Cher: Home Alone

Cher was home alone at nearly midnight in her Malibu home, talking on the phone with her guitarist, David Barry. They had just finished her Farewell tour but she and David were seeing each other during the tour. Only one problem. David's married. They kept the relationship a secret but Cher was tired of keeping it from his wife.
"So, now what? Are you ever going to tell her?" Cher snapped.
"I can't, Cher. I mean, I want to but I just can't. It'll just break her!"
"I thought you loved me. If you did, then she'd know all about us by now."
"I do love you Cher but... it's just not that simple."
"How could it not be? All you gotta do is go up to her and tell her what's going on."
"Cher, I just need some time. Soon, she will know."
"We've been seeing each other for months, David. She needs to know now before we go any futher. If you're not going to tell her, then I guess that means our relationship doesn't mean that much to you!"
"It does mean the world to me, Cher."
"You know what? I'm not going to do this. I'm not up for any games here and it's obvious it didn't mean that much to you. I never should've messed with married men like you. You men are lying bastards!"
"Cher--" David started but Cher slammed the phone down, hanging up. Cher sighed deeply, laying her head back onto the couch then she picked up the remote control to watch TV. She turned it on then went through some channels. Nothing to watch. She flipped off the TV letting out another sigh. She glanced at her watch and decided to get some sleep.
Getting up from the couch, she flicked off the lights in the living room and reached for the stairs. She climbed up, heading for the light switch to turn out the light above the stairs but the door knocked. Cher was alarmed for a minute then wondered to herself, "who the hell would be at the door at this hour?" She turned to go back down to open the door.
Suddenly, a man startled her by grabbing her and kissing her hard on the lips. Cher turned and started heading towards the stairs. "No!" The man ran after her and grabbed her. "NO!!!" she screamed. "No, no!!"
The man took her and pinned her down on the stairs. "Sometimes a kitchen is good to do it but the stairs sounds even better!" the attacker said with a grin.
"NO!! No, please! Please don't!"
Immediately, the man ripped off her top, tossing it aside from them as he kissed her neck. Cher tried hard as she could pushing him off but the man was much more stronger and heavier.
"No! Stop it! Stop!" She struggled harder then the man took her wrists, pinning them down on the stairs so she'd stop trying to push him off. She continued to plead with him, tears coming in her eyes as she kept trying to struggle.
"You smell so nice, Cher..." he told her. With that, he kissed her neck again. "I bet there's been a lot of people out there who'd love to fuck you but I guess I'm your guy tonight."
"No! No, please don't!" The man look down at her chest then reached behind her back to remove her bra, tossing it aside from them. He leaned down to feel her medium and firm breasts and firmly squeezed. Cher cried out, begging him again.
"You got nice tits..." he hissed at her.
"No, stop! Please stop!"
Suddenly, he was beginning to lose his patience with her that he quickly grabbed her erected nipples in his fingers and sharply pinched them. Cher screamed out in pain. He ignored her screams and squeezed harder again. Her screams were getting louder and more painful.
"Ow! Stop, you're hurting me! It hurts!"
"I love watching a woman in pain."
"No, please stop!" she suddenly sobbed. "Please, I don't wanna do this!"
"You don't have a choice."
"Please, just take my purse or my money or anything. Just stop!"
"I don't want any of that. I just want your body."
"Please just get off me!" she cried out in tears again.
Finally, he was losing his patience again and lifted himself up and unzipped his pants. "I guess we both know what you need!"
"NO!!!!!!!!!" Cher screamed as she saw him unzipping himself. "No, no!! No, please! Please don't!" He took himself on top of Cher again and Cher looked up again, crying til she could feel him going inside of her. "No! No, please stop!" She tried moving her legs around but the man's legs pretty much restrained hers. "Please let me go!" The man slided himself in slowly at first then out. Cher panicked and screamed again when she felt him sliding in and out then he started getting a little faster.
