Nick's eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head, sure he heard Joe wrong. "No," he says forcefully. "No, no, no."

"Nick!" Joe snaps his fingers in front of his brother's face to get him to look at him. "Listen to me, man. The police officer who had originally arrested Zac just called me. Zac is out of jail, Nicholas."

Nick's heart skips a beat and his eyes widen even more, if possible. "But how could they let him out?" he cries, fear gripping his heart. "He raped Demi! How the hell could they let him out?"

Nick's near hysterics, so Joe hurries over next to him, putting a hand on his back. "They had to," he says quietly, soothingly. "There was no evidence, and Demi wouldn't testify. They had to let him out."

"Is he coming back to school?" Nick wonders, turning to Joe, his voice low and afraid.

Joe sighs, rubbing Nick's back slowly. "I don't know," he replies truthfully. "I hope he's not, though."

"I have to—I have to call Demi," Nick says after a minute, fumbling for the phone in his pocket. "She needs to know."

"Nick." Joe closes his hand over Nick's before he's able to press any buttons. "She's in California. She's safe. The only people who know where she is, is you, me, AJ, Mom, the cops, and her social worker, Madison. Don't call her, because you're only going to worry her for no reason."

Nick bites his lip but then nods, dropping his phone onto the table. "But what about me?" he whispers.

Joe furrows his brow, confused. "What about you, what?"

"Zac knows where I live, Joe," he answers, still obviously terrified. "I'm the one who got him arrested. What if—what if he finds me and comes after me for what I did?"

"Hey." Joe grabs Nick's chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. "I will not let him hurt you, okay? I am going to protect you. Even if I have to die trying."

Nick's eyes grow wide once more. "Don't say that!" he pleads with him. "You can't die–"

Joe pulls him close. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He rests his head on Nick's. "I'm not going to die. I'm going to be right here with you, for you, forever."

Nick buries his face into Joe's neck, gripping onto his big brother tightly. "Promise?" he whispers.

"Yeah, buddy," Joe says quietly. "Yeah, I promise."


"Hey, Nick," AJ says at the end of the school day, stopping at Nick's locker. "Joe told me about Zac. Are you okay?"

Nick looks at her for a moment before putting his books into his open locker. AJ sighs.

"Yeah, stupid question. Of course you're not okay." She pauses for a second. "I have a doctor's appointment right now—Joe's taking me. Do you want to come, too?"

Nick looks at AJ once more and immediately nods. His mom is working, so she won't be there when Nick gets home. He'd have the whole house to himself, and that thought terrifies him. He wants to be—needs to be—as close to his brother as possible.

"Yes," he answers now, shutting his locker, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Is Joe outside in the car already?"

AJ nods and then her face lights up. "Oh!" she exclaims. "The baby's kicking, do you wanna feel?"

Nick bites his lip slightly but then AJ grabs his hand and places it on her stomach. Nick's face lights up, too.

"Oh, wow," he murmurs. "That's so weird. You have a little person growing inside you."

AJ giggles. "I know," she says. "Joe hasn't felt it kick, so don't tell him you did, okay?"

Nick nods. "Okay," he agrees. They fall into step together and start walking towards the doors. "AJ, can I ask you something?" he wonders after a few minutes.

"Sure, Nick," AJ says, looking up at him for a second.

Nick takes a deep breath and stops walking, pulling on AJ's arm to get her to stop walking, too. AJ looks up at Nick again.

"Joe thinks you were raped," he says after hesitating for a second. "At that party, where you allegedly cheated on him. He thinks you were raped."

AJ's face grows pale and she looks down at the ground, not answering Nick and not meeting his eyes.

Nick puts a hand on AJ's shoulder. "He's right, isn't he?" he asks gently, his voice velvety soft.

AJ nods after a second. Her shoulders start shaking and it's clear to Nick that she's crying. He doesn't hesitate; he simple pulls AJ into him, rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles.

"I don't—I don't remember much of that night," AJ says against Nick's shoulder. "I was—I was drinking, but—but not enough to get wasted. The only thing—the only thing I remember is telling...him...to stop, and him just laughing at me." She buries her face in Nick's T-shirt, starting to sob.

