When The Curtain Falls

18 ~Uncovering the Truth~

Sorry for the short chapter, more to come -Jenna :)

Jenna woke up with the sun in her eyes. It was quiet. She got up and the room began spinning and she felt her stomach churn. She ran to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time. She leaned into the bowl and hurled her guts out. She felt better, but now she had a pounding headache. She opened the mirror and grabbed three aspirin and swallowed them with a handful of tap water.

She went to shut the curtains and lay back down but nearly had a heart attack as she saw Josh leaning against the railing on the balcony.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" Jenna asked, opening the sliding door. She wanted to yell but knew that wouldn't help her hangover.

"This is my room," Josh said, turning around and walking back inside. Jenna looked around and examined the room properly.

"Oh. So it is. Well, then why am I in your room?" Jenna gasped and her eyes got wide as everything came back to her. "You bastard. You slept with me last night, didn't you? You took advantage of me!"

"What!? Jenna, who do you think I am? I'd never do that," Josh exclaimed, offended.

"Then would you mind telling me what did happen last night, because the last thing I remember was seeing Danny and Sammy in the billiards room."

"Well, I was about to go out to a club when Sammy told me you had passed out on the couch in the bar. With his help, I took you back here, helped you throw up a little, and tucked you into bed. You slept in Jake's bed, and I slept in mine. That was all," Josh calmly explained.

"I thought you didn't want to help me," Jenna crossed her arms.

"Jenna, I wasn't just going to leave you there."

"Sammy would've taken care of me."

"Sammy isn't responsible for you."

"Neither are you!" Jenna felt her head pound. "Whatever, it's too early for this, let's just drop it."

"Gladly," Josh muttered.

Jenna got back into bed and rolled over so she wasn't facing Josh

"Going back to sleep?" Josh asked

He walked over to Jenna's side of the bed she was facing and knelt down beside her.

"Don't try and push me away, Jenna," he rubbed her back. "I'm here for you and I care about you. I can see that you're going through something, and it's bugging you. I'm here to talk whenever you need." Josh took a deep breath "...and I'm not mad at you, there's nothing to be mad about. I'm just looking out for you." he stood up and placed a kiss on her forehead brushing the hair from her face.

He started to walk away as Jenna mumbled something to him.

"What?" Josh turned around, returning to her. She cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Thank you, Josh. I am sorry for not accepting your help. I guess I'm just not used to someone caring about me like this. And I will talk to you about it another time, don't worry," Jenna smiled.

Josh leaned over to wrap his arms around Jenna, but as he touched her, she flinched.

"Jenna? Are you okay?" Josh asked, leaning away cautiously.

"What? I'm fine!" Jenna said, lying straight to his face. Josh put his hand on her arm and she tensed up again.

"Jenna, what is wrong? You can tell me."

Almost immediately, tears began welling in her eyes. "I don't know how to tell you. Or anyone for that matter."

"Tell me what?" Josh asked, furrowing his brows with concern as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Jenna sat up and took a deep breath. "I just... don't want you to think of me differently or anything."

"I would never! I can tell that whatever you're holding in needs to be let out."

She nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "The night that I came over to your place after I broke up with Nate, something happened when I was there. I haven't really let it get to me, but it just popped into my head at the concert and wouldn't go away" Okay, she thought to herself. I'm just gonna rip it off like a band-aid "Nate... tried to rape me," Jenna said in shock of her own words.

"H-he... he what?" Josh asked in disbelief. His eyes were wide and worried.

"It all happened so fast. This wasn't the first time something like this has happened though, so I had the situation under control. I don't know, I think I was almost expecting it in the back of my mind."

"Jenna. You need to report him. This is bad."

"What's the use? There's no proof. Besides, I don't want anything to do with him anymore and this would just make me more involved in his life still," Jenna sounded tired and fed up with everything. A tear escaped her eye and streamed a hot trail down her face. Josh wiped it away with his thumb and rested his hand on her face, cupping her cheek. He smiled at her, but she saw it as a look of pity. Jenna put her hands to her face and began to sob. She didn't want anyone to ever pity her. That was the worst, most degrading feeling in the world. She knew Josh wasn't pitying her, but just the thought of anyone feeling that way towards her was enough to set her over the edge. "How did all this happen? We were so good just a couple of months ago. Then all of a sudden something changed in him. All the minor things I didn't like about him were amplified and brought out of him, becoming his defining traits. No, I don't even want to think about our relationship. The more I do, the more I find things I didn't see before."

"Jenna, has Nate always been like this to you?"

"Well, yes. That's just how he's always been. I guess it was easier to ignore when we first started dating, but then when he changed, I completely put it out of my mind, as if it weren't true. And I'm now just realizing all of the things he did to me. Josh. He did so much. I can't even..." Jenna trailed off as she choked up. She helplessly looked up at Josh, her eyes glistened and filled with tears. That look simply broke his heart. She had no idea what to do or where to go from here. Her life had been completely uprooted.

She noticed Josh's look of concern and laughed her tears away. "I'm sorry. Don't think about this too much, I'm glad I got it off my chest. Thank you for being here. I know I was being very closed off with your help, but the truth is I was just scared, Josh. I don't know how to react to having a relationship like this."

"Relationship?" Josh asked.

"Well I hope we have some kind of a relationship," Jenna chuckled. "I don't know. You're just always there to listen to me and you care about what I have to say." She grabbed his hand. "You're just affectionate and loving for no reason, and I'm just still getting used to it I guess."

Josh squeezed her hand and smiled at her. He couldn't hide his toothy grin. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and show her how much what she said meant to him, but he knew he had to wait for the right time. She was still so upset, he didn't want to add more overwhelming emotion to her life right now.

"I really want to kiss you right now," Josh mumbled, but his cheeks turned red as he realized he said that out loud.

Jenna's eyes widened and she blushed.

"You should get some rest," Josh said, brushing off what he just said. "I'll see you tonight," Josh stood up and walked to the door. He turned around and looked at Jenna peacefully resting in his bed. He reluctantly left the room and walked down the hall aimlessly, unable to get the image of her out of his head.