“Damn right you are!”

“Shit, Ash, you are un-fucking-believable, you know that?!” I say walking out of her room to leave.

“Ugh. Fine, you want to know so badly?” Ashley says walking out of her bedroom. “You want to know what really happened between me and Aiden?”

“Yeah, I thought I made that clear before I came over here. But it doesn’t matter now because I know you won’t tell me the truth.” I say turning around before I reach the front door. “So just save your breath.” I turn back around and reach for doorknob.

“He fucking raped me, okay! That’s what happened. That’s the truth. You happy now?”

I stop dead in my tracks. I turn my body to see tears forming in Ashley’s eyes and walks back to her bedroom. It takes me a while to grasp what she just said. After a few deep breaths and my heart returns to normal I walk slowly back to her bedroom to see Ashley sitting on the end of her bed, tears streaming down her face. I go to the bathroom and retrieve the box of tissues she has sitting on her sink and bring them to her as I sit beside her. I put my arm around her shoulders as she leans into me, sobbing into my neck. We sit like this for quite some time as I don’t know what to say to make her feel better. After she calms down a bit, I bring my hand to her face and wipe away the tears. I grab a tissue from the box to wipe more away that my thumb couldn’t get.

“It’s okay.” I say trying to calm her as I bring her eyes to mine.

“No it’s not!” She yells as she yanks her head away from my hand and back into my neck as the sobbing process begins again.

“Well, no, it’s not okay what he did to you. But it’s okay now, I’m right here. I’ll take care of you.”

“Really?” She says bringing her head out from my neck to meet my eyes. I’ve never seen eyes filled with so much sadness before I saw Ashley’s.

“Yes. I wouldn’t leave you here by yourself like this.” I say with an attempted smile.