Note: I'll admit, it wasn't a smart idea for Bert to invite Lisa to something a week after she got out of the hospital. But, then again, he is Bert Raccoon, so he isn't always prone to smart decisions. However, his relationship with Lisa will improve as the story goes on. Without further ado, let's move on.

Chapter 5: Walk Through the Forest

A week had passed and Bert was using the shower more than often. This perplexed Ralph and Melissa, who felt that something odd was going on.

"He's been in the shower much more than usual," Melissa noted, "what do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," Ralph stated, "but I hope that he knows that he's going to make our water bill higher."

Bert came out of the bathroom wearing a towel and a happy look on his face.

"Hi guys!" The taller raccoon greeted.

"Well," Ralph said, "I see that someone's happy in spite of being madder than a hornet last week."

"You bet I am!" Bert smiled.

"Why though?" Melissa asked.

"Because I'm spending time with Lisa today!" He answered.

Ralph and Melissa froze when they heard that.

"I know," Bert said, "it's a bad idea to take her on a date after what happened a week ago. But I won't make any moves on her or anything like that."

"Are you mad?!" Ralph asked.

"Don't worry Ralphie Boy, I won't do anything horrible!" The taller raccoon assured his friend.

Melissa sighed and said, "Bert, it's not really sensible to take a rape victim on a date a week after they were attacked. Did you even consider how Lisa would feel?"

"I asked her and she said yes." Bert said, "You guys were there when I asked her out."

"We just think that it isn't a good idea." Ralph stated.

"Look," The taller raccoon said, "I'm not going to do anything outside of just talking to her. I was just going to take her somewhere and talk about what's currently going on."

"Promise that you won't make a move on her?" Ralph cautiously asked.

"I promise." Bert smiled.

"Okay," Melissa said, "we left your sweater on your bed so that you didn't have to get it."

"Thanks guys." The taller male smiled as he walked to his room.

Now that he was dressed and ready to go, Bert found himself walking through the Evergreen Forest, heading down to Lisa's house. He was eager to get there, to the point where he almost wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. During his walk, he nearly bumped into Cedric.

"Hi Bert." The aardvark greeted.

"Hello Cedric," Bert greeted back, "I would love to talk right now, but I have a date."

"I still can't believe that you're taking Lisa on a date." Cedric said, "It's been a week since she was attacked, don't you think you should have waited a bit longer?"

"Lisa needs our support, Cedric." The raccoon stated, "We can't just expect her to get assaulted and turn out fine, some victims suffer all sorts of horrible things."

"Like PTSD?" The aardvark asked.

"And even nightmares." Bert said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to Lisa that will make her feel horrible. I'll just talk to her and take her on a walk."

"Okay Bert," Cedric merely said, "just be careful."

"I will." The raccoon smiled.

Upon arriving at Lisa's house, Bert was greeted by the younger female. Lisa was wearing her normal clothes, albeit while also wearing a bandana around her neck.

"You look good, Lisa." Bert said.

"Wish I felt good, though." Lisa moaned.

"That's why I'm taking you on a walk," The smaller, yet older raccoon smiled, "to make you feel better."

Upon walking out of the doorway, Lisa walked with Bert all throughout the Evergreen Forest. With where they were going ambiguous, Bert occasionally looked around the area. All of a sudden, the smaller raccoon walked into a deeper part of the woods.

"Bert?" Lisa asked in confusion.

"Come on, Lisa!" Bert called.

As soon as he called for her, Lisa was already walking into the area Bert had walked into. Seeing as he was sitting down, Lisa sat down near him.

"Why are we in this part of the Evergreen Forest?" Lisa couldn't help but ask.

"To talk." Bert answered.

"About what?" The female raccoon was quizzical.

"Lisa," The older male began, "I know that it has been tough for you, especially considering what had happened."

"Tell me about it." The younger female sighed.

"But everyone is there for you when you need them," Bert said, "even during times like this."

"I don't think that all the hugs and kisses in the world could make me feel better, Bert." Lisa looked down.

"Those might not heal you," The older raccoon stated, "but they can help you get through the day."

"I still need to visit the Doctor's office and see that Psychologist Melissa wants me to visit." The younger female sighed.

"I'm sure that they can help you too." Bert smiled.

"But I might have nightmares about my rape." Lisa moaned.

"Don't worry," The smaller, older raccoon put his hand on her shoulder, "everyone in the Evergreen Forest will help you to get through your life. Hell, I can even help you with some things."

"Bert, I have something to ask." Lisa stated.

"What is it?" Bert asked.

"Why did you really take me for a walk?" The younger female's question went through Bert's ears.

"I just want you to feel better," The older male stated, "even if you can't at this moment. Look, what happened to you was horrible, but I wouldn't give up on myself and shift the blame to myself if something like that happened to me. None of what happened was your fault, you didn't antagonize your rapist. If anything, the guy who did this to you was a bastard with no life outside of sexually abusing girls. Now that the cops know about what happened, I might even go down to the station when they catch him. If I had my way, I'd punch that creep in the face for you."

"That's really sweet of you to do that, Bert." Lisa stated before kissing him on the forehead.

"Trust me," Bert said, "there are a lot of things I can do that are pretty damn sweet."

"Like what?" The younger female asked.

"Taking you dancing." The smaller raccoon answered.

"Okay." Lisa said.

"Do you want to do that next time?" Bert asked.

"Sure." Lisa smiled.

"Then I guess that we'll go dancing on our next date!" The older raccoon happily stated.

A few hours later, Bert had taken Lisa home and was on his way back to the Raccoondominium. The moment he got there, he saw Ralph talking on the phone while Melissa looked concerned. When Ralph got off the phone, he sighed in disbelief.

"What's wrong, guys?" Bert asked.

"There's been another rape." Ralph answered.

"Was the perpetrator the same guy who attacked Lisa?" The taller raccoon asked.

"The victim won't say what her attacker looked like," Melissa said, "she's too scared."

"And the police say that we might have a serial rapist on the loose." Ralph said.

"I hope that they're able to catch that monster!" Bert said.

"We hope so too, Bert." Melissa said.

"By the way," Ralph spoke, "was Lisa okay?"

"She was fine," Bert said, "but another person who I'm really worried about is Bentley. I mean, Lisa got violated and he has to live with that."

"I'm sure Bentley would need some therapy as well." Melissa stated.

"Yeah," Ralph said, "one can only imagine how he's taking all of this."

Note: The next chapter will focus on Bentley. With him being so young, you can probably guess that he isn't taking what happened to Lisa so well. He might need to talk to Bert, or even his family, about how he feels. What did you guys think about this chapter? Let me know when you leave a review or give a constructive criticism. Until next time guys, peace!