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Usually Laura Lee was the first person to finish showering after practice, but for the last couple of weeks, not that anyone noticed, she would be the first one in there and by far the last person to leave, scrubbing her skin until it turned red, she would be in there long after the school ran out of hot water, by the time she was finished her blonde hair was sopping wet and her arms and legs were visibly reddened by the friction of scrubbing as she wrapped a towel around herself, holding herself tightly.
Mari’s parents were usually late picking her up, but an hour was ridiculous, and by the looks of things they weren’t going to be magically appearing anytime soon. Things must have been hectic at the Hospital her father worked at. Again. It frustrated Mari because in her mind he wasn’t even an important medical whatever. He was a nurse, a male nurse at that, he absolutely could have snuck away for the 20 minutes it took to collect Mari and drop her home without it being noticed he was gone. Mari entertained herself by playing with her tamagotchi, and briefly thought about who was still in the locker room with her, she could still hear the shower running after all, but a part of her knew that theorising which one of her teammates was naked under there wasn’t a very productive thing for her to do. Or normal. Mari pushed those thoughts out of her head.
The sound of the shower head turning off caught Mari’s attention, she looked up and saw Laura Lee coming out of the shower area, wrapped up in her towel, and imedietly knew what she wanted to do to her.
Mari flashed Laura Lee a warm smile as she approached, which Laura Lee only half returned. Mari stood as Laura Lee approached, waited for her to pass by and then
“Gotcha” Mari yelled as Laura Lee passed, tugging on her towel from behind and causing Laura Lee to shriek, hunching over and clutching her towel to her boobs. Laura Lee adjusted herself and made sure everything was covered up before standing up straight and glaring at Mari. Mari had taken a few steps backwards and was laughing to herself, Laura Lee was definitively not laughing and wordlessly moved on, pacing a few steps away and sitting on one of the benches with her back to the wall. Mari sat down aswell, she was a sat a short distance away from Laura Lee and facing her.
“You know…” Mari began, leaning forward slightly, a mischievous look in her eye. “I’m wondering what took you so long in there…if the shower heads detached then I would understand” Mari continued, giggling to herself at the second part of her sentence, but yet again, Laura Lee wasn’t laughing.
“I don’t do that sort of thing” Laura Lee halfheartedly muttered, Mari rolled her eyes in response. “we’re all girls here Laura Lee” Mari answered, before looking around the locker room. “I mean, it’s just us here but still” Mari said. She didn’t necessarily mean it as a joke, but it was supposed to somewhat funny, just like the stunt she pulled with the towel and the comment about the shower head, but Laura Lee didn’t have any sort of reaction at all to anything she said, Laura Lee was acting so distant, like she was in another world. Mari considered herself a funny person, and extremely funny person, but the thought that the other girls would have laughed if they were around wasn’t very comforting considering Laura Lee was completely unresponsive to anything Mari said. Laura Lee clearly wanted to be left alone but that little fact only pushed Mari to try and make her laugh even more.
Laura Lee waited for a second, building up her confidence before reaching into her gear bag and pulling out her underwear, spreading her legs slightly and slipping them up her thighs.
Mari leaned back casually, before letting out a loud and obnoxious wolf whistle. Laura Lee looked up exasperated, but this wasn’t clear to Mari, who took it as an invitation to speak.
“Cute panties” Mari commented, staring Laura Lee up and down. “I mean really you should have moved onto thongs by now, but the strawberry print is cute” Mari shrugged. Laura Lee was audibly breathing heavily in a panicked fashion, but this wasn’t picked up on by Mari.
Laura Lee gripped onto her thighs, steadying herself and taking her deep breaths, she didn’t say anything but she truly wished Mari would disappear, or even better, if she herself would disappear, if the ground could swallow her up, or if she could be struck by a sudden heart attack and die right there wrapped up in her towel and her strawberry panties. That line of thought shot a recent memory into her brain, and brought her to the realisation that she basically did die in her underwear. It took a lot of strength from Laura Lee to not start crying right there and then.
Eventually Laura Lee began to move again, pulling up her socks and putting on her bra. She had to readjust her towel slightly in order to get her bra on, but she paid specific attention to making sure she didn’t show Mari her boobs. Mari seemed to see every little thing Laura Lee did to as an invitation to talk, or maybe she just never shut up.
“Advice” Mari said, clapping her hands together to grab Laura Lee’s attention. “You need to invest in a matching set” Mari said, talking about Laura Lee’s plain white, boring bra. “Guys love it, and you never know when “it” could happen” Mari said enthusiastically. Unknown to Mari, Laura Lee was all too familiar with how “it” could happen at any moment, regardless of if she wanted it to or not.
Laura Lee didn’t even bother responding to Mari, instead focusing her energy trying to get dressed without completely breaking down, and being mostly successful, with only the occasional sniffle and odd sob.
Mari didn’t stop fighting, and despite Laura Lee consistently ignoring her, Mari kept talking and either trying to strike up a conversation or trying to make Laura Lee laugh. Both of these strategies failed miserably.
Laura Lee was almost completely dressed, and Mari was completely pissed of. Sick of being ignored, Mari spoke up louder than before, snapping her fingers in Laura Lee’s face as Laura Lee bent forward to tie her shoes, a pair of adorable white Keds.
“Earth to Laura Lee” Mari said as she snapped her fingers in front of Laura Lee’s face, causing the blonde to flinch a little bit. Good. It was at the very least a sign that Laura Lee could at least hear her.
Still, Laura Lee stayed completely silent, and wordlessly got, she quickly turned around to look away from Mari, and took small steps towards the exit, her gear bag slung over her shoulder.
Laura Lee was being uncharacteristically mean, and Mari was sick of her shit, she was seriously leaving without saying anything, not even a goodbye ? “What’s with the stick up your ass ?” Mari called out as she rose from where she was sitting. No response. Mari quickly shuffled up behind Laura Lee and slapped her ass, hard, it was way too much past painful to be playful, more of a wordless “Screw you” to Laura Lee.
That’s what it was meant to be anyway, and as much as Mari wanted to get some sort of reaction out of Laura Lee, she was not expecting or prepared for a big sobbing meltdown.
Laura Lee was sobbing loudly, tears cascading down her face and staining her cheeks, she looked a pathetic mess. She might have been saying something but it was impossible to make out and completely unintelligible through her sobbing. Laura Lee turned around and shoved Mari. It was surprisingly strong and nearly knocked Mari off her balance, if Laura Lee was focused instead of having a breakdown it might have sent Mari to the floor.
