Chapter Text
Fight or flight.
There was darkness enveloping her whole body. The ringing in her ears was unbearable and yet it was something oddly familiar. Like a warm blanket enveloping her even though it was hot outside.
Fight or flight.
Her body wasn’t hers at this moment. Everything seemed to be too heavy. Her hands were refusing to listen to her brain and her legs were made of cotton. She tried to move, but there was a weight on her that didn’t belong to her.
Freeze.
That was what she has always done. Freeze was the response, freeze made it easier, made it quicker. It was so long since she had to freeze, she has gotten used to the privilege of not having to think about it. She has gotten used to Aaron’s gentle hands that never wondered where they weren’t wanted, that always listened and stopped when terrifying memories started to flout into her brain.
She had to fight.
But she was too weak. She couldn’t see who was hovering over her. There were hands on her, so many hands, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. There were voices, mocking and taunting her, calling her names and she wanted to make them stop, but her voice was caught in her throat.
Flight.
That was the only option. She refused to freeze anymore. She learnt what it was like to be enveloped in a pleasure that was caused by love and not cruelty and she would do anything for it to not be taken away from her.
Her legs were heavy, but the attackers grew more bold and less cautious. They were laughing at her attempts at getting free, but in doing so underestimated her. It wasn’t the first time someone made sure that her head was too cloudy to escape. It’s been years since the last time, but she still knew how to navigate the fog. She had to, in case they didn’t stop at her and went for the ones she loved.
Her vision was blurry, she had no idea who let out a yelp of pain and which part of their body she had managed to kick, but she wasn’t focusing on that. She practically crawled her way to the closest door despite the still insistent hands trying to keep her with them. She closed the door and realized she was trapped in a bathroom.
She wanted to just lie down there and pass out, but there was banging on the door and she knew that sooner rather than later they would manage to kick the one barrier standing between them and her down. She looked around for something, anything that would help her and patted herself down. Her shirt was already torn off of her, but her pants, although already zipped open, were still resting on her hips.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized there was still a phone in her back pocket. She dialed Aaron’s number and waited.
“Kate, Hi. What’s up?”
She only managed to let out a quiet sob, not able to form any words.
“Where are you?” Aaron’s voice turned serious and there was fear in his voice.
Where was she? She had no idea. She didn't remember anything and there was only darkness in front of her.
“Kate? I need you to listen to me, are you listening?” Aaron asked with desperation and she only managed to nod.
He couldn’t see her, she had to give him a verbal response, but she couldn’t force herself to speak. There was a gulp in her thought and a tightness in her chest that made it impossible.
“I need you to share your location with me, can you do that for me, sweetheart?”
Kate nodded again, melting a little inside at the pet name. Aaron was going to get her, she would be safe, she just had to do what he asked and she would be safe. With shaking hands she started to click on her phone, it was hard since her vision was still blurry and the tears in her eyes only made the matter worse, but she managed to do what was asked of her.
There was a loud bang at the door and she jumped up which made something fall on her. She let out a yelp of pain and heard Aaron’s frantic voice, but she couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying. Her eyelids started to get heavy and against her will she was swept away by the darkness once again.
***
“Kate?!” Aaron screamed into the phone.
There was no response. Only a loud banging and voices that didn’t belong to Katelyn. Aaron's blood ran cold and for a moment he stood there frozen to the spot.
“What’s going on?” Matt asked him with worry and it set Aaron into motion.
“Kate’s in danger.” He only managed to choke out and ran to one of the dorms next door.
He banged on the door while looking at the location Kate had sent him. It was showing that she was in the same building as him, which was making it difficult to calm his nerves. She was somewhere here, in danger and Aaron had no idea what room he should look in first.
“What?” Neil opened the door, clearly annoyed.
Normally Aaron would snark at him and turn around on his heels out of principle, but not this time.
“Where’s Andrew?” He asked, already feeling out of breath.
“What do you want?”
Aaron was very close to punching the asshole, but he knew it would be counterproductive.
