Ciao my sweet little readers! FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER! MaaandaXOXO

Quick little warning before I jump into the story, this next chapter is going to be quite the emotional one and it may hit a spot with some of you. I'm giving you a heads up before you continue because the last thing I want to do is upset any of you.

XOXO

-M

Chapter 12: Confessions & Trials

Kim's POV

It was like throwing gasoline on a fire. Confessing my rape, my drug use, my pain, and my recent encounter with the guy who had caused all of it was like an explosion in my body. I hated every bit of it. I hated the way my head throbbed, the looks of pity I was receiving from every cop at the Seaford Police Station, and I hated feeling weak. I felt like a scared little child that lost their mother in a grocery store, or a frightened kid running away from a stupid clown. Why? That was all my mind could process anymore. Why was I so weak? Why was I so scared? Why did I even let this happen? None of that was like me. That was not Kim Crawford.

"Kim, I understand how hard this is for you, but I need to ask one more thing."

I was so emotionally exhausted and worn out that I didn't want to answer any more questions. But I looked up from the interrogation table and stared at the officer on the opposite side waiting for her to ask whatever it was she wanted to ask.

"Even if we catch this guy, we need you to take the stand if we have any hopes of putting him away. Are you going to be able to do that?"

A lump formed in my throat. Could I do that? Could I muster up the courage to stand in front of a room full of people and tell them everything I had been through, when I had already done it twice?

"Yes." I heard myself say. The woman smiled sadly and nodded her head in thanks. She was determined to put this asshole away just as much as I was, but I think she was even more determined to get me through it in one piece.

After what seemed like hours, they finally agreed to let Jack into the room with me. He quickly made his way over to the seat next to me and enveloped me into a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you Kim." He muttered into my shoulder.

"Thank you Jack, but I want you to know I really am ok." I said pulling away so that he could see my face and how serious I was when I said that. The smile on his face was enough to tell me he knew I meant it.

"Good Kim, I'm glad. You're a really strong person and I want you to remember that." He said as he pushed a strand of my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear.

"Alright Kim, you can go home now. We're going to begin the search tonight and we'll make sure every officer has a a sketch of the guy you described. As soon as we find him we'll bring him in and book him. Then the trial will begin once you can identify him for us." The officer informed me. I thanked her, along with several others who had helped me before leaving with Jack in toe. He wasn't leaving my side until Brandon was behind bars and he was positive I was safe.

When we finally got back to my house, I quickly changed into my pajama bottoms and Seaford Pep Squad shirt before climbing into bed and snuggling into my black and white comforter. Jack took my other blanket and my extra pillow, making himself a little bed on the floor right next to me. Once he was situated and laying down I leaned over to the night stand and shut my bedside lamp off.

"Night Kim." I heard Jack yawn. I giggled quietly. He was so cute when he was tired.

"Goodnight Jack." I replied before rolling onto my side and closing my eyes. It wasn't long before I felt my body being taken over by exhaustion. My mind slowly shut down and soon enough I was falling into a deep sleep. Exactly what I needed after a day like this.

The sound of breaking glass woke me up in an instant. I quickly yanked on the chain to my lamp but the light refused to come on. Just my luck. I looked down at the ground to check on Jack. The loud crash didn't seem to phase him and he continued to sleep soundly in his little made up bed. I attempted to calm myself, reassuring myself that I only dreamed about the loud noise.

"Kimmy." A voice whispered. I shot up out of bed this time, grabbing a large trophy from a nearby shelf and holding it tightly in my hand, ready to bash it over someone's head if necessary.

"Kimmy, oh Kimmy. Come here." The voice became louder outside the bedroom door. I didn't know whether to stay where I was and give whoever the voice belonged to a chance to come in, possibly hurting Jack in the process, or to walk towards it. As terrified as I was, I wanted to stay, but for some reason my legs found themselves pushing me towards the door. The closer I came to the pitch black hallway, the faster my heart began to pound.

"I knew you were a smart one." The voice said again before something grabbed a hold of my arm and slammed me into the wall, making me scream out in pain. I kept my eyes closed, partly from the splitting headache I was now experiencing and partly because I was afraid to see who was now pressed up against me.

"Open your eyes Kimmy. Look at me." I knew that voice. It was the voice of someone who had all the power in the world to rip me to pieces.

"Brandon, let go." I demanded as I squirmed under his hold trying to get his hands to release me. He was just so strong, and I was just so tired. He pulled me from the wall, only to slam me back into it again. I screamed again.

"Listen to me, Kimberly. No one cares about what I did. They only want to make you suffer more by talking about it. I could do it a thousand times more and it wouldn't phase anyone." He slide his hand down my arm and rested his hand along the waistband of my shorts. He began to fiddle with the hem of my shirt.

"You know Kim, it was that little fire in you that attracted me to you in the first place. I knew you were a spirited one, and I just couldn't stand that." He slowly began lifting my shirt off over my head. He threw it aside, leaving my upper half now bare. I tried to kick, but he blocked me easily.