“the fuck ?” Mari yelled, squaring up to Laura Lee and getting right up in her face. From that angle Mari noticed how much of an ugly crier Laura Lee was, her cheeks were all puffy and red, her lip quivering. Laura Lee spoke through broken sobs, “You’re doing it on purpose” Mari gave Laura Lee a puzzled look in response, scrunching up her eyebrow. Laura Lee continued speaking, all while being interrupted by constant sobs and gulping, or pausing to wipe her tears.
“You've been doing it the entire time I've been here Mari, so just cut it out, I, I don’t know what I've done to you,o-or whatever, but just cut it out”
The tiniest bit of Mari’s mind was telling her to slow down and find out what the hell Laura Lee was talking about, but the majority of her mind was telling her that there was a blonde girl in front of her acting completely insane.
“What the hell has gotten into you ?” Mari hissed, backing away slightly from Laura Lee.
Laura Lee was frozen to the spot, stuck glaring at Mari, even though her vision was very blurry from the constant tears flooding her eyes.
“You pulled my towel down” Laura Lee began, every time she spoke her voice cracked and a fresh wave of tears started anew.
“as a joke” Mari answered, her tone was less aggressive and more defensive, because she was right, it was a joke, a joke that every other girl played on every other girl constantly.
“The shower heads” Laura lee continued, drawing a groan from Mari
“cmonnn, are you that much of a prude, can you not just take a joke ?” Mari questioned.
Laura Lee spoke up, it was the most clear she had spoken up until this point
“That wasn’t funny. and I’m not a prude” Laura Lee answered, She put emphasis on the word not, and her tone was aggressive, closer to the way she played on the pitch than any way Mari had seen her act previously.
Mari threw her hands up defensively, staring at Laura Lee
“What are we even talking about, seriously” Mari groaned, but Laura Lee stayed rooted to her spot.
She spoke suddenly, she was still obliviously crying, but she was able to speak clearly for now at least.
“Who told you” Laura Lee asked coldly.
With no answer, Laura Lee finally gathered enough strength to move forward, approaching Mari with haste, repeating herself again “Who told you” Laura Lee repeated, there was the tiniest bit of a height difference between her and Mari, with Mari being slightly taller, but it wasn’t enough to get Laura Lee to reconsider what she was doing.
There was one longer sniffle, despite her anger Laura Lee was still predominately upset, as she jabbed a finger into Mari’s chest, sniffling again, then moving to shove Mari, like a kid unable to use her words and resorting to shoving.
Mari didn’t let Laura Lee get off that easily though, she wasn’t some fed up babysitter about to be pushed around by some kid, she was rightfully pissed of and was going to do something about it. Laura Lee’s last shove was weaker than her earlier one, it was clear Laura Lee was losing her energy and her will to fight.
Laura Lee tried to step away after shoving Mari, but Mari grabbed her hand by her wrist and restrained her, stopping her from moving.
Laura Lee struggled for a minute against Mari’s grip, before giving up and accepting her fate. Her crying earlier was pathetic, no doubt about it, but this was somehow even worse. Laura Lee’s earlier sobs were from the shock, the memories coming back full force, made worse by Mari’s teasing and harassment and generally just being upset, but these new tears were like acceptance, or defeat, of a soulless Laura Lee accepting that she was ruined and unlovable and whatever else was running through the poor girl’s head.
Laura Lee’s face was all scrunched up, her cheeks blotched and her nose dribbling from constant crying, before Mari could do anything really Laura Lee seemed to just melt. Laura Lee collapsed into Mari’s arms and sobbed into her shoulder. “Mari” Laura Lee whined as she sobbed into Mari’s shoulder, her tears and her wet hair staining Mari’s clothes.
Mari was frozen by a mixture of awkwardness and surprise, she slowly released her grip on Laura Lee’s Wrist and wrapped one arm around Laura Lee’s waist, while the other hand stroked Laura Lee’s pretty blonde hair. She could feel how wet Laura Lee’s hair was and see a few drops of water falling from her hair and onto the ground.
“cmon” Mari whispered, her anger fading, she wasn’t exactly sure what was happening or what had caused this reaction in Laura Lee, but it was clear Laura Lee needed help and quite literally needed a shoulder to cry on. It was ironic, how Mari was trying so hard for so long to get some sort of reaction out of Laura Lee, but was now dealing with the most extreme emotions she had even seen Laura Lee display. Mari couldn’t stay mad at Laura Lee, and had a funny feeling Laura Lee wasn’t mad at her either. Maybe she just caught her at the wrong time.
“Lets sit down” Mari whispered, gently guiding Laura Lee down to one of the benches, it took a few minutes since Laura Lee was basically unresponsive, and was devoting the little energy she had left into crying her eyes out, but Mari was very patient and gentle with her.
Mari eventually guided Laura Lee to sit down and sat down beside her. Laura Lee rested her head against Mari’s shoulder, her face turned inward to Mari’s shirt and staining it with her tears, Laura Lee’s hair was still sopping wet from her shower,Mari continued stroking Laura Lee’s hair, trying to dry it, and occasionally whispered generic praise to her.
“I think we’re overreacting over something small” Mari commented, she slowly stopped stroking Laura Lee’s wet hair and dropped her hands to meet Laura Lee’s, brushing her thumb over them and holding her hands tightly.
“yeah” Laura Lee sniffled, she was almost too pathetic to speak, Mari figured that if Laura Lee tried to speak a sentence with more than even one word than the whole thing would come out in broken sobs and sniffles.
And so, Mari decided to give her friend a few more minutes before pestering her with more questions. She wasn’t in any real rush either since she knew her dad was going to be extremely late picking her up, so she had time to waste and to spend comforting Laura Lee.
“sorry” Laura Lee eventually said, her face was still buried into Mari’s shoulder but she had somewhat stopped sobbing. Was definitely still crying though.
Laura Lee started the conversation this time, so Mari figured she was able to handle a small conversation.
“Its fine. no big deal” Mari spoke, soothing Laura Lee. No response from Laura Lee, but Mari still clung onto the fact that Laura Lee began the conversation this time, and decided to push her luck.
“I'm just…confused” Mari began, there was a pause in her words, where she tried to gauge Laura Lee’s reaction, but she didn’t react at all, apart from the constant stream of tears.
“You, completely broke down, the towel thing was immature I suppose, and maybe I slapped your ass a little bit too hard” Mari continued. “Sorry for that by the way” Mari added, getting a sort of…whine ? of forgiveness from Laura Lee in response.
“But I mean…” Mari sighed, struggling to phrase her words in a way that didn’t make her seem like a total douche bag.
