𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍 / alex standall ✓

𝟐𝟑. something bad

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍
23 / SOMETHING BAD
↳ season one, episode nine: tape 5, side a
act one / the tapes

𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 his apartment when he heard a knock on the door. An unexpected one. He knew who it couldn't be, but he had no idea who it was. He opened the door, revealing Clay Jensen standing in front of him.

"He can't be prosecuted, okay?" Clay announced, letting himself into Justin's place.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Justin asked.

"I know it was Bryce, alright?" Clay admitted.

"Jesus." Justin breathed.

"She said he was your friend." Clay finished.

"Alright, get in here." Justin ordered, closing the door behind Clay as he walked into the apartment.

"You have to tell her, Justin." Clay demanded of the boy.

"When the fuck will you give it up?" Justin spat.

"I get it." Clay tried to reason with him. "You were trying to protect your friend, you lied to Jessica and you told her Hannah made the whole thing up."

"I did?" Justin asked defensively. "So I guess it's my word against Hannah's."

"Exactly." Clay said. 'The one witness is dead, Bryce will get away with it and you can stop protecting him. It's legal fact."

"Did you talk to somebody?" Justin asked, stepping closer to Clay. "Tell me what the fuck you did!"

"Are you even listening?" Clay asked, frustrated. "I just told you, I can't go to the cops."

"Then what do you want from me?" Justin asked.

"I want you to tell Jessica the truth about what happened to her that night." Clay insisted.

"She knows what happened, go ask her." Justin retorted.

"I did." Clay said. "She just repeated whatever bullshit lies you fed her, but she knows something's up, just look at her! She's messed up!"

"She's fine." Justin demanded, trying to convince himself of what he was saying.

"She's fucked up, and so are you." Clay continued. "Jessica deserves the truth, and she's never gonna believe it unless it comes from you."

"You can get me suspended. You can ruin my fucking life if you want to." Clay said when Justin wouldn't reply. "It won't change what you did. And sooner or later, people are going to find out."

"People are not gonna find out." Justin declared, pointing his fork at Clay.

"Why are you protecting Bryce? What does he have on you?" Clay interrogated him.

"I'm not protecting Bryce, you little fuck!" Justin raised his voice. "God, I'm protecting Jessica. And furthermore, this is bigger than just Jessica, which you would know if you finished listening to the fucking tapes!"

"Who else?" Clay asked.

"Listen and find out. But I care more about Jessica and this girl than I do about Hannah, than I do about you, than I do about anybody else! This is not about you, and this is not about me. This is about two girls who are more important to me than anyone, so just get the fuck out!" Justin finally snapped at the boy, and pointed toward his door.

˗ˏˋ꒰ 📼 ꒱

𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 her room, silently messing with Alex's hands as she thought about everything that happened today. She felt like she didn't know the difference between the truth and the lies, if any of it even was a lie.

"Alex?" Nessa said softly as she sat up in her bed.

"Yeah, Ness?" he asked as he sat up as well, grabbing her hand.

"I really don't know about these tapes." Nessa finally said. "Justin's second one really fucked me up."

"Yeah, I know." Alex said, squeezing her hand. "Me too."

"I need to tell you something." Nessa said, and she wondered if this was really the best idea. She didn't want to place doubt in Alex's mind, but she also didn't know how much longer she could keep this a secret. It was beginning to eat her alive.

"Talk to me." Alex encouraged her. Nessa thought about what to say, and how she was going to say it.

"I've been having these nightmares, I guess you would call them" Nessa began, and Alex straightened up a bit.

"It's always the same place, the same night. And I'm in a hot tub." Nessa said, her voice breaking. "Bryce's hot tub."

Alex's stomach dropped, and he swore that his heart broke. She knew.

"And you're there, and Zach. Justin and Jessica too." Nessa continued through her own soft tears. "But at some point everyone leaves, and somebody gets in. I don't know what happened, and I know it was the night that you and Zach had to carry me home."

"Ness, what are you saying?" Alex asked carefully, wiping the tears from her face that just kept streaming down.

"I don't know who it was, but I think something bad happened." Nessa said. "Something happened to me, Alex. And I'm scared."

Alex wanted to tell her the truth so badly, but he didn't even know how to begin. He didn't know if he could, and if he did, she would never listen to the tape. She would never get all of the details, and he knew that she deserved to know all of the details. His girlfriend deserved the truth, the real truth.

"I think someone raped me, and Hannah tried to tell me. That's why I'm on these tapes." Nessa finally admitted. She curled up into Alex and cried. He did too. He told Nessa it was out of sympathy for her, but he knew that it was because he was the guiltiest man in the world right now, right next to Justin Foley.

Neither one of them said anything for the rest of the night, but Alex called home and told his father that he was staying at Justin's tonight. He couldn't imagine leaving Nessa, not right now. 

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬. short chapter, i apologize!