"How was it?" Declan asked, sitting on the floor with a lego tower that Ellie kept knocking over in front of him.
"How was what?" Fiona asked, forgetting about the 'class' that she and Holly J had went to. She was mostly remembering the walk that they had taken afterwards.
"It was good." Holly J answered quickly, "And Fiona even thinks she might go to court."
Fiona had never seen Declan smile so big. He got up and hugged his sister.
"That's great Fi!" he said.
Fiona meekly nodded, "Think I might... Decs... I might not."
"I hope you do." he said. "What made you change your mind?"
"Bobby..." Fiona started, but Holly J interupted.
"It was the people at the meeting." she insisted.
"Are you sure?" Declan asked, staring at his sister questionably.
"Yes... I was going to say that Bobby... he will hate going to court." Fiona said.
Declan knew that she wasn't really going to stay that, but she obviously didn't want to discuss it, so he pretended as if he believed her.
"The sooner you report it the sooner the case will be, and the better the chances you'll win." Declan remarked.
"I don't know if I want to report it or not." Fiona said quietly.
"You can report it... and cancel the case later if you don't want to." Holly J said.
Fiona thought about it. "Do you really think I should report it?" she asked.
"Of course Fi, I wouldn't say something I didn't mean." Declan said.
Fiona sighed.
"So how do we do this then?" she asked, wanting to get it over with.
"I suppose we call the cops." Declan said, reaching for his cellphone.
"Or we could go down to the station." Holly J said, "So it won't be on the phone records."
Fiona nodded, she didn't want anyone else to be able to hear things like that, or trace it.
They dropped Ellie off at Holly J's mom's house. She wanted to watch her for a week, and Holly J barely protested. Then they were parked outside the station.
"What do I tell them?" Fiona said, before they got out of the car.
"Tell them you'd like to report a sexual assault." Holly J answered. The words rolled off her tongue so smoothly, as if it was no big deal.
"I'll go with you." Declan said.
Fiona shook her head, "I should do this on my own." she said, as she got out of the car.
They took her to an office, and asked her questions about Bobby, how long ago it happened. The woman officer was very nice. They asked her if she'd already had an examination, and then they said they'd get the rape kit from the doctor. Then they asked her if she still had the clothes she was wearing at the time, and the couch cushions.
"I think I put my clothes under my bed. And... the couch is outside... in the front yard." she whispered. To her surprise the officer acted as if this was perfectly normal.
"Those will be great evidence. Don't wash them and put them in a safe place until you bring them down here." Officer Gretchan said.
"Do you know who the man is?" Gretchan asked.
"Yes... Bobby Beckonridge. My ex boyfriend." Fiona answered.
"Was he using violence as a threat?" Gretchan asked.
"When we were dating, he would hit me... he hit me again right before."
"So you two were in an abusive relationship?" Gretchan asked.
Fiona had never thought of that, an 'abusive relationship'. She had always just thought 'the guy who hurts me is my boyfriend'. It was really the same thing.
"Yes." she answered.
"And he followed you here from New York." Gretchan clarified.
"Yes."
They talked for a few more minutes before Gretchan told her she could go, thanked her for sharing the information and aplauded her for being brave. She had to come back later with the 'objects' to be used for 'evidence'.
Fiona didn't understand at all why there would need to be evidence. Nobody would lie about that... would they?
She walked out to their car.
"When is it?" Declan asked, referring to court.
"We don't know yet... they want evidence... like my clothes I was wearing, and the couch cushions." Fiona said.
"The couch cushions?" Declan asked, then his mind clicked in place, "Oh yes, right..."
"When do they need them by?" Holly J asked.
"As soon as possible." Fiona answered.
"Ok, we should go get them now." Declan insisted.
"I've never seen you so anxious to do anything before." Fiona said.
"You're my sister, Fi. I want you to win this case... and even more so I want Bobby to lose it. The sooner we get that stuff to them the better." Declan said.
When they reached home Fiona carefully lifted the clothes. They were wrinkly and dirty. She put them in a walmart bag and walked them out to the car. She saw Declan and Holly J standing on the front lawn staring down at the couch. Fiona joined them.
"Pick one up." Fiona said to Declan.
Declan continued to stare at it, "No... it has you and Bobby's...uh... fluids." he looked completly discusted.
Fiona stared at Holly J.
"No..." Holly J began awkwardly.
"I don't want to touch it." Fiona said, her voice shakey.
"Why not, you're on it." Holly J said.
