Chapter Three:
Sasha sat at the edge of the bed, her hands reaching out to gently stroke her friend's hair. Bayley had been up almost the entire night, nightmares plaguing what little sleep she had tried to find. She still struggled to tell Sasha what had happened, her words getting lost in a sea of sobs and panic attacks. It was breaking Sasha's heart.
The sound of her phone going off snapped the young woman out of her thoughts, Sasha glancing at it briefly. Charlotte and Becky looking to come up and grab breakfast together before the show. Crap.
Sasha sighed as she once more looked at Bayley, not wanting to wake her friend up. She was never a morning person to begin with, but she had hardly slept at all last night and she feared that waking her up would just send her into a panic again. Over whatever it was that had happened last night.
"Oh, Bay….I wish you would tell me what happened," muttered Sasha out loud, running her hand through Bayley's hair once more, thankful that she was at least sleeping peacefully for the moment.
The sound of knocking on the door snapped her out of her thoughts once more. Becky and Charlotte were there. Shit. I thought I had more time.
Sasha looked at Bayley, worried that the knocking would wake her up. It didn't. The poor girl must have been just utterly exhausted.
Sasha stepped away, hurrying to the door before they knocked again and it did wake Bayley up. She stepped outside before they could get inside.
"Dude, what's going on? You don't respond to a text, then you don't answer the door, and now you won't let us in? What gives?"
"I wish I knew," said Sasha, running her hand through her hair.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" asked Charlotte, frowning as Sasha let out a deep sigh, glancing into the room.
"Something happened last night...with Bayley. I- I don't know what, but she came back so upset and just crying and having panic attacks and….her eye is swollen and her sweater was ripped. I don't know if she got in a fight with someone or what but….she hardly slept at all last night," rambled Sasha, concern etched into every word she spoke as she thought about just how frightened Bayley had been when she got back. The possibilities of what had happened were endless...and none of the ones running through Sasha's mind were good.
"Holy shit," whispered Becky, staring at the door to the hotel room, just wanting to go in and comfort one of her good friends.
"I don't know what's going on, but she hasn't even really talked to me about it. I tried to get her to tell me what happened but she was too upset last night to really talk."
"Do you mind if we come in?" asked Becky, anxious just to see her friend for herself. Sasha nodded, opening the door as she allowed both Charlotte and Becky to enter the room. Sasha walked over to the bed, the other two staying behind. Neither of them wanted to scare Bayley more if she wasn't expecting to see them.
Sasha knelt down next to the bed, gently reaching out and touching Bayley's hair, keeping her lips closer to her friend's ear.
"Bayley? Honey, time to wake up," whispered Sasha, gently shaking her shoulder.
Bayley groaned, rolling over as Sasha attempted to wake her up.
"Maybe we should let her sleep….poor girl probably needs the rest," muttered Charlotte, wanting so badly to hold her friend. She hated the idea of something happening to Bayley, of all people. The one person who wouldn't hurt a fly.
Sasha sighed, attempting to wake her up once more. "Come on, Bay….just open your eyes, honey. You have to wake up," whispered Sasha, keeping her voice close to her friend's ear.
Bayley stirred again, pulling the blanket tighter around her as she slowly opened her eyes, Sasha greeting her with a gentle smile as Bayley's gaze caught her own.
"Hey, you. How you feeling?" asked Sasha, her finger gently tracing over the now completely swollen eye on Bayley. Bayley whimpered, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to her, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she thought about his hands, his words, the way he smelled...his body on top of her and inside of her…..
Bayley screamed as every image flooded through her mind, the brunette instantly throwing herself into Sasha's arms as she began to sob. Sasha sighed as she shared a glance with Charlotte and Becky, both who had tears in their own eyes at the sight of Bayley so distraught. She had had the night of her life last night, one of her biggest dreams coming true. She had been so happy and it was just the most magical sight for them all to see. It broke their hearts to know that something so horrible had happened just hours later that seemingly destroyed her.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. It's alright. You're safe, Bayley. You're safe here, honey. Nothing can hurt you in here, okay?" whispered Sasha, gently rubbing her hand up and down Bayley's back, rocking her in her arms as the young girl cried.
"I should have gone home with you last night. I-I shouldn't have stayed," moaned Bayley, tightening her fingers around her friend's shirt.
"Bayls? Becca and I are here too, hun. Sasha let us in," whispered Charlotte, unable to stay quiet any longer as she cried. She didn't want Bayley to get scared when she did finally realize they were in the room.
The young girl either didn't care or was too upset to care, instead just continuing to cry in Sasha's arms.
"Bayley, can you tell us what happened? Please?" whispered Sasha, continuing to run her hand down her friend's hair and back. Bayley choked on her sobs, just wishing she could disappear just at the thought of what she had gone through.
"Bay? Honey, you know you can tell us anything, right? You know you can always tell us anything," whispered Becky, speaking up for the first time.
Bayley turned herself slightly, eyeing both Charlotte and Becky for the first time, still staying in Sasha's arms.
"Hey pretty girl, what's going on?" asked Becky, reaching out to touch Bayley's cheek. "What's got you so upset today, honey?"
Bayley lowered her gaze, her fingers reaching out for Sasha's hand, holding them in her own hands as she thought about the events of last night.
"It was my fault," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, filled with tears. She whimpered again as she thought about everything running through her mind, Sasha placing a kiss to her hair, not wanting her to stop talking, but wanting to give her all the comfort she could.
"I-I should have come-come back with Sasha. I-I shou-should have known better," stuttered Bayley, panic beginning to rise through her gut, tears forming once more in her eyes.
"Bayley, what happened? Did someone approach you? A fan, or something?"
Bayley shook her head, more tears running down her face as she held back a sob. She wanted, she needed, to get this out. It felt like it was eating her alive from the inside out. She needed to tell someone. She needed to get it out of the inside of her. She needed to get him out of her.
"I-I said no! I -I, he came, he came up to me, and I-I told him that I didn't need a ride and-and he-he would-wouldn't le-leave me a-a-alone," she moaned, her entire body shaking and trembling as she relived the details. Sasha closed her eyes, a bad feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach as she listened to Bayley speak.
Charlotte and Becky looked on, horror setting in as they thought about the unthinkable. There was no way. No way. They couldn't even fathom the idea that- that someone would do that to Bayley.
"Bayley," stated Becky, her voice trying to stay calm as she reached out to her friend, gently lifting her gaze to meet her own. Bayley was sobbing now, tears pouring from her eyes as she met Becky's gaze. The redheaded woman's heart broke at the sight of her friend's misery.
"I begged him to stop, Becca! I begged him to stop! I didn't want to! And it hurt so bad and-and-and-"
She couldn't handle it anymore, breaking down into sobs, nearly doubling over in Sasha's arms. Both Charlotte and Becky scooted closer. Sasha brought her closer to her, her entire body now touching Bayley,
"Bayley," said Becky, closing her eyes as she thought about what they were almost certain had happened, swallowing hard as tears formed in her own eyes. "Bayley, did someone…..did someone….rape you?"