ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴

♛♛♛

~~~

"Liana!" She called, racing up the staircase, almost tripping up the last step.

Her steps halted just outside her sister's room, knocking twice before she entered.

After waiting a few moments, Liana hadn't responded. Hazel frowned and abruptly entered the room, expecting to find Liana asleep or listening to music quietly.

Instead, the room was empty. She trailed her eyes towards the walk-in bathroom just across from her bed.

She's showering.

"Liana," Hazel called softly behind the door, knocking twice again. "I'm ready to go when you are? Just don't take too long, the movie starts in twenty minutes—minus the credits." She mumbled the last part.

When no answer came, Hazel became a little worried.

Hazel went to turn the knob, also expecting it to be locked. It wasn't.

She closed her eyes and opened the door, not wanting to walk in on her sister naked yet she wanted to make sure she hadn't fallen or hurt herself.

"Liana?" She whispered again, eyes still closed.

No reply came again.

Now Hazel was worried, and she had to open her eyes. The two took baths together when they were younger, it wasn't any different now.

Amongst those thoughts, Hazel opened her eyes and regretted her decision with her entire life.

A blood-curling scream left the frightened girls mouth at the sight in front of her.

~~~

"Hazel!"

She shot up from her bed, eyes wide and scared, body cold with sweat.

Her heart was beating at an abnormal pace, her head was spinning with memories she had buried long ago. It was shocking she had another one of those dreams again, she hadn't had one in a fairly long time.

Banging on her bedroom door snapped her out of the daze she was paralysed in.

"Open the door, Hazel!" Her mother slurred behind her bedroom door, openly pounding her fists against it.

Looking at her digital clock, she almost groaned looking at the 3:16 a.m time frame. It was way too late or early, she should say, to be dealing with any of this fiasco with her parents.

"Liana," Her mother said much more weakly, sadly. Hazel's heart lurched at the sound of her older sisters name. She hadn't heard her name be said in months.

For once, Hazel ignored her mother's pleas. Instead, she stuck her earphones into her ears and began playing music.

As the music flowed freely through her veins, every sound from the world around her faded away.

The best she could do in this scenario was ignore what was going on outside her door, and for once, Hazel had opted to put herself first.

♛♛♛

Every step she walked felt as though it would cause the ground to open up around her.

Coming to school the next day felt exactly like that. Her gaze scanned the room for the man she was afraid she'd see. Julius had told her that he would no longer be there and that he had taken him away.

Thankfully, it appeared that no one else knew about the incident except her and her only three friends. Everything was the same, no one didn't pay a glance at her.

As she entered the building, Hazel exhaled through her mouth as she passed through a few of the offices. It was considerably quieter inside, which Hazel enjoyed while she was in her present unsteady state.

"Hazel?"

The girl jumped on her feet, strap bags tightening around her fists as she turns to the voice.

Percy stood behind her, hands in his pockets with his usual scowl pursed around his features. She let out another breath realising it was just him.

"Hi," She said uncertainly, shuffling on her feet as she took a single step towards him. Percy frowned at her.

"What's wrong?" Percy immediately realised she was off straight away. The lack of a smile and more panic framing her eyes was the indifference between what he knew of the girl.

Puffing her cheeks with air, Hazel looked to the side and locked her eyes in towards one of the office doors. She noticed a dark figure moving behind the foggy glass and another moving in front of it.

"Hazel," Percy repeated again, and she snapped out of her daze and returned his stare.

Percy was getting closer, and his frown had changed to a worried expression while still maintaining his hard demeanour. Percy tried to figure out what was wrong with the girl with narrowed green eyes and furrowed dark eyebrows.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it to lunch yesterday. I wasn't feeling too well, so I had the day off."

Percy leaned back slightly, shoulders high as he took a deep breath in from his nose and looked to the side.

"It's alright." He returned her stare and shook his head, his gaze falling to the ground. "We can eat lunch again today if you want. And then maybe you can tell what's going on?" He looked up, raising a brow at her with a look that says "You better tell me what's bothering you or I'm never offering you my gummy bears again".

With another sigh, she nodded and agreed.

Before anything else could be said, the same office door that Hazel had been peering through slammed open with a resounding thud.

A large, muscular male strode right through, his head down and his phone to his ear. He wore a look on his face that represented murder.

But before Hazel could register it, he still hadn't noticed Hazel or Percy—who was quite visible in his direction due to his height.

"Julius?" Hazel called out before the man could tread on her like some ant. He came to a complete halt and looked up, their eyes connecting for a brief moment before bouncing to Percy beside her.

Suddenly, his murderous expression had suddenly transformed into a killer. His icy eyes pierced straight through Percy's green ones until Percy looked away and glanced down at his shoes.

"Juls?" Hazel murmured, sensing Julius's rage. Julius then hung up on the person and tossed his phone into his pocket before continuing to take a step towards Hazel.

He offered a quick nod to the side, which drew Hazel's attention to the fact that it was yet another unisex single bathroom. She frowned but agreed nonetheless.

"I'll see you at lunch Percy." Hazel gave him a light smile, seeming to now muster the courage to do so. Percy gave her a nod, then turned toward Julius with another.

