I blinked at the cold, gray, metal door in front of me, the lock taunting with its little white numbers against a dark black backdrop. There were noises everywhere, voices speaking to other voices, laughter echoing around the hall, it all sounded like a dull buzz in my ears.

I reached up slowly for the lock, my eyes watching every move my hand made as I slowly spun the black dial.

10...

"...Rose..."

24...

"Rose..."

It took my mind a long while before I realized there was someone leaning against the locker beside me, a gruff male voice trying to breech that buzzing in my ears.

14...

"Rose."

I realized someone was saying my name just as I opened the locker. My brow furrowed as I glanced over at the tall buff boy gazing down at me with narrowed eyes, before glancing back into my locker.

"Hi." I murmured as I pulled my bag from my shoulder and undid the zipper. What did I need? Oh, my History book, and the Science homework, and-

"I've literally called your name half a dozen times. Are you alright?"

I shrugged and cast a confused glance into the metal shelf, what was I missing? "Sorry." I heard myself mumble as I placed the first half of the day's work into my bag.

Rex let out a hard sigh, or at least I thought he did. It was hard to decipher between the noises he was making and the buzzing in my ears-not that I wanted to try.

"It's fine, but we need to talk-Hey! Where are you going?!"

I had zipped up my bag, thrown it over my shoulder, closed the locker and began walking to my next class before his now angry voice shouted after me. I paused when a tight grip suddenly latched onto my upper arm and I glanced down at it with a frown.

"To class?" I answered uncertainly as Rex pulled me off to the side of the hall, student's hurrying by, oblivious to the scene around them.

"I'm trying to talk to you. You can't just walk off!"

I shrugged again, my eyes glancing down the hall. "I have to get to class. Luce says I can't miss anymore-" My words instantly cut off as strong fingers gripped my chin and jerked my face up until a pair of dark chestnut eyes were glaring down at me.

Then something happened, something I'm sure would have made me melt any other day. That hard glare in his eyes instantly disappeared, and the sneer on his face fell away to something I could have only described as concern.

"Oh fuck... What did you do?" His voice was soft, but so beautiful it slipped easily past the dull buzzing in my ear. I shook my head. His voice wasn't beautiful. It was just a voice, and he was just a boy, and-

"What did you take, Rose?"

Large, warm, hands were gripping my face now, that hold on my chin gone as the rough pads of two strong thumbs rubbed softly over my cheekbones. I blinked up at him in a daze, not sure what he was asking, or doing.

"Take?"

There was suddenly a cold metallic-like wall against my back, and a very large, very warm body against my front. And I felt-empty.

"Take. What did you take? I'd recognize diluted, lifeless eyes like that anywhere." There was no harsh malice in his tone, though it did sound gruff and slightly hoarse. "You need to tell me."

I tried to look pass him, the warning bell echoing faintly in my ears. I frowned. I was late for class, Luce was going to be mad.

"Why?"

My eyes flickered back to him as the question slipped past my lips, and the flash of anger sparking in his dark eyes didn't bother me for once.

"So I can fix it."

I shrugged and tried to pull away from him, but his hands dropped to my shoulders and refused to let me move. "Just my medicine." Those dark eyes narrowed, and that hard set in his jaw I was so familiar with resurfaced.

"What medicine?"

I dropped my gaze at that, my forehead wrinkling in confusion as I tried to remember the name. It was really long. "I have it... with me..." I mumbled and he let me away from the lockers long enough to slip my bag from my shoulders. I had packed it just in case I would need more than I took that morning.

I rummaged around the front pocket until my fingers locked around the familiar prescription bottle. I help it up to the boy in front of me, his eyes leaving mine long enough to glance over at the half-empty canister.

Rational me would have never allowed him to see the medicine, to know I took it daily. He didn't need any more of a reason to hate me, to think I was a freak. But empty Rose didn't care who, or what, saw it. He asked what it was so I showed him. It was that simple.

That dark gaze widened at the really long name I couldn't begin to pronounce, and one of his hands left my shoulders to snatch the bottle from my thin fingers. The anger that quickly overtook his once concerned eyes would have surprised me-on any other day.

"How long have you been taking this?" Despite the fury in his locked jaw, his voice was quiet, almost soft even.

"A while."

His teeth ground together, and his hand gripped so tight around the prescription bottle I was surprised it didn't crack. "You take it every day?"

I nodded, it was the only thing I could do. Even numb Rose knew that look in his eyes didn't lead to anything good. He let go of me completely and took a few good steps away, the bottle still clenched in his impossible grasp.

"How many did you take today?"

I glanced down the hall as he fumed a few feet away, the answer wanting to die on my tongue. But I hardly knew better in that moment.

"Four."

This time the bottle actually did crack in his grip as his hand squeezed it viciously, one long rift in the plastic straight down its side. Rex was mad.

But he didn't say anything, only shoved the now-cracked prescription bottle into his jacket pocket, tossed his bag over his shoulder then wrapped that large hand tightly around my wrist. He was dragging me down the hall before my dull senses could register anything else.

