This is War

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Natalie's P.O.V 

After a thirty minute walk, I finally reached Kate's house. Ringing the doorbell, she flung open the door in seconds, tears falling down her face. There was a bruise on her cheek and a cut on her bottom lip. 

"Kate?" I ask in disbelief. Stepping into the house, I pull her to me and wrap her up in a hug, "Oh, Kate what happened?" 

"I-" She broke off and shook her head, hiccuping as the river flowed. 

"Come on," I urged her, shutting the door and pulling her up to her room with me. Sitting on her bead across from her, she hugged her pillow and the tears were beginning to slow down. Sniffling, we sat in silence for a while. Finally, I broke the silence, "Kate, I need you to tell me what happened-- please." 

"I was leaving work at The Cafe," She told me, eyes focused on nothing in particular. There was a vacant look in her eyes, as if she were reliving her experience, "I went out the back, through the alley. There was a group of guys out there, all of them were drunk. They cornered me, and they--they started touching me. They hit me when I tried to scream out, to fight back. 

"They were trying to rape me," Kate whispered, shuddering, "He-he came out of nowhere, though. I couldn't tell who it was at first. He just started kicking all of their asses and they ran away, and he came up to me asking if I was okay. He helped me and took me home and--" 

She broke off, looking down with a guilty expression. 

"Who?" I asked her, "Who saved you?" 

Looking up at me, she gave me a name, "Jarrett Howard." 

My eyebrows furrowed, the name was familiar, but I couldn't put a face to it, "Who?" 

Kate sighed, took a shaky breath and wiped the tears from her face, "Nat, he's Noah's best friend and partner in crime." 

"I don't care," I assured her, "Are you really more worried about who saved you than what happened?" 

"It's just-- after Margo..." She trailed off. 

Margo seemed to be popping up a lot this evening. I shook my head, "What happened with Margo was way different, Kay. You know that." 

"I know," She mumbled, fiddling with her hands. 

"Hey, come here," I opened my arms to her again and hugged her. Sighing, I pulled back, "Do you want me to go run and grab some food and we'll stay in tonight?" 

She nodded. 

Standing I faced her, "Where are your keys? I walked here." 

"On my dresser," She answered. 

Grabbing her keys, I went to her car and drove down the road to the gas station. Walking in, I grabbed ice cream, chips, chocolate and sodas before paying and walking back to her car. Loading the stuff in the passenger's seat, I closed the door and walked back around to the driver's side. 

"Natalie?" A voice behind me asked. Turning around, I saw a familiar face. He was only a little taller than me, with dark hair that was spiked up. He donned a bruise under his left eye, and I glanced down to see his knuckled covered with blood. He was the one that was holding the camera last night. 

I rose an eyebrow, "You're Jarrett, aren't you?" 

He nodded, "Yeah, hey, I don't know if you--" 

"Stop, please. I want to say thank you for helping Kate, but that's the end of it. I haven't forgotten all the times you've helped Noah torture me. Thank you and good night," With that, I climbed in the car and drove back down the road to Kate's house. Walking in, I dumped the food on the couch and called her down.