Scared wasn't even close to how I was feeling.

I was absolutely terrified of this guy who had a really strong hold on me, not allowing me to move away.

I felt so helpless. My face and right arm were being squeezed so tight by his clammy hands, I wouldn't be surprised if bruises were formed. As my attempt to move didn't seem to help, my hands went to his arms instead but unfortunately my strength proved useless. I didn't want my first kiss to be like this. Forced, and by a stranger.

A really drunk stranger.

My eyes were prickling with moisture and even though I tried so hard to hold them back, I felt a stray tear travel down my cheek.

He was so close now that I could smell the alcohol off his breath and I felt disgusted. I held my breath and refused to make eye contact, which seemed to anger him as he gripped my face even tighter moving my head around to look at him. His face was sporting a creepy lopsided grin and I let out a sob, my tears now flowing freely.

This was really going to happen.

"Shh it's gonna be okay. Just look at me sweet cheeks,"

"No, you look at me dickhead."

Nixon.

The guy whipped his head around to look behind, surprisingly fast for a drunk person and I let out a deep breath of relief as the tight grips on me were loosened.

I could have easily gotten out of his hold and moved away but I was stuck frozen in my place. I slowly moved my eyes towards Nixon who was glaring at the guy who was still touching me, looking livid. His chocolate eyes now looked almost black and his jaw was tensed so hard I was afraid he'd break his teeth. This was nothing in comparison to his anger yesterday. I almost felt scared for the drunk dude.

Almost.

The silence was broken by a nervous laughter.

"No fair Ford I saw her first,"

Before I even had time to blink the guy was pulled roughly from me, making me tumble forward in surprise. Nixon punched him square in the jaw repeatedly and I audibly gasped putting both hands over my mouth in shock.

Within seconds he fell to the floor, blood covering his entire face and dripping out from his mouth. This gave Nixon the opportunity to kick him in the stomach, even though he was unconscious. The sight of him on the floor scared me which made me sob even louder. Nixon was out of control.

I wanted him to stop.

"Stop! Nixon stop it! You're going to kill him!" My voice sounded like a muffled mess from my sobbing.

From my blurred teary vision it looked like a huge crowd had formed by the kitchen door. He seemed oblivious about my shouting and carried on. All of a sudden Ethan pushed his way through the front of the crowd and made his way towards Nixon.

"Dude! Calm down! He's out cold leave him!" He shouted, placing his arms around him from behind and dragging him back.

He put up a little fight with Ethan but allowed him to pull backwards, stopping the fight. Ethan didn't let go of Nixon and instead held him securely whispering something into his ear. After what seemed like hours Nixon let out a deep breath and his body visibly relaxed, despite his fists still being clenched and face tense.

I warily looked ahead, towards the large crowd who had witnessed everything. Including me sobbing like a baby. Most of them were staring at the limp body on the floor in shock, fear or disgust.

Looking downwards at my bare feet I forced myself to calm down managing to reach a silent cry and sniffling. A pair of shoes that I recognised as Nixon's appeared in my line of vision, making me look up to see a softened expression but I automatically jerked backwards hitting the counter.

My body was shaking slightly and that was when I realised something. I was scared of him.

After seeing him lose control and fight like he did I couldn't stop thinking about how capable he was of doing that to me. I always had a part of me that was scared of him, but this fear I felt now was different. I've just witnessed the school's bad boy in action. And he definitely lived up to that name.

I saw a flicker of hurt on Nixon's face when I jerked back, but it went as quickly as it appeared. He also had another expression on his face which I didn't recognise. Regret? But before I could look long enough to decide, he turned around and disappeared wordlessly through the massive crowd who immediately parted into two. He left me, again.

Ethan's wary face blocked my view of Nixon's back which was slowly disappearing into the distance. He had his arms out and was walking towards me slowly. Like I was an animal in the wild which could attack at any moment.

Stupid jerk.

I immediately filled the distance by striding into his arms, holding on for dear life as I was surrounded by his warmth. He started to stroke my head gently and slightly rocked me. I did the only thing I wanted to do.

I broke down.

"Shhh, I promise everything's going to be fine Mara. I'm here,"

***

I had finally composed myself.

I mean, don't get me wrong I looked like a complete wreck with my smudged eyeliner and mascara, going perfectly with my puffy red eyes and now non-existent lipstick. Honestly, I looked worse than the joker.

Ethan had pulled me along with him upstairs finding a quiet room away from the crowds of people, which I was so grateful for.

It wasn't exactly hard to find somewhere. We only had to pick one door out of a million in this mansion. We were both sat on a very comfortable couch in what looked like an overly fancy guest bedroom. I sat with one leg crossed holding a cushion in my lap, imitating Ethan who was on the opposite end. Like the gentleman he was, he made me sit down whilst he fetched my shoes and bag for me.