“I don’t have time for you bitchy attitude, Kate called me that she’s in trouble and all she managed to do was sent me her location which happens to be in this building and I have no idea where she is or what to do, so can you fucking tell me where Andrew is or not?”
Neil’s face turned serious and he quickly made his way inside the dorm without a word.
“I will take the girls and we will go from door to door to look for her.”
Matt’s voice made Aaron almost jump out of his skin. He had no idea that his roommate had followed him to the hallway. He only managed a nod and Matt was already at the girls’ dorm.
“Let’s go.” Andrew walked out the door, with a knife already in his hand.
Aaron was surprised that he didn’t have to convince him to help, but decided to not look a gifted horse in the mouth.
“Guys, wait.” Dan stopped them in their tracks. “Don’t you think it’s better we form a plan? We have no idea where she is.”
“What did Kate tell you?” Allison asked.
Aaron almost didn’t recognize her voice without the usual snarkiness behind it. She looked worried, all of them did and Aaron was grateful.
“She didn’t say anything, but I know she’s in danger, I just-”
A gentle hand stopped him in his spiral. He was about to turn to his cousin and tell him that they didn’t have time for this bullshit right now, but was instead met with green eyes looking at him with something he couldn’t interpret.
“We believe you, Aaron. We just want to have all the information.” Kevin’s voice was as soft as velvet and it made Aaron’s breath catch in his throat.
He shook his head and turned around to the rest of the team. He didn't have time for wondering what the fuck that was.
“She called and all I heard was a sob, so I asked her to share her location, she did and then there was a yelp of pain and she went silent completely and all I could hear were voices that weren’t her and banging on the door.” He let out in one shaky breath.
“Okay, if we want to get to her in time, we have to work under some assumptions. We should check out the dorms of the football team first.” Neil said next to him.
“Why the football team?” Aaron asked, his fear intensifying.
“It’s like when you lose a baby, you don’t start with a sofa or their crib, right? You start with a washing machine or the oven or some shit.” Everyone looked at Neil like he had grown a second head and he sighed with frustration. “If the baby is somewhere relatively safe for a little longer then it’s going to be fine, you have to check out the most dangerous places of the list first, and the football team are a bunch of assholes. If she’s in danger and she’s there-”
Aaron couldn’t listen to this anymore. The football team was filled with assholes, but he was hoping that they weren’t that cruel. He made his way downstairs where their dorms were. There was loud music coming from one of the rooms and before he could reach it, Andrew was already opening the door.
All Aaron could hear were loud protests and someone screaming in pain before he reached the dorm himself. There were people guarding the bathroom door. Andrew had one of the players pinned to a wall with a knife against his stomach and was saying something to him Aaron couldn’t hear.
The music was already turned off and he managed to hear a quiet whimper coming from the closed door of the bathroom. He took a step closer to it, but was hauled backwards by someone and all hell broke loose after that.
The rest of the Foxes finally caught up to them and Aaron dropped to the floor to avoid the punches that were flying from every direction. The football team in its all glory would outnumber them with no problem, but fortunately the people gathered in the room were only the so called ‘elite’ of the team. Aaron would better describe them as six assholes who thought the whole world belonged to them.
He would very much like to join the fight, but he had better things to worry about. For the first time in his life, he was glad for how short he was, as he managed to navigate through the floor in the direction of the bathroom.
Andrew was already there, after abandoning the football team captain who was now laying on the floor unconscious. Aaron had no idea what Andrew did to him and he would rather not ask.
His brother picked the lock to the bathroom with ease and the sight that greeted them broke Aaron’s heart. Kate was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, with her shirt torn off and hair sticking in every direction. He quickly crouched down next to her and sighed with relief after checking her pulse.
“We have to get her out of here.” He choked out and got a nod as an answer.
They managed to pick her up with a little bit of difficulty since her body was completely limp. There was blood running down her face from a small wound on her forehead. Aaron had to wipe his tears off his face, because they started to mess with his vision.
The Foxes spotted them and paved the way for them through the still ongoing fight. Aaron felt Kate slip to the floor a little and he saw Andrew looking at something to the left. Neil was pinned to the wall by one of the players. The other guy had a foot on him in height and Neil was clearly losing this fight.
