On Her Own
Chapter 14
Victor looked between Richard and Toni, realizing that he probably wasn't the best person to speak up.
Richard took a deep breath before looking over at Tonis back. "Roy decided to pay Rachel another visit."
She looked over at them, she was a bit paler then she had been moments before.
"Oh."
"I think I'm going to go back to my room and finish packing. I'm leaving after my last exam tomorrow." Victor broke the awkward tension that coated the room as soon as Roy was mentioned.
"You coming back up tonight?" Victor asked as he grabbed his discarded sweatshirt and made his way to the door.
Richard glanced down at his girlfriend for a second before shrugging. "Dunno, maybe." Victor nodded and left.
"Are you packed?" He asked Toni.
"Yeah. My dad is getting me in the morning. You?"
"Mostly. But I know for a fact that Rachel hasn't packed a thing yet." Toni nodded, she knew that Rachel had been especially clingy since Roy got her the first time.
Changing her shirt, Toni threw her sweatshirt back on and walked out without saying another word.
Richard glanced down at Rachel. "Rachel, baby are you awake?" He trailed a finger across her cheek and she opened her eyes. He gave her a small smile.
She tensed and buried her face in his sweatshirt again.
He laid her down on the mattress and climbed off the bed. Digging through her closet revealed one of his sweatshirts. "Can you sit up for me?" He asked taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
In response she sat up slowly and inched away from him till her back was against the headboard.
Richard reached for the blanket but she held tight to it, shaking her head frantically.
"Rachel, it's alright. I just want to help you out of your shirt," He watched the color drain from her face.
"Do you want to put on my hoodie and take your ripped shirt off youself?" He offered, holding out the sweatshirt. She nodded slightly.
Richard moved closer and gave her the sweatshirt. She let the blanket fall to her lap, revealing her ripped clothing. Reaching forward, he ran his thumb over a section of her collarbone. Rachel brought a hand up to where his was and traced the spot.
Roy had given her a hickey.
Richard swore under his breath.
"I'm sorry, please don't be mad…" Her voice was so quiet he almost hadn't heard her even though there was barely a foot between them.
"Ah Rach, it's not your fault." He looked up into her eyes for a moment before he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "It's all right. Put on the sweatshirt,"
His phone went off in his backpack.
Rachel watched him go and check the text message before she took her ruined clothing off and pulled the sweatshirt over her head. She loved that his sweatshirts smelled like him. It made her feel safe.
"What are you doing over break?" He looked up at her question.
He grinned to himself. "Eh, probably just hang out around the manor. What about you, have you gotten ahold of your parents?"
She shook her head. "As it stands I don't even have a ride home," He interrupted her.
"Brilliant, now I have the perfect excuse to bring you back to the manor with me." He said it as if he had only just come up with the idea.
"But…won't your, won't he…shouldn't you ask before you bring some random girl home with you?" Richard watched her fumble over her words and chuckled softly at her.
"It's all right Rach, you can say his name, or you can call him my father." Rachel knew that things between Richard and his guardian were tense, he had told her often enough about how they rarely got along.
She nodded, getting off her bed and walked over to her closet. Pulling a duffle bag out, she started taking clothes out of her closet and began her packing. There was hope now, she had a way to leave.
"And you're not exactly some random girl. We've been together since the beginning of the semester." He added, tapping the tip of her nose before helping her empty her closet of clothes.
"But still, shouldn't you check with Bruce?" She asked, folding one of her leotards.
"Don't even worry about that." He watched her kneel down and grab the pile of clothes off the floor, shaking his head at her.
Once they had finished, the couple found themselves upstairs in Richards room. Rachel was sitting on Richards bed, with her knees pulled to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Richard was in the shower, and she wanted to get this over with before he got back.
"Victor?" He was sitting at his desk with his laptop.
"Yeah Rachel?" He hadn't even looked up from what he was doing.
She took a deep breath, if she started this she knew there would be no turning back. "Can I talk to you about something? It's kinda important."
Looking over at her he closed the lid of his computer and gave her his undivided attention. "What's on your mind?"
"Roy said something to me earlier, and…I don't really know what to make of it…" She trailed off, beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea.
"Why don't you tell me what he said and we can go from there?" Victor offered, he could tell she was uncomfortable with the situation.
She looked at the blanket beneath her mumbling, "Dumb Victor can't save you again." She wasn't sure if Roy had only said it because he could or if there was some deeper meaning to it, but she hoped Victor could help her.
"Rachel," He watched her for a moment before continuing, "Do you know what he meant by that?" He knew that it was time she knew the truth.
