A/N- Okay so like for some reason my story has disappeared from the 13RW community archive of FF and I have no idea why and I'm a little peed off by it.

Chapter 15

It wasn't fair. The whole justice system was fucked up. Apparently you couldn't be charged or arrested if the authorities received an audio confession because it could have been performed under duress, so the evidence was considered tampered with or something stupid along those lines.

That's exactly what happened to Bryce Fucking Walker.

Hannah had told her parents, with Clay's support, about her rape by Bryce and Clay's efforts to get a confession out of the guy. They explained that was why Clay had come into their home beaten and bloody. As soon as Hannah and Clay had finished their tale, Hannah's parents had taken them to the police station to report the crime.

Yet despite confessions from both Hannah and Bryce himself on audio, and Hannah going to the authorities, there still wasn't sufficient evidence to support the case. Jessica still refused to come out about her own molestation, as she was worried about what her father would do.

Clay had felt like he was balancing on a thin wire for days after. He snapped at everybody and was sleeping less and less despite the drugs he was taking. Bryce had joined Clay's nightmares, and he was forced to relive the savage beat down at the hands of the sick bastard again and again like a video stuck on repeat.

Hannah wasn't fairing much better, and she had grown more somber and withdrawn than ever before unless she was with Clay. No one in their group felt particularly happy either, yet Tony had jokingly called themselves the 'Emo Squad.'

Justin had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth, and nobody knew where he had gone to. Not even Jessica, and she had become frantic in her search for him.

The one good thing about the whole fuck up is that nobody trusted Bryce anymore. When news of Hannah's charges against him drifted through Liberty High's halls, a lot of people started avoiding him. Every time he would walk into a room, kids would fall silent, as if they had just been talking about him (which they probably were) and watched him warily like a herd of deer watch a passive predator.

Bryce's parties were no longer considered 'epic,' and instead they were being called 'epic fails' because nobody bothered to show up, and it was infuriating the senior. Even his gang of lackeys avoided him, afraid that by associated with an alleged rapist their own reputations would be tainted. Because at the end of the day that's all teenagers at Liberty High cared about; their reputations.

Clay walked into the bathroom to find Tyler, perched up on top of one of the urinals, half his body sticking out the window with his camera to his face. The skinny teenager looked behind him to see Clay staring at him quizzically.

"Hey Clay," mumbled Tyler before he returned to whatever he was doing.

"Er, hey Tyler," replied Clay awkwardly.

Tyler took a few photos of whatever was outside before sighing and looking back at Clay. "What?" he said, looking annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing," answered Clay as he averted his eyes and did his business.

When he was finished Tyler was still up there. "What are you doing?" asked Clay.

"Nothing. Just yearbook stuff," said Tyler, not even bothering to look down at Clay.

"And you had to do it sitting on top of the urinal?" said Clay in disbelief.

"I'm trying to get a good angle," spat Tyler.

"Oh right. Very good angle I hope, might even be abstract. I admire your commitment," deadpanned Clay sarcastically as he shoved his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. He turned around to leave Tyler to his devices but he was stopped.

"Did Bryce do that to you?" called out Tyler.

"Do what?" asked Clay, turning back to Tyler.

"Your face. He beat you up," said Tyler, pointing at Clay's face.

"Oh uh... yeah. Yeah he did."

"Why?"

"I ripped him off," Clay lied.

Tyler snorted. "Yeah right. Or maybe it had something to do with why everyone thinks he's a rapist?"

"Dude. I was trying to do the right thing," argued Clay.

"Whenever you try to do the right thing somebody gets hurt."

"If I never did the right thing Hannah would be dead," snarled Clay and Tyler's eyes widened at what he had just said.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," said Tyler, his face full of shame.

"No, but you still said it," Growled Clay and without another word, he stormed out of the bathroom.

When he came into the Communications classroom, his face was red with anger. Hannah was the first to spot him and she raised an eyebrow, mouthing the words "Are you okay?" to him.