He looked down at her chest and grabbed her breasts in his hands, squeezing them firmly. "They're so nice. I wanna see them bounce as I swing. How about it, Cher?"
"NO!!!!!" The man ignored her and started sliding in and out faster, swinging as he watch her breasts bounce with every swing he took on her. "No! No, please! Stop!!!" Cher pushed her hands up against him again to try pushing him off. He swung a few more times getting more rougher and harder. "No, stop it! It hurts!!!"
Finally, the man finished his brief ejaculation and pulled out. He took his pants and zipped again and stood up, away from Cher. Cher laid there, crying hysterically, almost rolling to her side.
"You wanted it, Cher. Look at you. The way you go around and the way you dress. You wanted it."
With that, she waited a minute til he heard the man leave the house. The frightened and assaulted Cher rolled over to her side, sobbing hard for a minute before she could move again. When she did, she took her clothes and put them back on and climbed up the stairs to get to her room. As she reached there, she stopped at the doorway and suddenly collasped, crying again.
Without getting up, she crawled over near the bed to get to the phone. First person who came to mind was her assistant Jennifer. She shakily dialed her numbers.Jennifer was awakened at her home as she sat up on her bed to answer the phone. "Hello?" She was just noticing the time and was surprised anyone would call at this hour.
"Oh, god, Jennifer..." Cher sobbed on the other line.
"Hello? Cher? Cher, what's wrong?"
"Oh, god, Jennifer.... help me. Jennifer, please help!"
"Cher, I'm on my way over."
Immediately, she hung up and got up to get dressed and came over to Cher's house. She came right in and searched around, not finding Cher. She called for Cher but didn't see her so she came upstairs, directly to Cher's room, spotting her as she sat on the bed, sobbing.
"Oh my god, Cher. Cher, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Oh, Jennifer..." she sobbed.
"Cher, what is it? What happened?"
"He came in. He just came to the door and I was so stupid, I opened it for him then he's attacking me on the stairs!"
"Who was it?"
"I don't know who he was. God, he came in and made me lie on the stairs and he was doing those things to me!"
"Ok... alright, we need to go to the hospital. Come on, I'll take you now." Jennifer took her and assisted her out of the house and into her car to drive her to the hospital. Jennifer helped check Cher in into the Emergency room as they took her into an exam room and examined her and called the police. She sat and waited in the waiting room til a doctor would come and talk to her and tell her that Cher would be admitted overnight just for observation.
As they were getting her settled, Jennifer suddenly thought about David Barry, knowing that he and Cher were seeing each other during the tour. She took out her phone to call him. He'd want to know what happened and come down to Malibu.
"Hello?" a man answered the phone.
"Hi, is this David Barry?"
"Speaking."
"Hi, David, this is Jennifer. I'm Cher's assistant in Malibu from the farewell tour."
"Yeah, hi, Jennifer. It's past 1:00 there, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important. Something's happened tonight and I think you might want to come down here to see Cher."
David hestitated. "Down to Malibu? Uh, probably not. I don't think Cher would want me down there. We had a fight earlier on the phone."
"Not even when Cher's been raped?"
David didn't believe what he heard. "She's been what?"

Around 5:15 in the morning, Jennifer was asleep with Cher in her room while she slept on the chair by Cher's bed when she was awakened. "Jennifer? Jennifer, it's me."
Jennifer woke up to see David Barry. "David? Hey, what are you doing here?"
"I just thought I'd come on down here. How is she?"
"Well, it took her a long time before she fell asleep. How long ago did you get here?"
"Almost an hour ago. I just got here straight from the airport. As soon as we hung up on the phone, I just looked for the first flight out and took it and came down here."
"Well, here, you wanna sleep here? I can sleep on that recliner over there."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it's no problem."
Jennifer let David sleep on the chair where Jennifer was then the next morning around 8:00, Cher woke up in her bed and spotted David asleep on the chair near her bed. She was surprised to see him then noticed Jennifer was gone.
