Rubbing at his eyes, Joey tiredly sunk against the soft cushions of the armchair he was sitting in. The late morning sun was retreating from the living room, the lack of light making him feel even more tired. He’d caught a couple hours earlier, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Not that he would’ve been able to sleep longer even if he wanted to. His worry for JC seemed to overpower the need for rest. They hadn’t even checked on JC until sometime after seven because they’d figured it’d be better to not disturb him in case he’d fallen asleep.

There hadn’t been much of a response from JC. Not that they had really expected one, but they’d hoped. So with nothing else to do, they’d gone back to trying not to worry too much while they waited for his parents to arrive.

JC’s parents had gotten in shortly after ten o’clock, both looking much older than the last time Joey had seen them. No doubt a result from the lack of sleep and worry for their oldest son. Even still, Joey had been glad to see them because they could maybe provide JC strength and comfort where they couldn’t.

Barely any words had been exchanged before they’d led Roy and Karen to the bathroom that JC had spent the night in. They’d knocked and quietly spoke to JC, causing the door to open almost instantly. But Joey had barely caught a glance of JC before the door had closed again, this time with Karen and Roy inside.

That’d been almost an hour ago, and Joey assumed that they were talking. He wasn’t exactly sure what was being said because JC had gone to such great lengths to make sure that no one found out, but it wasn’t like there was any sense in holding back details now. Regardless, they were there, and Joey was sure JC would need their help to deal with what he’d been through.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Joey opened his eyes to see Chris rise from the couch. Chris opened the door and stepped back to let two men into the living room. One was wearing a suit, which Joey figured was the detective. The other was dressed in a uniform with an emblem on his chest. Joey wasn’t sure what he was there for, but remembered that the police had said they would send someone to collect JC’s sheets.

“Morning,” the detective said, stepping forward to grasp Lynn’s hand as she walked in from the kitchen. “I’m Detective Haughton. And this,” he gestured to the younger man standing beside him, “is CSI Parks.”

Parks nodded. “I’m here to collect any potential evidence, so if someone could show me where the crime happened…”

“I will,” Lance volunteered, getting up from the end of the couch. Joey was kind of surprised, but realized that Lance probably wanted to feel like he was doing something. Something Joey could relate to.

Lance left the room with Parks following him. Once they had disappeared, Lynn looked over at the detective with a frown and asked, “Will he find anything? It happened nearly a week ago.”

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Detective Haughton said, meeting Lynn’s concerned gaze. “It would’ve been better if the rape had been reported right away because there would be more evidence. However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a case.”

“But will we win?” Joey asked.

“It’s not really my place to make that judgment. That’s the jury’s job.” The detective paused. “I’ve dealt with a few rape cases over the years, and I’ve found that they can go either way.”

Chris glanced at Lance, who’d reentered the room, before turning his attention to the detective. “So what can we do?”

Detective Haughton sighed. “There’s not really much you can do. You reported it, so now it’s up to Mr. Chasez to tell me what happened.”

Before anything else could be said, JC walked into the room with Roy and Karen right behind him. He stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes darting around the room as he shifted before finally settling on the carpet at his feet.

Joey frowned, hating to see JC so uncomfortable, but not surprised. When he’d first mentioned going to the police, JC had all but freaked out. Despite the fact that he’d told Joey, it was easy to see that he hadn’t been interested in telling anyone else, especially a stranger.

“Hi. I’m Detective Haughton,” the detective said, crossing the short distance and offering his hand, which JC hesitantly shook. He also shook Roy and Karen’s hands before focusing his attention on JC. “I’m here to find exactly what happened that night. If you’re feeling up to it.”

“OK,” JC said quietly. Karen gently slipped her hand into his and squeezed it.

Detective Haughton offered him a small smile. “Why don’t we go somewhere a bit more private?” He paused. “Your parents can come if you want.”

“No, I’m alright,” JC said.

Karen frowned at her son. “Honey, are you sure? You don’t have to.”

JC turned his head to offer her a weak smile. “I can handle it.”

It seemed like Karen wanted to insist, but Roy put a hand on JC’s shoulder and said, “If that’s what you want.” JC nodded and he continued, “But if you need anything…”

“Thanks, Dad,” JC said softly.

The detective asked where they could talk, and Lynn directed him to the music room. JC glanced over at his parents once more before he followed Detective Haughton. Joey watched him go, hoping that being alone with the detective would make it easier to tell him.

“Can I get you some coffee or tea?” Lynn asked Roy and Karen. They accepted, and the three of them moved into the kitchen.

