𝑺 𝑬 𝑹 𝑬 𝑵 𝑰 𝑻 𝒀 (18+)

Thirty-four

S E R E N I T Y

♥

Vulnerability was a scary thing. It made you feel so open, so overanalyzed. It made me feel weak. I couldn't protect myself, I couldn't fight Dominic off in the way I wanted to. He was bigger than me, stronger than me. He caught me off guard, I was completely defenseless. He proved to me that I truly wasn't invincible. That I couldn't take everything head-on, that I couldn't argue my way out of everything. He forced me to see that I couldn't fight all my battles alone.

I hated it.

I also hated crying but that didn't stop me from sobbing once I was alone in my room. I cried until my head hurt and my pillowcase was soaked. I cried until my eyes were puffy and swollen and all I could see were the blurs of dimly lit lights. I cried until my voice went hoarse because I felt so incredibly weak. Dominic took away my comfortability and all I could do was watch and wait for it to be over.

Vanessa could tell I had been crying when she came back in the morning. She had Alec fetch her some coffee to give her time to sit with me alone. She didn't ask me why, she already knew the answer. Instead, she kissed me on my nose and pulled out a bag from her purse, and sighed, "you're going to be fine Serenity. I won't let anyone take that away from you."

She knew me too well.

When Alec made his way back to my room Vanessa had finished my makeup and was patiently waiting for her coffee. Alec had balloons and three coffees in hand, clumsily setting everything down before turning to us. "I didn't want to come empty-handed," he shrugged. I was going to need a separate room for gifts alone if anyone brought me anything else.

"I can't have caffeine, but thank you, Alec." I couldn't drink either, I hoped Dominic Bullion rotted.

"Shit, I completely forgot, sorry Rin." I shrugged and ran my fingers across my forehead, it was warm. Warmer than it should've been, I hoped I wasn't getting sick on top of everything else. Vanessa peaked out into the hallway and laughed before coming back and grabbing her coat. She locked her arms with Alec and started heading for the door.

"You're leaving already?" I asked her surprised. She nodded towards the door and smiled, "you have company. I'll swing by tomorrow, love you Rin."

"Love you too."

The commotion in the hallway got closer and closer until the source finally barged inside. Andrew jogged over to me and kissed me all over my face in a panic. "That's enough, Andrew," Noah scolded. He'd entered the room with a scowl, Bev and George were there too.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get down here yesterday, I had questioning."

"Questioning?"

He nodded, "Dominic was in bad shape when I finally got Noah off of him. I thought he'd kill him if I didn't stop him."

"I told you just like I told them, I was going to kill him." Noah interrupted.

Andrew scoffed and continued, "that confession alone almost had him spending the night in jail. It was a mess we were there for hours. I was so worried about you Serenity. That bastard over there somehow got to leave the station before me, probably just walked right out."

Noah rolled his eyes with his arms crossed, "that's not how it happened. I was questioned just like you. They chose to let me go I didn't just walk out."

My face fell and I felt a large pit settle in my stomach, "I'm so sorry Noah. This must've put you in a bad spot."

"Uhuh, don't apologize." Bev pushed Andrew out of the way and sat on my bed. "None of this is your fault, if the board can't see that then we'll fight them on it. But don't ever blame yourself okay? It's not your fault." I wanted to believe that but I'd spent the past eight hours watching every news station and they all said the same thing. That Noah was a man capable of extreme violence, they questioned his sanity, his self-restraint. They took no hesitation in tearing down every single decision he'd ever made. Including hiring me.