Nick sighs and holds AJ tighter, not saying anything. He looks up and his eyes widen when he sees Joe standing there, watching them.

"Joe," he says. "It's not what it looks like," he tells him.

Joe ignores him and walks over to them, putting a hand on AJ's back. "What's wrong, babe?" he wonders, not even giving Nick a second glance.

At Joe's touch, AJ immediately releases her grip on Nick to grab onto her boyfriend, still sobbing hard. Joe finally looks up at Nick.

"What happened?" he asks.

Nick sighs. "I said that you thought she was raped," he replies. "I didn't mean to make her this upset, I just wanted to know. She was, by the way. Raped."

"Oh, AJ," Joe whispers quietly as his girlfriend continues to cry. "Come on, baby," he says after a minute, pulling away from her slightly. "We gotta get going or we're gonna be late for your doctor's appointment."

AJ sniffs and wipes at her eyes. "Okay," she agrees softly.

Joe slips an arm around AJ and starts to walk out of the school with her. But then he stops and looks back at Nick.

"You coming?" he wonders, and Nick nods and quickly hurries over to the couple, walking out to Joe's car with them.


"You okay, man?" Joe asks his brother later that night.

Nick looks over at Joe and smiles a little. "I'm fine. I just think I'm going to go for a walk, okay? I need to clear my head."

Joe jumps to his feet the minute Nick stands up. "Does that seem like a good idea, Nick? Zac is out there. Let me come with you."

Nick shakes his head. "No. Stay here with AJ." He nods to her sleeping figure. "I'll be okay." He gives Joe a smile but it doesn't quite make it to his eyes.

"Nick–" Joe starts, taking a step toward his little brother.

Nick shakes his head again, holding up a hand to stop him. "If I'm not back in an hour, then you can worry about me, okay?" He sighs when he notices that Joe doesn't seem convinced. "Look, man, I can't let Zac ruin my life. I can't live in fear. That's no way to live. And...besides, I'll have to face him someday, won't I? I need to face him, to confront him. Better it be on my terms than on his."

Joe's eyes widen. "Nick, you're not saying...?" He stops. "Are you actually seeking him out?!"

"Yes," Nick answers.

"Nick!" Joe cries, and then lowers his voice when AJ starts to stir. "You can't do that! I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not." He nods to AJ again. "You just found out that your girlfriend was raped. You can't leave her now. What if she wakes up, and you're not here, and she gets scared? I've been through that with Demi. She needed me, and now AJ needs you. I'll be fine."

"You promise?" Joe wonders.

Nick smiles a little. "Yeah, Joe," he lies. "Yeah, I promise." Then he turns around and walks out the door.

Joe bites his lip, debating about going after Nick, but then he sighs and walks back over to AJ, sitting down next to her. He runs his hands through AJ's hair slowly, worrying about his little brother the whole time.


Nick wraps his arms around himself as he makes his way to Zac's house, scared and angry at the same time. He takes a deep breath when he comes to a stop in front of Zac's door, knocking on it hard.

Zac opens it a few minutes later and sneers at Nick. "Well, look what the cat dragged in. Just the asshole I wanted to see."

Nick's hands form fists. "I'm an asshole?! You're the one who raped Demi, and I'm the asshole?!"

"I didn't rape that slut," Zac says nastily, and then smirks. "If you haven't heard, that bitch wanted it."

"No, she didn't!" Nick cries, raising his fist and punching Zac in the face. "She didn't want it! She begged you to stop and you didn't!" He punches Zac in the face again, getting angrier. "You raped her and made her hurt herself and you don't even fucking care!" He punches him in the face once more.

Zac glares at Nick, his nose and lip bleeding. He turns around and hurries into the kitchen, Nick staring after him in confusion. But before Nick has time to do anything, Zac comes back, a kitchen knife in his hand. Nick doesn't have time to react before Zac plunges the knife into Nick's abdomen and twists it. Nick cries out in pain, a second before the world fades around him and he mercifully passes out, lying in a pool of his own blood.


Sorry that I haven't uploaded anything in a whole month! I've had major writer's block, so I hope this chapter is okay. There's only one more chapter and then this story is over. But there will be a sequel, since you're definitely not going to like how this story ends.