Lunar's POV

Ma and dad decided to go on a second honeymoon type of thing, leaving me to tend to the house. I was fine with that...only Anthien was staying at the house. This forced me to be around him because Ma didn't want him left alone.

He stayed here instead of Mathis' because he concocted this bullshit lie about his father abusing him sexually. It was a lie. Mathis' father was abusive to no ends but he never once raped Anthien. Anthien and his father had this hidden relationship and when it was found out Anthien made lies and played a heavily manipulative role of "Daddy raped me! I'm so innocent, boohoo! Pity me, pity me, pity me!"

I hated that my parents fell for this trap, it was a ruse to get closer to me and it worked, but I couldn't tell them the truth. I saw Anthien come onto his father plenty of times, even watched him egg the guy on to abuse his mother. My parents wouldn't believe me if I told them, so I just keep my mouth shut to keep them happy.

With a sigh, I looked back at the black Cadillac, a pained expression in my eyes as I knew Mr. Hayes and Mr. Lincoln couldn't do anything unless they had to. They stayed back and kept quiet for my sake and sanity; they weren't happy with it but respected my wishes. Swallowing my courage, I stepped into the house, hesitating to turn the light on but before I could blink Anthien beat me to it. A smirk formed on his lips, "And you thought you weren't my plaything. Look who's stuck with me for the next week. We're going to have so much fun!"

Stab him with the kitchen knives you've got to your left. Shut up, Subconscious!

I pushed passed him with an annoyed tone in my voice, "Go to hell."

"Only if that ass of yours is with," He sneered, following me to the backyard, backing off once I lifted a wooden bat. His eyes danced to my grabbing the bag next to the bat, his body settling down to find it was for softball. I wish I could beat him with this bat, honestly.

"Come on," I grumbled, pushing passed him as I carried the stuff to Mathis' house. Today I couldn't knock on her door, her father had the day off, so he was home. I lifted a small pebble, tossing it at her bedroom window and waiting for her, waving at her as she peeked out.

"You're early...again," She smiled from her window before vanishing into the house. She jumped on me once she was outside, noticing her brother, "Oh. Now, I understand."

My eyes narrowed at the small lingering scent of perfume, looking her over and spotting the makeup she'd tried to remove, "Matty, explain."

"E-Explain what?" She defended, my suspicion growing rapidly as I chased after her when she began to walk, "I-I have nothing to explain."

"I see the makeup you tried getting off, I smell the lingering perfume," I retorted, walking backward from her as I put my hands on my hips, "You hate makeup. You went on a date, didn't you?!"

She followed me as we walked, scuffing her shoes with embarrassment as we spoke in hushed tones, not wanting her brother to hear as she fumbled, "K-Kyle came into town."

"Mathis," I reacted, stopping in my tracks, and making her look at me, my voice soft but stern, "You better be careful around him."

"I-I know, Lune. I know," She frowned, sighing defeatedly as she rubbed her arm nervously, "I-I thought I was over him this time. After having sex with him his attitude seemed to change towards me, ya know? I don't get why he left town."

She had this tone of a wounded puppy, her body trudged and small like she was having millions of thoughts in her head trying to figure out the answers. Pulling her into a hug, I whispered, "If he hurts you, I'll run him over with dad's car. That's a threat and a promise."

A smile formed as she punched my chest, a giggle hid in her throat, "You can't kill him!"

"Then he better stay in line, or I line this bat up with his rear," I smirked, swinging the bat in the air as I winked at her, "Get myself my own homerun, huh?"

She laughed as we went back to walking, shaking her head at me with a scrunched nose, "Ewe, Lunar! That's brutal."

"Would you prefer the car or the bat? I've also got more options, ya know," I nodded confidently as I smiled my pearly whites at her, "Name an item, I got ya!"

She grew slightly hesitant, nervous because of my past traumas but my nod of "it's alright" was encouragement. I wanted to laugh about it, depersonalize it just enough that it didn't bother me today, "Willow Vine."

"I'll happily whip him into next week or leave him hanging," I spoke with zero remorse in my voice, "We could play Hangman or pretend it's a birthday party, catch us some goodies.... Though, I'm not sure we want to eat those."

"LUNAR!!" She smacked my arm as I began to laugh at the horrified look on her face, naming another item, "A brick."

"Smash his skull in and use the mush for chili," I thought hard on food, avoiding the knot in my stomach, "Chili dogs sound nice. Maybe chili cheese nachos? I'll have to think on that."

"What the fuck?! Uhh, chair."

"I could always break it and take him out for stake," I gave a cheeky grin towards her, a cruel tone in my voice knowing Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Hayes heard from the Cadillac. They probably winced but that thought really only made me laugh a little more, "Then I could make kabobs. Two-in-one!"

"Oh, my Elysium," She covered her face, her mortified giggles muffled, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I met you and became a dad," I teased warmly, wrapping my arm around her shoulder contently.

"You have a weird obsession with puns," She scrunched her face at me, releasing a sigh as she continued our silly game, "A cat."

"He can finally say he got some pussy," I thrusted my hips for a moment, motioning scratch marks in the air with my free hand, "and die happy with claw marks on his back."

"A dog," She laughed as we approached the park, taking the bag from my shoulders and heading over to a rock while I walked a few yards from her.

"Looks like he fucked with the wrong bitch," I called out, sticking out my tongue at the horror that crossed her face, "Can't handle the heat, don't fuck with it!"

"Did you just---"

"Yep, you asked for it!" She tossed a softball at me to end this, too traumatized to find out how fucked my thought process is, watching me swing. We watched as it landed in the pond, my voice a whine, "GODDAMN IT."

Giggling, she pointed at me, "You hit it, you fetch it!"

