Reese's Struggle for Control

This thread follows Reese's effort to manage the aftermath of sexual assault, from defensive control and risky encounters toward trust, professional help, and a more self-directed recovery.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Defensive Routine

Control as Protection A history kept private Reese has been sexually assaulted by a former roommate and that roommate's companions. The experience leaves him wary of athletes, roommates, and situations where another person might control his body or the space around him. He has not yet told Tom what happened. Instead, he keeps his story behind sharp jokes and dismissive reactions, treating disclosure as a risk rather than a source of support. Choosing the terms Reese brings men back to the room for brief encounters in which he controls the pace and the limits. He insists that this is safer because he chooses the men and decides what they may do, even as the repeated hookups do not make him feel restored. His strategy gives him a narrow kind of agency, but it also keeps intimacy predictable and shallow. The routine hides his distress while allowing the past to continue shaping his present choices.

The Chair as Shield

Threat in the Room A roommate becomes a trigger Tom's presence initially unsettles Reese. When an unexpected visitor pounds on the door, Reese grabs a chair and positions it between himself and the entrance, responding as if he needs to defend himself from an immediate physical threat. The reaction reveals what his hostility has concealed: the new roommate is not simply inconvenient. The room itself has become connected to the earlier assault, and an unfamiliar man entering without warning can make safety feel uncertain. Disclosure on his terms Reese eventually tells Tom that his previous roommate and other athletes held him down and assaulted him while he was intoxicated. He explains that he did not report it at once and that there was little evidence the school could act upon. The account is painful, but Reese chooses how much to say. Tom listens without demanding graphic details, and the disclosure changes the conflict from a simple fight over housing into a question of how the two men can coexist without repeating patterns of threat and helplessness.

A Safer Kind of Closeness

Care Without Force Help offered carefully When Tom returns with a painful steam burn, Reese opens the window, cleans the room, removes the tangled bandage, and finds ice to ease the pain. He asks before handling Tom's injury and explains why he thinks medical care may be necessary. For Reese, caring for another person is a different use of control: he directs practical steps, but the purpose is relief rather than domination. Tom's acceptance lets the room become briefly safer for both of them. A choice, not an order Reese offers sexual comfort, then checks Tom's response rather than treating the offer as permission already granted. Their contact develops slowly, through touch and pauses that leave Tom free to stop or decline. The encounter does not erase Reese's trauma, and Tom is not presented as a cure. It does show Reese experimenting with intimacy that includes attention to another person's wishes instead of a performance built only around his own command.

Therapy's Hard Return

Approaching Professional Help Resistance persists Reese has access to a therapist but has not gone. He expects the work to hurt and does not believe that a professional will simply make the past disappear, even though he recognizes that his coping habits are not enough. Tom urges him to try therapy, but the appeal exposes Tom's own avoidance: he is asking Reese to face a difficulty while refusing to return to track practice himself. Their argument becomes a conflict over whether fear should decide what either man is willing to attempt. A reciprocal challenge Reese proposes a bargain: he will go to therapy when Tom goes to practice. The pact does not make either task easy, but it turns private avoidance into a shared accountability rather than a judgment one man imposes on the other. Reese eventually begins attending sessions and later describes how exhausting it is to revisit the assault. His progress is uneven, but treatment gives him a structured place to work on the reactions that have narrowed his life.

Reclaiming His Social World

Recovery Beyond the Room Reentering community Reese starts working with Carlisle Pride as part of his effort to reconnect with people and address what happened to him. The work gives him a way to speak publicly about harassment and awareness, rather than keeping the experience sealed within his private life. He also continues therapy and builds connections that do not depend on Tom. His social world remains complicated, but his recovery begins to include people, projects, and places beyond the bedroom. Agency without erasure Reese's choices are not proof that the assault no longer affects him. He still has boundaries around touch and can become wary in public, but he increasingly states what he needs and expects others to respect it. His progress also changes the relationship's balance: Tom cannot be the sole protector or interpreter of Reese's needs. Reese's recovery belongs to Reese, with support offered by others rather than imposed on him.

Before Tom moves into Perkins House

The first weeks of Tom's stay

After Tom returns from his weekend drive with a burned arm

After Reese tells Tom about the assault

The spring semester