“Ugh.” Chris dropped the half eaten slice of Mexican pizza onto his plate, a disgusted expression on his face. “I can’t eat any more of this.”

Joey looked up from his burger and smirked. “You were the one who wanted Mexican pizza.”

“This isn’t pizza,” Chris objected. He looked down at his plate and muttered, “It looked good.”

“Should’ve stuck with the staple,” Joey said, gesturing to his burger and fries. Chris just grumbled to himself, reaching over to steal some fries.

They’d been at the mall for an hour before they’d decided to get something to eat. It’d been a week since they’d moved out of the house and into Chris’s apartment and they weren’t sure what to do with themselves. There’d been an understanding that while they wanted to be there for JC, they would give him some space. So they were just trying to stay out of the way for a while since there wasn’t much else they could do.

That didn’t stop Joey from being concerned though. He’d spent most of the week wondering what JC was doing and how he was handling what’d happened. It was a lot to deal with, and Joey had been worried how JC was reacting to having to prepare for a trial since he knew how much JC hated talking about it. Finally, he’d caved and called JC earlier, needing to know how things were going.

“I talked to JC this morning,” Joey said.

Chris, who’d been looking over his shoulder at the other side of the food court, turned around and gave Joey his full attention. “Yeah? How’s he doing?”

“Alright, I guess,” Joey said. “He had to go to the police station today to go over what he’s going to say for court.”

“When’s that?” Chris asked.

“Uh…around two,” Joey said.

Chris looked down at his watch. “It’s after two now.” He paused, his eyes landing on Joey’s nearly empty plate. “You ready to go?”

“Go where?”

“The police station,” Chris said as if it were obvious.

Joey frowned. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Yeah, I do,” Chris said earnestly. “We’ve left him alone for a week. I think it’s time we talk to him.”

“I don’t know…”

Joey wasn’t sure if JC wanted them around while he was talking to the police. He’d been nervous enough when it’d been just the detective at the house, but being at the police station having to tell even more people would probably be worse. The last thing Joey wanted to do was stress JC out even more by showing up at a place that already made him uncomfortable.

“Look,” Chris began, pulling Joey out of his thoughts as he rested his arms against the table and leaned forward. “I know you don’t want to upset him, but he needs to know that we’re here for him because we want to be. Not because we feel obligated.”

Joey frowned slightly, thinking it over. He hoped that JC already knew that, but he realized that he didn’t know for sure. They’d grown close, but there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other. In all of the chaos and uncertainty of what was going on, the one thing Joey wanted JC to be sure about was that he could depend on their friendship.

“OK,” Joey finally agreed.

They gathered up their trash to throw away before heading for the mall’s exit. It was a short walk to Chris’s car since the mall wasn’t very crowded and they’d gotten a spot close to the entrance. As soon as Joey shut the passenger door, Chris backed out of the parking space, wasting no time.

Almost fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the police station. Once Chris had parked alongside the street and fed the parking meter with a dollar’s worth of quarters, the two of them walked up the stairs and into the lobby.

It seemed empty; much like it had the other night when Joey had gone with Lynn. The only person they could see was the secretary that was stationed at a large desk in front of them. From there, there were two hallways. Chris raised an eyebrow at Joey, clearly asking what they should do.

Joey stepped forward and crossed the lobby to the front desk, Chris right behind him. As they approached, a man who seemed to be about thirty looked up from a stack of paperwork. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Joey said. He glanced at Chris before returning his gaze to the man behind the desk. “We’re looking for a friend of ours. Joshua Chasez. He came in here to go over his testimony.”

The man opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when a voice nearby said, “What are you boys doing here?”

Immediately, Chris and Joey turned at the sound of Roy’s voice. He was standing in a doorway that was just inside the hallway to the right. As they walked towards him, Joey could see over Roy’s shoulder and into the room, which looked like a lounge.

“We came down to see JC,” Chris said just as they reached Roy.

Roy nodded and walked into the room. He glanced over his shoulder at them and said, “He’s with Detective Haughton right now, but you can wait around until he’s done.”

Roy sat down on a dark green couch, and Joey joined him. Glancing around the room, Joey noticed that it wasn’t very big, especially with the two vending machines on the far wall. The chair Chris was sitting in squeaked slightly as he leaned forward, catching Joey’s attention.

“So how’s he really doing?” Chris asked, meeting Roy’s gaze.