"Where... are we going?" I asked slowly as that tight, but not painful, grip on my wrist urged me down the empty hall.

"This is the last place you need to be right now." He practically growled as that hand kept me close to him. "I'm taking you home, then having a very long talk with whoever is letting you take those shit-eating pills."

"They help me-"

"They're frying your brain, Rosalyn!" The harsh snap in his voice was so unexpected I felt my heart let out one tiny surprised flutter. Then it went still once again.

He pulled me out into the bright morning sun, though the chilly bite in the October air made goose bumps rise on my arms. He paused as soon as the school doors closed behind us, let go of my wrist to run a shaking hand through his hair and paced a few steps away. I watched him silently the entire time.

"You don't know," He started softly a moment later, that hard bite in his tone slowly fading away. "How many kids I've seen turn into vegetables because of that shit. Comatose, brain-dead, vegetables."

I would have been shocked if it weren't for the massive dose of that very same drug strumming through my veins. I could only watch him, eyes slightly wide, and bag resting heavily on my shoulders as he paced to a stop in front of me, dark eyes slowly softening.

"I won't let that happen to you."

His hand was wrapping around my wrist again, though not as tight as before, and those chestnut eyes stared into mine for one long, silent moment before he turned back towards the parking lot. I let him pull me to his car.

"I don't... want to go home, Rex." I admitted when that familiar convertible came into view right next to Trey's SUV. Dark eyes glanced over at me as he unlocked the car and opened the passenger door.

He stayed silent as I shuffled into the seat, the leather cool despite the sun shining through the tinted windows. I dropped my bag to the floor board and blinked up at the large man/boy still staring down at me through the open door, his lean, buff body resting almost casually against it. Those eyes didn't leave mine once.

"Alright, I won't take you home-yet. But we're not staying here either."

I didn't move as he suddenly leaned into the car, those strong fingers reaching for the seat-belt I had neglected. I stayed completely still as he wrapped it around my front and buckled me securely to the seat. I only blinked up at him as he pulled away.

He closed the door without another word, and I watched in a daze as he walked around the front of the car before climbing into the driver's seat. This is becoming our norm. The thought hit me through the haze in my brain, and I wasn't aware of the small smile that went with it until Rex was staring blatantly over at me.

The smile instantly faded away.

He didn't say anything as he started the engine and eased the car slowly out of the parking lot, the main street nearly empty. I stayed quiet too. There was no real point in speaking anymore. We drove for a while, my mind zoning in and out as the buildings of the town faded away to trees and mountains.

He finally stopped sometime later, even though the clock on his dash board said we would just now be getting out of fourth period. We were parked in a cemented lot on a slight incline just before a large, dark lake. Trees surrounded each side with a few mountains squinting into view.

I hadn't noticed him turn off the engine and leave the car until he was opening the door and unbuckling the seat-belt from around me. I blinked up at him again as he pulled away, those chestnut eyes staring into mine. Any other day I would have noticed the difference in them, noticed how they were no longer those icy hard daggers, but soft pools of dark liquid that had genuinely seemed concerned.

He held his hand out to me. "Come on. I think you'll like this." My hand slipped easily into his and he pulled me to my feet with little effort.

I was too dumbed down to notice how he didn't let go my hand or grip at my wrist instead. It was something I regretted more than anything. The first time he had ever held my hand, and I wasn't even able to enjoy it.

He closed the door behind me and locked the car, even though there was no one else in sight. We both stayed quiet as he led me to a set of stone stairs in front of the lot that emptied out to the lake's sandy beach below. My hand unconsciously clenched tighter around his as he pulled me down the steps and onto the beach, a cool, gentle breeze brushing along my hair.

"Beautiful, huh?" He asked softly as those dark eyes scanned the expanse of the lake's smooth surface, ducks swimming along its edge. I nodded, because I think that was what he wanted. Nothing really seemed beautiful to me right then.

He led us down the beach a little ways before slowly letting go of my hand. I frowned as the warmth disappeared, but stayed silent as he slipped that faded, wore-down, brown jacket of his off his shoulders and set it down on the ground behind us.

"Here." His voice almost seemed to be a gentle murmur as he took my hand again and gestured towards the jacket. I sat down in the sand and laid back against the warm cover, that dark, rather husky, scent of Rex wafting in my nose. It wasn't strong enough to be cologne, but it was enough to push pass my dull senses.

I... liked it.

He laid down beside me, his black, short-sleeved, t-shirt covering in sand since I was the only one on the jacket. That would have bothered me-any other day. We laid side by side, our gazes locked on the clouds covering the blue sky, our ears tuned into the birds flying overheard. I let out a long breath.

I wish... I could enjoy how nice this was.

His warm, tan, and very large arm rested against my much smaller one, my small sweater not hiding the heat from his body. I wasn't sure if it was because of all the medicine, or the close proximity of Rex reaching through the dull haze, but my body was trembling.

My hands shook against my stomach as my chest stuttered with each breath that passed my lips. I didn't realize it though, not until Rex let out a heavy sigh, reached over to pry my hand off my stomach, then turned me on my side and practically pulled my shaking figure onto his chest.

