NORMAL (56 page)

"You say you
heard
them?"

"I heard Rory shout 'yes'. She sounded, like,
distressed
, and then a man's voice said something and I ran to them-"

"Could you understand what the male voice said?" the detective interrupts again. Sam hesitates and I swallow anxiously. I can already tell that he heard exactly what Robin's awful words were. Sam nods and the detective raises her eyebrows expectantly.

"He called her a 'fucking whore'," he says quietly. Detective Mora bristles in place in obvious discomfort at hearing Robin's vitriol, and I wonder what the hell she was expecting to hear when she came to investigate what she referred to as an "attempted sexual assault".

"What happened next?" she prompts.

"He had her up against the wall, holding her by her neck," Sam grits out. His fingers rake through his hair again and he bites his lip harshly before taking a deep breath. "He had her skirt hiked up, and he was... hurting her. As soon as I reached them I pulled him off of her and he swung at me. We fought. Eventually I got him down, Tuck came over and kept an eye on him while I helped Rory and we called the police, and that was it," he says with a shrug.

"By 'Tuck', you mean Tucker Green, correct?"

Sam nods.

"Let's just back up a moment, Mr. Caplan. When you reached Mr. Forbes and Miss Pine, did you recognize him?"

"Yes. I'd seen his Facebook photo," Sam replies.

"You say he was hurting her, can you elaborate?" the detective presses.

Sam swallows audibly. "Like I said," he says carefully, "he had her up against the wall
by her throat
- he was fucking
strangling
her... she looked so fucking scared," his voice breaks. His head drops, his eyes close and he rubs his face with his palm.

I just stand there, mesmerized by how affected Sam is by the night's events. The realization of what
he
went through tonight - from thinking I would hook up with some random guy, to searching for me frantically... to finding me in that fucking alley, being attacked,
God
, and fighting for me - it washes over me with a wall of grief. I hate that he saw me like that - so helpless and frightened. I feel so pathetic.

This
is what Robin does to me, how he makes me feel - that I have no control in my own fate. That I only matter, only
exist,
in reference to
him
. My father's words forge their way back through my mind unbidden, reminding me that I am nothing but a
small-town girl
, common and unimportant.
Worthless
.

But Sam, he has the opposite effect. He cares about
me
. To him, I
matter
. And with every selfless gesture of friendship, of affection, Sam has managed the impossible - to begin to revive a sense of self-worth Robin - and my own father - spent so much time obliterating. The realization calms me, even as it overwhelms me with emotion.

I blink back tears as Sam continues his statement, "I knew what he was going to do-"

"And what is that?"

Sam lifts his head and glares intently at the detective. "Rape her."

"And just to be completely clear, you knew this because he had her skirt hiked up?"

"He was trying to get her fucking underwear down and hold her legs apart. And he'd done it before. Several times. He's obsessed with her."

"Miss Pine told you this?"

"She told me about the- uh, assaults, and about their history. She didn't say he was obsessed with her - that was my own conclusion."

Sam finally notices me in his peripheral, staring at him in awe, and we lock eyes.

"So you pulled Mr. Forbes off of her," Detective Mora prompts, but Sam is still just staring at me, profound emotion in his gaze. I wrap my arms around myself protectively, still feeling so vulnerable, and I can't help but wish they were his arms around me instead of my own. "Mr. Caplan?" Sam blinks and returns his eye contact to the detective. "So you pulled him off of her," she repeats.

"Yeah. We fought until he was down, Tuck found us and held our friends back, told them to call the police, which they did."

Detective Mora glares at him for a few moments as if she's trying to decide whether or not she wants to say something. Finally her eyes narrow slightly. "So after you helped Miss Pine from the alley, did you return to Mr. Forbes?"

Sam nods. "Tuck and I made sure he didn't get up. I didn't want him to come after Rory again."

"That's all? You just held him down and waited for the authorities to arrive?"

Sam considers this a moment, and then nods.

I am literally shaking with anxiety. But not for myself - for Sam. I don't have to have seen what happened at that point in the alley to know that Sam and Tuck didn't simply wait for the police to arrive, I'd have known that even if he hadn't made certain that they'd be warned as soon as anyone heard sirens. I saw the look on his face, and just like Cam, I know he couldn't just let the police handle Robin without at least getting in a few more good hits.

I'm just glad Sam didn't kill him. That he's not in jail right now. The last thing I'd ever want is for Sam to get in trouble because of me and my past. Sam looks over at me again, as if now that he's realized I'm here, he can't keep his eyes off of me for long. Part of him is probably irrationally worried that Robin will come out from nowhere again and attack me. Part of me certainly is.

Detective Mora, obviously annoyed at Sam's distraction, follows his gaze. "Miss Pine, I have a few more questions for Mr. Caplan and you've had a long night. You can go back to your hotel now, get some rest."

Carl must overhear this because she's at my side almost immediately and gently puts her arm around me. She suggests I come back to the hotel with her and offers for Tuck to stay with Sam. I'm too overwhelmed to think anymore, and even though every cell in my body wants to stay with Sam myself, I let her lead me back to the hotel. Sam doesn't say a word to me as I leave. In fact, I realize, he hasn't said a word to me since he begged me to stay with Carl outside the alley.

****

Carl walks me to my room without a word. She follows me inside and sits on the sofa while I change and then go into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, trying desperately to rid my mouth of Robin's rancid taste. It won't do, I'll need a shower, I'll need to rigorously scrub every part of my body that Robin touched, but it will have to wait for now.

Finally, I join Carl on the sofa.

"Are you okay?" she asks softly.

I shrug. "Yes, no... I will be. I've been through worse," I murmur.

