Befriending Cassie Ch. 05

All standard disclaimers apply. This story is complete fiction. Any similarities to anyone living or dead is a coincidence. Both main characters are 18 years old at the time of the story. Any character's involved in any form of sexual activity are 18 years old at the time of said activity.

**Trigger Warning**

This story centers on a character that was the victim of long term sexual abuse. The author DOES NOT condone sexual assault or abuse in any way, shape, or form. Likewise, this story is not intended to glorify or promote sexual assault or abuse. The focus of the story is to follow our female antagonist as she learns to rebuild her life and relationships. Due to the nature of her backstory, there will be instances where her abuse will be described or discussed. If this bothers you, please do not continue.

My focus tends to be on the characters, their relationships, and the story. I don't write quick jerk-off stories. In fact, there may be no sex at all in some chapters. If all you are looking for is a quick way to get off, these stories are not for you.

I'm relatively new to writing and look forward to positive feed back.

Thanks for reading.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Like Ms. Davis had warned there were days where I could tell Cassie was struggling. When those days came I did my best to just be supportive of her. There was a week where it became particularly bad. It felt like Cassie had slipped back into her old ways. While she wasn't confrontational like she had been when we first met, she was definitely more distant. I was genuinely concerned.

It was three o'clock in the morning on a Saturday when my phone went berserk. It was text after text from Cassie.

"Cody are you up?"

"Please be there."

"Cody?"

Wiping the sleep from my eyes I grabbed my phone. Seeing the panic in the text brought me instantly awake.

"Yea, I'm here. Are you ok?" I responded

"Can you meet me at the hammock. PLEASE?"

"Of course. I'll be right there."

I quickly threw on a pair of sweatpants and headed for the door. As almost an afterthought, I grabbed a blanket on my way out. I practically ran out of the house. My heart was beating out of my chest. By the time I made it to the hammock in Cassie's back yard she was already there. The instant she saw me she ran to me and wrapped her arms around me so tight it nearly knocked the breath out of me. She was shaking uncontrollably and sobbing.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's ok. I'm here. Shhhh. I've got you." Cassie buried her face in my chest.

"He was there. He was in my room. He came back for me. I could feel him on my bed. He's going to do it again!" she was hysterical. It didn't take much for me to put the pieces together, but I didn't want to give away that I knew.

"Who was there? What happened sweetie?"

"My... my..."she just pushed her face further into my chest, her words choked in her throat.

"Its ok. I have you. No ones going to hurt you ever again. I wont let them I promise."

I stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth in my arms. Slowly she began to regain her composure. She was still shivering, but now I was pretty sure it was from the cool air. I wrapped the blanket around her and escorted her to the hammock where we both sat down. I kept my arm around her as she leaned tightly against me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." she started.

"Shhh. Its fine. You're ok."

We sat there quietly for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally I spoke.

"You doing better?" I asked.

She said nothing, just nodded her head.

"Do you want me to walk you back to your room?"

"NO!" came her panicked response. "No please. I cant go back in there tonight."

"Ok. You don't have to. Do you want to try and go back to sleep here?" she nodded

"Ok."

"Cody, please don't leave. I'm scared."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I have you."

We settled down on the hammock. Cassie wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. I made sure she was covered and warm then simply lay there stroking her hair. I gave no thought to how it would look if we were found there. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she felt safe.

I don't know when we fell asleep. The next thing I remember was being awakened by Ms. Davis whispering my name. My eyes blinked open and I briefly panicked worried what Ms. Davis must be thinking.

"I'm heading to work. We will discuss this later."

"Nothing happened, I swear." I said as quietly as my panic would allow.

She held up her hand.

"You're fine. I'm sure there's a good reason. You can explain latter. Meanwhile, take care of my little girl for me."

"Yes ma'am."

I didn't fall back asleep. I lay there watching Cassie sleep. For someone who had been in complete shambles hours before, she looked peaceful now.

After another half hour, Cassie began to stir. Finally her eyes opened and she sat up. It took her a second to get her bearings.

"Good morning." I said

"Um, good morning." she said groggily.

"You ok."

"Yea. I think so."

We sat up where we were now sitting side by side on the hammock.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Don't know. Your mom left for work about a half hour ago."

"Oh my God, my mom. Did she see us?"

"Uhhuh"

"Oh God she's going to kill me," Cassie groaned.

"No, I don't think so. To tell the truth she looked more worried than anything."

Cassie just shook her head. "God I'm so fucked up." I heard her mutter.

"Hey, now. Don't say that."

"But I am. Jesus Christ. I drug you out of your house in the middle of the night like a raving lunatic. You must think I'm a total nut job." she said starting to get herself worked up.