My breathing hitched as his arm slinked under me and curled around my back and waist, tucking me into him. His other arm pressed my trembling hand to his chest, right over that ridiculously hard peck.

I could only imagine what I would have been like without the medicine.

He didn't say anything as he held me to him, didn't even bother to glance down, but I didn't need him to. The shaking slowly stopped, and the trembling faded from my limbs as it became easier and easier to breathe. But even after that strange little fit passed, he didn't let me go.

My fingers of the hand he held pressed against him curled into the dark, soft fabric of his t-shirt, and I found myself burying my face into his hard chest. His hand stilled against mine, then slowly, very slowly, reached up to my hair.

"I was..." He started softly, his voice almost distant as I moved with his chest while he breathed. "Very worried about you while you were gone..."

I blinked over at the trees far down the beach from us, my cheek pressed firmly into his chest. My heart fluttered, but just once. I liked-that he was worried about me. It was a cruel feeling, to enjoy someone's worry.

"I'm sorry." I murmured against his chest, even though a sick part of me didn't mean it. How could I be... such a horrible person?

He didn't respond to that as his strong fingers started to gently run through my long, strawberry-blonde hair. "Why did you take it?" Normal Rose would have caught the emphasis on the 'did' part of his question, but numb Rose paid no attention.

"Doctor prescribed them. Too many bad... feelings. Too much stress." I mumbled automatically, unaware that I was spewing to the one boy I had ever genuinely had an interest in how broken I was.

"Too much stress? You have anxiety-?"

"I don't like that word."

He paused and his fingers stilled, his body tensing beneath mine, even though I refused to move away from him. He made me feel better, made me feel. "Then I won't use it." His voice was that soft murmur again, one that made my numb heart give another flutter. His fingers went back to slowly running through my hair.

"The medicine controls the feelings... helps stop the stress." I admitted a silent moment later, his fingers now gently massaging my scalp.

"There are other ways to control stress. You do not need chemicals frying your brain to do so."

I shrugged, if only to end the conversation. Even as numb as I was, I still didn't want to talk about this, about how broken I was. This would all be gone tomorrow. The way we were now would no longer exist, Rex would be gone. I didn't want him to have any other reason to completely forget my existence more than he already did.

He let out a small sigh, his chest rising and falling with the action, bringing my entire body with it. "I used to take meds like that too. For my anger." He admitted a moment later, his fingers leaving my hair to rub slowly along my back.

"They're not working." I mumbled against his shirt, completely unaware of the consequences of doing so-but he only chuckled and his fingers went back to my hair.

"I stopped taking them a long time ago. They didn't stop the anger, they only made me feel... different. Not myself. They took away what was me, and I hated that feeling."

I was almost positive this was the most open Rex Turner had been with anybody, and I wasn't even able to fully enjoy it. "This-" He continued softly, his thumb stroking slowly down my cheek. "-isn't you."

"I don't like me."

"I do."

My fingers clenched tighter in his shirt, an ache in the back of my throat growing. No, that wasn't possible, that couldn't happen. I had taken four pills, there shouldn't be anything bothering me right now.

"You hate me."

He stilled once again, those fingers pausing in my hair. I could hear his heart beating beneath my ear, a steady rhythm that made me want to close my eyes and drift off into peaceful, panic-free dreams.

"What I feel for you is not hate, and I can't even begin to tell you why that is not good."

"You want to hate me."

"I want..." He paused, and I tilted my head just enough to watch him lick his bottom lip and stare at those dark eyes as they watched the sky. "You safe. And that is impossible around me."

"I like being around you." I didn't add the 'like this' part of that statement, but I'm sure it was implied. I watched as he let out a dark groan, lifted his head from the sandy ground, then slam it back down again.

"I wish you could understand how bad that is."

The medicine was dulling down my emotions too much to react to the majority of the conversation, especially the words tumbling out of my own mouth.

"I don't think it's bad. You're a good person. You've never hurt me."

"Yet."

My voice stopped working after that, my mind too focused on the way his heart was beating, and the way his hands felt so... nice around me. I never wanted-to leave.

"I'm sorry." The words left his lips like a bubble of tension had suddenly been popped in his throat. "For leaving you like that at Echo, for taking you there to even begin with. I didn't- I didn't know..." His voice trailed off, and even though his arm tightened around my body he refused to look at me.

"It's okay."

"No. No it's not." He closed his eyes, and let out a hard breath as I dropped my gaze back to the tree-line. "I hadn't realized what it would do to you... I should have. I'm a fucking idiot. God, Rose, I'm so sorry."

For the first time since he had taken me to this place, I was glad for the numbed emotions. My heart would have broken if I understood the absolute regret in his tone, if I saw the horrible remorseful light in his eyes. I probably would have cried-for him.

Beautiful boys shouldn't sound so sad.

"It's okay, Rex." I murmured against his shirt, my eyes fighting to stay open as his fingers went back to massaging my scalp.