"Bobby is too." Fiona whispered. The couch was dirty, it used to be a soft tannish color. The cushions were fluffy. Now it had a few blood stains from Fiona. It looked scuffed, and it reminded Fiona of Bobby. Play, pause, play, rewind, play, stop, rewind, play, pause, play, stop, rewind, play.
Declan noticed Fiona was about to start crying and he put one arm around her. He grabbed the bottom of one of the cushions and put it in the car. Making a sick face the whole time. Then he got the next cushion in the same fashion.
Afterwards he went straight into the couch and washed his hands, multiple times.
When they drove back to the police station and got out Officer Gretchan came out with plastic containers and put the clothes and cushions in them. She wasn't squeamish, but then again, she was wearing latex gloves.
She was very friendly, and greeted Fiona back with a warm smile.
"And who are these? Your friends?" she asked, seeing Holly J and Declan.
"Declan's my brother, and Holly J is my best friend... and Declan's girlfriend." Fiona said.
"Regardless, you must care a great deal about Fiona." Gretchan started, handing Fiona a pamphlet.
"This is one on one counsaling system, you and the counsalor... and any friends you'd like to bring along. I suggest it to all of the rape survivors." Gretchan said.
Fiona looked down at it then folded it up and put it in her jacket.
"Of course you don't have to... but Dr. Trina is open any day, anytime." Gretchan began.
Fiona nodded.
"It'll take about a year for the actual trial." Gretchan added.
Fiona nodded again.
They listened to Gretchan talking for a few more minutes, until she smiled at them and told them she had some work to do. Then they drove home. Holly J sat down to watch TV on the coffee table, because Declan was on the couch, and Fiona was sleeping beside him, using his lap as a pillow.
After a few episodes of their show, Holly J left to take a bath.
Declan wasn't really interested in the show he was watching. He had one of his arms around Fiona, and was lightly tugging on a strang of her hair, watching it straighten, and then spring back into place.
He was so angry at Bobby... so angry. He watched his sister's stomach moving up and down in a steady motion. At least she's alive, he thought.
Fiona, half asleep, lifted her hand and slapped Declan's away from her hair.
He smiled at that... for a few seconds, then he noticed something sticking out of Fiona's pocket on her jacket. It was the pamphlet Officer Gretchan had given her. He slipped it out of her pocket and skimmed through it.
That angered him too. His sister shouldn't have to go to some kind of counsalor to be happy. She should be happy anyway. No one should feel bad like she did, no one should be so hurt, ecspecially not Fiona. Fiona was his sister. His perfect sister, and perfect people shouldn't be so sad. Perfect people should at least want to eat, and be able to sleep.
A few minutes later Fiona was screaming and crying in her sleep, again. It seemed so normal for her to be doing that, that Declan almost glimpsed and then looked away.
He looked at her for a few seconds. This was how she looked when that bastard hurt her, he told himself... he started doing that kind of thing a lot lately.
'This is the couch it happened on'
'There's the picture that fell off the wall... the wall she got slammed into.'
'There's the bruise, Bobby's fist hit her hard... right there.'
When he thought things like that it made him hate Bobby so much more. It sickened him that he'd be thinking about his sister getting hurt. It gave him the chills to think about it. It... it was just morbid.
He looked back down at his sister, and shook her awake.
"Fi... Fi, wake up, you're safe... and you're with me..." Declan said.
Fiona opened her eyes, flipped over and closed them again, trying to go back to sleep. She didn't have to say 'I had a nightmare' or 'Thanks for waking me up' Declan already knew. They did this same thing a dozen times a day... maybe even more.
He lifted his arm long enough for her to turn over and then put it back around her, and began thinking about how much he hated Bobby again. Declan had never been able to say he hated someone before... really he couldn't. He'd never been able to say he'd be able to kill someone if he got the chance before. Now, he would. He'd kill Bobby in a heartbeat if it wouldn't result in jailtime for him. Fiona needed him to be there.
He thought about how much he hated Bobby for another few minutes, or more like a half an hour.
Suddenly he felt a little drousy himself. He picked Fiona up, easily... she wasn't usually overweight... underweight actually, but it was way easier then normal... it occured to him that this might be because she wasn't eating... 'make her eat when she wakes up' he reminded himself.
He carried her upstairs and layed her down on his bed, and pulled the covers around her. It was summer now... or at least getting warmer, but he knew that if she had covers around her she felt safer. He layed ontop of the covers with his arms around her and went to sleep.
He woke up because Fiona was trembling so much. He shook her awake again. She turned over, still half asleep and snuggled closer to Declan.
The doorbell rang and Declan slowly got up and walked downstairs, and answered the door.
