The Web I Spin for You ~ Richpez & Rosenwalker

Chapter 56

"And now for the moment that everyone actually cares about," Hidgens stated bleakly. "The prom queen! Envelope please?"

The past few moments had passed in a horrific blur for Joe—of his name being called, the mixed reaction of cheers, boos, and gasps from the crowd, as he walked over to Hidgens and accepted his crown. His head was spinning, knowing what was coming, knowing that her name was going to be called next, knowing that he was going to be expected to dance with her. Would Hidgens allow him to just walk away?

"The winner, the sweetest woman in Hatchetfield High... it's, Zoey Chambers!"

If Zoey had any naysayers, they were aggressively drowned out by the cheers and shouts of congratulations from the crowd. Joe watched as Zoey clutched her chest, wiping away tears that he knew had to be fake. Her long blue dress trailed behind her as she walked over and accepted her crown. "And now, let us behold the tradition of our prom king and queen sharing their first dance." As music began to blast, a small opening began to form on the stage as the other candidates backed away to give them space. Someone placed a spotlight on the two of them, nearly blinding him and making him lose his sense of where she was.

He jumped as her hand gently brushed over his shoulder, and she circled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself into him.

"Zoey, you don't have to!" Someone yelled from the crowd, which caused the smile on her face to grow even wider. "You know I never wanted all of this, right baby?" She whispered to him. "I never wanted to destroy your reputation—I just wanted you back here, with me, were you belong." Joe remained silent, neither pushing her away nor dancing with her. He stayed frozen stiff on the stage, letting her simply hang off of him. "This is it baby—this is your moment. Make your decision."

To Joe's surprise, he had a response to her. "What will you do to me if I don't obey you? Or to my boyfriend?"

Zoey scoffed, glancing around to see if anyone was close enough to be able to hear them. "I'm not ordering you to do anything Joe. The choice is yours—and we both know what the right one is. We all know who the one person is who really knows how to love you." She tightened her grip around him, leaning in to bring their lips together.

Joe turned his head away, gently prying her off of him before taking several steps back. "You're not that person." He told her, gently but firmly.

To Joe's surprise, Zoey hadn't followed him; her hands were frozen in the air, where just seconds ago he had been in her arms. She scoffed, before her face contorted into anger. "Are you fucking serious right now? You're going to do this to me here—you're going to humiliate me like this?" Joe expected a commented along the lines of 'after all you've done to me' to follow, but to his surprise one didn't. She wasn't playing the game, she wasn't trying to save face—she was actually, truly, unraveling. "Get over here! Now."

A shiver ran up Joe's spine, and for a moment, they weren't in a room full of people, they were back in her room, in her car, in all of the places where she had turned him into her mindless puppet, to control and manipulate as she pleased, and to discard when bored. He closed his eyes, willing himself to push through the feeling of terror, and to remember that he was stronger than she believed he was, and capable of doing this. "No."

"Excuse you?" She yelled, approaching him. "What the fuck did you just say to me?" She asked, and Joe couldn't miss the fact that her hands were clenched into fists. "F-fine, tell me goodbye then! Go ahead—I mean it Joe, I'm never going to speak to you again. Is that what you want? Do you want me gone from your life, forever?"

"Yes," He stated without any hesitation, out loud and clear. "Yes, I want you gone." He forced himself to look at her, at the despair filling up in her eyes. "You think you're the one person who knows how to love me?" He asked, his voice beginning to tremble as his eyes swelled up with tears. "You didn't love me; you ruined me, you broke me, you destroyed me!" He knew that people could definitely hear him, but in the moment he didn't care; he and Zoey might as well be the only two people in the world. "You hit me, that night in your house. You hit me, when my only crime was fucking getting coffee with my friends." Tears had begun to fall, but he took deep breaths, his rage and anger helping him to power through. "I was going to leave you, but promised me you would never do it again; you begged and begged me for a second chance. I gave it to you, and what did you do the second you had me back under your wing? You upped the abuse in every way possible—you beat me, you b-branded me, and you fucking, you fucking raped me. You held me captive in your house, you spent hours tormenting me, for no other reason than that it was fun for you." He brought a hand up to his mouth sobbing into it. "And then when I finally had the strength to leave you, what did you do? Oh that's right, you led a smear campaign against me—you destroyed my reputation, all while repeatedly harassing me to get back together with you, and finding ways to abuse my boyfriend. And I let you, because you're right; I am weak, I am pathetic. I let my love for you blind me to the fact that you were a monster, a monster who would stop at nothing to burn down me and everyone that I love." He wiped his eyes, determination growing in his voice to put her in her place and hold her accountable. "You got me inside of my head with no way out, completely caught in this fucking web that I spun for you. But it's over. I draw the line here." He turned and ran off of the stage, leaving Zoey standing alone in the spotlight, mortified at everything he had just exposed her for.

