Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or the songs used in this chapter. The songs are property of Halestorm.

Maslover4ever: I'm still writing, I'm still writing! Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it :)

Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts! You guys rock!

A/N: This is one of those chapters that I wrote out all in one sitting. This has Katie's plan in it, so you guys will get to see that. This was a chapter that I was both excited and dreading writing, but in the end I think it turned out okay. :) Not a lot else I think I need to say, just that there will be one more chapter after this, and then the epilogue. This story is coming to a close, guys! It's insane! :D

Warnings: Language, mentions of abuse, and sexual innuendos.

Edit 3/15/14: I don't know how many of you have heard of SOPA, but it stands for Stop Online Piracy Acts. If it goes through, it'll get rid of fanfiction, fan art, fan videos, and a lot more. There's a petition going around and since I posted the link on my profile, hopefully it'll show up. If it doesn't, please take a couple of minutes to look it up and sign it. I'm trying to post the link with the spaces, but it just isn't working. We only have until March 19th. Please help!

Enjoy the chapter :)


Chapter Nineteen – Setting the Trap

Katie's POV

The next few weeks passed by quietly. Zach stayed low, keeping his mouth shut although I would occasionally catch him sending James and me dark looks, promising revenge. I wasn't too concerned, however. I knew that no matter what he did, I wasn't going back to him. And besides, James had already made it very clear that he would protect me no matter what. I just wished I could say the same thing about him.

In early November, Dalton Prep held Parents' Weekend. The main purpose of Parents' Weekend was to show off just how good of a job the school was doing with the offspring of the Midwest elite. Every year, parents would reserve rooms at the various hotels and motels in Dalton so that they could spend a couple of days hanging out with their kids and talking with the teachers. We were all supposed to be on our best behavior, and if we had any academic accomplishments, then by all means – we were supposed to show them off.

"Is your mom and stepdad coming to Parents' Weekend?" James asked me as we sat in the Huddle, working our way through homework the Thursday before parents were due to arrive.

"They're planning on it," I said, jotting something down in my notebook as I skimmed through my textbook. "What about your mom? Is she coming?"

"She's not planning on it. She's going to be in New York this weekend. My dad and Kimberly are going to be coming, though."

My head snapped up and I stared at him. "What're you going to do?"

"About what?" he asked, highlighting a couple of sentences in his textbook.

"About your stepmom."

"I was planning on just staying clear of her. Unless you have a better idea?"

"Set up a sting," I suggested. "Get her to come onto you while wearing a recording device. Turn your phone on record like I did with Zach, and then show the evidence to the cops. Get her to admit what she did to you when you were younger."

"I don't know…" He sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"What's the worst that could happen? James, she needs to be punished. What if she's done this to other boys?" I said quietly. "What if it's not just you? Don't sexual molesters make a habit out of it? Because that's what she is," I added firmly when he opened his mouth. "She's a molester, a sex offender. There's something seriously fucked up in her head for her to go after a twelve year old boy. You're seventeen years old. You're too young to have to deal with that much trauma and bullshit. She should be locked up for life for what she did to you. And do you really want to put another boy at risk? It could be anyone, James. It could be one of your dad's neighbors. Maybe the paper boy. Anyone. Or maybe she'll switch to girls. Do you want a girl like me to end up at her mercy? Is that what you want?"

I knew I had pushed him too far by the way his fingers clenched tightly around his pencil. He was going to explode, I could feel it coming. He was a ticking time bomb, just waiting for the clock to run out.

We hadn't talked much about what he had revealed to me the night we had slept together for the first time. Mostly it had consisted of vague mentions, followed by one of us abruptly cutting the other one off. While we had continued to sleep together on a regular basis – no complaining there – the in depth conversations were down to a bare minimum. While James had no problems with talking to me about my dad, asking me questions about him, listening to me reminisce about him, he closed up at the mention of his stepmom. I knew she was the last person he wanted to talk about, but something needed to be done about her, and he was the only one who could put anything into motion.

I didn't want him to push me away and I was terrified that that was what was going to happen if I kept bringing Kimberly up, but I was also scared about what was going to happen if he let her keep on controlling his life like this. I couldn't just stand by and watch as she walked all over him when she wasn't even within a hundred miles of the school. That wasn't fair and that wasn't right. I wanted her out of the picture, and obviously James did. He was just so traumatized that he was scared to do anything about her.

