The Birds & The Bees | S.R.

Ch. 18 | Rear View

Summary: Bunny runs into Kyle and learns things about Spencer she isn't ready to handle.

A/N: Thank you so much for 100k reads, everyone! I'm so happy you're all here!

Content Warnings: Physical assault, slapping, sexual threat, screaming/arguing, guns, discussions of hypothetical rape/sexual assault.

This chapter also features a graphic PTSD episode/flashback and autistic meltdown in which Spencer's canonical trauma (and implied CSA) is briefly recounted/referenced. This chapter might be troubling for those who have trauma-induced flashbacks, feelings of suicidal ideation, sexual or physical trauma, or experiences with gun violence or domestic abuse.

In the comments of this section, I will include a brief description of the events that take place in this chapter for those who choose not to read it. This is your reminder that no story is worth your well-being, and I do not mind if you opt out of this chapter.

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I'd never liked frat houses. After the first five minutes I spent in one, I was convinced that no one ever could. It seemed downright impossible. Beyond the sticky layer of sweat, beer, and something else I didn't want to think about, was an undercurrent of sinister, unsettling behavior.

Drunk men had never been my forte. I could hardly handle them when they were sober. Granted, it was a lot easier to trick a drunk man into thinking you'd follow him into a room just before you shut the door and locked it to protect the rest of the crowd from the menace.

It hadn't been my decision to come to a frat party — obviously. But my friends had insisted that they missed the carefree behavior that only seemed fit for somewhere so grimy. Also, they had a few choice words about how sad it was that I was the only one of them that had been 'getting any.' I didn't want to explain to them that my answer would vary based on their definition of 'any.'

I'd begged Spencer to grant me any excuse not to go, but he'd insisted that I spend at least some of my very little free time with my friends. Judging by his usually jealous nature, I think he'd really just seen it as an excuse for him to finally get some work done without me distracting him. It made sense, considering we'd just wasted a weekend lounging in a hotel bed together when we'd meant to be working.

Still, it was nice to know that he trusted me. I tried not to consider the reality that he only trusted me because he saw me as a carelessly lovesick girl incapable of straying. Granted, I never would stray, but I wanted him to trust me because he knew I would make the right choices.

Either way, I had ended up tagging along with a group of already half-drunk girls, freezing my ass off in the cold just to turn around and walk into the most disgusting steam room in existence. I was firmly stuck in it (and again, the beer-laden floor), and I had nowhere else to go. So, I figured that I might as well find some way to enjoy myself.

However, it had been a lot easier to do that when at least one of my friends felt obligated to stick by me, the perpetually awkward virgin who desperately needed social lubricant. I still was all of those things, but they'd apparently seen my relationship with my professor 15 years my senior to be enough of a growth spurt.

I had wandered around the house for approximately fifteen minutes before I saw a familiar face among the sea of young men. Ironically enough, he was also one of the few men who seemed completely uninterested in talking to me.

Honestly, it sort of seemed like Kyle was trying to run away from me. He'd never done that before, which only made me want to chase him further. Spencer had warned me before that I tended to bite off more than I could chew. I'd always assumed he was talking about the way I pursued him, but once Kyle was trapped at the dead end of a hallway, I think I finally understood what Spencer was talking about.