revealed that he found her body arousing and shared the idea with the other boys.

"Well, one afternoon in November Mike, the one over there in the green, suggested that we all try to rape her when the opportunity arose. That was before everyone knew I was in love with her, so I started making up excuses to lure them away from the idea. A couple months ago, Raquél told me that they started harassing her about getting 'gangbanged', and I gave them a few warnings since then," I explained.

"And you never once reported it to the authorities?"

"Well, I didn't think that they were going to harm her if I stayed with her at all times. Raquél already knew to use crowded hallways and to text me whenever she was alone... But I guess we weren't careful enough."

Then came the question that I'd been dreading.

"How old are you, Mr. Sanchez?" she asked, seemingly curious.

"I-I'm 19."

"And your birthday?"

"I'll be 20 in two months. July, Ma'am," I replied, swallowing hard.

Up until that day, I never realized how much older I was than my girlfriend, and how much trouble I could be in with the law.

"Mr. Sanchez, I'm sure that you're aware that the age of consent in this state is 17, right?"

"Yes."

"And at your age, sexual intercourse with someone under 15 is considered a Class D Felony. That's rape in the second-degree. The maximum penalty for a crime like that can be up to seven years in prison..."

"Wait, whoa—it's not what you think. I know about the statutory rape laws but we've never had sex before; we just date. Believe me, the thought has hardly crossed my mind," I said.

"There's no need to panic, Mr. Sanchez. I just wanted to make sure that you knew about the consequences of underage sex. I noticed how affectionate you were to Ms. Richmond, and I just want you to know what can happen if you do decide to become intimate. It's best to wait until she is old enough."

As the officer gave my arm a gentle pat, I breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that I was not in trouble with her. Before I left to return to my girlfriend, the police officer let me go with one last word of approval.

"You did a great job intervening when it was necessary. Coming to your girlfriend's defense was the best thing you could have done... Take care of her. She's going to need as much support as possible. Have a nice day," she told me, smiling warmly.

"All right, you too."

As I spun around to head back to the nurse's quarters, Gabriella brushed past me in a rush, leaving me to wonder where she was going.

"I'd really love to stay but I've got to pick up the babies from next door and drop them off at my parents. So I'm putting my complete trust in you to get Raquél home safely. She might want you to stay with her for a while. Will you do that for me, Enriqué?"

"Of course I'll bring her home. Don't worry, she'll be fine with me."

"Oh, thank you so much. You are a lifesaver. I'll see you guys later, okay?" she said, giving me a quick hug before dashing through the doors.

I found Raquél sitting at the edge of the blue patient table while my cousins gently spoke to her. She was no longer trembling or crying, but seemingly frustrated about the events of that afternoon.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked her.

"I was ready thirty minutes ago... Yes, and I'm tired."

After saying her goodbyes to my cousins and the nurse, Raquél took my hand and we both headed for the exit. Meanwhile, Carlos and his friends were being escorted out of the building in handcuffs.

My girlfriend didn't dare look her tormentors in the eyes as we passed them in the school lobby, and she kept her gaze concentrated on the floor. The death grip she held on my lower back was a sure indication that she feared these boys even more.

But I wasn't. I unwaveringly exchanged long, stony glances with each boy, and sent my most threatening stare towards Carlos. He'd stolen her innocence and dignity once before, so why was he compelled to outdo the first time and do it again?

As much as I wanted to know that question, it would only cause me more pain and anger listening to the sick plots of his mind. He was never worth it.

~RMCR~

Later That Afternoon

I spent the next hour with Raquél at her house, listening to her silent sobs until she felt confident enough to speak. She finally lifted her head from my lap and gazed deep into my eyes.

"Promise you won't try to hurt me? Don't ever force me into sex... I'm still not ready, especially after today."

"Oh, Raquél. How could you think that I would try to hurt you like that? I will never try to force you into something that you're not comfortable with. I promise," I gently told her.

"I know that you're disappointed because you want to make love to me, but I'm not ready. I was so close to the idea but now it's just too far off again. I'm sorry that you have to wait so long, Enriqué... Just because I'm too scared."

Self-consciously, Raquél dropped her gaze to her hands as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Somehow, I couldn't help but think that I had a part in her anxiety. In truth I was ready to make love to her as long as she was ready. But since I'd revealed that I was ready months ago, she felt it was necessary to claim that she was ready just to satisfy me. Satisfaction was only temporary. I wanted our relationship to remain meaningful and gradual, without complicating it by doing something that we weren't ready for.

I had plans for our future together.

I used the pad of my thumb to wipe her tears and said, "It doesn't matter when I want to make love to you. When the time is right and we're both 100% ready, then we can take our relationship further."

"But I was ready. Honestly!"

"No, you weren't. Don't do this for me, do it for yourself. Wait until your heart tells you to go ahead, but in the meantime I just want to enjoy life with you, all right? You should never rush into something you're not ready for... There's still so much we haven't learned about each other yet. I love you so much, Raquél. And I promise that I will never hurt you in any way."

"I love you, too, and I trust you... But why am I such a target? I'm always the victim. Why can't they just ignore me and leave me alone? It's not fair!" she wept.

"Well, that's because they know that they don't stand a chance against you. They know that you're going to succeed and they'll stop at nothing to gain control of your life. Look at you; you're intelligent, beautiful, gifted, compassionate... They only want to bring you down to their level to compensate for their shortcomings," I encouraged my girlfriend.

"Well, I'm sick of them. And to make things worse, Maya's still going to push me around even though her friends got arrested. I hope they get expelled for what they did."

Although I agreed that expulsion was going to be a great possibility, I was not certain that it was going to be added to their punishment after all the things Carlos and his friends got away with in the past.

"I hope so, too. They deserve whatever punishment that's coming to them. I want them to regret ever harming you." "And I deserve to feel safe," she said before shutting her eyes to take a nap.

At that moment, I swept her curls aside only to find the dark purple blemish on her neck that was left by Carlos. From then on I was determined to keep Raquél under my protection no matter what.

As I tightened my embrace around my dozing girlfriend, I leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead and nodded as if to confirm my promise.

"Don't worry. I'll always be here to keep you safe, Sweetheart... Always."

So sweet! You know, except for the whole rape attempt, but otherwise I am very content with this chapter. This one was longer than usual because there was so much information I wanted to fit in here, and I hope it met your standards. Tell me what you think and I'll be back with another post! Thank you! :}