CHAPTER 23
A/N: Just a quick note: The song in the last chapter is credited to Cryin' by Aerosmith. I just forgot to throw it in when I updated late that night.
You'll see a few people that were only briefly mentioned in other chapters in this chapter, so let me just let you all know who they are:
Jake Wilson and Maura Bennett: Roger and Mark's neighbors that live on the third floor in the apartment exactly underneath them. They were first talked about in Chapter 13. They've been dating on and off for about the past two years, and yes, they both knew Mimi. Jake is a firefighter for the FDNY and Maura is a physical therapist, most recently Roger's physical therapist for his shoulder.
Alex Bennett: Maura's older brother. He's a cop for the NYPD and also lives in the same apartment with Jake and Maura.
A big thank you to: Stef, EMI, Mimithebaby, Michelle, MaureentheDramaQueen, Jan, and Amy for the great reviews! Thank you all so much. :o)
* * * *
The thoughts that had been running through Jen's head on the way back to the loft completely blocked out the bitter cold. She didn't know what she was supposed to do or to say to anyone when she walked back into that apartment. The events that had just taken place not even twenty minutes before seemed very surreal to her, and the longer she walked, the more numb she became to everything. The icy wind blew through the sheer material of the black shirt she had layered over the red tank top, and for the first time that night, she felt the weight of everything slice right through her.
Jen ascended the metal stairs slowly, trying to balance her weight steadily in her stiletto heels, but at the same time trying not to crumble right there and have a breakdown in front of all the tenants on the second floor. As she reached the fourth floor apartment, she silently prayed that she didn't look too terrible. Hoped that Mark wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary when she walked in. That she didn't have any bruises forming across her face or any other markings that he could easily see, because the last thing she needed was for him to ask her questions about what had happened. The questions would make her have to believe it was very real, and she didn't want to have anything to do with that at the moment. It would be hard enough trying to get that through Roger's head later on when he got home.
She leaned over and pulled the key out of the flowerpot and stuck it into the door, ignoring the slight pain that she had just felt around her lower back and towards her hip. She jarred the door a little bit and it gave way, creaking open in all its glory. So much for a quiet entrance.
Mark was sitting on the couch, a notebook propped up against the pillows. He had a pencil in his hand and was tapping it against the cover rhythmically. Roger had a habit of doing the same when he was writing lyrics, although he usually was trying to match the lyrics up to a beat formed in his head. God, she needed to stop thinking about Roger. He looked over at her and smiled. "Hey."
Jen forced herself to smile as she shut the door behind her. "Hi."
"Abby went to bed a little while ago. I let her stay up and watch ET with me," he grinned. "She really liked it."
"That's good." Jen ran her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm herself. The air inside the loft was much warmer than outside, but she couldn't get warm. No amount of trying to warm herself up could erase the memory of what had happened. It had been so cold, and a part of her couldn't stop shaking. The other part wanted to wake up from this nightmare and have it never happen. She wanted everything to go back to normal. But she was so frozen…
Mark waved his hand in front of her face and she jumped back about ten feet. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't even realized that he had gotten up from the couch and walked over to her, let alone started carrying out a one side conversation.
"You okay?" He glanced over at the clock. "It's only ten. I wasn't expecting you home so early." He grabbed her arm and rubbed it gently. "Jesus, you're freezing. Are you okay? And where's your jacket?"
Jen pulled her arm out of his grip and walked past him. "Nothing Mark. Just please—I don't want to talk about it right now. Just please leave me alone."
"Did Roger do something? Did you guys get into another fight?" Mark followed her into the bedroom and watched her sit down on the edge of the bed carefully.
Something about Roger ever doing what Travis did to her crossed her mind and she panicked. She complete froze on that bed and started crying. Mark watched the color drain from her face and immediately, a horrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Whatever had happened to Jen that night, he knew it wasn't good. There had to have been a reason she was home early. And it might have had something to do with Roger.
Or someone Roger knew.
Mark let the thought register in his mind as he thought about it. At one point or another, he had a problem with Roger's band members. Partially because they were very heavy into drugs and only had pulled Roger in farther, deepening his addiction. He knew that before Roger was with April, and before Wes got married, a string of groupies had frequented the loft. The second half of the reason why Mark didn't particularly care for Roger's friends. But Travis and Evan had always been the wildest of the four in the band, and Mark couldn't stand it when they were around. He started silently naming people that Roger knew well enough that Jen could have possibly met in the last month and a half. Travis. Evan. Wes. Lori. A few bartenders.
"Jen, did something happen tonight at the gig?"
She brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on it. But before she did so, Mark could make out the slow nod of her head.
"Did you and Roger get into a fight?"
She looked up at him and shook her head, blinking back the tears. "No. He promised me that we would go ring shopping tomorrow and he told me that he loved me. And then I only went down the hall. It was so smoky in there and I walked down the hall. I wanted to go see him," she sobbed as she covered her mouth.
