Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual assault.
I know that this chapter is shorter, but I wanted to shed some light on the topic and situation.
Please let me know what you think. After this chapter, the story will start to move along more.
Oh, little liars.
Season One; Episode Five.
One year ago, around the ending of July.
Claire felt her head spinning as she slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in a room that she did not recognize; she pushed herself up, trying not to cry out at the pain she felt between her legs. She pushed the blankets off to realize that she was naked...and she felt her bottom lip burning. She reached up and touched it, whimpering in pain. She had no idea what happened...the last thing she was remember was blacking out. She vaguely remembered anything other than the strong smell of alcohol and weed.
She felt sick to her stomach as she climbed out of bed. She looked over to see that it was after midnight; she must have still been at the party near the lake. The one Alison had dragged her and the others too. She looked around for her clothes and found them on a chair nearby. She quickly pulled them on, feeling more than gross. She headed out of the room, pushing past the crowd of people...she needed to get out of that house. She didn't see any of her friends or her boyfriend, Noel, at the time.
Claire gulped and hugged herself, sneaking out the back door, only to find Alison's older brother making out with some chick. She rolled her eyes and quickly walked past them; she didn't care; she just wanted to leave.
Jason pulled away from the girl, noticing Claire rushing by them. He immediately pulled back, walking behind Claire out of concern. He was for once sober that night. "One of the power puffs, right?" He teased as he raised an eyebrow, "Leave me alone." Claire said as she wasn't in the mood. "Oh come on, I just wanted to buy a little weed..." He said as Claire was known to bake some goodies with weed in them. "I said leave me alone!" She turned to him and yelled, causing him to stand back before he noticed her busted lip.
"What happened?" He asked as he was no longer concerned about the weed.
Claire wasn't even sure what happened herself, "I don't...I don't know.." She said before backing away a bit and turning to walk away fast, and she didn't want to think about it. "Claire, let me take you to the hospital." He said as he was genuinely worried about the older Marin sister. "No, just go away." She said as she was convinced that it was her fault, that nobody would believe her.
"Damn it, Marin, I'm trying to be nice." He growled a bit, causing Claire to stop in her tracks and look back at him, "Why do you even care?" She asked him, she had been crushing on Jason for as long as she could remember, but she knew who he was...and she didn't like him. "Because if somebody assaulted you.." Jason trailed off, watching Claire for a moment, "You could be pregnant...or worse." He said in a softer tone...he would never admit that he actually cared for his sister's friends.
Claire hugged herself a little more and sighed, "Fine.." She said as she didn't need her father hating her any more than he already did.
Jason felt a little awkward before holding his hand out. Claire eyed the older boy, she knew that she could trust him, but her instincts were telling her to run. She finally gave in and took his hand, following him to his car.
Jason opened the door for her, and Claire sat down, trying her best to ignore the pain. "The closest hospital is about an hour away." Jason told her as they were outside of Rosewood currently. Claire nodded and leaned back; she felt so uncomfortable in her skin.
During the car ride to the hospital, neither of them spoke; the silence was deafening. Claire felt out of place, glancing over at Jason every 20 seconds.
Jason could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't say anything. "Do you have anyone you want to call?" He asked as she looked over; he had never seen Claire Marin look so...broken, it was heartbreaking. She had always been a firecracker.
Claire shook her head, "No, no. My mom will flip and I don't need her going to jail." She said, causing Jason to chuckle a bit, "What about your sister?" He asked as he watched her for a moment and then looked back at the road, "No. I'll be okay." Claire said she held up a strong front since her father was caught cheating on her mother.
Jason nodded a bit, and he continued to drive. "If Tatum finds out..." Jason started as Tatum Marin was very protective over his sisters. "No! God! He can't find out!" Claire freaked out at the idea, and she felt like everything was falling apart. "Claire, breath. I'm not going to tell him.." Jason told her as he wanted to; everything in him wanted to tell him.
Claire looked down at her hand and sighed, "I'm sorry.." She trailed off as she was way out of her comfort zone. "Don't be." Jason said as he drove into the night.