Berkley sat at the kitchen island eating a bowl of cereal when Dean walked in shirtless wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants low on his hips where the elastic band of his underwear showed a little.

She didn't even lift up her head to look at him. She couldn't remember ever being this mad at him before.

He grabbed the Cheerios out and poured himself a bowl and poured some milk.

"Did you have any nightmares last night?" he asked.

She had. She had woken up three times last night and hardly got any sleep but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing she couldn't prevent the nightmares without him. She stared straight ahead, stone faced and silent.

"Ahhh. You're giving me the old silent treatment huh? Very mature," he said, plopping down onto the bar stool next to her and taking a bite of his cereal.

She stared straight ahead and didn't even acknowledge what he said, aggressively taking another bite and chewing.

"Fine. Then with you being quiet, this is the perfect opportunity to tell you the rest of what happened that you didn't give me the chance to tell you last night. Not only did Zander say he was saying and doing all the sappy bullshit he could just to get in your pants, he also said you were nothing special. He said hot chicks like you are a dime a dozen."

She bristled at his words but she still didn't say anything.

"If you've seen one you've seen 'em all. He said he's not ready to be tied down to you. This guy's not looking for a relationship. He wants to just bang you and run off Berkley. You deserve better than that. Please don't have your first time with that asshole."

She turned her head and glared at him.

"What if he did say all of that? What about all the messed up shit Sydney said to me over the years? She was literally the spawn of Satan and that didn't stop you from losing your virginity with her, did it? You call Zander an asshole but Sydney has him beat by a mile. Plus that's the kind of shit you've said about women a million times Dean? Yet you're going to sit here and judge Zander for saying the same shit you do?"

She could tell he was at a loss for words.

"Exactly. You have nothing to say to that because you know I'm right."

She turned back to her cereal and took another bite and chewed it aggressively, looking forward and feeling her anger and frustration bubbling up.

He sat there next to her and was silent for a minute.

Finally he said, "You're right. Sydney was a bitch and you were right about her the whole time and I've been an ass and used women just for sex but the difference is, I didn't lie to them about my intentions. I was honest right up front and they knew I didn't want anything serious. That's the difference between me and Zander. But this isn't about me, or Sydney. This is about you and Zander."

She nodded her head. "You're right. This isn't about you. This is about me and Zander but you put yourself into it."

"I tried to stay out of it this time Berk. I really did, but the way he was disrespecting you and saying you were nothing special pissed me off so fucking bad I wanted to kick his ass right there in front of my Professor and everybody. The only reason I didn't is because I knew how pissed you'd be if I broke my promise not to scare him off. This was the best alternative I could come up with on such short notice."

"Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to kick Sydney's ass? Especially after she bragged to the whole school about how good you were in bed and how big your dick was like you were just a piece of meat. I hated that bitch and she didn't deserve you. It took all my self control not to rip her hair out but I stayed out of it. Why can't you do that for me?"

He was silent for a second, thinking before he finally looked down, shaking his head. "Honestly, I don't know," he said quietly.

"You know, the first time you ran a guy off I liked, I thought, oh it's sweet. He cares about me and he's trying to protect me. Then after the millionth time it got really old and I've asked you to stop I don't even know how many times. I told you I can take care of myself Dean."

"I know you can. I just," he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I just can't help it. I feel protective over you."

She sat there thinking in silence for a minute. "I still can't believe you're the reason Blake hooked up with Skye Evans. I just can't believe you'd do that to me Dean. Do you have any idea how bad that hurt me?"

Dean sat there, looking down at his cereal and not answering.

All of a sudden her eyes started to burn with tears. "I really liked him," she said, with her lip starting to tremble. "A lot."

"I know you did Berk but I figured it was better for you to find out he was a cheater before you fell in love with the guy and really got your heart broken."

"Or maybe he wouldn't have cheated at all if you didn't set up a trap to tempt him! And you PROMISED not to interfere this time with Zander but instead you just came up with a more creative way to, thinking you wouldn't get caught. You know better than anybody how much I hate being controlled and manipulated, yet you chose to do it anyway and I'm getting so fucking sick of it."

"Well maybe if you'd quit choosing total douchebags I wouldn't have to get involved!"

That's when she realized this was never gonna change. At this rate she was going to be alone and miserable forever.

She took a deep breath in and let it out, sighing in frustration before saying, "You can't help yourself can you?" she sniffled. "Maybe the only way I'm going to finally be able to have a relationship and fall in love and have sex like a normal 19 year old, grown ass woman, is to cut you out of my life for a while," she said, biting back the tears.

"What?" Dean asked, looking stunned. "You would seriously cut me out of your life Berk?"

"I think I have to. I'm tired of being lonely," she said, feeling a tear run down her cheek. "This has been going on for THREE YEARS Dean! I've ignored it and tried to brush it off because you're my best friend but at this point I'm just fed up and frustrated and I can't take it anymore! If the roles were reversed and I had been causing every single girl you ever tried to sleep with to break up with you for three years, how would you feel?" she asked him directly. "Think about that."

