I had told my dad about the days I was bullied in school. He almost cried because I was crying. I told him on how I met Marcus, how he helped and basically everything else.

He also asked how long had Marcus been sleeping in the house and I lied to him and told him since Monday. He then said,"Okay sweet Heart." he sighed. "You two didn't do anything did you?" He stood up and stretched.

"I- uh... when you say anything, what do you mean?" I asked, getting nevrous.

Dad paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "All I need is a nap," he murmured to himself. "That's it. A nap." He went to his bedroom, not saying anything to me.

I closed the door behind him and locked my bedroom door. I sighed and then stared at the ceiling.

I heard knocking on my window which made me jump in fright. I slowly looked at the window and stood up.

I saw a figure with a unicorn horn and I smiled, my thoughts saying it's Marcus. I slid the window open and Marcus climbed in cautiously.

"Marcus," I whispered with a smile on my face. "My dad is literally--"

"I know, but he is probably asleep. Wasn't he complaining that he didn't get enough sleep?" Marcus said and slid the curtains closed, making the room dark.

"Where is the gang?" I asked and got into bed again.

"They left an hour ago," Marcus said and I opened my mouth to ask him had he been waiting outside my window the whole time.

"I was waiting outside your window, liking your Instagram pictures and commenting on them," he said. "And I also DMed the guys who DMed you to leave you alone or I was going to kill them."

I nodded,"Okay."

Marcus sat on the bed as I undressed to wear my pyjamas. I went back to bed and cuddled up to Marcus. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

I could sense Marcus staring at me, and it was uncomfortable. I slowly opened my eyes and saw him staring at me. He smiled and I rolled my eyes.

"I can't sleep when I know someone is staring at me," I whispered, slightly glaring at him.

"I know..." he sighed. "But it's just you look beautiful when you're asleep."

"But I wasn't asleep," I corrected.

Marcus stared at me for five seconds before saying,"I love you."

I chuckled and shook my head, closing my eyes. "I love me too."

Wearing a red hoodie and sneakers, I went back to the bathroom. I applied red lipstick too. Marcus videocalled me and I answered, placing my phone against the mirror.

I saw Marcus, holding the phone down. "Yeah, iced coffee or tea?" he asked.

It was morning and I was getting ready for Marcus to pick me up for school. He was videocalling me from the café and asked me what I wanted to order. I sang along to a song that played from my speaker.

"Coffee or tea?" Marcus repeated, when I hadn't replied to him.

"Coffee," I replied, looking at him.

"Coffee," Marcus repeated to the barista, probably.

We both sang the chorus to ourselves while I stared at reflection and Marcus was waiting for his order.

"I'm done," I said. "Just going to wait for you now..." I sighed dramatically, looking back at the mirror and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Ooh, baby. You look sexy," Marcus said and I laughed.

"All for you." I winked and Marcus quickly swiped his tongue over his bottom lip.

"This time you woke up at the ass crack of dawn," Marcus said and I narrowed my eyes at him. "The boys went to the house in the woods after your dad kicked us out."

"And my dad finished Xavier's cake," I said and Marcus chuckled. "He also admitted that it's better than mom's baking. I shouldn't tell anyone but..."

"You love me so much that you figured you should tell me?" Marcus said, slowly smiling.

"Of course." I chuckled. "Dad said he wouldn't mind Xavier baking for him."

"Sure, I'll tell Xavier that." Marcus smiled. "Okay, I'll be there in ten. I love you."

"I love you too." I then hung up. I took my phone and turned down the speaker. I took my backpack from my bedroom and descended the stairs and saw my dad watching TV.

"Morning dad," I greeted with a warm smile. Dad turned to me and smiled. He had a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Morning sweet Heart." I hugged him and he hugged back. "Say, when are Alyson and Sydney coming back?"

"Tomorrow," I replied. "I miss them and all but Alyson is going go be a pain." Dad chuckled but said nothing, he was still focusing on the TV. I nodded to myself,"Well... I'll see you later."

I walked to the front door. "Don't you want a ride to school?" he asked and I shook my head.

"It's okay, bye dad," I said, without mentioning that Marcus was going to give me a ride to school.

When James had said I could go. I knew he didn't mean it.

And I was right.

Now here I was cuffed to a fucking wall, my body weak as hell, my stomach growling every ten minutes because of hunger and my skin covered in sweat.

I used my free hand to run my fingers through my dirty hair I hadn't washed in days. The door opened and my eyes widened in surprise, hoping it was James.

"James?" I said and the figure shook his head.

"He is not in the mood to see you," the guy said.

I furrowed my eyebrows,"Wait, who are you?" The figure walked closer to me until I recognized his face. "Jason." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not in the mood to see you," I said through gritted teeth.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Jason slowly said with a stupid smile on his face I wanted to badly punch away. "I wouldn't be cheeky in your condition."