Chris sighed as he retook his original position on the couch next to Lance. It was time for them to play the waiting game again. Something that they were quickly getting used to.

Silence reigned over the living room, much like it had for the past twelve hours. The quiet made it easy for Joey to hear the hushed tones of Lynn explaining to JC’s parents everything that’d happened over the past week with their son.

“This is weird,” Lance said suddenly.

Joey and Chris couldn’t help but agree.

“Take your time,” Detective Haughton said, offering JC a compassionate smile. “I know this must be hard for you.”

They’d been sitting in silence ever since they’d sat down. JC was on the couch, and the detective was in the chair opposite him. In a way, it was nerve wracking to be able to look up and meet the detective’s expectant gaze, especially since he hadn’t wanted to get the police involved. It was too embarrassing.

But as JC recognized a hint of understanding in the detective’s eyes, he relaxed slightly. He still didn’t really want to tell yet another person what’d happened, but he appreciated the detective’s patience with him. It seemed as if this guy really cared and wanted to help keep Lou away from him. Something he couldn’t do if JC didn’t talk to him.

“I uh…” JC cleared his throat. “How much do you need to know?”

“I don’t need explicit details or anything. I just need to hear what happened from you,” Detective Haughton said.

JC nodded slowly, looking down at his hands. Even though recounting it again would ultimately help him, JC didn’t want to relive the past week over again. Twice had been more than enough. But he knew there was no way of getting out of this now, not with his parents just in the other room.

After taking a deep breath, JC began to tell the detective about the first rape and the events leading up to it. At first, he was still very uncomfortable about discussing such a private thing with a complete stranger.

But as time went on, JC found that it wasn’t as bad as he’d been making it out to be. If anything, it was almost easier because he wouldn’t see this guy again once it was all said and done. His family and friends on the other hand, he’d have to see them all the time and know that they probably looked at him differently now.

Eventually, JC fell silent, having told the detective everything that he’d told Joey and his parents. He watched as the detective finished taking notes in the pad that he’d pulled out of his pocket. The unease from earlier seemed to have returned, JC not knowing what the next step was and wanting to be done.

Detective Haughton must’ve noticed JC’s discomfort because he said, “Don’t worry. We’re going to do whatever we can to catch this guy and put him in jail.”

“But it’s my word against his. Why would anyone believe me?” JC asked, his hands picking at a loose thread on the arm of the couch. It was something he’d thought about ever since Lou had groped him.

“I believe you, and the jury will too.” Detective Haughton paused. “But I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be harder. Since it happened a week ago, we don’t have much evidence to support what you’re saying.”

JC bit his lip. He hadn’t wanted to say anything about Lou raping him again before the demo because it was bad enough that everyone knew about the first time. But if it would help put Lou in jail, then he should say something. Besides, just because he was telling the detective didn’t mean that everyone else had to know.

“Well…” JC took a deep breath. “There’s something else I didn’t tell you.”

Detective Haughton didn’t say anything, but nodded like he’d suspected that JC had been keeping something from him.

“It happened more than once,” JC said.

“When?” the detective asked, leaning forward.

“Last night,” JC said quietly.

Immediately, Detective Haughton sat up straight. “Have you showered?”

JC frowned. “No.”

Detective Haughton nodded again, his gaze sympathetic. “Alright, here’s what we need to do. We need to collect the clothes you were wearing, and you need to see a doctor.”

“Why?” JC asked, his frown deepening. Already he didn’t like where this was headed. Going to the doctors wasn’t something he’d even considered, nor did he want to. “Can’t you just take my clothes?”

“A doctor’s report will help support your case. And you really should be examined after what happened to you. To make sure you’re all right.”

JC got to his feet, shaking his head. This wasn’t what he wanted. He just thought that saying that it happened twice would give what he was saying more weight. The last thing he wanted was doctors poking and prodding him, probably taking pictures of his body. He had to get out of this somehow.

“I lied,” JC said quickly, trying to take back everything he’d told the detective. He started to inch his way towards the door. “I wasn’t raped. I just said that stuff because I really don’t like Lou.”

“I know you’re scared,” Detective Haughton started gently. “But this can only help. No one else is going to hurt you.”

“I’m sorry,” JC said before turning and bolting out of the door. He didn’t slow down as he rushed through the living room for the patio door. Barely even registering that Joey, Chris, and Lance were rising from their seats.

Once he was outside, JC exhaled shakily. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to get the pounding in his heart to subside.

“Are you OK?”

JC’s head snapped up to see Justin sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs in the water, staring at him with a concerned expression on his face. That’s all JC had been seeing lately, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to get away from the prying questions, the pitying gazes, all of it.