Joe could hear her yelling at him, but he pushed it all away, searching for his friends. As he finally found Brian and fell into his arms, he heard Becky Barnes voice loud and clear, applauding him for his bravery to confront his abuser like he just had. A chorus of cheers and jeers filled the air around him, but Joe was too far gone from everything that had just happened to register it—all he was aware of was the sensation of his boyfriends arms encompassing his body as his strength gave out, and he collapsed into them.

The next couple of minutes passed in a blur for Joe, his brain not fully tuned into the reality around him. He knew that he had collapsed into Brian's arms, he could tell that Brian had guided them to the ground, and he could sense people crowding them. He could still hear Zoey yelling in the back of his mind, but he was unsure of whether or not it was real, or if his brain was slipping into the past.

"You can't abandon me! You belong to me!"

She definitely had never begged him to not abandon her before, meaning that it had to be real. He brought his hands to his ears, testing to see if it helped him block her out.

He was jolted back into reality when he was dropped to the ground. He looked up just in time to see Brian being dragged away from him.

"No, no!" Joe was on his feet before he knew it, grabbing Sam by his shoulder length hair. "You're not taking him." He pulled Sam off of his boyfriend by his hair, people backing away from the fight forming on the floor. As Sam's body hit the ground, Joe pulled Brian into him, wrapping his arms around him. "Are, are you okay?"

"Aw fuck this," Sam stated, massaging his head where Joe had pulled his hair as he rose to his feet. "This is so not worth it. Charlotte, let's get out of here."

Joe didn't need to wait for another opportunity; he pulled his boyfriend against him, walking them out of the venue and outside to where their limo was parked. "I'm so sorry," he told Brian as he opened the door, the two of them climbing inside and sitting down on the floor.

"What?" Brian asked in disbelief. "What are you sorry for?"

"We shouldn't have come," Joe told him. "I shouldn't have put you at risk like that."

"Baby, it's your prom!" Brian retorted. "It's one of your last nights with all of your friends—not to mention that you just won prom king!"

"Who gives a fuck? They could have gotten you! And my idiot ass truly thought that I could protect you—"

"You did," Brian replied flatly. "You quite literally just ensured that nobody messed with me. And you finally stood up to Zoey—baby you didn't just hold her accountable, you exposed her for what she is in front of your entire grade." He pulled Joe against him, the younger boy wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. "You, you did that, and I'm so proud of you."

Joe pulled away from the hug and looked up at Brian hesitantly, before cupping his face and crashing their lips together. "I couldn't have done it without knowing that you're here for me."

"There you guys are!" Joe and Brian jumped apart, looking to find Darren, Meredith, and Lauren at the door. "Okay good, let's grab everyone and get out of here."

"This is everybody's prom—just let me wait in the limo. Don't uproot everyone for me."

"Joe, literally no one is going to stay and let you wait here by yourself with her loose and wild." Lauren told him firmly.

"This prom sucks anyway," Meredith added. "We all would rather just go back to Darren's house and get shitfaced than stay here."

Joe sighed sadly, wishing that his friends weren't so amazing. "This is the last time I let her ruin something for all of us."

"What else is there for her to ruin?" Darren teased. "School's done. It's over Joe, for real. You're free."