Sams flat was small and was the perfect size for two people. It was neat and tidy, and was decorated with the same colour theme - beige. Sam saw Jess smile as she walked in.
"You like?" Sam asked, seeing Jess look around.
"Yeah." Jess said. "I don't think i've ever seen a place so tidy."
"Well, I don't need a lot to keep me occupied." Sam said. "A laptop and a TV just about does it."
"Oh right." Jess said, wandering into a room that looked to be the living room. There was a huge television and a coffee table. The carpet was a fluffy beige colour and the sofa was leather. There was an armchair with similar style to the sofa, so it matched. There was also book shelves all up the wall that were full of DVD's. "Woah.." Jess said, seeing them.
"What?" Sam asked after taking off her shoes.
"So many DVD's!" Jess said, and she spotted the Harry Potter box set. "Okay thats my favourite."
"You like harry potter?" Sam asked.
"Yeah!" Jess said, and showed Sam the necklace she was wearing. "Look."
"Ah, the deathly hallows symbol." Sam nodded.
"Yeah." Jess said. "I love it."
"Make yourself comfy." Sam said. "Ill go and take your bag upstairs to the spare room."
"Okay." Jess said and sat on the sofa. She looked around until Sam came back downstairs.
"You can put the TV on." Sam laughed, and Jess smiled. Jess clicked on the TV. "We will get sorted in a minute. Im just going to order pizza. Whats your favourite?"
"Anythings fine." Jess said.
"Pick one."
"Um..." Jess deliberated. "Pepperoni."
"Great. My favourite!" Sam said and went to grab her laptop and order through the internet. Jess had found The Fresh Prince of Bel Air on the TV and was happily watching it.
"Pizza is ordered, so shall we make a start?" Sam asked and Jess took a deep breath.
"Sure." Jess said shakily.
"Start with the first time you did this." Sam pointed to her arms. She saw Jess exhale.
"Well i've only done it twice." Jess said. "Well, I waited for my mum to go downstairs after saying night, and I was reading... I put down the book and I started to cry."
"Why did you start to cry?" Sam asked.
"Because I didn't want to sleep. I would get... nightmares." Sam saw that Jess got upset just telling the story. "I looked at my bedside table and saw my nail scissors and something told me to just do it. I didn't even realise what I had done until afterwards." A tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Sam felt for her, she really did.
"So you did it without thinking?" Jess nodded. "Okay. Want to know my story?"
"If you want to tell me." Jess said.
"I do. It makes it easier telling someone." Sam said.
"Okay."
"Well, my parents weren't the best, always going out drinking and I kind of followed on I guess. Then, one night, someone drugged my drink." Sam explained.
"You're kidding." Jess said, shocked.
"Nope." Sam said. "I ended up passing out on a strangers bed and waking up in hospital. Turned out i'd been raped."
"Oh." Jess was speechless.
"You handled it a lot better than me though." Sam said. "I stole a scalpel and cut deep."
"Did you?" Jess whispered.
"Yeah." Sam said. "I lost a lot of blood as I hit arteries."
"Oh." Jess replied. She didn't have anything to say.
"Yeah." Sam said. "It wasn't nice. From then on, I kept doing it. Couldn't stop."
"You couldn't?" Sam could see she had scared Jess.
"Then my parents sent me to a therapist." Sam explained. "I didn't want to go."
"Like me." Jess took a deep breath.
"Yes, like you." Sam said. "But I went, and it wasn't bad at all. I felt a lot better and the self harm stopped."
"It did?"
"Yes." Sam said. "I was hoping you agreed to talk to me as I didn't want you growing up with scars on your arms that were bad." Jess was speechless again. "So i'm hoping that you will open up a bit more. Maybe we can stop the nightmares." Jess took a shakey breath.
The doorbell went and Jess sighed in relief. She wouldn't have to tell her story just yet.
"Ah! Pizza!" Sam said, rubbing her hands together. She jumped up and went to collect it. She walked back in with a large pizza, which they shared.
Sam couldn't help but notice Jess's eyes water every so often, as if she was thinking about certain things that made her want to cry. If that was the case, she was very good at hiding her emotions.
They finished their pizza and got back to talking.
"Jess, I know that you don't want to talk about this - I can see it on your face - but I think it will help you a lot if you tell me what happened that night you got attacked." Sam said softly. Jess gulped.
"I, uh, I don't know if I can." Jess said, putting her hand through her hair. Sam put her hand on Jess's knee. "It will be fine."
"Okay." Jess said, and began to explain her story.
Meanwhile, Zoe and Nick were at the pub, and Zoe was downing more drinks than she could handle as per usual.
"Zoe, I think you've had enough." Nick warned as Zoe was giggling uncontrollably for no reason.
"No I haven't." She said, waving over the bartender who gave her another shot. She downed it again much to Nicks annoyance. "Come on!" She stood up and walked over to the middle of the floor and began dancing. She took Nicks hand and spun around but Nick just laughed at her.
"Zoe." Nick said.
"What!?" Zoe shouted. "Come on!"
"Zoe..." Nick said, laughing even harder. He could see she was trying to dance but she was wobbling all over the place.
"Nick..." Zoe said, grabbing his other hand and pulling and pushing him. She was giggling still for no reason which was making Nick laugh. No one really noticed them, and Nick was happy, as they were all a bit squiffy themselves.
"Zoe, i'm serious. Im going to get youa glass of water." He said, letting go.
"Nah! Don't need no water! Wouldn't mind another shot though!" She slurred. Nick sighed and went to get the water.
He came back and he couldn't find her. He looked everywhere, and then thought about the bathroom. He got someone to go in and find her, and sure enough, she was throwing up. The woman bought her out and she stumbled into Nicks arms.
"Thank you." He thanked the woman. "Zoe?"
"What?" She slurred into his chest.
"Lets get you home." Nick said.
"No! More drink!" Zoe shouted and Nick laughed.
"I think you have had enough." He lead her outside and down to the car. Nick had been responsible so he could still drive them home. She fell asleep in the car on the way home.
