Relevations [Part Two]
Title: Revelations [Part Two]
Characters: Jared Phillips, Gina Case
Universe: A Safe Harbor
Timeline: Disenchanted
Rating: T (for language and themes. TW: mentions of rape)
Notes: This is a response to a prompt I gave myself for the Comment Fic Party at openveinwriting. This takes place immediately after this conversation.
It had taken a long time for Jared to calm down enough to talk. After Gina had put the pieces together, his thin-veiled attempt at holding everything together came crumbling down, and the dam opened. He wasn’t sure he’d even cried this hard when he’d told Elena or Travis about what had happened with Paul. There was something about telling Gina that was hitting him even harder. Maybe it was because she was the closest thing to a maternal figure in his life. Maybe it was because she could empathize with him more than even those closest to him could.
He’d told her the full story. He’d felt he owed at least that much to her. This hadn’t been what he’d planned when he’d knocked on the door with pastries, but when he stopped to really think about it, he realized that it had probably been inevitable. Gina was a smart woman. He really couldn’t say he was all that surprised that she’d figured it out on her own.
Gina had remained silent the entire time he spoke, just letting him get the words out. Their mugs of coffee were cold and forgotten on the table now, and she’d never actually taken a bite from the pastry she had pulled from the box. Neither one of them felt much like eating now.
“How old were you, sweetie?” Gina finally asked. Her face was stoic as she spoke, except for her eyes, which were full of pain.
“Fifteen.” Jared wiped at his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, unsure how it was physiologically possible at this point that he could still be crying. “I was halfway into my sophomore year, and he was a senior. Lucky, really, because I didn’t have to continue to see him every year after.”
That was something Gina knew a thing or two about. Her thoughts went back to the months and years following her assault, knowing that it was impossible to get away from Doug Nelson. How he’d corner her on sets, at parties, in public, daring her to say something, to do something. Even now, she couldn’t avoid him entirely. He was still being hired, still starring opposite young actresses. Every now and then, she’d still get the occasional question from a reporter- “It’s the anniversary of the day you stepped forward with 10 other women to accuse actor Doug Nelson of sexual assault and harassment…”
“Have you ever told anyone else before?” Gina softly asked.
Jared nodded, staring at his cold mug of coffee. He suddenly decided that he could use the hit of caffeine, so he grabbed it and took a big gulp of it. “Travis and Elena know.”
Gina nodded at that, getting to her feet to grab the coffee pot so she could fix him a fresh, hot cup. Jared didn’t protest as she walked around the island in the kitchen and produced a clean mug to fill, and he whispered his thanks when she returned and placed it in front of him.
Gina had met Travis a handful of times. He and Jared were obviously inseparable, and were essentially a packaged deal, so there was no way that her daughter would be able to be in a relationship with Jared and not also have to contend with Travis. One night, after they’d all gone out together for dinner, Travis included, Carlos had jokingly told her as they’d been getting ready for bed that it almost seemed like Elena was dating Jared and Travis, the way they stuck together so closely. She’d thought Travis was harmless - obnoxious at times, certainly, but really, a pretty good kid. He was so full of light, it seemed a necessary counter to Jared’s darkness. She was glad Jared had him.
“I’m glad you’ve been able to tell someone before this. Elena never said anything to me.” Jared’s eyes met Gina’s, and she shot him the smallest of smiles as she practically read his mind. “Or Carlos, and don’t worry, honey. I’m not going to say anything to him. Like Elena didn’t, it’s not my story to tell.”
Jared hated how those words prompted him to release a sigh of relief. He trusted that she wouldn’t say anything, of course, but it helped to hear it. It wasn’t that he was scared of Carlos, or worried about what he might think… okay, maybe he was. Maybe he was more than a little worried that Carlos might judge him or think less of him, because, similar to Gina, Carlos was one of the only paternal figures he really had in his life, and it still pained him to recall the look of disgust on his own dad’s face when he’d tried to tell his parents about Paul.
“Sorry.” Jared sat up a bit straighter in his chair and reached for the sugar bowl, hating how his hand shook as he did so. “I… fuck, that was rude of me.”
