"Shhh, it's okay Riley," said Noah as he held onto her tight, running his hands through her hair.
But it wasn't okay. Jason would kick her out and she had nowhere to go but back to Vincent. He was so mad at her and all she could do was cling onto Noah and hope that he didn't hate her as well.
"I..I'm s..sorry Noah. Please don't hate me," cried Riley.
Noah only held her tighter and she could feel his tear drops as they splashed against her head. "Hey, none of this is your fault Riley, none of it and there is no way I could ever hate you for this. Vincent did something unforgivable but none of this is your fault."
"J..Jason h..hates me. He'll make me go back. I don't want to go back there Noah, please don't send me back," Riley croaked as she tucked her head further into Noah's shirt.
Noah pushed her gently back away from his shirt and looked down at her as she whimpered slightly at the loss of contact. He wiped away her tears with the back of his hand. They hated her, was all that was running through her mind as Vincent's words kept playing over and over again.
Hugging her stomach she felt her heartbeat rising and her throat constricting. She was about to have another panic attack and she didn't have any way to get out of it as Noah grabbed a hold of her hand tightly.
"It's okay Riley, it'll be okay...." she heard his voice fade out around her. Her vision was blurry and all she could do was sit their as Vincent's voice and image crashed down over her mind.
"Mmmm... you taste so good my little slut," said Vincent as he licked his fingers clean. All Riley could do was move her head to the side as the heat subsided from her face and her breathing returned to normal.
Her hands and feet were bound on the bed as Vincent took to moving his hands back down Riley's body. "I think you have more in you though," he said as his fingers took the same position between her legs.
She shook her head violently as the gag in her mouth muffled her cries. She didn't want this. She didn't want to feel pleasure at his hands but she had no choice as he continued his assault on her.
"Riley..." she heard in the distance.
"If your brothers knew how much of a slut you were they would disown you and kick you out on the streets. They would despise you for being such a pathetic little whore."
"Riley, come back to me," said Noah. She gasped for air as she was brought back to the present with Noah hovering over her.
Noah reached down, moving a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you okay Riley?"
"I..I'm sorry," Riley whispered out, trying to gather her mind back to the present. "I'm such a worthless piece of trash and I get it if you don't want me here anymore."
Noah's eyebrows narrowed in frustration. "Hey, hey," he said, lifting her chin as her gaze locked on to him. "You are not worthless do you hear me? And I will never ever leave you. There is no way you are ever going back to Vincent."
Noah pulled Riley into a hug. "You never have to go back there again Riley. You're safe here. I'll keep you safe. I love you so much."
Riley relaxed a bit in Noah's arms as she felt the gentle warmth of his hand run up and down her back. The exhaustion of the evening was catching up with her and the recent panic attack seemed to have zapped away at her remaining strength.
"You're exhausted Riley. Let's get you to bed," he said as he picked her up in his arms and walked down the hallway.
Riley couldn't help but notice the smashed glass and knocked over table as Noah scooted around the edge to avoid it, and it only served to remind her that although Noah didn't seem too mad at her, she had yet to face Jason.
The thought of Jason only put her more on edge and she clutched harder against Noah's shirt. Noah looked down, sensing her anxiety at the scene in front of her.
"It's okay Riley, he's angry at Vincent and probably at himself but he loves you. He just needs to cool off a bit."
Riley didn't believe him but she didn't say anything. How could anyone love a piece of trash like her.
Noah managed to grab the handle of the door and pushed it open with Riley still in his arms. Leading her to the bed he placed her down gently and she rolled onto her side away from Noah. She was having trouble facing him and to make it worse all she kept thinking about was Vincent.
"Try to get some sleep," said Noah as he hopped in bed next to her and placed his hand around her waist, pulling her close.
Riley couldn't sleep though. Her mind didn't want to shut down and even though she was exhausted she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes.
Noah held on to her tight and she continued to cry for what seemed like hours. Occasionally in between sobs she would blurt out sentences like "I'm so pathetic", "Please don't hate me" and "Don't send me back there".
Every word caused Noah's face to scrunch up in pain as he held her closer, whispering soothing words into her ear and finally, at 2 am in the morning, the exhaustion was too great and she managed to fall asleep.
Once Noah was sure that she was asleep he slowly slid out of bed and taking one last glance over at her, opened the door. Bypassing the mess in the hallway, he walked into the kitchen. He sighed as he placed his hands on the kitchen bench and he finally let go as silent sobs escaped his mouth.
That was one of the hardest things he had ever witnessed in his life. To see Riley break down like that was heart retching. For her to believe that Noah and Jason hated her, caused his heart to nearly shatter. He couldn't believe how little she thought of herself and he was positive it was Vincent that had brainwashed her with those thoughts.
He had so many unanswered questions. How long has it been going on for? And why hasn't she mentioned anything before? Vincent must have threatened her, but with what? Nothing was as painful as what she had been through.
After a short while, Noah pulled himself back together and wiped the tears from his eyes. Riley needed him now more than ever and he needed to stay strong for her.
Pulling out the broom he proceeded down to the mess in the hallway and started cleaning up as quietly as possible. The last thing he wanted to do was wake up Riley. Once he had cleared the glass and placed the furniture back to normal he walked down to Jason's room.
Noah was pissed at the way Jason reacted. His behaviour was one of the reasons Riley thought he hated her and he needed to be put back in line. They both needed to be there for Riley and he couldn't have Jason acting this way again.
He didn't bother to knock as he barged into Jason's room closing the door behind him. Even though it was 3 am in the morning he knew Jason would still be awake after that bombshell.
"You're a fucking idiot Jason," said Noah as he saw Jason sitting on the edge of his bed, his back facing away from the door. "Do you realise how shit scared Riley is of you right now!"
"What?" Jason croaked out as he turned around to face Noah, his eyes narrowed in confusion.
Noah could tell Jason had been crying. His eyes were puffy and red, tears still falling and his hair was disheveled. Noah had never seen Jason like this before. Sure, he had seen him angry before but never this lost and broken.
It only curbed Noah's anger slightly though as thoughts of Riley came into his mind. "She thinks you're going to send her back to Vincent. It took me four hours to finally get her off to sleep after assuring her multiple times that we wouldn't send her back there!"
"I don't understand. Why would she think that?" asked Jason, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Because Vincent kept on putting those words in her head. He practically brainwashed her! You wouldn't believe how little she thinks of herself."
"I'm such a fucking failure Noah," Jason sobbed. "I had one job, and that was to keep both of you safe and I failed. I'm just so fucking angry at myself! How could I let this happen? How could I let him hurt her?"
"Look, I get it. I'm pissed off at myself as well for letting her down but she needs us right now. She needs to know that we love her and we're here for her, no matter what," said Noah frustrated.
"I'm sorry," mumbled out Jason.
"Don't be sorry Jason, just fix it!"