"Boss." He muttered and then walked away with his head down.

Hazel frowned immediately confused. "Boss?" She looked up at Julius who started opening the bathroom door. "He works for you as well?"

Julius closed the door behind them both, ignoring her question as she goes to take a seat on top of the toilet lid.

"How are you feeling?" He leant against the door, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sighing, she looked down at her air forces and shrugged halfheartedly. "I'm anxious."

Slowly, it became silent and only the sounds from outside the room were heard. Julius came forward, his shoes coming into her sight.

His hand came under her chin, something she's now realised he liked to do. Tilting her head up to meet his, their eyes connect.

"Stand." He said, demanding.

Hazel chewed on her bottom lip but did as told. His hand travelled down her neck, stopping at a bruise between her collarbone and shoulder. Lightly, he ran his thumb over it and returned his gaze to hers.

That hand moved to the back of her neck, wrapping itself around her hair and gently encouraging her to come closer. She smiled knowingly and went in for the biggest hug of her life.

Oh, how she loved his hugs.

Those same butterflies came by, stopping and staying for a while. Fluttering and bugging her stomach.

"He won't be coming back." He assured in a dark tone. Hazel took a deep breath in and held it for a second. "You're sure, Julius?"

She tilted her head back from his chest, her eyes meeting his and he nods, and somehow it was enough for her.

Julius travels his gaze to her curtain bangs covering the sides of her face. Softly, he pushes one side of her hair away from her face and continued to trail that hand behind her ear.

Hazel closed her eyes and leant into his touch, not even realising she was doing so. Every time he touched her, it made her feel complete almost. It was addicting and lively.

The man's gaze went from her closed eyes to her bare neck. A simple bruise between her collar and shoulder surrounded by soft, pale skin.

Her skin appeared to be so bare and untouched that it drove him nearly insane to consider the possible ruin to her innocence.

His two fingers ran beneath the line of her collarbone before releasing it as if it had never been there. Though the burning touch he left was enough to prove it.

She reopened her eyes, sensing his movement. When she reopened them, she was surprised to see Julius now holding a silver piece of jewellery.

"Hold up your hair for me." He said in a lower tone.

Obeying, she watched his hands travel to the back of her neck, easily clasping the necklace and letting the cool jewellery touch her skin.

Red hair was released and her eyes and body had somewhat turned in the direction of the mirror. Taking a step forward, her hand reached to touch the pendant of the necklace.

Showcasing a silver Rose pendant, hanging loosely from the silver chain. Ironically, she smiled down at it, thinking what a coincidence it was because of the red Rose she gave him last night.

Though, if you looked close enough, along the stem the initials 'J.S' were aligned over it in a deep green colour.

"It's protection." Julius met her gaze in the mirror, his body towered over hers from behind, the height difference incredibly noticeable.

Directly, her head met just above his waist, which displayed the immediate height difference between the two. But, amongst everything, she liked it.

It made her feel smaller than she was, although she felt as if he were a big teddy bear compared to her.

"I love it." She replied, smiling at him through the mirror while clutching onto the pendant. "But," She started with a frown, slowly turning around to face him.

"What do you mean by protection?"

Hazel watched him push his hair back, only for the dark mess to fall back into his place—directly over his forehead.

Julius licked his lips quickly and leant back against the wall. "So no one harms you again, Hazel. They see my signage and they know not to fuck with it."

Pursing her lips, she rocked back and forth on her feet as she tried to wrap her head around his words. "How will they know it's yours? Is this specifically made for you?"

He stared at her with his grey eyes, never once removing them as he came forward again and right into her personal space.

"I'm very well known in this town and outside of it," He began, his head tilting as he observed her curious state. Julius remained emotionless as ever as he took her rosy cheek in his palm.

"Which means a lot of people know not to mess with me and anything I own." He looped his finger around the necklace and followed the chain up her neck in repetitive motions.

"This necklace represents me. And anyone who comes near you will make sight of it and will know not to damage what's mine."

He looked her in the eyes once more, and this time her eyes twinkled. Something crawled feverishly across her skin as if the profundity of his words had allowed some type of reaction to escape her body.

"The necklace, you mean? They'll know not to hurt me because the necklace belongs to you?"

A smirk curled upon his lips while he released the necklace from his pinky. "Sure." He took a step back to study her appearance.

"You have class now." His shadow was cast over hers. Hazel jolted awake from her trance and immediately realised where she was.

"Right." She breathed out and searched the floor for her bag, which she had no idea had fallen to the ground in the first place.

Picking it up, she hoisted it over her shoulder and came behind Julius who opened up the door. As he did so, two females from her medical class walked by and locked their gazes on the two of them.

They were speechless as they stared at Hazel and then Julius. She despised all forms of attention, thus their gazes were just contributing to weakening Hazel's self-assurance.

Julius looked across at the girls, as if realising, and sent his usual deadly stare glare bullets into their souls.

Immediately, they gasped and looked away, strutting off in whispers and stumbles. Hazel breathed a sigh and came in front of Julius.

"When will I see you next?" She tilted her head to the side while glancing over his arm tattoos.

