Author's Note: Thanks again to all of my reviewers. I'm glad you all are enjoying the story. Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it and don't forget to review!

Chapter Nine: Ray

"Tell me we have plans for the night." Kelly pleaded, locking her arm with Cecile's.

"Oh, yeah!" Cecile grinned, "Alan's having a party."

"Sweet little Alan?" Kelly asked, nudging Alan with her shoulder.

"What?" Alan said, "My parents are out of town."

"So, what are we all standing around here for?" Blue said, throwing his arm around Kelly and leading her away.

There was already a crowd forming outside of Alan's house when Gerry pulled into the driveway.

"Damn, word gets out fast in this town." Julius said.

"You ain't kiddin'." Kelly laughed from the backseat.

The outside was nothing compared to the crowd that was on the inside of the house. A game of smear the queer had already started up between five guys, including Petey, who were rushing from room to room tossing a football between them. Kelly spotted Sunshine out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a sofa on the far side of the room, a drink in one hand, the other draped casually across Christi's shoulders. Cecile noticed what Kelly was staring at and took hold of her friend's hand.

"Hey." Cecile said.

Kelly turned to her, jealousy evident in her eyes. "I need a drink." She said and made her way to the kitchen. Cecile started to follow after her, but Kelly stopped her, "No. No. Stay here and talk to Rev. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Cecile asked.

"Sure I'm sure." Kelly laughed and walked away.

In the kitchen, Kelly had just gotten herself a glass of punch when a voice whispered in her ear, "You know, that's probably spiked."

Kelly smiled, "God, I hope so."

"Oh, really?" Sunshine laughed.

"Desperately." Kelly nodded, then the smile fell slightly from her face. "How's Christi?"

"She's…herself." Sunshine stated, watching as Kelly downed her drink and poured another.

"Oh, too bad." Kelly said, sipping from her new drink.

"Sorry?" Sunshine asked, confused by the way Kelly had just responded.

Kelly realized what she had said and laughed. "Nothing! Sorry, didn't mean that."

Sunshine stared at her for a long moment. So long that Kelly started to get the slightest bit uncomfortable. She finished her second drink and poured yet another cup.

"You know, maybe you should take it easy on those." Sunshine said.

Kelly rolled her eyes, "Oh, who asked you? Go back to you cheerleader before her head deflates."

She wasn't sure where that had come from. Kelly had never been a big drinker. Sunshine was taken aback by the way she was treating him. She had never spoken to him like that. He didn't like it.

"Yeah." He spat, "Yeah, fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted. Have another drink."

Kelly watched him walk away, realizing that maybe she had overstepped the bounds just then. Sunshine shouldered a receiver out of his way to get back to the living room where Christi was. Kelly poured herself another glass of punch and made her way to the other side of the house.

"Kelly!" someone called out to her.

Kelly turned around and smiled. "Hey, Ray."

Standing still threw her off a little and she wobbled on her feet. Ray reached out and caught her by the elbow. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Kelly said, "I think maybe…I just…drank a little too punch much."

Ray grinned, "Oh? You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kelly nodded, which turned out to be a bad idea. It threw off her equilibrium and she had to lean into Ray for support. She closed her eyes and willed the room to stop spinning. She was actually thankful Ray was standing there with his arms around her. He felt solid, stable, something that she needed at the moment. She could have gone to sleep right then and there.

"You hear what your brother did earlier?" Ray asked.

"Hmm?" Kelly said, but she wasn't really listening.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Ray said, "You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I think you need to lay down." He continued.

So, Ray guided a stumbling Kelly toward the stairs.

Sunshine saw Kelly being led upstairs by some guy. To say that it got under his skin was an understatement. It actually really worried him, but she was being a real bitch earlier and his male pride wouldn't let him go to help her at that moment.

Ray opened a door and pretty much shoved Kelly into the darkened bedroom.

"Ray?" she said, "Ray where are we?"

"It's all right, Kelly." Ray said, "You just need to lay down."

He tossed her onto the bed where she stretched her arms and snuggled down into the pillows. Ray smiled at the way her lean body twisted on top of the covers. He peeled off his jacket and crawled onto the bed next to her.

"What are you doing?" Kelly asked, her eyelids drooping heavily.

"It's okay." He said, putting his hand on her stomach.

"Hmm."

Ray lifted her shirt and put his hand on her bare stomach. "God, Kelly. You are so gorgeous."

"Hmm?" Kelly mumbled. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Ray leaned forward and kissed her lips. Kelly responded to the kiss, opening her lips and giving him access into her mouth. Ray broke away from her mouth and began trailing kisses along her neck.

"Mmm, Sunshine." Kelly whispered.

Ray stopped. "What?" he said.

Kelly opened her eyes and saw Ray. "Ray? What are you doing? Where are we?"

"You called me Sunshine!" he exclaimed. That was it. He snapped. He jumped on top of her and pinned her arms down.

"Ray, stop." Kelly said and tried to roll away from him.

"Where you going, huh?" Ray snarled, and held her in place.

"You're hurting me. No! Stop!" Kelly cried, "Get off!"

"Oh," Ray laughed and reached down for the button on her jeans, "I intend to."