“Ok I'm sorry but there’s no other way to say this, none of that is new to you and you've never reacted like this before, I’ve never seen anyone react like that to anything” Mari said, abandoning all senses of subtly. Mari waited a moment, hoping Laura Lee would explain what the hell came over her.
After a moment Laura Lee spoke up, clumsily dodging the interrogation that came loaded with Mari’s words, which silently but desperately begged for an explanation.
“It doesn’t happen to me as often as the other girls” was Laura Lee’s only defence. Technically correct.
Mari laughed a bit at that, hoping to cheer Laura Lee up, but it didn’t work, and Mari was forced to get back to her awkward questioning.
“You usually just laugh, or yelp a bit, but today you totally ignored me and then started sobbing”
Mari almost said throwing a bitch fit instead instead of sobbing and was so immeasurably thankful that she caught herself in time, Laura Lee didn’t like that type of language, and Mari had to be particularly respectful with her right now.
Laura Lee murmured something in in response, before slowly shifting a bit and finally moving her head off Mari's shoulder. Laura Lee rearranged herself so she was sitting beside Mari normally, she also broke away from Mari’s grip on her hands in order to wipe her tears of her face.
“It is immature.” Laura Lee spoke up. “But I don’t mind that. It’s funny”
Mari nodded, interested in what was going through Laura Lee’s mind. “So why did you throw a total bitch fit ?” Mari mentally cursed herself out for her mistake, she just had to hope Laura Lee wouldn’t take offence.
Laura Lee just shrugged, looking down at her feet silently. She wanted nothing more than to stay silent but she found her words spilling out of of her mouth uncontrollably, like a part of her just wanted to tell anyone, and Mari just happened to be the first person to notice anything was up with her.
“Do you promise not to tell anyone ?” Laura Lee asked, still looking down at the floor, she didn’t even have the strength to look Mari in the eye.
“Yeah” Mari answered,and of course she meant it, she did like to gossip, but she could tell this wasn’t something juicy to laugh about. Mari slowly reached down and held onto Laura Lee’s hand to support her and offer her comfort. The contact felt nice, whenever Laura Lee broke it to wipe her tears out of her eyes, she immediately found herself looking for Mari’s hands after, and clasping them together.
“I don’t mind those things you did earlier, really” Laura Lee began, Mari stayed silent, just holding Laura Lee’s hand and grounding her with the contact, and allowed Laura Lee to speak her mind without interruptions.
“You're right about it being immature, but they're funny aswell, a-and I like being included, it happens to everyone else aswell after all. So I know you’re not bullying me”
Mari just nodded, it was a nice bit of reassurance, but she could tell Laura Lee was stalling.
“It just, reminded me of something. Something that happened to me recently”
As much as she wanted to, Laura Lee knew she couldn’t leave Mari with just that tidbit, for the sake of Mari’s curiosity and for both of their sanity, she had to continue, and had to tell Mari all the details. It would probably feel much better to get everything out of her system and confess to Mari, but to reap those rewards she had to actually tell Mari what happened to her. Laura Lee wasn’t planning on telling anyone this as long as she lived, much less Mari, but she couldn’t back down now that she had forced herself into a corner.
Laura Lee turned her head to look at Mari, check if she was still there and paying attention to her, once Laura Lee caught sight of Mari’s sympathetic eyes, and registered the supporting grip Mari kept on her hands, Laura Lee let out a half smile, and quickly wiped her runny nose of her snot before continuing.
“It reminded me, of when I went to visit my Grandpa in the hospital. I used to go every week” Laura Lee spoke with a sigh. It was clear from her voice that the guilt of no longer going was eating her alive.
“And…I always used to look forward to it. I think he did to” Laura Lee said, silent tears began flowing down her face and staining her cheeks, Mari awkwardly tried wiping them off of Laura Lee’s face, but they were imedietly replaced with fresh tears.
“The last time I went was three weeks ago…and then I stopped. I couldn't go back there again Mari” Laura Lee said, choking on her words. Mari gently rubbed Laura Lee’s thigh, silently asking her to continue in her own time.
“The last time I went, t-these two nurses. They said they wanted my help. I didn’t want to leave my grandpa, Mari, b-but my mom, she thought I was being rude. She made me go with them, so they, t-they brought me to this room, a-and…” Laura Lee did not have the words, or even the understanding of what happened, to explain her story to Mari. She made some sort of awkward hand movement with both hands, trying to communicate to Mari. And as smart as Mari sometimes was, she couldn't read minds.
“And ?” Mari asked. Laura Lee gulped, before gathering her strength to continue.
“They, um, touched me”
Mari’s eyes went completely wide in shock, she didn’t even realise she had dropped Laura Lee’s hand, which probably sent the wrong type of message, especially someone who needed all the support they could get right now.
More tears streaked down Laura Lee’s face, her whole body shivering, she awkwardly held her own hand, searching for any type of contact.
“He held my hands together so, so I couldn’t fight him, a-and the other one, flipped my skirt up and went...inside me”
Mari’s mouth was wide open in shock, everything clicked into place, why Laura Lee had been so weird and defensive, the weird breakdown where she begged to know “who told you” and the constant sobbing. Mari felt extremely guilty for reminding Laura Lee of what happened to her. But there was also the slightest bit of curiosity, it was hard to imagine Laura Lee doing any sort of sexual activity, and even though she didn’t want it to happen…Laura Lee still technically lost her virginity before Mari, so Mari had a few burning questions. None of them were appropriate, Mari didn’t really intend on asking any of them, but she also found words spilling out of her own mouth before she could process what they even wore or why she wanted to know the answer.
“Do you have to get an abortion ?” Mari asked bluntly. Mari imedietly cringed, she could feel the air split, the awkwardness and the tension build up around them. Mari regretted asking such a vile question, and was mentally kicking herself, she truly hated that that was one of the first things she asked, before she even asked Laura Lee if she was ok or if she wanted a hug or something.
“No” Laura Lee answered, Mari could hear the sadness in Laura Lee’s voice, the sadness Mari caused, a distinct tone from Laura Lee’s previous depression.
Mari made an effort not to speak for a bit, scared she would say something else to make everything worse again. Mari awkwardly rose one arm up and rubbed Laura Lee’s shoulder. That was some kind of reassurance, right ?
Laura Lee struggled for a few short moments, like she was trying to get something out of her mouth, spitting out something vile, stammering over her words before she gathered her strength again to speak.
