Chapter 11
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not really sure...I've just never seen you this protective over a girl since Amy..." Jeff let the sentence hang in the air, unsure whether to finish his thought.
"Jeff...give it a rest okay. Look, all I know is that she almost got raped tonight. She's not pressing charges so as far as I can see she is getting absolutely no closure from all of this. And if what happened tonight had happened to you or I, you know that you'd be pretty shook up. I'm just concerned about her well-being, just like I would be for anyone else who had to go through what she just did." Matt responded vehemently.
"You're right Matt. Sorry for making assumptions again. I was just..."
"It's alright, just...I mean I guess I do kinda like her...but I don't really know her that well and..."
"I gotcha bro...keep my big mouth shut until you decide to make a move." Jeff said shaking his head in shame.
"Yep...precisely."
"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" Jeff asked quietly.
"I don't know, how does a person get over something like that. I know, I know, like she said all he did was kiss her, but frankly that asshole violated her. I just want her to feel safe..."
"She seems like a strong level-headed girl, I'm sure she'll get over this."
Corinne came back downstairs a few minutes later with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, which Matt took from her and carried it to the car. The traffic was almost non-existent on the highway and they reached Boston around 3 in the morning. As they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, Matt turned around and realized that Corinne had fallen asleep, she looked so peaceful and he knew that there was no way in hell he would wake her up. Jeff saw the small smile on his brother's face. He hadn't seen that warmth in his brother's eyes since Amy and he had officially and for the last time broken up.
"Alright, I'll go run up ahead and open the door, you just take her up the elevator." Jeff said, jumping out of the car and grabbed all of their bags before running full speed up the hotel stairs.
Matt slowly got out of the car and carefully lifted her from the seat. She tensed up and sleepily opened her eyes. As soon as she saw it was Matt, she seemed to melt into him, trustingly wrapping her arms around his neck and placed her head on his chest. Meanwhile, Jeff dropped the bags in front of his and Matt's room and fumbled around his pocket looking for the envelope holding the cards for the room.
"Damn it! Where is it!" He began emptying his pockets.
Keep in mind that Jeff was wearing huge cargo pants with almost 10 huge pockets on it. After two minutes, the carpet in front of the hotel room was littered with empty skittle wrappers, empty gum wrappers, two full bags of skittles, phone numbers, his wallet, a bandana, a pair of stockings he had stolen from Taylor's purse, Julia's cheerios, three cd's, his disk man, mp3 player, sunglasses...when he realized that he had put the keys in his book bag for safe keeping.
"Argh," he yelled when after he made his epiphany he tripped on the other two bags he had been holding and fell to the floor. Brushing himself off, he finally found his book bag, took out the card triumphantly and was about to insert it into the slot when...
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not really sure...I've just never seen you this protective over a girl since Amy..." Jeff let the sentence hang in the air, unsure whether to finish his thought.
"Jeff...give it a rest okay. Look, all I know is that she almost got raped tonight. She's not pressing charges so as far as I can see she is getting absolutely no closure from all of this. And if what happened tonight had happened to you or I, you know that you'd be pretty shook up. I'm just concerned about her well-being, just like I would be for anyone else who had to go through what she just did." Matt responded vehemently.
"You're right Matt. Sorry for making assumptions again. I was just..."
"It's alright, just...I mean I guess I do kinda like her...but I don't really know her that well and..."
"I gotcha bro...keep my big mouth shut until you decide to make a move." Jeff said shaking his head in shame.
"Yep...precisely."
"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" Jeff asked quietly.
"I don't know, how does a person get over something like that. I know, I know, like she said all he did was kiss her, but frankly that asshole violated her. I just want her to feel safe..."
"She seems like a strong level-headed girl, I'm sure she'll get over this."
Corinne came back downstairs a few minutes later with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, which Matt took from her and carried it to the car. The traffic was almost non-existent on the highway and they reached Boston around 3 in the morning. As they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, Matt turned around and realized that Corinne had fallen asleep, she looked so peaceful and he knew that there was no way in hell he would wake her up. Jeff saw the small smile on his brother's face. He hadn't seen that warmth in his brother's eyes since Amy and he had officially and for the last time broken up.
"Alright, I'll go run up ahead and open the door, you just take her up the elevator." Jeff said, jumping out of the car and grabbed all of their bags before running full speed up the hotel stairs.
Matt slowly got out of the car and carefully lifted her from the seat. She tensed up and sleepily opened her eyes. As soon as she saw it was Matt, she seemed to melt into him, trustingly wrapping her arms around his neck and placed her head on his chest. Meanwhile, Jeff dropped the bags in front of his and Matt's room and fumbled around his pocket looking for the envelope holding the cards for the room.
"Damn it! Where is it!" He began emptying his pockets.
Keep in mind that Jeff was wearing huge cargo pants with almost 10 huge pockets on it. After two minutes, the carpet in front of the hotel room was littered with empty skittle wrappers, empty gum wrappers, two full bags of skittles, phone numbers, his wallet, a bandana, a pair of stockings he had stolen from Taylor's purse, Julia's cheerios, three cd's, his disk man, mp3 player, sunglasses...when he realized that he had put the keys in his book bag for safe keeping.
"Argh," he yelled when after he made his epiphany he tripped on the other two bags he had been holding and fell to the floor. Brushing himself off, he finally found his book bag, took out the card triumphantly and was about to insert it into the slot when...