It was a seven am. Ashley quickly pulled on her jeans. She had bled a little since it was her first time. She pulled on her shirt and found her way out of the room.
She heard JC in the bathroom and quickly ran past the door, Ashley cried
silently while ran off the NSYNC bus. She ran as fast as she could. Running to her bus she ran right into Jacob. He saw her face and tears.
"Ashley!" He hugged her tight and felt her shaking. "Come on let me take you back to the bus." He put his arm around her and slowly walked her into the bus.
All three girls were pouring their coffee and adding cream. Diana put two packets of sweet n low and stirred it around in the mug. Melissa looked
up to see the crying girl with Jacob. She knocked over the sugar bowl and ran to Ashley. "Honey!" Diana and Holly came running.
"She ran into me outside. I figured that she needed her girl friends." Jacob kissed the top of her head.
"Thanks Jacob." Diana led Ashley in to the room. Moments later, Ash and the boys came to see how Ashley was doing.
"You guys can you go play in the other room." Holly stood with her arms crossed in the doorway. They got out of the kitchen and went to play Dreamcast.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked, rubbing the strawberry blonde's back.
Ashley began her tale of seeing JC at the bar. In between sobs and shakes to got to the part about going onto the NSYNC bus. "We started watching TV and then he wanted to kiss me. Which
I thought was great since I like him and eveything. So we kiss and then we start making out. But he was getting a little rough. I thought that he was just really into it.
Then he's moving his hands all over me which was also great. But I just started getting to know him. He was still being a little rough. He started tugging on my jeans. I told him I didn't want to but he continued. He took a pant leg off I didn't want to but he kept doing it. Then went I told him to stop he told me to be quite. I said that I didn't want to and that I wanted him to stop. But he just took of my pants and we had sex. I told him it hurt but he didn't stop. I was crying and didn't do anything." She cupped her face in her hands and cried. "He raped me."
Erik stood in the doorway. "I'll fucking kill him?!" He headed towards the door. She grabbed his hand.
"It's because I wanted to be alone with him. It was my fault, I turned him on."
"Ashley, nothing you could do could make it okay to rape you. If you are crying and telling him no. That's rape." Erik got up and went to the other boys. "JC fucken rape Ashely last night."
Trevor stood up. "No fucking way!"
"Lets pay the bastard a visit!" screamed Ash. All the guys left the room.
"Where are you going?" sobbed Ashley.
"He's dead." The O-Town boys walked off the bus. "Eye for an eye." said Trevor.
"Tooth for a fucking tooth." Dan finished the phrase and on the door. Justin opened it. "We wanna see JC." They walked on the bus. "JC!" JC came out of the room.
"You fucken asshole." Erik punched him in the face. "How could you fucken do that to her. Never fucken touch her again." JC hit Erik in the face. Ash dragged JC out the bus and began to punch him. Trevor knocked JC to the ground. Jacob and Erik began kicking him in the stomach and face. "You fucken raped Ashley you pig. You're gonna die!" They beat the living shit out of JC. They left him there bleeding from the face. Erik went back and spit on his head. "If I find out you do something like this to anyone, I will kill you."
At The Hospital
Diana sat on her hands to keep from biting her nails. "She was a virgin. They will be able to tell." Holly was leaning against the wall. Previously she had been pacing back and forth poundering the outcome. He brushed aside a red curl.
"I blame myself." She began to say. Her friends looked up to the comment. "If I didn't go and leave her alone...this wouldn't have happened." Diana and Melissa got up and hugged her as she began to cry. "I feel so helpless because she will have to live with this for the rest of her life and I can't do anything." Melissa rubbed her back and whipped a tear away from her own eye. She looked up to see familular faces running towards the doors.
"Omigod! I got your page." Monique hugged Diana. "How is she? Have you seen her?" AJ held her hand as she spoke. Nick and Kelley stood waiting. Allison, Jamie, Janelle, Kevin and Howie were trying to run down a nurse to see if they could check on Ashley. "Where are the guys?" Monique asked looking around.
"They went to get us all coffee from the cafe in the main lobby. Ash wasn't sure when you guys would be here so he didn't pick up any for you." Melissa said while hugging her. "Did you hear what my boyfriend and his crew did?" They both sat down. "They beat the snot out of JC. Serves him right."
At The Same Time
"He's buying something for her in the gift shop." Trevor pointed. "I should have thought of that."
"I hope she doesn't blame me." Jacob said pressing the elevator button with his thumb.
"Why would she?" Ash balanced two trays while Erik could take one.
"If I didn;t leave her alone with JC this never would have happened." He kicked the door. "I'm such a fuck up."
"Jake, calm down. It's not your fault." Erik began. "It's JC's."
"What he did to her was unspeakable. I hate him for what he did to her." Jacob rubbed his foot. "She is gonna have serious trust issues with us now I bet."
"I hope not. I don't want her to hate us." Dan pictured Ashley being as distant as possible.
