Chapter 18
We Meet Again

As Randy was getting himself a beer at the bar, he heard a voice from behind him, and if he didn't know any better he would have thought it was the voice of an angel.

"Hi…"

The voice was barely a whisper, he was lucky he could even hear it to begin with. Randy turned around and his face went from a scowl to a smile almost instantly. He found it crazy that she still had that effect on him; crazy, but not surprising.

"Oh… hey…" He paused, his steel-blue eyes darted back and forth intensely.

"He's not here," her words made him stop his frantic search immediately and let out a breath of air he didn't even realize he was holding in.

"Oh… how'd you know-"

Raleigh cut him off again. "Just because we haven't been talking doesn't mean I still don't know you like the back of my hand." She smiled sweetly at him and he felt like all the anger from before had melted away.

"Well, to be honest, I'm wondering why you're talking to me now?" He questioned, eager to know the answer. Raleigh looked suddenly sad and a little frown even appeared on her pink glossed lips.

"Oh, if you don't want to talk then I can go," she turned to leave but there was no way in hell Randy was going to miss this golden opportunity.

"No, stay," he said with a warm smile. "I didn't mean it like that, I meant that after you've been ignoring me for so long, why talk now?" He stared at her awaiting a response when Raleigh shook her head and took his hand, leading him out of the deafening banquet hall. Randy followed obediently, a perplexed look on his face.

"Sorry, it was just too noisy in there." She shrugged her shoulders softly. The lobby was abandoned since everyone was inside drinking or dancing.

"It's okay, I like it out here better," Randy admitted honestly as he took a seat on an empty couch. To his surprise, Raleigh sat right next to him, letting out a sigh of relief. "Is something bothering you?"

"No. Yes, well maybe." The frown from earlier reinstated itself on her delicate features and Randy felt his own lips mimic hers. It still hurt him to see her in pain. "I just, I don't know. I'm kind of scared?"

"Scared?" He instantly felt worse than he did before.

"Yeah, it's hard to explain."

"Well," Randy set a hand down on her hand, rubbing it softly. His attempt to console her seemed to work at least a little when she looked him in the eyes and her mouth turned into a slight smile. "Can you try to explain?" he prodded. If she was scared of something he was going to protect her, whether she wanted him to or not.

"It's someone and it's only sometimes… never mind, it's stupid, really. I shouldn't have said anything at all." She placed her head in her hands and began to weep quietly, so quietly that Randy couldn't tell if she was crying or not. "I never should have bothered you, you don't care. You shouldn't… anyway." She mumbled from inside her hands.

"Hey," he pulled her hands away and held them tightly in his. She looked away and Randy felt more defeated. "Please look at me Rawls." With this, she turned back to him, her glossy eyes meeting his.

"You can just tell me to go to hell like I deserve." Randy was absolutely shocked and horrified that she would even think that he would ever say those words to her.

"Why would I tell you that? Ever? And why would you deserve to be treated that way?" He began to have a growing suspicion that someone was putting things into her head, and he would surely fix that problem given the opportunity.

"Because of how awful I was to you after the accident," Randy cringed as she spoke of the miscarriage from the car accident.

"Raleigh, I don't care what you've done, you don't deserve to have anyone talk to or treat you that way." As the tears finally started free falling from her eyes he felt like he was at a loss for words. He wanted so desperately to make her stop, but he just didn't know how to at this point. Suddenly, before he even knew what he was doing, he pressed his lips to hers, softly kissing her. She didn't push him away like he initially expected, and even began to kiss him back. He placed both of his hands gently on her face, deepening the kiss, wanting this reunion of their lips to last forever. But a few seconds later, not so much to his surprise, she pulled away.

"Randy, I can't." She told him, almost breathlessly.

"Raleigh, you have no idea how much I still love you." His confession made the tears that he had just rescued her from, come stinging back again.

"I told you already, I just need to be away from you to figure out my life and what I really want."

"Let me help you then," he pleaded with her, hoping she would cave. She looked deeply into his eyes and for a mere second it seemed like she was going to give in and say yes. But like clockwork Justin came around the side of the couch, startling them both.

