Healing Her: Kate Martin

Trauma

Reese's Pov: 

Gabbie told me that Kate is gonna be here soon. "Can I give you a hug Ree?" Gabbie asks me. All I can let out is a mhm. She sits down on the bed and pulls me in for a hug. While rubbing my back she tells me that it will all work out. I just hug her closer and say thank you for being there for me. She replies back saying "I'm gonna be here for you Reese, I think of you as a sister." 

A/N: Just wanted to add a little Gabbie appreciation moment. 🩷

Still Reese's Pov:

It's been a couple of minutes since I talked with Gabbie. All I can think about is how kind everyone has been to me here. So different from my college experience last year. The hate I have been getting has reminded me of how I was treated in my past relationships both romantic relationships and friendships. But now, I have amazing friends who support me and are helping me through this difficult time in my life. And a genuine feelings for someone who treats me right and is just one call away always. 

I'm taken from my thought when I hear a knock at the front door. Gabbie gets up to go let Kate in. I look up to the sound of her knocking on the door frame before saying "Hey baby, can I come in?" "Yeah you can." She walks in a puts her bag down then sits down on my bed. "I heard you stumbled across some unkind posts" "Yea but Gabbie helped me get out of that." "That's great that she was able to help you, do you know what triggered it or was it just the words itself?" "I think the words reminded me of my past relationships." "I'm sorry it reminded you of your past, and if you ever feel comfortable enough with me I would be love to hear about those things so I can help you through it even further in the future." After hearing her say that sentence and my thoughts from earlier I knew what to say back. "Actually Kate, I think I'm ready to share that stuff with you now." "As long as you are comfortable." "I am but can we eat first because I feel like it's gonna drain me." "Of course let's go eat."

We finished eating and Gabbie ended up leaving since she had some work to do and Kate said she would stay with me. We walk back to my room since it's easier on my knee and I want to be comfortable while explaining everything. "Are you sure you want to tell me, if not that is absolutely fine and we can watch a movie." "I'm sure K." "Alright baby." 

A/N: ⚠️⚠️⚠️This is a trigger warning for the next paragraph it has a lot of hard topics like Verbal Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Homophobia, and other things that could me triggering. Please do not read if this would hurt you in any way. When it gets to Kate's Pov the paragraph is over. ⚠️⚠️⚠️

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I take a deep breath before starting. "I started dating this guy in sophomore year of high school. He was my first boyfriend and first relationship in general. His name is Jake Madden. He was a junior when we started dating. The relationship was great in the beginning. He would take me out on super sweet dates and talk kindly to me. But at the end of sophomore year he started to get aggressive towards me mainly verbally. If I went out with some friends he would demand to know who I was with and when I would be back home. My dumb self thought it was to protect me and keep me safe. My depression and anxiety was really bad so I would often doubt my worth and would need reassurance constantly. He would say that I was asking for attention or being needy. Since I was being manipulated I started to believe him. I stopped asking for help when I was struggling which is when my isolation tendencies began. I really wouldn't talk to anyone. But then I found out he was cheating on me with multiple girls. And when I confronted him about it, he flipped. He slapped me on the cheek and told me that if I said anything to anyone that wouldn't even be the beginning of what would happen to me. Due to this I stayed in the relationship out of fear and when I got to the middle to end of senior year I started to develop a interest in girls. At this time Caitlin was out openly as a lesbian so I went to her and talked to her about my feelings and she fully supported me. Caitlin never liked Jake she saw how he treated me. But I was blinded by fear. I felt as though I was keeping a secret from my boyfriend so I decided to tell him. I told him that I was feeling romantically interested in women and he freaked out. He threatened to out me to the whole school if I even thought about doing anything with a girl or left him. He would often call me slurs or tell me I needed to be fucked straight. He said that I was his to have. That was the main reason I stayed with him so long. He had always been touchy towards me in inappropriate ways. He liked to hold my thighs or rub against me without my consent. I was to scared to ask for help. He wanted to go to the next level multiple times but I was always able to push him away and tell him no. But the final straw was when in the early part of college last year when we went to a bar. I have a fake ID so I was able to get in without question. I had like 2 beers so I was pretty sober but Jake he got wasted. He was grabbing my waist while dancing, grinding against me, running his hands to far down my body. I told him I wanted to leave and that I was gonna call an Uber since he was my ride and I didn't feel safe driving with him. But he insisted more like forced me to drive with him. The whole ride he was slowing putting his hand higher up my thigh. When I grabbed his hand and pulled it off he grabbed me by the chin while doing this he lost control of the car. He crashed into a light pole but since he was so intoxicated he didn't tense up and wasn't really injured but I ended up getting a concussion and a fractured arm. I came out really lucky. After that Caitlin can home and we filed a restraining order against him and Caitlin went to his house and threatened him that if he ever comes near me again she would kill him. That seems to have worked keeping him away." I saw all of this while beginning to cry and taking breaks in between while Kate holds me whispering that I'm doing a good job and that she is proud of me. 

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Kate's Pov: 

After sitting and listening to what Reese tells me I feel  heartbroken that she has had to go through this. "I am so sorry that you had to go thought that Reese and I am so proud of you for sharing it with me, thank you for feeling comfortable enough to share it." I say while hugging her closely. "Why don't you try and get some sleep I know you must be tried." I say before continuing "Goodnight baby sleep well."

A/N: I know this was a super hard chapter to read and honestly write but this is the backstory to Reese's trust issues and other stuff. Thank you for all the support.