But where did that leave us? What was Kimberly going to do when she realized that James was finally in a relationship with someone? I couldn't help but wonder if I had anything to be afraid of…or if she was just simply going to take her anger out on James. I kept waking up at night, heart racing and body dripping sweat from dreams where a faceless woman stood in front of James, aiming a gun at him and saying, "If I can't have you, then no one can," and shooting him in the chest.

I was terrified of losing him, and at this point in time, it seemed like a distinct possibility. I couldn't let James fall victim to her again.

I set my homework aside and instead reached over, taking his hand in mine. "I can't lose you, James. I don't know what she's capable of and I'm scared that she's going to do something that's going to take you away from me forever. Please do this for me. Please," I added, my voice cracking in desperation. "Don't let her win."

He let out a deep sigh. "What if no one believes me?"

"They will. This time you're going to get solid proof and they won't be able to call you a liar. I'm not going to let them. Please, Jamie. Stand up to her."

James finally nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. But only because you said please."

I smiled. "Okay. That's all I want. Thank you." I kissed him quickly before turning back to my homework. Within ten seconds, however, I knew I wasn't going to be able to focus. I was too restless. "How about we get out of here?" I suggested. "Go back to your room or something."

"What do you want to do?" he asked. "Carlos will probably be back in our room before long, if he's not already there."

I bit my lip. "You could show me old pictures from when you were little. I haven't seen any. I don't even know what you looked like when you were a kid."

He smiled a little. "Come on." He helped me to my feet and we gathered our stuff together, before heading off towards Bastille Hall. Once we were inside, we took the elevator up to his room and slipped inside. He flicked on the light and I surveyed the empty room. There were two twin beds with quilts tossed over them in an attempt at neatness. Crumpled up pieces of notebook paper laid on the floor, and I could see a CD case peeking out from under James' bed.

I knelt down, picking it up and smiling a little. It was a mixed CD with 2007 written across it. "Man, this thing's old. I didn't know you made mixed CDs."

"I don't. Not often, anyway," he said, taking the CD from me and examining it. "I make playlists now instead. It's just easier that way, you know? But yeah, I used to make CDs of my favorite songs. At the end of the year, I would burn a CD with all of my favorite songs of that year."

"Do you still do that with playlists?" I asked curiously, sitting on his bed.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You want to see?"

"Sure."

He passed me his iPod and I got into playlists, scrolling through them. I clicked on one that was unnamed and hadn't been saved yet, and carefully worked my way through the songs. Some songs stood out to me, like "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional and "Anywhere but Here" by Mayday Parade. They were both slightly older songs, but that wasn't surprising. I had seen a Nirvana song earlier on in the playlist, and they were from the '90s.

At the very bottom of the playlist were two songs by Halestorm. I remembered James mentioning them to me on the car ride to Westchester, only the song I had heard by them had been loud and heavy metal. These two songs didn't sound like metal, though.

Before I could make a comment to James, there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," he called, and one of the guys who I knew lived down the hall from him poked his head into the room.

"I need your help," he said sheepishly. "Calculus is kicking my ass. Could you come and take a look at my homework?"

"Sure…" James said slowly, looking at me hesitantly. "You going to be okay in here for a little while?"

I nodded, smiling at him. "Go help him. I'll be waiting when you get back."

"Okay." He got to his feet and headed out of the room, closing the door behind him. I paused for a moment, before grabbing the earbuds lying on his desk and plugging them into his iPod. I stuck them in my ears and hit the first song:

"'Let me in your room
I've seen the rest of you
But I know there's something more in your room
I'm right outside your door
Show me things you've never shown before

A few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
All you have to do, is let me in your room
You can be yourself
You don't have to hide from me I won't tell
I know everyone you've ever trusted has let you down
And you don't want to come out
And show me, show me

A few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
All you have to do, is let me in your room

You know every part of me
I let you in, I let you see
All the dark and every color of my room
Let me do that for you
And tell me all about your past
Why you painted those walls black
Baby it's all right you're safe in here with me
Open up so I can see a few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
An unopened letter from your dad
A poster of your favorite band
It don't matter, I'll take every part of you
All you have to do is let me in your room

Let me in your room."