"Come on Raleigh," he said, taking her by the hand and basically forcing her to stand up.

"I'll be up in a minute Just," she frowned when she saw the glare he was giving her. The worry was evident on her features and in her actions.

"Fine," he said with a huff and stalked off to the elevators.

"Raleigh, I know it's Justin you're afraid of, and I swear to God if he hurts you, I'll fucking kill him," he made sure his tone sounded more like a promise then a threat; although it was a good mix of both.

She nodded her head slowly, eyes wide as saucers. She had never heard or seen Randy so livid. She turned and headed towards the elevators, just like Justin had done previously, leaving Randy to ponder his thoughts alone. He knew Justin wasn't to be trusted, especially if he was high on cocaine like usual.

Randy glanced at where Raleigh once sat and noticed she had forgotten her handbag. He looked up about to yell out to her when he saw the elevator doors shut.

"Damn," he whispered under his breathe. He figured he could just give it to her the next time he saw her, which would most likely be later in the night. He gingerly plucked her hand bag and stood up. He sighed, feeling defeated and slightly more heartbroken. He felt his pocket and fumbled around until his found his cigarettes and lighter. He abandoned his seat and went outside, loosening his tie once he was actually out there. He set Raleigh's handbag on the gardening ledge behind him. As he cupped his hand over his mouth to light the cigarette, he heard someone approaching him from behind.

"Mind if I smoke with ya?"

Randy nodded his head and exhaled, emptying his lungs of the smoke. He already knew who was asking to join him just by the accent.

"I thought you gave this filthy habit up?" Wade titled his head down, lighting his cigarette in a similar fashion as his pal.

"I did, for Raleigh, since she's allergic." He blew out another puff of smoke, observing it swirl into the night air.

"Ahh," the reason was obvious to Wade as to why Randy had went back to it. "If it's any compensation, I'd much rather see you snogging with her then that bloody asshole Justin." Randy snapped his head towards his raven haired friend.

"You saw them kissing?"

"Yeah, she didn't seem to be enjoying it though."

"Ugh," Randy let out a groan of disgust. He couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach even thinking about his hands on her.

"I'd be careful, that bloak is known to get out of control when he mixes alcohol and coke; turns into a crazy motherfucker." Wade gave Randy a sideways glance, he didn't want to set his friend off, just warn him.

"What have you heard?" Randy was quickly becoming worried, if he tried anything on Raleigh there would be no way she could over power him.

"He's tried to rape a few girls in different cities, only when he's drunk and high though," he paused for a moment, exhaling some smoke, "not to say that's any excuse though… bastard. All the girls dropped the charges, I assume he paid them off."

"Do you know if he's been drinking tonight?"

Wade could sense Randy's concern growing and didn't know how to respond.

"I'm not sure. I think? But I haven't really seen him much tonight."

"Fuck," Randy stubbed out his cigarette quickly and grabbed Raleigh's purse off of the ledge. "I gotta go." He called to Wade as he ran through the double doors of the hotel.

"Call me if ya need me!" Wade yelled back to him, hoping he'd heard him.

Once inside, Randy racked his brain trying to figure out who would know the room the 'couple' would be staying in. As he entered the party room again the thought crept into his mind. His stomach was in knots, making him feel nauseous at the mere idea that they could be a couple. Randy looked down at the hand bag and wanted to slap himself. She would obviously have a room key in here. He exited the room again and opened her bag. Shuffling through all of her belongings, he finally found what he was searching for. He flipped the shiny card over and read the number printed on it.

326. Bingo.

Randy raced up the stairs, figuring his legs could get him there faster than the elevators. He skipped two steps at a time, determined to rescue Raleigh. He didn't even know if she was in trouble, but he wasn't about to chance it after what Wade had just told him. He sprinted down the hall and paused in front of room three-two-six. He inhaled deeply and pressed his ear to the door. At first he could only hear a muffled voice, unsure of whom it actually belonged to. A few moments later he heard something that made him gasp for air, and his blood run cold.

"Please, stop! Get off me!"

Randy took a step back as confusion, shock, and anger all flooded through his veins.

Raleigh was being raped.