RSGNM Chapter 13.6
A/N: Ooops, this was out on wordpress day before yesterday, and I managed to forget to post it here on LJ. >.> Sorry about that! I was having trouble with some of my saves, and was unable to get a lot of pictures I needed, so this update will be a little bit text heavy. Better than no update at all, right? :) Also, it’s becoming pretty standard for me to issue an adult content warning for all Anya’s chapters, and this one is no exception!
Lois wasn't exactly happy with me when I got home later that afternoon. "Anya, I was so worried about you! One minute you were there and the next you were gone! I was worried sick all night wondering what could have happened to you. I wanted to call the police, but Lincoln said they couldn't do anything until 48 hours had passed, anyway."
"Well, maybe if you two hadn't been so busy macking on each other, I would have felt more comfortable interrupting you to tell you I was leaving. Jesus, Lo, you're my best friend, not my mother! I shouldn't have to ask your permission before I do something."
Lois's cheeks turned bright red, and her voice got really quiet the way it does when she's afraid she's upset someone. "I'm sorry you thought we were ignoring you. I'm sorry I said anything. I was just worried."
I saw a tear forming in her eye, and grimaced. I'd done it again...gone off and said things I shouldn't. Lois is a gentle soul, and I'm used to saying what's on my mind. "I'm sorry, Lo," I sighed. And now, in the light of day, I felt pretty lousy for running off with a guy without even letting Lois know. "I should have given you a head's up. You were just so busy with Lincoln, and I'd had a bit to drink..."
"Where were you, anyway?" Lois asked, her eyes narrowing. To my great relief, she had managed not to start crying.
I didn't look her in the eye when I responded. "Well, I...I kinda... I met a guy."
She just looked at me for a moment, probably expecting me to say more. I felt pretty awkward, though. Lois was a sweet girl. She'd never do anything like I'd done last night, with some guy she just met.
I mean, I knew she and Lincoln did those kinds of things--I could hear them sometimes at night, since Lo's bedroom connects to mine--but they had been dating at least a year, now.
"And?" She prompted.
“And I spent the night with him. I was blowing off some steam, and it was a much-needed distraction.”
“Anya,” Lois said hesitantly. “I’m not trying to overstep my bounds or anything, but there are things you should know about this city. Dangerous things-“
“Don’t worry, Lo. Barry’s harmless.” Yes, I had learned his name before I left. “He was a sweet guy and he was just what I needed last night. And look, I’m perfectly fine! I know I worried you, and I promise I won’t go off like that again without telling you first. But listen, I didn’t really…er…get much sleep last night,”-I had the good grace to go a little red in the cheeks at that-“so I’m heading up to take a nap, okay? I’ll make you a special apology dinner when I wake up.”
I thought I heard Lo sigh behind me as I climbed the stairs.
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I saw Barry again, several times. I also “saw” his roommate, Ace (sometimes both of them at the same time…), and quite a few other guys I met club-hopping. I drank, partied, and flirted my way into several beds…and sometimes other apparatus as well..
Lois started to get used to being alone in the apartment most nights, but I always remembered to give her a call if I wasn’t coming home. She was worried about me, and I knew it, but I could take care of myself. These were supposed to be the best years of my life, right? I was living them!
Guys weren’t all I was doing, however. That spark of an idea that had hit me during my first visit to the Brightmore with Lois had blossomed into a legitimate way to earn a living. Well, at least enough of a living that I could pay my share of the rent.
Barry and his roommates had a full bar, and after a night of fun, once my headache had diminished from a full-blown migraine into something a little more manageable, I would practice making cocktails. Soon, I was proficient enough that I could handle moonlighting at dives and sports bars for cash.
It was while I was doing that very thing that I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time-that old familiar punch of lightning heat. I almost fumbled the drink I was making for one of Bridgeport’s local celebrities, which almost certainly would have banned me from working at that bar ever again. Still, I couldn’t take my eyes off the man.
There was just…something about him. I noticed he kept staring at me, too, and I began to count the minutes until my shift was over. I felt like my insides were turning to jelly.
Needless to say, as soon as my replacement came in, I walked over and introduced myself with a coy smile. I was pretty confident with my flirting, by now, but for some reason this man made me feel like I had no idea what I was doing.
He said his name was Beau, and asked if I’d like to dance, to which of course I agreed, and before long his body was grinding against my own and his breath was hot on my neck as he asked me to come home with him. I don’t think I could have said “no” if I’d wanted to.
The man had me in such a state, though, that I completely forgot to call Lois and let her know I wouldn’t be home that night.
Beau and I didn’t stop kissing in the cab back to his place, and I barely noticed the surroundings as he practically carried me inside. Soon, we were getting hot an heavy on the bed, and he began pushing my dress up higher and higher as we made out.
“Protection,” I managed to gasp. “You need to use protection.”
Beau, however, didn’t respond with words. Instead, his fingers tightened on my hair as he pulled until it hurt. The gleam I had noticed in his eyes took on a menacing tint, and his voice was harsh and raspy as unzipped his pants.
He used my hair to yank my head back and began kissing my neck. “You’re hurting me!” I yelled, but that only seemed to make him more excited. Roughly, he tore my lace panties aside, and as he entered me painfully, I felt something sharp bite into my neck.
I struggled, but he was much stronger than I was. I screamed and I cried, but he liked it when I did. He alternated between biting me and choking me until, finally, he had finished. I laid on the bed, sobbing, unable to comprehend what had just happened. I felt like I hurt all over. I came back to reality when Beau shoved me off the bed.
"You’re a good lay, Miss Moss,” he said. “Now get out of here, before I change my mind.”
I wasted no time doing as he suggested.
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When at last I trudged into the apartment I shared with Lois, I was grateful to see that she was still up waiting for me. She had the TV on, and called out before she saw me. “Thank God you’re home, Anya. You didn’t call, so I thought I should wait up until I heard from…” Then her eyes met mine, and looked me up and down.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, and rushed to envelope me in a hug that was half-comfort and half physical support. I sagged against the best friend I didn’t deserve and wailed until my lungs ached as much as the rest of me.