Mark sat down and wrapped his arm around her. She curled up against him and only started crying harder into his chest. "Jen you can trust me. Just tell me what happened, okay?"
"No. I don't want to talk about it. Because if I talk about it—it happened. And it didn't. It didn't." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "He was Roger's friend. Roger trusted him. It didn't happen."
Mark knew then what she was talking about. It finally dawned on him. It didn't take a real genius to figure out what she was too upset to talk about. He knew. He just knew.
"Jen please, just tell me who did this to you. I won't make you talk about it again. I promise." He rubbed her back as her hand clutched his shirt tighter. "Please."
Jen swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and closed her eyes. "Mark please don't—"
"Please Jen."
Jen heard the anger rising in his voice. Mark rarely got angry. Mark observed and kept his feelings bottled up inside, daring someone to pry the cork out of the bottle. Usually that person was Roger.
"Travis," she whispered. So quietly that Mark had to strain to hear it. But he caught it, and his anger just about boiled over at the point.
"Fuck," he cursed. "That bastard. If Roger doesn't kill him, I will." Mark enveloped Jen in a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. "He's not fucking getting away with this."
"Mark please," Jen begged him. "All I want to do right now is take a really long, hot shower and go to sleep and pretend this never happened." She finally noticed that she was sitting in Mark's lap and got up quickly. "Just, can we not talk about this anymore?"
Mark shook his head. "Jen, no. I'm calling Roger. And then I'm taking you to the hospital. Don't even try to fucking argue with me about it. You're going."
She said nothing, but instead sat back down on the bed at the point farthest away from Mark, near the headboard. Jen grabbed a pillow and clutched it to her chest. It smelled like Roger, and something about that comforted her. It was almost as if his arms were around her at that moment and he was telling her everything was going to be okay. That things would go back to normal.
Mark watched her sit there, almost motionless in the corner of the bed and knew it was bad. Jen was not the one to retreat into a shell. No, that was him. To see her sitting on that bed, still not knowing much more than the fact that she was raped that night almost broke his heart. For all the years he had known Jen, she was always the one person to take charge. She even had an effect on Roger that Mark couldn't compete with. He had always tried to get some sense pounded into his head in between his attempts to shut out the world and song lyrics. But Jen had always been able to calm him down when he was going off on another one of his tirades. She took a lot of crap from him over the years, and Mark didn't give her enough credit for that. He never had. But seeing Jen now, so quiet and reserved, that was completely foreign to him. Truth was, it scared the hell out of him and he didn't know how to cope with that.
Abby appeared in the doorway, rubbing her eyes and clutching a stuffed animal. "Hi Mommy."
Jen smiled at her. "Hi baby."
"You're home already? And where's Roger?"
Mark took note of the tired expression that was growing on Jen's face. He figured the best thing to do right now was to have Abby stay with someone overnight. Maureen was probably exhausted, and Collins—well he didn't know exactly where Collins was, he just knew he wasn't home. Possibly at the gig. He also didn't feel like trekking Abby all the way uptown to stay with Benny and Alison. Jesse had just turned two months old but still, Mark figured they were still getting the baby adjusted. Then a little light bulb clicked on in his head and he thought of Jake and Maura from downstairs. Maura's brother was a cop, and they needed to get the police involved in this.
"Hey Abby? How about we get your coat and your pillow together. Do you remember Maura from downstairs?"
She nodded. "Yeah Uncle Mark. I remember."
"Well I think you're going to sleep over there tonight. Then either your dad or me will come and get you in the morning. Okay?"
Abby nodded again. "Okay," she agreed. "But why can't I just stay here?"
Mark didn't know how to explain that to her, and he knew Jen wasn't up for even trying to explain that to her brainy three year old. "I just need to help your mom out with something. How about you go and sit on the couch so I can make a phone call. Sound good?"
"Sure Uncle Mark." Abby walked out of the room, her blanket trailing behind her.
Jen looked up at Mark and shook her head. "Don't call him. Travis said he would kill me and Abby if I told anyone." She was still crying, and Mark hated that. He hated having to do this. He hated the position he was in, and he hated the fact that this had happened in the first place.
"Well it looks like I'm going down with the both of you, and frankly, right now I say fuck Travis, because when Roger gets his hands on him, he'll be chewed and spit back out like the piece of shit he is," Mark told her defiantly. "And then if I ever get a hold of him, he'll be sorry he ever fucked with you."
She turned onto her side and propped her head up on the pillow, knees still brought up to her chest. She couldn't help but smile through the tears, because this was her Marky threatening to beat someone up for her. That was usually left to Roger. Mark used words to fight, not his fists, and it was unusual for her to hear that from him.
"Okay," Jen managed to murmur.