“It wasn’t,” Gina shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
They sat in silence as Jared fixed his coffee, stirring in cream and sugar until the shade of the coffee was almost as pale as his skin. He didn’t bother to taste it before he removed his spoon and grabbed it, holding it up to his lips.
Gina watched him. She wished she could help him. She wished she could do something to take away the pain and the memories that continued to haunt him. It reminded her of the countless times she’d felt this way with her own daughter, how she knew she would do anything in the world to help her, but also realized that there wasn’t really anything that she could do. She hated feeling powerless.
It was Jared that broke the silence in the room. “So… Ms. Case, if you don’t mind me asking…”
“Please, Jared, it’s Gina. You know that.” Gina allowed herself to smile at him. “And Carlos is Carlos. Trust me, if you try to throw that ‘Mr. Munez’ thing at him too many times, I’m not liable for what might happen.”
That actually earned her a laugh from the broken boy in front of her, and the weight in her chest felt a bit lighter.
“Aside from calling me by my first name, feel free to ask me anything,” Gina finished.
Jared’s lips slowly curled downward in a pensive frown. “I… I was actually wondering… how did you deal with the media backlash? When you came forward?”
This question probably shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it did. It was a linear move from where their conversation had ended up, she knew. Jared was in a band that toured all over the world and had a mega-selling debut album. He was certainly in the public eye, regardless of whether or not he wanted to be, just like her daughter.
The difference was that Jared didn’t need to publicly disclose what had happened to him. Not unless he wanted to… and why would he want to?
“It honestly felt worse than the assault itself.” Gina took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Having the media scrutinize every inch of my story, question my credibility, try to instill doubt… as soon as it started, it made me instantly regret having come forward at all.” She was actually ashamed to admit that. She remembered watching the first feature on TV about it, listening to the fake reporters banter back and forth about how it seemed to them that Gina had probably just had a few too many drinks and was trying to cover up sloppy behavior with a story. There’d been plenty of speculation that she had actually been trying to sleep with Doug that night and he’d turned her down, and, in her humiliation, she was trying to make him look bad. But the worst was when they dragged Carlos into it. As much as she knew he’d never admit it, she knew that the backlash had to have been just as hard on him as it had been on her.
“I don’t regret it now,” Gina continued. “Even though I still struggle sometimes. I’m glad I came forward… that all of us came forward. I think that was one of the things that helped me the most, that I wasn’t the only one who came forward, as much as I wish none of us had to.” Eleven women, including her, and that only included those who came forward. Fucking hell. That number still took her breath away sometimes. “I finally decided that if there was some chance, even remote, that he could be held accountable, it was worth it. As hellish as the backlash was, I knew I would feel worse if I’d done nothing at all. I felt a responsibility.”
Gina realized she’d been talking a lot, and she paused, glancing over at Jared. Jared was still holding his coffee mug to his lips, taking small sips, his eyes fixed on the liquid. She could see that his hands were still shaking.
“I’m sorry,” Jared’s voice sounded a little hoarse when he spoke. His throat felt raw from crying. “That… that’s fucking horrible. After what you’d already gone through, and then people feeling entitled to trying to make you feel fucking bad about it, just-“ Jared shook his head, finally placing his mug down on the table. “I don’t know if I can do what you did. I’m… I’m not strong enough.”
Gina pursed her lips, straightening up in her chair. “You don’t have to, Jared.”
“No, I… I do.” This time, Jared’s voice shook in addition to his hands. “That’s… that’s really the main reason I came over here in the first place. It was actually Elena’s idea to talk to you, about disclosing to the media.” Jared suddenly wondered why he’d been so eager for more coffee when his stomach was doing flips again. “…He contacted me recently.”
Involuntarily, Gina felt her eyes widen. “You mean-“
“Paul. Yeah.” He suddenly felt like he needed to stand, and he pushed himself to his feet, running a hand through his hair as he paced a few steps back and forth in the kitchen. “I have no fucking clue how he got my info, but he, uh… he’s been harassing me a lot. He texts or tries to call, and I block the number, but it takes only a day or two for him to get another one. He stalks me on social media from different accounts. He sends me shit in the fucking mail. It…” Jared felt more tears stinging at his eyes, and he sighed in frustration, wiping at them before they could fall. “It’s getting pretty bad. I haven’t told Elena just how bad. I don’t want her to worry, and I don’t want her to be involved more than she is. It’s not fair to her, and I would fucking die before putting her in danger. I just… I feel like it’s getting to the point where I don’t have a choice. He’s threatening to go to the media, so I feel like if I wait too long, it’s going to get away from me, and I’m really going to have zero fucking control over this whole thing.”
