Protecting Love - Chapter Three

***Brittney's POV***

"Ah, Friday!" I say to Joey and she smiles hesitantly. She's been walking on egg shells around me. I curse at myself. I should have never told her. I do my best to ignore the pain in my chest and I grin and spread my arms wide, "Sun!"

"You're gonna get a sun burn!" She exclaims as she looks at my sleeveless tank top. It hugs my curvaceous figure and the short shorts don't help. Males glance at us on the beach. This Friday we had off because of something the teachers had going on. I grinned at Joey because she was dressed identically to me and she looked better. I never noticed until now that Joey was really curvy. With her blonde hair and pale skin she looked like a snow angel in the sand.

I grabbed her hand suddenly and dragged her to the water. It was cold and the waves brushed gently against our ankles.

"We don't have swimsuits." She squealed. I rolled my eyes and wadded deeper, pushing against the waves. I was waist deep and I was shivering.

"Here goes nothing." I murmured and dived in. Joey had fallen behind and stayed back. I did the breast stroke for a while and then I switched to the butterfly. I stopped swimming long enough to see that Joey had left the water to talk to some guy. I rolled my eyes and swam back to shore. My clothes were heavy with water and I squeezed as much water I could get out. I walked calmly to the store that sells surfing gear and boards.

I surveyed the wet suits and choose a light blue one to buy with my parents credit card and a dark green surfing board. I went up to the cashier and bought them.

When I was suited up and ready I paddled out to shore. I used to surf when I was little but as I got older I was more into boys and my social life that I stopped. I was rusty but I remembered some. I caught two waves and on my third one something went wrong. As I pushed up I was knocked down by something. I went under. When I tried to suck in a breath I succeeded in filling my lungs with water. I gasped and choked. Then I fainted.

I woke up to me puking up water. I gasped in air and I breathed in air.

"What went wrong Brittney!" A familiar male voice asked. I cracked open my eyes and shut them when I got dizzying images.

"I got in the water," I said sarcastically and my voice sounded rough and scratchy. A dark chuckle. I opened my eyes again and blinked a couple of times before I got a clear image. A guy with black hair and green eyes leaned over me, casting a shadow. I remembered this face. It was the guy who raped me. Alistair Golding. I sucked in a breath shocked, I sat up knocking our heads together. I felt a hint of satisfaction as he said "ow" even if it hurt me too. I glanced around. No one was around us. I cast a questioning look at him. He rubbed his head.

"I sent them away. The lifeguard has power. I had an especially hard time with this small blonde girl."

"Joey," I smiled at the thought of her determined sweetness. I almost forgot I was with a rapist. Almost. I remembered as he glanced at my face. I hardened my face and scooted away from him.

"You were there the night I was raped." I tell him bluntly. He nodded. The thing was I'm not really sure who it was. I just assumed because his face was the last thing I saw before blacking out and waking up naked.

"No. I didn't rape you. It was John. You know, your best friend's boyfriend." He said. I wrinkled my nose.

"Ex best friend. She ran off with him after I found out she set it up."

"I found out they wanted to blame me for the crime. It was John who did it. I was forced to watch. You were on some weird drug that made you seem not you." My eyes widen to the pint that they water and then I turn around to puke.

"Ugh." I say afterwards and I find the wet suit was taken off. I take off my tank top and wipe my mouth. I look at Alistair and see his face is flushed as he looks at my body. I blush.

"I had to have an abortion," I tell him. His eyes widen and he takes me in a hug. I'm shocked at first. Especially when I notice he's shirtless. Then, I begin to cry. I'm racked with sobs as he brushes my long wet hair from my face.

"Brittney. It's over. It's alright." He caresses my face in a caring way and for the first time I feel like a guy isn't making a pass. I hug him tighter.
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***Joey's POV***

I stared at the older version of Aiden. His name is Jeremey. From what I know is that he's Aiden's older brother. I was still too preoccupied with worry over Brittney. The lifeguard had taken her to a secluded area so she wouldn't wake up with a crowd.

"What's your name?" Jeremey asked and I wasn't surprised he didn't know. We had never met until now.

"It's Joey." I said and his eyes widened knowingly.

"Aiden talks about you. Is your name short for anything?" He asked and I focused on the question. I didn't want to get my hopes up.

"Jocelyn. My baby cousin started pronouncing my name that way so it stuck."

"Any siblings?"

"My mom is pregnant." I smile up at him, craning my neck, "Can we sit down?" He answered by doing it. I sat down besides him.

"I'll ask one more question. Will you go out with me?" He asked and I nodded. Just then Aiden and Mallory came up.
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Sorry if I got something wrong in the surfing part. Because of the holiday I don't have much time for research. I hope you guys liked it.