» VIII »

TW: SEXUAL ASSAULT

"So, are you gonna talk to Shawn at all?" I asked Liv, poking her arm playfully. Allie chuckled from where she sat in the front seat, with Lana at the wheel, of course.

Liv's cheeks turned bright red and she looked down into her lap. "I don't like him!" she defended.

Lana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course you don't. How stupid of me to think such a silly thing," she deadpanned, sarcastic as ever.

I chuckled, looking out the window and smiling when I saw Laguna beach in the distance. Of course I loved New York; it was amazing to be somewhere so full of creativity and inspiration. But the beach was where my heart was; it made me smile to know that I really was back home. That this wasn't some dream.

"And here we are!" Lana announced and stepped out of the car as dramatically as she possibly could. I chuckled, opened the door and immediately spotting Kaden a few feet away, talking with someone I didn't know near the door.

"Kaden!" I shouted and he grinned upon seeing me.

"Hey, sweetheart," he ruffled my hair. "Glad you could make it. Shawn's inside in case you wanna tell Liv," he winked and I laughed.

"Thanks. Hey, where's Matt?" I asked. He and Kaden were usually like two peas in a pod; I was surprised that Matt was somewhere close by.

Kaden's mouth popped into an 'o' shape. "Oh, he's also inside. Just look for a swarm of girls with practically nothing on."

I laughed, waving the girls over. "Thanks."

"No problem," he chuckled, winking.

When everyone came over, Lana immediately gripped my wrist. "C'mon, less talking and more dancing!" When we entered the house, I thought my eardrums might burst right then and there. There were flashing lights and people everywhere, tripping and spilling alcohol on each other.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and had I not known it was Matt because of the smell of his shampoo, the guy would have ended up with a broken nose. "Hey, sweet," he smiled, nibbling at my earlobe.

"Hey," I murmured. Allie had already gone over to get drinks (most likely apple juice for Liv) and Lana and Liv were dancing with Shawn and a couple of other guys I recognized from our school. "You wanna dance?" I asked, turning around so that I was facing Matt.

He smiled, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I'd love to dance." I grinned, gripping his wrist and dragging him out onto the dance floor. He held my hands as we spun around tipsily, laughing. I almost fell backward into Allie, who was 'guarding' Liv, and she threatened to smack me if I did it again. Thankfully, she was laughing too.

It took almost half an hour before I got tired and when I did, Matt brought me over to sit in his lap on a large black chair near the staircase. He pressed soft kisses to my neck as I closed my eyes, simply enjoying the moment.

And when the moment ended, I looked up to see Lana moving stealthily against the opposite wall, gripping someone's hand. Harper. She dragged her through a doorway, closing the door behind them and I chuckled.

But then I decided to stand up, and turned around to face Matt. "I'm gonna go dance. You wanna come?" I asked him, but he shook his head.

"I'm a little dizzy, Q. You be careful, though," Matt smiled and I nodded, making my way out to the dance floor. I'd admit that I was feeling a little woozy myself, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having a good time.

I wish I did.

Just as the song finished, I felt a hand clamp over my mouth while the other gripped my breasts. But when I tried to get away, the guy dragged me away from the crowd and I heard him open a door. I tried to scream, couldn't make a sound with the hand over my mouth. At this point, I was flailing and screaming, however ineffective, trying to get someone's attention. There were tears rolling down my face and I tried to bite the man's hand, but it was no use.

The guy shoved me onto the bed and held my arms above my head. It was too dark to make out his face, but I could tell that he was grinning. "Hey, pretty lady," he growled, and his free hand began to tug at my shirt. No, no, no, no, no- I was thrashing, trying to get out of his grasp as I began to sob. "Oh, you're feisty. Don't worry, I like my girls with a little bite to 'em."

I don't know what I would have done if that guy had been able to go further.

But just as his hand reached my right breast, the door burst open and he twisted around, only to get socked in the jaw. The tears began to come faster as I crawled away from the man, who was trying to land a punch on the person who'd saved me.

I couldn't make out anything more than the silhouette, and could only tell that it was a girl with long curly hair. She punched the guy square in the face and he finally fell over. There was blood oozing from his nose, but I couldn't say anything because my savior had grabbed me and was carrying me outside.

I blinked my tears away and immediately saw Allie, running around frantically. She stopped, though, when she saw me and ran over as fast as she could. "Thank god," she breathed, helping me stand up. "Where the hell were you? Are you okay?"

I didn't say anything and turned around to thank the person that had saved me, but they were already gone. "I-I was-"

"Quinn!" another voice shouted and Matt ran up to me, scanning me for injuries before enveloping me in a hug. "Are you okay? You're shivering."

Indeed, I was shaking from head to toe. I didn't answer his questions, though, and only responded quietly. "I need to go home."

this was a hard chapter to write, but i hope you liked it. thanks for reading!

~ bella