Bless The Broken Road

Chapter Seven- What Happened?

Sydney lay in her bed, curled into a ball. She couldn't come out and face what had happened. And her brothers.....they didn't know. They knew she'd gone on a date, and come home sobbing. They didn't know what Daniel had done to her. Joel knocked quietly, scooting in beside her.

"Hey Jael. Let me guess. The date last night went completely wrong?" She sniffed, nodding.
"I don't ever want to see him again." She whispered, rolling over so he could at least see the bruises on her shoulder and the one on her cheek. She saw anger in his eyes, as well as pain and sorrow.

"He...he hit you?" She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew what she had to say....and knew it would be hard. But if she kept it to herself, things would get a whole lot worse.

"Yeah. And he...." She could barely choke the words out.
"Sydney, what did he do?" He scooted closer, confusion all over his face.
"He raped me." She whispered, crying again. At that, Joel wrapped his arms around her, also crying.
"I'm sorry, Sydney. This is my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid, and convinced you to go out with him, this never wouldn't happened." He whispered, not even trying to disguise the tears pouring down his cheeks. She shook her head slightly.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I'm the one who let my guard down. I wasn't strong enough to fight him off. It's my fault, not yours." She whispered, and he got up. She couldn't even move. Joel went out to the lounge, trying not to let the moving bus and tears cause him to fall on his face. Luke looked up, worried, as Joel punched the wall, and then dropped to the couch. The rest of the band froze, looking up as well.

"Joel, what happened?" Timmy ventured carefully, and he looked up at them.
"Sydney......I won't make her tell you lot. Her date went a lot worse than we thought. Daniel.....he raped her." He saw a fire in Luke's eyes, as well as shock and pain.
"He did that?!" Blake burst, shocked. Luke stood, going to her bunk. Joel's anger finally registered in his mind, and he stood.

"How long until we get there, mates?" Timmy looked at his watch.
"Fifteen minutes. Twenty tops. And if you're going to give that jerk a piece of your mind, I'd be delighted to do the same." He nodded, standing.
"I'm sure Colton will have no problem with me doing that after he finds out what happened." Luke sat beside Sydney, who was still fighting the tears. She held her silver purity ring, feeling as if she was ripping a part of her out by taking it off. But Daniel had already done that last night.

"Hey. You don't have a problem with me and Joel confronting him, do you?" She shook her head, refusing to look up. She handed him her ring, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Go for it. And give that to Emily. I know Joel is working on fostering her. There's no point in me wearing it anymore. Maybe it can be a reminder to her." It had I Am My Beloved's engraved on the outside and His Desire Is For Me on the inside. He put a hand under her chin, gently forcing her to look at him. He saw everything in her eyes. The fear, pain, sorrow, and a tiny bit of anger there. And it nearly killed him.

"No." He pressed it back into her palm, closing her fingers around it.
"Sydney, this wasn't your fault. The only person to blame is him. Remember what you told me after I tore my acl, back when you were fourteen?" Her soft brown eyes were filled with pain, and she turned her head slightly, looking down again.

"Sort of. Not all of it though." He smiled, taking her hands, gently squeezing them.
"I do. I know it doesn't make sense why God would allow this to happen, but I believe he has a reason for it. Trust In the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6. We just have to trust God, and that he will bring something good out of this." She leaned against him, and he hugged her.
"Jael, Joel and I are here. I hope you know that. We're here if you need to talk, or if you just need to cry." She nodded, and he pulled her as close as he could. She wrapped her arms around him, finally allowing the tears to make it out, and she sobbed. He just sat there for several minutes, letting her cry and crying with her. Daniel would definitely be hearing from him once they got to the venue. Joel came back, and showed him a text conversation between him and Colton.

J- Hey, mind if we discuss a couple things with Daniel when we get to the venue?
C- Yeah. Did something happen on the date last night?
J- Yeah, and we kinda need to discuss exactly what happened.
C- Ok. And I've gotta go. Catch you later.

He nodded, reading the messages. Joel walked back to the front of the bus, and Luke simply held his still crying sister close. He couldn't believe this was happening. But he knew that somehow, they would be able to make it through this. He just wasn't sure how.