My Body is a torture chamber

Chapter One

Author's Note: 

The included image is that of the kitchen in Alex's house. 

Chapter One

The worst part, strangely, for them was that it happened in their own house. The place where they thought they would always be safe. Well, the assault was the worst part, but the fact that it happened at home made them no longer feel entirely safe there. 

The boys' hockey team had a team night once a month during the season. In actuality, it was just a sleepover, but they were 'men' and didn't want to call it that, so it was a team night. Alex didn't really like a lot of the people on the boys' team (because they were teenage boys who played hockey and honestly weren't great people), so they usually tried to stay over at Oliver's house when the team was at theirs. But that didn't happen this time. 

Alex secluded themselves in their room for most of the night. Their whole life they have been grateful that they got to have their own room—and basically their own floor in the house because the third floor was just their room and guest rooms—but there were times that they really wished that it wasn't on the top floor of the house. That was one of those times. They had to go past everyone just to eat or to get a drink other than water.

 That night—around 3 AM—they went down to the kitchen to get a mug of hot chocolate because they couldn't sleep. They didn't turn on any of the lights because there was enough light from the moon, and they didn't want to wake anyone up with the light. They were sitting on the island waiting for the microwave to be done when they heard someone come down the stairs. When they turned to see who it was, they saw that it was Tanner, one of the defensemen on the team who was in their grade.

"Hey, Tanner," they said slowly. "Did you need something?" 

Tanner didn't say anything, but continued down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. He crowded in front of Alex, blocking their way off the island. 

Alex had known Tanner since elementary school, and he had never been their favorite person. He was a dick when they were in elementary school, but it got worse once they got to middle school. Auggie was outed when they were 11, and Tanner—along with other members of the hockey team that was their age—almost immediately started to bully and harass Auggie. The bullying continued until Auggie committed suicide a month after they finished their freshman year of high school. Alex knew that Luka couldn't stand Tanner either. That Ollie couldn't stand him. But they also knew that they weren't exactly able to invite the whole team but one person over. That didn't mean that they had to talk to Tanner though, that they had to be civil or even nice if they didn't want to. 

The timer on the microwave went off, "I have to get that." Alex told Tanner, voice steely. He didn't move away, instead, he stepped closer to Alex. He blocked Alex's way off the counter, resting his hands on either side of their body so they couldn't go to the side or backward. He forced his way in between their thighs, pulling them to the edge of the counter. Alex started pushing at his chest, trying to get Tanner to move, but he gripped their hips tighter. 

Tanner leaned in, trying to kiss them. Alex snapped their head to the side so he couldn't, "T-Tanner, stop. What are you doing?" 

He didn't stop. He didn't say a single word.

 When he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere by trying to kiss Alex, he clamped one hand over their throat so they couldn't make any noise, and pushed up their shirt with the other. It was the middle of the night and they only left their room to get a warm drink, so they were only wearing an old t-shirt of Beckett's and a pair of boxers that they were pretty sure used to be Oliver's. Tanner rutted against Alex's leg and squeezed their chest. It was rough, and they could tell that he wasn't going to stop. There was nothing that they could do to stop him. He was choking them light enough that they could still somewhat breathe, but hard enough that there was no way that they would be able to yell loud enough that anyone would hear them.