“Go.” Aaron pushed Andrew in the direction of the redhead.
With some difficulty he managed to get Katelyn out of the dorm on his own. Before he lost the vision of the fight completely, he could see Andrew hauling the man to the ground.
Neil sagged to the floor, but picked himself up quickly after Andrew said something to him and ran to Aaron. He grabbed Kate by the other arm and they dragged her down the stairs to the parking lot.
“Abby or the hospital?” Neil asked from his seat behind the steering wheel of the Maserati.
Aaron was sitting with Kate in the back and tried to stop the bleeding of her forehead.
“Hospital.” He managed to choke out.
He would prefer Abby and knew that Kate would too. Despite wanting to become a doctor she was not a fan of hospitals. But Aaron couldn't risk it, he had to make sure she was taken care of and although he trusted Abby with his life, he knew that she wouldn’t be able to do everything a hospital could.
As they were driving way over the speed limit, he was hoping that the Foxes absolutely obliterated the assholes on the football team. He hugged his girlfriend close to himself and cried into her hair. He knew how much shit like this she had to endure when she was younger and he hated himself for the fact he wasn't able to protect her from enduring more.
***
Kevin was never a fighter. Aside from the brutality of the court, he hated violence. It was unnecessary and was too much of a risk for him as a player.
The pain in his left hand was a cruel reminder of that, but it didn’t make him stop. Aaron and Neil were already out of the dorm, but the fight was still going. He was about to throw another punch when Andrew took his arm and practically shoved him out the door.
He didn’t even realize that Dan, Alliosn and Nicky were already in the hallway. Someone grabbed him by the back of the shirt and despite his protest he was in the girls dorm in seconds.
“We can’t just leave them there.” He yelled. “We need them uninjured for the next game.”
There were groans all around him and he was surprised Allison didn’t hurt herself from how hard her eyes rolled.
“They got this, we were only deadweight to them anyway.” Nicky put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Kevin sat down on the sofa with defeat. They were right. Renee, Matt and Andrew were probably better off while not thinking about protecting the others and just focused on the task at hand.
He had no idea what would happen after. He hoped none of the Foxes would be suspended for the fight. They technically started it, but it was for a good reason. A reason that would probably be swept under the rug, since it was done by the PSU golden boys. The football team was the pride and joy of their university, but the Foxes were now one too.
They weren’t the underdogs anymore. They were champions and they had more say now than ever. He hoped that whatever Katelyn decided she wanted done with the situation would be set into motion.
Becoming friends with the girl took him by surprise this year. With Riko gone Andrew didn't pay as much attention to him as before. He had Neil and his focus was set on the other striker. It wasn’t like they stopped hanging out all together, but they weren’t attached by the hip anymore.
Kevin was still not used to being on his own. He tried to hang out with Nicky, but that became exhausting pretty quickly so instead he latched onto Aaron. With Aaron came Katelyn and she was more of the reason why he kept hanging out with them. Aaron was initially complaining that Kevin wouldn’t leave them alone, but Kate was insistent on letting him tag along.
He was hoping that whatever happened today wouldn’t crash her spirit. She had such a kind soul and he would hate it if those dicks took it away from her.
“She’s going to be fine.” Allison sat next to him on the sofa.
He looked at her with confusion. She never talked to him unless it was to insult him and he had no idea why she would start now when minutes ago she was clearly annoyed by him.
“You can pretend that you’re only worried about one of us getting injured and not being able to play all you want, but I know that underneath that annoying obsession you had something that vaguely resembles a heart and you’re worried about her.” She continued.
She had a knowing look in her eyes that Kevin didn’t like one bit. He just hoped that she didn’t start any bets on him and put ideas into other’s heads about something that was definitely not happening.
He looked away, because her eyes were staring into his soul and he didn’t like that. She was too smart for her own good. He stared into the wall opposite him and waited for either Aaron or Neil to come back with some news.
He knew one thing for sure, this was going to be a long night.