She shook her head and continued to pick at the small hole she had found in Richards comforter.
"I saved you from Roy, that night after the party." She looked up at him, shock clearly written across her face.
"You…but you never said, why didn't you ever say anything? You didn't tell Richard…"
He put a hand up for her to slow down and take a breath. "I didn't tell Richard because at the time I hadn't realized who you were. I'd only briefly seen you together in passing or when you guys would drop stuff off in here before leaving again. I hadn't made the connection that you were his girlfriend-"
"But you didn't say anything the other day either." She had cut him off. "You had the perfect chance to say something when I told you the other day that he had finally managed to rape me." Her voice cracked on the word rape. In a quick lapse in control, she threw a pillow at Victor who caught it with ease as the door opened.
Rachel rolled onto her stomach, propped up on her elbows and quickly picked up the book she had been reading before Richard had left to shower.
Opening her book to a random page, she tried to quell the anger and distrust that were brewing.
"What are you two doing, having a pillow fight?" Richard asked with amusement in his voice and eyes.
"Something like that," Victor said tossing the pillow at Richard as he passed.
Richard knelt on his bed next to Rachel and started massaging her shoulders. "So tense Rach, relax." His breath tickled her skin as he whispered in her ear.
She couldn't make her body relax, she felt like screaming. She looked away from her page and closed the book. His hands stilled on her shoulders. "Rachel, baby is there anything you wanna talk about?"
Pushing against the bed, she sat up and glanced around the room. The isle that ran from the door to the far wall between the two beds was clear.
Getting up, she threw herself into a handstand and started walking laps on her hands.
The guys watched her as she completed her fifth lap of the room, pivoting whenever she ran out of room.
"Ummmm…" Victor didn't know what to say to her decision to begin pacing, on her hands.
"Do you want to go to the gym for a bit Rach?" Richard offered, still amazed at how strong she was.
She let her feet fall to the floor landing in her backbend before kicking over with perfect form to stand on her feet.
"No, its fine. I'm fine. Just…just anxious about leaving. I guess." She waited a moment to see if he was going to respond before kicking back into her handstand.
Richard got off his bed and grabbed Rachel by her upside down hips and lifted her off the floor, tossing her over his shoulder. "Thats more than enough, if you keep at it much longer you'll put a hole in my floor." He added with a chuckle.
Leaning forward he tossed her lightly onto his bed. He laid next to her as she grabbed her book and tried to find her page. Hoping to settle her mind.
A few hours later Victor announced that he was going out for a bit. Rachel sat up on one arm as she watched him leave, she still had so many questions about why he had kept quiet all this time.
With an unheard sigh she laid back down, book still in hand. After rereading the same line for the tenth time she finally gave in and closed her book. Unable to concentrate on what she was reading.
Rolling onto her side Rachel curled into her boyfriend who was laying on his back, reading like she had been.
She nuzzled her nose into his shirt, unsure what her goal was at the moment. Deciding to let him be, she just laid there, tracing small patterns on the edge of his stomach and along his side.
Richard smiled, letting her do as she pleased for the moment. When he finished the chapter a few minutes later he put the book down and glanced at her.
"You're going to burn holes in my shirt if you keep staring at it like that." He warned lightly. Turning onto his side he propped himself up on one arm and wrapped the other one around her.
Laying her head on his pillow she shrugged, one hand creeping up under his shirt.
Knowing what she wanted he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and sat up enough to take his shirt off.
She closed her eyes and sighed softly as he pulled her closer.
"Is that better?" She nodded, still not opening her eyes. His thumb rubbed soft circles on her cheek.
Leaning down he pressed a soft kiss against her neck, then on her cheek, her nose, and finally on her lips.
"Richard…"
She didn't know what to say, but he was patient and waited for her to talk when she was ready.
"Thank you for not leaving me, after everything that Roy did. You were there for me when I thought I was all alone."
Sitting up all the way Richard brought his hands up to his neck, slowly undoing the clasp. He looked at her over his shoulder, "Come here,"
Rachel sat up and moved forward a bit so she was sitting next to him. Lowering the chain in front of her, he brought it around her neck and clasped it.
"You are never alone Rachel. This once belonged to someone very special to me and was given to me when I needed it most." She turned to look at him, she had asked about the necklace when they had first gotten together but he wouldn't give her a straight answer back then. And she hadn't asked since.
"You don't have to do this Richie." She put a hand on his chest, the other fingering the warm metal around her neck.
"You're special to me baby, I care about you and want you to realize that no matter what happens you are not alone!"
Please review, they keep me going and encourage me to update!