Jared had spoken so much, and so quickly, that he actually had to stop and catch his breath when he was finally done. Gina sat in silence, trying to process everything he’d just told her. Her heart felt like it dropped into her gut, especially at the mention of Elena. The possibility that someone so vile could hurt her daughter… she shook her head, and tried to banish the thought from her mind. It was a valid concern Jared had brought up, but it wouldn’t be fair to make that the focus of their conversation right now. She knew Jared would do right by Elena. She trusted that.
“Sweetheart, I really hate to say this, but… I think you’re right.” Gina’s admission felt like she had just told someone they’d lost a loved one. She’d hoped that he would be wrong, that he wouldn’t need to share any of this horrific and personal pain with the world because it wasn’t any of their fucking business. It still wasn’t their business, but the situation had changed. Jared was right. If he didn’t get ahead of this and control the narrative while he still could, the damage would be worse than any of them could probably imagine.
Gina slowly pushed herself to her feet and excused herself for a few seconds. She left the kitchen to step into the office just off the living area, retrieved a spiral bound notepad and a pen, and returned to the kitchen, retaking her place at the kitchen table. Setting the items down, she pushed them in front of Jared. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to pick up that pen and start to write out a very, very brief statement of what you would want to say. Try to keep it around 500 words or less. Don’t go into any more detail than you’re comfortable with, try to keep the details to a minimum of what you need in order to get your point across. When you’re done, we’ll take a look at it together and trim it and polish it. Nothing has to go out today,” she added. “But I think it will help to get something down.”
Jared heavily swallowed, staring down at the notepad in front of himself. His shaking hand reached for the ballpoint pen on the table. He used these same kind of notepads when he was working on lyrics with Travis.
As he started messily writing on the page, Gina leaned forward in her chair, and placed her hand over his for the second time. “You’re not in this alone, Jared.”
Characters: Jared Phillips, Gina Case
Universe: A Safe Harbor
Timeline: Disenchanted
Rating: T (for language and themes. TW: mentions of rape)
Notes: This is a response to a prompt I gave myself for the Comment Fic Party at openveinwriting. This takes place immediately after this conversation.
It had taken a long time for Jared to calm down enough to talk. After Gina had put the pieces together, his thin-veiled attempt at holding everything together came crumbling down, and the dam opened. He wasn’t sure he’d even cried this hard when he’d told Elena or Travis about what had happened with Paul. There was something about telling Gina that was hitting him even harder. Maybe it was because she was the closest thing to a maternal figure in his life. Maybe it was because she could empathize with him more than even those closest to him could.
He’d told her the full story. He’d felt he owed at least that much to her. This hadn’t been what he’d planned when he’d knocked on the door with pastries, but when he stopped to really think about it, he realized that it had probably been inevitable. Gina was a smart woman. He really couldn’t say he was all that surprised that she’d figured it out on her own.
Gina had remained silent the entire time he spoke, just letting him get the words out. Their mugs of coffee were cold and forgotten on the table now, and she’d never actually taken a bite from the pastry she had pulled from the box. Neither one of them felt much like eating now.
“How old were you, sweetie?” Gina finally asked. Her face was stoic as she spoke, except for her eyes, which were full of pain.
“Fifteen.” Jared wiped at his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, unsure how it was physiologically possible at this point that he could still be crying. “I was halfway into my sophomore year, and he was a senior. Lucky, really, because I didn’t have to continue to see him every year after.”
That was something Gina knew a thing or two about. Her thoughts went back to the months and years following her assault, knowing that it was impossible to get away from Doug Nelson. How he’d corner her on sets, at parties, in public, daring her to say something, to do something. Even now, she couldn’t avoid him entirely. He was still being hired, still starring opposite young actresses. Every now and then, she’d still get the occasional question from a reporter- “It’s the anniversary of the day you stepped forward with 10 other women to accuse actor Doug Nelson of sexual assault and harassment…”
“Have you ever told anyone else before?” Gina softly asked.
