Well, I promised an update when I hit 90 and I'm at 92 right now so here is the chapter you all have been waiting for!! For all the people that left their first reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad y'all are enjoying this! And of course, a huge thanks to all my repeated reviewers--you guys are amazing and I'm glad you are sticking with me through every new chapter.
I want to hit 100 reviews on this chapter, and I know I can count on all of you to help me get there!
In a last ditch effort to try to get Justin to stop his assault, Mikaela tried to bait him. If it was just a physical assault, she could have handled it. A jealous asshole who couldn't handle rejection hardly compared to the slap from her own father on Thanksgiving, even if the physical abuse was worse this time around. The mental aspect of her father hitting her was far worse than Justin's slap or slamming her up against the wall. However, Justin wasn't content on slapping her around. He wanted to sexually assault her, and the knowledge terrified Mikaela to the point of not being able to fight him as hard as she wanted to. What happened to adrenaline rushes in extreme situations? She felt like she was weighted down with sand bags.
"Sam will kill you when he finds out about this," She said hoping he didn't know they'd broken up.
"Witwicky dumped you because you're a little whore. Why the fuck would he come after me? I know all about you fucking your ex when he was out of town at a wedding. He's not going to protect you this time, sweetheart," Mikaela tried to knee him in the groin, but he was expecting it and sidestepped it. Justin forced her legs apart and stood between them so she couldn't try again.
"Damn it, Justin, you don't have to do this! You're hurting me!"
"Honey, this is all your fault. What is it that that loser Witwicky has that I don't?" Justin gave her an evil smile and trailed his knuckles down the side of her face. "Nobody rejects Justin Daniels, and you're stupid to think you could. I'm gonna make you pay for humiliating me."
"I love Sam. Sam is more of a man than you will ever be," Mikaela spat. "You're not even a real man. You're just a fucking sick, selfish asshole that can't handle it when you can't have what you want!"
Justin slammed her up against the wall again and she gave up fighting knowing it would all be over quicker if she just made it easy for him. He let go of her hands when he felt the fight leave her and she closed her eyes to try to block it all out when he pushed her pants down. Part of her felt like she deserved this punishment for what she'd done to Sam, but the logical part of her brain knew Justin was just a sick bastard. Her shirt ripped and Mikaela had to keep from recoiling away from him when his lips touched her breasts. The sound of Justin undoing his zipper sounded as if it was amplified and it was all she could hear. The music blaring downstairs faded away, and she accepted that this was going to happen and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Mikaela was bracing herself for what came next, but it never happened. One second Justin was crushing her with his weight so that it was hard to breathe, and the next the weight was lifted. She opened her eyes to see Sam standing before her with a horrified look on his face before the fury took over and he pounced on Justin. She watched him pummel Justin before closing her eyes and trying to get her racing heart under control. Her arms hugged her waist as all of her emotions collided together and she started shaking uncontrollably.
A hand reached out to touch her, and she nearly tripped as she jumped to get away from the contact. Opening her eyes, Mikaela realized it was Sam who had reached for her and she saw the concern for her written all over his face. When he reached for her again, she didn't think twice about falling into his arms and he gently rocked her. Subconsciously she knew Justin still lay beaten and bloody on the floor next to them, but she couldn't look at him. Sam stepped back to look at her and his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. He yanked off his sweatshirt and pulled it over her head to cover her shredded shirt. His movements were slow, so cautious was he not to hurt her.
"God, 'Kaela, are you okay?" She'd never heard so much emotion in his voice before.
"Can you…will you just take me home?" Mikaela whispered. Sam wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her downstairs. She kept her head down as they fought their way through all the people on the main floor because she knew there were still handprints on her cheek. They had made it to the front door when she heard Christian call her name, but they didn't stop until they were outside. Christian followed them outside and gasped when Mikaela finally lifted her head.
"Oh my God, Mik, what happened?" Christian hugged her tightly.
"Justin…he tried to…and he almost did…I couldn't stop him…then Sam found me…Chris, I was so scared," Mikaela was still so shaken she couldn't form a complete sentence and started sobbing into her best friend's shoulder.
"Fuck, baby, I'm so sorry," Christian whispered and held her tighter. "Do you want me to take you home?"
