Reconnecting

Nathan

"I'm sorry" I said. "I'm just having a little trouble wrapping my head around this" I said. 10 minutes before, I was sitting on my couch watching a movie with my boyfriend, and now I'd just been told that my ex-husband had been arrested. "Can you just um...start over? From the beginning?"

"My name is Marissa Davis. I'm Nathan's girlfriend. Well, I guess ex girlfriend" she corrected herself. This woman looked like she was attacked. Did Nathan do that to her? Is that why she wasn't at his apartment today? "It's a long story, but the short version is that, unlike you, I didn't leave Nathan and I payed the price. I was in the emergency room today, and at first I just wanted to get treated and get out of there. I didn't want anyone to know what happened. When it was just me and a nurse, alone in the room, she asked me what happened. This was the second time she's treated me in less than 3 weeks. I guess she could put 2 and 2 together. I told her everything, and she called the police.  I told them everything and 3 hours ago, he was arrested. So far between me and another one of his exes there are 2 charges of domestic abuse against him, and 2 of sexual assault"

Sexual assault?! Logan grabbed my hand.

"I'm working on getting more against him. More of his exes. I want to ask you if you would be willing to testify against him in court" Marissa said

"Absolutely. Just tell me when" I said. "And I'm gonna press charges too"

"You never did?" She asked

"No" I said. "I was too scared"

It was quiet for a moment. I came to a realization. She was living with Nathan. She might not have anywhere to go.

"Are you ok?" I asked her. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna stay with my parents until I can find a new place" she told me.

"Ok" I got up and walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a business card out of the drawer. I scribbled my cell phone number on the back before handing it to Marissa. "I put my cell number on here. The printed one is my work phone. They both work. If you need anything, please call me. I'm happy to help"

"Thank you"

Once Marissa left, I sat back down on the couch. Logan sat down next to me and put his hand on my back.

"God, I'm such an idiot. I should've reported it as soon as it happened the first time. I stayed and I met him tell me it was my fault. And I believed him. I let it go on for a year. I let him do it to other people. Why didn't I report it?"

"None of that is your fault" Logan said. "You didn't let him do anything. What he did is his fault and his fault only"

I just leaned my head on Logan's shoulder.

"Rory, I need to ask" Logan said after it was quiet for a moment. I lifted my head off his shoulder."She said there were sexual assault charges against him"

"No. Never" I said. Nathan might've treated me really badly, but never in that way.

"Rory"

"I promise"

"Ok"

In that moment all sympathy I had for Nathan left my body. I suddenly didn't care how it would make him feel, he wasn't going anywhere near my daughter ever again. I wanted her to know her father, I wanted them to have a relationship, but not anymore. Now it was about protecting Tori. I wasn't gonna let him hurt her, either it was physically or emotionally. "He's not seeing her anymore"

"Who? Tori?"

"I don't want him near her"

"Yeah" Logan nodded. "Ok"