"Jack! Jack, help me!" I screamed. Brandon laughed.

"Oh Kim, Jack can't help you. He wouldn't want to anyways. He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care if I pay for hurting you. You're just a charity case to him." He began kissing my neck, moving down to my shoulders, before placing a firm and aggressive kiss on my lips. He shoved his tongue into my mouth but it didn't stay there for very long before I bit down hard, making him pull away from me. I stood there frozen as he spit out a mouth full of blood. I darted for the door, but before I could make it into the room Brandon grabbed my hair and pulled me back, ripping out a hand full as I fell to the floor. I reached for the back of my head, feeling a sticky substance expanding over the back of my skull. Brandon stepped towards me kicking me in the chest forcing me to lay back down. I was on the verge of tears now. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't beat him in a fight, I couldn't get away, and the sleeping form of Jack was not moving whatsoever. I was stuck in this fucking shit situation again. Brandon climbed on top of me, an evil grin spreading across his stupid face. I knew what he was thinking, and just those thoughts made the tears I was trying so hard to fight back fall. I shut my eyes tightly.

"You're not real. This isn't real. This isn't happening. I'm safe. It's just a dream." I kept repeating over and over again.

"Oh trust me Kimmy, this is so real. This is so happening. You're not safe, and this isn't a dream." Brandon slammed his lips against mine again, this time successfully forcing his tongue into my mouth. I could taste the blood and all I wanted to do was vomit. His hand ran itself over my bare chest, squeezing my breast hard and painfully. I tried to free my arms again so I could hit him or scratch him or do something to get him off, but once again it was useless.

"Please stop." I softly begged as my face became masked in tears. It didn't phase him, he only found it more appealing.

"This time Kim, you're not getting away." He said as he ripped off my shorts. I screamed again. Over and over.

"Jack! Jack, please! Help me! He's hurting me! Jack!"

"Kim! Kim! Wake up!"

"Get off me!" I yelled at the person shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes and came face to face with Jack. His face expressed complete hysteria. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest as I wept over my sick and demented dream. I drenched in sweat, my head was two seconds away from exploding, and I was almost sure my heart was about to jump out of my chest.

"Shh. You're ok. Everything's fine. It was just a dream. I'm here." Jack comforted me as he stroked my hair and held me close. I continued to sob uncontrollably. Once again, I looked like a weak fuck. Shaken up over a stupid dream. Jack was becoming my hero more and more every second.

"I'm so weak." I mumbled into Jack's chest. Jack stopped stroking my hair and held me at arms length.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. I looked down at my lap.

"I'm weak Jack. I get scared over the most ridiculous things. I'm not even myself anymore because of this. I let this happen and now look at who I am." I hid my face with my hands embarrassed.

"Kim, you're crazy." Jack said. I frowned at him.

"Way to make me feel better." I responded sarcastically. Jack sighed before grabbing my hands and staring directly into my eyes.

"You're crazy because you think that. You're not weak Kim. You've never been weak. You're Kimberly Ann Crawford. Possibly the toughest, most inspiring person I've ever met in my entire life. You've been through something absolutely horrible. Something that makes a lot of people lose it, but you haven't. Yes, you've had your breakdowns. You've been depressed, you've coped in a harmful way, but you wanna know something Kim?" Jack paused. He placed his hand gently under my chin and lifted my head so that I was staring at him too.

"What?" I asked.

"You haven't given up. You've faced the monster. You've confessed. You've taken a stand against someone who has inflicted a large amount of pain on you, and possibly others. He hurt you. He tried to crush your spirit, but he hasn't. You're still the Kim you were three months ago. You're just having a tough time, and that's ok. You know what else is ok? Letting your friends help you. You don't need to do this alone. That doesn't make you weak. Crying doesn't make you weak. If anything, it just shows everyone how strong you are and how you're not afraid to let people know how you're feeling."

"Thanks Jack. You really are my hero." I smiled. He wrapped his arms around me again and held me against his chest as I let the last few tears fall.

"And you're mine." He whispered. I leaned back and kissed him on the cheek. Even in the dark I could see the blush rushing up on his face. I climbed back under the covers and brought them up to my chest. Jack began to make his way back to the floor but I quickly grabbed onto his arm pulling him back.

"Lay with me please? I'll sleep better with you next to me." I gazed up at him, hopeful that he'd stay. He hesitated for a second, probably debating whether or not it was ok to sleep in the same bed as me, but he soon crawled into bed with me and I happily snuggled up next to him.

Having Jack's arms around me did make me feel better. Knowing he was there gave my mind a reason to feel at ease and my body a reason to feel safe. I trusted Jack with everything. He would never hurt me. He would never take advantage of me, and that's what made everything so much easier.

Jack was always going to be there, and because of that, I had a reason to smile.

So the dream was definitely pretty hard for me to write. I struggled with it quite a bit because it was so horrible to even think about. I couldn't make it seem like she was healing so quickly though, because in reality things like that don't just go away.

Anyways, review :)