"Stop it! No!" Kelly pleaded. She opened her mouth to scream, but Ray was too quick for her. He shoved his hand over her mouth until he grabbed a scarf off of the nightstand beside them and crammed as far down into her mouth as he could get it. Kelly took advantage of her free hand and hit him as hard as she could across the face. Ray grunted and grasped at his cheek, allowing Kelly the space that she needed to slip away from him. She scrambled for the door, but Ray tackled her from behind.

"You bitch!" He growled, "You're just like your brother!"

Kelly was coughing and gagging, but she couldn't get the damn scarf out of her mouth. Ray had captured both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head and kneed his way between her legs. With his free hand and he ripped open her shirt and went for her jeans button again. Kelly couldn't scream and she couldn't figure out what she could do. She had to slow her thinking and clear her mind. She searched the room.

At her feet, she spotted a tall standing lamp. With all of her might, she brought her leg up and kicked it. It tipped over and crashed into the nearby window, sending glass shattering loudly to the ground.

Every head in the party turned toward the sound of breaking glass.

"Shit." Alan mumbled.

Sunshine looked in the direction the noise had come from in sudden terror. Who had Kelly gone upstairs with? He leapt from his spot on the couch beside Christi and went tearing for the staircase.

"Sunshine!" Christi called, "Where are you going?"

"You stupid bitch!" Ray grumbled, releasing her wrists and wrapping both hands around her throat.

All of the sudden, the door burst open and Kelly teared up when she saw Sunshine standing there.

"Look Kel," Ray hissed, "it's your night in shining armor."

"What the hell are you doin', Ray?" Sunshine demanded, stepping into the room.

Ray leaned down, "What?" he said, then licked Kelly's face as she screamed, though it was severely muffled by the scarf, and struggled against him in protest, "You mean this?"

"Let her go." Sunshine said, his voice frighteningly calm.

Ray ran one hand through Kelly's hair and whispered in her ear, "I have to take care of something, sweetheart. I'll be right back." He kissed her temple and stood.

Kelly immediately rolled away and ripped the scarf from her mouth and began coughing, trying to refill her lungs with oxygen.

"Let's go, pretty boy. Just you and me." Ray snarled.

Sunshine looked at Kelly. He saw her ripped shirt and the handprints forming on her delicate neck. Then, he looked at Ray. Kelly would be willing to swear that she heard and animal like growl escape his lips and he and Ray lunged for each other. Sunshine caught Ray in the chin with an upper cut, but Ray retaliated with a right cross. They both fell to the floor in a heap of limbs. Rolling around, punching and kicking…Ray even bit once.

As soon as Kelly caught her breath, she did what she had been trying to do from the very beginning of the whole ordeal. She let out the loudest, shrillest, most blood curdling scream she could possible muster. In the blink of an eye, half of the party downstairs had flooded through the bedroom door, including Gerry and Julius. Kelly rushed to her feet and leapt into her brother's arms as soon as her was in her eyesight.

"Kelly, Kelly, what's wrong?" Gerry said, pulling her away and holding her at arm's length. That was when he noticed her state of undress. "Who…who…?"

"Ray." Kelly sobbed.

Gerry stroked her hair, and then passed her into Cecile's arms. His cold stare turned to where Sunshine had Ray pinned to the ground. "You son of a bitch. I'm gonna tear you to pieces."

"He ain't the only one." Julius growled from his side.

Sunshine currently had his elbow resting on Ray's throat.

"Thanks Sunshine, but it's our turn. We can handle this jerk." Gerry said, pulling Sunshine away to give himself and Julius access to Ray.

Sunshine stood there for a minute, longing to jump back on top of Ray and give what he had coming, but then his thoughts shifted all at once and he headed for the door. "Kelly!" he called.

"She's here, Sunshine." He heard Cecile say.

He followed Cecile's voice and found them in the bathroom around the corner. He walked in to find Kelly sitting in the bathtub. She had turned the water on without taking off any of her clothes and was scrubbing furiously at her skin.

"I couldn't stop her." Cecile said helplessly.

"It's all right, Cecile. I'll take care of her. Go tell Gerry she's okay." Sunshine said, ushering Cecile out and shutting and locking the door behind her. He walked over and sat down on the toilet lid beside the bath. "How you doin', kiddo?"

"I…I…I have to wash it off of me." She sputtered. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Sunshine reached over and touched the water. It was freezing.

"Why don't we turn this up a little there, huh kiddo?" he said as he turned the warm water up, "Warm you up some?"

"I want him off of me! Get him off of me!" Kelly cried, thrashing around in the tub.

Sunshine reached in and caught her by both arms. "Kelly! Kelly! It's over! You're okay now. He can't hurt you!"

"I'm so sorry." Kelly went on, "I didn't mean to…"

"Hey!" Sunshine cut her off, "this was not your fault! It was all Ray. He's wired wrong in the head, baby, that's all."

Kelly looked him in the eyes, giving him a clear vision of all of the fear she was feeling. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him, her fingers biting into his shoulders she was holding him so hard.

"Don't leave me, please! Don't ever leave me!" she pleaded.

"Hey now," Sunshine said, his tone soft and calming as he stroked his hand over her head, "I'll never leave you. I'll always be right here."