“I couldn’t get pregnant anyway…They didn’t go...in there”
Mari in general was the complete opposite of subtle, but this was just constant bombshell after bombshell, it was hard not to react, hard to even try and tone down her reactions. “I heard that’s really-” Mari began, but was interrupted by Laura Lee. “painful” Laura Lee answered. Mari just nodded, slightly intimidated by Laura Lee’s tone, it was angry, full of vile, full of hurt. Mari at least appreciated that Laura Lee was directing her feelings into anger instead of wallowing in self pity. At least some what.
“It was the worst pain I ever felt in my life Mari” Laura Lee spat, her anger and her resentment obvious,but she was still reeking of pathetic ness and depression, after that it was hard to tell what Laura Lee was thinking. Mari’s brain flashed back to memories of Laura Lee telling the story of when she split her head at bible camp, or Laura Lee thrashing and crying on the grass after she broke her leg when a particularly viscous opponent crashed into her on purpose. Wow. More painful than that.
“You don’t understand how bad it was Mari.” and of course she didn't, how could she ?
Laura Lee sniffled again, and Mari saw her face drop in real time, Laura Lee leaned in closer to Mari, resting her head on her shoulder, she was facing away from Mari at least, so her words wouldn't be muffled into the fabric of Mari’s shirt. Laura Lee’s hair was still dripping wet, but Mari didn’t dare move it.
“Can I tell you something else ? You have to promise not to tell anyone” Laura Lee squeaked. Her voice was so small and fragile, Mari slowly raised a hand to Laura Lee’s face and offered her her pinky. Laura Lee giggled a bit, and accepted Mari’s promise to keep things between them. At least Mari was good at making people laugh, it was a small reassurance to Laura Lee.
“The two nurses…only one of them...they weren’t both…one of them was a girl Mari” Laura Lee finally admitted. It did not feel good to get that off her chest, it was like she was reintroducing it to the world, which she technically was by adding to the very small list of people who knew what happened.
Mari couldn’t believe what she was hearing, it was complete insanity, it couldn’t be real, the tiniest piece of Mari’s brain felt, relieved for Laura Lee ? Relieved wasn’t the right word, in an ideal world Laura Lee never had to experience that, but at least with a man and a woman it could possibly have been less painful ? At the very least it was mathematically less…things…that could be stuck inside her holes. Mari quickly brushed these thoughts away, even with her semi lack of awareness she knew that was not an appropriate thing to say, or even think about.
“So the girl just made out with you ?” Mari questioned, the girl couldn’t help her immense curiosity, this story was tragic but it was also unlike anything Mari had heard before, it wasn’t then type of thing she thought happened in real life, just in movies. Laura Lee’s expressions of defeat and painful sobs were more heartbreaking and soul crushing than any actress could possibly hope to convey
After hearing what Mari said, Laura Lee just couldn’t contain herself and started crying even more intensely, burying her face into Mari’s side. Everything felt so unbelievably humiliating.
Laura Lee knew she couldn't Lie to Mari, and keeping her mouth shut would leave Mari with more questions than answers.
“No” Laura Lee whispered under her breath. she could feel Mari’s confusion.
“She, um, …, went inside me” Laura Lee said, the shame evident in her voice as she forced every word out. “She had this, umm, thing” Laura Lee said, she was trying to show Mari the shape with her hands, waving them around uselessly, it would have been indecipherable for anyone else but through some stroke of genius, Mari managed to understand.
Unfortunately for both of them, Mari’s stroke of genius didn’t tell her to stay calm and comfort her friend. The revelation shocked Mari, to the point where she loudly gasped, her mouth hanging open as she stared at Laura Lee, Laura Lee struggling to return the eye contact through her humiliation.
“A strap on ?” Mari yelled, her mind shattered at the though that Laura Lee not only knew what that was, even if she couldn't describe it, but also experienced one. In her ass. That was some grade A slut behaviour, she would be surprised if anyone else told her this, but it was inconceivable with Laura Lee. She wouldn’t believe it if Laura Lee hadn’t told her herself, tears and breakdown included. Speaking of Laura Lee’s tears and her breakdown, it was obvious to the world that Mari speaking of this out loud triggered even more humiliation and more tears. Laura Lee had to be severally dehydrated by this point
Just like Mari couldn’t stop her gasp, she couldn’t stop her next offensive question from forcing itself from the dark corners of her brain through her airways and out into the world. “Does that mean you’re a dyke ?” Mari spoke, her tone came across as cautious and scared, which was at least better than accusatory or angry, Mari figured once she realised just what she had actually asked, and how much it was going to blow up in her face.
Usually, calling Laura Lee a dyke, even as a joke, would upset her and move her to tears, to the point where once people found out about this, mean boys would purposely target her and yell it at her just to see her reaction, but currently, it wasn’t upsetting her more. Mari realised that that was only because Laura Lee could not physically or mentally get more upset than she currently was.
Mari knew she had to pivot before Laura Lee forced herself to answer that question, seeing as it might actually destroy her, so Mari, in a move that skilfully avoided any sign of intelligence, added to her long line of stupid questions.
“So…if she…went inside you, what did the guy do ?” Mari asked, she held onto Laura Lee’s hand with one of hers, and moved the other to tenderly stroke Laura Lee’s back. There was a large wet spot on Laura lee’s back from where her soaking wet ponytail was resting, but Mari didn’t draw any attention to it.
Mari was lucky that Laura Lee had been so open to saying what happened to her up to this point, so the blow of asking her directly what happened was most likely softened a little bit.
Laura Lee sniffled before speaking up, she looked pale, distressed, and a little bit dead. She held onto Mari’s hand just a little bit tighter after listening everything that happened to her, everything that man did. It was honestly a little bit painful for Mari, but she didn’t dare complain, as it was absolutely nothing compared to the pain Laura Lee experienced.
“Said mean things” Laura Lee began. Mari wanted to speak up and comfort her friend, and it probably wasn’t intentional, but every time Mari tried to speak Laura Lee would interrupt her and list off another horrible thing that happened to her.
“Touched my boobs” “Called me names” “spat on me” “Pulled my hair”
Laura Lee gulped, gathering up her courage to speak. “He put his…thing…in my mouth” Laura Lee couldn’t even say the word, it was just so wrong that she had to experience that. Mari felt invasive and just so perverted listening to Laura Lee try to describe what happened to her. She was also panicking internally as she truly had no idea how to help Laura Lee apart from letting her rest her head on her shoulder and talk about her experience. Mari wasn’t even sure how much that was helping in reality, she was like a brick wall to Laura Lee.