"Why... are you here again?" I asked.

"For fun, I like seeing you like this," Jason said. "It makes me feel... powerful."

"That's sad," I said sarcastically and looked away from him.

"Anyway... Alyssa's dad came back from his business trip," Jason said and it was silence.

I looked at him and raised my eyebrow,"What the fuck does that have to do with me?"

"Mm." Jason shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just telling you."

"I don't care." I avoided eye contact with Jason.

Jason continued,"So this means Alyssa won't be around Marcus 24/7. Awesome right? Maybe, when she's walking home, we can make a move on her."

Out of sight, I clenched my fists tightly then I nodded,"Are you finished yet?"

"I'm then going to bring her to James. Who knows what he is going to do to her? Probably ship her to some other dude or something," Jason said.

"I don't fucking care," I repeated, my heart aching all of a sudden.

My eyes met his and he searched them with his. His lips slowly tugged up into an evil smile,"You... care about her. Don't you?"

I paused, what he said sinking in. I let out a loud laugh,"You have lost your fucking mind, Jason."

Jason shook his head,"No, no. You... care about her. I can see it in your eyes."

I laughed again,"You're not a psychic or a mind reader or whatever--"

"Trick," he said seriously and raised his eyebrow.

I stopped laughing,"Are you serious? Jason, if James let me free, I would bring her here."

"Trick, you had many chances to bring her here. The day you brought her to the woods. You both were alone in the dark, almost in the middle of the woods. Why didn't you make your move then?" Jason said and made me stop smiling. "You kissed her, is that right? Because you liked her?"

"Jason, you know that I was pretending to like her so I could get her to trust me." I clenched my jaw staring at him.

"Trick, today is the day that James and his gang take Alyssa. She's at the café as we speak with the gang spying on her," Jason said with smile as looked away, feeling anger build up inside me. "And Marcus isn't with her."

I looked at Jason, my eyes widened in surprise and my eyebrows knitted together. "No," I whispered.

Jason stared at me before he smirked, "Gotcha."

"Just... leave, Jason." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I knew you liked her," Jason said. "And for that... I'm going to make sure she suffers."

I glared back at him,"When I get out of here, Jason. I'm going to fucking kill you."

Jason chuckled,"Ooh, I'm so scared." He turned and walked away. I stared after him, as I clenched my fists.

Jason got me, I admitted that I had cared for Alyssa. Only a little... since the time at the woods with her.

I just didn't want her to get hurt.

I gently tugged the cuffs and sighed.

If only Alyssa knew how much danger she was in.

The bell rang for the end of the school day, and everyone jumped up and left the class including me.

I searched for Marcus outside the school building. I couldn't see his car in the parking lot so I got a bit worried. I sighed after waiting about 10 minutes for him and decided to walk home, to aunt's since it was closer.

As I started walking I noticed an unfamiliar car driving beside and I furrowed my eyebrows.

Wait... I knew that car. It was the same car with the strange man in it.

I rolled my eyes and walked faster. "Alyssa! Wait up," Cameron's voice said and I paused and turned around, seeing Cameron and Xavier.

Suddenly, the car drove away quickly. I smiled at Cameron and Xavier, waving back at them.

"Hi," I said and hugged both of them.

"Hey," Xavier said. "Do you know why that car was driving slowly next to you?"

I shook my head,"I really don't. But I'm glad you guys came." We started walking to the direction of my aunt's house. "Where's Marcus?"

"He left during the school day to return home since his mom called," Cameron replied.

"Do you know why?" I asked.

"No," they both replied.

We arrived at my aunt's house and the boys were confused. "Who's house is this?" Cameron asked.

"My aunt's. She doesn't know you guys and you might scare her," I said. "So I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," they said as they left. I entered my aunt's house and shut the door behind me. "Aunt Nora!" I sang.

Stanley walked into the room and I smiled at him. "Hey uncle Stanley," I greeted with a warm smile.

"Alyssa," he said. "Nice to see you. If you're looking for your aunt, she's upstairs."

"Thanks," I want upstairs and got into my aunt's bedroom. I saw her staring at two pictutes in her hands. She turned to me and smiled.

"Sweet Heart," she said slightly distracted, still seeming to be staring at the two pictures.

"Aunt, what are you--"

"Alyssa, which one do you like best?" she interrupted.

"Like what best? Between favourite hoodies?" I joked.

"What? No," she narrowed her eyes. "Stanley and I are choosing to get married in this huge ballroom but I don't know which one I like best."

I sat on the bed beside her and looked at the pictures. "Nora, they look exactly the same," I said with a smile.

"Of course not, the one on the right is slightly bigger than the other. But the one of the left is more... uhm..." Aunt Nora trailed off. "Should I go with the bigger one?"

"They look the same to me but if you're struggling, just ask Stanley for help," I said.

Aunt sighed,"I should've done that 35 minutes ago."