We Know What You Did

11: Flashback

Sonny arrived at Amanda's apartment and knocked on the door. After 20 seconds of no answer, he knocked again. He was very worried about his niece and was growing more anxious by the minute. He lifted his hand to knock a third time when Amanda opened the door.
"Where is she?" Sonny asked, pushing past Amanda. Amanda closed the door and turned around to follow Sonny.
"She's in the bathroom." Amanda told him. "She was crying so hard she made herself sick" Amanda lowered her voice.
Sonny shook his head. He hated how upset his niece was and was furious at the man who did this to her. The door to the bathroom opened and both adults turned to look at Chelsea as she walked into the living room. She didn't acknowledge either of them and laid down on the couch. "Hi, bug, how do you feel?" Sonny asked. He took a seat on the couch by her feet. Chelsea didn't answer but moaned in response. "That good, huh?" Sonny joked. Chelsea lifted her head and glared at Sonny. She was in no mood for jokes. "We need to talk." Sonny changed his tone to a more serious one.
"'M too tired" Chelsea slurred. "Just wanna sleep."
Sonny sighed. "Yeah. Ok. But tomorrow we gotta talk, alright?" Chelsea nodded and pushed herself up before heading into the guest bedroom and closing the door. Sonny leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Amanda, I've never seen her like this. I don't know how to help her."
Amanda took a seat beside her friend. "Right now, there isn't much you can do. You're here for her, that's pretty much what she needs from you." Sonny nodded, not sure what to say. "You're welcome to crash here for the rest of the night" Amanda told him. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow to build a strong case." Amanda stood up and patted Sonny's shoulder before going to her bedroom. Sonny decided that Amanda was right about tomorrow being a long day and he laid down on the couch to hopefully fall asleep.

Even though she was beyond exhausted, Chelsea couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning. After about 45 minutes, Chelsea decided to shower. She quietly went into the bathroom and turned on the water. Chelsea sighed as she let the warm water run over her. The water was not as calming as Chelsea had hoped it would be. She looked at her wrists and traced the scars with her index finger. She was brought back to a year ago.

It was early May and Chelsea was walking home after school. When she got home, she was surprised to find Sonny sitting at the dining table. He told Chelsea that her mom was in an accident. He drove Chelsea to the hospital where they met Tyler. Tyler tried to convince Chelsea that she shouldn't go and see her mom. That she was badly burned and it was confronting. Chelsea didn't care and went to her mom's bedside.
The image of her mom lying there, covered in burns and bandages and attached to many wires and tubes was ingrained in her mind forever. Chelsea sat in a chair by her mother's bed until Tyler pried her away to go home and get some sleep.
It happened at 3:15 in the morning. Tyler woke her up. From the look on his face and the fact he had woken her up in the middle of the night, Chelsea knew; her mom had died. She didn't cry, which surprised her. It didn't feel real.
It felt real 2 weeks later. After the funeral. After people stopped showing up to pay their respects. Chelsea became depressed. She started pulling away from her friends and Tyler. She skipped soccer practice. The only person she would talk to was Sonny. She spent most of her summer at his apartment and many weekends. He was the one who noticed Chelsea started cutting herself and found a therapist for her. Then, slowly, she accepted her new normal and things started getting better. 

Chelsea assumed that she had hit rock bottom during that time and the only place to go was up. Now, standing in the shower, fighting the urge to go over her scars with a razor blade, she realized this was even worse. Chelsea turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She went back into the bedroom and put on pajamas before crawling under the covers. All she wanted was for this to just go away- to pretend it didn't happen. However, she knew that wasn't the case. It did happen and Sonny was most definitely going to make sure Tyler paid for what he did.
———
The next morning, Sonny brought Chelsea with him to the precinct. The teen was uncharacteristically quiet. She had refused to eat anything for breakfast, which worried Sonny. He was concerned she was going to become depressed again and fall into old habits.
"You'll be okay in here?" Sonny asked her as Chelsea sat down at the table in the conference room. Chelsea just nodded. "Ok. If you need me, I'll be right out there." He turned toward the glass window and pointed to the squad room. "You can also ask Amanda, or Fin, or Olivia if you need anything, alright?" Chelsea nodded again. "Alright then. I'll be back to check on you later." With that, Sonny went into the squad room. He joined Olivia, Fin, and Amanda.
"Do we have anything to go on?" Olivia asked. Her detectives avoided eye contact, not wanting to tell her they had nothing. "What about the rape kit?"
"No fluids. He used a condom. There was tearing and bruising consistent with assault but no DNA. They did find other DNA on her clothes but even if it is Tyler's, he's her stepdad. It makes sense for his DNA to be on her clothes" Amanda said.
"Ok. Go back to the hotel and talk to her friends, her coach. See if somebody knows something." Olivia ordered. Fin, Amanda, and Sonny went to their desks to gather their things and left for the hotel.