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First, let me say that this was a difficult chapter to write, and I imagine it will be difficult for some to read. Please remember that while some of this is based on real people and real events, most of it is fantasy. That allows us to change and compress things that happen in ways we would prefer them to be instead of how they really. Not every story is what we want, but in the grand scheme of things, sometimes the fantasy will get us through the tough times.

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Continued from Chapter 2

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Greg spent the rest of the afternoon on the internet reading the news. He realized that with the girls distracting him, he hadn't paid any attention to the world for nearly 48 hours.

At 4:45, he decided to freshen up a little bit. He knew Kim would be by soon.

Right at 5 the doorbell rang, and Greg opened the door. On the step stood a beautiful, young redhead. She stood about 5' 2", and was decently proportioned Ð average breasts and hips, with a fairly narrow waist.

"Hello, Kim, welcome to my home."

"Hi, Mr. Stevens - I'm sorry - Hi Greg" She paused. "It's too new, it's hard to remember.

"That's okay. Don't worry about it. Come on in, but don't get too comfortable, we're going to go back out."

"Oh, where are we going?"

"I thought we'd have a picnic this evening."

"Um, I don't think so."

"Why not? It'd be perfect."

"Maybe if you're a fish. Haven't you noticed the storm blowing in? We're about to get hammered by wind and rain."

"Damn. I saw the clouds coming in earlier, but honestly, I haven't paid much attention to the weather the last couple of days. Well, never fear, we're still going to do a picnic, we'll just do it on the family room floor."

"That sounds a little crazy, but also a little fun!"

Greg went to the kitchen to grab the picnic basket he packed earlier, came back, took Kim's hand and led her down the hall to the family room.

"I haven't used this room for a little while. After the accident, I packed up all the kids toys, and started planning how to use this as an office. Haven't made much progress yet, but I think it's going to work perfectly for our picnic."

He lit a half dozen candles that were on the end tables and bookcases, dimmed the room lights, and spread a blanket out in the middle of the floor.

"There you go. The perfect place for a picnic." Lightning and thunder punctuated his statement. A few seconds later, they heard the downpour begin. "I'm glad you were here. If you hadn't told me about the coming storm, I probably would have been caught out in it."

"I don't know why, but I have always like storms. I guess because as a child, I would wrap myself up in a quilt and read a good book during thunderstorms. They just never scared me, because I felt so comfortable."

"I know what you mean. I'm exactly the same way." He reached for the wine glasses and bottle. "Can I pour you a glass of wine?"

Kim felt a little surge of panic. "No, thank you."

"Are you sure? I know you're not 21 yet, but you're also not going anywhere tonight, so if you want to try it, it will be okay."

"I tried it once before, and it was not a good experience, so I think I'll pass." He was looking at her this time, and he thought he could see something not quite right in her eyes - a look he couldn't quite describe - almost like panic, and pain.

"Kim, are you okay?"

"I'm fine - just a little nervous."

"Just relax, we're just two friends spending some time together. There's no pressure. We won't do anything you're not ready for."

He expected his words to put her at ease, but for some reason, she seemed even more panicked. He thought to give it one more shot. "Tell you what. Let's eat in silence, and we can listen to the storm pass around us, as we're safely together inside."

She nodded her head, but he could see she did not relax at all.

After they finished, he stood up, reached down to take her hands to lift her up, and led her toward the couch.

"We'll take care of the food and dishes later." He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back. Again and again, they became more passionate with each one.

Then, as suddenly as they started, Kim backed off into the corner of the couch. She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, bursting into full-blown crying and saying over and over again, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't do this."

"Kim, it's okay. Again, there's no pressure. We'll only do what you want." It surprised him that that seemed to make her cry even harder.

"I'm sorry. I can't give you my virginity, as much as I wish I could."

"Sweetheart, that's okay. We won't do anything until you're ready. And if it turns out that you want to give it to someone other than me, that's okay, too."

"No, you don't understand. I wish I could give to you but oh, God, this is hard I'm not a virgin anymore."

"Oh." A sudden wave of jealousy swept through my heart. He thought, 'who has taken my girl?'

