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"Rayyy.... Micool... anyone?" Gavin really wasn't sure how he had ended up in this situation. The lads had decided to go to a party without the gents, something they almost never did. Unfortunately, the older men all had finals the next day, whereas the lads had finished their's the previous day, and they had a lot to celebrate. Geoff's current tour of duty was up, and he got to come home for a whole month, which happened to coincide with winter break for the five men in college. Jack and Ryan were both graduating in the spring, Ryan having done an accelerated program, and they had both been accepted to their first choice grad school. So there was a lot to celebrate, but Gavin was really starting to regret going out that night.
He hadn't even had much to drink, only a couple of beers, but something was wrong because he didn't feel very good at all. He felt dizzy and sick and strangely tired, and he had lost both Michael and Ray. But worst was that someone had found a dog collar and a leash and had tied him to the keg. Gavin didn't like the looks he was getting from the increasingly drunk partygoers, and he was tired of getting his ass groped by random strangers. He really wanted to go home, but no one would unhook him and let him leave.
As the night went on, people got bolder, and Gavin was subjected to people sticking their tongues in his mouth, their hands in his pants. He was crying now, yelling for anyone to come and help him. Then he noticed that no one was touching him anymore, and the party had gotten very quiet around them. Gavin felt hands on his face and he flinched away, but then became aware of soft voices murmuring in his ears.
"Shhh... it's alright, we're here now." He looked up, surprised to see Ryan on one side, and Ray on the other.
"It's okay now, Vav, Geoff and Michael went to get the key and then we'll all go home."
"Geoff's'here?" Just then, there was a large commotion, and someone was thrown into the empty space around the keg. Geoff and Michael stalked out of the crowd right after, Jack following behind, obviously having given up on trying to keep their more violent partners under control.
"You piece of shit, you tied him to the keg and then just left him to get molested by random people?" The boy on the ground was blustering, obviously trying to regain some face and get out of the situation.
"So what, he's a pretty boy, if you want some of him just go ahead. He's too drugged up to fight anyway."
"You fucking drugged him too?" Ryan, who was half-supporting Gavin at that point, shot a worried look at the younger man leaning on him. Ray had gone to Michael's side, he currently had his arms wrapped around the Jersey boy, obviously holding him back from beating the other man senseless. Geoff stalked forward, grabbing the man by his collar and dragging him upright.
"I flew all the way back here as a surprise for that man. I've been at war for months, and I come home to a group of lovers who are frantic because one is missing, and I find him in a situation like this? You're lucky I don't show you what I've learned over the last few years, you piece of shit. Now get the key for that stupid collar." Geoff threw him away, stalking over to Gavin and pulling him into a tight hug. The man followed after, fumbling with the key as he struggled to unlock it. When he finally got it, Jack grabbed the collar and clipped it on the party boy's neck, taking the key and tossing it into the woods nearby.
Michael scooped Gavin up, carrying him away. The crowd parted silently before them, and they were soon climbing into Jack's truck. Michael held Gavin tightly the whole way, the younger man starting to shake as the full events of the night caught up to him. When they finally got back to their little house, Geoff took Gavin right upstairs, and Ryan followed close behind with the first aid kit. Geoff helped him out of his clothes while Ryan spoke softly to him.
"Gavin, I need to check you over, to make sure you don't need the hospital. Can you answer some questions for me?"
"Mmkay, Ry." Geoff and Ryan exchanged glances at the evident slurring and the difficulty with which Gavin was speaking. "But... w-wher's th'others? I want them here, where're they, Ry?"
"It's alright, darling, just relax. I'll go get them." Ryan hurried downstairs, gathering the others who were worriedly sitting around and trying not to crowd their young lover. Gavin visibly relaxed when they all reentered the room, spreading to sit around the bed. "Alright, we're all here now, Gavin. So I need you to tell me how many drinks you had tonight."
"I'nly had one, Ry, really... 'ne n'a little. But th' second'ne tasted reeallly bad, so I didn' drink it." Ryan breathed out a little sigh of relief.
"You should be fine then, you probably only got a little of the drug. Jack, can you get him a glass of water? We need to keep him well hydrated, but other than that, he just needs to sleep it off. How do you feel, darling?"
"M'good... can we sleep now? M'head really hurts..." Jack returned just then.
"Here, drink this, sweetie, and then we'll go to sleep." Geoff helped Gavin into the sleep pants that the younger boy preferred to wear, while the other men went to wash up and change themselves. Son enough, they were all piled onto Jack and Ryan's king-sized bed, pressed close together to comfort each other after the events of the night. It wasn't long before they all fell asleep, Gavin tucked safely and securely in the middle. But it wasn't enough to keep away the inevitable nightmares. Michael was the first to be awoken when a flailing hand hit him in the face.
