"I didn't know you'd be here," Blake spoke up the very moment I opened the front door.

The smirk on his face clearly said otherwise.

I glanced at him anxiously and stayed within the doorframe. My hands felt too clammy with sweat as I crossed my arms. He was so different from Caden, and I couldn't help but notice that. Eyes the same shade as the blue shirt he was wearing, and hair a darker blond than Alex's.

He held no resemblance with Caden. Well, maybe except for that smirk. Maybe they weren't biological brothers at all.

After all, I didn't exactly get the chance to ask Caden about it. And besides, what kind of enmity could grow in between two brothers?

"You're Skylar, right?" He asked, breaking the silence once again. Unlike me, he didn't look one bit tense. I, on the other hand, stood like a freaking statue in my own house.

"Yeah," I answered, nodded, then tried not frowning as I stared at him. "And you're here for the file apparently."

He wasn't, a tiny voice yelled in my head. He couldn't be here just for a fucking file.

"Yeah." He nodded slowly, the smirk still on his lips. "Am I going to be invited in?"

"No?" I frowned. "I don't think that's necessary."

His eyes widened in mock hurt. "Ouch. Your parents are much more hospitable than this."

"You don't know anything about my parents."

"I do, actually." He was giving me that look again. The one that said he knew something I didn't. "Not the first time seeing your house, darling."

I froze. "I know that. Mom introduced me to your parents."

"I wasn't talking about that night."

My eyes widened. He's been here more than once? "What? When? I don't think I ever--"

"Are you scared?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and his smirk was slowly starting to piss me off.

I was slowly starting to hate him. Maybe he had something common with Caden after all.

"Because I promise I won't touch." He added, slowly and so fucking sure of himself. "Unless, of course, you want me to."

"Of course not." I snapped, then glared at him. "You're here for the file. And I've still got Mom on the phone." I took a step back from the threshold. "So if you even try to come anywhere near me--"

Blake stepped past me, inside my house, cutting me off. "Got it, feisty."

I balled my fists.

"Thank you for inviting me in." He grinned at me. "That's very nice of you."

I couldn't help but scowl at him then. He definitely had something planned up his sleeve and I was too anxious to push him out of my house.

I glanced at the opened front door and didn't bother closing it before walking inside with Blake following close behind.

"What a charming house, hm?" He spoke up behind me.

"You can shut up now."

I heard him laughing softly behind me. "Is this why my dearest brother keeps up with you? Because you're not afraid to tell him he's being a dick?"

I didn't say anything. I was too busy thinking of which file Mom had wanted me to give Blake.

"Which is like, most of the time." He added.

"You know what." I spun around and glared at him once again. He looked entertained enough to boil my blood. "Since we're talking about your dearest brother, why don't you tell me why you both hate each other so much?"

Blake seemed a little taken aback. He blinked twice, then grinned. "It'll take more than just an invite into your house for me to spill my secrets."

"I don't--what secrets?" I made a face at him.

He took a step close and I took two back, my heart racing now.

"A lot of them."

I shook my head at him and took another step back. "Stay right here. I'll be back with the file."

Blake seemed content enough with that, thankfully, since he didn't say much as I ran upstairs. Or maybe I ran fast enough to not give him a chance to respond. I didn't care. Not one bit.

He was freaking me out and I really wanted him out of my house. I was scared and that look in his eyes kept reminding me of the time that guy had broken into my house. Threatening my life.

My parents too. Maybe what Blake had said earlier was him threatening my parents.

Clearing my throat, I pushed open Dad's office door and stepped inside. Instead of switching on the light, I took out my phone from my pocket with slightly shaking fingers and typed a quick text to Caden.

Keep up my act with Blake. What was he even thinking when he decided to tell me that?

I switched off my phone and started searching around for the black file Mom had told me about. I was a nervous mess as I reached the white shelf and snatched the black file on the top. Without even caring about the lights, I took in a deep breath and started to leave.

It's fine. It's fine. It's fine.

Just as I closed the door and turned around to go downstairs, I found myself face to face with him.

Blake.

Fuck.

My heart almost lurched out of my chest, a truly horrifying feeling, and I backed into the wall behind me when I noticed the few inches between us. He was tall and very much blocking my only escape. Sudden panic surged through me. Him coming up here did not mean anything good. He was going to do something.

Oh God.

"What...are you doing here?" I managed it out, eyes wide, and nearly winced at the nervousness in my voice. "I told you to stay downstairs."