"I hated it!" Greg could hear the venon as Kim spat out the words. "I hate him Ð fucking son of a bitch! Worthless piece of shit!"

"You must have liked him at some point."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She burst into tears again, and started to rock, arms stilled tightly wrapped around her legs.

He moved to hold her, but afraid to do much more. Kim was clearly hurting about something.

They sat this way on the couch for over an hour, her tears finally slowing down. Greg held her for a few more minutes before he said, "Sweetheart, I think making love is out of the question for us tonight. You need sleep. Let me set you up in my room, and I'll sleep in the guest room."

"No, I need you with me. You're right, I absolutely don't want to do anything, but I want you to be there. It will help me feel safe in a strange place."

"Alright, whatever you need." He took her hand, and led her upstairs to his room. "Would you like me to step out of the room while you get into bed?"

"No, I think I'm okay." She kicked off her shoes, and pulled off her pants, pulled the covers back and slipped into the bed. "I really didn't bring anything to sleep in."

"I think you're fine. I hope you don't mind, I usually sleep in my boxers."

"That's okay."

He got undressed and slid into bed on his side. He wasn't really tired yet, but he was very worried about Kim. He wondered what was going on in her head.

It wasn't long before he heard her breathing deepen, and he knew she had dropped off to sleep. He listened to her for a little while, but it wasn't too long for him to fall asleep as well.

About two hours later, Greg was startled awake. Kim was screaming at the top of her lungs. "NO! NO! GET OFF ME! NO! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS! LET ME GO! NO!" Her arms were flailing wildly like she was trying to fight somebody off.

Greg instantly knew what had happened. He was careful not to become the attacker in her dream, but he had to get her under control before she hurt herself. He managed to get her into a hug without her hitting him.

"Shh, Kim, it's alright. You're safe now. Don't cry. No one is gone to hurt you ever again. You're safe. Shh."

Slowly but surely, Kim started to calm down. Of course, she was awake now. The memories flooded back to her, and she started crying again.

"Kim, sweetheart, it's going to be alright. You are safe here."

More tears.

"Kim, can I call Allison? I think she can help us. Please let Allison and me help you!"

Kim didn't say anything Ð she just kept crying Ð but he felt a barely perceptible nod of her head. He started to pull away from her. She grabbed his arms and pulled him back into a hug.

"Kim, I'm not going anywhere, but I do need to get my phone. Let me call Allison, and I'll be right back."

Another slight nod. He pulled away, stood up and grabbed his cell phone out of his pants.

"I'm just stepping into the hall to make the call. I'm not going anywhere, sweetie."

She started crying harder again. He dialed the number and waited for the answer.

"Greg, what's up?

"Allison, I need you here as fast as possible. Kim needs you desperately."

"What's going on?"

"Right now, she's in my bed having a breakdown. Allison, it's pretty obvious that Kim was raped."

"Oh, my God! I'm on my way."

"Allison, please be careful. It's been storming pretty hard tonight, and the roads are probably slick. You know my history about the people I love and what happened to them while driving. You also know I've fallen in love with you. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

"I love you, too, Greg darling. Don't worry, I'll be safe. See you in a few minutes."

Greg went back to the bedroom, and saw that Kim had curled up into a tight fetal position and was still sobbing. He slid up behind her so he could gently stroke her hair. He didn't know what else to do.

"Kim, sweetheart, Allison is on her way. It's going to be okay, sweetie. We love you, and we're going to take care of you."

She didn't move.

A few minutes later, he heard Allison's car screech to a stop pulling into his drive. Seconds later he heard the front door open and close, and Allison's footsteps up the stairs and down the hall. She must have flown up the steps two at a time.

"I'm here, Kim. It's going to be okay. We love you so much." She moved to the other side of the bed, and slid in beside Kim, who was now sandwiched between Allison and Greg. They stayed still for about 5 minutes - just hugging Kim while she quietly sobbed.

Allison was the first to talk, "Greg, darling, why don't you go downstairs for a while. Just let us girls talk for a little bit. We'll call you if we need anything."

He could feel Kim nod her head slightly again. He gave her another squeeze. "We love you, Kim. We're going to take care of you." He slipped out of bed and out the door.