Without another thought, JC turned on his heel and ran across the patio for the fenced gate. He quickly lifted the latch and ran out onto the sidewalk, the wooden gate slamming behind him. JC didn’t look back as he pushed himself to run faster, wanting to put as much distance between him and everyone else as possible.

Justin stared after JC in disbelief. He hadn’t expected JC to react like that, especially with him. All he’d been trying to do was help. And what did he get? His best friend running away from him.

Angrily, Justin kicked his left leg forward, cutting through the cool water and causing some of it to splash up onto the jean shorts he was wearing. He glared at the bottom of the pool, hating that JC didn’t want to talk to him. But most of all, hating that it proved that their friendship wasn’t as strong as Justin thought.

He frowned, wishing there was some way to get JC to stop seeing him as a kid. Instead, Justin wanted JC to see him as a friend – someone to talk to. Just because he was younger than JC didn’t mean that he wasn’t able to talk about something as serious as rape. Justin would do anything to help his friend, and he hated that JC refused to give him that chance.

As soon as JC had stepped outside, Justin had seen that he needed to talk. It had been obvious that something had him freaked, and it’d worried Justin. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, and he didn’t want JC keeping whatever was bothering him to himself again and making things worse. But apparently JC didn’t agree.

Behind Justin, the patio door slid open. He glanced over his shoulder to see Lance and Joey, not really surprised to see them. It seemed likely that someone had seen JC come out here.

“Where is he?” Joey asked.

Justin sighed. “He took off,” he said indifferently, pointing towards the gate.

Immediately, Joey took off, heading in the same direction that JC had taken just minutes earlier. Lance looked over at Justin before shifting his gaze to the gate Joey had disappeared through. It seemed like he was going to follow, but instead he turned towards Justin.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

“No,” Justin said, bitterly. There was no point in trying to hide it. Besides, JC did that enough for all of them. At least one of them should tell the truth.

Lance stepped closer, frowning. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Justin repeated incredulously, his foot connecting with the tiled wall of the pool. “My best friend won’t talk to me!”

Lance’s forehead crinkled in confusion. “What happened?”

“He came out looking completely freaked, so I ask him if he’s OK. And you know what he does?” Justin didn’t wait for Lance to answer. “He runs away from me!”

“You shouldn’t take it personally. He ran out on the detective, and he probably didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else right then,” Lance said.

“But I’m not just anyone,” Justin protested. “I’m his best friend. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

“It does, but not when he doesn’t want to talk,” Lance said.

Justin shook his head. “Doesn’t want to talk to me is what you mean.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Lance started, but Justin cut him off.

“Oh yeah? How much you wanna bet that he’ll talk to Joey?” Justin crossed his arms, glaring at the direction JC and Joey had gone. Knowing that JC was probably talking to Joey at that very moment made his blood boil. He should be the one JC went to, not Joey. “It’ll be just like before.”

“What are you talking about?” Lance asked.

“He told Joey about the rape and lied to me!” Justin yelled.

Once again Lance looked confused. “How did he lie to you?”

“He told me he was just having nightmares and needed more sleep. But Joey…Joey he tells the truth.” Justin’s face twisted in anger as he remembered sitting on his bed, listening to JC talk about what was wrong and feeling so great that his best friend was confiding in him. But it’d been fake and patronizing, something Justin hated. “He should’ve told me!”

“He probably didn’t know how to tell you,” Lance suggested.

Justin glared at him. “That’s crap and you know it! We’ve known each other for years. Longer than he’s known Joey.” He paused. “If we were really friends, he would’ve told me.”

Lance sighed. “Look, I know you’re upset—”

“Damn right I’m upset,” Justin interrupted loudly. “JC won’t talk to me because he thinks I’m too young to understand. I’m tired of being treated like a kid. No one takes me seriously.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re not serious,” Lance said.

“Whose side are you on?” Justin stared down Lance, clenching his fists at his side. “I thought you’d understand.”

“I do, but you’re mad for all the wrong reasons.” Justin crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything. Lance continued, “You should be mad at Lou, not JC. He’s the one that hurt JC. All of this is his fault. JC was just trying to cope with what’d happened.”

Justin unfolded his arms and looked down at his bare feet. He still wasn’t happy that JC hadn’t told him, but he agreed with what Lance was saying. Lou was the one that deserved his anger, not JC. That was how it should’ve been as soon as he’d found out, and Justin hated himself for directing his anger at JC instead of making sure he was OK.