It was Logan. His black hair was messy and his green eyes looked dull.
"Can I help you?" Declan asked, yawning.
"Can you tell me the truth about Fiona? It's been bothering me... a lot." Logan said. Declan looked behind him, Holly J was asleep on the couch, and Fiona was asleep upstairs.
"You have to promise not to tell anyone I told you." Declan said, stepping aside and motioning for Logan to come in.
Declan took Logan upstairs and into his room.
"Why are we going to talk about it here?" Logan asked, his eyes darting to Fiona, who was sleeping on the bed.
"She'll have nightmares, and I want to be here when she does." Declan stated, following Logan's gaze.
"What are you looking at?" Declan asked. He didn't mean to act angry, but he was tired...
"Mr. Coyne, your sister is the prettiest, sweetest, most wonderful thing I've ever seen." Logan said looking straight into Declan's eyes.
"I bet." Declan replied.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well, Fiona got into a bit of trouble..." Declan began, at last.
"What kind of trouble?" Logan asked.
"She got hurt again." Declan said.
Logan, a bit frusterated asked, "How did she get hurt?"
Declan told him and Logan was silent for a few minutes, he stared at Fiona.
"You can't tell her I told you. She doesn't like for people to know." Declan said.
Logan nodded and walked over to Fiona, and sat on the edge of the bed, he just looked at her.
"Do you know what I thought, when she told me about the first time?" he asked.
"What?" Declan asked absentmindedly.
"I wondered how he could look her in the eye and hurt her." Logan said.
"Oh?" Declan replied, looking up at Logan. "I wonder the same thing."
"Does she hate me?" Logan asked.
"No." Declan replied.
"Then why does she always avoid me?"
"She's scared." Declan answered, "She's only had three boyfriends in her life, counting you, one was gay and called her a bitch, one did this to her, and he started as a charmer, just like you."
"She should know I won't hurt her." Logan insisted.
"She's afraid to take a chance, Logan. You would be too." Declan said.
"I know she's scared. I just want to make her feel better, but she won't let me."
"You have to let her get to know you really good." Declan said.
"I thought she did." Logan said, there was a tint of sadness in his voice, and Declan could tell he was trying very hard to hide it.
"She does... and she trusts you believe me. I've spent nights up talking about you with her..." Declan started, but Logan cut him off.
"She talks about me?" he asked.
"Yes, all the time." Declan answered.
Logan smiled a little.
"I was reading online... and what happened to Fiona was one of the worst things that could happen to someone. Most people don't trust men afterwards, and everything scares them. She just needs to start to feel a little better... plus she doesn't like moving around much... because she's sore." Declan began.
Logan sighed, "Can I stay until she wakes up?" he asked.
"If you want." Declan answered, walking over and sitting next to his sister. He still felt protective over her. He was 99.9% sure that Logan wouldn't hurt her, but she might get scared if he wasn't by her, and there was that 0.01 chance.
After about 30 minutes Fiona started to toss and turn and tears were slowly running down her cheeks.
Declan woke her up, the same way he always did and she tried to go back to sleep a few seconds after he woke her.
"Declan what?" she asked.
"Fi, you have a visitor." Declan answered.
"What?" Fiona asked, she looked over and saw Logan, and gasped.
"How long has he been here?" Fiona asked.
"About an hour. He wanted to see you." Declan said.
Logan looked down at her and held out his hand. "I won't hurt you, Fiona." he said.
She stared ahead of her for a few seconds and then sat up and stared at him, straight in the eyes. She slowly grabbed onto his hand and he smiled
"Same rules apply, to our past friendship... romance... as they do to our new one." he said.
She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.
"I don't need physicall contact." Logan reminded her.
She was still silent.
"...and, don't try to kiss me if you don't want to, don't try to do anything you don't want to do. All I want is for you to happy." Logan said, putting his hand on Fiona's shoulder.
Fiona flinched.
"I'm sorry, Fiona." Logan said, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "I'm used to touching people when I think they're sad... it usually helps, and I forgot you were touchy."
Fiona gave him a curious look.
How do you..." she began but Declan interuptted her.
"He put the pieces together, Fi." he said.
Logan glanced at Declan in a 'Thank you' look.
"Oh." Fiona whispered.
There was silence.
"I'm tired, so I think I'll go to sleep." Fiona said, looking at Declan with annoyance.
She closed her eyes and heard Declan say quietly "I think she's a little worn out today, we reported it and..."
Fiona fell asleep.
She had a nightmare and woke up to Declan shaking her awake, she scooted closer to him and fell asleep again.
