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I pulled Elliot's neck in, closing the gap between us and our lips met sweetly.

I wouldn't fall for the playboy. Ever.

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Dread.

That's what I felt, thinking about the day to come. After an achingly short weekend, the time had come to go back to school and the thought of seeing both Elliot and Aaron had created a pit of fiery anxiety in my stomach.

After kissing Elliot, I had run away and laid in the comfort of my covers for several hours. I don't know why, but I couldn't face him again. I just couldn't.

How would I explain to both Aaron and Elliot why I had run away? Moreover, how would I avoid the awkwardness of talking to both of them given what had happened between us in our last encounters?

My parents had asked several times about my health when I came home, saying I was paler than usual, but I had simply dismissed them. It was no use to worry now when there was no hope for me.

I walked into school and put my books into my locker whilst giving a few waves and smiles to some passing students. Since the word got around that I was dating Aaron, other students had begun smiling at me. Heck, some even went out of their own 'virtuous' way to say 'good morning' which was odd. I shook my head, shutting my locker.

"Hey, new girl!"

I whirled around to come face-to-face with Danny; Justin stood not too far behind him- his eyes trained on his phone. I smiled half-heartedly at both of them.

"Hey, Danny." I greeted, giving him a little wave. I gave him my best enthusiastic smile yet I could sense how weak and forced it was.

Rather than noticing anything wrong, Danny's smile widened.

"I think someone's in a really good mood!" He said, tapping my nose lightly with an index finger. I nodded, again half-heartedly, hoping Danny wouldn't notice for the second time.

Justin looked towards me with curious eyes.

"Are you okay?" He questioned- an eyebrow raised. He placed his phone in his back pocket and came towards me. I bit my lip nervously. Danny was one thing- a very dumb thing at that- but Justin seemed sharp and, as expressionless as he was, I could tell he was probably very exact when it came to guessing what a person was feeling.

I nodded over-enthusiastically, smiling as widely as I can.

"Of course I'm okay!" I forced out with all the happiness I could muster. At this, his raised eyebrow raised even more, to the point I was afraid it would fly off his face.

"Really?" He questioned yet his tone sounded as if he already knew the answer. Heck, I think everyone in the world- except for Danny- knew the answer.

I sighed heavily, rubbing my forehead with my forefingers.

"How'd you know I was in a bad mood?" I relented, massaging my forehead in a feeble attempt to ease the severe headache I was feeling.

Justin smiled slightly, his beautiful grey eyes gleaming. He raised a large hand and placed it on my forehead. The coolness to it eased the pain in my head slightly and I sighed in relief.

"Because Danny predicted otherwise." He said and- with the hand that wasn't on my forehead- he lifted, giving Danny a tight slap across the head.

Danny squealed loudly in pain before rubbing his head vigorously- a pout on his face.

"Hey! I can be right sometimes, you know?!" He shot back defensively.

Justin turned towards him with an expressionless face.

"Give an example." He said simply, folding his arms across his chest. At this, Danny's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he thought. I was almost about to ask him to forget about it before he hurt his head when, suddenly, Danny clicked his finger and his face lit up- something I found out he would do when he assumed he had stumbled upon something correct.

Keyword being 'assumed'.

"Do you remember when you, me and Aaron were hanging out and I told you guys to put on your coats and get your umbrellas because it was going to rain. You guys ignored me yet it did rain and I was the only one prepared. Do you remember that?!" Danny lashed back, a smug look on his face. He raised an eyebrow and tapped his foot on the floor, waiting for a reply.

Justin rolled his eyes at this.

"We ignored you because we were inside. We wouldn't need umbrellas when there's a roof over our heads. You looked like an idiot, wearing a coat in a house with central heating."

Danny shrugged indifferently.

"It never hurts to be prepared."

Justin ran a hand through his hair and scoffed.

"For what?" He said coolly not at all phased by the stupid response he had just received by Danny.

Danny shrugged yet again.

"I don't know. If there's a hole in the roof or a tsunami or something." He said as if both were liable excuses for wearing a coat and holding an umbrella inside the house. Justin stared long and hard at Danny before slapping him again and turning to me.

"What's wrong?" Justin said, going back to the previous conversation we were having before Danny made us both lose some IQ points. However, before I could answer, I was interrupted by the sound of students shouting.

