Around six o’clock the next morning Roslyn opened her eyes to find three other pairs of eyes staring at her from different spots in the living room. For a moment she had forgotten where she was, but as she rubbed her sore, swollen eyes and stretched her limbs that ached from sleeping on the couch all night she remembered all too clearly what had happened the night before.

I guess my secret is out, she thought bitterly as she looked from person to person, waiting for someone to say something. Serena was the first to speak.

“How are you feeling?” she asked gently, unsure of how Ros was going to handle this intervention.

“I’ve been better,” she responded flatly, making no effort to look Serena in the eye. “What are you two doing here anyway?” she inquired, referring to Kaci and AJ. “I thought your flight was at 2 this afternoon?” Even though she had asked them in question format, she didn’t expect an answer; she already knew why they had come earlier than expected and as much as she wished they hadn’t gotten involved, she was very thankful that they had. She knew that if it was Kaci in trouble, nothing would have stopped her or Serena from getting to her.

“You know why we’re here Ros,” AJ replied slowly, in a deeper than usual tone.

I hope he’s not getting a cold or anything; that wouldn’t be good for the wedding. Instead of focusing on what he had said she was focusing on anything thing else she could find. She didn’t want to do this; she loved them so much for caring, but there was nothing they could do to help her. Rob could hurt them just as easily as he hurts her. She knew she would never get away from him, mostly because he told her she wouldn’t, and so far, the only thing that he’s told her that he hasn’t followed through on was the one time he told her that he would never hurt her…and obviously he had lied.

She thought back to the day he had said that to her; it was after they had run into one of Roslyn’s old friend’s from high school while they were out shopping one day.

“Roslyn Bushman, is that you? It’s Darla!” Ros stopped in her tracks as she heard that all too familiar voice from behind her. She turned slowly and came face to face with the girl that had ruined her Senior Prom.

“Darla, what are you doing here? I thought you moved to Colorado or something?” Ros could feel her hands shaking as she tried to keep her tone as even as possible.
“Well, I did, but then Ryan and I started talking again and so I moved back here to try and take off from where we had left things.” At the mention of her old crush’s name she jerked a little, the urge to punch Darla in the face flooding back to her all over again. Darla looked from Roslyn to Rob and back again. Then with a smirk she said “I’d ask you what you are doing nowadays but I guess he’s standing right in front of me!”

“Right,” Ros replied, gritting her teeth, “and I say it was nice talking to you, but, well, it wasn’t.” She sneered at Darla and then grabbed Rob’s hand and led him out of the store quickly. Once inside her car, Ros hit the steering wheel and began to cry.

“Who was that babe?” Rob asked, wide-eyed with concern and wonder.

“She was a friend from High School who stopped being my friend after she spread rumors around the entire school that I had an STD, when I was still a virgin, and my date to the prom blew me off and went with her instead.”

“I’m sorry she hurt you like that,” Rob said gently as he stroked her hair and her back. “It’s in the past though, and it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve got me now, and I will never hurt you.”

“Fuc king bastard!” screamed Roslyn aloud, startling everyone in the room. It was only then, at hearing her friends’ gasps and seeing them looking from her to each other, wondering what was going on, that she lost it. The tears began to tumble out of her beautiful green eyes and she covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “He told me he’d never hurt me!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “How did I let this happen? Look what I’ve become,” she sobbed softly into her hands.

“You did nothing wrong, Ros,” said Kaci as she pulled her cousin close to her. “There was nothing you could have done to stop it.” While Kaci was trying to calm Roslyn down, Serena had picked up Ros’s cell phone, turning it on. She was so irate at what Rob was doing to her best friend that without thinking logically she dialed his number.

“You fuc king bitch,” was the first thing she heard after the phone rang twice. She knew he thought it was Ros calling him, but she was stunned that he actually talked to her that way. She remained quiet for a minute, waiting to hear what else he would say. “How dare you not answer your phone last night. I guess you are just so dumb that you don’t remember the rules, but I’ll make sure you remember tonight.”

Serena didn’t know what to say to him, she had so many things in mind when she dialed the phone, but now, nothing seemed good enough. There was nothing she could say to him that would make a difference, that would hurt him at all the way he had hurt Ros…well, maybe there was one thing. It might not hurt him emotionally, but it would definitely piss it off to no end. She took a deep breath and let it fly.

“You’ve brainwashed her, taken away everyone in her life, made her feel dependant on you while you beat the shit out of her every night, telling her that she will never find anyone better and that she can never leave you. It worked for a while, but it’s over now you son of a bi tch. You’re never going to hurt her again, and if you try, I swear to God I will kill you myself.” All she heard was breathing on the other end of the phone and she knew she had hit him where it hurts.

“You can’t stop me, Serena…..and don’t forget, I know where you live.” The way he said it sent shivers up her spine and for the first time, she understood how Roslyn could be so scared of him and why she didn’t feel like she could leave. With her whole body starting to shake even more than it was before she had a hard time holding onto the phone and almost dropped it. AJ, Kaci and Ros had stopped what they were doing when they heard Serena talking on the phone and up until that point they had just sat there and watched her, listening to what she was saying to Rob, but now, seeing the way that Serena was reacting AJ knew that Rob said something to her and he grabbed the phone from her trembling hands.

“This ends now,” AJ said evenly into the phone. “The police have been notified, reports have been filed, and everyone that doesn’t already know about you and how you treat women will know soon enough. I can’t imagine this is going to look very good with your company and all, so it would be in your best interest to just walk away, do you understand?” All AJ heard in response was the click of the line going dead, and in his gut, he knew what he said didn’t get through to Rob. He knew that Rob would be coming back tonight, and he knew that it was going to be nothing but trouble.

“Alex, we haven’t contacted the police yet,” said Kaci as AJ slowly took the phone away from his ear and held it out to Roslyn.

“We’re going to right now.” He wiggled his hand a little at Ros, waiting for her to take the phone from him. “Ros, you have to do it. This isn’t going to go away, and Rob is going to keep coming until you stop him.” He spoke those words gently, but the message was loud and clear, hitting her right between the eyes. She knew Rob wouldn’t stop, but she didn’t know if the police would be able to stop him either.

Once Roslyn was speaking to an officer over the phone, AJ got up from the chair and walked out of the living room towards the back hallway. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number by heart.

“Yo,” a male voice said into the phone.

“Hey man it’s me. Listen, I need you to catch and earlier flight and get out here now. Some sh it’s going down tonight and we’re going to need you. I don’t have time to tell you more than that right now, so just get here, man.” AJ hung up the phone and walked back out into the living room.

“They are sending some officers over,” said Roslyn as she flipped her phone shut. She had no expression on her face at that moment, and it was scary for Serena and Kaci to see you like that. This was not the Ros they had known and loved, but they knew she would come back…eventually.