Memories from the night before came through. She had fallen asleep at the beautiful meadow he took her to, and then magically ended up in her bed later that night.

"When do you want to see me next?" He rose a brow, hands effectively moving into his pockets. She smiled a little and shrugged.

"Well, I know you're busy with work but did you want to get dinner with me after I finish work?"

Hazel looked up at him hopefully, like she always did when she asked him to hang out. "Tomorrow night at 7? I'm at the clinic for a few hours and get off then."

"Of course, if you're busy don't worry—

Julius nodded once, stopping her rambling. "I'll pick you up." He stated, bringing one hand out of his pocket as he held up his arm loosely, motioning for a hug.

Grinning, she nodded and wrapped her arms around him as her life depended on it. "I'll see you tomorrow Juls."

Julius clenched his jaw harshly, the hidden emotions that threatened to spill from his soulless soul was bound to unravel anytime soon with her softening words.

"You call me if anything happens, yes Hazel?" He made her look at him, his hand directing her chin up.

"Promise." She smiled and held up her crossed fingers.

Stepping back, she gripped onto her bag straps and turned around.

As she headed to her class, she felt his eyes burning holes into her back, though Hazel never looked back.

Not once.

♛♛♛

Percy took a seat across from her, his body slumped down in the seat and his black bag slumped down next to him.

"Hi, Percy." She smiled at him softly, obviously in a much better mood than this morning.

He grabbed his usual packet of gummy bears and tossed a few into his mouth before offering the girl some like last time.

But this time, she declined. Hazel has her fruit bowl, it definitely wouldn't go together in her mind nor would it fit well with her stomach.

"You know Julius Santo?" He asked her nonchalantly, gaze lingering around her features for any sign of hesitation.

"Yes, he's my best friend." She said nearly proudly. Though the thought of calling him something else ran through her mind and she almost slammed her head against the table because of it.

Percy looked at her in surprise. He was surely not expecting that answer. Julius didn't have friends. He had enemies and lots of them. And Julius surely would never let a girl like Hazel befriend him.

"It's only new." Hazel rushed out to say when she saw the weird expression on Percy's face. "Julius and I have only known each other for a month or so now."

Percy nodded slowly. He was not expecting this.

"And you work for him?" Hazel asked Percy, seemingly trying to take the topic off her and him.

"Yes," Percy answered only meekly. He leant forward and crossed his arms over the table. "So, you know what we do? Our job?"

Hazel nodded and smiled. "Julius told me he owns multiple companies, businesses. He's a businessman?" Percy's eyes widened and he nodded numerous times only thinking how much shit he would've been in if he had said they kill people for a living.

It was obvious that Julius wants this hidden. If Percy were the one to have spilt the beans he definitely wouldn't be living another hour of his life.

"Yes, he is. We are." He cleared his throat right after he spoke. Retreating into his seat he looked to the side. "Are you working anytime soon? My brother needs another checkup, says he's been getting aches."

Hazel nodded while covering her mouth from all the fruit she just shoved inside. After swallowing, she replied. "Yes, I'm at the clinic tomorrow afternoon."

"Alright. I'll bring him down."

She nodded and continued to devour her fruit.

♛♛♛

Sighing, Hazel began to clean up the mess her parents had made the night before.

Dishes were stained dirty in the kitchen sink, papers and other things were scattered along the kitchen counter. The floors were dirty, filled with their dirty shoe marks and crumbles of food scattered along the ground.

Hazel needed to study. She had many exams coming up and it was bound to leave her in a hole full of unfinished debt. It was a necessity that she studied, but she couldn't leave the house like this.

So, she rinsed the dishes and tossed them into the dishwasher. Proceeding to wipe the table clean and stack all papers into one pile on the dining table.

She vacuumed, mopped, then fixed the spacing around the house. Once she was satisfied, she smiled and nodded in approval.

Hazel went to shower, changing into a pair of her penguin PJs she had bought from the aquarium souvenir shop. It was a pair of soft pyjama pants with little penguins scattered all along, and a matching tank top to go with it.

After doing her nightly routine, she gathered her books and other equipment to start her long night of studying.

On the way home from school, Hazel had picked up a chocolate bar from, of course, her favourite chocolate store. Scarlett was the one working in the shop today and she made it her mission to devour Hazel in so many hugs and kisses.

She had told her to come to theirs for dinner tonight, though Hazel knew well enough she wouldn't be able to study when she got home, so she declined the tempting offer.

Sticking in her earbuds, Hazel shoved a thick piece of chocolate into her mouth and began her work.

♛♛♛

"Hazel." Her father called from the kitchen.

She turned towards him slowly, her fingertips breaking apart the chocolate chips from her muffin. "Yes?"

He sat up straighter, clearing his throat as he sat his mobile phone down on the table in front of him.

"What time are you working until tonight? Aunt Jane wants us to come with her for dinner tonight."

Hazels heart sunk and she figured if she should lie about her plans tonight. Maybe lie and say she was working late so she wouldn't be able to make it.

"I'm working late tonight." She blurted out, her muffin in her hand was easily becoming her anxiety ball and quickly, she tossed it into the bin before she could make a mess of it.

"What time?" He asked more sternly.