I was almost crying by the time the song ended, fighting back tears. The lyrics were beautiful, and they reminded me so much of James. It wasn't just because he had the song on his iPod – they described us so perfectly, and I found myself wondering if he had thought of me when he had added the song.

Before I could think about it too much, the next song began.

"'Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home
When it's all said and done I'll follow echoes
I hear you night after night calling out my name
And I find myself running to meet you
I didn't want to escape
From the bricks that I laid down

You are the only one
The only one that sees me
Trusts me and believes me
You are the only one
The only one that knows me
And in the dark you show me
Yeah it's perfectly reckless
Damn you leave me defenseless
So break in
Break in

You let me fall apart without letting go
Then you pick up the pieces and you make me whole
I didn't want to escape
From the bricks that I laid down

You are the only one
The only one that sees me
Trusts me and believes me
You are the only one
The only one that knows me
And in the dark you show me
Yeah it's perfectly reckless
Damn you leave me defenseless
So break in

And take everything I have
Until there is nothing left
Until it's just your voice in my head
And when the lights come on
You see me as I am
You're still inside me

You are the only one
The only one that sees me
Trusts me and believes me
You are the only one
The only one that knows me
And in the dark you show me
Yeah it's perfectly reckless
Damn you leave me defenseless
So break in
Break in

Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home'."

I bit my lip as the song ended. That song was…wow. I couldn't even think of a suitable word for it. Just that it fit James so well. The lyrics described him beautifully, and this time I really did begin crying, tears streaming silently down my face even as I struggled to get myself under control. I didn't want James to come back to his room to find me crying over a song on his iPod. That wouldn't say anything for my sanity, and I wasn't sure he could understand. I was pretty sure it was just simply a girl thing. Probably.

I reached for a tissue and blew my nose, dabbing at my eyes and tossing it in the trashcan just as his dorm room door swung open once more. James stepped inside, but paused when he saw me with puffy eyes, obviously hooked up to his iPod.

"Don't ask," I mumbled, rubbing the heel of my hand over my eyes. "It's a girl thing."

"Which songs were you listening to?" he asked, kicking the door shut and crossing the room to me. I silently passed him his iPod and his eyebrows rose. "I know they're girl songs but I – "

"Could relate to them?" I said quietly.

"I – yeah." He sat down on the bed beside me.

"I like the songs," I told him softly. "They fit you."

"They fit us," he corrected me.

"Yeah. Yeah, they do," I agreed.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," I assured him. "Now, if I remember correctly, you had some old pictures to show me."


James' POV

"Are you nervous?" Katie asked me the next afternoon as we walked towards the dining hall, where we were supposed to meet our parents. "About seeing Kimberly?"

"Not really. I just want this to be over with," I admitted. "And I'm a little freaked out by what her reaction to you might be."

She took my hand, squeezing reassuringly as we neared the dining hall. "It'll be fine. And hey, now you can meet my mom and stepdad without even having to come home with me for Thanksgiving dinner." She flashed me a cheerful smile.

"Should I be scared? Anything I should know about them? I mean, I did take their little girl's innocence."

"Okay, first of all, don't tell them that. That is a really bad way to make a first impression," she informed me. "And second, just be your usual charmingly adorable self. They won't be able to resist you." Katie reached up, pinching my cheek, and I whined.

"Come on! I have a reputation here to uphold."

She grinned. "I hate to break it to you, bad boy, but your reputation was shot to pieces the second we started dating."

"There's the dark side of dating you."

She smacked me. "Shut up. You love dating me."

"The sex is pretty awesome."

"Not what I was going for, but I have to agree. Then again, I don't exactly have the experience to compare sexcapades."

I growled, wrapping my arms around her waist. "And you never will."

Her grin widened. "Is that a promise?"

"It's an oath."

"Then make it happen." She reached up so that she could circle my neck with her arms and drag my lips down to hers. I pulled her closer, hands still on her waist as I slipped my tongue into her mouth. She moaned, gripping my hair and tugging as she tried to push closer.

"Ahem – and – oh, look, it's Katie making out with her new boyfriend, who's actually a really nice and totally virginal guy…" Kendall's voice cut through my brain and I pulled away from Katie. She whined, but her eyes widened.

I turned around to find Kendall standing there with a pretty redheaded woman and a tall man with light brown hair. I knew from seeing family pictures that these two were Katie's mom and stepdad.

Well. This was awkward.

