Worth Fighting For | Book #1

Chapter 68

Mature Content

"Are you going to tell us now? Because I can't understand why someone would do something like that to you, Savannah. And Josh, I swear to god, if any of this is because of your—"

"Val," Harvey shouted out amongst her continuing rant, "just let them talk."

My heart warmed at the playful understanding of their relationship when Val slowly perched back down onto her seat. Valentina was like like fire to Harvey's ice, both seeming dangerous to one another yet you couldn't have one without the other. And only Harvey seemed to be able to calm down the hothead in Valentina, which was impressive to say the least.

Josh was the first to begin explaining, mostly because I couldn't think of where we wanted to start in all of this. He confessed about his family dynamic, notably with his uncle's incarceration and now his recent release.

However, as soon as the conversation drew closer to our involvement with Jack, he turned and allowed me to speak.

There was still a hostile atmosphere when I looked over to where Tyler was sitting, reminding me that I probably needed to have a conversation with him at some point after speaking to the group.

"Do you guys remember the bruise on my jaw? And how I said it was because of a drunk man at the pits?" A series of uncertain nods spread around as I lifted my head and began speaking again, "it wasn't just a drunk guy, it was Jack."

"Who's—"

"Jack is a man who sexually assaulted me in an alley just after our New Years trip," when the words finally left my lips, it was as if the truth that had been weighing down my shoulders had finally been released, and I already felt better because of it. "I should've reported it when it happened, which is probably why he managed to find me again, and again, only that I think he was involved with Josh's uncle tonight instead. He—he said that he was going to kill me," tears fell forcefully as I spoke, halting my speech and causing the pain to seep back through to my wound, both physically and mentally.

Valentina and April immediately hurried to my side and held me, ensuring that they wouldn't cause any more discomfort than I already felt down on my body.

There was a still silence around the group as nobody dared to be the first to speak their mind, which I was sure would be anything but positive about the man they never knew about before. Yet it felt somewhat refreshing to tell the people I cared about most around me, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Closure was what I needed.

Without having realised it, Jack had played a large role in my life this past year, not only in being afraid of him but of his touch, and that he had gotten away with it.

It was almost an instinct to clasp my hand through Josh's, an action I knew meant more to him than he'd care to admit. There was a silent agreement between us that we would report both Jack and Josh's uncle to the cops once this night was over.

I would report Jack for the girls that couldn't and wouldn't. People like him should not be able to walk freely while girls like me suffer in the fear and silence that they caused.

Everyone else had offered to stay over, which I had gratefully thanked them for and instead, told them all to get home and sleep. I didn't want to be just another delicate person in our group that needed protecting, which was probably another reason why I thought entering myself into the pits was such a great idea.

"Tyler?" I called as he began following Harvey and Valentina out of the door. "Can we talk for a second?" He sent me an awkward nod before stepping inside again.