Marble Lungs / Draft 03 / Ch. 2.2

They grabbed a booth, rattling off their drinks to the waitress that descended on them the instant they sat down - Dr. Pepper for Rhys, coffee for Leah. The waitress whisked away, and Leah turned to Rhys.

"I know what Calvin did to you last night."

Rhys froze, their eyes locked on one another for a moment. He let out a small huff of air, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"He took you upstairs when you were blackout drunk, kid, it's not hard to make the connection."

"Whatever you think happened - " Rhys forced himself to bark out a laugh, looking away. "Nothing happened."

He could feel Leah staring at him. His cheeks burned.

"I..." Leah trailed off, shaking her head.

"What?" Rhys asked, looking at her again. The waitress brought their drinks. They asked for a few minutes to look at the menu.

"Let's just say I cut things off short." Leah said, eyes now on the menu in front of her. Rhys blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"I came in to check on you...I figured he had put you to bed, but he was..." Leah cleared her throat, now refusing to look at him.

"It was consensual," Rhys mumbled, his cheeks positively on fire now. Shame washed over him again and he looked out of the window, wishing to disappear.

"Bullshit," Leah said. "You were passed out."

"So, what?" Rhys leaned back, talking to the window. "Why do you care? It doesn't matter."

"Of course, it matters, kid." Leah worried her bottom lip. "I should've stopped him, but I just - I was so shocked I just shut the door. I'm so sorry."

Rhys felt himself shaking. He picked up his menu and forced himself to look at it. "Is that why you invited me to lunch? To tell me this?"

"To apologize."

"It's fine," Rhys said, sure he was crimson. "Don't worry about it. Buy me lunch and we'll call it even."

Leah was looking at him with pity in her eyes. He hated it. The waitress came back, and they ordered - hash browns smothered, chunked, diced and peppered for Rhys, the Allstar special for Leah. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Leah asked eventually, looking at him over the top of her mug as she took a drink of her coffee. Rhys shook his head rather violently, wishing she would just drop it.

After a few moments, he said: "Sorry you had to see me like that."

"It's okay," Leah said gently. "You didn't do anything wrong, kid."

"I was drunk," Rhys mumbled to his hash browns. "That makes it my fault."

"It's not anyone's fault but his," Leah said almost immediately. "It's his fault for taking advantage of you."

Another few minutes passed. Leah looked awkward.

"Have you...gotten a kit done?"

He looked up at her, cheeks flushing again. "No."

"Do you want to? I can come with you, if you want, if it would make you feel better."

"Do you think I should?"

"It'll make sure you're physically okay, by any means," Leah told him gently. "And it'll come in handy if you decide to report later."

"And you'll come with me?" he asked, hating the way his voice was small and needy like a child's. Leah nodded.

"Then yeah," he nodded. "I think so."

"Finish your hash browns and then we'll go."