With a sigh, I untied my hoodie from my waist and dropped it with the bat, removing my shirt and heading over to the pond, "Get the pump so we can wash the damn ball off! My dad will be pissed if I stink up that bag."

"Already on it, don't worry," She chimed as she went and got the pump, watching me get into the pond and get to the ball. Walking out of the pond, I noticed Anthien watching my every move. I chose to ignore his amused eyes, knowing he was interested in the fact that I had a shirt off. Our joking earlier was an escape, a distraction. I wanted to forget he was around, and it was a moment that I did.

Tossing the ball to Mathis, I walked into the splash pad area, walking under the water dump, and letting it wash the pond water off me. I didn't want the pond water to touch my dad's bag. He spent a good amount of money to buy it and it was one of the only luxuries we had in the house, I'd hate to ruin that.

Walking out, I shook my hair, wiping water from my face and combing my hair back with my fingers, heading back over to Mathis where she stood with the bat, "All good?"

"All good," I chuckled, stealing her cap and putting it on my head backward as I backed up, "Let's aim away from the pond, though."

"Alright," She teased before walking a distance away and whispering, "Anthien won't stop being a creep towards you, though."

"Just pretend he's not there," I replied, a low sigh escaping my lips as I rolled my eyes to myself, shaking my head to get rid of the thoughts in the back of my mind.

She tossed another ball to me. Our eyes widened as the ball hit the bat and went flying straight for the Cadillac. Horror, terror, fear, petrified. My hands instantly smacked against my face as Mr. Lincoln caught the ball while staring at me, Mathis covering her mouth as she laughed, "You idiot!"

"Th-This is why we can't have nice things," I breathed out loudly through my hands, hearing one of the doors of the Cadillac shut, I didn't dare to look up, "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead. I'm very dead. S-So, so very dead. Fuck, am I dead? Please, tell me I'm dead."

"I believe this is yours, yes?" I could feel the shadow of Mr. Lincoln loom over me, causing me to look very slowly and hesitantly passed my hands and up at him, swallowing as he held up the ball. A smirk tugged devilishly at his lips as he looked down at me, watching me take the ball from him. His eyes were filled with hunger and lust, hiding it from everyone else but me as his pupils grew smaller, the smirk escaping from its dungeon as he flashed his fangs like a dirty little secret, "You should be more careful, somebody might think you deserve punishing, Young Man."

My cheeks burned as he winked to Mathis, heading back over to the Cadillac as she giggled at me. My heart was a stampeding mess, obliterated by the look he'd given me.

"Al-Alright, no more pointing in that direction either," I cleared my throat, watching as both Mr. Hayes and Mr. Lincoln chuckled far from us, my voice high with embarrassment. I gripped the bat and twisted nervously as Mathis went into a new spot, tossing another ball to me. Swinging, this time we watched as this ball flew and landed in the gutter of a three-story building, "OH, FUCKING COME ON!!"

She looked at me, snorting and laughing as I pinched the brim of my nose with my thumb and index, closing my eyes with a deep sigh, "Maybe life doesn't like your dad jokes either."

"Fuck you," I huffed, a whined plea spewing from my mouth, "Do I really have to go ask for the ball? Can't we just pretend it never existed? Nobody will ever know!"

"Nope!" She mocked in return, smacking my ass to get me forward, "You hit it, you fetch it!"

Yelping, I walked backward, pointing at her as I became a stereotypical teenager ya see in movies, "Don't touch my no-no square! No touchy touchy for you!"

Rolling her eyes, she hollered back, "I know who does get to touch there, though!"

"Shut the hell up!" I squeaked, running to the building as I stuck up my middle finger, hearing her chortle as I approached the door. Heading inside, I approached the man at the desk, "U-Uh, hello...? I-I'm sorry to bother but I accidentally hit my ball into the gutter of this building, and I was wondering if maybe somebody could either let me get it or get it for me...?"

"Sure thing," He chuckled kindly, taking me to the roof and the gutter, "Don't worry, you're not the first nor the last to do this. If it happens again there are stairs over here you can take to get the ball, alright?"

He pointed to some stairs at the side of the building, smiling as I nodded before heading back to his desk and leaving me on the roof. He had this nice feel to him, one you get from people just by looking at him. Something about him was comforting and familiar but I couldn't place it. It wasn't like I'd seen or met him but more like Deja Vu.

"Catch!" I called as I brushed off the strange feeling, chucking the ball as hard as I could to Mathis, heading down the stairs and back over to her and Anthien. I'd worry and think about this interaction some other time.

Anthien held my bat, holding it out to me with a grin, "You're holding the bat wrong."

"Clearly you didn't join the baseball team when you were in school," I rolled my eyes, taking the bat and pushing passed him, "Now, back the fuck off. I'm in no mood for you."

He chose this opportunity to grab my wrist and yank me in his direction, grabbing my throat and kissing me. He had a strong grip on my neck, making damn sure I couldn't pull away. His grip on my wrist tightened when I tried to get him off, Mathis attempting to pull him away from me without success. I bit hard into his bottom lip, drawing blood. This only seemed to encourage him as he pulled me tighter to him.

The worst part was kids were around so I couldn't hit him with the bat, and he knew that. I couldn't even smack my head against his to get him off, it would scare the children. I wasn't one to scare kids, but I was growing impatient with the little time I had to escape before things escalated.

Hearing both doors of the Cadillac shut, I had to think quickly, taking the handle of the bat and ramming it against Anthien's groin. He dropped to the ground, cupping his jewels and coughing from the pain as I spit onto the ground, "Don't fucking touch me, You Waste Of Air!"

My throat tightened, my stomach flipping. I was about to hurl. Gagging, I rushed over to some bushes, hiding as I threw up against a tree.