"David?" Cher said.
Slowly, David woke up to see Cher awake in her bed. "Cher?"
"Where's Jennifer?"
"She said she had to leave earlier this morning before the sun comes up."
"Oh, she has a second job. She must've taken off for that."
David started standing up to sit on Cher's bed with her. "Well, she called me up and told me what happened."
"Oh, god, David..." Cher sobbed, putting her arms around his neck.David wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey, it's ok. It's ok, now, Cher."
"No, it isn't."
"You're safe here. It's going to be ok."
"Oh, David... I'm so sorry about the phone last night. I was so mean to you. I didn't mean anything that I said. Really, I didn't mean it."
"Oh, no, no, it's ok, Cher. It's ok, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean any of it. What's more important is that I'm here now."
"So, how did you find your way out of Minnesota to get here? What'd you tell your wife?"
David sighed. "You were right, Cher. I should've told her before. After you hung up, I just started talking to her and uh... I told her. I told her about us."
"I take it she didn't take it very well."
"No, not really. When Jennifer called, I told her I was coming down here and she said she could care less. So I guess she doesn't want anything to do with me and honestly, I don't think I do either. I'd rather be here with you."
"I'm so glad you came here. I thought I'd have to go through this alone."
"You don't have to now."
"I don't know how I can get through it at all. I don't think I can!"
"Yes, you can, Cher. With time, you will, ok? I'm here with you and I'll do whatever I can to help you. Do you want to call your family or do they already know?"
"No, they don't know anything. I told the hospital and the police not to report anything to the press til I tell my children. It's going to be so hard to tell them."
"I know you'll figure out something."

Couple of days later, Cher was already out of the hospital and decided to tell her daughter, Chastity first but didn't want to go alone. She dragged David along for moral support. So she and David came up to Chas' door and knocked. Chas was delighted to see her mom.
"Mom! Hey, it's been a while!" Chas smiled while hugging Cher. "Well, come on in here. Hi, David."
David said hi back then Chas let them inside the house. "So how you guys been? Is there anything I can get you?"
"Uh, no, thanks but..." Cher started. "I did come down here cuz I needed to talk to you. Can we go somewhere and talk?"
"Oh, sure. Let's go in the living room."
They all sat down on the couch. "Well, I hope it's nothing serious. Is anyone sick? Is Grandma ok?"
"Oh, yeah, Grandma's fine. Everyone's fine except... well, I'm going to tell you something that is going to be very difficult to tell. I know that most of your life, we haven't been that close so I hope I can tell you this before you hear it from the press."
"Mom, you can tell me anything. We are closer now than we've ever been and I know we don't talk too much but you can tell me anything."
Cher took a deep breath. "I... well, something happened the night before last. Something really bad happened to me at home the other night."
Chas was now growing concerned and nervous. "Mom, what is it?"
"The night before last... oh, god this is so hard..."
"Mom, it's ok. You can tell me anything. What happened the night before last?"
"Chas.... someone attacked me. Uh, some guy, I have no idea who he was. It was pretty late and someone knocked on the door and I answered it, which I shouldn't have. But I did answer then the guy just... kissed me. I tried to run away but he got to me before I got to the top of the stairs."
Chas was shocked, she was suddenly speechless. "What?"
Cher went on. "He ran after me and... he made me lie down on the stairs and he took my clothes off."
"He attacked you?"
Cher nodded, with tears coming down her cheeks. "I was raped."
"Oh, my god... he... he what?" Chas could start to feel herself cry a little, too.
"He raped me, Chas. I shouldn't have opened that door and I don't know why I did. I mean, I just got off the phone with David and we had a fight and that's what I had on my mind so I guess I wasn't thinking. I knew it was so late but I just didn't think."
"Mom, don't ever blame yourself. You didn't make this happen, he did. What did the police say?"