"Hi, Mom!" Katie chirped as if she hadn't just been caught making out with a guy her mother had never even met. "This is my boyfriend, James. James, this is my mom, Jenn, and my stepdad, Andrew."

"Nice to meet you," I said to them, shaking their hands in turn. "Sorry about that…that really isn't how I thought I was going to meet you guys."

Katie grinned. "I mauled him. He never had a fighting chance."

"Oh dear God…" Kendall rolled his eyes. "I'm going back into the dining hall, away from all this disgustingness. I'm not standing up for you and James anymore, not when you're digging your own damn grave." He stomped back into the dining hall, leaving Katie and me alone with her mom and stepdad.

"It's nice to meet you, James," Jenn said to me with a sweet smile. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Good things or bad things?"

"Good things. Katie really likes you, you make her very happy."

"Oh. Um…" I wordlessly followed her and Andrew into the dining hall, with Katie walking beside me, smiling widely. I paused, however, when I spotted my dad and stepmom sitting at one of the tables at the far end of the room, chatting with a couple of other parents.

Katie followed my gaze, and her eyes hardened. She took my hand, squeezing it again. "Do you want to introduce me to them, or…?"

"Yeah." I squared my shoulders. "Come on, let's do this."

"Do what?" Andrew asked, glancing over his shoulder at me.

"Oh, he's going to introduce me to his dad and stepmom," Katie said casually. "They're not the nicest people in the world, so he's a little nervous. But everything's going to be fine," she added firmly to me.

"God, let's hope so." As we walked across the room together, I could feel eyes boring into the back of my skull. I looked around and spotted Zach Wilder glaring at me from where he was sitting with a blond man and woman who could only be his parents. I waved at him cheerfully and he flashed his middle finger at me in response. Rude.

Katie and I reached my dad and Kimberly, Katie gripping my hand a little more tightly as we approached.

Dad looked up at me from where he was sitting. "It's about time you came to find us," he told me, getting to his feet so that he could hug me. I hugged him back but pulled away after a moment. "Who's this?" he nodded at Katie.

I entwined my fingers with hers. "This is my girlfriend, Katie," I said brightly. "Katie, this is my dad, Jacob, and my stepmom, Kimberly."

Kimberly's eyes narrowed at the introduction. She was a tall blonde, slender woman, with crystal blue eyes. She had been right all those years ago – so many boys would have loved to be with her. It was unfortunate that she had chosen the one boy who didn't want to sleep with her. Following our first encounter, there had been moments when I had tried to convince myself that I really did want to be with her, that I was lucky to have someone like her want to sleep with me. But I wasn't very good at lying to myself at that point in time, and I hadn't managed to convince myself. The situation was just too fucked up and I was too smart to believe that everything was okay. And considering the fact that she had been forcing me to do things that I hadn't been ready to do, I knew something was seriously wrong.

"So," she finally said crisply. "You actually have a girlfriend. Congratulations."

"Thanks." I pulled Katie a little bit closer as if I could protect us both from her icy gaze. There was no doubt about it, she was going to make trouble for both of us. But Katie and I had a plan, and we weren't going down without a fight.

"She's pretty," Kimberly said after another long pause. "But not your usual type."

"I don't have a type," I corrected her, my grip on Katie tightening. I was probably going to end up cutting off her air circulation if I didn't relax. "Or maybe I just never got the chance to find out."

We stared at each other unblinkingly for a long moment, and then she looked away. "Well," she said, voice dripping with honeyed sweetness and swimming with the promise of poison, "I'm just glad you finally found someone you can be with."

"So am I."

Katie smiled and kissed my cheek, before turning my face so that she could press her lips to mine. "He's wonderful," she said once she had pulled back. "The perfect boyfriend. And," she added when my dad's head was turned, submerged in conversation with one of the hockey player's fathers, "so good in bed." She winked conspiratorially at Kimberly before I dragged her away, back towards where her family was now sitting.

"What the hell?" I cried. "You're going to piss her off and then she's really going to go bat shit crazy."

"I couldn't help it," she said sheepishly. "Just her looking at you pisses me off. She shouldn't have the right."

"That's what this plan is for. And after what you just said, it's probably going to work a little too well."

"Okay, new plan," Katie said. "Send me a text if Kimberly approaches you and I'll get Carlos, Logan, and Kendall to come with me and we'll be waiting if she tries something."