Jared nodded, staring at his cold mug of coffee. He suddenly decided that he could use the hit of caffeine, so he grabbed it and took a big gulp of it. “Travis and Elena know.”
Gina nodded at that, getting to her feet to grab the coffee pot so she could fix him a fresh, hot cup. Jared didn’t protest as she walked around the island in the kitchen and produced a clean mug to fill, and he whispered his thanks when she returned and placed it in front of him.
Gina had met Travis a handful of times. He and Jared were obviously inseparable, and were essentially a packaged deal, so there was no way that her daughter would be able to be in a relationship with Jared and not also have to contend with Travis. One night, after they’d all gone out together for dinner, Travis included, Carlos had jokingly told her as they’d been getting ready for bed that it almost seemed like Elena was dating Jared and Travis, the way they stuck together so closely. She’d thought Travis was harmless - obnoxious at times, certainly, but really, a pretty good kid. He was so full of light, it seemed a necessary counter to Jared’s darkness. She was glad Jared had him.
“I’m glad you’ve been able to tell someone before this. Elena never said anything to me.” Jared’s eyes met Gina’s, and she shot him the smallest of smiles as she practically read his mind. “Or Carlos, and don’t worry, honey. I’m not going to say anything to him. Like Elena didn’t, it’s not my story to tell.”
Jared hated how those words prompted him to release a sigh of relief. He trusted that she wouldn’t say anything, of course, but it helped to hear it. It wasn’t that he was scared of Carlos, or worried about what he might think… okay, maybe he was. Maybe he was more than a little worried that Carlos might judge him or think less of him, because, similar to Gina, Carlos was one of the only paternal figures he really had in his life, and it still pained him to recall the look of disgust on his own dad’s face when he’d tried to tell his parents about Paul.
“Sorry.” Jared sat up a bit straighter in his chair and reached for the sugar bowl, hating how his hand shook as he did so. “I… fuck, that was rude of me.”
“It wasn’t,” Gina shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
They sat in silence as Jared fixed his coffee, stirring in cream and sugar until the shade of the coffee was almost as pale as his skin. He didn’t bother to taste it before he removed his spoon and grabbed it, holding it up to his lips.
Gina watched him. She wished she could help him. She wished she could do something to take away the pain and the memories that continued to haunt him. It reminded her of the countless times she’d felt this way with her own daughter, how she knew she would do anything in the world to help her, but also realized that there wasn’t really anything that she could do. She hated feeling powerless.
It was Jared that broke the silence in the room. “So… Ms. Case, if you don’t mind me asking…”
“Please, Jared, it’s Gina. You know that.” Gina allowed herself to smile at him. “And Carlos is Carlos. Trust me, if you try to throw that ‘Mr. Munez’ thing at him too many times, I’m not liable for what might happen.”
That actually earned her a laugh from the broken boy in front of her, and the weight in her chest felt a bit lighter.
“Aside from calling me by my first name, feel free to ask me anything,” Gina finished.
Jared’s lips slowly curled downward in a pensive frown. “I… I was actually wondering… how did you deal with the media backlash? When you came forward?”
This question probably shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it did. It was a linear move from where their conversation had ended up, she knew. Jared was in a band that toured all over the world and had a mega-selling debut album. He was certainly in the public eye, regardless of whether or not he wanted to be, just like her daughter.
The difference was that Jared didn’t need to publicly disclose what had happened to him. Not unless he wanted to… and why would he want to?
“It honestly felt worse than the assault itself.” Gina took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Having the media scrutinize every inch of my story, question my credibility, try to instill doubt… as soon as it started, it made me instantly regret having come forward at all.” She was actually ashamed to admit that. She remembered watching the first feature on TV about it, listening to the fake reporters banter back and forth about how it seemed to them that Gina had probably just had a few too many drinks and was trying to cover up sloppy behavior with a story. There’d been plenty of speculation that she had actually been trying to sleep with Doug that night and he’d turned her down, and, in her humiliation, she was trying to make him look bad. But the worst was when they dragged Carlos into it. As much as she knew he’d never admit it, she knew that the backlash had to have been just as hard on him as it had been on her.