Still, Laura Lee kept talking. “forced it in" Laura Lee said, correcting herself. Not that it mattered. “For a long time. He kept it in there for a long time. I couldn’t make him cum. Well, I wasn’t trying to.” Mari listened, helplessly nodding her head in agreement, because what else was she supposed to do ? Congratulate Laura Lee ? On not making a rapist cum ?
“That didn’t make him happy. obviously. It made him more violent”
That extra little detail made everything seem more real to Mari, of course they were violent, of course he hit her, what was she expecting ? Before Laura Lee even mentioned it, Mari knew deep down that of course they hurt her, but it wasn’t until until Laura Lee directly mentioned it that it was brought to the forefront of Mari’s mind. It made Mari wonder what else happened to Laura Lee that would have seemed obvious but Mari hadn’t picked up on, what other ways had her friend suffered that hadn’t clicked for Mari.
“eventually…eventually he took it out, he, um, finished himself off. And came in my hair.” Laura Lee said with a sob.
Forcing herself to admit that out loud was absolutely soul crushing, Laura Lee scrunched up her face, it seemed that was what she did whenever she was feeling upset. Laura Lee started sobbing violently, loudly, tears flowing down her blotched cheeks, so utterly defeated.
Laura Lee struggled to keep talking, stammering over her words, grasping Mari’s hand, tears streaming down her face. Mari affectionately held onto Laura Lee’s hands, and tucked her wet hair back behind her ear with the other.
“I tried to wash it out as best as I could Mari” Laura Lee whined, struggling to keep eye contact. “I’ve been trying for days” Laura Lee sobbed “It never feels like it’s completely gone, I’m so scared I'll…wake up and find more in my hair, sometimes I think I can still feel it in my hair, a-and I know its ridiculous it’s just…” Laura Lee said, choking up on her words, before collapsing her head onto Mari’s shoulder. Mari tentatively stroked Laura Lee’s hair, the realisation of why Laura Lee had spent so long in the shower, especially rinsing her hair, hit her like a brick.
“It’s all gone” Mari whispered, maybe it was somewhat helpful, they both knew it was long gone out of her hair, but maybe Laura Lee just needed to hear someone confirm it.
Laura Lee stayed completely still for a few moments, switching between enjoying Mari’s presence and dissociating. “Don’t you have to leave ?” Laura Lee asked, craning her neck to look Mari in the face. “I’ve been crying for a long time. You can leave. Thanks for putting up with me” “Nah” Mari answered, shaking her head. “My dad’s collecting me later, I’ve got time to kill” Mari answered. “And I don’t mind, seriously. Really I’m not sure how much I’m helping though” Mari chuckled.
“I’m grateful” Laura Lee answered.
“You’re welcome,Keep talking” Mari said, fussing over Laura Lee’s hair. You’re welcome wasn’t something Mari said often, but it was best to play it safe and be a bit nicer while Laura Lee was in such a state. Laura Lee understood that Mari wasn’t commanding her to literally speak right now, more so just giving her permission to speak her mind and vent her sorrows if she needed to.
Laura Lee was silent for a few more minutes, enjoying the feeling of Mari tracing her thumb and stroking her hair, before she spoke up again, her voice was cracked and scared.
“We used to go every week, to check up on him a-and say hi. Make sure he was all right. He loved it Mari, B-but I just couldn’t go back. I felt really bad about it Mari I really did but I couldn’t go back to that…stupid hospital” Laura Lee sobbed, sniffling and wiping her eyes before rushing back to Mari’s reassuring grip. Mari found it endearing how Laura Lee still refused to curse while she was mentally going through hell.
“A-and…I missed my chance Mari. I can’t visit him anymore. I feel so stupid and…just so selfish. My family went twice without me a-a-and I should have been there. I’m an awful grand daughter and a coward Mari. I was so scared I would see them again anytime I left my room” Laura Lee continued
Mari tried her best to be reassuring for her friend, switching between rubbing her back and stroking Laura Lee’s hair with one hand and holding onto her hand with the other.
“Hey” Mari whispered, grabbing Laura Lee’s attention. “My dad’s collecting me, he was going to just bring me home and then go back to work, he works at the hospital you see,…but if you wanted…We could both go to the hospital. Go see your grandpa. I could hold your hand if you wanted, it might make it easier.
Laura Lee tried to be thankful, tried to be grateful, but anything she tried to say came out in a painful sob.
“It’s pointless Mari, he died. He’s dead” Laura Lee choked, struggling to speak, every word out of her mouth became more and more difficult.
Mari imedietly brought Laura Lee into a tight hug, practically crushing her ribs, but it was exactly what Laura Lee needed.
Eventually Laura Lee broke apart from the hug, she was still sobbing and sniffling, but Mari was resting her hand on her thigh, which was a brilliant form of reassurance.
“I-I should of known” Laura Lee whined, she was staring down at the floor, too ashamed to look Mari in the eyes.
“He was really sick. I don’t know why I…why I though I could just miss my chances to see him. So stupid” Laura Lee said, her voice was so distraught.
Mari just rubbed Laura Lee’s thighs a bit, unsure if it was really helping, but it seemed to be easing Laura Lee out of her shell a little bit.
“And…obviously I love all my family. But he was really kind to me Mari, He really listened to me, a-and he al-always talked about me, that’s what the nurses said” Laura Lee continued, she gave a slight giggle at the end, smiling through her tears, thinking about how loved he made her feel.
“That’s sweet” Mari smiled, brushing over Laura Lee’s thigh with her thumb. Laura Lee was still obviously incredibly upset and distraught, but at least she wasn’t violently sobbing anymore, and hearing her giggle was a huge breakthrough.
“Yeah” Laura Lee smiled, nodding her head gently. “He always had these really funny stories aswell. He put money towards my piano lessons to, even though he didn’t have to”
“He really loved you” Mari continued, it sounded like something someone might say to someone grieving, and Mari was honestly doing a pretty good job of guessing what to say so far. for the most part. “What’s with the stick up your ass ?” and the stuff about dykes and abortions were going to haunt her forever, but they were the exceptions.
Laura Lee nodded in response, drawing in deep breaths to steady herself as she did so. “When I think about how I…Missed his final days with us, I try to think about how he really loved me. And remind myself of all the nice things he did for me and said about me”
Mari stayed silent, it was obvious Laura Lee had something to say, probably the most difficult thing to say so far after the initial confession of being raped, judging by how hard Laura Lee had her face scrunched up. And the tears beginning to flow, faster and faster.
“But it’s so hard to think of all the nice things, w-when I remember that t-the last time I saw him…I got hurt. Badly.”
Poor Laura Lee, couldn’t even properly say what happened to her. Mari put that up to a combination of trauma and innocence.
