Gina had just finished rinsing off the breakfast dishes and set them in the sink to wash later. She glanced over at her husband, who sat at the kitchen table engrossed in a magazine.

"Bam, have you heard anything from Dyllan yet this morning?"

"Wasn't he down here during breakfast?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the magazine

Gina huffed "Bam I can't believe you!"

"What?" He looked up at her

"How could you not notice that your son hasn't come down from his room all morning?"

"I… He hasn't?"

"No! And I'm actually concerned about him. He doesn't normally sleep in this long. Normally he's up when I come downstairs."

"Well he came in late last night."

"And rushed up to his room without saying a word. Since when have you known him to do that?"

"Hmmm…" Bam stood up and started to leave the kitchen with Gina close behind

Bam went up to Dyllan's room, concern filling his stomach with each step. Gina stood behind him as he knocked on Dyllan's door.

"Dyl? You ok in there?"

"Whatever." Came the lack luster response from the room

Bam looked at Gina "Did it sound like he's crying?" He asked softly. Gina nodded in response

Bam quietly and slowly opened the door and the two of them stepped inside of their son's room. Beneath the blanket on the bed was a slightly shacking lump. Soft whimpers and on occasional sniff could be heard through the blanket as they cautiously approached the bed. Bam knelt down beside the bed and placed his hand on the blanket right next to the whimpering lump.

"Dyllan," He said soothingly "Dyl please come out from under the covers and tell us what's wrong."

He looked at Gina standing behind him on his left side, with concern and a little fear full in his eyes. She could tell that her husband was hurting, seeing their son in this state.

"Dyllan, sweetie, please we just want to talk to you." She coaxed

Dyllan sniffed and pulled the blanket off of his head. He looked at his parents with tears running down his face.

"Dyllan, what's the matter?" Bam asked while placing a hand on Dyllan's side

Dyllan jumped up and sat, moving away from Bam's hand, and began to shake. He stared at Bam with a great amount of fear in his eyes.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted before burying his face into the back of his knees that were hurled up to his chest

Bam moved back, taken by surprise from his son's reaction to his touch "Ok, I'm sorry! I won't touch you. What's the matter?"

The question caused Dyllan to break into sobs. Gina sat on the bed in front of Dyllan and looked at him and Bam.

"Dyllan, please try to calm down and tell us what's gotten you so upset. Please?" Dyllan shook his head as he continued to cry into his knees "Did something happen to you?"

Dyllan lifted his head and wiped tears away from his face. His eyes remained turned down. He made an attempt to speak but his lower lip began to tremble, and his eyes gave away to more tears. This time he leaned forward, allowing his mother to put her arms around him.

"Shh… Dyl it's okay sweetie. Just get it all out." She said softly as she patted his back

After about a minute of crying into his mother's chest, Dyllan sat back up and looked at his parents. His face was streaked and wet, and his eyes were red and puffy from crying. He took a breath to calm himself some more.

"I… I can't let any one else know about this." He started before closing his eyes. He lowered his head for a second and then looked back up at his parents "Last… last night I…" He paused and took another breath, starting to feel more tears form

Bam placed a hand on Dyllan's back as he sat on the bed next to him "It's okay; you know you can tell us."

Dyllan closed his eyes again and placed a hand up to the side of his face "I… I-I was raped."

With those words Bam and Gina looked at each other in shock. Bam's jaw dropped open and then he turned his head away from his son. His stomach began to churn just thinking about those words. He turned to Dyllan and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

"Oh my God, Dyllan, I… I'm so sorry."

He rested his chin behind his son's shoulder and closed his eyes, starting to feel tears of his own. He and Gina didn't know what else to do but sit there and hold their son.

A few hours later Bam opened Dyllan's bedroom door and looked in on him. He stood there in the doorway watching the seemingly-sleeping Dyllan for a minute before lightly knocking on the open door to get his attention.

"Hey Dyl…" He said softly as he approached the bed "Dyl how are you feeling?"

Dyllan slowly sat up and looked at him. Tears were no longer evident in his eyes, but they were replaced by a light bitterness towards the world around him.

