Wild101

Jenny managed a small smile up at Taylor as Emma murmured a tiny, "Thank you." Taylor left the room and Jenny helped Emma into her robe. "Come on, baby. At least get into your bed, where it's warm. I won't leave you. I promise." she said and guided her out the door and to the bedroom., where Zac was waiting. His breath caught in his throat as Jen guided her to the bed and sat down next to her. Emma sat with her head down, her wet hair hanging in her face, covering it completely. "Emma?" Zac's hoarse voice called to her and she broke down again. "Emma..." he reached out to pull her into his arms, but she hesitated. "Emma, it's Zac.." Jenny urged, pushing her gently toward him and nodding at Zac. "It's me baby.." Zac said softly and scooted closer, slipping his hand slowly over her back then pulling her against him. "Emma...baby...I'm so sorry.." he hugged her tightly and she took a deep shuddering breath, then burst into more sobs and clung to him. "Zac...I'm sorry...I couldn't tell...you...what..." she shuddered and sobbed harder, "I couldn't....remember....sorry....I'm sorry..." Jenny wiped her eyes and went in to the other room with Taylor. "Shhh...shhh...none of that was YOUR fault. Emma. God..." he sobbed into her neck as she clutched at him, holding on for dear life. He rocked her as they cried together, Zac promising that this did not change the way he felt about her and declaring his love over and over. "It's okay...shhh...it's okay..." he said. "I'll make it okay...I promise baby.." he rocked her a long time, then laid her on her side and held her like that until she fell asleep.

Once Zac was sure that Emma was asleep, he quietly got up, tucked the blanket more tightly around her body and went into the other room, where Taylor and Jen were busy restoring order to the apartment and deciding what to do with the offensive photographs. Jenny hurriedly shoved them all into the envelope when she saw Zac re-enter the room. "I'll get rid of these, Zac." she said quietly. Zac tucked his hair behind his ears and sighed. "Just give 'em to me, Jen. I can handle it." he said. "And thank you." he told her, conveying in his expression more than just his thanks for the offer to take care of the detestable material in the envelope. "What else would I do, Zac? She's the closest thing to a sister I have." she said and began to cry softly. "And I feel responsible.." she said as Zac hurriedly put his arms around her. "Why, Jen? You weren't even there, were you?" he asked as Taylor got up and urged his wife to sit and calm down. "No." she sniffled, looking up at Zac as she sat between the two men on the couch. "No. I wasn't, but I should have been. If I had been there he wouldn't have.." she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Danny's a coward. he wouldn't have ever tried that if there had been two of us, and Emma never spent any time outside of school with anyone but me, really." she sighed heavily. "I was supposed to go with them. Danny and his friends had tickets to a concert at a club in Hollywood, I forget who we were supposed to see, now. But at the last minute I got totally reamed by my mom and grounded. That's what happens when your leave your fake ID where your parents can find it." she wiped her eyes, and both Tay and Zac suppressed a grin wondering what it would have been like to attend school with Emma and Jen. "Yeah, okay. No time for joking, I know." Jen muttered. "Anyway, I tried to get in touch with Emma and tell her I couldn't go, to give her the out she needed so she could bail, not be the only girl in that rough group. We always took care of each other that way, but when I called she'd already left...and I couldn't get out to meet her 'cause my mom was watching me like a hawk, she'd have pulled me back in the house by my ponytail. I found out YEARS later that Danny had told Emma I called him when I couldn't reach her and told her I'd meet them at the club, so she went. She said she was worried about ME being the only female in the group. But she never said anything about what I saw in the pictures. All she told me was she didn't know if she'd been with Danny willingly, because she was so wasted she couldn't remember most of the night. When she said that, I KNEW he'd drugged her drink, 'cause Emma can freaking hold her liquor like no one I've ever met before. She can kill a fifth and still walk, or get herself locked into her car in a safe spot to sleep it