"No, Sam's going to take me. You stay here with Leo. Try to have fun for me, will you?"
"The only fun I'm going to have is finding that twisted son of a bitch and cutting him apart limb from limb," Christian said bitterly.
"I already took care of it," Sam said darkly.
"You go home and let Sam take care of you. Don't try to be strong and push us away. We're here for you darlin', no matter what," Christian kissed Mikaela on the forehead. "I'll come find you as soon as we get home. We probably won't be out that late."
Christian hugged Mikaela one more time before letting her go back to Sam and watched him walk her to the car. Sam helped her into the Camaro before jumping in the driver's seat and getting her as far away from that house as he could. He knew it technically wasn't his fault, but he felt guilty for what happened to her. He had seen Justin follow her up the stairs, but never dreamed that he was capable of such cruelty. If only he had gone upstairs quicker, Mikaela may never have experienced that.
Sam pulled up in front of the house twenty-five minutes later, and carried Mikaela down to his room. He grabbed a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt from his closet after sitting her down on his bed. She sat still as he changed her shirt and stood up to pull the sweats up around her waist. His arms wrapped around her waist and Mikaela fisted his shirt in her hands, wanting to be as close to him as she could because it was the only place she felt safe.
"Sam, thank you for stopping him. I really thought nobody was going to find us and he was going to…I know we're over and it's all my fault and you didn't have to stop him but you did," Mikaela was rambling.
"There was no way I could just stand back and let him hurt you any more than he already did. You know I would do anything for you," Sam looked at her intently.
"After everything I've done to you, and you still drop everything to help me."
"Of course I would, Mikaela. Even if this had happened two weeks ago, I'd have done the same thing. "
"I don't deserve that. I'm not worth it."
"Honey, you're worth more than the moon and the stars put together," Sam quietly rubbed her back and forced himself to concentrate on her at that moment and not on what caused her to come to this. She needed him now more than ever before, and if he allowed himself to think about that bastard he didn't know if he could control his anger enough not to go back to the party and obliterate his ass.
"Sam," Mikaela whispered brokenly. "Justin almost raped me."
"I know, baby, but you're safe now," He held her tighter. "Do you need anything? Do you wanna take a shower?"
"I just wanna be with you," She answered honestly. Sam picked her up and laid her in the bed before getting in himself after turning off the bedroom light. Thinking quickly, he turned the lamp on his desk on just in case she woke up in the middle of the night. Her arms were instantly around his neck and he pulled her to him.
"I'm here, 'Kaela," Sam whispered.
"I still love you, Sam," Mikaela said into his chest. "So damn much it hurts."
"I love you too, baby. I'll never stop."
Sam lay awake long after Mikaela fell into an uneasy slumber. Hours later, he could still feel the absolute fear and anger that had surged through his blood when he'd found Justin about to rape Mikaela. The sounds of her sobbing had made him snap and he could've killed the bastard if he hadn't been so worried about her. It didn't matter that they weren't together and not currently even talking, his feelings hadn't changed a bit. There was no way in hell he would've abandoned her after seeing what Justin was doing to her. Taking her home and staying with her may not have been the smartest thing he'd ever done; he probably should've let Christian take her. All he'd been thinking about at the time was that she needed to get as far away from that house as possible and she needed someone to be there for her.
It took him a minute to realize what was going on when Mikaela started shaking and mumbling in her sleep. She was talking in her sleep, begging Justin to stop and that he was hurting her. When she felt Sam's arms were still around her, her fists pounded against his chest trying to get away because she thought he was Justin. Sam pulled his arms tighter around her and started whispering in her ear. He didn't think about what he was saying, it was just to try to comfort her and let her know she was safe.
Mikaela finally woke up and opened her eyes, but he couldn't help the hurt feeling when she pushed him away with a wild look in her eye. She scrambled off the bed and hugged her arms around her waist. Tears welled in his eyes as he thought of what she must be going through.
"Mikaela, it's Sam. You're okay. He can't hurt you anymore," Sam said thickly. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he moved slowly to get up but stopped when she moved back away from him. "Baby, don't be scared. It's just me. You know me; you know I'm not going to hurt you."
