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The door opened agonisingly slowly.
Hughie stared straight at it, heart racing, head pounding. MM was right beside him, and Hughie swore he could hear MM’s own heart racing a mile a minute, as well.
Everything had gone from zero to one hundred so quickly, he didn’t even remember how he ended up in this room.
He could see movement from the other side, he held his breath and raised the gun, knowing full well it would be useless, but he couldn’t think what else to do.
Kimiko walked through the door slowly and calmly, she nodded her head to both men as she moved out of the way to allow Annie to walk in.
Hughie lowered his gun and released the breath he had been holding “Annie…”
She was breathing heavily, making eye contact with her boyfriend, and a single tear ran down her cheek as she ran up to him, crushing him in a loving embrace.
“Hughie. Oh my god. I’ve been so worried about all of you” she broke the hug and cupped his cheeks with both her hands, staring into his face “Are you okay? I mean, she told me everything, everything she’s been doing for the last ten days”
Ten days?
Hughie’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach
Annie was missing for ten days and I had no idea
“Erm… I’m okay. I’m fine. A-are you okay? Ten days? Where did she keep you?” He rambled as he pulled away from the hug, holding onto her shoulders and gently stepping away to take a good look at her face.
She looked like she'd been through hell. Eyes sunken, lips cracked, hands raw and bleeding.
The Supe shook her head as she looked directly into the eyes of the man she loved, before her eyes fell on the rather dark, painful bruise on his forehead. She reached up to gently touch it.
“Hughie, did she do that? Are you okay?” Her voice was so full of genuine care, so full of love, that Hughie nearly cried.
“She…er, threw me against a wall. I blacked out for a second, but I’m okay. I don’t think I have a concussion or anything, I’m not seeing two of you…anymore?” He tried to make a joke but it fell on deaf ears as Annie sadly looked into his eyes.
Annie signalled to MM and Kimiko to leave the two of them alone and slowly moved towards Hughie. She knew him well enough to know when he’s in denial about something.
Once she knew MM and Kimiko were out of earshot, she began speaking softly
“Hughie. Please tell me she didn’t do to you what she said she did…” her lip quivered and tears filled her eyes “After everything you’ve been through….please tell me she didn’t trick you into having sex with her…” She spoke so calmly and with such sincere emotion that it took Hughie by surprise.
He couldn’t bring himself to say anything
“Hughie…” Annie once again cupped his face with both of her hands, she couldn’t read his mind but she could definitely read his facial expressions “I am so so sorry for what she did to you”
He let out a short laugh and took a big step away, clearing his throat and fighting back tears “It-it’s okay. I mean, I thought I was with you so… it’s fine, right? It’s not like she forced me to do anything. Anyway, why are you saying that you’re sorry? I’m the one who should be apologising…”
Hughie rambled as he was darting his eyes around the room, looking everywhere but in the face of the woman he loved. His hands on his hips, he tried desperately to slow his panicked breathing.
“Hughie…please listen to me-” She reached down and grabbed hold of both his hands with her own but he showed no reaction to Annie’s words as his eyes were now squeezed shut trying to drown out the voices in the back of his head
How could I not know it wasn’t Annie?! I cheated on her! Holy shit I cheated on her
The grip on his hands tightened
“Hughie. Look at me, right now” Annie spoke with such a stern, demanding tone, that Hughie couldn’t help but immediately open his tear filled eyes and look up.
Her eyes were so full of kindness that his heart skipped a beat when he looked into them.
He took a deep breath “I’m sor-”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry, Hughie. The Shifter pretended to be me for the last ten days, and she was obviously doing a great job because no one noticed. She could read thoughts and memories, it’s what she did. I would have been fooled, too, so please…don’t apologise and talk to me” Annie’s voice broke, tears falling down her cheeks
Hughie’s mouth opened and shut as he tried to speak but no sound came out.
A sad and worried look crossed over Annie’s face as she realised she had to get Hughie to talk another way. He wasn’t going to talk to her whilst she was being soft, she had to be ruthless. It was the only way for him to admit to himself what happened.
“Hughie. I need you to listen to me and I’m sorry for being blunt” she took a deep breath and readied herself “You were sexually assaulted on the same day as your dads funeral and then raped two weeks later. You need to admit this to yourself”
He shook his head
She frowned and pursed her lips, she had to keep going “Did you consent to Ashley tickling your feet at Tek Knights? Did you consent to her touching herself over you and then rubbing her…fucking juices all over your face? No. You didn’t. You had to keep up the act otherwise you’d have been killed. You didn’t want it” she paused for a second “then The Shifter took advantage of you. She could read your memories and thoughts and she used those thoughts against you. She knew exactly what to do to get you to sleep with her. She violated you, both physically and mentally”
She looked closely at his face to see any kind of reaction, she could almost hear his heartbeat slow as he took a deep breath to try and compose himself.
She continued.
“It doesn’t matter that you thought The Shifter was me or that you ‘consented’, it’s irrelevant. She deceived you into having sex, Hughie. That is rape. You need to understand that”
Hughie slowly looked into her eyes, his own filled with tears.
Was it rape? He couldn’t digest that.
“Annie…” he began, speaking so quietly that Annie could barely hear him
“Hughie. You have been through so much. I am so so sorry for what has happened. Please don’t keep it bottled up…”
He wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and rested his cheek against her shoulder. She returned the embrace, slowly stroking his hair.
“Every morning, every night” he let out an exasperated laugh “I feel so fucking stupid. What the fuck was I thinking? How could I not know? The signs were right there!” His voice turned soft and quiet “Was I being selfish? I was so into it each time, I didn’t even think once that something was wrong”
He broke into a cry, shaking and holding tight onto Annie, not showing any signs of ever letting her go. Annie hugged him back, not saying a word, but rocking him back and forth as tears filled her eyes
If she could, she would kill that Shifter bitch all over again.
Annie held onto her boyfriend as he continued to cry, silently praying that the two of them can work through this.
“Hughie, you were not being selfish. You are the victim”