His lips twitched into another half-smile and I realized that I might just have to slap him or punch him or maybe even shove him down the stairs if that was the only way to make it out alive. I wasn't good at throwing punches, but I'd be a fool if I didn't try.

"I thought you weren't scared, Sky." He said.

A chill ran up my spine as I eyed him, afraid and my heart thudding. He wasn't supposed to call me Sky.

"I'm not." I wanted him to back off. He was creeping me out and I felt like I might scream. Did he have a gun with him? Was he going to hurt me in my own house?

Blake rolled his eyes then, despite the smile on his lips, almost as if he couldn't believe I just said that. It creeped me out even more.

I was going to tell him to back off, push him away myself maybe, but when I saw his hand reaching out towards me, I froze in response. I freaking froze. Not just my body, but the fucking oxygen froze too.

I felt this small, heavy lump in my throat when he leaned a little closer, his eyes on my own, his hand sliding behind my waist and just above my hips. I stared at him, terrified. His eyes, an irrational part of me thought, were more of a sea-blue shade.

My eyes widened a bit more when his hand slid inside my back pocket and took out something. He pulled away his hand and looked down at the familiar butter knife. I couldn't help but clench my jaw at that.

I think I was going to throw up.

"That's clever." He said with a nod, looking down at the knife as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

I opened my mouth, partly because I needed oxygen and partly because I found it dumb not to say anything.

"I...It was in my pocket since yesterday." I lied, nearly slapped myself, then added, "I told you to stay downstairs. Didn't you hear me?"

I found his eyes piercing into mine with a hint of curiosity. I didn't like it. I didn't like any of this.

"Sure." He said, giving it back to me, and I took it in an instant. No way in hell was I giving him any chance with it, even if it was just a butter knife. "A butter knife isn't good for defence, though. You should keep a sharper one next time."

I glared at him then. "It isn't my fault that you're a creep."

He chuckled at that as if I had meant it as a joke.

"It isn't my fault either that we met under such harsh circumstances, sweetheart." He said.

I felt my cheeks heating up at that, and it was probably the anger I was feeling at that moment.

"It is good though, arming yourself. You never know when somebody gets wild." He added with another smirk.

It was to the point of hurting how badly I was gritting my teeth at that moment. Blake reached for the file in my hand, took it, and winked. "I'll see you soon."

And he said it like a promise. A fucking promise.

I leaned back against the wall and exhaled a shudder as I saw him walking away. I wish I could've done something to him, ticked him off as he had done with me.

Breath, Sky. Breathe.

The front door opened and closed with a faint thud. I closed my eyes and didn't realise I was still clenching my jaw until a few seconds later, the bell rang again.

I straightened up and looked over at the stairs. Was it Blake again? What the hell was he still here for?

Making a frustrated sound at the back of my throat, I angrily stomped down the stairs. I was so going to slam the door on his face this time. He had no right to say such stuff to me, almost harass me, and then ring my doorbell again.

Fucking bastard.

I pulled open the front door and glared at the person, expecting it to be Blake.

It wasn't Blake. It was Caden.

And just the mere sight of him made me so much more furious than I was before, as if it wasn't just Blake I was angry at. Because I wasn't.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

Caden looked a little confused until he glanced down at something. Then he raised his brows at me. I tried not to look into his surprised green eyes and a part of me realized that it had actually been a bit long since I last saw him.

Not like I gave a shit about that.

"You're holding it the wrong way." He told me.

I frowned, looked down at the knife--the hilt of it that I was pointing towards him--and tossed it back into the house.

"Well, thank you for enlightening me on how to hold a fucking knife." I hissed. "Still doesn't answer my question."

"You sent me a text."

"Oh, and you saw it? Thought we weren't seeing each other's texts now, were we?"

He blinked in surprise, then opened his mouth to say something.

"Unless it concerns you, of course," I added, not letting him speak. "Which it did. That's why you're here."

He frowned then. "Of course, that's why I'm here."

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked away from him, clenching and unclenching my jaw.

"Skylar--"

"You know what. There's nothing to say. You should go."

"You called me here."

"Well, now I'm telling you this too." I snapped. "Go. Away."

He didn't go away. All he did was stand there and stare at me with that frown. His eyes darting between my own as if searching for something. He wasn't leaving.

"Was Blake here?" He asked.

"Does that even matter?"

"Of course, it does." He seemed on the verge of losing his patience and it might've made me laugh out loud if I wasn't still a little too pissed right now. "Was he here or not?"

