INTERRUPTED SLEEP

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Takes place a little after "Jen's Revenge" and is related to "What Wes Had To Fight For". Wes/Lucas friendship, mentions of abuse.

In the Clock Tower as Wes, Lucas, Katie, Trip, and Jen slept peacefully. Suddenly, a crack of thunder rumbled in the sky. Wes jerked awake. The thunder came again followed by a flash of lightning. Storm. Storm. Bad. Bad. Storm bad, storm bad! he thought frantically. He silently got off his cot and headed for a secluded part of tower, where he sat down and hugged his knees to his chest, shivering as the storm continued.

"Wesley?" a voice called. Wes moaned. "Wesley, are you up?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Get out," Wes moaned. As the storm continued to rage, Lucas groaned. Man, I hate it when it storms, he thought to himself. The sounds always echoed. How the others managed to sleep through it, he'd never know. He turned over-and was surprised to see that Wes was gone. What the-where'd he go? he wondered.

"Wes?" he asked. With a moan, he got out of his bed, and began looking for the boy. In his hiding spot, Wes moaned and buried his face in his lap, trying to block out the memories, to no avail. Wes tried to break free, but was kept firmly in place. He whimpered as the man grinded against him, creating a jolt within his body.

"No. That hurts," Wes insisted.

"Shut up, boy. I know you're enjoying it. I can feel it," the man responded. Wes' whimpers turned into a sob.

"Stop," Wes pleaded with himself. He didn't want to remember this.

"Ssssssshhhhhhh. You don't want us to get caught, do you?" the man asked. Meanwhile, Lucas sighed in slight annoyance when he was once again unsuccessful in finding his friend.

"Come on, Wes. Where are you?" he muttered. Where could he have gone too? Sure the Clock Tower was big, but it wasn't that big. He had to be in here somewhere. Lightning flashed again followed by rolling thunder and a moan.

"Wes?" Lucas asked. What was going on? He went in the direction he had heard the moan and was surprised to see the boy hiding in a corner. "Wes, man, you okay?" he queried in concern.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out," he moaned, beginning to rock back and forth.

"Wes, whatever you think's going on…it's not," the other boy assured. He bent down and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. To his surprise, he jerked back, hitting the wall.

"No more! You promised!" he exclaimed. Whoa! What the heck? Lucas wondered.

"Wes, it's me-Lucas," he said out loud.

"No more. No more. Please not again. Don't want to," Wes continued pitifully, not seeming to hear him. Lucas' stomach lurched. From what Wes was saying, it was obvious he had been molested. I can't believe Mr. Collins would do something like that. I mean, yeah, I know he's a jerk, but I didn't think he was doing that to Wes, he thought to himself, thinking back to Wes' interaction with his father.

"It's okay, Wes. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you," was all he said, kneeling down in front of him.

"Don't want to. Please…no more," Wes whimpered. The man laughed as he caressed Wes' thigh.

"Who do you think you're fooling, boy? You love it," he sneered.

"No. I want you to stop," Wes insisted. However, the man paid no attention and instead let his hand roam until his fingers were between the boy's legs.

"Wes, come on! Snap out of it!" he suddenly heard. Gasping, Wes jumped slightly and he looked up with wide eyes.

"Lucas?" he asked hoarsely. Oh, man. How much of this did he see? he wondered.

"Hey, it's okay, man. You're safe," the boy assured.

"He wouldn't stop. No matter what I did, he just never stopped," came the response. Lucas didn't know what to say that, so he did the only thing he could: he stayed up with Wes until morning came.