“That’s a-always going to be the last time I saw him. My final memories with him Mari, and they’re ruined” Laura Lee choked out with a sob, an especially loud sob, by far the loudest and most painful one Laura Lee had let out up until this point. It was completely soul crushing, humiliating ,defeating,and above all else Laura Lee felt dirty. She completely crashed and fell against Mari’s body, sobbing and wailing disruptively as Mari rubbed her side tenderly.
Mari kept stroking Laura lee, caring for her, letting Laura Lee sob her eyes out and rest her head against Mari’s shoulder.
“It sounds kinda mean” Mari chuckled, cuddling Laura Lee closer to her. “But I’m glad you didn’t go back there” Mari continued. Laura Lee felt like she was frozen, she didn’t move at all out of fear, what was Mari on about ?
“If you forced yourself to go back there, or, if your parents did, then that would just upset you more, would probably be way to much”.
“I guess” Laura Lee whispered. Mari could tell that her point didn’t land at all, she knew she had to pivot away from her previous blunder.
“Shit” Mari though to herself, frantically and desperately trying to think of something to pivot to, she could feel Laura Lee’s head getting heavier, before she felt the drip of more tears cascading from Laura Lee’s eyes and dripping down Mari’s shirt, leaving long streaks.#
Laura Lee pushed herself off of Mari and sat up straight beside her friend, both of her hands clenched tight at her side.
“I miss him so much Mari” Laura Lee began, she was rocking slightly, Mari slowly tried to put a reassuring hand on Laura Lee’s back, but it was an awkward ideal trying to find a comforting spot, since Laura Lee was rocking back and forth, and since Laura Lee’s hair was still sopping wet from when she attempted to wash any remaining pieces of her rapists cum out of her hair
If Laura Lee did notice Mari place a hand on her, she didn’t say anything, she just continued with her little breakdown, more and more tears renewing by the second.
“A-and I hate them. I hate them so much Mari, they ruined everything, they ruined my life, I can’t leave my house without thinking they're going to g-to get me, I can’t sleep, I can’t listen to music, every time I sit with my family I feel like a liar, a dirty liar Mari, t-they still think I'm a virgin a-and how am I supposed to tell them I-I’m not”
Laura Lee could have kept going but Mari forced her to stop, shushing her like a librarian. “They don't Care about that sort of stuff Laura Lee, they want you to be happy. I know from experience, I though my parents were going to kill me when they found out I was doing that sort of thing, you know, they actually walked in on m-” “I don’t want to hear” Laura Lee answered, it was easy for Mari to tell she was being serious and definitive based on her tone and…the state of distress she was in. “oh. yeah. sorry” Mari answered. Stupid Mari. You’d think it would be basic instinct to avoid talking about sex with a rape victim. Especially Laura Lee.
Laura Lee sniffled again, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve. “H-he wouldn’t care. wouldn’t judge me” Laura Lee muttered under her breath, not necessarily directed towards Mari.
Mari took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure which was easier to deal with, Laura Lee’s grief or Laura Lee’s rape. They were both just so so difficult to manage. Still, Mari was determined to stay for as long as Laura Lee needed, Mari was waiting long enough for her dad to arrive, Mari justified her actions, if he made her wait that long, than he could stomach waiting a bit longer until it was safe to leave Laura Lee alone.
Laura Lee wiped her face with her palm, her shaking came back, Laura Lee was steadying herself by holding her stomach across with both her arms, and subconsciously leaning towards Mari and her warmth.
“He was so kind to me” Laura Lee choked out, tears falling rapidly, staining her blotched cheeks. “And it was so painful Mari…so painful…and scary. I didn’t think it was ever going to end, sometimes I feel like it it still hasn’t finished, i-if I close my eyes, when I go to sleep, i-if I try to study, I feel him there” Laura Lee was only half telling the truth, but Mari didn’t have to push at all to get the real clarified explanation, Laura Lee cracked under the guilt, sobbing and screeching, clawing at Mari to try and get her friend to hold her again, to cradle her face, Mari picked up on it and brought Laura Lee into a calm and loving embrace, Laura Lee had a deathly grip on Mari’s shirt, begging her not to leave her alone.
“Them” Laura Lee eventually spoke, correcting herself. “I feel them there, that stupid girl aswell. I don’t like girls Mari” Laura Lee said, halfway through a pathetic sob and a defensive spit.
“I don’t. I didn't do anything to deserve that” Laura Lee continued, She was basically unrecognisable at this point, her cheeks puffed up, her skin blotched, the small bits of makeup she wore looking streaky and ruined, her skin so sweaty, that her wet hair clung to her forehead. Mari shuddered whenever she thought about the wet hair, about Laura Lee under the showers desperately trying to wash any evidence of her assault of her, days after it happened. Mari wondered how long Laura Lee would be affected, she knew Laura Lee had to stop crying eventually, as in, there would physically be no liquid left inside her to cry, to transfer into tears, but she also knew it wasn’t realistic for Laura Lee to wake up one day and just…be fine. Mari’s current plan was to treat Laura Lee like a baby, cradle her and cuddle her, but also let her cry to the point she tires herself out and exhausts herself.
“It’s awful. It’s the worst a-and” Laura Lee spewed, flailing her arms around her wildly, like a baby trowing a tantrum, Mari had to lean back a little bit in order to save herself from being hit, but she still stayed as close as she could to Laura Lee during her time of need.
“Ah,.. and I feel so alone Mari” Laura Lee whined. Mari just kept a firm grip on her friends hand. “I miss him so much. I want to speak to him Mari. I-I had two weeks. Two weeks t-to go and speak to him, I-i didn’t even go once. It was too scary Mari. I hated it, I hate that stupid hospital, t-the workers, the two that hurt me, I-I hate my family for not forcing me to go see him” Laura Lee continued, wiping her face with her palm.
“I was so ungrateful. Awful. stupid. I should have just sucked it up and visited him, even once, A good grandchild would, my brothers didn't have any problem going”
Mari was honestly so uncomfortable, obviously she wanted to help her friend, but what was she even supposed to say ? She could…argue ? With Laura Lee ? Try and convince her that it wasn’t her fault or that she was wrong. Mari was good at arguing. The message would be lost on Laura Lee though, she would probably start crying even more if Mari even slightly raised her voice at her.
“My sister didn’t have any problem going. S-she wasn’t stupid enough to get raped” Laura Lee choked out, holding herself tightly across her stomach and leaning forward over her self, saying it out loud set off a fresh set of sporadic tears. If Laura Lee was at home she would of have Leonard cradled in her arm and squished against her stomach. She really wanted her teddy.