"What?" He asked quietly

"Move over."

"Why?"

"Just move over I need to talk to you."

Dyllan slid over so that Bam could sit next to him in the bed "I don't want to talk about this."

"You don't have to talk, just listen." He sat down "Dyl… there's something important that I want to share with you. Something that not many people know about me. You see, when I was about your age…" He looked down and took a breath "When I was about your age, I was raped."

Dyllan lifted his head and stared at Bam in surprise "Dad, are you serious?"

Bam nodded with a frown "I wish I wasn't serious. But it's true. It was horrible… sometimes at night I can still feel the guy's arms around me." He let out a shudder

"Oh God… dad… How did you get over it?"

"Well that's kind of why I wanted to talk to you about it."

August 1996

"Jesse could you please go and get your brother up? He can't sleep all day long just because it's the weekend." April said as she folded the last dish towel

Jess, who was in the next room watching tv, rolled his eyes and stood up off of the couch. He went to Bam's bedroom to wake him up, only to be grouched at by his younger brother. Jess grumbled back and left the room. About ten minutes later, April entered the living room and stood in front of the tv to get Jess's attention. Jess craned his neck to try to look past her at the tv.

"Mom! You're in the way."

"Don't give me that. Jess I thought I asked you 10 minutes ago to wake Bam up."

"I did that. He just didn't get up."

Bam shuffled into the living room slowly and with his head turned downward. He took a spot on the couch, far away from Jess, and pulled his knees up to his chest. His hands were wrapped loosely around his ankles and he kept his sight fixed on a spot on the floor so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with any one.

"Well good morning sunshine. Nice of you to finally join us." April said, slightly annoyed "Now you can get started on those chores we gave you; I assume you remembered that we grounded you last night after you came home late."

"Whatever." Was Bam's quiet, bitter response

April shook off that response and then decided to play nice to get him to pay attention to her better "Bam what would you like for breakfast?"

"Nothing." He answered in the same tone

"You don't want anything? How about some eggs?"

"I'm not hungry."

April sighed "Jess could you leave Bam and me alone, please?"

Jess stood up and went into the kitchen so April could try to talk in private with Bam. She sat down on the couch and turned toward Bam. Placing a hand on the bottom of his chin, she lifted his head and had him look into her eyes. At that moment her heart sank from her seeing the pain and tears in Bam's eyes.

"Oh Bam… what's the matter?"

He turned his eyes away from her "I don't want to talk about it. Can I go back to my room?"

"Bam, honey, please talk to me. I can't stand seeing you like this and not knowing what caused it." She pleaded

Bam sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't want any more tears to fall while he was in front of his mom "I can't… it hurts too much… and it's far too humiliating…" He finished with a sniff and a choked back sob

She pulled him into a hug and gently rubbed his back "Bam… it's ok. You know you can talk to me about this."

"You don't even know…"

"No, I don't know. Which is why you should tell me so I'll know how to help you feel better about what ever it is."

"A-Ape… something really bad happened to me… last night… And when I came home late you and Phil started yelling at me." He began to allow tears to fall "I was so scared, and angry, and when I got home I had to get yelled at and grounded just because I was late… You and Phil had absolutely no idea what I had just been through…"

"I'm sorry Bam… but you were supposed to come home with Jess, and when you didn't we stared getting worried about you. And then you didn't even call to let us know that you were fine."

"But I wasn't fine!" He shook with sobs "And I don't think I ever will be! Not after this…"

"Bam please… whatever it is that's gotten you so upset, I'm sure you'll be able to get over it.."

"You think I'll be bale to "get over it"? Yeah I'll just "get over" the feeling of some man's arms around me… and his hands reaching into my pants to grab me and…" He closed his eyes tight, unable to control his tears

April sat there wide-eyes for a few seconds, trying to fathom what Bam just told her "Y-you mean…?"

"I was raped, April!" He sobbed "On my way home last night I was raped! And you're telling me to just "get over it"!"

He turned and collapsed forward into her chest, wrapped his arms tightly around her, as he continued to cry uncontrollably.