Not Expecting to Collide (COMPLETE) - ABP Fanfiction

Chapter 20 - Before

"Hey, October!" A pretty girl with a flippy ponytail chirped as she she took a seat on the grass beside her. They were celebrating the end of classes by having a bonfire near the graveyard of a little country church one of the guys in class knew about.

"Hi Ginnie." October smiled. "What's up?"

Ginnie shrugged. "Nothin. Just so glad to be done exams. That last week was rough!"

"Tell me about it." October groaned. "I stayed up for forty eight hours straight to get my final project finished. I actually fell asleep in the dark room at the lab. Jaime woke me up before I drowned myself in the stop bath." She absently peeled the label off her beer bottle.

"Ew, you mean Jaime, the weird guy that sits at the back of the low-light techniques class?" Ginnie wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah. He's not so weird. He's really a nice guy." October defended. "I told him about the party tonight."

Ginnie scoffed.

"If he shows up, no one else will talk to him. He'll cling to you all night."

October shook her head. "No, you guys just need to give him a chance. He's probably a really nice guy once you get to know him."

It wasn't long after that that Jaime had shown up to the party. Ginnie had been right. October was the only one who would talk to him. She and Jaime sat near the fire and talked all night.

"That's the night I fell in love with you." Jaime's voice snapped her from her memory. "No one else would talk to me." He whispered. "But you sat with me the entire night. I remember how I could make you laugh. You were so beautiful. Much the way you look tonight." She flinched as he reached behind her and took her hair down from her clip. He moved his hand down the side of her neck and leaned closer. October thought he was going to kiss her until he stopped suddenly. "What's this?" He yelled in her face. "You've already let him touch you!" He screamed as his eyes locked on the mark Bam had left on her neck that afternoon in the library. October felt his hands close around her throat.

~*~

No one had returned to the front desk to speak with him and Bam was on the brink of hysteria. He decided that his best course of action was to find August's contact in October's phone and tell him everything that was going on. Bam was in an unfamiliar city with no one else to turn to. He started to scroll through the contacts list. As he was concentrating on the phone in his hand, he noticed in his periphery, a young barefoot woman with a ripped dress and bruised face walked through the front door looking like she had just been in a fight for her life.

She walked slowly up to the front desk and said in an even voice, "I need to report a crime, please." Something about the softness of her voice made Bam look up from the phone in his hands. What he saw made his heart jump to his throat. He nearly choked on the air in the room as he called her name.

~*~

They wouldn't let him touch her. They would barely let him near her. Until she was processed, everything about her was evidence. After hardly seeing one officer in the waiting room of the police detachment, one broken and bloody, pretty girl certainly made things happen in a hurry.

October was whisked away to another room where another officer informed them that paramedics were on the way. She barely said a word save for one request; that Bam be allowed to come with her. Whether they had approved the request or not, there was no way in hell Bam was letting her out of his sight again.

As they waited for the ambulance to arrive, the officer asked her to tell him what had transpired that evening, starting at the beginning.

As she recounted her story to the officer sitting across the table from her, Bam paced the room behind her. The detective took meticulous notes as he asked her questions. "How many times did he hit you? Was it closed or open fist?" Bam stopped pacing to hear her answer.

"Too many to count. Both." She replied.

He resumed his pacing, this time with fists clenched tight by his sides.

An older policeman with a moustache put his hand on Bam's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. "You have to calm down sir."

Bam growled at him. "I know you probably see this everyday, but I don't. Especially not when it's my girl." He said through clenched teeth, emphasizing the word 'my'.

October turned her head slightly to the side to look at him and pleaded softly, "Bam, please, sit." Only because she asked him, he consciously slowed his breathing and took a seat next to her.

"How did you get away?" The officer finally asked.

October actually cracked a small smile, even though it hurt her cut lip. "He made a mistake." She explained. "He was trying to force me out of the car but I fought him. He got madder and madder. He got out of the car. While he was walking around to the passenger side, I moved into the driver's seat. I tried to lock the doors but he has one of those new Mercedes that the key can stay in his pocket. As soon as he touched the door handle the doors would automatically unlock. It was then I realized that the car was still running even though he was outside with the key. I was able to drive it away. I came straight here."

 A knock on the door alerted them that the EMT's had arrived. Two uniformed paramedics came into the room and began tending to October's wounds. Bam began to relax a fraction. The police requested that her dress be kept as evidence. October asked Bam to retrieve her gym clothes from her truck. When he returned, the paramedics had finished assessing her injuries. October changed into the clothes Bam brought in for her and dropped her torn dress into the bag that one of the officers held open.

The female paramedic collected her supplies and put a hand on October's arm. "Do we need to collect a rape kit?" She asked softly. Bam felt his blood freeze in his veins. He felt like throwing up.

October looked at him, wide-eyed, and then back to the paramedic. "I got away before..." She shook her head. "Before he...No." Bam let all the breath is in lungs out at once.

The paramedic nodded. She finished packing up her kit and recommended October go to the hospital to be x-rayed as soon as she was able.

October signed a few papers before she was allowed to leave the precinct. She had given them enough information that a patrol car was already on its way to get Jaime. Chances are he wouldn't have gotten far on foot in the winter weather dressed the way he was. October was finally released into Bam's care. Wordlessly, she slipped her hand into his on the way down the front steps. She was so cold to his touch that Bam flinched. He took off his long coat, wrapped it around her body and, realizing that she was still barefoot, he picked her up and carried her through the front doors and out to the waiting truck. She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. For the first time in hours, she felt safe.