Greg went downstairs, but didn't know what to do. He felt very lost again. He wanted to help make things right, but how does anyone fix the hurt that Kim was feeling right now? He went to pick up the leftovers of their family room picnic. Afterwards, he stood in front of the French doors in the kitchen, watching the rain fall on the patio.

He didn't know how long he had been standing there when he felt arms wrap around him from behind. "Allison."

"Kim is sleeping again. We had a long talk and a long cry. She's a long way from being fine, but it's a start. She told me I could talk to you about it. Let's go sit down."

They moved to the kitchen table and sat down.

"First of all, you need to understand that Kim has always suffered from very low self-esteem. Even when we were young, she never had the same kind of support from her family that the rest of us had. You know that she never knew her father. He left her mom while she was pregnant."

"I do remember that. She wrote about it in that personal narrative paper that I had you guys do. As I remember it, Kim's grandfather actually chased the guy off because he had threatened to beat up her mom while she was pregnant. Kim was very close to her grandfather, and apparently he told her the story. He was always her protector, but if I remember correctly, he died about 10 years ago when she was 9 or 10."

"That's right. After that, life for her was pretty rough, although she did a good job of hiding it from most people. All of us girls basically knew, but she didn't want us to tell anyone else. I think that was probably not the best choice, but we were pretty young, so we did what she asked."

Greg interrupted, "When you're that age, it's sometimes pretty hard to know what's the best choice."

"Well, yes, but if we had talked to more adults about it, maybe we could have made a bigger impact on her life. Do you also remember that Kim's mom was an addict? Kim had to stay with a foster family a couple of times because her mom tried and failed in rehab twice. Her mom also made bad choices when it came to men. Kim told me several times that nobody did any hitting, but there was always a lot of yelling and arguing between her mom and her boyfriends. When they were drunk or high, they were okay, but as soon as the drugs and booze were gone, her mom and her boyfriends would start arguing. Kim said she and her little brothers would hide in the closet until it was over."

"I never knew that." Greg was tearing up a little.

"Kim didn't want anyone to know. It was that way all through middle school and high school. I think Kim looked at college mostly as an escape. You know, she really has no idea what she wants to be. This year, she just started taking classes randomly. She told me in September that if she took enough classes, she might figure out what she liked, and then she could pick a major and a career."

She paused for a few moments.

"Shortly after your wife's funeral, she met a guy in one of her classes. He seemed nice, and they met in the library a couple of times for study dates, you know, to help each other prepare for tests. He then asked her out for a couple of real dates. She insisted that most of their time together be for studying; no more than once a week would they have a 'fun' date."

Greg smiled a little. He was glad that Kim was putting school first.

"She was also pretty insistent on waiting to have sex. Kim knew that her mom had traded sex for money and drugs. One of the sad things about her life was seeing how low her mom's life had become. She told this guy in no uncertain terms that she was waiting to have sex until she basically had a lifetime commitment from someone she loved. Apparently he wasn't too happy about that, but she said he agreed to it."

Allison paused again. It was like she was building up her courage.

"Kim went home for Thanksgiving. But as you might expect, it was not what she hoped it would be. Her mom was drunk or high most of the time. There was no money to do even close to a traditional dinner for Thanksgiving. Kim ended up taking her brothers to the Salvation Army dinner for the homeless. Her mom never even noticed they were gone."

Another pause.

"She gave up trying on Saturday. She decided to go back to the dorm. After all, it was quieter there. Almost nobody was back from the holiday yet, and they wouldn't be until late Sunday evening. The guy she knew didn't even go home. He stayed in the dorm all weekend, because his father and new step mother wanted to spend some time together in Hawaii. He was excited to see Kim back, and suggested they go out to dinner. She said she wasn't sure. He told her 'that's okay. There's no pressure. We won't do anything you don't want to do.'"

Greg sighed, "That's exactly what I've been saying to her tonight."

"Greg, you couldn't have known. Nobody knew."

"Still."