"What the fuck?" He sat up quickly, looking around for whatever had hit him, not understanding what was going on until he looked down. Gavin was twisting about, flailing him arms as he whimpered and cried.
"No... n-please don't, please, someone, help me..."
"Shit, Gavin... guys, wake up." The gents were quickly awake, scrambling to get to Gavin, which jostled Ray from his position on Jack's stomach. Michael caught the other lad and pulled him back to the end of the bed, out of the way of Gavin's flailing limbs. The gents pinned him down as Geoff tried to gently wake him up.
"No... not, stop, don't touch me, please... Geoff... Michael... why won't anyone help me... please, stop." Michael could feel Ray starting to tremble in his arms, and when he looked down he could see that the young man was pale and had his eyes tightly closed.
"Oh, Ray..." Michael quickly picked him up and carried him out to he living room, stopping to snag a blanket from the back of the chair. He wrapped them both up, situating Ray comfortably on his lap. "Shhh, babe, it's okay. Just breathe, you're safe here."
"S-sorry, Michael. I don't... I'm just... and Gav-"
"Hey, hey, don't think about that, just focus on you and me right now. just breathe and don't think about anything else." Michael just help Ray, murmuring comforts into his ear, rubbing his back until the smaller boy stopped trembling. "Feeling better now?"
"Yeah... sorry... I just- it brought back memories, ya know? And I thought about what happened to me, and what happened to Gav, and I just... I really wish he didn't- I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
"I know, Ray. We'll get through it. We kept you safe, so now we'll do the same for Gav."
"Yeah, we will... Why do people have to think that's okay? I can't understand it, I just ca-"
"Ray, baby, don't think about it. Don't get upset again. It's stupid, and none of us will ever understand it, and that's a good thing. C'mon, lay down with me and relax for a while."
"But what about Gavin?"
"One of the gents will come get us if we're needed. Just let me comfort you for a while, we both need it." Michael swung around and relaxed against the arm of the sofa, stretching out and pulling Ray with him so they were reclining comfortably. Michael just talked about nothing at all with the soft voice that he knew relaxed all of his boyfriends. It was an hour or more before Jack came out, looking tired and haggard, but still calm and relaxed. Ray was fast asleep, and Michael was well on his way to joining the younger man, though he was wide awake once he caught the movements.
"Jack? What's going on?"
"Everything is alright, sweetheart. We finally got Gavin calmed down, but he's awake and looking for you two."
"Okay. Can you- I can't get up by myself without waking him up."
"Yeah, I'm sorry we had to leave you to take care of him alone. Are you okay?"
"I'm as okay as I can be. And Ray... it just brought up bad memories for him."
"I figured as much." As Jack leaned down to grab Ray, Michael leaned up a little and stole a kiss, smiling as Ray murmured something in his sleep. When they got back to the bedroom, Gavin was sitting up, talking to Geoff, but his attention quickly shifted.
"Michael? Is Ray alright?"
"He's fine, babe. Just worried, but he's asleep now." They watched as Jack got the younger man situated in bed. "C'mon, let's get back into bed ourselves." They all climbed back under the blankets, situating themselves comfortably.
"Michael?"
"Yeah, Gav?"
"Is Ray really alright?" Michael sighed and rolled over, pressing Gavin into the mattress and kissing him lightly.
"He's going to be just fine. He had some old memories come back, but he's really just worried about you."
"I'm sorry-"
"No, nothing is your fault."
"Nothing that happened tonight is your fault, darling."
"But I couldn't- I knew it was stupid to take a beer from someone. I knew it was a bad idea and I'm so stupid..."
"Not stupid, Vav. Never stupid." Everyone looked guiltily at Ray, who was blinking sleepily up at them.
"I'm sorry, love... I didn't mean to wake you up." Ray sighed dramatically and rolled over so that he was on top of Gavin, laying in his favorite sleeping position - head on the other boy's stomach.
"Just go back to sleep, Vav. We'll all be here in the morning. And things will be better. They always get better, what with amazing boyfriends like the ones we have." Gavin smiled faintly, for the first time since that party.
"Yeah... with all of the amazing boyfriends I have." He wrapped his arms around Ray, feeling the other boy snuggle into him as he fell asleep again. Michael and Ryan were pressed to his sides, Geoff and Jack on the very outsides, tangling all of their legs together. It was warm and safe and comfortable, and as Gavin started to fall back asleep, he thought that just maybe it really would be okay someday.