"Well, I called them this morning and they haven't gotten any leads yet and they're out still looking for him. After it happened, I just thought about calling Jennifer so I did. I called then Jennifer called David and he came on down here right away. I wanted to tell you but I just didn't know how to tell you or Elijah. I wanted to tell you guys or Grandma but for some reason, I just couldn't."
"Oh, Mom. Mom, you can tell me anything and I don't want you to be afraid to tell me anything at all. We're just getting closer now and I want us to be able to tell each other anything, no matter what."
"That's what I want, too. It's just so hard to tell anyone."
"Oh, god, Mom..." Chas suddenly cried, putting her arms around her mom. "I can't believe it happened."
"I know, Chas, but it did. But don't worry. The police are working on it and I'm okay now. David's here and he's staying with me until I feel like I'm safe here again. God, now I have to tell Elijah and that's going to be hard too. You know how he is."
"Oh, Mom, he'll be fine. We're all going to get through this."
The door knocked then Chas got up to answer, while wiping tears off her face. Chas returned with her brother, Elijah in the living room.
"Hey, Elijah," David greeted him.Cher wiped tears off and forced a weak grin.
"Hi, Elijah..." Cher said, hugging her son. "How you been?"
"Busy with everything. But I can almost tell something's going on. What's going on?" He looked at all of them then Chas and Cher sat back down. Cher offered for him to sit down but Elijah declined then Cher told him what happened.
Elijah stood there without a word for a second. "He what?" he said.
Chas and Cher couldn't say anything then Elijah paced around a bit. "Oh, my god... oh, god I am really going to kill him!" he started taking off out of the living room then Cher and Chas tried to stop him then David got up.
"I'll talk to him. Chas, you can stay with your mother." David followed Elijah who stormed into the kitchen. "Elijah..." David started.
"He did what??" Elijah started yelling. "What kind of sick bastard would do anything to her? The creep raped my mother!! How the hell could he do that??!" he shouted, angrily.
"Elijah, take it easy. I understand you're upset, we all are. We all need to stay calmed."
"Calmed? How am I supposed to do that? Someone should get out and rape that guy, not my mother!"
"Elijah..."
"This guy should be dead!! What did the police say? If they're not going to do anything, then I'll kill him myself! My mother does not deserve that!"
"The police are doing what they can."
"That's not good enough! They need to get him and burn him! I'll kill him! I don't care if I get the electric chair, I'm going to find a way to murder the son of a bitch!" Suddenly, he turned and threw over the kitchen table. His face was beet red as he turned back to David.
"Elijah!" David yelled.
"I'm going to kill him!" Elijah screamed as he stormed out of the kitchen.
"Elijah, we need to talk about this," David started going after him til Elijah turned and shoved David back into the kitchen and against the table. David groaned as he felt his head getting striked on the leg of the table.
Chas and Cher got up out of the living room as Elijah stormed out of the house. "Elijah!" Chas shouted as Cher turned into the kitchen. Elijah took off into his car. "Elijah!"
"Chas, please just leave him be. He's not going to calm down unless he's left alone. David, are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so. I just hit my head."
"Well, you're getting a bruise there."
David groaned in pain then Chas packed him some ice and took him and Cher back into the living room. As he sat back down on the couch, he was already bleeding then Chas got some peroxide and big bandage and placed it on his head. "Is he going to need stitches?" Cher asked.
"No, he's not bleeding badly. He'll be fine."
"I'll be fine," David told them. "Just a little headache."
"Want some aspirin?"
"If you got any."
Chas nodded. "I'll get you something."
As soon as she applied the bandage on David's head, she got up to leave the living room.
"I'm sorry about this, David. I had no idea Elijah was going to get this upset. He's never been like this before."
"It's ok. I can understand his anger. I think we're all on edge right now." A minute later, Chas returned with some aspirins for David then Cher and David leave Chas' place to go back to her Malibu home.

