Saviour

{3}

 "Ollie?"

"Can we go somewhere more private?" he asked me

"Y-yeah" I say as I dig in my pocket and pull out the garage keys, we walked in and both stood, just looking at each other.

"It happened to him too...didn't it?" I say as Brody looks at me with sadness, "Buster groomed him" I say as I look down at the ground.

"He wants to report it to the police but...something will only happen to him if we all come forward" Brody says as the air in the garage become thinner and tense by the second "there's a bigger chance he'll get sent down for good"

I sighed as I leant on a car that dad was working on before he left, "I haven't even told my dad or Joel, god I can't stand in front of all those people in court and explain what happened to me, I can't do that Brody"

"Yes you can, You're stronger than anyone I know, you've got people with you now. Me, Joel, Ollie, we're here for you always"

"Does Damon know...about what happened to you?"

"I told him earlier this week but he doesn't believe me, believes that his dad is sparkly clean"

"If your own best friend doesn't believe you there's no hope for a bunch of strangers in a courtroom"

"The more of us that come forward the more hope there is"

"I'm scared Brody" I tell him as my voice breaks and I put my head in my hand. He comes over to me and softly engulfs me in a hug

"I know, I am too" he says I cry into his shoulder. We both suddenly look up as we hear commotion from outside of the garage, we both leave and see Damon and Buster arguing.

"I believe Brody, I can't believe what you did! you're a monster!"

"I'm your dad!"

"You're dead to me" Damon spits at his dad

We then see a police car pull up and my body immediately tenses. Multiple police officers leave the car and walk towards Buster just as Damon comes over to me and Brody.

"We are arresting you on suspicion of grooming a minor, you do not have to say anything but what you do say may be given in evidence" one of the officers say as they pull him towards the car, before he entered the car he turned to me.

"Remember what I said" he told me, Brody immediately reacted and pulled me behind him, shielding me from Buster.

"She's not scared of you anymore"

- 

I walk into the flat and see Joel sat on the sofa watching TV, smiling when he see's me. "Hey, I heard you saw Buster get arrested earlier, you okay"

"About that...I need to talk to you about something"

"Sure, come sit" he says as he pats the sofa for me to sit on 

"Umm, I should've told you this sooner and I'm sorry for keeping it from you but I was scared and I didn't know how to put it into words"

"You're worrying me El"

"And I guess saying it now makes it harder because dad isn't here, but you remember that night when I came home crying and throwing up and you and dad thought it was about a boy"

"Yeah"

"I-I w-w" I put my head in my hands in frustration "the words won't come out"

"Hey, look at me" he says as he softly grabs my chin, making me give him eye contact "there is no rush okay? take your time"

"I-I was raped by Buster"

The room fills with silence as Joel stands up in shock, turning his back to me

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you or dad sooner, I just didn't know how to tell you and to be honest I hadn't totally accepted that it happened myself, the only person who knows is Brody"

He turns to me, with tears in his eyes giving me a warm hug "Never apologise okay?" 

-

A few moments later Joel had made us a tea and we were sat across from each other. 

"I questioned myself whether it was my fault, the way I dressed, the way I presented myself...I mean I was drunk when it happened, maybe if I was sober it would've never happened"

"None of this is your fault, you didn't ask for this to happen to you"

"And now, Brody wants me and him to report what happened in order to help Ollie and get him sent away"

"You don't want to?" he asked

"I don't want to relive it again, telling a room full of strangers what happened to me, knowing some of them probably think I'm lying"

"Whatever you choose to do, I will be with you every step of the way"

"I don't know how to tell dad, I mean I can't call him in case the police track him and I don't want him finding out through some dumb article in a newspaper"

"Write him a letter"

"You know where he is?"

"For now, until he loses contact all together"

"Can you help me write it?" 

"Of course"

-

I post the letter through the letter box and hope for the best that somehow it reaches my dad. The cold air hits my arm as I shiver, I make my way to a bench and sit down, not wanting to go home right now.

"You okay?" I hear Brody say as he comes next to me

I force a fake smile on my face "I told Joel and I wrote a letter to dad explaining everything"

"That took a lot of bravery from you, you know"

"I just- I don't want this to make everything go back to how it was, Joel with the drugs and dad with the crime"

"It won't, because we're going to be here to support you with nothing else on our minds" he says as I smile to him but the cold air makes me shiver. He takes his jacket off and passes it to me "Here" he said as he places it around my shoulders 

"Why are you being so kind to me, I mean my dad literally ruined your girlfriends life"

"I see someone in you who was in my past" in which i look at him in confusion 

"You're exactly how I was when it happened to me, I don't want you to go through the aftermath of what I did"

"I'm sorry, for everything that happened"

"God look at us being all soppy and sad" he said with a smile as he wiped away the tears from his eyes

"C'mon" he said as he offers me his arm "Let's take you home"