Roy sighed. “He’s doing OK considering. Karen and I are doing our best to help him, but it’s hard since we really can’t understand what he went through.”

“No offense, but you lie about as well as your son,” Chris told him. Joey looked at Chris in surprise, unable to believe he’d just said that. But if the light chuckle from Roy was any indication, it wasn’t taken personally.

“I guess you’re right.” Roy rubbed at his face and looked at them before he said, “Truthfully, this has been hard on him. He hasn’t been sleeping well.”

“Nightmares?” Joey asked, knowingly. Once JC had told him the truth about what’d been going on, he understood why JC had always looked so exhausted. The fear JC had of Lou was the reason, and it probably wouldn’t go away for a while.

Roy nodded. “He’s had one pretty much every night this week. I hate that he’s going through this.”

Joey felt the same way. Even though a week had passed, he still couldn’t believe that something so horrible had happened to JC. They’d known going into this that things were going to change when they got to the demo, but they’d never anticipated it changing for the worse. The only good thing was that JC was pressing charges, ensuring that Lou wouldn’t be able to hurt him anymore.

“Do you know when the trial’s gonna be?” Chris asked.

“No, they haven’t given us an exact date,” Roy said. “Apparently, they’re backlogged, so it’s not going to be for at least a couple months.”

Chris sighed. “Well, what are the police saying? Do they think he has a strong case?”

“They seem to think the evidence is pretty solid and will definitely help his case. At this point, it’s important that they prepare Josh for the trial.”

“So the odds are in his favor?” Joey asked. He knew that JC probably wasn’t happy about having to wait so long for the trial, that he just wanted to get it over with and move on. It would be worth it though if it resulted in Lou being locked up prison.

“Detective Haughton thinks so. He says there’s no way a jury would let Lou off when they see the evidence and hear Josh’s testimony,” Roy said.

Chris nodded. “They’d be crazy not to.”

Just then, quick footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Reflexively, they all looked out into the hall just in time to see JC race past. Roy started to get up, but Chris held up a hand even as he rose to his feet.

“Let me try talking to him, alright?” he asked.

Roy barely hesitated before he nodded. Immediately, Chris turned on his heel and hurried out of the room in the direction JC had gone.

Joey looked over at Roy and noticed that he looked tired…almost defeated. Considering how easily he’d let Chris go after JC, it made Joey think that Roy hadn’t been having a lot of luck getting through to JC. It seemed as if JC was still trying to deal with everything by himself by closing himself off from not only them but his parents too. Not that it surprised Joey, but he’d hoped that JC would let go of his embarrassment and open up to someone.

The silence was heavy, causing Joey to shift on his end of the couch. He glanced at Roy once more before lowering his gaze to the vending machine on the other side of the room, looking at the array of snacks. It seemed like he should say something, but Joey had no idea what. He didn’t know Roy that well, and this wasn’t a circumstance to get to know him. There were more important things to worry about, so any efforts at trying to take his mind off things probably wouldn’t be appreciated.

“You know,” Roy cleared his throat, solving Joey’s dilemma of what to say. “I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

Joey looked up at him, surprised. “For what?”

“For what you did for Josh,” Roy said.

“I didn’t really do anything,” Joey replied, averting his eyes. That was something that continued to eat away at him. He hadn’t done enough to help JC once he’d found out.

“You listened to him. You were there for him.”

Joey sighed. “Yeah, but I should’ve told someone sooner. I mean, I could’ve saved him from going through more pain.”

“I know you feel like you’re responsible, but you shouldn’t.” Roy locked eyes with Joey. “What happened isn’t your fault. You did what you thought was right.”

“And what good did that do? JC was raped again.” Joey paused. “I should’ve insisted that he go to the police, or at least cancel the demo.”

Roy shook his head. “Josh opened up to you because he knew he could trust you. He wouldn’t have done that if he’d thought you’d push him into something he wasn’t ready for.”

“But I did push him,” Joey objected. “By telling the police what happened, I forced him to deal with something he didn’t want.”

“Joey, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. Karen and I don’t blame you for what happened, and I know Josh doesn’t either. In fact, I’m glad that he opened up to you because that wasn’t something he should’ve been keeping to himself.”

Joey frowned. It was hard for him to accept that he wasn’t responsible for the rape that’d happened at Pleasure Island before the demo. He’d been the only one to know about what Lou had been doing, and he’d left JC. While he hadn’t known that the others were going to leave him alone with Lou, it was a mistake that haunted him. And he’d thought for sure that JC’s parents would be upset that he hadn’t done anything to stop it, but everything Roy was saying contradicted that.