"I don't want to involve Carlos, Logan, and Kendall," I argued. "I told you, I don't want anyone but you to know. Hell, I don't even want you to know!"

"I know," she soothed, "but I don't think we have a choice here. I won't go into details, I'll just make sure they get the basic gist of it. We need to take precautions here."

"Okay," I relented. "But I don't want you to be alone at anytime. Kimberly is psychotic. Who knows what the hell she might do to you?"

"Wow, a psychotic stepmom. That's never been written about before," she snorted.

"Come on, let's go hang out with your nice, normal, relatively sane family."

It wasn't until that evening that Kimberly approached me. I was sitting at my desk after dinner, trying to finish up some homework that my history teacher had assigned to the class a couple of days ago, when there was a knock on my door.

I straightened up, tensing at once, before grabbing my phone and prepping it so that I could text Katie if need be. "Come in."

The door opened, and Kimberly sauntered in, closing and locking the door behind her.

"The door stays open," I told her firmly as I texted Katie, "Bitch n my rm! Cum qk!" I sent the text and quickly switched my phone to recording mode before slipping it back into my jeans pocket. I stood up and walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it, but Kimberly slithered between me and the door, using her weight to close it once more.

"What's the matter, Jamie?" she purred, trailing a finger up and down my chest. "Are you afraid of me? Or are you afraid of what might happen if your bitch girlfriend catches us together?"

I pushed her away, back into the door. "There is no us, Kimberly. You're a child molester."

She snorted, following me back to my desk. "You're hardly a child, James. You're seventeen, practically a man. Actually, the last time we were together, you were definitely a man," she purred. "I miss that. Your father doesn't satisfy me nearly enough, not the way you do."

"Maybe if you forced yourself on him," I suggested sarcastically. "That might get you off."

"I think it has more to do with how handsome and strong and big you are," she replied, slipping her hands under my t-shirt and placing her hands on my stomach. "And so fucking muscular."

After years of being at Kimberly's mercy, my body was used to freezing up whenever she touched me, and this time was no exception. Even as I shoved her away from me, I could feel myself beginning to panic as memories from past encounters flashed through my mind. I had to get myself and this situation under control, otherwise I was going to have to live through the memories again. And I couldn't do that, not ever again.

"Go back to the hotel you're staying at," I told her wearily. "I'm not in the mood for any of your shit."

"Were you ever in the mood for it?" she wanted to know. "I will say this, your little slut girlfriend was right – you've always been good in bed. I'm jealous, though." She pouted up at me, tossing her hair out of her face. "I knew you slept with other girls, but I didn't really think you would begin dating any of them. I didn't think any of them would ever be with you repeatedly. Didn't I tell you when I took your virginity that you're mine, and mine alone."

"I'm not yours," I snarled, stalking towards the door. "I'm Katie's. She's the only one I want to be with. I never wanted to be with you, Kimberly! You forced yourself on me! You did it for years and you're still the same manipulative, fucked up bitch that you always were. Now, get the hell out of my room!" Before I could yank the door open, however, she blocked my path again, this time pushing me towards the bed.

"You don't talk to me like that," she growled, shoving me on the bed. She was so much stronger than she looked, it was amazing. "I'm your elder. Do you understand me?"

"You're a rapist and a molester."

"I said, do you understand me?!" she straddled me, holding me down. "It's too bad I didn't bring the handcuffs I used over the summer. They were so effective for getting you to stop fighting me."

I grabbed her wrists, rolling her off of me and sitting up. "Just stay the hell away from me!" I yanked the door open, and Katie, Kendall, Carlos, and Logan all stumbled into the room. There was a moment where they stared at me and I stared back at them, before I pushed past them and out the door, into the hall and into the elevator. The second the elevator doors slid open, I stalked out into the lobby and shoved my way through the doors. I didn't stop walking until I had reached the middle of the empty courtyard, where I finally collapsed on a bench, my head whirling and spinning from the past five minutes.

I let out a deep breath, before reaching into my jeans pocket and pulling out my phone to stop the recording. I replayed it before saving the recording and shoving it back into my pocket.

Before I could even begin to get my thoughts together, Carlos dropped down on the bench beside me. "Katie's gone to get chamomile tea," he told me quietly.

"I don't want chamomile tea," I responded gruffly.