Mark dialed Roger's cell phone number and tried to wait as patiently as he could while the line buzzed. As he had expected, Roger didn't pick up and the call was forwarded to his voicemail. The familiar message crackled over the receiver of the phone.
"You've reached Roger Davis. Leave a fucking message."
He waited for the beep. "Roger it's Mark. Don't know if you're even going to bother to check your phone tonight after the gig, but if you get this, you need to get home as soon as you can. Something happened with Jen. She's—" Mark hesitated. He didn't want to say that she was okay, because she was far from it. "At the loft with me right now. Talk to you later."
"He didn't answer, did he?"
Mark shook his head and sighed. "Nope. But it's probably too loud for him to hear it, and either he doesn't have it on vibrate or he doesn't have it in his pocket."
"Okay."
"Look Jen, I can't tell you how I know how you feel. Because I don't know how you do feel. But what I can tell you is that you're safe with me, okay? And you're sure as hell safe with Roger. I'm going to take Abby downstairs and let Maura know what's going on. Is that okay with you?"
She nodded. "Her brother's a cop, right?"
"Yeah he is."
"Does that mean you're going to tell him what happened?"
"I'd like to. I really think you should let me. Travis shouldn't be allowed to get away with this," Mark told her cautiously. "Can I do that?."
"I want Abby to be safe. Tell him."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," Jen answered. "I don't care if that means I have to go to the hospital or retell the story a hundred times. I'm not letting some bastard touch my daughter," she sobbed.
Mark gave her a loose hug. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise. Are you okay staying here by yourself for a few minutes?"
Jen nodded. "Yeah." She stood up off the bed and followed him out into the living room. Abby was still sitting on the couch, although she looked half asleep. "Baby, Uncle Mark is gonna take you downstairs now."
"I'll see you later Mommy."
Jen gave Abby a hug. "I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. Love you too Mommy." Abby placed her hand in Mark's outstretched one.
"We'll be right back."
Jen nodded and closed the door. She hesitated before dead bolting it as well. She took a quick look around and sat down on the couch, draping the ratty blanket across her body.
She knew she should feel safe. But the reality was, she didn't anymore.
* * * *
"Thanks for doing this. I know you're off duty."
"Don't even worry about it. I'd rather I do it then some asshole down at the station filing the report." Alex shook his head and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. "I still can't believe that happened to her. But yeah, they say that eighty five percent of rapists are people that the victim knows. I just can't believe this shit. Roger's a good guy."
Mark nodded. "Yeah."
"He doesn't know yet, does he?" Alex asked as Mark tried to unlock the door.
"No. I think we're waiting to break it to him when he gets home." Mark tried unlocking the door again, but he comprehended that Jen had most likely dead bolted the door the minute he left the apartment.
"Jen? It's Mark."
He heard footsteps and then the scratch of the lock turning. The door was slowly opened and Jen was revealed towards the side of the doorframe. Mark watched her say nothing to him as he and Alex entered the loft. Instead she crossed back over the worn carpet and resumed her seat on the beaten couch.
"Are there and close female friends of Jen's that we can have come up here while I ask her a few questions?" Alex whispered to Mark under his breath.
"My uh—girlfriend lives downstairs on the first floor. I didn't really want to wake her because she's been sick but yeah, I'll have her come up."
Jen overheard this and shook her head. "No. Don't wake Maureen up. She needs sleep." She took in Alex's sweatpants and tee shirt. "You're a cop?"
Alex nodded and showed her his badge. "Officer Alex Bennett with the NYPD. Maura's brother."
"Okay."
Alex then took the initiative and sat down on the coffee table, close enough to question her, but enough of a distance so she didn't feel uncomfortable. Although with two males in the room, he knew she had to feel uneasy. Hence the reason why he had asked if there was a female that could come up and sit with her.
"Is Roger on his way home yet?" she asked softly.
Mark shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know Jen. I can't get a hold of him. He's still at the gig."
"If you want, I can get someone to go down there and get him back here?" Alex suggested.
Why hadn't he thought of that? "It's up to you Jen."
Jen glanced up at the clock on the wall. "He should be home soon anyway. It's eleven thirty."
"Jen—"
"Wait until he gets home, okay Mark? Please."
Mark didn't put up an argument and sat down on the edge of the couch. He listened as Alex started asking her some very basic questions. Just enough to give him some information on Travis and his whereabouts. He knew Alex needed Jen to go to the hospital and have a rape kit done so he could process the arrest warrant for Travis. They needed the evidence. He also had a feeling that there was a chance that she wouldn't go until Roger got home, if at all. Jen could be unbearably stubborn when she wanted to, just like Roger could, and that was probably one of the key factors they went together so well. They completed each other, like an equation that had been trying to solve itself for years.
Roger needed to get home right now.