Clay nodded his head as he sat down. Mrs Bradley was going on about something, but Clay couldn't concentrate. What was Tyler doing taking photos from the men's bathroom? As far as Clay could remember the only thing outside of that window was a few trees and part of the parking lot. It just wasn't adding up.

The bell rang shortly after, and while Clay was packing his school books into his bag Hannah's hand grabbed his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, I just had a run in with Tyler in the bathroom," said Clay.

"What did he say?" said Hannah as the two stood from their desks and left the classroom.

"He didn't really say much. It was what he was doing that weirded me out," answered Clay. "Come on, I have to check something." He took Hannah's hand and led her outside. They walked around the building to where the outside wall of the men's bathroom was situated, and from there Clay turned and looked at their surroundings.

It was just as he had thought: there wasn't anything of note except for a shed where the sports gear was kept, a few trees and the end of the parking lot. Clay looked behind him back at the wall, and noticed that Tyler had closed the window shut.

"What are we looking at?" said Hannah curiously, though Clay could hear the worry as well.

"I'm not sure," murmured Clay.

What could Tyler have been photographing? It just didn't seem right and left Clay with a bad feeling in his gut.

"Come on, we have Calculus and if we don't get there in time Mr Sinclaire's gonna kill us," said Hannah, tugging Clay by the crook of his elbow.

Clay let Hannah drag him along, but that bad feeling never left him.

oOoOoOo

"Come on man, it'll be fun!" whined Zach.

"What do you mean, it'll be fun?" spat Clay in horror. "Don't you remember last year's Winter Formal? It was a disaster!"

"For you maybe, I got some pretty good action last year," boasted Zach as he brushed some invisible lint of his varsity jacket.

"I didn't need to know that," grumbled Clay. "Besides, aren't we a little early to be buying suits? They only announced it today."

"If you come in early, you get to look at all the good suits," said Zach wisely.

"And the most expensive."

"Dude, last year you didn't take Hannah. Now you can!" encouraged Tony in an effort to cheer Clay up.

"Yeah, but-"

"And you did mention you wanted to try again," added Alex.

"I know, but-"

"And I'm deejaying again this year, so you can request all the songs you want," called Tony from behind a shirt rack.

"But-"

"And Hannah's excited about it as well," continued Tony.

"We can all hang out together, though I'm pretty sure you and Hannah might want to sneak out early," said Zach, nudging Clay's shoulder with his elbow while he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Okay! I get it!" shouted Clay, feeling annoyed at his friends' pestering. "Let's just get me a suit and then get the fuck out of here."

"Language," scolded Tony.

"Dude, you say that word more than any of us here."

"No that's not true. Alex does," corrected Tony.

"I think it's fifty-fifty," said Alex, scrunching his face up while he tilted his hand from side to side.

"We're keeping tally?" drawled Clay.

"Oh stop being such a pill and try on some suits," said Zach in exasperation, shoving a navy-blue suit jacket into Clay's hands.

"I don't even know what I look good in!" whined Clay.

"Yeah, neither do I," said Alex thoughtfully. "Tony?"

"Why are you asking me? Is it because I'm gay?" sneered Tony.

"What? No it's just-" backpedalled Alex.

"Just kidding," laughed Tony. "I honestly have no idea though because your face is still fucked up. You might wanna find a shop assistant for that." His head swiveled around for a moment before he stopped and waved over a pretty red-haired woman in her mid-twenties. She must have been really good looking judging by the way Zach and Alex were gawking at her, but Clay didn't focus on other women's looks anymore, seeing as he had a very specific type of woman he liked.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" asked the lady politely, all smiles and cheeriness. Her name was Erin according to the name badge attached to her breast pocket.

"Our friend here-" said Zach, slapping Clay in the back so hard he stumbled forward, "-needs help choosing a suit."

"We would help him ourselves, but unfortunately our expertise doesn't cover the 'I just got my ass handed to me' look," added Alex with a grin.

"Guys, not cool," moaned Clay. Why did I let these assholes come with me again? he thought bitterly.

"Oh dear," said Erin, seeming to have only just noticed Clay's bruised face. "Well, it will be hard to pick out a decent suit but I'm sure we'll figure out something."