He sat there thinking for a minute and hung his head with an exhale. "Yeah you're right. I'd be so pissed I'd probably be ready to cut you out of my life too," and then he looked up at her with sympathy and said, "I'm sorry Berk. I'm not trying to keep you lonely. I'm really not. I just can't stand the thought of watching you get hurt by a douche bag like Zander and not doing anything to stop it. You deserve so much better than him."

She looked down at her cereal, poking it around the bowl with her spoon and said, "Yeah well. Maybe I do deserve better. Maybe he's an asshole that's just using me to get laid and doesn't give a shit about me but at this point I don't even care. Maybe I don't give a shit about him and I'm just using him to get laid too. I'm not a little girl any more Dean. I'm a grown woman and I want to experience being with a man. I'm ready for that and you can't keep holding me back and controlling my life. It's not fair. I would never do that to you," she said sadly.

She got up and started walking away before turning around in the doorway and saying, "Last night before I went to bed I called him and told him I decided he could sleep over on Monday and that I was tired of waiting. I'm having sex with him Monday night Dean and you can't stop me. Not this time," she told him firmly before walking away back upstairs to her room and locking the door behind her.

She curled up in bed and passed out almost instantly since she didn't get much sleep last night because of the nightmares. She was shocked when she woke up and looked at her phone and realized she had been sleeping for 5 hours. She could smell something amazing wafting up from downstairs and heard her stomach growl and realized she was starving.

She got up and got dressed in a pair of high-waisted jeans and a crop top that showed just a sliver of skin and decided to leave her long hair down for once and didn't bother with any makeup. She made her way down to the kitchen where she heard some familiar rock music playing from her favorite band, Three Days Grace. Her and Dean had the same taste in music.

As she got closer to the kitchen the amazing smell got stronger and her mouth watered.

"Is that your famous Italian Grinders I smell?" she called out before she came around the corner and saw Dean over a skillet with steam rising up. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Are you trying to butter me up for something by making my favorite food?" she asked, looking over his shoulder into the pan.

"Yeah I'm trying to butter you up so you won't call me Deanie Weenie ever again," he laughed.

She laughed and smacked his arm.

He was looking down and his smile faded as he exhaled while he was stirring the food. He looked over at her and asked, "Are we cool?"

She thought about that question and she couldn't really give an answer. "I don't know."

He nodded his head as he stirred. "Well thanks for being honest."

"I'm always honest with you. I can't say the same for you though," she said, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. "Not anymore. You always used to be honest with me about everything and I've always felt like I could trust you more than anybody in the world Dean. You've never lied to me before. That's the part that hurts the most. What you did was really sneaky, tricking me into coming here so I couldn't sleep with Zander instead of just telling me the truth and letting me decide on my own. I felt so betrayed and like I lost my trust in the one person on earth I never thought would lose it."

He took a deep breath in and let it out, looking into her eyes before he hung his head with an exhale.

"You're right. I'm sorry about setting up Blake with Skye and for tricking you into coming here this weekend. I should've just told you what I overheard Zander say and trusted you enough to make the right decision. You have no idea how much it kills me that I betrayed your trust but I hope you know that I did it because I thought I was doing what was best for you. I was trying to protect you from them. Blake was a moron and Zander might've saved your life but that doesn't make him a good guy Berk."

She pulled his arm so he would face her and looked up at him.

"Dean. It's not your responsibility to keep me from ever getting hurt. That's all part of dating. I just want you to be there to pick me up and dust me off when I get hurt and tell me what a dumbass I was and I'll learn from it and choose someone better the next time. Can you do that?"

He took another deep breath in and let it out, running a hand through his hair.

"Honestly? I don't know. I don't think I could just stand by knowing you're about to get hurt and not do anything about it. You mean too much to me."

She could tell she wasn't getting through to him. It wasn't sinking in.

"It might be hard at first but you have to Dean. That's just part of being my best friend."

He looked over at her and gave her a pained smile. "I'll keep trying okay? I promise."

She smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you," she said. She turned her face and looked up at him. "You know I still love you right?"

He smiled and rolled his eyes. "I know," he said with an exhale. "I love you too."

"Always," she said.

"Always," he nodded.

She stepped back and sat down at the bar stool and watched him finish cooking her favorite meal. She knew he made it because he felt bad about what he did. He made two plates and sat one down in front of her and sat in the bar stool beside her.

She picked up her Italian Grinder and took a bite, closing her eyes and groaning because it was so amazing. They both sat there eating in silence, enjoying the food too much to talk for a while.

Finally he looked over and asked, "Just answer me this Berk. Are you planning to sleep with Zander on Monday because you really, honestly like him or you know he's a total douchebag and you're just that desperate to lose your virginity?"

She laughed. "Where have you been dude? I was so desperate to lose my virginity I even asked you. I'm just ready for that next stage of my life. I'm a woman now and I want to know what it feels like to be with a man," she sighed in frustration.

He looked down, thinking in silence for a second before asking, "So if I agree to have sex with you, will you promise not to have sex with him?"