Since he returned we hadn't spoken and fell into a comfortable silence. I soon realised that this was Ethan's way of comforting me, and it really did help. You couldn't hear the thumping music from here which I was glad about. I needed to make this headache go away, not to become worse.

Our eyes met and he smiled at me, knowing I couldn't resist doing it back.

"So are you ready to tell me what happened?"

I sighed but nodded meekly at him.

"Well erm... I went to the kitchen to get a drink and that guy put his hands on my waist out of nowhere. He scared me so I turned around. He was super drunk and the next thing I know he was holding me tightly and tried to kiss me-"

"He did what?!" Ethan interrupted me sounding angry. I jumped a little still in fright of what happened but as soon as I did, Ethan threw me an apologetic look and held my hand. I squeezed it to let him know I was fine.

"He had a hold of my arm and face. I-I couldn't move away, he was too strong for me. I felt so helpless you know? I started crying because he was leaning closer and I really didn't want to," Ethan's jaw visibly tensed like he was trying to control his anger. I looked down at my twiddling fingers out of embarrassment. I never thought I'd be one of those girls.

I felt so stupid.

"Now I know why Nixon reacted the way he did,"

"Yeah," I nodded but didn't make eye contact. I felt gentle fingers holding onto my chin, lifting my head up.

"Tell me what's on your mind I know there's more," Tears were threatening to leave my eyes again. I couldn't believe that was even possible with the amount I had already shed tonight.

"I didn't like it Ethan. Nixon scared me more than that drunk guy did,"

"What? No, hey-"

"Well what if Nixon did that to me one day? We both know he's more than capable. He was out of control and he could have really killed that guy," I interrupted him voicing my fear.

"Listen to me Mara. I know for a fact that Nixon would never lay a finger on you. Ever. He-"

"But-"

"No I'm not finished. Yes he has a slight anger problem and yes he did get carried away but you need to look at the bigger picture. He was protecting you Mara, from the real danger. Nixon would never hit a girl. Especially you. His actions were totally justified. God knows what that fucking bastard would have done to you if Nixon hadn't arrived," Ethan had clenched his fists at the last part, whilst I shuddered not wanting to think about it.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive you butt head. Just because he can hurt other people doesn't mean he'll ever hurt you, got it?" I nodded in response and gave him a small smile. I started to feel better but I needed time to get Nixon's angry face out of my mind.

"Between you and me, you should give him a chance. I think you'll be good for him," I looked at Ethan with a perplexed face. Nixon didn't like me like that.

"What do you mean?"

"Nixon's a good guy who's just had some bad stuff happen to him. He deserves some good in his life. He's different with you. I mean he's already acting territorial over you," I felt my cheeks getting warmer and I pondered over what Ethan had just said. Was he referring to earlier when Nixon snapped at him?

"Earlier when you saw us in the kitchen, Nixon snapped at you. Why?"

"Mara Moo isn't it obvious?" Ethan chuckled and I scowled at the horrible nickname that Nixon had used once before too.

"Isn't what obvious?"

"You know what, it'll be way more fun if I let you discover that on your own," Ethan winked at me. If I wasn't still recovering I would have pestered him until he gave me the answer. But for now I let it go and instead another thought appeared in my mind.

"What did you say to Nixon to calm him down?" I was genuinely intrigued. Ethan had a shy smile on his face.

"I said think about Mara," I was pretty sure that I resembled a tomato now. Did I really have that much of an impact on him? I got butterflies just thinking about it. Just then, I let out a yawn. It was reaching eleven and I felt exhausted.

Mentally and physically.

"Ethan could you give me a ride? I think I'm over this party,"

"Finally! I was waiting for you to say something. If you ask me, this party was too uneventful in my opinion,"

I burst out laughing at the idiot in front of me, the night's events momentarily forgotten.

Finally reaching Izzy's house I sighed and looked over at Ethan with a warm smile.

"Thank you for everything Ethan. The dancing, the reassurance, everything,"

"You're welcome. I have to admit, our dancing was pretty epic. I'll send you a video but just as a warning I look smoking hot, so you might have a hard time controlling yourself," Ethan grinned his famous grin and I laughed in return.

"You mean I'm the one who looked smoking hot,"

"Yeah you wish sweetheart but everyone was staring at me," Smacking his arm lightly he wished me goodnight and I made my way inside.

As soon as I entered, Izzy started her questions. I told her it was a long story and that I would update her on everything tomorrow at school. I hugged her too, needing my best friend's comfort. She smiled knowingly and we both changed into our pj's, with me washing my face and got comfortable in her giant bed.

As soon as we both flopped down my phone buzzed with a text. Leaning over to the bedside table I looked at my screen. It was a text from Nixon.

I'm sorry.