A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Depressed. And I'll get to replying to messages. Anyway. Here's the story.

"Noah?" he said.

"Max, I need your help! I'm sorry!"

He cast a look over his shoulder. "All right, come in then."

"Honey? Who is it?" A woman appeared in the bedroom door.

"I'll be right there," Max said.

I assumed that woman was his wife. She was beautiful, I had to admit. There was no way I could compete with her. I entered the apartment—Max's and his wife's apartment. Max led me to the living room and sat on the sofa. I sat on the loveseat opposite him.

"What is it?"

I bit my nail nervously. Why had I decided to come here? Now that I was here, I was at a loss of what to say to him.

"Noah, I haven't got all day," he said impatiently. "My wife's in the bedroom waiting for sex."

My heart plummeted. "Never mind," I said furiously. I got up.

He caught my wrist as I passed by him. "Noah, I'm sorry. Stay."

I hesitated.

"Please," he added.

I sat down again, this time next to him. His hand slid from my wrist to hold my hand. I stared down at our linked hands.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked gently.

I nodded. I opened my mouth to speak, but a sob came out instead. I laid my head against his shoulder. To my surprise, he didn't object. Then again, why should he? He had been the one to take the initiative to hold my hand.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk."

"I want to," I whimpered. "Remember when you said you could help me? I… I need your help."

"To stop… uh, doing your job?"

"No. Um… my dad raped me."

He stood up abruptly and swore. "Fuck! I knew I should have done something! Fuck, I'm going to lose my job! What am I talking about? That's not important right now." He sat back down and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Do you mind me doing this?"

"No." It was actually kind of comforting.

Just then, she walked in, as in Max's wife. She let out a cry of dismay. "Max? W-what are you…"

"Kristin, this is Noah," he said. He took a deep breath. "My lover."

"I can't! Please, Max. Don't break up with her for me."

"Noah, stay out of this. This is between me and her. Besides, she's a cheating bitch."

She gasped. "What?"

"You think I don't know who you're texting? It obviously isn't me. Tell me, who is it?"

She whispered something I couldn't hear.

"What?" Max shouted.

I flinched.

"My wife and my best friend… unbelievable. Get out."

"Max, please!"

"Get. Out."

Sobbing, she ran from the apartment.

"I'm sorry, Noah."

"It's okay," I murmured into his shoulder.

"No, it's not. You were raped. Come on, let's go to the hospital."

"No!"

"We must," he said firmly. "I can't force you to, but I can try. Come." He pulled me up and went to put on his shoes.

"I can't. He'll find me and kill me. Please, can't we just stay here?"

"What? No. Listen, Noah, you're safe with me. I'll protect you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

I smiled sadly. "He's bigger and stronger than you are."

"Well, unless he's some sort of mythical creature, he's not stronger than a car. And I'll run him over if need be." He opened the apartment door. "Let's go."

"Okay," I said, giving in.

We got to the hospital in record time. The waiting room was full, but we were admitted right away given our problem. They tried to make Max stay outside, but I wouldn't leave him. Finally, they gave up and let him come with me.

They stripped me naked and took an anal swab. They checked out all of my bruises and cuts. They told me I was in remarkably good shape once Max told them about the abuse. And then they sent me to the psych ward.

"Hi, Noah. My name is Dr. Stevens. How are you?"

"I'm all right."

"No, you're not," Max interrupted.

"All right, I'm in a bit of pain, but other than that, I'm okay."

"Do you feel funny at all?" Dr. Stevens asked before Max could cut in.

"Noo…"

"Let's start from the beginning. You haven't been to this hospital since you were born. Am I correct?"

"Yeah."

"So what has happened between then and now?"

"I don't know," I mumbled.

Max took my hand and said, "Tell him, Noah."

I still swooned every time he said my name. "Okay, Max. I guess… my dad… beat me."

"How did he hurt you?"

"He mostly hit me… he sometimes used his belt too."

"Okay, go on."

"He made me pay the rent starting when I was thirteen. I couldn't get a job then, so I… whored myself out. Please don't make me talk about that."

"No, I won't make you talk about that right now. But I still have a couple of questions for you. Do you ever have self-harming or suicidal tendencies?"

"No."

"All right. I'm going to refer you to a psych hospital. Since you are eighteen, you can sign yourself out, but you'll have to wait at least three days. I want you to get as much out of it as possible. Please don't bullshit yourself."

"Okay."

Then he left. I was alone with Max.

"Thank you, Noah. I love you."

"I love you, too, Max. Max?"

"Yes?"

"You know I'm going to have to 'work' to be able to pay for this."

"Don't worry about it, Noah. I'll take care of that."

"You don't have to—"

"I know I don't have to. I want to. I love you."

A/N: Should I end it here or keep going? By the way, I did have a doctor named Dr. Stevens.