"Hang on, it gets worse. They did go to dinner, and then he suggested they go to his room. He had a surprise that he wanted to share just with her. Again she wasn't sure, but again, he used the line about 'no pressure.' She resisted, but she finally said okay. At this point she said he was still acting like a perfect gentleman. He held all the doors open for her. He was polite and seemed caring. It was everything a dream date should be."

"When they got to his room, he pulled out a bottle of wine, and said 'surprise.' Kim said she hesitated again. She told him she had never done anything like that. Of course, in the back of her mind, she's remembering all the problems her mom has had with alcohol, and she's worried she'll get out of control like her. Kim told him she should probably leave."

"He then turned up the charm, telling her how beautiful and desirable she was. He told her that this time in their lives was for trying new things. She should try a little bit of the wine. If she liked it, great. If she didn't, she could quit. He told her the same thing about being there. He really wanted her to stay because she was so pretty and he was really enjoying her company. But if she really wanted to go back to her room and be all by herself, that was okay, too."

"He blatantly reminded her that very few people were back from the holiday weekend, and that it really stinks to spend a holiday about thankfulness of family and friends all by yourself. She looks back now and sees what he was doing. He was laying on the charm and guilt pretty thick. Her self-esteem has really taken a hit that her bullshit meter was obviously not working through all of this. She's having trouble seeing herself as a victim. She thinks she brought it on herself."

"Anyway, the pressure finally got to her, and she agreed to stay. He said 'great!' and he turned to open the wine and fill up a couple of cups. Typical college guy - pouring wine into red plastic picnic cups. Kim said she took a few sips and then commented on the taste. She wondered if wine always tasted this way. How did people drink it so much if the flavor seemed a little off.? She also asked if it was always a little fizzy."

"Oh my God, he drugged her."

"Probably. She said she remembers being light-headed, and that he guided her over to his bed. At this point, she knows that they were still making out. He was kissing her and his hands were roaming over her breasts quite a bit, but she still had all her clothes on. He kept telling her how beautiful and sexy she was. She remembers him even saying that he loved her."

Allison paused again. She sighed.

"Then she remembers him starting to take off their clothes. She said it was a little like she was having an out of body experience. She thinks she was telling him she didn't want to do this, but she also couldn't do anything to stop him. She also clearly remembers him saying this would be a Thanksgiving she would always remember."

Both Greg and Allison wiped away tears.

"He raped her. There is just no other way to say it. She didn't scream or yell like she did during her nightmare tonight. She didn't fight him off. She knows that she wanted to do both, but she physically couldn't. She doesn't understand why she couldn't. Even with everything she's said, I'm not sure she understands that he drugged her. She's not sure she even said it out loud, but she knows she was thinking all the things she said tonight. She knows that she was thinking 'no!' 'she didn't want to do this!' 'stop!' 'get off me!' even 'I hate you!' Unfortunately, she doesn't think she said any of those out loud, so he didn't stop.

Greg's voice was full of hatred, "The bastard wouldn't have stopped even if she had screamed. Hell will be too much of a reward for a piece of shit like this."

Allison's voice cracked a little as she continued, "His destruction of her self-esteem wasn't complete. She said they laid side by side on his bed for a while. She wanted to leave, but didn't have the strength. You and I both know that was the drug still in her system, but she seemed to believe that deep down she wanted to be there, and that's why she couldn't bring herself to leave. When she was finally able to start getting dressed, she said he actually told her 'you're welcome.' This confused her, so she asked what he was talking about. He said, 'well, good girls like you always say 'no,' but they also always have a rape fantasy. It's a way for them to say that they're really still good girls. They get to fuck, but they can pretend that it was beyond their control. So, tonight, your fantasy got to become reality. You're welcome.'

Greg wanted to break something again. "This bastard is one sick piece of shit."

"When she finished getting dressed, he walked her to the door. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, and told her she was 'a good fuck,' and they needed to do it again.

Allison's shoulders started to shake with her sobs. "Greg, please hold me, and tell me you love me."

Greg rushed to her side. He lifted her out of the chair and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, Allison, I will never stop telling you that I love you. You are an unbelievable friend and lover. I don't think either Kim or I would have survived this night if you hadn't been here for us. You are a miracle to me. I love you so much."