"Shhh, hey now. Calm down. I believe I told you I was here for you day or night. You didn't drag me anywhere I came willingly. Second of all, I do NOT think you are a nut or a lunatic. I think something happened to scare the ever living hell out of you. There's nothing crazy about that. I just wish I knew what it was so that maybe I could help."

Cassie stared at me for several seconds. It was clear she was having some kind of internal debate. Finally she spoke.

"I need to get a shower. Can you come back over in an hour. We need to talk."

"Of course. Are you ok? Do you need help getting inside?"

"No, no I've got it. Just meet me in an hour."

"Ok." I said. I helped her to her feet and watched as she started towards her back porch.

I slipped back into my house but was happy to see that my parents were not up yet. I went upstairs and took a quick shower. This was going to be the longest hour of my life. I thought about going over early but decided it was best to give Cassie plenty of time to prepare. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a bagel and orange juice. There on the counter was a note.

"Cody,

Left early to head to your aunt's. We will be gone all day. There's a casserole in the fridge you can warm up for dinner. We will be home late. Love you. Mom"

I had forgotten that Mom and Dad were spending the day with my aunt. That meant I would have the whole day to be there for Cassie without getting interrupted. Even better, it appeared that they had not noticed my absence from the house.

The time finally came and I made my way to Cassie's house. This time I let myself in.

"Cassie?" I called.

"Coming." she replied from the kitchen.

Cassie was still drying her hair when she walked into the room. She had changed and was wearing plaid fleece pajama pants and a green long sleeved shirt. It was the most color I had ever seen on her. We walked into the living room and sat down next to each other on the couch. Cassie had wrapped the towel around her head like a turban to contain her wet hair.

"Um, I wanted to say thank you. I know last night was pretty weird, but, well having you there really helped, so thank you."

"Anytime. And I mean that. I'm just glad I could be there for you.'

Cassie began fidgeting with her hands clearly uneasy about what was coming next.

"Cody, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me."

"Ok." I said getting nervous

"How much do you know and when did my mom tell you?"

I was stuck. On one hand I had sworn secrecy, on the other I really didn't want to break Cassie's trust.

"Tell me about what?" I asked trying to play innocent.

"NO! UHUH!" Cassie jumped to her feet her eyes flashing anger. " Don't do that! Don't play dumb with me!" Her look shifted from anger to pain. "Please," she pleaded. "please don't lie to me. I couldn't.... I couldn't take that coming from you."

My heart sank. Cassie sat back down as I told her about the morning her mom and I had talked. How her mom had been so worried about her and had only wanted me to know what I was up against. I told her how her mom had sworn me to secrecy. I told her how her mom wanted her little girl back.

Cassie sat there taking it all in, eyes misty.

"Please, don't be mad at your mom. She has been so worried about you. She didn't know what else to do."

Cassie thought for a minute. "It's ok. Actually, I'm kinda glad she told you."

"Listen, I swear this whole thing is safe with me. I will never tell anyone. Please trust me." I said almost desperate.

"Cody, if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have called you last night. To be honest, you're the only person besides my mom I do trust."

"Really?" I asked

"Yes, really, You dumb jock." she replied with a weak smile.

"So, how much of the story did she tell you?" Cassie said the smile disappearing from her face.

"Only what I told you. He was in jail and you were his victim.

"One of his victims." she corrected. "He also assaulted two of my cousins when they spent the night." I could see the look of guilt on her face when she said this.

Cassie was silent for a few moments. Her eyes stared past me to some imaginary spot in space. It was as if she was watching the story unfold again.

"I was eight the first time. " she started.

"Cassie, you don't have to do this." I said softly.

"Yes I do. I feel like if I don't get this out in the open with you there's always going to be a wall between us."

"Ok" I said

Cassie went on to describe all the things her father had done to her.

It never progressed to intercourse but it certainly wasn't far from it. This had gone on for years. He had convinced her that if she told anyone they would blame her and think it was all her fault.

She described the day when she was fifteen and her mom had walked in and caught her father in the middle of assaulting her. She told me about the absolute chaos that ensued as her mom went out of her mind screaming at her father. She had become so brainwashed that she had actually tried to convince her mom that she had been the one to blame and had begged her not to call the police. She talked about being put through the trial and being forced to testify and how she had found out about her father assaulting her two cousins.

She was wracked with guilt. Guilt about how she could have let this happen to herself. Maybe if she had been stronger it wouldn't have happened. She blamed herself. First because she believed she had enticed her father into what he had done and then for not doing something about it when she realized she hadn't.