I explain to her a little about Robin, though I don't offer many details. I just say that he's my ex and that he used to hurt me, including forcing me into sex. Her eyes fall to my hip, and I know she's making the connection to my scar, but she doesn't press me to elaborate and I'm grateful. I give Carl the okay to tell Tuck the truth since he's probably figured some of it out already and, frankly, he deserves it after helping me. Carl swears that she and Tuck won't tell a soul, that they'll tell the rest of the group that some stranger attacked me, and that Robin and our sordid past doesn't have to follow me back to Port Woodmere. I want so desperately to believe her.

"Where did you go? I mean, you came into the bar with us, I saw you, but when I got back from the bathroom you weren't there. Cap asked where you were and no one had seen you since you walked in, and he kinda freaked - he yelled at me for leaving you alone and ran out the door. But then he came back in a couple minutes later and he seemed even more pissed off and before I know it, Tuck is following him back outside and we all kinda followed Tuck."

"I- well, I left." I take a deep, calming breath. "Sam and I had a fight earlier, right before we left for dinner - it was why I was late comin' down," I explain. "The whole thing was my fault, I was just bein' stupid, so when we got to the bar, I was lookin' for him to apologize. But then when I saw him he had his arm around some girl, and he was laughin' with her and smilin', and... I don't know, I just couldn't handle it. I know we're not, like, together and he doesn't owe me anything... but we'd just hooked up a few hours ago, you know?"

Carl furrows her brow. "He had his arm around a girl?" She's in disbelief.
Yeah, so was I.

"Yep," I confirm. "And she was pretty, too. A redhead."

Carl's eyebrows shoot up and her jaw drops, and I just stare at her blankly. "
Shit
, Rory! That was Thea, Cap's
cousin
."

Now I'm sure my stunned expression mirrors hers.
I am so freaking stupid.
I drop my face into my hands in embarrassment and after a moment Carl's hand sooths up and down my arm in consolation, so I continue my account.

"Well, obviously I didn't know it was Thea, and bein' the psycho jealous bitch that I apparently am, I left. I was gonna text you when I got to the hotel. I mean, it was
right there,
but Robin came out of nowhere and I just... froze." I don't give the details I had to give the detective. I just tell her how Robin pulled me into the alley and was all over me. That I tried to fight him off, but he was rough and pushed me around, and then Sam came and pulled him off of me.

When I finish speaking, Carl hugs me again for a long time. When she pulls away, honestly, I do feel a little better.  

"Do you want a distraction?" she asks.  

"Depends," I say warily.

"You'll like it," she assures me with a smirk, so I agree. "Tuck and I are officially together," she says, and I actually squeal with happiness for her.

"Really? That's amazing! You have no idea how happy I am for you, Carl! How did that happen?" I ramble, thrilled that after the awful night I've had to endure, at least one good thing has come of it.

"Well, you know, when Tuck and Cap were in that alley and I was with you, I was crazy worried about him. I thought I was going to lose my mind - I didn't know if he was hurt, or what. After the cops got there and he came out, I literally jumped on him and started crying. I have no idea what got into me, but I just hugged him so hard and it just came out. I told him how worried I'd been and that I love him and he said he loves me too! Can you believe it?"

"Uh, yeah," I say sarcastically. Of course I can believe it, I've been telling her this for months. Carl rolls her eyes at me.

"Well anyway, he kissed me and we talked, you know, while you guys were giving your statements and everything, and... you were right, he was just worried I'd freak out if I knew how he felt, and I admitted the same, and, well... we're together!" she says excitedly, and I grin widely. I am truly ecstatic for her and I tell her so.

Carl offers to stay with me tonight, but I'd just keep her awake with my nightmares if I ever did manage to fall asleep, and anyway, I still want to apologize to Sam. And to thank him. And I know I'll feel unsettled and restless until I do. Carl is reluctant to leave me alone, but when she gets Tuck's text informing her that Sam is done with his statement and they're both heading back to the hotel, I insist that I'll be fine and that I still want to talk to Sam tonight anyway. Carl texts Tuck to meet her at my room and she stays with me and we talk until he knocks on my door.

I walk Carl to my door and hug her fiercely. She'll never know how much I appreciate her, how much I value the sincerity of our friendship.

When she steps outside, Tuck grabs her and kisses her hard on the mouth and I blush. Their PDA is usually more lustful than affectionate.

"I missed you," Carl whispers timidly, completely out of character, especially for how she usually interacts with Tuck.

Tuck smiles. "Me too, princess," he admits, and I can't help but smile at what a difference a day makes. Tuck turns to me. "You okay, Rory?" he asks.

I shrug, but nod. I don't know how to react to this serious version of Tuck.  

"Cap's really beating himself up over what happened."

"But it's not his fault," I argue.

"Well Cap doesn't seem to agree," Tuck replies, and by his tone I would think that he agrees that Sam is at least partially to blame for what Robin did, and I can't help but wonder
why
? "But just so you know, that guy would have to have a death wish to come near you again. Cap made it very clear what would happen if he did. I got a few in myself. We got your back, Pine. You know that, right?"

I blink at him for a moment, truly touched. It's not that I didn't consider Tuck a friend. I did. Of course I did. I just never really considered whether or not he'd be there for me if I needed him. I suppose I never considered a situation in which I
would
need him. But I guess I did, and I guess he was.

"Thanks, Tuck. I mean it. Really," I say hoarsely, and he smiles sympathetically. "Is Sam back in his room?"

Tucker shakes his head. "Nah, he went for a walk on the beach. Said he needed to clear his head."

"Oh." I try to keep the disappointment from my tone, but I fail, and they both look at me in pity. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow," I murmur.