For the next two weeks, Cher was handling the attack badly while one day, David came in her house and found her screaming and crying while throwing around her furniture and things. David came to her after she stopped and got yelled out when he startled her from behind. Cher would not eat or sleep at all. After Cher calmed down, she went upstairs to lay down. David came to her on her bed. "Cher?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell and hit you."
"Cher... I'm really concerned about you. It's been two weeks."
"Well, what were you expecting? That I'd get over it right away and forget it like nothing happened?"
"No, of course not... but there are ways to deal with this. Cher... I think you need to get some help. You need to talk to someone about this."
"I'm not crazy and I don't need a shrink!"
"I'm not saying that you're crazy. You need to talk to someone who will help you. Just leaving things alone will not help. I just wish you would do something. You're not eating, sleeping or doing anything but you're just worried and scared all the time."
"I don't want help and I don't need anyone to tell me I need help!"
David sighed, giving up to let Cher calm down more as he left her room.

As David was about to go check on Cher downstairs a couple weeks later, he stopped by his room to find Chas in tears while she sat on his bed. Chas was coming over often to see Cher but felt helpless of what to do. David came in to see her. "Hey..." he said.
"Oh, hi," Chas replied. "I'm sorry. Did you need to use this room privately? I didn't want --"
"No, no, it's ok. Don't worry about it."
"Ok," she sniffed.
David sat by her on the bed. "You ok?"Chas sighed.
"I don't know. I just don't know what to do anymore for her. It seems that she's always upset about something and she can't deal with it. She isn't even herself or the same person I used to know. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know how to help her anymore."
"It might seem like you're not doing anything to help her but we are doing what we can. We're being there for her, supporting her and making sure she's feeling safe. I think she feels better with me staying with her and the guy hasn't came back for her. it's all over that I'm staying with her and he probably knew that and stayed away. Your mom's going to be fine."
"I just wish there's something that we can do."
"I know, Chas. We're doing what we can. There's not that much we can do. We just have to be there for her and let the police do their job. It might not seem like a lot but it's all we can do."
"It'd be good for her to get some help so she can cope with this but she won't do anything. She has to do something. She won't eat, she won't sleep and she won't get out of the house. She's too scared to do anything out there."
"Listen, I have an idea. Your mom needs to know that we're all there for her and we love her. Why don't you and I go downstairs and talk to her again about seeing someone about this? She needs to know that she is loved. Right now, she's just feeling insecure about everything and she needs to know we're behind her, no matter what and we want her to do something so she can get through this. It's going to take time for all of us but we can get through this. So why don't we go down and talk to her together and try to convince her again to get help?"
Chas nodded. "Ok."
"Ok? Come on."
David started getting up then Chas said his name. "Do you love my mother?"
David sat back down on the bed. "Yes, I do. I love her very much."
"Does she know that?"
"I haven't told her how I felt but I think with time, she'll know. I just didn't feel right about telling her now considering what she went through."
"That's good. I just want her to be happy again... even if it's with someone. I mean, if she's going to be with you then I think that'd be great. You guys seem to be perfect."
David smiled. "Well, thanks. Right now, we're not even in a relationship and it's a little early to get serious. I think we should just get through this then worry about the relationship. Come on. Let's go talk to your mom, ok?"
Chas got up from the bed, throwing the tissue in the trash and followed David downstairs. They spotted Cher in the dining room while she sat at a table, trying to read but could not focus.
"Cher?" David started.
Cher looked up at him and Chas. "Yeah?"
"Uh, can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure," Cher responded, closing up the book then Chas and David sat down with her.
"Listen, um... we really need to talk about what's been going on with you," David started again.
Cher sighed. "Look, I can't have this conversation, ok? I was raped and there's nothing anyone can do to change that."
"Cher, hold on, ok? Please, just let us help you. We can all get through this."
"What do you mean, all of us? You mean all of us were raped??" she snapped.
"Cher, we can't change what happened, you're right about that. But that doesn't mean you have to live like this for the rest of your life. The damage has already been done but now you have to learn how to get through this."
