The next day it was still spitting down and the sky was grey and unwelcoming ,although the rain had been subdued from the torrential downpour of the previous couple of days. No one felt like doing much: Ryan, Seth and Marissa were in the pool house deciding whether to move into the house for a play station game or if that was just too much effort. Kirsten was drinking coffee in the kitchen, waiting for Sandy to return from his surfing trip. She smiled to herself: nothing could keep Sandy from having his daily surfing fix. When she heard a car door slam outside, she put down her mug and moved towards the door. She pictured Sandy, still wet from the sea, getting even wetter as he unloaded his board from the car. When she opened the door, she froze in shock as she saw who was staring back at her. It was Carter. Neither of them said anything, but Carter suddenly lurched sideways into the bins, making a huge clattering sound. Kirsten still didn't speak: it registered with her that he was obviously drunk- she had seen that before- but there was something about him now that scared her; she didn't want him in her life anymore, but now she realised he wasn't about to disappear into thin air.

'Carter, what are you doing here?' she said in a quiet, shocked voice. She suddenly felt very vulnerable standing there wearing her pyjamas and a dressing gown. Sure, Carter wasn't the kind who would be immediately associated with drunken assaults. But Kirsten had seen him drunk before and that note of unpredictability remained around him- she felt she didn't know the real Carter, and that hadn't been a problem before: she had been buried in her own issues and didn't need to see further into his character than what had initially attracted her. But now…here he was, staring up at her with a strange look in his slightly glazed eyes. He pushed himself off the dustbin and started to move towards the front door, and still Kirsten stood there: one part of her mind telling her that there was something wrong with him being here and that she should just shut the door. But the other part of her mind…she knew what it was telling her was wrong, she hated the thought for even existing. And she obeyed it. She let Carter walk unsteadily up towards her: at the bottom of the steps, now at the top. He stopped when he was standing about an inch away from her: she could smell the alcohol on his breath and inwardly wanted to recoil at his closeness, but somehow she just couldn't leave him there in that state. After all, it was her fault he had returned- she had led him on. So, she decided, she had to tell him that she wanted him out of her life, that it had all been a mistake. Without realising it she had backed inside, with Carter following her every step. The sound of the front door closing brought her back to reality.

'Carter, you can't come here. I don't want to see you any more. It was all a mistake, I never wanted…' she hesitated as Carter moved closer, and she realised she had backed into the wall.

'I never wanted..this. I didn't want to hurt Sandy, and I don't want to hurt you, but it was all wrong.' Carter's face was very close to hers now.

'You know you don't mean that.' He spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse and quiet. Kirsten spoke again, a note of fear in her voice know as she felt the hard surface behind her and realised she was trapped. 'I do, Carter. I'm sorry, please just go.' She tried to move sideways, but he pressed his body against hers, pinning her to the wall.

'Whatever. Let's just start where we left off.' A choked sob rose from Kirsten's throat, and before she could speak or cry out he covered her mouth with his.

'Ok: Ryan, Marissa, what shall we do? Seriously now. I want a serious decision: shall we stay here or go over there?' Seth gestured over towards the house vaguely.

'Or we could go out.' Suggested Ryan.

'No, Ryan, invalid answer. That wasn't an option, was it. Nooo.' Ryan raised his eyebrows and sighed heavily. The three of them lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

'Is the only reason you want to go over there to play on the playstation? Because that's so boring.' Said Marissa, and Seth sat up with an outraged expression on his face.

'What? Boring? This game is like…the meaning of life..for both me and my ninja.'

Ryan turned to Marissa: 'Which is why I think we should get out for a while.' She smiled.

'Is there any food over there? I'm so hungry.' Asked Marissa. Seth didn't reply, still shocked as to how lightly she had dismissed his ninja battle.

'Yeah- I think Kirsten and Sandy are in, aren't they Seth?' Ryan poked him 'Seth?'

'Oh dear, that's not good. They've been so..all over each other since they made up from their little tiff. It's a no-go zone.' Seth was inwardly extremely happy that his parents had got over their issues, of which there had been several lately. They hadn't been parent-like for a long time and Seth had missed that, even though he knew the time would come very soon when he wished once more that they would stop trying to enforce a no-alcohol policy with him. 'Soooo?' he prompted, as he realised they still hadn't come to any sort of conclusion.

Kirsten realised her face was wet from tears- she had been crying silently as panic and terror took over her mind. Her eyes were open and she stared with blurred vision at the front door, praying Sandy would come home and save her. She almost didn't feel Carter continually kissing her mouth, even he was doing so violently and clumsily. His hands were pressing against the wall under her armpits and his groin pressed into to her painfully. Suddenly he grabbed her body with his hands and manhandled her onto the sofa. Pressing a hand against her mouth he looked around and listened for a sign of another presence. Then, satisfied, he looked back down at her.

'You know you want this, Kirsten. This is what you've always wanted with me.' Kirsten, suffocated by the weight of his body on top of hers, stared up into his wild eyes and knew there was nothing she could do to stop him.