"Sam?" Mikaela asked fearfully. He watched as her eyes cleared and knew she was finally aware of their surroundings.
"It's me, baby," Sam replied.
He got up from the bed and walked over to where she was standing. Mikaela lifted her hand up and touched his face. Her tears had slowed but he could see a few stray ones leaving tracks on her cheeks. Sam stood unmoving while she searched his eyes for reassurance that everything was going to be okay. Seconds later, she was in his arms; her arms wrapped around his neck with a strength she'd never shown before. It was all he could do not to hold her any tighter, but he didn't want to hurt her physically or emotionally. This woman had been the biggest part of his world for the better part of the last two and a half years and the last couple months had been rough for both of them. First it had been her dad at Thanksgiving, finding out she cheated on him with Trent, and now this. Sam hoped this would be the last incident for a while. He didn't know if he could deal with anything worse, much less if Mikaela could handle it.
Mikaela felt Sam's uncertainty and could tell he was afraid to move because he didn't want to hurt her. His hands were rubbing her back, but that was the extent of his movement. It didn't matter to her if he was moving or not, he was there holding her in his arms trying to make sure she was okay. She kissed his cheek as a show of gratitude.
"Come on, let's go get you some fresh air," They went outside and sat side by side on the back porch. Sam slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest.
"He knew about me cheating on you with Trent," Mikaela said after awhile.
"How did he know about that? You, me, Christian, and Leo were the only ones who knew."
"I don't know, but he did. It was horrible, Sam. I tried to fight him off but he's so much bigger and stronger."
"Shh, baby, you don't have to talk about it."
"No, I need to," Sam squeezed her shoulder when she took a deep breath. "I was just trying to go to the bathroom, but all the ones downstairs were taken so I went to use one upstairs. He was in the hall when I came out. I didn't even know it was him when I ran into him until I looked up. He grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall. I told him to let me go, that he was hurting me but he just told me to stop pretending I didn't want it. At one point he hit me, and slammed my head against the wall when I bit him."
Sam's blood was boiling as she painfully recounted the tale. There was nothing he wanted more than to go back and absolutely destroy Justin, but he didn't move. Mikaela was dead set on talking about it, and he didn't want to interrupt her or make it harder.
"I threatened to scream but he said if I made a noise it would be worse, and really who could've heard me with the music so loud downstairs? I tried to tell him you were going to kill him, and that's when he said he knew what I'd done and there was no way you would protect me now. When he said that, it made me feel like I deserved what he was doing. Why would you help me after what I did? He wanted to know what you had that he didn't. He slammed me up against the wall again when I told him I loved you and you were more of a man than he ever could be."
The truth of her words was evident in her voice and in her eyes, and Sam finally understood for certain what Mikaela's night with Trent was: a mistake. Knowledge of her infidelity still cut him deep, but one night couldn't erase the two plus years they had spent together. That's what she'd tried to tell him every time they fought, but it wasn't until now that he understood it.
"That really, really pissed him off. He…he pushed my pants down and then he undid his zipper. The sound was so loud it was like I could feel it in my body. It was all so real and terrifying and I couldn't get him off of me. He was so big and strong and scary; all I could do was accept that it was happening and that if I quit fighting it would all be over faster. Then all of a sudden, he was gone and you were beating the shit out of him when I opened my eyes."
"I should've followed him up there right away when I saw him go up after you, but I just…I couldn't. I was frozen," Sam didn't want to admit the real reason why he'd hesitated.
"You thought I wanted him to follow me," Mikaela softly said and he hated that she knew him so well.
"I'm sorry," He said guiltily. "I should've known better after the way you turned him down at the restaurant. You made it totally clear that we were together and you weren't interested. The one time you needed me, and I completely let you down."
"Sam, no you saved me. If it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't have stopped. What he did to me will heal. They're all just bruises. You stopped him before he could…" She trailed off unable to complete the sentence.
"You make it sound like what he did is okay," Sam said confused.
"No, that's not what I mean. I'm not okay. It's just…I don't want to think about it anymore. All I want to do is be with you and not worry about anything else."
"I'm not going anywhere," He whispered next to her ear and they sat in silence on the back porch until long after the sun came up.