“I’m serious, Joey. Whether you believe it or not, you helped him. Josh is lucky to have you and the others as friends. He’s going to need your support as this trial gets closer,” Roy said.

Staring at the tan carpet, Joey let the words sink in. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing, but he felt better knowing that no one blamed him for what’d happened the day of the demo. So much time had been spent thinking about what he’d done wrong, that he hadn’t focused on what he’d done right.

By going out into the living room that night and gently pushing JC to talk, he was able to run interference with Lou and JC. Lunch before the demo had been a more manageable affair because of what Joey had done, and he’d offered JC the support that he needed to take the weight off dealing with Lou on his own. It didn’t seem like much, but Joey remembered the relief on JC’s face and realized that it had made a difference. He didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if JC hadn’t talked to him, and he’d been in the dark.

Now the most important thing was helping JC get through this trial to put Lou in jail. Based off the fear that Joey knew still existed in JC, it was going to be very trying, and he’d need support to face Lou. Something that Joey was more than willing to provide.

“We’ll be there,” Joey said finally, meeting Roy’s gaze. Roy offered him a small smile, and Joey felt the weight on his shoulders lighten.

Chris rounded the corner and saw that JC was nearly at the doors that led out to the street. He quickened his pace, wanting to catch JC before he could leave. Clearly something had happened, and Chris was determined to find out what.

“JC!” he called, only a few feet away from him now.

JC, whose hand was resting on the long door handle, sighed. Reluctantly, he let go of it and turned to face Chris. He shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders hunched and his eyes focused on the bright tile.

Chris stopped just in front of JC. Being closer allowed him to see how upset JC was, and it made him want to pull him into a hug. But Chris didn’t move because he didn’t want to push JC. It looked like he was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

“What happened?” Chris asked.

“What, no question to see if I’m alright?”

“No. It’s a waste of time. I already know that you’re not,” Chris said. “So what happened?”

“Nothing,” JC mumbled, scuffing the floor with the toe of his sneaker.

Chris crossed his arms and said disbelievingly, “Uh huh. You’re not a very good liar, so you wanna try that again?”

“I’m not lying.” JC glanced up at Chris briefly, annoyed. “Nothing happened.”

“Then why’d you take off?” Chris asked.

JC shook his head, looking out at the street through the glass door before lowering his eyes back to the floor. He refused to make eye contact with Chris, which was a hint that he didn’t want to talk about it. Chris didn’t want to push JC and upset him more, but he couldn’t let this go. Not when JC was so upset.

“Jace,” Chris stepped forward and gently placed a hand on JC’s shoulder. JC flinched, and Chris frowned, removing his hand. “C’mon, JC, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Chris watched JC, unsure of what he would do but hoping he’d open up. Finally, JC said softly, “I can’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“All of it.” JC looked up, his eyes wet from the tears that threatened to fall. “Just all of it.”

The confession didn’t really surprise Chris. He couldn’t even imagine what JC was going through, and it made it worse that he couldn’t seem to let anyone help him deal with it. The past couple weeks had proven that much, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hard to see him like this. JC seemed to be barely holding it together.

“I just want to forget it ever happened. I don’t want to be here anymore.” JC’s gaze returned to looking out the glass. He whispered, “I want to go home.”

“You can if you want,” Chris said simply.

JC tore his eyes away from the street and stared at him in surprise. “What?”

“I’m serious. No one’s forcing you to stay. If you want, me and you will walk outta here right now and I’ll drive you to the airport,” Chris said. “But only if that’s what you really want. Don’t do it because you’re scared.”

“But I am scared,” JC admitted quietly.

“There’s no reason to be.”

JC gave him a disbelieving look. “What if Lou gets off? I don’t want all this,” he swept his arm out, gesturing to the police station, “to be for nothing.”

“It won’t,” Chris assured him. “Lou will go to jail.”

“I can’t have that kind of confidence.”

“You just need to channel your fear into something else,” Chris said.

“Like what?” JC asked.

“I don’t know, but you’ve been living in fear for the last two weeks.” Chris thought for a second. “You should be excited that you’re finally putting all this behind you. Or, hell, be angry at Lou for what he did to you.”