Then there was the day her aunt had showed up at her house. She had herd her and her mom arguing downstairs. When her aunt saw her she let loose a rage on her accusing her of being responsible for what had happened to her daughters. She had told her she should be ashamed and that if she had been strong enough to report what happened then her cousins would have never suffered. The last words she herd before her mom managed to push her aunt out of the house was that she would have been better off dead. At least if she had been none of this would have ever happened.

And Cassie believed her.

Later that night Cassie had found a box cutter and had used it on both her wrists. She showed me the scars. They weren't sympathy scratches. They were clearly done with the intent to take her own life. It had very nearly worked. She spent the next month in a hospital working with therapists. They tried to help her, and they did to an extent. But the old Cassie was gone. Truth was, she hadn't been there for years. The smiles, the softball, the happy little girl, it was all a facade. When she got out of the hospital Cassie decided that if she had failed to kill herself literally, she could at least kill the remnants of her old self. Thus was born the Cassie I had first met. The anger, bitterness, and hatred became shields to hide the fear, loneliness and self loathing. Her clothing and appearance had darkened to match her depression. Her mom had decided in desperation to move them to Indiana in hopes of finding a new start.

"And so there it is." Cassie finished. She continued to stare off into space. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself. She was quiet for a long time.

I was nauseous. I couldn't even imagine what it had been like to go thru what she had suffered. I wanted to reach out and hold her, but was afraid to for fear of spooking her. Finally I spoke.

"So last night, you dreamt that he was back?"

She finally looked at me. Tears streamed down her face as she nodded.

I made no move towards her, simply opened my arms giving her the option. She took it. She fell into my arms sobbing, holding me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her. I said nothing, simply let her get it out.

Finally she pulled back from me and looked me in the eyes.

"See, I'm fucked up." she said.

"I mean, you're no pair of bad fitting jeans, but I guess you have an issue or two." I said hoping the bad joke would ease her anxiety a little. It worked. She let out a weak laugh. "Dumb jock." she said hugging me again.

"C'mon. I want to show you something." she said breaking the hug. She took me by the hand and led me to her room.

When we made it to her room she told me to sit at the foot of her bed. She went to her desk and opened up the bottom drawer pulling out her sketch book. She walked over to the bed, sat next to me, and handed me the book.

"I've never shown anyone this. But I want to share it with you." she said.

I opened the book to the first page. On it was a charcoal sketch. The first thing to hit me was how amazingly life like the picture was. It was truly remarkable. The picture was of a man in handcuffs in a courtroom. His eyes were menacing. Every vivid detail of his face screamed evil. Written across the bottom of the page was the word "Monster"

"I use to love to draw when I was little. After I, well, you know, my therapist suggested I use my drawing as a way to express the things I couldn't say. She suggested that I pick a word then draw a picture to match it.

"So then, this is him?" I asked. She bit her lip and nodded.

The next page was of two little girls holding each other. Their eyes were sad beyond words. The word "innocent" was written across the page.

"My cousins." Cassie said softly.

Page after page was a diary that told of her suffering. It told it one word and one amazing sketch at a time. After several pages I was startled to come across a picture of me. I was dressed as I was the first day we met. The word "Asshole." written across the bottom. Cassie blushed when I looked at her.

"Yeaaa, sorry."

I simply chuckled and turned the page. There was a picture of herself standing in the school hallway dozens of people walking past her as if she wasn't there. "Alone" was written on it.

There was Toby Keller, eyes blood shot with rage. "Fear" written on the page.

I started to turn the next page, but Cassie stopped me."

"What's wrong." I asked concerned.

"Remember how I said these were things I couldn't say out loud?"

"Sure." I said somewhat confused.

"You have to promise me that no matter what you think of the next pages, you wont laugh at me or think I'm weird or something."

"Cassie," I started.

"Just, just promise. Please."

"Ok. I promise."

She removed her hand and I turned the page. What I saw next grabbed me by the heart. The next picture was of me again. It was of the day I had put Toby in his place. The word "Hero" was written on it. The next page was of me driving Cassie to school. I was smiling. The word "Friend" written below it. Next was the night I had helped her with her homework. It was from the back of us. Cassie working on the problem, me leaning forward helping. My hand was on her shoulder. Her hand was resting on mine. The word "Safe" was scrawled across the page. If the previous pages had tugged at my heart, the last one ripped it out. There on the page was a picture of Cassie. She was curled up in my arms, her head nestled against my chest. My lips were pressed to the top of her head. On her face was a smile. But it wasn't just any smile. It was a smile of complete and total contentment. The smile of someone who had not a care in the world. Of someone who was safe and happy. The two of us were framed in a heart. Across the bottom of the page was the word "Love"

Cassie studied my face. The look in her eyes was that of fear. The fear that she would be rejected. The fear that I would laugh her feelings away.