“I don’t regret it now,” Gina continued. “Even though I still struggle sometimes. I’m glad I came forward… that all of us came forward. I think that was one of the things that helped me the most, that I wasn’t the only one who came forward, as much as I wish none of us had to.” Eleven women, including her, and that only included those who came forward. Fucking hell. That number still took her breath away sometimes. “I finally decided that if there was some chance, even remote, that he could be held accountable, it was worth it. As hellish as the backlash was, I knew I would feel worse if I’d done nothing at all. I felt a responsibility.”
Gina realized she’d been talking a lot, and she paused, glancing over at Jared. Jared was still holding his coffee mug to his lips, taking small sips, his eyes fixed on the liquid. She could see that his hands were still shaking.
“I’m sorry,” Jared’s voice sounded a little hoarse when he spoke. His throat felt raw from crying. “That… that’s fucking horrible. After what you’d already gone through, and then people feeling entitled to trying to make you feel fucking bad about it, just-“ Jared shook his head, finally placing his mug down on the table. “I don’t know if I can do what you did. I’m… I’m not strong enough.”
Gina pursed her lips, straightening up in her chair. “You don’t have to, Jared.”
“No, I… I do.” This time, Jared’s voice shook in addition to his hands. “That’s… that’s really the main reason I came over here in the first place. It was actually Elena’s idea to talk to you, about disclosing to the media.” Jared suddenly wondered why he’d been so eager for more coffee when his stomach was doing flips again. “…He contacted me recently.”
Involuntarily, Gina felt her eyes widen. “You mean-“
“Paul. Yeah.” He suddenly felt like he needed to stand, and he pushed himself to his feet, running a hand through his hair as he paced a few steps back and forth in the kitchen. “I have no fucking clue how he got my info, but he, uh… he’s been harassing me a lot. He texts or tries to call, and I block the number, but it takes only a day or two for him to get another one. He stalks me on social media from different accounts. He sends me shit in the fucking mail. It…” Jared felt more tears stinging at his eyes, and he sighed in frustration, wiping at them before they could fall. “It’s getting pretty bad. I haven’t told Elena just how bad. I don’t want her to worry, and I don’t want her to be involved more than she is. It’s not fair to her, and I would fucking die before putting her in danger. I just… I feel like it’s getting to the point where I don’t have a choice. He’s threatening to go to the media, so I feel like if I wait too long, it’s going to get away from me, and I’m really going to have zero fucking control over this whole thing.”
Jared had spoken so much, and so quickly, that he actually had to stop and catch his breath when he was finally done. Gina sat in silence, trying to process everything he’d just told her. Her heart felt like it dropped into her gut, especially at the mention of Elena. The possibility that someone so vile could hurt her daughter… she shook her head, and tried to banish the thought from her mind. It was a valid concern Jared had brought up, but it wouldn’t be fair to make that the focus of their conversation right now. She knew Jared would do right by Elena. She trusted that.
“Sweetheart, I really hate to say this, but… I think you’re right.” Gina’s admission felt like she had just told someone they’d lost a loved one. She’d hoped that he would be wrong, that he wouldn’t need to share any of this horrific and personal pain with the world because it wasn’t any of their fucking business. It still wasn’t their business, but the situation had changed. Jared was right. If he didn’t get ahead of this and control the narrative while he still could, the damage would be worse than any of them could probably imagine.
Gina slowly pushed herself to her feet and excused herself for a few seconds. She left the kitchen to step into the office just off the living area, retrieved a spiral bound notepad and a pen, and returned to the kitchen, retaking her place at the kitchen table. Setting the items down, she pushed them in front of Jared. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to pick up that pen and start to write out a very, very brief statement of what you would want to say. Try to keep it around 500 words or less. Don’t go into any more detail than you’re comfortable with, try to keep the details to a minimum of what you need in order to get your point across. When you’re done, we’ll take a look at it together and trim it and polish it. Nothing has to go out today,” she added. “But I think it will help to get something down.”
Jared heavily swallowed, staring down at the notepad in front of himself. His shaking hand reached for the ballpoint pen on the table. He used these same kind of notepads when he was working on lyrics with Travis.
As he started messily writing on the page, Gina leaned forward in her chair, and placed her hand over his for the second time. “You’re not in this alone, Jared.”