Every Little Thing

Chapter Thirteen

Blake

Six Years Later

It's crazy how us as humans can allow another human to have so much power over us. That we give someone the power to break us, to tear us apart and not be able to look at ourselves in the mirror any longer, because we don't like the person staring back at us. I'm at fault for giving far too many people in my life this power over me.

There have been three pivotal moments in my life where this has happened, two of them were out of my control and that was losing my mom to cancer and my boyfriend in a car accident. It's the last one that really pisses me off and that is the night someone took what they wanted from me, regardless if I gave consent or not.

Each of these events had an effect on me, for better or worse. But it's truly the last one that changed my life forever. To be violated in one of the most intimate ways is something that will always haunt me. To not have power or say on what happens to me, and to feel so fucking helpless as someone takes whatever they want is something I will never let happen again. A big part of me died that night, and when I woke up the next morning all I wanted to do was disappear. I wanted to runaway and never look back, so I did.

I made a choice that next morning, a decision that I think about every single day.

"Blake are you okay?" Stone says as he walks over and takes a seat next to me in the sand.

I force a smile and nod "Yeah, I was getting lost in my thoughts. You looked good out there"

"Don't I always?" he says with a smirk and I smack his arm.

"You're so humble, did you know that?" he laughs.

"I get it from dad, you know that..." I just shake my head at his antics.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" he asks.

I shrug "No, but it's time to move forward" he wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into a side hug.

"You've come so damn far Lake, so far. We are all so proud of you... don't forget that" I hate when he gets emotional because it's so rare, and I get all worked up.

He pulls his arm back and wipes his eyes "Getting all soft on me now?" I jokingly ask and he flips me off.

"Shut up, you know you and mom are the only two who can this happen" he says and runs a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

"Can I be honest?" he nudges my arm.

"Always Lake" I nod.

"I'm so scared to do this on my own. I've had you, dad, and Corey these last couple years and now I'm going to be alone"

"You're not going to be alone Lake, we're only a few hours away and this is what you've always wanted. What you worked so damn hard to get, don't forget that. You're one of the strongest and most resilient people I know"

"You're right, I can do this" he stands and reaches his hand out for me.

"Let's get back, dad's cooking something special for your goodbye dinner" I take his hand and he pulls me up. We start walking along the shore back to the house and talking about as much lighter topic.

Four years ago my life changed, I was raped. It took me a while to accept it and get the help that I needed to work through the trauma and damage it caused. I end up pressing charges and going through the entire process. Nothing happened except for him getting kicked off the football team and out of school. I had moved back in with my dad in Santa Cruz and flew back for the court date.