I was finally able to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Those uh, those are amazing."

Cassie took a deep breath.

"Cody, I'm broken. I know it. I have so much emotional baggage that I don't know how to handle it sometimes. These feelings scare the hell out of me. I haven't let my self feel love for a very long time. I don't know if I will ever be normal. The only thing I do know for certain is that the closest to normal I do feel is when I'm with you. It's the only time I feel safe. And, besides my mom, you're the only person who I've felt honestly cared for me. I understand if this is too much for you to handle. I wont be mad if you run screaming and never come back. But I just needed you to know how I felt." With that she let her eyes fall away from me.

I reached out, making sure she saw my hand coming, I lifted her chin so that she was again looking me in the eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not today, not ever. I love you to. I think I've known it since the first time I saw you. You're not broken, just hurt. The scars may never go away, but they will fade. It wont be fast, but it will happen with time. If you will let me, I want to be there with you every step of the way."

"Id like that." she said smiling.

Cassie leaned back and looked into my eyes for a second then leaned forward. Her lips met mine in a soft, passionate kiss. It was like no other kiss I had felt before. There was something wounded about it. It was cautious and yet needy at the same time. It went further than just two people expressing feelings for each other. It penetrated to the very soul. I'm not sure how long it lasted. Could have been a few seconds or it could have been an eternity.

We were shaken back to reality by the sound of the front door closing.

"Cassie, I'm home." Ms. Davis called as she came up the stairs. We managed to compose ourselves just as Cassie's mom walked through her door. She was startled to see me sitting there. The combination of Cassie's puffy, red rimmed eyes and the sight of her sketch book opened to the last drawing caused her to take a deep breath.

"C'mon you two. I'll get some dinner going. I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about."

She turned and made her way out of the room. The two of us stood up and headed towards the door. As we did, Cassie slipped her hand into mine. I looked at her. The look on her face was that of someone who had had a tremendous weight lifted from their shoulders.

Ms. Davis threw a couple frozen pizzas in the oven.

"Sorry, nothing fancy. It's all I've got."

"It's fine Mama." Cassie said.

"So?" Ms. Davis said.

We proceeded to tell her the whole story. The nightmare, the frantic early morning call, falling asleep in the hammock. Cassie told her how she had backed me into a corner and made me confess to what Ms. Davis had told me. If looks could kill, the one Ms. Davis shot me would have knocked me dead. Cassie picked up on it and immediately came to my defense.

"Please don't be mad Mama. He didn't want to tell me but I forced him into it." Ms. Davis shook her head in understanding.

We told her everything. The whole time Cassie held my hand in hers. When she would reach a particularly emotional part of the story, I would gently squeeze her hand in silent support. By the time we were through both Cassie and her mom were teary eyed. They hugged like they hadn't hugged in years.

When the pizza was done Ms. Davis cut it up and we all grabbed some. The rest of the evening was filled with general conversation. Stories were swapped. Jokes were told and there was laughing. Lots of laughing. Before we knew it it was getting late. I knew my parents would be home soon and I didn't want them to worry about where I was. Cassie gave me one last hug. She was going to walk me out, but her mom stopped her.

"Id like to talk to Cody alone if you don't mind." she said.

Cassie put on a pouty face. "Fiinee." she said in mock exasperation. "I'll text you later." Cassie said then headed upstairs.

Ms. Davis and I stepped out into the cool night air.

"You know, I swore you to secrecy." she said.

"Ms. Davis, I'm really sorry, I just," as I turned around, Ms. Davis was smiling. I realized she was just messing with me.

"What can I say. Your daughter is very persuasive." I said grinning.

"Uhuh." she replied.

Without warning, Ms. Davis reached out and wrapped me in a hug.

"Thank you Cody." she said choking back tears. "Thank you for being who you are and thank you for not giving up on Cassie, and thank you for giving me my little girl back."

She stepped back. I could see her eyes were misty.

"Ms. Davis," I started, not sure how to proceed. "I know it sounds silly coming from someone my age, but, well, I'm in love with your daughter. I promise you I will always be here for her. I know I haven't had to deal with nearly as much as you have, but I'm every bit as happy to see her happy."

"I know. I've known you've had feelings for her for a while. We are both very lucky to have you in our lives."

With that she hugged me one more time before telling me goodnight. I made it home minutes before my parents. When they asked me how my day went I simply told them it had gone really good.

"That's great Honey." my mom had said. "We're going to turn in. Its been a long day."

"Good night Mom. love you."

"Love you to sweetie."