"We're not equal parts. Light and dark, we can be brilliant." —Nilu.

••

I enter his house behind him, but not before glancing at the lady who sits on her porch, giving Blaze another one of her infamous stink eyes.

Hate has never been this obvious. She gives the impression that she would murder him in a heartbeat if she should ever get the chance. It makes me insanely curious about the story that lies behind her glares of resentment.

"What exactly happened with you and that lady's son?"

Blaze closes his door after me, and the house seems a bit darker today since the blinds aren't drawn and all the lights are off.

"You don't want to know that, green eyes." A smile creeps its way onto his face as he walks to the living room, and I follow him, still unable to contain my curiosity.

"I want to know, actually. I am curious."

"Curiosity kills the cat." He grins while crashing on his couch, sprawling his arm over the edge while splaying his knees comfortably.

"Well... it's a lucky thing I am not a cat." I smile with a cocked head.

He bites back his smile as he hangs his head, and I sit next to him, folding a leg underneath me and patiently waiting for him to open up to me.

He looks up at me. "Doesn't this all scare you?"

"What?"

Sitting up straighter, he studies my expression. "Like hearing the dark things I have been through or that I've done in the past."

"No." I shake my head, truthfully. "In fact, I find it more interesting than watching a movie."

He stares at me silently, and his eyes crinkle with the same emotion they held earlier on the street. The emotion that I can't quite explain, but I know it's not a bad one. I will ask one day what that look means. But maybe he wouldn't be able to explain it either.

He nods and allows his gaze to trail away, presumably weighing his opinions. Finally, he succumbs.

"Fine. Can't say I didn't warn you."

I smile and scoot closer. "Awesome. Storytime."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "You're crazy. And I am crazy, so for a crazy person to call someone else crazy, it means you really are crazy."

I laugh. "It feels like a compliment."

"Oh, it is. Crazy people are gods."

I giggle. "Whatever, come on, tell me, what happened?"

He scratches the top of his head and sighs. "Well, in high school... I used to illegally trespass sometimes. One night, my friends and I broke into the school."

I nod my head without judgment, urging him on.

I want him to find comfort in telling me anything. I know me freaking out because he had a condom wrapper in his room doesn't make me the best person to be honest with, but I hope he knows that I won't make that mistake again. Blaze needs time, he needs patience, and most of all—he needs love.

"So, um..." He pauses for a moment and looks at me doubtfully. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes." I shift to face him better. "What happened? Why did you break into the school?"

"Well, to steal things," he says.

"Oh, like?"

He shrugs. "Money, exam papers...just anything I felt like."

I nod. "Okay... so why did you stab that guy? Was he with you guys?"

"Yeah, he was a part of our little 'gang' or 'crew' or whatever you want to call it. But he was more of a pussy, always hesitating and second-guessing. So, we broke into the science office, stole some lab equipment and stuff so we could sell them at the pawnshop right down the street. The next day at school, our Physics teacher found out and was investigating the matter, and Toni got cold feet. I warned him not to say anything, but he didn't listen and ended up telling our teacher everything. We got in some deep trouble, and I was pissed. So, I waited until Physics class was over and most of the kids were gone...and I just..."

He stops there, the cynical look returning. He doesn't want to tell me.

"You did what?" I carefully prod.

He narrows his eyes uncertainly. "I stabbed him in the neck with a pencil."

Oh.

A silence falls upon us as I think hard on it. The imagination is horrifying, causing chills to run all over my body.

"Oh..." I lower my eyes to the black carpet lying on the floor, not sure of what to say about the gruesome tale. "B-but I know you weren't intent on killing him, you were just angry—"

"No." He interjects, and I meet his eyes. "Actually, Harmony...it was in my intention to kill him. I just missed the right spot."

I blink.

"Your intention was to actually kill him?"

"Yeah." He shrugs lightly. "I wanted to. But it didn't work out...sadly." He smiles a little.

Sadly.

I swallow. Wow, okay. That's not creepy at all, right? It could happen right?

"Am I scaring you?"

"No." I shake my head. "I am just thinking about it. How painful that must have been..."

"Well, I wouldn't know, and I didn't care either," he replies. "And I still don't."

And I still don't.

I stare at him. Most people would keep their distance because the human being in front of me is scarier than a fiction movie of a man cutting people to threads with a chainsaw, because this is real life and Blaze Xander is real and right here in front of me, but I am not afraid. I don't know why but I am not scared at all.

"So did you get into trouble for it?" I ask.

"No. I threatened him not to tell anyone. I had sex with his sister and told him that I had a video of us doing it, and if he ever spoke about it, I would release it to the entire school."

"Did you really have a video?"

"No." He laughs. "I just faked it. But I did sleep with his sister."