Mari imedietly sprang into action after hearing her friend say something so disgusting, one of her hands was holding onto Laura Lee tightly, while the other gently stroked Laura Lee’s back tenderly, rubbing soft circles into her. “Don’t say that sort of stuff” Mari said, her tone was incredibly quite and gentle, in order to not set off Laura Lee’s tears again. “Your sister wouldn’t be happy to hear you speak like that. No one would” Mari continued. “Sorry” Laura Lee answered, her voice was so fragile, but at the very least it was a sign that she was not only listening to Mari, but understanding what she was saying.
Mari took a deep breath, as she continued to rub Laura Lee’s back, eventually speaking up again. “I know you didn’t mean it like that” Mari said, reassuringly. “But I don’t like hearing you speak like that about yourself. No one does. What happened had nothing to do with you, ok ? understand ?” Mari asked, putting particularly strong emphasis on the word nothing.
The smallest whine left Laura Lee’s mouth, before she started speaking again. “I want to speak with him again Mari. It’s not fair. It’s not ok that the last time I saw him was, r-ruined by that. by those people. Not fair. A-a-and everyone else in my family, they got to see him again, h-h, how come I couldn’t ? I was stuck in my room, I wasn’t even doing anything. I have no excuse. I’m just bad. A bad, rotten girl who didn’t appreciate her family, o-or go to see her own grandpa when he was dying. I’m so selfish.And stupid. Greedy.”
Ok. Brilliant. Laura Lee obviously wasn’t listening. Why did Mari even bother ? Well, Laura Lee was her friend she had to remind herself. And was obviously going through the worst event of her life, so forgive her if she wasn’t being perfectly rational.
“I felt so disgusting. I still do. All the time, a-and I’ve showered so much, everyday, a-a-and it still doesn’t work, I can still…feel them, both of them…everywhere. All over my body, and pulling my hair. And I can’t stop thinking about what they said to me. About me. I don’t understand Mari.” Laura Lee snivelled. Mari was constantly trying to interject, but Laura Lee didn’t notice, trapped in her own little world, in her negative head space.
Mari was surprised by how much Laura Lee had to say about what happened to her, about how much she could…complain wasn’t the right word, and Laura Lee had well earned the right to complain, Anal alone was an evil experience, but considering everything else, the humiliation, the actual lack of consent. It was disgusting. Mari tried not to picture it, but she knew most likely that a strap would be bigger, wider, rougher and harder to take than a normal cock. She couldn’t just ask Laura Lee that though. For a second Mari wondered if Laura Lee had ever even seen a cock in real life, to compare to the strap. Before realising, that not only had Laura Lee seen one, one had been forced into her mouth without her consent. Mari, who wasn’t the type to accept being wrong, decided that Laura Lee still wouldn’t know, because she had blocked the feeling of the strap penetrating her ass out of her memory. Hopefully.
“Filth” Laura Lee whispered under her breath, shaking. “I never even wanted a “first time”” Laura Lee whined. Wanting to stay a virgin forever was absolutely the type of thing Mari would of made fun of Laura Lee for in the past, but that was unthinkable now, Time and place and all considered.
“It was awful Mari. I hate it, they just left me there once they were finished, w-with my panties down my legs and…cum in my hair. And that…that awful pain. I could barely walk. There was blood, all over my skirt, all over my underwear” Laura Lee sobbed. Her voice was cracking, her throat warn out from the constant sobbing and crying, making it difficult to even speak at this point.
Despite the pain in her throat, and the tears stinging her eyes aswell as the rest of her face, Laura Lee pressed forward and continued talking.
“I picked myself up eventually, and…Pulled up my underwear. Fixed my skirt. I had to try and find a bathroom to wash my hair and my face and hands and…everything. I-I wanted to try and clean up for a bit longer, b-but I was gone too long. My mom started to wonder where I was. She sent my sister to go look for me, a-and she found me in that bathroom and dragged me outside” Laura Lee leaned forward and buried her face in her hands, covering her face. Mari felt so useless and helpless, watching her friend, only offering more pathetic back rubs in response, was that even helping ?
Mari couldn’t help but wonder, if Laura Lee was gone for so long that her family noticed, how much of that was actually spent washing her hair in the bathroom and how much of that time was spent crying with a dick forced into her mouth, with a strap buried deep in her ass, how much of that time was spent sobbing on the dirty floor with her panties around her ankles and blood pooling from her holes.
Mari pushed those thoughts away, she could see Laura Lee parting her lips to speak again, either about her grandpa or about her rape, but she was just in so much pain, maybe she was completely wrong, but speaking about it didn’t seem to be helping Laura Lee at all in Mari’s opinion, it was stressing her out, and other people being stressed made Mari stressed out, to the point she was scared of saying saying something else offensive and upsetting.again.
Mari spoke up loudly this time, shutting Laura Lee up, making it impossible for Laura Lee not to notice her interruption.
“Do you want to play with him ?” Mari blurted out.
“What ?” Laura Lee asked. She had brought her hands down away from her face and was looking up at Mari with the most confused expression, and the saddest little teary eyes. her tears had ran all the way down her cheeks, staining and blotching them as they fell.
Mari had a second to gather her own thoughts. What. She seemed to vaguely recall something about saying something weird to distract and confuse someone who was upset, but that didn’t really work if you managed to confuse yourself at the same time.
Mari heard a car outside, probably her dad. She moved to go and check, as she shifted, she felt a weight in her pockets, digging into her thigh. the Tamagotchi, Mari realised. That’s what she meant earlier, what she thought might help Laura Lee, or at least distract her for a bit. It was worth a shot honestly, it helped when Mari was upset.
“Here” Mari whispered, fishing her tamagotchi out of her pocket and handing it over to Laura Lee.
“You entertain yourself with Mari jr for a while, I’ll go speak to my dad, remember to feed him, alright ?” Mari said, as she stood up to leave, she gave Laura Lee a reassuring pat on her shoulder as she stood up.
Mari sprinted outside to meet her dad, she came up to the car and signalled for her dad to lower the window instead of opening the door for herself.
“Can we give my friend a lift home ? She lives kind of close and her bus already left” Mari offered, she was pouting and giving her best puppy dog eyes, something she knew her father couldn’t say no to, Mari was adorable but above all she was spoiled.
Mari’s dad agreed, maybe a little frustrated but he agreed none the less, yet Mari didn’t yet go back inside to collect Laura Lee. She had more questions to ask, and more things to beg for so she couldn’t put the puppy dog eyes away just yet.