"In case you were wondering, he normally looks rather pale, like he hasn't seen the sun in months," said Alex, giving Clay a malicious grin.

"Dude! Seriously," yelled Clay in embarrassment.

"What? It's true," defended Alex.

"What about this one?" suggested Susan, grabbing a pitch black suit with a matching tie. "I think you'll look good in black."

"Told you he was Jon Snow," Zach stage whispered to Tony.

"Nah, he's Batman. Batman likes black," argued Tony.

"I can hear you," said Clay.

"Oh shut up and try on the suit," snapped Tony, waving his hands in the direction of the changing rooms.

Clay grumbled incoherently as he was handed a white shirt and black pants to go with the jacket, then he walked into one of the available cubicles. It took a few minutes to get dressed, tie the- well, tie, tuck the shirt into his pants and adjust his collar before he was able to get a look at himself in the mirror. Clay had to admit that even with his battered face, he looked pretty good.

The suit and pants fit his lean form snugly while also allowing room to breathe for his shoulders, and the tie was a shade of blue so dark it almost looked as black as the suit. When Clay stepped out of the cubicle, his friends grinned widely at him.

"Damn Clay! Hannah'll be busy fighting off the girls if you wear that!" whistled Zach approvingly.

"Not just girls," commented Tony. "No doubt Ryan will have a go at you."

"Do I really look that good?" said Clay disbelievingly.

"Well, except for your ugly mug, yeah you don't look too bad," joked Alex.

"Fine, I'll buy this then," decided Clay as he headed back inside the changing room.

Only Zach and Alex bought anything else, Tony having decided that as the DJ he didn't need to dress up. The four boys were too busy laughing and joking around to notice the boy approach them until Clay nearly ran into him.

"Jensen," said the boy as he lifted his gaze from the ground.

"Justin?!" said Clay incredulously.

Justin looked horrible. Heavy, dark bags hung from his eyes, which were bloodshot. His hair was matted and greasy and stuck out in all directions. His clothes looked a little worse for wear as well, and he smelt strange.

"Fuck dude, what happened to you?" exclaimed Zach, his face mirroring Clay's thoughts.

"I was..." Justin hesitated before saying "I was busy taking care of some shit."

"Are you okay?" asked Clay. Despite whatever he felt towards the boy who started Hannah's spiral downwards, he couldn't help but pity him.

"No," admitted Justin with a sigh. "I uh... I want to help."

"Help? Help how?" said Alex.

Justin looked Clay right in the eye when he spoke the next words.

"I want to help bring down Bryce."

Clay took a step back from Justin like he had just been punched. What the hell? Why would Justin Foley, the guy most adamant with keeping Hannah's story quiet, disappear for days and then show up saying he wanted to help?"

"Why?" asked Tony, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"I... I couldn't live with it anymore," confessed Justin. "I was the only one besides Hannah who was there when Bryce- when he..."

Clay didn't need to ask Justin what he was talking about to know.

"I love Jessica. And I can't hide it from her anymore," cried Justin, and Clay finally understood.

Justin was just as broken as Clay and Hannah, if not more so. While Clay and Hannah had the support of their families, friends and each other, Justin really didn't have anyone. Clay had heard about Justin's poor home life, and the friends he had found sympathy or doing what's right to be a weakness.

"You realise if you do decide to side with us and tell the authorities about what Bryce did, you could be charged with being an accomplice," warned Tony.

Justin's eyes widened then. "What? I- really?"

"Yeah," said Tony, and Clay had never seen such coldness come from his best friend.

Justin let out a deep breath. "Fine. Fine, whatever it takes," he agreed quietly.

"Come on man, let's get you home," said Zach, wrapping an arm around Justin's shoulder. "You can stay at my place for a few days."

Clay felt bad for not taking Justin's bad condition, but right now he didn't really care.

They were finally getting Bryce.

A/N- Not sure how the next chapter will go down to be honest, I've had to write and rewrite it so many times so don't expect another chapter for a couple of days. Sorry *bolts out of the room.*