"I just don't know if I can, David. I don't know how to do it! It's been two weeks and no matter what I do, I just can't help but keep thinking about it. I clean, I do things, I talk to you and both of my kids and I try to stay busy. I can't stop thinking about it, David. It doesn't matter what I do, I still cannot stop thinking about it!" she almost went on a verge of crying.
"Cher, that's why you need to get some help. You need to see someone like this or at least go to some kind of group with some other women who were also sexually assaulted. You're not the only one out there. Who knows? This guy probably attacked someone else. You might not be his only victim. Cher, you can't go on living like this and the only way to make things a little better is to see someone about it. It's going to take some time but you have to do something. You can't do what the police is trying to do so the only thing you can do is help yourself."
"Yeah, but I don't think I could go through with it. I don't know if I can go through with seeing someone about it."
"Why not?"
Cher suddenly sobbed. "Because they might even make me remember all the details. They're gonna wanna know what exactly happened and I just want to stop thinking about what he did to me on the stairs!" David took her, wrapping his arms around her. "Cher, I'm sure they're not going to make you do that. You can do that if you want to but you don't have to. They'll let you talk about whatever you want. They're not going to make you do something you don't wanna do."
"Mom..." Chas started. "Look, I've been at drug rehab and I talked about a lot of things. They always just sat there and listened and helped me through the steps slowly. Recovery is going to be taking some time. Trust me, they're really good listeners and they're professionals. We just need to find you someone who is qualified and specializes in rape and sexual assault. Leaving things alone and not talking about it is just making it feel worst. It helps to talk about those things. I know you've talked to all of us but sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes we have to turn to someone who's much more qualified and trained in this kind of field. Look, we're just doing this because we love you. If we didn't care, then why do you think we're sitting here trying to help you? Why do you think David flew all the way over here in the middle of the night just to be with you? Mom, please... if not for you, do it for us. I'm sure everything will be ok."
"I just want everyone to be there, even Elijah. Every time I talk to Elijah, he just doesn't wanna get into it because he's so angry."
"And who can blame him?" David asked. "We're all angry at this guy but Elijah just hasn't handled it so well."
"Mom, we're right behind you no matter what. We'll all go with you when you go see someone about this, even Elijah, ok? I'll go over there and physically grab him by the hair and drag him over if I have to!"
The door was knocking then David offered to answer. He went to answer then there was Elijah. "Hey, Elijah."
"Hi, David. Is Mom still home?"
"Oh, yeah and your sister's with her in the dining room. Come in here." Elijah came in and David follwed him in the dining room. "We've been trying to convince your mom to see someone. She's been bad off and we want her to see someone. Hopefully, having her whole family here will help."
"I'm sorry I haven't been here lately. I was just so upset with what that guy did to Mom. I'm not upset with Mom, though."
"That's good. At least you finally came."
"How's your head?"
"Oh, it's much better. Nothing to it."
Elijah stopped, facing David. "David, um... I'm sorry. I'm sorry about throwing you down at the table. I got insane and didn't know how to handle it. It took me a long time to calm down."
"It's ok, Elijah. Come on, let's see your mom."
They walked into the dining room where Chas and Cher were. "Oh, hi, Elijah," Cher said to her son.
"Hi, Mom. I hear that they're trying to get you to get some help. I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. I should've been around but I haven't. I just got really upset. I'm not angry at you, Mom."
"I know, Elijah."
"Mom, why don't you do yourself a favor and at least let someone help you."
Cher sighed. "I don't know, Elijah. I'd like to do something but I'm just scared."
Elijah started heading for the seat David was sitting in then hestitated. "Oh, go ahead. I'll just sit here," David told him, pulling up another chair by Elijah when Elijah took David's seat.
"Scared of what?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know. About talking about it, I guess. I don't think I can go through with that."
"You might not have to. You gotta do something, Mom."
"He's right, Mom," Chas told their mother. "You can't keep on living like this. We're always going to be there, no matter what. We'll go with you when you see that counselor. I'm sure Elijah will go with us."