“Did anyone die in your ward ?” Mari asked, leaning over the window into the car and tilting her head.
“People die in there everyday Mari” her dad answered, giving her a dead pan look that asked what she was asking for.
“What about an older guy, like an old man, surrounded by family ?”
“everyday Mari” her dad answered, his tone rose when he said her name. “Now you will go and collect your friend ? I don’t have time to be wasting Mari”
Mari bunched up her face in annoyance, flapping her hands a bit before leaning over the window again.
“Well her grandpa died, daddy, and she’s really upset about it, so…so say something nice about him !”
Mari’s dad frowned a bit, understanding Mari’s position now. “What was his name ?” He asked, getting ready to recall anyone who died recently, but “old” and “Surrounded by family” didn’t exactly narrow it down.
Mari though about it for a second before getting angry, her usual response when she didn’t know something or was in any way wrong.
“Well I don’t know” Mari half shouted, as she accidentally bumped her fingers on the car.
“Can you describe him in anyway ?” He asked, Mari’s father was halfway torn between amusement with his daughter and frustration with her basically asking him to do the impossible.
Mari shook her head, ashamed, before coming to her senses and defending herself. “Well she’s been sobbing her eyes out and she’s impossible to understand when she’s wailing”
Mari’s father waved Mari off, Mari took the hint and sprinted back inside to grab Laura Lee.
“Hi” Mari said, announcing her presence, Laura Lee heard her and looked up to meet her gaze.
Laura Lee looked much better, still incredibly dishevelled, her cheeks blotchy and Makeup running, but she was smiling, one of those large sunshine smiles Laura Lee was known for, she was giggling slightly to herself aswell.
“I like your pet” Laura Lee smiled, looking between Mari and her tamagotchi.
“Mari jr ?” Mari asked as she sauntered over towards Laura Lee. “Yeah he’s cute isn’t he” Mari continued.
Laura Lee nodded her head, she gave one last look to Mari jr before handing him back to Mari. He was no Leonard, but he was cute. He was comforting.
“My dad’s outside” Mari said as she offered a hand to Laura Lee and helped her up. “He’s taking us home”
Laura Lee looked shocked, so so incredibly touched and so eternally grateful. “I don’t want to be a bother, I can walk home, really I can” Laura Lee stammered, Mari shook her head, not even considering that.
“C’mon Blondie” Mari said, grabbing Laura Lee by the hand dragging her outside.
As spoiled as Mari was, having a few younger, rowdy and frankly selfish siblings meant that she couldn’t always secure the front seat of the car, so it was an incredibly caring and, to Mari’s father, shocking action for Mari to get into the backseat beside Laura Lee. Mari had her arm draped around Laura Lee’s shoulders, holding Laura Lee tight.
Mari’s father turned his head to stare at the two girls in the backseat, he knew he recognised Laura Lee, and was desperately trying to remember her name.
“Lorali ?” he offered halfheartedly, he could imedietly tell from Mari’s braced expression that he was wrong.
“Laura Lee” Laura Lee corrected, smiling warmly as not to offend with her correction, that was just the type of person she was.
“Lovely name” He answered, smiling back. Laura Lee couldn’t see it but Mari shot her father a look, silently begging with him to either get to the point or just start driving.
Mari’s father took the hint, and took a deep breath to draw upon his strength, he really was wrapped around Mari’s finger.
“I'm sorry to hear about your grandpa” He offered, shooting Laura Lee a sympathetic look.
“Oh” Laura Lee answered, it was like she was punched, it wasn’t something she expected.
Mari was holding Laura Lee tight, and repeating, “Don’t cry Don’t cry Don’t cry Don’t cry Don’t cry” in her head frantically, hoping to psychically communicate with her friend.
“I actually work in the hospital he was staying at, I knew him very well” Mari’s father continued.
“Yeah ?” Laura Lee answered, her voice was breaking ever so slightly, so many memories came flooding back, festering in Laura Lee’s mind and overwhelming her, Mari could only hope that they were positive, happy memories with her grandpa, rather than…anything else.
“He was a very kind man, we all thought he was very fun to care for, and he spoke about you constantly”
Laura Lee’s face brightened, she leaned forward to hear better and really capture every word.
“Everyday, everyday without exception he talked about you, I must have heard the story about-”
“Don’t embarrass her !” Mari quickly interrupted after noticing the blush on her face, she had to swoop in to defend Laura Lee’s honour.
Laura Lee just laughed, staring down at her shoes. Mari’s father threw his hands up in defeat, laughing along with the girls.
“Well anyways, he loved you lots, I think it’s safe to say you were the favourite.”
Laura Lee continued looking down at her shoes, gathering up the strength to say something, to ask a question that was weighing on her mind, and that up until now she never believed she would never get an answer to.
“I, umm, I was sick…sick and dirty for a while” Laura lee began, earning her a sympathetic look from Mari, who was attempting to communicate to Laura Lee that what happened to her didn’t make her dirty, without opening up another can of beans in front of her dad.
“Was he…upset that I stopped coming to visit ?” Laura Lee asked. She wanted to look Mari’s father in the eye as she spoke, one of the forms of good manners her parents had drilled into her, but it was too painful and too difficult to do so.
“Not at all” Mari’s father answered, this honestly shocked Laura Lee, for a second she could only imagine that meant he was angry with her for not being there for him, meanwhile Mari gave a deathly glare to her dad, silently yelling at him to fucking clarify. QUICKLY.
“He never spoke a bad word about you” Mari’s father continued. “But he wouldn’t ask when you were next coming, he spoke about the past more often than the future, he didn’t need you to come visit to know you loved him”
This news made Laura Lee’s day, or more likely her entire year, her smile was so wide and her eyes, which were filling with happy tears for the first time in a while, were positively beaming.
Laura Lee’s smile had an infectious cheerful effect on the car, Mari was smiling aswell and her father couldn’t help but laugh aswell. “No one in your family told you that ?” He asked, laughing in shock and disbelief, Laura Lee wasn’t able to speak or hold back her happy tears, only shaking her head “no” in response.
Mari was so relieved to see Laura Lee so happy after seeing her so upset for so long, she was determined to keep the good mood up for Laura Lee not only for the ride home, but for the rest of Laura Lee’s life, Mari was some one who knew her secret, and was more than happy to be a shoulder to cry on for Laura Lee whenever she needed it.
“C’mon” Mari said, grabbing Laura Lee and forcing her into a tight warm hug, Laura Lee’s head resting against Mari’s shoulder. “Let’s get you home”