Hah. Yeah. Well it's like the way people will classify a thirteen-year-old girl getting drugged and raped by a man as "not rape rape," just because she didn't end up with any bruises. People have a lot simpler time understanding the wrongness if the victim ends up in the hospital. /Roman-Polanski-related bitterness.

Anyway, I think you've hit the nail on the head, is what I was trying to say. Dean doesn't bother to actually get inside Sammy's head, and so it's entirely possible that he's just made himself into a rapist, without even having any idea of it. Does that make him any less guilty? How many people have been hurt because some idiot didn't check to make sure that everyone else was having as good a time as they were?

I'm really glad you enjoyed this story, and in case you couldn't tell, I was thrilled by your comment, which was so thoughtful it gave me a billion thinky thoughts, too. Thank you very much!