Signed, Anonymous

Chapter Ten:

Vulnerable

"You just be thankful that it was me and not some other, less understanding officer that found you," Roxanne Richardson pointed out as she stood dividing a bloody and bruised Simon Camden from his parents who tried to keep disappointment off their faces until she left the house.

"Yes, well, thank you, Roxanne for bringing him home," Annie replied with a smile, "but Simon should have known better." The woman's smile faltered as she slid her gaze over to her son, who immediately looked away, pretending to be deeply engrossed in the couch's design pattern.

Sensing the tense energy in the room, Roxanne quickly volunteered to leave, claiming to not want to keep them from dealing with this, much to Simon's displeasure.

Reverend Camden walked her to the door. "Thank you again for bringing our son home in one piece," he said as he reached for the knob behind her.

Roxanne nodded. "He was lucky that he didn't get hurt any worse than he did." The cool air outside greeted her as she stepped over the threshold.

"Oh, he's going to be hurting long after his bruises go away."

"Let me ask you something. What were you thinking?" Eric Camden inquired as soon as he entered the kitchen where his wife and son had relocated. When Simon didn't answer, he continued. "Is this how we raised you? The moment you hear someone say something that you don't like, you're only reaction is to clobber them?"

"Eric," Annie warned from behind him as she pulled an ice pack from the freezer.

"No, I want to hear this." He turned to Simon. "Is that right?"

Simon bowed his head and stared at his shoelaces, trying to avoid his father's angry eyes. He knew he was in more trouble that he wanted to be in.

"Answer me!" Eric yelled, finally losing his patience.

Annie put herself in the middle of the two, protecting Simon. She had had enough of this. When Eric got angry, his tone of voice was completely different and even she got scared sometimes.

"Why don't you go cool off and let me talk to Simon?" It was more of a statement than a question, implying that she meant business. "Besides, Ruthie should be home soon."

Once Eric had left mother and son alone in the room, Annie took a seat and gestured for Simon to come and sit next to her. As the boy nursed his wounds, she interrogated in a kinder, gentler way than Eric seemed to want to take on.

Ruthie opened the front door and shut it quietly behind her. Matt and Kevin were still talking out in the car, and she knew that they wanted some privacy. After all, it was harder to talk about someone when they were sitting right there with you. She had become used to being talked about, had become somewhat immune to it so it didn't hurt as much.

The house seemed empty as she stood in the foyer. It was sort of still, like the weather is just before an enormous storm hits. She was about to call out when she heard her father's angry voice sound from the kitchen. Someone was in trouble, and frankly, she was glad it wasn't her.

Ruthie fled up the stairs as her father came storming out of the room. Thankfully he didn't see her as he slammed the door to his office. For the first time in what seemed like a century, she felt like her old snoopy self. Figuring her father would be in his study for a while, she crept down the steps and got as close as she dared to the kitchen without being seen.

"...they were saying things about Ruthie - things that would never be true in a million years," Simon was saying. "I guess I finally snapped. The gossip was getting to me anyway. And then what Peter told us tonight, I – it was just too much."

Her mother sighed. "We were all feeling the pressure, son, but no matter what anyone says, we have to be there for Ruthie and support her. You can't just beat up some ignorant person the second he says something like that. In your heart you know what's right, and that is all that's important."

Ruthie suddenly found herself wishing that she had just gone up to bed and pulled the covers right over her head, blocking out everything that was going on. She was so tired of all this crap. Everyone was so caught up on feeling sorry for her, they couldn't find any time to just be the family that she had always counted on to brighten her day when all seemed impossible.

Simon was leaving the kitchen and she fully intended on following him to his room to give him a piece of her mind. It was in those few moments, Ruthie had come to the startling conclusion that she was allowing Colton Hunter to dominate her. When you keep horrible secrets like that, you are only keeping the person that inflicted the unbearable pain on you alive. Colton Hunter would not cease to exist until she, herself, got help and wanted it.

She waited until Simon had disappeared into his room before bursting in on him. This had to stop, and it was going to stop right here. Ruthie sighed under her breath and then pushed the door open. Her brother twisted around to see who had just invaded his privacy.

"What the hell was that?" Ruthie demanded angrily.

Simon looked as annoyed as his swollen face would allow. "What are you talking about?" he asked, taking a seat on his bed and removing his shoes.

Ruthie huffed. "Oh, don't play dumb with me, Simon. I know what you did." She put her hand on her hip as the other one hung limply in its sling.

"What did I do?"

"You went out and beat some person up because you feel sorry for me!"

Simon scoffed. "No," he denied pathetically, and at the same time tried to look extremely appalled.

"Oh, so it was just an impulse thing?" she spat, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Simon pushed himself up and walked over to his sister, who he towered over. "Ruthie, you'd better shut up before you say something stupid."

"Or what, you'll hit me?" she gasped, pretending to just discover something. "'The second someone says something you don't like, you clobber them?' Gee, where have I heard that before?"

Simon stepped past Ruthie and opened the door. "I don't have to listen to this anymore." He tried to storm away, but Ruthie followed him out into the hallway.

"I've had to live with it, Simon! For months!" Ruthie screamed, stopping Simon dead in his tracks. "I can't just walk away! It's not that easy." Her voice was faltering as tears filled her eyes.

Simon turned to face his sister as family members appeared behind him, wondering what all the commotion was about.

"I've had to live with my secret for months. And during those months, I felt so alone, like everyone I loved had died and I was the only one left. I didn't think that I could feel any worse than I did. But I was wrong." Ruthie's sobs drowned out the silence in between her words. "Now that all of you know, it's even harder. You all feel sorry for me, and I hate that. It's too much, too much. Please, just stop it. Take it back." Ruthie felt lightheaded and felt as if she would fall over.

Eric ushered everyone but Annie and Ruthie off to the living room. Ruthie let herself fall to the floor as Annie came to her.

"Ruthie, calm down. It's okay."

"No, it's not," she bawled, cramming her face into Annie's chest.

Eric kneeled down next to them, tears in his own eyes. He put a comforting hand on Ruthie's shoulder, finding that was all he was able to do at the moment. His daughter had come undone completely, and he was helpless. All that he could do was already done. He just hoped that it was enough.

Annie rocked Ruthie back and forth as she cried messily. It was like Ruthie was a child all over again. In a way, she was. She was entirely vulnerable right now, and they had to do whatever they could to help her overcome this. And they would.