“And you might think that he doesn’t need you right now, but he will. He’s going to need your support to get through this,” Lance said.

“I tried to be there for him, and he ran away from me,” Justin reminded.

Lance shook his head slightly. “You don’t have to talk to him to support him. He just needs to know you’re there in case he does want to talk and that you’ll stand behind him. He’s especially going to need that when he goes to trial.”

All of the anger drained out of Justin as he considered what Lance said. He’d blindly let his anger take over, and that’d kept him from going after JC. If he had, he might’ve been able to get JC to talk. But even if he hadn’t, Justin knew him well enough to know that he couldn’t push JC – something that JC would have been appreciative of.

With a soft sigh, Justin raised his eyes to meet Lance’s and offered him a small smile. “Thanks, Lance.”

Lance just nodded, his lips turned upward slightly. Justin was glad he’d helped because he knew now that he’d needed someone to set him straight. Now he could focus on helping JC and getting things back to normal.

Joey ran down the sidewalk, his eyes bouncing back and forth between both sides of the street. He had no idea where JC went, but he figured he couldn’t have gone too far since he hadn’t really recovered from collapsing the night before. Then again, JC had more stamina and stubbornness than the rest of them.

But JC needed to let go of that some so they could help him. It seemed that he was still determined to handle this on his own, despite the fact that everyone knew now. He’d looked so upset when he’d rushed out of the music room that Joey hoped he hadn’t done anything stupid.

That thought made Joey push himself to run faster, while keeping an eye out for his friend. But it turned out that wasn’t really necessary. As the end of the street came into view, Joey could make out JC kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk.

Joey reached JC’s side, panting from the exertion. JC didn’t even look up at Joey from his hunched over position. It didn’t seem that he noticed he wasn’t alone anymore; his shoulders continued to shake as he cried.

Unable to watch JC cry anymore, Joey took a breath and stepped forward. “JC?”

There was no answer, but JC stiffened slightly. Joey took another step and crouched down beside him. “Are you OK?” he asked, putting a hand on JC’s shoulder.

Immediately, JC jumped to his feet, the motion catching Joey off guard and causing him to lose his balance. JC glared down at Joey and said huskily, “Leave me alone.”

As Joey slowly started to rise to his feet, he looked up at him. JC was breathing heavily, but Joey wasn’t so sure anymore that it was just from crying. For as upset as he looked, he also looked pissed.

“No,” Joey said, now facing JC. Rumbling forced Joey to look up at the black clouds that seemed to be growing darker. He looked back at JC, knowing that they shouldn’t do this here. “We should get back.”

Joey tried to gently lead JC in the direction he’d just come, but JC wasn’t having any of it. He ripped his arm out of Joey’s grasp. “I’m not going,” he said in a low voice, his lips forming a thin line.

“Why? What happened with the detective?” Joey asked.

“Nothing,” JC denied.

Joey gave him a disbelieving look. “Something,” he insisted. “Something must have happened to get you this upset.”

“It’s none of your business,” JC said.

Joey blinked, taken aback by that. He wasn’t used to JC being so harsh and blunt. That just made him even more concerned.

“I’m trying to help, JC.”

JC shook his head and turned his back on him. “I don’t want help, so you might as well save yourself the trouble and just leave.”

“I can’t,” Joey said. “Not when you’re this upset.”

JC spun around, his eyes mere slits. “What do you care? You’re the reason I’m upset.”

“What?” Joey asked, taking a step back in surprise.

“You and everyone else,” JC said, advancing on Joey. “You’re forcing me into things that I don’t want to do. That I’m not comfortable with.”

“You never said anything,” Joey replied, finding his voice. It made him feel a little better to know that he wasn’t being directly accused for upsetting JC, but not much.

“No one gave me a chance!” JC yelled. He took a breath and glanced around at the houses that surrounded him before lowering his voice. “You all decided things without even talking to me.”

Joey nodded, realizing that they hadn’t really asked JC what he wanted to do. But at the same time, it wasn’t like that was really an option since he’d locked himself in the bathroom. Not that Joey was going to bring that up, knowing it would just piss JC off. Instead, he said, “We just assumed you’d want to press charges.”

“It wasn’t your decision to make,” JC said, glaring at Joey.

“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” Joey met JC’s dark gaze. “But nothing’s set in stone. Let’s go back and sit down and talk about what you want to do.”

JC shook his head slightly. “They won’t listen to me.”

“Yes, they will,” Joey said. “But if they don’t, I’ll be there to back you up. Everyone just wants to do whatever they can to help you.”