"Well, too fucking bad, because I think you need it. Dude…" he looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. "Why didn't you ever tell me what she was doing to you? I mean, when you told me she was abusing you some of the pieces started fitting together, and then Katie said she had been sexually abusing you, but she didn't go into details. I didn't realize it was that bad."

"Sexual abuse is always bad," I retorted.

"Yeah, but from the sounds of it…it was beyond horrible. Handcuffs? How old were you when it started?"

"Carlos, I really don't want to talk – "

"Too bad. You're talking about it. Kendall and Logan are escorting your dear stepmother back to the hotel, and they're going to tell your dad what she did."

"He won't believe them. He never believed me, so why the hell would he believe two teenage boys he doesn't even know?"

"Katie said you recorded what happened with her. You have proof now. And the rest of us heard enough to back up your story."

"Great." I rested my elbows on my knees, staring out at the dark courtyard. "That's just what I need, more people knowing what happened."

"We were there in case something really did happen. From the sounds of it nothing happened tonight, but…James, you need therapy. What she did to you was beyond horrible. You need help because you've been through so much trauma. When did it even start?"

"When I was twelve," I said dully. "She came onto me and wouldn't back off."

"And when she – you know – took your virginity?"

"I was thirteen, almost fourteen."

He let out a low whistle. "That explains so much. James…I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"But I should have known that something was off. I just thought you were upset that your dad had remarried and your mom had practically abandoned you for a couple of years. I didn't realize – "

"You wouldn't have. It's not your fault. It's Kimberly's."

"Still…I'm so sorry…"

Before I could tell him to stop saying that, Katie approached us, carrying a to-go cup of tea from the coffee stand in the Huddle. "Here you go," she said, handing it to me. "And don't look at me like that," she added when I glowered at her. "You need it. Anyway." She sat down on my other side. "Did you get the recording?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Next question. Are you okay?"

"Hunky dory."

Carlos pressed his lips together and got to his feet. "I'm going to go disinfect our room," he announced. He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before walking away.

"You never mentioned handcuffs," Katie said quietly once he was out of earshot.

I took a sip of tea. "It never came up."

"Well, it explains how she managed to overpower you once you started filling out."

"I suppose."

"James…" she sighed. "Do you want to take the recording to the cops tonight?"

I paused, before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I just want this to be over with."

"Okay, come on." We got to our feet and she led me towards the student parking lot. I inhaled deeply as I got into my car. It was almost over with. Almost.


Katie's POV

James was quiet on the ride home, not saying a single word, but that didn't surprise me. The night had been way too long for both of us, but it had been especially trying for him. We had submitted the recording to the Dalton police force, and once they had heard it they had begun to ask James questions before having him fill out a bunch of paperwork. I stayed with him the entire time, not saying much but occasionally getting up so that I could grab him a cup of coffee.

It was almost two in the morning by the time we pulled into the student parking lot. James had gotten a text a couple of hours ago from Carlos, stating that he was staying in Logan's room that night, so we headed up to their dorm room.

We had just stepped inside when James' phone went off. He pulled it out and accepted the call. "Hey, Dad…" He winced a moment later, holding the phone away from his ear and I could hear Mr. Diamond yelling furiously. After a moment, the yelling subsided and James put the phone back up against his ear. "I can't believe this. You're actually saying that? I told you when I was fourteen what was going on, or I tried to anyway! You beat the shit out of me! Man, this must really suck for you, having to admit that the lying, rebellious, fucked up son was telling the truth all along. You know what, you can suck it. Have fun visiting your wife in prison." He hung up, chucking his phone across the room. It landed on Carlos' bed innocently, and James collapsed on his own bed, burying his face in his hands. "Kimberly was arrested," he said quietly. "And Dad's now saying that I never told him what was going on. He's blaming this whole thing on me. God. What kind of father does that?"

"A truly screwed up one," I told him, wrapping my arms around him. "But she was arrested? Then it's over. You'll never have to deal with her again. You did it, you beat her."

He didn't say anything, and after a moment I felt his body shaking violently, choked sobs coming from his throat. I leaned back against his pillows, pulling him with me. He laid his head against my chest, clutching me tightly as he cried himself to sleep.


So, another intense chapter, huh? Did you guys like it? Love it? Hate it? Enjoy it? Please review and let me know! And thank you for reading :)