"You can count on that," Elijah told them.
Cher paused with a sigh. She sat there for a minute then got up to walk into the kitchen. Her children and David followed along with her then Cher pulled up the yellow pages.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Chas asked.
"Calling to make an appointment with a counselor. I'm sure I can find one around in here that deals with sexual abuse." Cher's children and David looked on with pride then Cher turned the pages. She sighed when she found one place. "Oh, goodness, I hate reading the phone numbers and dialing. There's so many 4's in there. I guess dyslexia comes with that."
"Here, Mom, let me help you," Chas started going forward towards her til Elijah stopped her.
"No, wait, Chas. I haven't been around or there for Mom much. I'll help her." He went to the yellow pages where Cher pointed a number out for him then Elijah dialed the number for her and handed her the phone. She made the phone call then hung up with a sigh.
"I have an appointment on Monday at 9:30." Everyone applauded and hugged her for making the appointment then they went though the weekend before they went with Cher to her appointment.

Cher's name was called by a woman then Cher came to the woman doctor. "Um, would it be okay if I brought my family in with me?"
"Of course," the woman nodded with a grin. David and her children went into the doctor's office with her and stayed for the entire time. When she first got in her office, she feared that she would have to talk about what happened. The woman counselor assured her that she would not make Cher talk about anything she didn't want to do then at the end, she suggested that Cher would also participate in a support group to discuss her experience with other women about what happened to her.

For weeks, Cher found it difficult to recover but she was improving emotionally and David often came to the support group with her. One afternoon, Cher and David were outside in the balcony at Cher's home while Chas was over and inside the house. The phone rang then Chas yelled out that she'd get the phone. A minute later, she came to see Cher. "Mom... that was the police. They want you to come in for a line-up. The police need you to come down to identify the man who attacked you. So far, they've made a few arrests in this case but they need you to identify him."
Cher stood there, froze. "What? They want me to go down there and see the man?"
"If he's there. The police's sure they got him but they need you to identify him."
Cher sighed. "Oh, my god. No, Chas. No, I can't do it. I cannot go through with it."
"Why not? Cher, this is your chance to help them catch the guy who did it," David said.
"And what if the guy who did it isn't there?"
"He might be there. You just need to go there and pick him out."
Cher could feel tears coming to her eyes. "No, David. No, I can't do this."
"Cher, you are just getting better now but I really think that if you help the police catch this guy and arrest him, it will help you a lot. It will probably help a lot of women out there. You gotta find some ways to recover and I know you're going to feel a lot better knowing that this guy is being put away. You'll be more safer now."
"Why? So you can go back home? If you wanna go back home, then go!"
"Cher, I'm here because I care about you. I'm not here just to be sure you're safe. I love you and I wanted to be with you, that's why I'm here. How do you think you're going to feel if you don't go to the police and help them arrest this man?"
Cher paused then moved over to the other side of the balcony.
"Mom, I have the police on hold. What do you want me to tell them?" Chas asked.
Cher waited another minute again then started heading for the door to get in the house. "Tell them we'll be there in 20 minutes. I'm gonna go change my shoes."

With that, Chas went back into the house to tell the police they were on the way. Cher got to the police station and the police let David and Chas in the back with her while she almost immediately identified the man who attacked her. A week after the police called Cher and told her they've arrested the suspect after he confessed, David was about to leave town to go back to his hometown. They were up in Cher's room just talking then Cher admitted to him that she loved him. David responded the same way then Cher took him in for a kiss. She put her arms around him then led him over to her bed. They made out for a few minutes then David could feel Cher's hands down his waist. David looked at her. "Cher... are you sure you want to do this? We don't have to."
Cher nodded. "I really want to. We just have to go really slow and gentle."
"I'll be gentle."
Cher proceed with unbuckling his pants then hers. That evening, they slept together in Cher's bed then David returned back home the next day.