'Fight! Fight! Fight!' Could be heard echoing across the halls.

Danny rubbed his chin, his face contorted in thought.

"Now, don't hold me on this, but I think there's a fight."

I rolled my eyes.

"What gave it away?" I said sarcastically, feeling the need to smack Danny around the head just like Justin did.

God, I wish I wasn't such a pacifist.

Danny grinned widely.

"Well, I don't like to brag, but I'd like to think of myself as a sort of genius when it comes to matters such as these." He dusted his shoulder off in a cocky manner. I laughed at this, but stopped when I saw Justin's look of concern.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my tone worried. Justin motioned with a hand over to where the students loud shouting could be heard. His face was deep in thought, unlike his usual bored expression.

"I have a bad feeling about this one." He said, speaking more to himself than me and- as soon as he said that- I felt a pang of worry. I was about to reply, but Justin began walking towards the students. Danny had also gone quiet and he followed Justin towards the students; I stayed following close behind.

Once I reached the crowd of students, I stopped because it was difficult to get through the crowd of students, especially for a tiny girl like me. I began pushing a few people, but to no avail. They wouldn't budge. Suddenly, Justin grabbed hold of my hand and led me through the crowd. He kept me close to his body, making sure I wasn't hit by anyone and led me through to the front of the crowd. I looked at him in 'thanks' yet his eyes were trained on something else. I turned with curious eyes to see Aaron on top of Elliot; a sadistic smile on his lips as he threw several hard blows to Elliot's face. I gaped, watching in horror as Elliot let out a blood-curdling scream.

The students surrounding the area seemed to be enjoying the fight and I rolled my eyes at their version of entertainment. Pushing through a few more people, I made my way over to Aaron who was still punching Elliot like there was no tomorrow.

"Stop! Aaron, stop!" I called, pulling at his arms yet Aaron wouldn't budge. His eyes remained fixated on Elliot; alight with a fire that I rarely saw in him. He was very angry and this was evident from the intensity of his blows and the smile on his face- he was enjoying the pain he was inflicting on Elliot and I recoiled away from him in fear.

This wasn't the childish playboy I had begun to like. His behaviour likened more to a blood-thirsty animal, clawing at its prey; mocking its fate. Both Danny and Justin came to the scene and began pulling Aaron away from Elliot yet he still wouldn't move.

Geez, where's a crowbar when you need one?

At long last, Danny and Justin had succeeded in prying them apart and the three of us stood between them. However, Aaron was far from done. He lunged towards Elliot like a man possessed , but was quickly caught by Justin.

"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna fucking kill him!" Aaron shouted yet his voice seemed both foreign and unfamiliar. Dark and hoarse, his voice sounded as if it brought more pain than a whip, resonating across the crowded hallways as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Justin pulled him slightly away from Elliot who had just begun to lift himself off the floor. His nose was bruised from the bridge, looking like it had been punched one too many times and his teeth were smeared in red as he sneered towards Aaron. He stood up straight, spitting on the floor beside him and wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead. He, too, looked at Aaron with hatred and I wondered what had happened to start this fight.

Justin interrupted my thoughts by shoving Aaron near me.

"Take him away from here. The principal will definitely be here any minute now and Aaron cannot be suspended again. He'll be gone for good this time." He said and, with that, he made his way to the crowd and ushered them all away.

I turned away from him and turned my attention to Aaron. In an attempt to keep him out of trouble, I grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the crowd. Although slightly reluctant, Aaron was calmer now and he followed, breathing heavily. I stopped a little while later when I saw an empty classroom and I shoved us both in there.

Once in there, I turned to Aaron with folded arms and a solemn expression.

"What exactly was that?" I spoke out in a steady tone, ignoring the butterflies I felt when Aaron met my eyes. The fire in his gaze- unextinguished- and he paced crazily around the room.

"He deserved it. You should have seen all the fucking disgusting things he was saying about you." His voice was full of venom and unease. He paced even faster, dragging a hair roughly through his hair.

I sighed, making sure to speak calmly.

"What did he sa-"

Before I could finish my question, I was interrupted by the loud bang that resonated through the room as a result of Aaron throwing a desk at the chalkboard. I stepped back in shock, feeling the door hit me from behind.

