Come clean

John didn't sleep well.

He knew that soon he wasn't going to be able to implant ideas into Veronica's brain anymore. That was only right. He couldn't deny her a cure to her disease.

They were also going to removed all of the suggestions he had planted into him. Those suggestions were... he looked at her sleeping beside him... everything.

She was going to learn that constantly sucking his cock was just an idea he came up with for his own amusement. There was only one way she could possibly react. At best, he'd never hear from her again.

He made a decision. His fate was still his to decide.

In the morning, he was sitting at the kitchen table when she woke up. He had been there for a while.

"You look like crap," she informed him.

He said heavily, "Veronica, I need to talk to you." She sat down, confused and concerned.

He took a deep breath, "I haven't always been... honest with you. I promised to protect you and I didn't always."

He paused but then continued, "I could have handled your stress without... all the sex stuff." He looked at her with tears forming in his eyes. He choked out, "I'm so sorry, Ronnie."

Veronica took a moment while this settled in her mind. To John's surprise, she smiled. He had no idea how to respond, so he watched her nervously, trying to keep his coffee down as she used this new understanding to think about the world.

She finally responded softly, "come here." She walked to the second bedroom that Sabrina and Haley had been sharing. John followed, completely confused.

She took a bag that out from under the bed. It had carried her clothes into the apartment when she first moved in with John. She unzipped a little side pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper that looked like it had been pulled out and put back many times. "I wrote it the first night I was here. I knew I had to do whatever I could to keep myself safe."

She handed him the note.

This note is from you in the past. John will keep you safe. He's probably going to use AGS to fuck your brains out, but he'll be nice about it. You were waiting for your chance to jump him anyway, so enjoy the ride. Everything's okay as long as you're happy.

Below that in a different pen, written very carefully,

You may not believe what is written here, but it's important. John has promised to keep you safe and make sure you're happy. If you're not happy, or you feel unsafe, or this note doesn't make sense, get out and look for help with someone else you can trust. Here are some people that might be able to help...

Below were some names, addresses, and phone numbers. John recognized them as Veronica's friends and family.

She filled the silence by explaining, "I knew I couldn't trust my own thoughts, so I wrote this. I added the second part after I realized I didn't believe stuff written down. I thought that maybe it would be enough if I needed it."

He stared at her, completely unable to respond.

She said softly, "every time you went out, I checked it to make sure it still made sense." She looked at John with tears in her eyes, "it always did. This note was the only thing I could trust... and you."

John tried to understand what he was seeing. He stared at her, then back at the piece of paper, then to her again. "Ronnie... you knew?" He pointed at "fuck your brains out" on the note.

"I told you, I have AGS, I'm not stupid. You've been looking at my tits since before there was anything there to look at."

He involuntarily looked at her tits. "But," he managed to cling to reality enough to ask, "why didn't you go to," he looked at the list of contacts she had written for herself and stabbed at the paper with his finger, "Jess?"

She sighed, "Jess is so bad with money. I worried she'd want a purse or something and pimp me out."

He sputtered, "but she wouldn't... would she?"

"I don't think so, but I wasn't sure. I knew you'd keep me safe."

He was hanging on by a thread, "but," he pointed at the note again, "jump him?"

She laughed at his confusion. "I started thinking about us a while ago, but you were dating that slut."

He wanted to defend himself, but the evidence was clear. Veronica knew the story as well as he did.

"Then you broke up with her, but I didn't want to be the rebound chick so I was waiting for you to get over her. Then," she gestured at her own head, "all this."

John brought his hands to his head and massaged his temples. He eventually managed, "you came to me so I'd fuck you?"

"No, but I remember trying to decide who I trusted more than anyone else. Who would care about me? Who would make sure I was okay? That's why I came here. Then that night, I wrote the note."

"I need to sit down." He sat heavily on the bed.

Veronica sat next to him. As he tried to figure out his own reality, he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.

After an eternity, she interrupted his thoughts, "wait... all the sex stuff?" She paused. He was sure she had finally pieced things together. She was definitely going to slap him and storm out.

Instead she chuckled and observed, "with Sabrina and Haley too."

He looked at her, confusion intensifying.

She shook her head and chuckled, "I never would have had the guts to try it."

His expression didn't change.

She added, "girls are fun."

Without thinking, he agreed, "yeah they are."