CW: depiction of attempted SA and panic attack, please proceed with caution before the second divider.

"No kissing now." He mumbled against Brad's lips and weakly tried pushing him away, that had been their compromise, they could kiss before sex but not during or after.

"You won't let me kiss you when I fuck you, but you'll spread your legs for any cock that's willing. I bet he doesn't even have to pay rent." Brad grunted, biting Mel's jaw as he kissed it and lined himself against Mel. That's when Mel felt that something was terribly off.

"Wait… what are you talking about… are you…" Mel felt like his thoughts had to swim through syrup to leave his brain and reach his mouth. "Did you put on a condom?"

"You think I don't know you've been sleeping around?" Brad ground his decidedly not latex-clad dick against Mel's taint, sending confusing shivers up his spine. "Why should I be the only one playing by your rules when you were probably sucking your roommate's cock right before I picked you up?" Brad's grip was bruising as he leaned in and kissed Mel once more.

Mel's mind and heart were racing each other, he needed to get the hell out of there. He tried saying no, he tried pushing Brad off, this was not going to happen to him. He bit down hard the next time Brad kissed him and when he jerked away, red streaking his chin and calling Mel a bitch, Mel kneed him in the nuts. He didn't wait for Brad to completely crumple with a pained groan before he scrambled to his feet. It was a miracle he didn't get tangled in the sheets, it was another that he managed to pull his pants on as quickly as he did, stumbling through and out of the house with his phone and boots held in trembling fingers.

He'd lost track of where he was as he ran barefoot through streets lined by small buildings and nice houses until his legs gave out and he crumbled outside someone's half wall, the naked bushes tearing his shirt. He knew Brad wouldn't come after him and risk causing a scene, and even if he had he wouldn't catch up to him, Mel was fast. And yet, relief shouldn't have felt like a hot knife in his gut, but he still spilled his dinner all over the poor bush's roots. 

When the shaking in his body felt more like cold than adrenaline fading away, he finally managed to gather himself enough to put on his boots and unlock his phone. There was a new crack on the screen, he didn't remember dropping it but he guessed he must have, which he noticed as he blocked Brad from every profile he had. His phone buzzed and his breath stopped for the second it took his brain to process the notification came from Mars. It was a picture of Rover and Donnashello cuddled up on Mars' lap with the caption "I know you won't see this til tomorrow but look! They finally warmed up to each other!"

Mel broke down, tears spilled from his eyes faster than he could wipe them away, and in the frigid air his nose was nearly frozen shut, forcing him to gasp every other breath. He must have dropped his phone again and it must have called Mars by accident, because why else would he be hearing Mars' concerned voice blaring through his speaker?

"Mel? Is this a butt dial?" Mars asked, not really waiting long enough for an answer. "Meru? Are you okay?" Mars calling him by the nickname his family used for him nearly broke him once more.

"Can you please pick me up?" He barely managed to say, thankfully the microphone picked it up.

"I'll be there in fifteen." Mars said and Mel could hear clothes rustling, Rover barking and the front door opening and closing. Neither of them hung up the call, so Mel kept listening to the loud silence on the other side of the line as his sobs ebbed into sniffles and the occasional hiccup. Mars struggled with his truck's engine for an endless minute, cursing at it before it finally started. He heard Rover's confused whines and Mars' hushed assurances that everything was okay right as his teeth started clattering. "Mel? Still there?"

"Yeah." His voice trembled from the cold.

"You're not still at his house, right? Do you know where you are?" Mars asked and Mel denied it. "Okay, send me your location, I should be close already but it'll be faster if I can actually see where you are."

Mel barely managed to get his phone to register his fingertips from how cold they were. Luckily for him, a few moments later Mars' beat up pickup truck parked close to him in the suburban street. Not another two seconds after, Mel was surrounded by warmth as Mars embraced him, taking off his jacket and wrapping it tightly around Mel's smaller frame in the process. Mel didn't even realize he'd been carried into the truck until Rover was licking his cheek.

"Rover no!" Mars chastised his dog, pulling him away, and it renewed Mel's tears. Mars never scolded Rover, of course it would be his fault that it would happen. "Hey, sorry about Rover." Mel shook his head and tried reaching out to Rover, the dachshund understood immediately and hopped back into his arms, resigning himself to sniff at Mel rather than lick his face again. "Did he hurt you?"

The question startled Mel, not because it was asked but because of how. Mel looked up to his roommate for the first time since he'd left the apartment and saw only rage etched on Mars' features.

"I uh… No, not really." Mel answered, breathless, Rover squirmed in his lap and tentatively licked Mel's chin to which Mel responded by scratching his ears. Rover's warm, soft weight settled his nerves some, but what he saw in Mars' eyes put him on edge all over again.

"I'm going to kill him." Mars snapped, putting the truck in drive and Mel knew he was heading back to Brad's house.

"Can we please just go home?" Mel pulled at Mars' sleeve, voice barely above a whisper. "Please."

"At least let me take you to the hospital." Mars sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You need to report–."

"Nothing happened Mars." Mel pleaded, cutting him off. "I just want to go home, shower and forget I ever met that asshole."

"Fine." Mars agreed through clenched teeth, knuckles white on the steering wheel.

They made it home without a hitch or another word, the only sound the the cabin was Rover's tail thumping against Mel's thigh. When they got into the apartment Mars told Mel he'd check on the pets so he could take his time in the bathroom. Under the hot spray of the shower, Mel couldn't tell where the droplets running down his cheeks came from as he scrubbed his skin furiously with a wash cloth. Eventually, the water started cooling down and he forced himself to close it lest he actually made himself sick after everything he'd dealt with, he dressed in his warmest pajamas and wandered into the living room. Mars was sitting on the sofa, next to Mel's blanket nest, trashy reality television show already queued on the screen.

Mel's eyes burned all over again, he told himself it was because they were irritated from the makeup remover, as he sat in the middle of his blankets and covered himself head to toe in soft warmth before Mars pressed play. It wasn't until a moment later, when Rover climbed back on his lap to doze off immediately and he felt Mars tugging him into a tight hug that he realized he was crying. He had never felt as safe as he did in that moment, and knowing he'd never feel like that again was too much for his wounded soul. He broke down in Mars' embrace, the taller man stroking circles on his back as he held Mel impossibly closer, murmuring comforting words until the last of the adrenaline left Mel's body and consciousness was too hard to sustain.