"I love Ashley like a sister. She has five older brothers. No scratch that. She has ten older brothers and eight sisters. We need to be here for her and expect her to be emotional." The doors opened and they stepped out onto the correct floor.
Meanwhile
"Yes, we will be outside if you change your mind." The doctor looked at her chart and jotted down a few notes.
"Can I see my friends now?" She asked soflty.
"Only a few, this room isn't large enough." She smiled. "Is there anyone specific you want to see?"
"All the girls." The doctor got the girls and they came and stood by her bed. Diana stroked Ashley's hair. It was painfully silent in the white, sterile room. "Are you guys mad at me?" She asked in a little girl tone. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Sweetie no!" Holly coaxed. "We love you. It isn't your fault what happened to you. We are not mad at you."
"We are furious with Mr. Chasez."
"I should call my parents." She pushed herself up a little and wiggled her half asleep foot underneath the sheets.
"Melissa took the liberty to call your folks. They are on a plane right now and will be here in a few hours."
"And they arent mad at you either. They are your family and love you just like we do." Diana smiled at her and continued to stroke her hair.
At The Same Time
"I hope you get arthritis." laughed Ashley.
"You can't dumbass." Erik's foot was stepped on by Jacob's, making the tapping come to an end. "I'm sorry Ash. I'm just so shook about this whole thing."
"Yeah how will it effect Ashley, her family, her friends, the tour."
"I don't really care if the tour ends. JC has fucked this whole thing up." Nick stood up and walked around. He was tried of sitting and needed to move around to keep from punching something. "What if this shit gets in the papers."
"Fuck!" screamed Erik.
An older woman whipped around her desk. "Watch your language young man." She went back to her desk and glared at Erik.
"Sorry." He opened another cup of coffee and began to drink. Nick had moved to the old seat. Dan was talking on the phone to someone from the tour. Jacob and Kevin were discussing all the hot ladies on tour. The door opened and Melissa and Monique walked out.
"Erik." Monique paused. "She wants to see you." She walked over to AJ. "I need some air. Let's take a walk."
"Sure." The couple went through the automatic doors to the grassy area near the east parking lot and sat down. He sat behind her and gave her a massage. "How is she?" He rubbed on her neck.
"She's doing alright for a person who has gone through the worst thing a woman can go through." She though about Ashley. What it must have been like to be scared and ashamed. To think that her friends and family hate her. A tear feel down her face and she sniffled. AJ turned her around.
"Hey." He hugged her as she sobbed on his shoulder. His hand rubbed up and down on her back as she started to speak. She pulled back just looking at him.
"I remember before 407 even was a though in my head. I had the hotts for JC. I though that he was so fine. I was like hell yeah I'd do that. But no it's like, I hate him. I though of him just like Ashley did. What if I still liked him and that night it was me. Not Ashley. I was it was me and not Ashley."
"Shh. It shouldn't have happened to anyone. Not you or Ashley." Moniique put her head in on his chest while her hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
In The Hospital
"Honey it isn't your fault." Mrs. Poole tried calming her son down. "Ashley is coming home for a few days. You can protect her all you want. So can we."
"Hi Mrs. Poole."
"Oh Melissa. Thank you for calling us. She will be back in a few days."
"I think of you like my little sister." Erik held her hand. "I'm so sorry babe."
"It isn't your fault. It isn't mine either. We know who is to blame."
"It won't be the same without you. I'll call you everyday to check on you."
"Thanks. Thank you for everything Erik. It's really hard to trust a guy right now but I trust you." He kissed her forehead.
An Hour Later
"Gosh, I miss her already." Mel starting to cry. Ash hugged her and kissed her cheek. The two went back to the O-Town bus. 407 and Backstreet headed off to the BSB bus. Dan followed Mel and Ash. Ashley looked out the window. The sky was filled with pretty pinks and oranges. The water was so blue are pretty. It was nice to be back with her family she though to herself. She hugged the bunny that Holly won at the fair and looked out again as the sunset for the last time on the tour grounds.
[ Chapter 13 ] - Coming Soon
The nurse sent the girls to the Rape Crisis Center. The doctor met with Ashley and checked her out. She noted that there were signs of a forceful entry. Out in the lobby, Melissa tapped her foot nervously and bit her bottom lip. "What if they can't prove it was rape." She continued to tap and looked to her friends for the answer.
"Yeah and lastly I want a large decaf with cream and four sugars." Ash payed the money and handed one tray to Jacob. Dan picked up the other one. "Where's Erik?"
"Do you want to press charges?" The female officer asked while holding Ashley's hand. Ashley looked around the white painted walls and licked her lips. "Let me think about it."
Erik's foot tapped on the cold hospital floor. He cracked his knuckles one at a time. Each one made a louder pop then the previous.
"God if I just looked out for her. This never would have happened." Ashley's older brother, Shawn, punched the Pepsi machine.
Shawn helped the Erik load the stuff into the car. Dream said goodbye to Ashley while Mr.Poole spoke to Puffy about how long Ashley would be out. After hugging the last person goodbye, Erik, Ashley sat in the car and they drove off to the airport.