* * * *
"Good gig Davis. See you tomorrow."
"Later Robbie." Roger put out the cigarette he had been smoking in the ashtray and continued into the main area of the club. The place had started to empty out, and was replaced by the usual Friday night crowd. He spotted Collins and Joey at a table in the back and made his way over to them.
"Hey." Roger looked around. "Where's Jen at?"
Joey looked at him with a blank expression on his face. "She went to the bathroom about two hours ago and told us that if she didn't come back, she was backstage with you."
"Uh, no." Roger shook his head. "I haven't seen her since right before the gig started. She hasn't been backstage at all. He looked over a few tables and noticed that Travis and Evan were sitting down, drinking beer and smoking. "Hey Travis, have you seen Jen tonight anywhere?"
Travis took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "Nope. Sorry man." He then turned back to Evan and took the joint out of his hand.
"She might have went home," Collins suggested. "Did you check your cell phone?"
Roger shook his head and dug it out of his jacket pocket. "Haven't even bothered to look at it the whole night." A message briefly flashed across the screen, letting him know that he had a voicemail. He pressed the send button, dialed his password, and pressed the phone against his ear to listen.
Collins noticed how his expression had changed as the seconds passed. First there was confusion, then anger, then confusion once again. Collins could read Roger too well. For all the years he had known him, it had taken him a long time to crack him, but now, he knew. He could tell his emotions. Roger tried to hide them, but oftentimes he couldn't, and he would make a vain attempt to shut people out when they caught on.
"What did it say?"
Roger swallowed and adjusted his guitar case over his shoulder. "It was Mark. He said something happened to Jen. She's at the loft with him."
"Jesus," Joey responded. He stood up and pulled his jacket on.
"Let's go. Fuck the money for drinks. I'll pick up the tab tomorrow," Roger ordered them. "Now."
Collins knew better than to argue with Roger when he was like this. By the time he had picked up his own jacket, Roger had already reached the door, Joey not far behind.
* * * *
Not much had been said or done on the short walk to the loft. Roger and Joey had both lit up cigarettes and were sucking on them. Collins knew Roger always smoked when he was nervous or angry. He also knew he was a social smoker, which was probably a habit that had rubbed off on his younger brother, who Collins didn't know that much about aside from the idle conversation they had been making during the gig.
Roger's breath caught in his throat when the reached the corner of 11th Street. He saw the two squad cars parked outside of the apartment building, their red and blue lights flashing all over the street.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered. He started to sprint down the street. When he reached the stairs, he took them as fast as he could to reach the fourth floor.
Joey and Collins had caught up to him at this point. "Rog, you don't know anything yet," his brother told him.
"Yeah, that's right, I don't fucking know anything besides the fact that something happened to her."
"Yes, something happened to her, but she's at the loft. She might be fine. Just wait and see," Collins added in an attempt to get Roger thinking straight.
Roger pushed open the door. A policewoman was standing against the wall, talking to Alex, whom Roger recognized briefly from knowing Jake and Maura all those years. Jen was sitting on the couch next to Mark. He was talking to her softly, but stood up quickly when he noticed Roger.
"What's going on?" Roger asked him. "Why are the cops here?"
Mark walked over to him and pulled him aside. "Roger—"
Roger brushed past Mark and walked over to Jen. "Baby, are you okay? What happened?" He slid his hand into hers and squeezed it lightly.
Jen avoided his eyes. Instead she ran her other fingers over the upholstery of the couch as a few more tears slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip and pulled her hand out of his and rested them both in her lap.
Mark could tell Roger was getting frustrated. He was waiting for an outburst from him any second. "Roger—"
"Mark! Shut the fuck up and tell me what happened? Why won't Jen talk to me? What the hell is going on?" he shouted at him. "Why are two cop cars parked outside of this damn building?"
There it was.
"Sir, please," the woman police officer reprimanded him, raising her hand in front of herself. "We need you to calm down. You are Jen's boyfriend, I presume."
"Fiancé," he corrected her bitterly. "And don't point your fucking fingers in my face and tell me to calm down."
"My mistake. We need you to calm down though sir."
Roger ignored her and walked over to Mark. "Tell me what happened."
Mark grabbed Roger by the arm and pulled him into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Do me a favor and stop running your mouth because it's not gonna get you anywhere with Jen or the police."
"Don't talk to me like I'm five years old. Tell me what fucking happened. What happened to her? Something happened didn't it?"
Mark nodded and leaned against the door. "Roger—"
"Stop saying my name like that! What happened? Is she sick? Cut the shit!" he yelled at him.
"She was raped tonight! The last thing she needs is for you to lose your fucking temper and freak out on her. She was raped, Roger."
* * * *
Please don't forget to take the short minute to review for me! Thank you. :o)
NEXT UP: Jen opens up to Roger; Travis is arrested.