JC just nodded, once again lowering his head. After a moment, he said, “I want to be, you know?” He glanced up briefly. “I do. But I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You just haven’t allowed yourself to be angry because you were afraid. You were too focused on what Lou would do next instead of being angry for what he did.”

JC was silent as he frowned down at his sneakers. He said, “You’re right. I let him hurt me.”

“You didn’t let him do anything,” Chris objected, unable to believe what he was hearing. He knew that JC put unnecessary blame on himself, but this was ridiculous. “That bastard took advantage of you.”

“Because he knew I wouldn’t say anything. I never said anything against him.”

Chris reflected on the past couple weeks and remembered his frustration that JC went along with whatever Lou wanted. First, it’d been the lip syncing and then when Lou made JC re-sing his part half a dozen times. All through it, JC had never said a word. Chris hadn’t been able to understand why. At least until now.

“You didn’t want to give him another reason to hurt you,” Chris said.

“That’s not what you said before. You said that I was sucking up to him.” JC paused, chewing on his bottom lip. “Maybe you were right. Maybe I was trying to please him. Maybe some part of me actually wanted it.”

Chris stared at JC, his jaw slackened. He tried to say something, but his brain was scattered and he couldn’t seem to get his mouth to form the words that did come to mind. Surely there was no way JC believed that.

Finally, Chris found his voice and said, “Forget what I said. I was a moron.”

JC shook his head. “No. You called it like you saw it.”

“I’m serious, JC. I was an idiot,” Chris stressed. “I had no idea what was going on. If I had, I never would’ve said that.”

“But—”

“No.” Chris stepped forward and ducked his head to lock eyes with JC. He had to get through to him. “Listen to me, JC. I only said what I did because I was mad and I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t argue with him. I’m sorry that I didn’t take the time to figure out what was going on instead of making assumptions.”

“It’s OK,” JC said.

“No, it’s not. If I’d actually tried talking to you, I could’ve helped you fight off Lou,” Chris replied. He realized that was what Joey had tried to do, and despite his best efforts, it hadn’t stopped the second rape from happening. But if anything, that just made Chris even more regretful because he’d been the one to leave JC alone with Lou, thinking Lou was going to apologize to him for ragging on him during rehearsal. Something that never would’ve happened if he’d known.

“I was too weak to fight him off,” JC said.

It was Chris’s turn to shake his head. He should’ve seen that coming, but he never figured that JC put so much blame on himself. “This is why you need to go through with the trial. You need to stand up to him and prove to him that you’re not weak.”

“I don’t know if I can face him. Not after…everything.”

“You can. You’re strong enough to do it, and you need to realize that.” Chris paused. He realized that was asking a lot of JC right now because he was so insecure, but it would help JC in the end. “But if you don’t do it to show Lou you’re better than him, then do it for yourself. You’ll never be able to really move on if you don’t face him.”

JC looked up at Chris briefly before turning his gaze out to the street and asking, “What happened to letting me leave? Can’t I just go home and put this all behind me?”

“Would you be able to? Would you be able to just forget about it knowing that Lou just walked free?” Chris sighed and reached out a hand, placing it on JC’s shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner. He was encouraged when JC didn’t flinch or pull away. “I know you’ve already been through so much and don’t want to deal with this, but shouldn’t that be reason enough to stand up to him? You can walk away from this if you want, but you’ll be constantly looking over your shoulder, worrying that it’ll happen again. You need closure.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Chris held back the sigh of relief he wanted to release. He moved even closer to JC and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “It’d be a lot easier if you’d let us help you. You don’t have to handle all of this alone.”

“I know. I just can’t always help it, you know?” JC said. Chris nodded. He’d recognized early on that JC was very self-reliant, but JC had to realize that it was alright to lean on others. JC added, “But I’ll try.”

“Good,” Chris said simply. He slung an arm around JC’s shoulders. “What do you say we go see what your dad and Joey are up to?”

JC glanced at Chris out of the corner of his eye. “Joey’s hanging out with my dad?”

“Yeah. They’re probably arguing about the unfair distribution of M&Ms or something,” Chris joked.

JC cracked a smile, albeit a small one, but it was one nonetheless. It was obvious that he still wasn’t alright, but Chris had faith that he would be. He was going to make it his mission to make sure that he was there to offer any support that JC might need. While it didn’t make up for his lack of understanding from before, Chris felt better knowing that JC didn’t hold it against him. From that moment, Chris vowed to himself that he would always look out for JC and the other three guys that were quickly becoming like brothers to him.