I shrugged. "It shouldn't matter since you asked me to act along with him." Then I added almost instantly, "Not you. You sent Adrian to give the message."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Why tell Skylar yourself when she's fucking perfect to be used like a fucking tool." I sneered.

He seemed momentarily stunned.

"Use her as a bait because who fucking cares what happens to her with that blue-eyed pervert lurking around." I continued. "Her parents don't care, why should anyone else. Next time I'll invite him over for tea and make it so much easier for all of you shitheads."

A part, deep down inside of me, was aware that I had technically called my Mom a shithead too.

"You're speaking rubbish," Caden said.

I glared at him. "Shut up, Caden. And leave." Gripping the doorknob, I started to close it on his face, something that he seemed to deserve at that moment. But he stopped me right on time by grabbing my wrist and yanking me out.

I stumbled into him and he steered me away from the front door so that his back was towards it now and I had no way of locking myself into my house.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked me in disbelief, his grip on my wrist tightening a little when I tugged on it.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Well, you texted me, remember?" He seemed angry now. "And now you're slamming doors in my face."

"I didn't slam any door in your face." I hissed at him.

He tugged me closer by my wrist and my breath hitched. He was close. Too close. "I'm trying to ask you something, Skylar. Was Blake here?"

I gritted my teeth but I couldn't look away. I couldn't look away and I couldn't pull away. "Yes."

"And what exactly happened?" He asked, looking a bit less irritated this time. I did not like that my mind was wandering off to how warm he felt and how close we were.

"Nothing happened." I glared at him.

"And you're angry because of that?" He asked sarcastically.

I let out a sound of protest and tried pulling back my wrist. I wanted to go inside, in my house, away from him. I wanted a moment alone to collect myself, think over Blake's words, figure shit out. But Caden seemed adamant as he leaned closer, more than he should've, until his face was looming over my own. It effectively made me stop struggling.

"Listen here, Skylar. I'm not letting you go until you tell me what exactly happened."

I felt my anger overwhelming me and morphing into utter frustration. "I hate you, Caden. I hate that brother of yours. Can you let me go now?"

His brows furrowed and his grip on my wrist loosened a little. I pulled away abruptly and made a move to sidestep him, but once again, he blocked my way.

"Why were you carrying that knife?"

"I dream of stabbing you sometimes." I retorted. "Believe it or not, not everyone in this town worships the ground you walk on."

"Clearly," he said. "Did he do something that I should know about?"

"What?"

"Blake."

"What if I say he threatened to kill me?" I crossed my arms. "Will that matter?"

He looked so confused at that moment that I had to refrain from doing something which I wouldn't have appreciated later. "Blake wouldn't have killed you."

I was starting to feel a headache forming. Sometimes I wondered if this was something I'd inherited from my dad too.

"I can't do this right now." I shook my head. "And if you don't step out of my way right this second, I will turn around and run away and if anything happens to my house, my parents will be coming at you and you must be aware how--"

"Will you calm down for a second?" He looked annoyed now, raking a hand through his dark black hair.

I gave him another glare and glanced over my shoulder, at my bicycle--which I had forgotten to park inside the garage. He was making me feel claustrophobic. I couldn't even remember the last time I had felt claustrophobic.

"Fine then." I clenched my fists, hissing at him. Then I turned around and started stomping across the empty driveway, towards the street ahead.

I heard Caden swearing under his breath and for a moment, I really thought he would give up and leave me be. But hey, we were talking about him. He was as stubborn as one could get.

Right as I was about to step past the driveway, a strong arm wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me to an abrupt halt. I think I yelped before Caden turned me around to face him, my body flush against his, and I really hated that.

"Let. Me. Go," I growled out, trying to shove him away.

He just tightened his grip around my waist. "You're even wilder than I thought." I couldn't mistake the clear disappointment in his voice.

I stopped and looked up at him, and if I could've, I would've murdered him right there. "Do you think saying that would help?"

"Your neighbours will get out if you keep on shouting." He pointed out.

"That's why I'm asking you to leave me alone!"

I heard him inhale deeply before he started dragging me towards my house, not even caring to let go of my waist. Maybe he thought that I'd start going crazy again, and I probably would've.

He was dragging me into my own house?

Somehow, he accomplished getting me inside and slammed the front door behind him, finally letting go of me.

I backed away and glared at him.

"I'm not leaving until you calm down."

______

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Xoxo,

Crystal 🌿