He stretches his limbs, signaling that he wants to finish this conversation. "Can we stop talking about my pathetic life now?"

I smile a little. "It's not pathetic, but as you wish."

But I am secretly not ready to finish yet. He is so interesting, and I am dying to hear more about him. Apparently, I am being intrigued by his life at the expense of other's pain; does that make me a form of accomplice?

"Now." He turns to face me. "I want to hear about you."

I tense up. "Me?"

That is one boring topic there.

"Yeah, you. I want to know what you were like in high school."

In high school, I was weird and bland and boring and just so introverted that more than half of the senior year group didn't know my name was Harmony Skye until the teacher called my name to take my graduation and yearbook picture.

I am not exaggerating.

"I am lame..." I mutter.

"Noooo." He shakes his head rapidly, getting up from the couch. "I don't want to hear that!"

He walks to the kitchen and returns with a large bag of Doritos before finding his spot on the settee.

He opens the bag, takes a chip then puts it on the coffee table. "Come on, Harmony, I am waiting."

"Well...I was in the school choir." I mutter. "Up until ninth grade."

"Woah. Which explains the angelic voice." He smiles as he dusts his hands together. "Why'd you come out?"

"Well..." I flash away hair from my eyes. "My Dad died..."

He stills for a moment and looks up at me. I know he can't empathize, so I am not expecting him to.

"I am sorry about that," he says.

I stare at him, raising a confused brow. "Can you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

I shrug. "How painful it is for me..."

He shakes his head. "No. I am sorry, but I can't feel the pain you're feeling. I lost my Mom too, but I can't feel sad about it, so it's hard to know what it feels like for you...I just feel bad that you're sad right now...but I can't relate to your pain of losing someone."

I think I understand what he means, and that's okay.

"I am sorry, Harmony."

"It's okay," I say and mean it. "It's totally okay, Blaze."

I smile, and he sighs, seeming a bit frustrated with himself.

I try to change the topic, not liking when his mood is sullen. "Alright, I'll share one more piece of information." I beam. "I had only one friend in High school, and we are still friends now. Collum—also nicknamed as Cal."

"Cal?" Blaze repeats the name under his breath then reaches for another chip from the bag. "This Cal is a girl...or boy?"

"Boy." I smile widely. "He's so cool and fun. I really appreciate him; if it weren't for him, I'd be much more of a freak in high school."

Blaze's brows shirr for a second and he appears a bit tense, but wipes the look off his face quickly and smiles. "Friends with benefits, huh?"

He leans back on the arm of the couch and takes the bag of Doritos with him as he looks at me.

I tilt my head to the side. "Friends with benefits?"

"Yeah." He shrugs. "You know...a girl and a boy who are friends but touches each other occasionally?"

I make a face. "What? No way!"

The thought of Collum and I doing that is so traumatic. That'd be weird and gross.

Blaze laughs. "You friendzoned the guy then?"

"No, we were just friends. Plus, he has a girlfriend now."

"So you're saying if he didn't have a girlfriend, you'd be interested?" He pushes a Dorito between his lips, and I frown. "No, Blaze. I don't like the guy..."

"Oh...okay, who do you like then?"

I look at him. Is he serious?

He raises his brow with a smirk. "Mm?"

I blink. Okay, why is he doing this?

Deciding not to feed his ego, I look away from him. I have no idea why he likes playing around so much, but I recall that his childhood wasn't a pleasant one, and he probably hardly played because all the kids cast him away as a freak with an alcoholic mom. Maybe I should let him be.

"Aren't you going to answer?" He taunts, and I refuse to look at him.

"Blaze...stop." I frown. He's being so childish.

Suddenly the couch dips, and he begins to crawl over to my side of the seat. I sink back into the armrest, staring up at him nervously as his frame hovers above me.

That smirk. I know it all too well. It's the one he wears when he's intent on getting touchy. I make a mental list of the things that normally trigger this form of reaction from him. Watching intimate scenes in romance movies, wearing his T-shirt, and somehow mentioning your past high school friend.

His necklace drops from his shirt, the silver gems on it reflecting in his eyes that are now pitch dark. But not the iniquitous darkness like the one they had while attempting to cut Mr. Jones in the face. This darkness is built on pure, authentic lust. The one that gets my heart racing out of control. He seems to like having me this way—underneath him and completely at his mercy, and if I said I don't like it, I would be lying.

"You will regret skipping school to be here with me, Harmony." His hand begins to trail along my leg. And I thank the creator that I wore a pair of jeans today because the goosebumps on my skin are so much at attention that they would prick his fingers.

"You know, based on observation, you seem to like danger, green eyes. That's what we both have in common."

My eyes meet his, and he lowers his head to press against my already sweating forehead.

"We fit so perfectly, Harmony...don't we?"