For the first time since they started talking, JC didn’t look so pissed. He bit his lip, no doubt considering Joey’s suggestion. It was then that Joey realized that maybe they’d jumped into action too soon because they could never understand what JC had gone through.

Finally, JC nodded and said, “OK. Let’s go talk.”

Joey smiled and wrapped an arm around JC’s shoulders, glad that JC didn’t pull away. Glancing over at him, Joey saw that in addition to JC’s eyes being tinged with red, there were also dark circles under them. He looked exhausted, so Joey let him set the pace.

Slowly, the two of them walked down the street. Not a word was said as they approached the house a few minutes later. They opened the gate and walked into the side yard, only to see that Roy and Karen were there.

“There you are!” Karen exclaimed, relief visible on her face. She walked over to JC and asked, “Where did you go?”

“Up the street. I just needed to get away for a bit,” JC said.

Roy pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and asked, “You wanna go for a ride?”

JC looked over his shoulder at Joey, who offered him an encouraging smile. Joey knew that Roy and Karen probably wanted to talk to him, and that was something JC needed to do.

“Sure,” JC agreed.

Joey watched as the three of them walked out through the gate and made a left towards the driveway. Hopefully the talk would go good. Not that there would be any reason why it wouldn’t because JC’s parents seemed to be pretty understanding.

Glancing once more at the dark sky, Joey crossed the small patio and opened the door. As soon as he stepped inside, he could hear Lynn and Chris arguing in the kitchen. Joey frowned as he walked the short distance and watched them in the doorway for a minute.

“It’s not necessary,” Chris said.

“Yes, it is. You can’t hide something like this from them,” Lynn replied.

“But what good will it do?” Chris challenged. “It’s not like it’ll change anything. They’ll just get even more upset, and things’ll be worse than they are now.”

Lynn shook her head. “You’re not giving them enough credit. Yes, they’ll be upset, but they’re not going to let it interfere with being there for JC.”

“You really want to put that on them though? I mean, they’re still trying to wrap their heads around what happened,” Chris said.

Lynn fixed Chris with a stern look and crossed her arms. “I’m not going to lie to my son. He deserves to know everything that JC went through.”

Joey frowned at the exchange. Lynn and Chris weren’t yelling, but it was obvious they weren’t going to agree anytime soon. It made Joey wonder what’d happened while he’d gone after JC because he’d never seen Chris face off with Lynn like this. Even if it was kind of mild.

“What’s going on?” Joey asked finally, stepping into the kitchen. At once, Lynn and Chris’s heads swiveled in his direction.

They glanced at each other before Lynn sighed. “We’re trying to decide what to tell the boys.”

“About what?” Joey asked.

Chris sighed, meeting Joey’s concerned gaze with a solemn one. “JC was raped more than once.”

Joey felt the air leave him as if someone had punched him in the stomach. “What?”

“Yeah.” Chris nodded. “Apparently JC was keeping things from us.”

“When did it happen?” Joey asked. He didn’t bother asking about how they found out because there was only one person who would’ve told them:  the detective.

“Last night,” Lynn said.

“Before the demo,” Joey said quietly to himself, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t figured it out. JC had looked like shit when they were ready to go on stage. He should’ve known that Lou had to have done something when he’d gone to get his pants fixed. That was the only time he’d left JC alone. “It’s all my fault.”

“The only person responsible for what happened to JC is Lou,” Chris tried to assure.

“No,” Joey denied. “I shouldn’t have left him alone. I knew what Lou had been doing to him. I was supposed to protect him.”

“Hey, you weren’t the one that left him alone with that piece of shit,” Chris pointed out.

“But you didn’t know!” Joey objected. “You didn’t know what was going on. I did.”

“You didn’t know Lou was going to rape JC again.” Chris held Joey’s gaze, obviously saying that he should believe him. He added, “Besides, there’s nothing you could’ve done. Lou would’ve found some way to be alone with JC no matter what you did.”

Joey considered that and knew that was probably true. Lou had done things to JC before without their knowing. He probably would’ve found some way to get them out of the way. That didn’t make Joey feel any better though.

“It still shouldn’t have happened,” Joey muttered.

Chris nodded. “You’re right, but now we’re gonna make it right. Lou’s gonna pay for what he did.”

Joey glanced at Lynn, seeing a similar determination that was on Chris’s face. He had no doubt that Lou needed to be punished for hurting JC. But after talking to JC, Joey wasn’t so sure that JC would agree in the way that they wanted him to.

From now on, Joey would stand by JC’s decision. He wouldn’t let anyone force JC into anything. Lou had already done enough of that.