off, on her own, even when she chases it with beer. She NEVER blacks out on alcohol only. NEVER." Jenny said forcefully. "I figured he'd do it again if he had the chance, and I for one am glad you showed up at the bar when you did that night, Tay." Jenny laid her hand on Taylor's cheek. "He would have raped her again and not thought twice about it." Jenny said and her words hit Zac in the chest like a ton of bricks. RAPE. The slimy bastard had raped his Emma and then made sure to make her feel like she was at fault, rubbing it in her face every chance he could get, telling her she wanted it when he knew she couldn't remember what had even happened to her. Zac's body began to shake with rage and the expression on his face when Taylor glanced up, scared the hell out of him. Jenny was staring at Zac eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Zac, no." Jenny said softly. "I know what you're thinking. Get in there with Emma. SHE NEEDS YOU HERE. If she wakes up and you're gone, she will panic and run, thinking you're not coming back." she said. "And I don't know that she'd come to me now.." she shot Tay an apologetic look. Zac clenched his fists over and over and paced the room. "I never in my life wished death on any human being ever. But that slimy, dirty..." Zac stopped, unable to find a suitably vile word for him. "He doesn't count as human. Death is way too good for him." Zac said and flopped down into the overstuffed chair Emma had bought him so he could sit and watch TV or play video games while she waxed their boards or shoved the coffee table out of the way and rehearsed dance steps. Not that he could concentrate on TV or games when she was dancing. He drank another beer as she sat and stewed, and listened to Tay and Jen talk softly. "Zac," Taylor urged. "Why don't you go in and try to sleep? Jen and I can camp out here on the couch, in case you need us. Hannah's with mom.."
"I don't know if I can sleep Tay. I am so pissed off right now...but Jen is right. Emma will bolt if she wakes up and I'm not here. Otherwise I would already be at the bar skinning that sorry motherfucker alive." he said and took the last swallow of his beer. "Just try, Zac. Emma needs you to be with it.." Taylor urged.
"Fine. But I'm still pissed at you, too." he told his brother. Taylor sighed. "Zac, I don't know what else I can say.."
Zac flashed an angry look at Taylor. "Umm.. Zac?" Jen cautiously began.
"Yeah?" Zac waited. "As far as I know," she told him, "Taylor spent most of his time urging Emma to tell you what was up. So did I. Nothing did happen between them, except they became really good friends, or I can guarantee you I would have kicked Taylor's ass right to the curb. And I can say that honestly because I saw everything and I wasn't involved with Tay at the time." Jen explained.
"You know that's not even what I'm pissed about now. If SOMEONE would have told me the WHOLE truth, then that..that...he wouldn't have been able to even blackmail Emma like that. We wouldn't have had to look at those.." he pointed at the envelope, "and Emma wouldn't be in the state she's in now." His eyes stung with more tears when he heard the echo of her heartbreaking wails in his head. "Or she could at least have dealt with it better." he snapped. "She wouldn't have Zac. She would have taken it like this, then, now, or when she tried to tell you on her own." Jen said quietly. "If it makes you feel any better Zac.." Tay began softly. "The only time I can remember actually touching her when you weren't standing right there, was when I grabbed her hand to try to make her call Jack and get out of the bar. She yanked her hand away and shot me down, BIG TIME. Then she made sure that I knew without a doubt she only wanted you. She's in love with YOU."
Taylor said. "I can handle you being mad at me, okay? For now. Go be with her.." he said, gripped his shoulder and gave him a gentle push toward the bedroom door. Zac sighed heavily and went into the bedroom, slipped his shoes, socks and jeans off, the climbed into bed and wrapped his arms protectively around Emma's curled up, sleeping form. "I love you with all my heart babydoll.." he said softy and kissed the back of her head. "I love you, Zac. Don't leave me..." she sighed sleepily and snuggled back against him. "I need you.." she breathed and slipped back into a deep sleep. Another tear slipped down his cheek as he kissed the back of her head again, then closed his eyes.