Aaron turned to me- his hair messy and his breathing erratic.

"Talking about how defiling you was going to be easier than he thought." He forced out; his voice laced with rage. His eyes were closed at this point and his hands clenched in tight fists.

I sighed yet again, my words hurting from all the events that had happened in the past days. Making Aaron calm down right now was the priority, so I went towards him.

"Aaron, calm down." I said gently, trying so hard not to anger him yet the beast within him was already awake and it was going to put up a hell of a fight before being tamed.

Aaron stalked closer and I fluttered at the warmth I could feel emanating from his body. I cursed at how easily my weak body relented to the silly urges my heart couldn't stop but feel.

"How can you be so calm knowing what he said about you?" Aaron said lowly at me, his tone lethal. I breathed in his smell, sensing its familiarity. In a short amount of time, Aaron had become all I was accustomed to.

"Avalon." Aaron moaned into my neck.

And it had to stop.

I shoved Aaron harshly away from me.

"Because him saying it doesn't make it so! I don't need you handling my matters! I think I'll be able to keep away from Elliot if I wished to, without your help!" I said, letting out some of the suppressed anger I felt from yesterday.

Aaron scoffed indignantly at my response.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll control yourself." He said yet the sarcastic tone to it was clear as glass.

I scoffed loudly, my mouth hanging wide open.

"What are you trying to say exactly, Aaron?" I asked accusingly.

Aaron rolled his eyes- an action I believe he stole off of me.

"Oh, don't act so innocent. You seemed so eager to agree to being my 'girlfriend'. Why was that?" He retorted, a malicious look on his face. He was no longer the childish playboy yet I couldn't complain. I didn't feel quite like myself right now either.

"I had my reasons to agree so quickly!" I shot back defensively. I moved closer to his looming figure. I wasn't scared of him and I never would be.

Aaron laughed spitefully; his hands flailing exaggeratively.

"Yeah and what reasons were they?" He asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

"Because!" I shouted back, dismissing the fact that we were still in school and it was against school code to raise my voice like this.

Aaron laughed yet again, moving closer to my body.

"Because what!" He asked.

I groaned loudly in frustration.

"Because I wanted to help you, you jerk!" I lied, concealing the real reason. I moved closer to Aaron and continued.

"And, besides, I can control myself very fine, thank you!'" I completed, my own breathing becoming erratic.

Aaron smiled. It wasn't genuine though- that part was obvious.

"Yeah. We did that really well enough last night." He mocked in the same sarcastic tone he had used before.

My eyes clenched shut at this. I somehow knew that the events of last night would be brought out to the open in this fight.

"That was a mistake. It won't happen again, I assure you." I promised in a quiet voice.

Aaron's look of anger crumbled for a fraction of a second into a look of something I couldn't comprehend, but- not a moment later- he recomposed himself and the fire was back in his eyes.

"Regardless, I don't want you anywhere near him." He said in a firm voice.

My eyes widened, wondering if I had heard him right or if he was telling a joke, but the look on his face confirmed it- he wasn't joking around. He was deadly serious.

"You can't tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want, including talk to Elliot! And, I don't need your permission!" I edged out, exercising my rights as an individual.

Once again, he loomed over me- his lips dangerously close.

"Don't say his name like that, Lexi. You don't know how it makes me feel." He murmured harshly; his eyes looking straight into mine.

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to speak, but Aaron held up a finger to my lips.

"You cannot touch him because I won't let you." He said simply- his eyes trained on me and me only.

I knew what Aaron was like; he got whatever he wanted, but I wouldn't relent this time. I was a people pleaser, but I couldn't let him be satisfied this time.

My eyebrows raised at this and I leaned forward.

"And if I do touch him?" I challenged, trying not to look scared at the threatening look he was giving me.

Aaron pulled my body into his and I gasped at the intimate contact.

"Don't test me, Lexi." He forced out, looking down at the ground with his hair shielding his beautiful face.

I tilted his face up with a finger and looked into his eyes.

"Well, consider yourself already tested, Aaron." I said simply.

Aaron's eyebrow raised in confusion and he didn't talk, waiting for me to clarify. I smirked at him, feeling the hurt bubbling in me.

"Avalon." Aaron moaned into my neck

'Elliot and I have already kissed."

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